Fry's

[kanling]

Why does Costco need to check a receipt when I'm walking out with a car battery? Do they think I hid it in my shirt and walked past the checkouts?

Hey, California... the rest of the country wishes we have Fry's. Anything is better than the 'Shack.

 

[Dan4510]

I bought an 80c drink from sam's yesterday and had to get my receipt marked before leaving.

Only problem, it hassles the honest people and doesnt do much to stop the dishonest, they work to get around a mark on the reciept.

Dan

 

[johnsmith]

quote:

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It's THEIR system, not mine.

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That's what I keep telling my parole officer, but he never listens.

Somebody get all these GD reciept-checkers off my back! I will not be opressed!

 

[Pablo]

So Fry's name brand crap isn't the real sheet? Or it's failed stuff?

My urgency to go to the Fry's in Renton kinda dried up.

 

[Cutehumor]

quote:

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Originally posted by LarryL:

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I was at a fast food place last night, only customer in the store, placed an order and was given a receipt with a number on it. When my order was ready, remember, only customer in the store, the girl, instead of just giving me the order, came up to the counter and called out, "931 is ready!". I think this young lady is ready to step up in her career and get a job at Fry's. [/QB][/QUOTE]

your reading too much into that.

she probably is so used to calling the orders out or trained by number it's second nature.

 

[jmacmaster]

quote:

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Originally posted by Tosh:
A quick search found this web page:

Are Door Bag Searches Legal?

Yes, as long as the inspection is voluntary. No, if the bag check is involuntary or coerced. This is a rather fine legal distinction that is subject to misunderstanding and abuse. Basically, nothing in the law gives the merchant the right to detain a customer for the purpose of searching a shopping bag unless there is a reasonable suspicion of retail theft. See my web page on Shoplifting: Detention & Arrest for more details

A customer can refuse to have their bag checked and simply walk out the door past the bag checker. Hopefully the bag checker has been trained to know that they cannot force anyone to submit to a bag search without cause. This is important because the expectation of the bag checker is that all bag contents have been purchased. The worst thing that could happen is that an aggressive bag checker would forcibly detain or threaten a customer who refused to comply with the voluntary search

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I'm a lawyer and well-versed in search and seizure law. The post quoted above is correct. The only other comment I'll make is that if you didn't purchase anything you won't have a bag to check, so I don't know why the post keeps refering to the checking of a bag. What the post says about bag checks also of course applies to search of the person.

 

[kanling]

Why isn't it legal to search someone? It isn't the government, the searcher is a private entity on their own private property. As a customer, you are a guest on their property.

I'm not arguing, I would just like to know. (I'm looking forward to possibly mixing things up a little next time I'm in Sam's Club

)

 

[Matt_S]

quote:

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Originally posted by jmacmaster:

quote:

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Originally posted by Tosh:
A quick search found this web page:

Are Door Bag Searches Legal?

Yes, as long as the inspection is voluntary. No, if the bag check is involuntary or coerced. This is a rather fine legal distinction that is subject to misunderstanding and abuse. Basically, nothing in the law gives the merchant the right to detain a customer for the purpose of searching a shopping bag unless there is a reasonable suspicion of retail theft. See my web page on Shoplifting: Detention & Arrest for more details

A customer can refuse to have their bag checked and simply walk out the door past the bag checker. Hopefully the bag checker has been trained to know that they cannot force anyone to submit to a bag search without cause. This is important because the expectation of the bag checker is that all bag contents have been purchased. The worst thing that could happen is that an aggressive bag checker would forcibly detain or threaten a customer who refused to comply with the voluntary search

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I'm a lawyer and well-versed in search and seizure law. The post quoted above is correct. The only other comment I'll make is that if you didn't purchase anything you won't have a bag to check, so I don't know why the post keeps refering to the checking of a bag. What the post says about bag checks also of course applies to search of the person.

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That's really nice to know. The only store around here that I go to that does this is Sam's Club and the checker couldn't usually care less. They just swipe the receipt with a highligher and let you move on, sometimes feigning an attempt to look through the cart and match the items to the receipt. They very rarely actually read the receipt. If you don't have any items, you just walk through. But, on the other hand, if I ever get any guff, I'll know exactly what to say.

 

[springnr]

At Sam's you are a club member so I guess being checked could be part of the membership requirements.

Bottom line though is once I have paid for my purchases, the items become my property, not the stores!

If the store wants to keep their people in line or check for mistakes they can darn well do it without involving me.

At Frys I tell them no thanks and just keep walking.

 

[LarryL]

quote:

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I bought an 80c drink from sam's yesterday and had to get my receipt marked before leaving.

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I was at a fast food place last night, only customer in the store, placed an order and was given a receipt with a number on it. When my order was ready, remember, only customer in the store, the girl, instead of just giving me the order, came up to the counter and called out, "931 is ready!". I think this young lady is ready to step up in her career and get a job at Fry's.

 

[PandaBear]

quote:

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So Fry's name brand crap isn't the real sheet? Or it's failed stuff?

My urgency to go to the Fry's in Renton kinda dried up.

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They may or maynot be. Usually the really cheap stuff are either 1) surplus, 2) reject by OEM but OK for retail (OEM has higher standard for their spec), 3) Known defect, 4) Refurb, 5) Black/Grey market merchandise that may or maynot be fake.

I don't think they carry everything and most of their stuffs are normal/good quality. It is the big pellet of white box that said "Toshiba" or "Pioneer", etc on them that you need to be aware of. Manufacture usually don't sell to Fry's unless they have no choice, when they already saturated the market and have absolutely no other way to sell than "dump" it at Fry's to get rid of them.

I have no problem with them back in the days as they were the cheapest, and I know what I am getting (in those days us college students upgrade our PC every 6 months). But now the online stores like newegg and zipzoomfly are so much cheaper and better service, that I rarely drive all the way to Fry's anymore.

 

[jmacmaster]

quote:

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Originally posted by kanling:
Why isn't it legal to search someone? It isn't the government, the searcher is a private entity on their own private property. As a customer, you are a guest on their property.

I'm not arguing, I would just like to know. (I'm looking forward to possibly mixing things up a little next time I'm in Sam's Club

)

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The short answer is that it is not legal because the law does not allow it.

The long answer is that, generally speaking, a private party does not have the right to stop and detain you unless they have probable cause to believe that you have committed a crime. In many and maybe most states, if the private party is (or works for) a storeowner, the private party can also search you if he has probable cause to believe that you've stolen something. We can't have people going around stopping and searching other people for little or no reason. Its an invasion of your privacy, your personal space, and your person. If someone does this to you its similar to the criminal offense of kidnapping and is called the civil law tort of false imprisonment, for which you can sue the person and obtain money damages. State laws vary on the subject of arrests and searches by private persons, but generally, nationally speaking, the above rules apply. For example, here's the Montana law on the subject:

46-6-502. Arrest by private person. (1) A private person may arrest another when there is probable cause to believe that the person is committing or has committed an offense and the existing circumstances require the person's immediate arrest.
(2) A private person making an arrest shall immediately notify the nearest available law enforcement agency or peace officer and give custody of the person arrested to the officer or agency.
History: En. 95-611 by Sec. 1, Ch. 196, L. 1967; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 274, L. 1974; R.C.M. 1947, 95-611(part); amd. Sec. 40, Ch. 800, L. 1991.

46-6-506. Temporary detention by merchant -- liability. (1) A merchant, as defined in 30-11-301, who has reason to believe that a person has committed or is in the process of committing the offense of theft may stop and temporarily detain that person. The merchant:
(a) shall promptly inform the person that the stop is for investigation of shoplifting and that upon completion of the investigation, the person will be released or turned over to the custody of a peace officer;
(b) may demand the person's name and present or last address and question the person in a reasonable manner for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the person is guilty of shoplifting;
(c) may take into possession any merchandise for which the purchase price has not been paid and that is in the possession of the person or has been concealed from full view; and
(d) may detain the person or request the person to remain on the premises until a peace officer arrives.
(2) A stop, detention, questioning, or recovery of merchandise under this section must be done in a reasonable manner and time. Unless evidence of concealment is obvious and apparent to the merchant, this section does not authorize a search of the detained person other than a search of the person's coat or other outer garments and any package, bag, or other container. After the purpose of a stop has been accomplished or 30 minutes have elapsed, whichever occurs first, the merchant shall allow the person to go unless the person is arrested and turned over to the custody of a peace officer.
(3) A merchant stopping, detaining, or arresting a person on the belief that the person is shoplifting is not liable for damages to the person unless the merchant acts in a manner contrary to this section.
(4) As used in this section, the following definitions apply:
(a) "Concealment" means any act or deception done purposely or knowingly upon or outside the premises of a wholesale or retail store or other mercantile establishment, with the intent to deprive the merchant of all or part of the value of the merchandise. The following acts or deceptive conduct is prima facie evidence of concealment:
(i) concealing merchandise upon the person or in a container or otherwise removing merchandise from full view while upon the premises;
(ii) removing, changing, or altering a price tag;
(iii) transferring or moving any merchandise upon the premises to obtain a lower price than the merchandise was offered for sale for by the merchant; or
(iv) abandoning or disposing of any merchandise in such a manner that the merchant will be deprived of all or part of the value of the merchandise.
(b) "Shoplifting" means the theft of any goods offered for sale by a wholesale or retail store or other mercantile establishment.
History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 180, L. 1993.

 

[kanling]

Hmmm. So, a store detaining you against your wishes (even for a couple of seconds) I guess could be considered illegal. Though there is probably some state-to-state variation.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with them voluntarily asking you to stop.

And there is nothing wrong with them telling you "Don't come here again or we'll charge you with tresspassing" if you annoy them too much.

Maybe if they ask me to stop, I'll just ask, "Are you arresting me?"

 

[LarryL]

A couple of years ago, a place where is was doing some contract programming got a notice that a certain model hard drive was under recall, and to stop using existing models because of some severe problems. This place changed them in a panic and for good reason, several had already tanked. But that same model was for sale all summer at Fry's, and several times in a big stack at the front entrance. This was beyond the time that the manufacturer honored a free, pay for the shipping swap. I was told by severl friends that do hardware work that it was common to find situations like that a Fry's. They said that Fry's was the 99 cent store of the computer hardware would and you have to be a bit careful when shopping there. There are good deals there, but sometimes they are too good. And the employees that work there might not be of much help, especially if they have to move or answer a question.