Why Best Buy Checks Your Receipt

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Someone claiming to be a Best Buy employee told the Consumerist "I do what I do for your own good." Hit the link, read what he has to say and then tell me what you think.

I wish to forcefully reiterate my commitment to honesty, and am therefore obligated to inform you that receipt checkers are often encouraged to say things such as "I'm checking to make sure we billed you for the right model." That's garbage. Ninety-nine percent of our customers are smart enough to realize it. It's patronizing, and you deserve to feel insulted by statements like that.
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"By protecting our products from theft, and therefore our revenue margins, there are so many things we can afford. Sheer profit is one of them, absolutely. I am not going to deny that. It is far from the last of them though, and many other benefit you as a customer. We can keep our prices lower, or keep more employees on the floor for more adequate customer service, or pay for more training to the same end. "

Really? I see that's working real well isn't it. Just imagine them with higher prices, worse customer service and less trained employees. I didn't know that was possible.
 
Frys does the same thing and I don't see people railing against it. Heck quite a large number of retailers did this long before BB picked up the practice. I think BB is the new Sony right now where people are just looking for an excuse to flame.

While I consider most of the guys comments pretty much bs, I don't really care about the receipt check. It honestly takes a couple seconds of my time on the way out the door, so what? It isn't like I am in that big of a hurry.
 
Dougjwjr said:
"By protecting our products from theft, and therefore our revenue margins, there are so many things we can afford. Sheer profit is one of them, absolutely. I am not going to deny that. It is far from the last of them though, and many other benefit you as a customer. We can keep our prices lower, or keep more employees on the floor for more adequate customer service, or pay for more training to the same end. "

Really? I see that's working real well isn't it. Just imagine them with higher prices, worse customer service and less trained employees. I didn't know that was possible.
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Rofl. Well said. If the current crop of standards ( I will refer to it as Best Buy on a "good day" ) are the result of 5000% profit margins on HDMI cables and the loss prevention standards put in place to prevent the theft of said $500 6' HDMI cables, I'd hate to see Best Buy on a "bad day."
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Frys does the same thing and I don't see people railing against it. Heck quite a large number of retailers did this long before BB picked up the practice. I think BB is the new Sony right now where people are just looking for an excuse to flame.

While I consider most of the guys comments pretty much bs, I don't really care about the receipt check. It honestly takes a couple seconds of my time on the way out the door, so what? It isn't like I am in that big of a hurry.
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Agreed. I don't see why its a big deal for them to try and prevent theft. The receipt check is just a deterant, they usually just mark the receipt and rarely go through each item one by one. Its not like its a TSA scanner and rubber glove treatment.
 
costco and sam's have been doing this for god knows how long, so i don't know what the big deal is about this.
 
I'm surprised they didn't mention was has to be a major factor in receipt checking... they are trying to keep their employees honest. Internal theft is as big a problem as shoplifting.

Say an employee working the checkout stand has an accomplice who brings several big ticket items to the cash register and the employee rings up only a couple low ticket items instead. The accomplice can walk out with a $500 item and the receipt might only show that a couple packs of gum were paid for.
 
They are not law enforcement, they can't do crap, or even stop you, so whats the problem? Once I pay for whatever is in my bag, it's the same as a purse/backpack or wallet, it's my personal property now, so you can piss off. I look them right in the face, smile and wave as I walk out the door, BB, walmart etc, don't even bother trying to stop me anymore.
 
purple_haze said:
costco and sam's have been doing this for god knows how long, so i don't know what the big deal is about this.
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CostCo and Sam's Club require memberships. As part of that membership I sign a piece of paper consenting to have my bags searched. I don't at Best Buy.
 
I give them a mean-mug and pass them at fry;s and BB. copy and paste this face and bring it with you next time. :mad:
 
Arainach said:
CostCo and Sam's Club require memberships. As part of that membership I sign a piece of paper consenting to have my bags searched. I don't at Best Buy.
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Did you have to sign something when you found out about a store's return policy? No you didn't, so quit grinding yourself against the grain.
 
Walmart has been doing this for awhile too. It always pisses my mom off, lol
 
This is really an absurd argument. Show them your receipt for all of 2-3 seconds and go on your way. If you didn't do anything wrong then nothing is going to happen and you can continue on to use/destroy whatever you purchased.

It isn't that big a damn deal.

I swear some people do what they do just to cause a little bit of drama in their incredibly uneventful lives.
 
I've worked retail long ago and shrinkage/loss prevention is one of those statistical areas where it's difficult to explain to someone outside of the field or not privy to the actual month to month numbers why practices like this exist. A receipt checker is more efficient alternative then an army of drones watching cameras or other "deterrent" solutions. Deterrent solutions are visible and hard to see actually work (as seen by our friendly TSA screening at airports) because, duh how do you count someone that was deterred from stealing?

It's a lose lose situation, management has to choose what policy makes them lose less to survive, or they will be out of business like Circuit City. I personally order most of my stuff online, but still occasionally need to get something in hurry in store so I'm willing to put up with the inconvenience and !@#$ prices.
 
My local Wal-Mart did this since I was a child. Nothing new here. The people at the door usually just say "Have a good day/night" as you approach them with your receipt out.
 
BlueFireIce said:
They are not law enforcement, they can't do crap, or even stop you, so whats the problem? Once I pay for whatever is in my bag, it's the same as a purse/backpack or wallet, it's my personal property now, so you can piss off. I look them right in the face, smile and wave as I walk out the door, BB, walmart etc, don't even bother trying to stop me anymore.
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Loss prevention absolutely can stop you. When your 'personal property' happens to be on somebody else's private property they do inherit certain reasonable rights to it as long as it's on their property including inspecting it to make sure it is in fact your property. If you think they can't detain you, then you need to look up private property and loss prevention in your state - you sound like you'll be surprised to see what they can do.

What do you have against showing your receipt anyway? It isn't even like it's some invasion of privacy since you just bought those very items from the store you're in. It can't be that you're so busy you can't have a guy look at a receipt for half a minute. You doing it just to be annoying?
 
I don't think they really even check. Every time they "check", the person just takes the receipt and marks it. Whole process took like 3 seconds.
 
I don't get it. If they have experienced a recently high level of theft in relation to that store, or their region lately.

Then what's the excuse for doing this...5...7...10 years ago? Has their theft levels remained unnecessarily high? If thats the case, do you think maybe they should invest in more aggressive means of theft prevention?

Or is it just that they know they are going to have a certain % of items stolen, regardless of any and all efforts. Do they thereby chalk that % up to the talking heads, and they pass it on to the employees as biblical necessity? But instead of % they use big dollar amounts, because a guy making $8-9 an hour says "Crap, they lose 250k a month in stolen merchandise" and thereby it hits harder than saying "We lose 0.02%" of our sales figure per month.

I'm not denying that checking receipts helps to deter theft. There's many other ways they use, camera's, the buzzer things at the doors, and so on and so forth. Do they have a right to protect their financial interest, you're damn right they do, not denying that one bit either.

If you're not happy with any of these practices, here's what you do. Don't shop there, simple as that, just don't shop there. I don't, I haven't bought anything from a Best Buy in I can't honestly tell you how long. They offer me no value for my purchasing $ that a few days wait, and a purchase online cannot satisfy more. So I choose to just not shop there, and if all the people that bitch about them on Consumerist did the same thing, it might change something, or nothing at all, but at least you won't be contributing to the people you hate the most.
 
Yeah Fry's is persistent about checking the receipt, even though you have every right to just walk out the door, like any other place.
 
This article was written by a corporate shill. Very obvious by the way he used the words "we" and "our," especially in the sentence explaining how it minimizes profit loss.

Either way, I don't give a shit if they do or they don't do this. I've got nothing to hide, and will present my receipt to them. If they are a douchebag about it, they also get presented my middle finger.
 
I don't think there is a big problem with this. A lot of items are not bagged or tagged with purchase. Laptop computers, desktop computers, TV's, sound systems, etc. All you would need to do is put it on a dolly and truck it out the door and most employees and personnel would figure you already bought it. It's rather easy to walk out the door with big items as long as you have someone interrupt the salesman assisting you, and its not like they work in teams of 3 per customer so that one can escort you out.
 
We did this in a place I worked in part time, although it didn't stop some people going out the fire exit once and jumping in to a car with 3 BOSE systems and that isn't the first time that has happened.
 
You've got to be quite the idiot if you don't understand the logic behind checking receipts.
 
I had no idea this was even an issue. Why is it so hard to just show your receipt when you're exiting? There are so many stores that do this, I don't understand why people are so offended by the practice.
 
I hate this crap, treating customers like thieves. Bass pro shops at Gurney mills (IL)... I was taking my bro-in law to the mall for his navy leave with his family (asian immigrant parents).

We had no alarm, they checked all of our bags and receipts "we do this for everyone".
I'm euroamerican:

Then an all white family goes through their alarm system, alarms go off. And they wave, ITS OK YOU CAN GO THROUGH.

So logically the ass I am stated so... all white people can go through but not us?
And I had us all leave, f this crap. I'm not waiting for 45 year old that works in retail to go through the stuff they just bought lol
 
California law states you are not legally required to stop for anyone to have your receipt checked.
 
I am the type of guy that ends up with cameras on him in almost every store. Even a store where my sister was a manager and the head of the loss prevention was introduced to me by said sister on more than one occasion (because he was following me around). Still .. I don't understand the rage about this.

For some reason most of the Best Buy door guys just tell me "Have a nice day" even when I have a big ticket item in my hand...
 
piscian18 said:
same Ive never bitched at a somebody for checking my receipt and I've never needed to ask why.
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I have a good reason, it's called walking out of the store. Seriously, I spent my time shopping, and I just wanna get the fuck out. I'm tired, cause I just walked around your store. The line at the register took forever, and I'd like to just leave.

Why do I need to show my receipt anyway? I bought it, and it's mine. This fucking paper does me little good for warranty and returns lately anyway. Why do you have the right to make better use of it then I do?

Also, just to add one other thing. I don't have this problem with NewEgg. They also don't sell me overpriced cables.
 
The people in this thread continuing to beleaguer this point are just the same as the ones who start screaming at the CSR without the CSR having done anything wrong. You are making the job that someone has trying to make ends meet all the more miserable for doing a part of it they likely don't even want to do but are forced to, else lose their job. I know some of you obviously are independently wealthy :rolleyes: and clearly have never had to work a shit job, but as someone who worked those kinds of jobs when I was in HS, I have nothing but contempt for those who made my life miserable for no reason.

Seriously, find a better cause and get off the cross. Someone else needs the wood now. There are plenty of reasons to hate BB and retail in general without being petty douchebags.
 
Ashbringer said:
Also, just to add one other thing. I don't have this problem with NewEgg. They also don't sell me overpriced cables.
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Then shop at Newegg and quit your whining. :p

Seriously, if you can't deal with it, don't shop there. That simple.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
.......There are plenty of reasons to hate BB and retail in general without being petty douchebags.
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I was just going to say basically the same thing.
I don't like or trust them because of several other reasons:


http://consumerist.com/2007/02/best-buys-secret-employee-only-in-store-website-shows-different-prices-than-public-website.html

http://consumerist.com/2010/01/consumerist-investigation-best-buy-optimization-is-a-big-stupid-annoying-waste-of-money.html
 
Ualdayan said:
Loss prevention absolutely can stop you. When your 'personal property' happens to be on somebody else's private property they do inherit certain reasonable rights to it as long as it's on their property including inspecting it to make sure it is in fact your property. If you think they can't detain you, then you need to look up private property and loss prevention in your state - you sound like you'll be surprised to see what they can do.

What do you have against showing your receipt anyway? It isn't even like it's some invasion of privacy since you just bought those very items from the store you're in. It can't be that you're so busy you can't have a guy look at a receipt for half a minute. You doing it just to be annoying?
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While I do agree they can stop you in most states, AFAIK (IANAL) in most states they cannot search you if you don't consent to it, but they can detain you and call the police.

As a general principle, and as someone who does not shoplift, I am always opposed to making the innocent *tolerate* nuisances because someone else did something wrong or illegal. On the other hand, if it is clearly obvious that the store checks receipts when customers leave, I consider it implied consent to have your receipt checked when leaving, as a term of the sale. What I do not consider reasonable is if there is no detailing of this aspect of the sale terms, when someone imposes upon you that they "own" you and your rights disappear without any forewarning that this is a term of the sale.

As for someone leaving without being observed going through a checkout line, which I feel they would have to put forth due diligence to determine before stopping people to check a receipt, if someone were seen leaving a store with merchandise without having been seen going through a checkout line then the situation changes and it becomes a matter of probable cause to stop someone to check a receipt, as it would also be if they were observed placing an item in a concealed (purse, etc) part of their property or having set off an electronic buzzer alarm from theft prevention tags.

In my mind for the innocent customer it becomes a matter of notification and product value. If you are paying the same for an item that you would at a merchant that doesn't make you stop for a receipt check, I'd choose the merchant which makes fewer demands for the same money. While receipt checking is only a minor inconvenience, remember that every time you accept such inconveniences it reinforces the idea that merchants can burden customers for their advantage...

It is the merchant's responsibility to stop theft and accept a certain % of loss but what is next, is it ok for them to check all your bags when you enter a store too? Is it ok for them to check your bags when you go to a restroom? Is it ok for them to search your purse if everything in your bag matches a receipt and they have no camera or witness that would make them suspect you stole something? Is it ok for them to subject you to a full body x-ray in case something is down your pants, or how about patting down everyone leaving the store? IMO, they should only use the old time tested techniques like security tags, video, undercover shopper-security, etc... all transparently and passively implemented so the customer is not having to feel a change in their shopping experience towards being actively stopped and scrutinized _without_cause_.
 
When Circuit City was liquidating I spent a lot of time at the door checking receipts. The people didn't know that though, and really it was a dual-purpose thing. All they knew is that I said "Can I stamp your receipt?" and then used the "ALL SALES FINAL" stamp. I think out of the several thousand people that went out of that store during the liquidation process, only one or two said no.. to which I just said "Alright, just remember you can't bring that stuff back!" and let them go on their way.

It didn't stop theft though. I remember two guys walked into the store one day, picked up a couple of LCD televisions and just ran right out. After that the management decided that having anything expensive near the door was a bad idea. :D
 
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