Some situations in life seem to exist for the sole purpose of making you feel guilty for no reason at all. Seeing a police car just driving behind you, or catching the teacher's eye in an exam when you're just looking around will do it. Sometimes, so will getting your receipt checked before you leave Costco. After spending hours shopping, standing in massive queues, and wondering how to get everything back home, being stopped by a Costco employee who wants to check your receipt can feel odd, if not truly guilt-inducing. Why do they do it? Here's why Costco really checks your receipt before you leave.
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00:00Every Costco shopper has been there.
00:03You've just spent hours loading up your cart with everything on your shopping list, and
00:06more than a few things you didn't even know you needed until you saw them.
00:10You waited in line, you made it through the checkout, and you're wondering how on earth
00:13all of this is going to get in your car.
00:15First, though, you have to go through the exit receipt check.
00:18It's a weird thing, right?
00:19It's like driving along and being followed by a police car.
00:23Even if you haven't done anything wrong, it makes it feel like you have.
00:26They're watching you, they're checking to make sure you paid for everything, and they
00:29want to protect themselves against sticky-fingered customers.
00:33Like you.
00:34Right?
00:35Actually, like that cop who just happened to turn in behind you, there's nothing really
00:38sinister about it.
00:40A lot of what they're doing is looking out for your best interests.
00:43One Costco-centric Reddit thread had employees sharing what they were looking for, and part
00:47of it is confirmation that the number of items in the cart is actually the number that's
00:50on the receipt.
00:51One employee shared some eye-opening figures, and claimed their store kept track of how
00:54much merchandise was stopped at the door because it wasn't paid for.
00:57It was in the tens of thousands of dollars, but the official line is pretty different.
01:01MSN did a little digging into just what else those exit greeters are trained to look for,
01:06and found they're actually checking your receipt to make sure your transaction went smoothly.
01:10Ever get home, check your own receipt, and realize you've been overcharged or one of
01:13your items was accidentally rung up multiple times?
01:16They're looking for that so they can fix it before you get out the door.
01:19Still doubtful?
01:20As one employee explained on Reddit,
01:22Trust me, we're not loss prevention.
01:24We have loss prevention in the store, and that's not us.
01:26One former employee wanted to clear the air on Reddit, and said a big part of their job
01:30is also making sure customers don't forget some of the things they pay for, but have
01:34to pick up separately before they leave.
01:36It's easy to forget things like gift cards or merchandise that has to be retrieved from
01:40inside cases or behind counters, after all.
01:42They're also looking to make sure any store promotions were properly applied.
01:46Because hey, technology isn't perfect, right?
01:48Neither are people, and that's why Kevin Hewer, a Costco general manager, told the
01:52San Francisco Chronicle they were also looking to make sure cashiers didn't miss anything
01:56in the bottom of customers' baskets.
01:58Costco isn't the only store to employ exit greeters.
02:01Most of the warehouse-style stores do.
02:03When MSN reached out to Sam's Club Corporate, they said they purposely hire friendly, chatty
02:07exit greeters as a way of making sure app-related transactions went smoothly, to make sure they
02:12found everything, address complaints, and share information about upcoming promotions.
02:16The Costco representatives say the same thing, with one employee saying they'd cut hundreds
02:20of dollars in overcharges, and had immediately helped the customers get their refunds.
02:25So is the policy legal, or is it a violation of your rights?
02:28In Costco's case, they're perfectly within their rights, because it's written into the
02:32membership agreement you voluntarily signed.
02:35It's the same for other warehouse-type stores that have similar memberships, like Sam's
02:38Club and BJ's.
02:40In other words, we don't recommend running out without showing your receipt.
02:44But that brings up an important question.
02:46What if you do refuse?
02:47In 2013, Timothy Walls refused to show his receipt for his $102.66 purchase, and the
02:53employee he tried to bypass grabbed his cart and wouldn't let him leave.
02:57Walls shoved the employee, and that's when another employee stepped in with some martial
03:00arts and broke Walls' leg in several places.
03:03Walls sued for $610,000, but lost when the judge ruled he had pushed an employee first.
03:08Still, demanding to see your receipt is not okay in most stores.
03:13Consumer advocate Edgar Dvorsky says that if you're in a conventional retail store where
03:16you didn't sign anything agreeing to allow employees to inspect your receipt or your
03:20cart when you're leaving, you don't have to hand it over.
03:23That return trip to get your refund for a double charge?
03:26That's on you.