Originally posted by GreenCloud
Sorry Folks..the Moose out front should of told ya ..the parks closed
Word.
Regarding receipt checking at the door: Screw 'em. They have no legal right to stop you for your receipt. I tell them that if they want to charge me, they'll have to accuse me of shoplifting first, and that they'll be looking at false imprisonment charges if they bar my way out of the store.
The only purpose of the receipt check is to intimidate people, and since I'm not stealing, I won't let them do it. I'm very polite, but not apologetic.
"Your receipt?" they say, usually not bothering to ask anymore because of the sense of power their position has given them.
"No thanks," I answer. This usually throws them for a loop. I continue walking.
"I need to see your receipt!" Sometimes, they jump in front of me, sometimes it's not until I've passed them that they realize I'm not falling into the expected groove.
"No you don't, have a nice day." I continue walking, or, if they've put themselves in my way, pull out my cell phone and dial a couple numbers, then hover my finger over Send. "With respect, you can't stop me and check my receipt unless I give you permission, and I don't."
"Yes we can. Show me your receipt or I'll call the police." This is usually the point of maximum bluster. You can almost physically smell the adrenaline pouring into the bloodstream of the door guard at this point, so I don't make any sudden movements. Calmly and confidently, I speak.
"According to the law, you can only stop me if you have cause to believe I've shoplifted. I haven't, and I'm not going to show you my receipt for the purchases I made. If you don't let me past, I'll complete this call to 911 and report you to the police myself for false imprisonment. If you don't believe me about the law, call the manager over right now."
At this point, they usually back off, but on occasion, they play it to the hilt and call management or security. At one point at a Best Buy in Los Angeles, I had two security guards 'holding me' at the door while the door guy called a manager over. The receipt checker was confidently telling me how I was in a bunch of trouble and they could do whatever they wanted.
When the manager got there, he stuck his chest out proudly and told her how he had gotten me and how I wouldn't show my receipt, and scornfully mentioned how I had tried to tell him that they could not legally hold me if I didn't want to show the receipt.
With infinite sadness in her eyes that the bluff had been called, she pulled him aside and told him in no uncertain terms that I was right, and that he could NOT actually hold me. She apologized to me and I walked out.
I don't blame the door guys, they're in the classic situation of having all the responsibillity without any of the authority. Management tells them to do something without letting them know what the law is so that they'll be confident, and 99% of the sheep let them get away with it.
Rights that you give away are meaningless. Rights exercised are rights kept. Don't let fear of 'being difficult' keep you from doing it.
Just a thought.
BTW, I don't shop at Wal-Mart. They suck.
