Costco: Show us your receipt for your merchandise or we break your legs

[albin25]

I should add. Costco hasn't always had the irritating "checkpoint" policy. I remember when it began (1991?)and all the anger it stirred up at the time.
My membership pre-dates the policy (Costco card was given to me to replace the PriceClub membership I had when Costco bought them out) and I have never had to sign anything or have ever been given any "new rules" to read and sign off on when renewing. I know I don't remember hearing anything about the policy allowing employees to physically assault or injure members (even really stupid ones) over a rule violation....I'll have to remember to only take one hot pocket "taster" so I won't get tackled and sent to the coooler.

It bugs me, but I choose my battles, and creating a tempest in that particular teapot really doesn't seem to warrant harshing my mellow.
Besides, it bugs me as much that they expect you to dispose of their cardboard recycling by not providing bags...I've started unloading the boxes at the car and putting the empty box back in the cart for them to deal with.

When Winco opens here next month I'm going to let Costco lapse anyways.

Does Sam's Club also go through your property and check your papers?

 

[mkwerx]

Costco keeps their prices lower than other stores by minimizing theft - which all retail businesses factor a percentage of as part of their cost of doing business. If you can minimize theft, you can reduce your sale prices. If you don't like showing a receipt, don't be a costco member, don't shop there. Pretty simple. This jackass went in with the intention of a confrontation - he assaulted an employee, and got more than he bargained for. Boo frickin' hoo. A simple enough tweak to their policy might prevent future incidents - you have to show your card and receipt at the door, and if you fail to show your card / receipt at the door, your membership gets revoked without refund and you don't get to shop there anymore, period.

No one puts a gun to anyones head and says "SHOP AT COSTCO."

It's not a 4th amendment violation for Costco to demand your receipt upon leaving, nor to look into your cart. Costco is not a government agency (at least not yet.) If you feel like you, as one of millions of their customers are singled out and treated as a lowly criminal because they want to see your receipt, don't shop there. They're not singling you out, they do it to everyone.

And though it's been a number of years since I was in a Sam's Club - I do remember them checking receipts at the door, just like the regular Wal Mart does - although Wal Mart seems to have laid off that policy for the most part in the stores around here. Unlike Costco however, you're not agreeing to any specific terms when you shop at Wal Mart, so there's no agreement to break by not letting the semi-retired greeter check your receipt or your bag. Of course if you wouldn't act or look suspicious, maybe they wouldn't ask to see your bag? Or you can just be SuperNinjaBadass and breeze past them like they're beneath you then boast on the intarwebs about outrunning and outsmarting the 80 year old dude at Wal Mart. If he tries to block your path, a swift roundhouse kick to the head will fix him. Or you could knee cap him...

It must've been a slow news day, and if this Costco Schmuck gets any money you can bet most of it goes to his lawyer. Screw this dude.

 

[AMProducts]

I should add. Costco hasn't always had the irritating "checkpoint" policy. I remember when it began (1991?)and all the anger it stirred up at the time.
My membership pre-dates the policy (Costco card was given to me to replace the PriceClub membership I had when Costco bought them out) and I have never had to sign anything or have ever been given any "new rules" to read and sign off on when renewing. I know I don't remember hearing anything about the policy allowing employees to physically assault or injure members (even really stupid ones) over a rule violation....I'll have to remember to only take one hot pocket "taster" so I won't get tackled and sent to the coooler.

It bugs me, but I choose my battles, and creating a tempest in that particular teapot really doesn't seem to warrant harshing my mellow.
Besides, it bugs me as much that they expect you to dispose of their cardboard recycling by not providing bags...I've started unloading the boxes at the car and putting the empty box back in the cart for them to deal with.

When Winco opens here next month I'm going to let Costco lapse anyways.

Does Sam's Club also go through your property and check your papers?

I'm not a huge fan of costco for a number of reasons... this is one of them, nothing like going over there and having to stand in yet another line to get out behind people with carts full of crap when you have a single item. When there was a giant line, and I had a bag of ice I walked past and was chased by an employee who made a big show of it. My response "f-you, it's a bag of ice that's melting on my shoulder while you waste time with people with carts of s" they persisted in making a stink about it.

I don't know about winco, but I've never been impressed with them, that place seems more like a last stop before the trash dump in terms of quality of food. The only winco I've been to was literally stocked with food that was either rotting or about to be rotting and was full of flies. I'm never going back there.

Sams does do checks, but they are way less serious about it. Same bag of ice story they're like "don't let me stop you". More or less they're like a reverse walmart door greeter. I'm sure these policies are as a result of some study done by insurance companies about stop-loss. Also, sams makes a point of bringing more people up if a line forms, costco is more like an experiment in british socialism.

 

[DieselScout]

Haters gonna hate...lots of hate in this thread solved by a simple solution of not shopping there. I guess that that is not enough gotta whine about it too.

 

[clearconscience]

I've never had costco rifle through my things or make me take a bix. They always ask if we want a box.

And from where this costco is located I would say theft is a common problem. It's in a crappy neighborhood.

 

[albin25]

"Haters gonna hate...lots of hate in this thread solved by a simple solution of not shopping there. I guess that that is not enough gotta whine about it too."


Sheeple gonna bleat...Lots of hate in the above statement.

 

[DieselScout]

"Haters gonna hate...lots of hate in this thread solved by a simple solution of not shopping there. I guess that that is not enough gotta whine about it too."


Sheeple gonna bleat...Lots of hate in the above statement.

No hate just annoyance.

 

[Cheesemaker]

I keep waiting for the person look at my receipt and yell we have a WINNER!! And I get balloons and confetti falling from the ceiling and I get one of those huge oversized checks!! But like my lottery tickets, I am a loser!!


Seriously, I have friends that are in-store security personnel, and their number one rule is, you don't hurt them. They can go hands on, but with only the intent to redirect you. That is it. No leg sweeps, or take downs. And alot of times, usually security has 911 on the phone while the plain clothes security is following them to see where, or what they are driving. Even going hands on, can be sketchy, because you don't know who your dealing with, or what they have/or will do. Remember the security officer at Target attempting to take down a guy with a concealed firearm incident? You don't know if they are a person with PTSD.

I see it, if he didn't want them to look at his receipt, then he needs to go somewhere else. He may have had a bad day, or ran out of his meds. But the guy that swept his leg, breaking it, opens the door for a legal lawsuit. If they detained him, and found that nothing was wrong, no broke leg, then no lawsuit.

 

[The Heretic]

You grab me or mine by the shirt collar and I will break your legs too - receipt or no receipt.

 

[BlindedByScience]

I've just never thought of the always quick and polite receipt check as a big deal. Loss prevention for them, and once they caught something that the checkers forgot to put back on my cart...I'd have gotten home missing something I'd paid for.

I look at it this way; their property, membership required (which you voluntarily paid for), their rules. If you find the whole receipt check violates your sensibilities....I'd shop somewhere else.

 

[BlindedByScience]

You grab me or mine by the shirt collar and I will break your legs too - receipt or no receipt.

...actually, according to the new story, the Costco employee initially grabbed the guys cart, he grabbed the employee by the shirt collar. Sounds like it turned into self defense at that point. Not sure why showing the receipt was such a big deal....

 

[beavertonbuck]

Costco's new motto "Sweep the leg"!

 

[Sgt Nambu]

HaHaHa! First a series of pivot kicks, then the leg sweep, followed by a couple of heel stomps!

Costco's new motto "Sweep the leg"!

 

[ZigZagZeke]

...actually, according to the new story, the Costco employee initially grabbed the guys cart, he grabbed the employee by the shirt collar. Sounds like it turned into self defense at that point. Not sure why showing the receipt was such a big deal....

When someone lays hands on an item your are wearing, pushing, or carrying it is exactly as if they had laid hands on your body when it comes to defining criminal or civil assault. With that in mind, absent probable cause to believe a crime has been committed the employee has no excuse for laying hands on the cart. That would be assault. And just like the fact that wearing a handgun openly is not probable cause, neither is failure to show a receipt upon request.

 

[BlindedByScience]

When someone lays hands on an item your are wearing, pushing, or carrying it is exactly as if they had laid hands on your body when it comes to defining criminal or civil assault. With that in mind, absent probable cause to believe a crime has been committed the employee has no excuse for laying hands on the cart. That would be assault. And just like the fact that wearing a handgun openly is not probable cause, neither is failure to show a receipt upon request.

...so you join a private club with club rules, and pay for it, then freak out when you have to follow the rules you agreed to when you joined? Just doesn't make sense to me.

Why in the bloody hell didn't he just show the receipt? And if that's so freaking objectionable, why keep shopping there?

 

[albin25]

Speaking out about one bad club policy doesn't require you to leave the club anymore than speaking out about one bad corporate policy requires you to sell your stock, anymore than speaking out against one bad federal government policy requires you to give up your citizenship.

Did it get out of hand? yes it did.
Did the injured party choose the wrong way to protest? probably.
Did the first Costco employee choose the best way to handle it? maybe.
Did the second-man-in Costco employee go way too far? definitely.

The problem with Costco's member search policy is that it treats different people differently in that if you have gone through the check out and bought something you get searched, if you don't appear to have bought something and have no receipt you aren't searched at all.
I'm also fairly certain that if a diligent lawyer wanted to get ahold of security videos of several Costcos during discovery, they will easily be able to say that the policy creates an atmosphere where Store Employees check certain "types" of people more closely than others...and that will make the news for weeks.
For that reason alone I'll bet Costco makes this incident "go away" with a sizeable out of court settlement.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I always show the receipt but I also carry a big stick

 

[deen_ad]

<- Why there aren't any school shootings in Israel!
Teacher with long gun slung over her shoulder!!!

I'm not a huge fan of costco for a number of reasons... this is one of them, nothing like going over there and having to stand in yet another line to get out behind people with carts full of crap when you have a single item. When there was a giant line, and I had a bag of ice I walked past and was chased by an employee who made a big show of it. My response "f-you, it's a bag of ice that's melting on my shoulder while you waste time with people with carts of s" they persisted in making a stink about it.

So, you were stealing a bag of ice and they wanted you to pay for it? How inconsiderate of them!! And then people wonder what happened to "parenting" and where thugs come from!


Deen
NRA Life Member, Benefactor Level
NRA Golden Eagle member
Defender of Freedom Award

"A gun is like a parachute. If you need one and don't have it, you'll probably never need one again!"

 

[Bam]

GENERAL POLICIES
all receipts and merchandise will be inspected as you leave the warehouse.

You agree to that policy when you signed up for membership and by accepting that policy by joining you gave Costco permission to stop you and check your receipt. Don't like it? Don't join in the first place.

It is really simply. Costco is a private membership club, abide by their terms and conditions, otherwise take your business elsewhere. After all, you don't have to shop there, you chose to and agreed to their terms and conditions of membership.

I don't feel bad for the guy one bit.

I shop at Costco, because a subset of society cannot afford to. I rather not deal with the typical shopper at Winco or Walmart..

 

[The Heretic]

Speaking out about one bad club policy doesn't require you to leave the club anymore than speaking out about one bad corporate policy requires you to sell your stock, anymore than speaking out against one bad federal government policy requires you to give up your citizenship.

Yes, but while you are in the club you go by the rules.

I can protest the 55 MPH speed limit, but if I exceed it I can expect to get a ticket. I shouldn't go around driving 75 in a 55 and expect to not get a ticket, and if I do I shouldn't give the LEO a ration of crap just because he/she is doing their job. If I want to get the rules changed then I need to go to the state capital and talk to the people there.

Ditto with the guy and his cart - if he didn't like that rule then he should have communicated that to Costco corporate, not see what he could get away with walking out the door. The person at the door doesn't make the rules.

In short, most people are idiots and that guy qualifies as being in that class of people. I have seen very little to convince me otherwise.