Costco Member Privileges and Conditions

y_p_w said:
At least in my state there’s no requirement to show a receipt when asked, unless it’s a membership store. At the latter it’s part of the membership agreement. One coworker said he refused unless they said they suspected him of theft, which is the exception.

Can California retailers force customers to show receipts?​

It’s legal for stores to create receipt-checking policies. However, according to California Penal Code 490.5, also known as Shopkeeper’s Privilege, most customers in California are not legally required to show their receipt before leaving a store. The law requires store employees to have probable cause to legally detain a customer. If a retailer doesn’t have good reason to suspect a case of shoplifting, they cannot force anyone to stop and show a receipt.​
​
“Nobody is shaking me down for a receipt. I will politely say ‘No thank you’ and keep walking out the door,” said Eric Stanton social media post. “Do NOT call me a thief.”​
​
The exception to the rule are membership stores such as Costco and Sam’s Club. At membership stores, customers consent to receipts checks as a term and condition for their membership. While not stopping for a receipt check is not a criminal offense, it is grounds for a membership cancellation.​
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Huh? Oh, just finished reading your post. True, warehouse clubs is a "Club" you agree to the terms and conditions.

As far as a public store in ANY state, no, of course you cant be required to show a receipt is my feeling. I see people stopping at places like Walmart to show receipts. I used to see it at Best Buy but have not for years now. I always walk right past them. Im not showing receipts to anyone except warehouse clubs, which is a club and membership conditions that you agree too.

*LOL* what are they going to do, tackle you? Accuse you of a crime they have no evidence of? Sorry but this is the USA, land of the free, innocent unless proven guilty. I feel insulted if patronizing a store and then want to see a receipt when I leave. No way.
 
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rijndael said:
Except that the never compare the pictures, so it's still an issue, at least at my store.
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BJ's used to have photos on its member IDs, but eliminated the photos on newer IDs. When I replaced my worn card last year, the new one had no photo.
 
4WD said:
Not even going to read all that …
Your state is a role model on how much can be stolen …
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This is pretty common in other states.

According to Texas penal code 124.001, shoppers may not have to stop at exits to have their receipts checked. The law states, “A person who reasonably believes that another has stolen or is attempting to steal property is privileged to detain that person in a reasonable manner and for a reasonable time to investigate ownership of the property.”​
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So, unless a store suspects that a person has committed a crime, they cannot legally force a person exiting a store to present a receipt.​
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HOUSTON — Receipt checkers who stop shoppers before exiting Walmart are a well-known feature. Although most people will stop without argument to produce their receipt, do you have to?​
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To verify, we went to Fort Bend County Pct. 3 Constable Wayne Thompson.​
“There is no law (penal code) that allows a store to demand you show your receipt,” explained Thompson. “You can walk on by if you wish.”​
 
To note: If a cashier or you in the self checkout accidentally scan an item twice, it might be caught by a Costco employee exiting the store. Say the receipt shows 8 items and the employee at the exit counts 7 in the cart. Not a bad thing.

A few things are locked up in Costco like earbuds and headphones. But you grab a cardboard pic of the item and they get it when you check out.

The thing I notice about Costco is that they are in affluent ares. There are 3 Costcos around the north side of Columbus.
 
skyactiv said:
To note: If a cashier or you in the self checkout accidentally scan an item twice, it might be caught by a Costco employee exiting the store. Say the receipt shows 8 items and the employee at the exit counts 7 in the cart. Not a bad thing.
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But that's the rub, at my store, they don't actually count anything! They just look at the receipt and put a black sharpie on it and hand it back. It's perfunctory.
 
skyactiv said:
To note: If a cashier or you in the self checkout accidentally scan an item twice, it might be caught by a Costco employee exiting the store. Say the receipt shows 8 items and the employee at the exit counts 7 in the cart. Not a bad thing.

A few things are locked up in Costco like earbuds and headphones. But you grab a cardboard pic of the item and they get it when you check out.

The thing I notice about Costco is that they are in affluent ares. There are 3 Costcos around the north side of Columbus.
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They can be in more affluent areas, but not always. I see them in my area in lower income cities relative to the region. The only Costco in Marin County is in Novato, which is the least expensive urban/suburban part of the county.

Often it’s a matter of where they could find a place to build. I’ve been to an urban Costco built around a parking garage.
 
JeffKeryk said:
What is so hard about showing your receipt? No one is accusing me of stealing; in fact they are helping me buy catching stealers so I don't have to pay for their thievery.

And maybe teach them a valuable life lesson.
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I’m not giving any judgement. But as a matter of law, most retailers (in pretty much every state apparently) can’t enforce a policy of showing receipts.

The Shopkeeper’s Privilege is mentioned, but even that doesn’t require anyone to produce a receipt. It allows a retail employee to detain someone if there’s probable cause that retail theft has been committed. And even then, most large retailers (even Walmart) have policies that they don’t detain, but just monitor and then report to law enforcement. Even WM asset protection usually doesn’t intervene.
 
y_p_w said:
I’m not giving any judgement. But as a matter of law, most retailers (in pretty much every state apparently) can’t enforce a policy of showing receipts.
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Understood and apologies if my post sounded that way. That was not my intention.

I have to believe we wouldn't need checkers if people, as a whole, were more honest. And not bear the cost of prevention.
 
I was at Costco about a week ago and checking out ended up being -maybe- 5 minutes. But an employee came and scanned all the items while in line. Then the checker simply took the card, scanned it, did the credit card trasaction and DONE.

After scanning they recounted the number of items. The register employee also counted the number of items as did the door checker on the way out. I bet it still was 5 minutes or more less than What Walmart could have pulled off in their best case scenario. Key words; "best case" Not gonna happen a lot at Walmart. I can't comment on Sams because I can't fathom paying money just to enter a Walmart owned store.

What it comes down to is the overall experience at Walmart is so terrible, I just cringe at the thought of going there unless I know they have something nobody else carries. A great alternative is Meijer. As soon as I walk in, the experience is so much better and refreshing it's a relief that I have that option. The newest downside is Meijer doesn't carry jugs of ESP 0w-20 so I go to the freak show for that. I'll check Meijer again next time but I'm not counting on it. Usually the Mobil 1 jugs are about $2 more but at times I'd get them on sale for the same or less than Walmart's regular price. I'll gladly pay the $2.
 
I got rid of my Costco card. Used to love Costco, and was a member for over 10 years, and prior to that, went with my parents, who were members as long as we’ve had Costco. We have Costco, Sam’s and BJ’s near us. Costco used to be the best in my opinion and was for a long time. But in the past 3 or so years, their customer service has greatly declined, they treat their customers like it’s a privilege to even be there, and the Gestapo Face ID card scanning at the door is just ridiculous.

BJ’s usually has way cheaper prices on gas than Costco and while they don’t have as much stuff as Costco, I can get whatever else at Sam’s where I don’t get treated like I’m stealing the second I walk in the door or like it’s some great honor to be able to buy a $1.50 hotdog.

BTW, if you really want to go into Costco and don’t have a card, tell them you are going to the pharmacy. Non-members are allowed to use the pharmacy by law.
 
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