The Tiger Direct Outlet Store in Raleigh, NC treats every customer as if they were a shoplifter. They usually have a "rent-a-cop", or occasionally one of their own employees, that stands by the door and checks the receipt of EVERY customer that leaves the store with merchandise. It doesn't matter if the merchandise is in a bag or not in a bag, they ALWAYS check the receipt.
The part that gets my goat is that these losers have absolutely nothing better to do with their time, so they stand right there and watch you check out and pay for your merchandise and then they STILL ask to see your receipt even though they've watched the whole transaction and have seen you pay for everything!
When they take your receipt, all they do is scribble something totally illegible on it (I assume it's supposed to be their initials or signature) and hand it right back to you. They don't even check to verify that what's on your receipt is what you're walking out the door with. So what's the freaking point?
Legally, they have no right whatsoever to stop anyone from exiting the store to check the receipt or for any other reason. The only way they can legally stop or detain a customer is if they are accusing that customer of shoplifting. Even if they're accusing the customer of shoplifting, they can't stop that customer until they have set at least one foot outside the door, not while they're in the process of leaving the register.
The whole process is a waste of the customer's time, a waste of the employee's time, and a waste of Tiger Direct's money. If they're that concerned about shoplifting, the money they're wasting on the "rent-a-cop" or store employee could be better spent on a SensorTag or CheckPoint system.
Also, most shoplifting can be avoided by providing CUSTOMER SERVICE. 90% of the time when I'm in that store nobody speaks to me or acknowledges my presense in any way, except for the cashier when I'm checking out. If the employees on the floor would pay attention to the customers while they're shopping, that would take care of a big portion of any shoplifting that may be going on.
I used to work in retail, and did it for 10 years. The one thing that was always pushed to us was customer service. If the potential shoplifters see you constantly around and you're speaking to them or acknowledging their presense in some way, they most likely won't do any shoplifting because they're afraid you'll see them.
I'm quite tempted to ignore the "rent-a-cop" the next time I'm there, and just walk out the door without showing my receipt. There really isn't anything they can do about it, and if they decide they're going to stop me for possible shoplifting after I've walked out the door they'll have a big lawsuit on their hands for accusing me falsely!
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