I might try this at one of the retail stores that do scanner thing. Then sue them for mental distress. They’ll pay up just to avoid bad press.(Damn! was I a lawyer in a previous life? )
New Walmart SC opened up in town, and the bug in the system wouldn’t let anything that had been scanned out. After checking everyone’s bags for several hours (opening day, nonetheless) they just started letting everyone through!
In my state it isn’t stealing until you walk out the doors, so you could do this all you wanted since these are 20 feet inside the doors of most businesses that use them. Loss prevention people are told not to stop someone until they leave the building into the parking lot. It is technically legal to shove stuff down your pants or whatever and then pull it out to pay for it later at the cashier, it is not legal however to leave without paying for it.
Also on a side note, one does not actually need a receipt to prove you pay for it either. One case here that never made it to court, a man got tired of waiting in a line at a Wal-Mart for over an hour (yes evidence proves he actually waited in line for over an hour and wasn’t making it up) he was buying a .95 cent item too, so he eventually just threw down a 5 dollar bill and said keep the change. The cashier who clearly must have been having a bad day started screaming thief and got security to detain him. The police were called and several witnesses said to the police “nope he bought it, we saw him throw down a 5 to the cashier as he walked out”
Just goes to show, people don’t actually have to wait in long slow lines if they don’t want to, just don’t expect your change back…of course if you use a card like most people then your SOL. I actually didn’t believe this at first so I looked up the legal code, sure enough there is nothing in the code that says one must have a receipt or wait in line, it merely states you cannot leave without purchasing it.
Definition of purchasing if it went to court would be up to the court to determine if a receipt is needed, which if it were to rule that way then it would be a crime every time someone paid for something and the cashier didn’t give someone a receipt.
Had that happen Sunday. As I was lining up the cart to go to the car, someone came in and set off the alarm. I turned to an employee near by and asked, “Are you stopping them from coming in now?” He just grinned enigmatically.
whiteheron over 7 years ago
I might try this at one of the retail stores that do scanner thing. Then sue them for mental distress. They’ll pay up just to avoid bad press.(Damn! was I a lawyer in a previous life? )
jbduncan over 7 years ago
Stealing a book to read from the free public library? HMMM.
J Short over 7 years ago
Book him Danno.
NeedaChuckle Premium Member over 7 years ago
New store opened up and alarm was going off with people entering store. I stood and watched the looks on people’s faces for a while, LOL!
xeacons over 7 years ago
New Walmart SC opened up in town, and the bug in the system wouldn’t let anything that had been scanned out. After checking everyone’s bags for several hours (opening day, nonetheless) they just started letting everyone through!
angelfiredragon over 7 years ago
In my state it isn’t stealing until you walk out the doors, so you could do this all you wanted since these are 20 feet inside the doors of most businesses that use them. Loss prevention people are told not to stop someone until they leave the building into the parking lot. It is technically legal to shove stuff down your pants or whatever and then pull it out to pay for it later at the cashier, it is not legal however to leave without paying for it.
Also on a side note, one does not actually need a receipt to prove you pay for it either. One case here that never made it to court, a man got tired of waiting in a line at a Wal-Mart for over an hour (yes evidence proves he actually waited in line for over an hour and wasn’t making it up) he was buying a .95 cent item too, so he eventually just threw down a 5 dollar bill and said keep the change. The cashier who clearly must have been having a bad day started screaming thief and got security to detain him. The police were called and several witnesses said to the police “nope he bought it, we saw him throw down a 5 to the cashier as he walked out”
Just goes to show, people don’t actually have to wait in long slow lines if they don’t want to, just don’t expect your change back…of course if you use a card like most people then your SOL. I actually didn’t believe this at first so I looked up the legal code, sure enough there is nothing in the code that says one must have a receipt or wait in line, it merely states you cannot leave without purchasing it.
Definition of purchasing if it went to court would be up to the court to determine if a receipt is needed, which if it were to rule that way then it would be a crime every time someone paid for something and the cashier didn’t give someone a receipt.
Jeff0811 over 7 years ago
All that is missing is a librarian shushing the alarm.
hippogriff over 7 years ago
Had that happen Sunday. As I was lining up the cart to go to the car, someone came in and set off the alarm. I turned to an employee near by and asked, “Are you stopping them from coming in now?” He just grinned enigmatically.