Had a run-in with a store detective

[MeetMyCat]

I bought some make up in my local Boots at lunch time. The self serve till asked me if I wanted a receipt, I said no. On the way out the store, my shopping obviously triggered some sort of alarm; hardly an unusual occurrence so I stepped back into the store, expecting a member of staff to approach me. I realised the item I’d purchased had some sort of security tag on, I assumed this had caused the problem. However Security came straight over, I assumed they would help me and de-tag the item. The woman asked to see my receipt, but I didn’t have one. I rarely request a receipt for small items. She kept repeating over and over ‘I need to see proof of payment’ and I kept repeating that I’d paid but didn’t obtain a receipt. In the end she said that if I didn’t provide proof of payment I would be detained.

I realise store detectives/security don’t have any powers of arrest, and also she was really petite and probably wouldn’t have been able to force me, if I had refused to go with her.

Quite a few people were watching by this point and it was getting quite embarrassing. Thankfully I then remembered that I’d paid using Barclays debit, and any transactions show up on my app almost immediately. So I logged into the app, showed her the transaction, she de-tagged my item and said I was free to go.

I think I’m just posting because I’m pissed off. What on earth would have happened if I hadn’t had my banking app as proof? Where would I stand? Surely failure to obtain a receipt is not the same as failing to pay, and most tills now ask you whether or not you want a receipt.

The moral of the story: forget about being green, always get a receipt

@Whatthediddlyfeck I always ask for a staff discount too. And I'm not entirely joking any more. They've taken half of the checkouts away in our local Sains. Replaced with the scales of doom bigger self-service tills. Yesterday morning, one human-operated checkout with a queue of 6 and NOT ONE person using the DIY ones.
Heaven knows what it will be like in there in December.🤦‍♀️

Argos won't give you a receipt if you've reserved and paid for something.
All the supermarkets now ask if you want a receipt - how can you say "no" when you could be challenged as you leave? See also B&Q, Wickes and Dunelm.

I say no to a receipt as it’s more environmentally friendly and they are giving the choice.
Security guards have zero legal right to detain you, even without a receipt, unless they KNOW goods of a certain value have been taken and have good reason to think you took it (an “arrestable offence”).
I hate that they play power games and attempt to intimidate or imply detention or public humiliation when they have no legal basis or right to do that.

I worked as a retail manager at the very start of my working life. We were taught that the only time you stopped someone from leaving was if you’d seen them pick an item up, had eyes / CCTV on them all the time they were in the store, and then observed them leave after making no attempt to pay.

I’ve not worked in the sector for years, but I’m not aware that anything’s changed in terms of the rights of an ordinary citizen (which store guards are) to stop and detain someone else.

In this situation your right she couldnt detain you. But as said above they can detain you if they know you've committed an arrest able offence .

Mistakes like this happen,its how that mistake is handled that counts

Absolutely ridiculous, they shouldn't have self service with the option to choose not take a receipt if they are going to behave like that.

They can ask you to come back for a moment while they detag the item and check records but they shouldn't be unpleasant about it until they have good enough reason to believe there has been a theft.

I’m sorry you had to suffer that embarrassment: I would be writing to Boots and demanding compensation. If they don’t want to print or give out a receipt automatically, they have no business to train their store detectives to demand one!
No customer should expect confrontation on this scale in public. Boots management need to ensure that all their policies are cohesive.

She was getting carried away. If you tell a member of staff which till you used they should be able to log in and look up the transaction on it / print you a receipt. They can also check the cctv

I hate self serve tills. Whatbwas the value of the goods you purchased?

I don’t think it’s necessary to explain anything to the staff, unless they actually saw you take the goods there’s nothing they can actually do

It really irritates me when I'm given the option of having a receipt or not. Of course I want a receipt for things I've bought - partly so I don't get accused of shoplifting like the OP but also so I've got proof of purchase if I need to return something and, more importantly, so I've got proof of the sale if the wrong amount is debited from my account when the transaction is processed.

I get that it's triggering to feel like you're being accused of stealing, given that most of us have been brought up specifically to be triggered by that. But security guards can't really win in that case as they don't know you at all.

I was on the bus with my baby in the pram last week and the bus driver stopped the bus, opened all the doors and told me I needed to pay, he was very insistent even though I explained my son had paid for me., Then I went and beeped my card again which of course declined because it was already used. Then he decided my wife hadn't paid so I had to get her card off her and show that it wouldn't beep either. Then he just closed the door and drove on without a word.
I did feel a bit put out by the whole thing, but he had no idea whether I was a bus surfer or not as I'd got on the back door due to the pram.
It did waste about 2 minutes and we were already late, I really wouldn't have appreciated having to get off and get the next bus, so that would have been a complaint.

I'm glad you're venting. I never get receipts for smallish items that I know I'm not going to return, and haven't got a phone - so I will get receipts now...

It's utterly ridiculous that receipts are optional, but then if you are stopped they demand to see it 🙄

That’s one reason I always get a receipt. Also in case I want to take something back for any reason.

I do wonder if shops hope people are less likely to return things if they don’t have a receipt.

I always get a receipt regardless

The alarm went off recently as the tag was still on a bottle of champagne and I remember thinking how glad I was that I had the receipt in my hand

This is why I always get a receipt regardless of how I have paid. Shops have seen a massive increase in shop lifting, all the shops around me have added additional security.

I was in my local supermarket at the self service tills. A group of black male teenagers were next to me. They paid but didn't get a receipt. As they walked out the woman supervising the tills gets on her walkie talkie screaming and I mean screaming "mass exodus and no receipts". I was appalled...I hung round to make sure the boys left ok without anyone stopping them. I didn't get a receipt but she didn't seem bothered by me .. wonder why? I have a mixed race teen D's...I have always told him to always get a receipt.

This isn’t a self service issue, I work in a supermarket and the till prompts staff to ask every customer if they require a receipt.

This happened to me in France recently. Paid at self checkout and it actually didn't print me a receipt despite saying yes print. So of course they stopped me at the exit! I said I paid 16 euros and something and check the self checkout I just paid in and the staff quickly logged into and saw my transaction there. A lot of places push you to use self checkouts and it's annoying that they also ask if you want one or not.

A security guard tried to stop me leaving a store once...I had my two week old baby with me. I had paid but the cashier had left the tag on. On exiting the shop the alarm went off so I showed my receipt and they detagged it. Then the security guard asked to see my receipt again as he needed to know which cashier had left the tag on. I refused to give it to him again as I don't want to play a part in some poor sod working the tills getting into trouble for a minor mistake so he tried to block my path leaving. My dh was fuming and called the store to complain to the manager.

Yes, they should, @electriclight , but they should also absolutely ensure that there’s some sort of alert to summon staff to remove a security tag that you haven’t even seen - because it’s small and on the underside of whatever you’ve bought - and paid for!

It might deter shoplifters rather more if such security tags were immediately clearly visible.

Shops really need to sort out policy clearly on this. Either they give a receipt every time and ask you to produce it or they accept that not all customers will be able to instantly show proof of purchase.

I often think at the end of the transaction the should have an image of the receipt on the screen somehow and then you could take a picture of it. That way you’d have the exact transaction details for future reference. At least then there’d be choice.

@FrogsWormsandButterflies

It shouldn’t need to prompt it should always provide a receipt. I hate self serve for many other reasons as well, not just the receipt issue

@FrogsWormsandButterflies the question should be would you like to opt out of a receipt, not would you like one