The Consumerist offers this jaw-dropping, eye-popping account of an electronics store shopper who was unlawfully restrained by a security guard after he refused to show his reciept at the door.
Shaneal made a big purchase at TigerDirect, an electronics superstore in Naperville, Ill. A store security guard asked him to show his reciept as he headed for the exits. The customer knew his rights and declined the receipt check. He explains to The Consumerist: “under no possible interpretation of the law would refusing a voluntary receipt check constitute grounds for reasonable suspicion of shoplifting.”
The guard physically prevented him from leaving, and he calmly explained the law, according to his account. The manager was summoned and ordered Shaneal to show his reciept. He refused and called police, who sided with the illegally detained shopper.
Consumerist commenters take Shaneal to task for being a jerk. Why not just show your reciept and leave?
This kind of acquiesce-and-forget-about-it attitude is proof that invertebrate America is growing. We’re conditioned to unquestioningly follow authority and accused of sinister activity when we exercise our rights. I don’t blame anyone who decides he or she is tired of being treated like a criminal suspect for doing nothing wrong.
Shopkeepers can be rude and pushy. They can ban you from coming back. But they can’t hold you against your will without photographic or eyewitness evidence of shoplifting. That’s the law.
Security guards are not sworn law enforcement officers. Their badges give them about as much power as the “Junior Deputy” stickers my local sheriff’s office handed out in elementary school. Their job is to observe and report, not to obstruct and arrest.
It’s time we consumers stopped blindly following orders and started asking why we allow the markup kings to treat us all like a bunch of juvenile delinquents.
The Consumerist explains: What’s the law on reciept checks?
