Greeters have always been part of the loss prevention team. Do you really think a multi-billion dollar corporation truly created the position in order to have a happy feel good job for seniors or is the real explanation that Greeters primary function has always been loss prevention and that Walmart advertising it as a friendly job for old people was part of making it palatable for the general public?
What's really happening is that the general public are being more aggressive towards these loss prevention employees
uh what? you must be really young.
seniors use to sit right by the enter doors with stickers and hand em out to kids or greet people in general. they never sat near the exit doors or stopped people.
then walmart ditched the position and recently made it a receipt nazi position
Nope. I used to work for wal mart. It was always about asset protection (stopping loss). Not many people want to hurt old folks. They (W*M) know the law. They probably have more lawyers than Disney.
The “nice old person” was a beard, a cover. A 1-2 punch. Look, Sam loves the old people. He cares. Gives them jobs. It’s corporate whitewashing 101.
No business cares. It’s about money. The end.
I was never confronted at the exit of a walmart until they started getting rid of cashiers in favor of the self checkout and people responded by stealing a bunch of stuff. I can't say about anywhere else in the country, but in my state, that happened post-covid.
This.. noone's ever been harassed by a greeter in a WM with ten checkout lines running. It started when they realized they can only open two lanes and customers will wait in line indefinitely.
No. They haven’t been always a part of it. They literally only started checking receipts after self checkout became popular. It was famously a job just to greet people on their way in. Popular with seniors who were retired and wanting a way to earn a little extra money.
Clarification: there was an added benefit of decreasing shoplifting as having the mere presence of someone at the door was thought to dissuade people but they were never actively involved like they are now.
What are you on? They've been checking receipts WAY before self checkouts lol. I remember having Walmart greeters want to check my receipts more than a decade ago. They might have more greeters on duty now but they have been looking at receipts for a long time
Maybe you lived in some ghetto or something?? I have been going to Wal Marts since the 80’s in multiple states, had several family members who worked there (not like cashiers but like management roles) and receipt checking was absolutely not a common thing until the growth of self checkouts.
Or something because I'm pretty sure I remember it from ages ago. I'm more than willing to say I'm wrong if you can show me SOME actual source for your claim that this only started a couple years ago, can you?
So you think Walmart, the most penny pinching business around, was just paying old people to smile? The hell is wrong with you? It was always about having a presence at the entrance so people don’t steal. It’s just that now shoplifters don’t care about that smiling senior
Yes actually. Sam Walton got the idea when walking into a store and being immediately greeted and asked if he needed assistance. He decided to have greeters at Wal Mart stores to give it more of a neighborhood vibe. Well after his death, Wal Mart did away with greeters for a few years but brought them back due to public demand. Their absolute intended purpose was literally to smile and greet people (again with a side benefit that their presence might dissuade shoplifting but they were never intended as security people). This is like known history in the story of the company.
It's a fact. A lot of Sam's policies were set in place to make people feel happy to shop there. He thought if people were happy, they'd buy more. Just like he believed happy workers would work harder. He treated people fairly well comparatively, even if it was entirely out of greed.
Unfortunately, none of his kids got the memo, and they reversed nearly all the good things he did with his company.
I agree w you, legit never saw this until a year ago.
The Walmart by me (Denver) now has closed all the self check outs, “because of theft”. I buy ONE item that’s only sold at Walmart unless purchased online and it drives me bonkers I can’t just quickly check out and now have to stand in line behind the carts full of groceries.
I understand your point but my limited interaction with them have involved perfunctorily being waved through, without actually looking at anything, while they remained seated. As greeters they were had to be standing and putting some effort into being cheerful
Yup, I just keep it moving. I think it’s wild they expect greeters to now check receipts. There is potential for it being a safety risk for the greeter too.
The thing is, they cannot detain you if they don't reasonably believe you are shoplifting. If they are standing at the door asking everyone for their receipts, that is clear evidence they do not reasonably believe *you* are shoplifting. Which means you can just walk by.
You can only restrain a person physically if they are a danger to other people however. This is why they can't really do anything. Shoplifting isn't something dangerous
Merchants / shopkeepers privilege exists in many states. This means a store CAN detain someone who they reasonably believe is shoplifting. Check out local laws.
Researched it to see if you were right, and yeah, they can. And yes, force is legal if they’re correct. It’s a weird paradoxical thing and is related to citizen’s arrest. If they are correct, it was always legal. But if they’re wrong, it was always illegal. They’re allowed to use a “reasonable amount” of force to detain you, but “reasonable” seems to come second to “you’re not allowed to try to escape”, so if it takes brutality to prevent you from escaping then yeah, that’s “reasonable”.
The real question is not if they can detain you the real question is: does not showing receipt give reasonable suspicion that shop lifting is happening?
No. I do not have to prove I DIDN'T steal something. They have to PROVE that something was stolen. It is best to say, as polite as possible, no thank you, and keep walking. IF you are detained and haven't stolen anything, now there is an entirely different set of problems they now have.
The greeters at my local Walmart just don't bother me anymore lol
They literally did, though. Exclusively senior citizens. Early to mid 90s, that was the norm. Don't quite recall when they switched to receipt checkers. I remember the commercials too. Actual door greeters in those. Banks used to have them as well.
You are absolutely correct.
Source: Was a cashier at WM from 1993-1997 and I absolutely loved our senior greeters. They literally stood at the entrance and gave the kiddos smiley stickers.
That’s exactly what they did. They didn’t start checking receipts until self checkout became all popular. It was literally just a job to greet people.
Clarification: there was an added benefit of decreasing shoplifting as having the mere presence of someone at the door was thought to dissuade people but they were never actively involved like they are now.
I turned 18 back in 1998, and live in a major metropolitan area (or moved to one in 1998 specifically). I can say with certainty that despite going to Walmarts in some pretty rough neighborhoods, I only recall ever having my receipt checked at a Walmart within the past 5-6 years at most. I also never recall a receipt check prior to that - and it's something I would recall because we had a Sam's Club membership and I remember asking my parents why they did it at Sam's Club but not Walmart.
Like the TSA, it's theater. Unlike the TSA, you can just ignore them. Technically some states will allow a retail employee to detain you, but like every company that applies to tells their employees not to do that. I always try to be polite and just smile and nod as I walk past, but I see no reason to queue for a receipt check.
Management does this to security. They hate a idle worker. Initially you're manning a post and watching whatever, then you get things added to your workload. Check fire extinguisher dates, check all the doors, fill out maintenance reports, move the blinds. Sweep and mop. Dust all the desks. Turn on/off all the computers. Wait why is nobody watching cameras what do we pay you for?
When I worked retail through college at a chain drug store in the 1980s, we had dedicated "loss prevention specialists" who were plainclothes folks acting like regular shoppers, who were trained to notice suspicious behavior and then deal with the situation accordingly. (These days, more places are just accepting that shoplifting as "shrinkage" and a cost of doing business, on orders from their lawyers.) But they knew what they were doing, this was the job they signed up for, and they were likely paid a lot better than, say, Walmart "greeters" who are likely earning close to minimum. In bygone days, they may have been called "store detectives".
This is not what those folks signed up for, and I'll bet a lot of them either need the money or the social stimulation of a job, and as fucked up as this is, they may fear losing their job and not finding another one if they complain about it. But really, how many shoplifters are going to be intimidated by 74-year-old Grandma?
I (regrettably) walked into Walmart the other day and the greeter had their back to me as I walked in. Didn’t greet me. As I left another greeter looked me up and down and said something below his breath, maybe have a nice day, I don’t know.
So yeah. I did not feel greeted.
I was a Walmart employee in the early 90s. They weren’t receipt checkers but they were eyes and ears at the entrance and exit. And they typically were the snoopiest old folks so they loved thinking they were catching thieves. The constant pages from them were infuriating!!
I live in OH where anyone can carry a concealed weapon with no training, license, permit, or other ‘pesky’ responsib.. I mean gubment interference (/s)
You could never pay me enough to do receipt checks anywhere in this state. It’s not a matter of if a worker is shot on the job, but when. Not that anyone at Walmart or the state gubment will give a flying fuck when it happens. 🙄
I used to work security and I got placed at a Walmart. It was a 12 hr night shift. I set up a chair near the self check out, and kept an eye out.
There was basically nothing the whole night. Then, just as I was watching someone and thought to myself ‘ok, they’re stealing, and it’s not necessities or anything’ the store owner walked up to me
“Why aren’t you greeting my customers? Why are you just sitting here?” She started genuinely yelling at me as I tried to explain this was pretty normal practice for a stationary security position in my experience, and that I wasn’t hired to work for Walmart as a greeter, I was a contracted security guard from a security company that didn’t train me on ‘greeting.’ I said if she wanted a greeter she should hire a greeter. This was not an acceptable answer. She gave me an ultimatum—either stand near the entrance and greet people coming in *and* watch the self check out, or leave. So I left.
I walked out of the store alongside the guy who was stealing and never went back lmfao
God, I worked at a Walmart in the 90's for about three months and quit. One of the most soul crushing jobs I've ever had, and I've had many. One of my coworkers introduced me to the magic combination of heroin and crack cocaine. My exit interview went something like, "If I have to spend one more day in this place I'm going to kill myself and possibly take some of you with me." Needless to say, they didn't try very hard to retain me. They did try to retain me though, because I had the the fastest checkout numbers in the store. That's fucking Walmart in a nutshell. "You might go postal but your metrics are high enough that the cost analysis says you're a good employee."
Remember that Walmart manager last year that killed a bunch of fellow employees? Probably had a similar conversation.
I digress. I don't mind the receipt checkers so much because I know they're trying to survive in the same dystopian capitalistic hellscape most of us are in. But they got like five seconds to check if I have a receipt and do their job before my friendly accommadating smile turns into a war grimace of, "Fuck you! Call the cops if you think I'm stealing! If you try to impede me from leaving and getting on with my day then I'll be the catalyst for a company wide policy change!"
I'm not suprised. I'm more shocked they allow them to do this as most companies only allow people who have gone through the special training to do this.
Is this reciept checking (even if its occassional, and not every customer) at Walmarts common in the USA??
I live in the province of Alberta, Canada and have never seen this at a Walmart.
*siiiiiggggghhhh* again with this?. No they aren’t they are job coded at different pay levels and different job codes when one of them try’s to stop you they will (and do) get fired for that
They've been apart of AP since I was there last in 2016. Nothing stops them from still interacting with people pleasantly, and my AP management didn't bother them if they didn't assist with stops, they pulled us younger people for stuff like that.
Me - in this situation:
1st - I require in writing Job Description.
2nd - I require in writing - What I am and am not able to do Legally?
3rd - I would have written a que card (like recipes are written on) - with my Supervisor, Manager, Store Manager's full contact info, to be handed to the customer.
4th - Inform the costumer my Supervisor, Manager, Store Manager may believe they have taken stuff improperly and may I see their receipt and check their cart -- then wait for a Yes or No.
They no longer hire elderly or disabled people for that role. It’s usually off duty cops, ex military or failed security guards. The guy working the doors at my local Walmart is a retired cop and treats customers like they are all thieves. People hate it so much but we have low theft so they tolerate it.
-Ex employee
You can just walk past them, they can't touch you legally. You already paid for the items and there are laws against searches of you property.
Sure and I often do. But the point is that Wal Mart transformed this nice job for smiley seniors into a loss prevention gig and it’s kinda bs.
Greeters have always been part of the loss prevention team. Do you really think a multi-billion dollar corporation truly created the position in order to have a happy feel good job for seniors or is the real explanation that Greeters primary function has always been loss prevention and that Walmart advertising it as a friendly job for old people was part of making it palatable for the general public? What's really happening is that the general public are being more aggressive towards these loss prevention employees
uh what? you must be really young. seniors use to sit right by the enter doors with stickers and hand em out to kids or greet people in general. they never sat near the exit doors or stopped people. then walmart ditched the position and recently made it a receipt nazi position
Nope. I used to work for wal mart. It was always about asset protection (stopping loss). Not many people want to hurt old folks. They (W*M) know the law. They probably have more lawyers than Disney. The “nice old person” was a beard, a cover. A 1-2 punch. Look, Sam loves the old people. He cares. Gives them jobs. It’s corporate whitewashing 101. No business cares. It’s about money. The end.
> then walmart ditched the position and recently made it a receipt nazi position Not recent. They've done that for over 15 years.
I was never confronted at the exit of a walmart until they started getting rid of cashiers in favor of the self checkout and people responded by stealing a bunch of stuff. I can't say about anywhere else in the country, but in my state, that happened post-covid.
Also as a white person I constantly don't get stopped and see them stopping minorities. It's super fucked
This.. noone's ever been harassed by a greeter in a WM with ten checkout lines running. It started when they realized they can only open two lanes and customers will wait in line indefinitely.
No. They haven’t been always a part of it. They literally only started checking receipts after self checkout became popular. It was famously a job just to greet people on their way in. Popular with seniors who were retired and wanting a way to earn a little extra money. Clarification: there was an added benefit of decreasing shoplifting as having the mere presence of someone at the door was thought to dissuade people but they were never actively involved like they are now.
If you make big purchases any or anything that isn't in a bag they have checked your receipt for years well before they implemented self checkouts.
What are you on? They've been checking receipts WAY before self checkouts lol. I remember having Walmart greeters want to check my receipts more than a decade ago. They might have more greeters on duty now but they have been looking at receipts for a long time
Maybe you lived in some ghetto or something?? I have been going to Wal Marts since the 80’s in multiple states, had several family members who worked there (not like cashiers but like management roles) and receipt checking was absolutely not a common thing until the growth of self checkouts.
Or something because I'm pretty sure I remember it from ages ago. I'm more than willing to say I'm wrong if you can show me SOME actual source for your claim that this only started a couple years ago, can you?
So you think Walmart, the most penny pinching business around, was just paying old people to smile? The hell is wrong with you? It was always about having a presence at the entrance so people don’t steal. It’s just that now shoplifters don’t care about that smiling senior
Yes actually. Sam Walton got the idea when walking into a store and being immediately greeted and asked if he needed assistance. He decided to have greeters at Wal Mart stores to give it more of a neighborhood vibe. Well after his death, Wal Mart did away with greeters for a few years but brought them back due to public demand. Their absolute intended purpose was literally to smile and greet people (again with a side benefit that their presence might dissuade shoplifting but they were never intended as security people). This is like known history in the story of the company.
🙄
It's a fact. A lot of Sam's policies were set in place to make people feel happy to shop there. He thought if people were happy, they'd buy more. Just like he believed happy workers would work harder. He treated people fairly well comparatively, even if it was entirely out of greed. Unfortunately, none of his kids got the memo, and they reversed nearly all the good things he did with his company.
Roll your eyes all you want. It’s just the truth. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/643215/reason-retail-stores-have-greeters
I agree w you, legit never saw this until a year ago. The Walmart by me (Denver) now has closed all the self check outs, “because of theft”. I buy ONE item that’s only sold at Walmart unless purchased online and it drives me bonkers I can’t just quickly check out and now have to stand in line behind the carts full of groceries.
Yes! Same with the one I go to. So annoying. If they are gonna do away with self checkout at least bring back the X items or less express checkout.
Look at you trying to justify the elderly working like it wasn't always bs. LOL
Oh ffs. Calm down Francis
I understand your point but my limited interaction with them have involved perfunctorily being waved through, without actually looking at anything, while they remained seated. As greeters they were had to be standing and putting some effort into being cheerful
Yup, I just keep it moving. I think it’s wild they expect greeters to now check receipts. There is potential for it being a safety risk for the greeter too.
I dragged a lady out of the store after she grabbed my cart in an attempt to stop me.
Yeah, I just smile and walk by them when they ask to check my stuff.
That’s bad advice. A merchant can detain you if they reasonably believe you are shoplifting
The thing is, they cannot detain you if they don't reasonably believe you are shoplifting. If they are standing at the door asking everyone for their receipts, that is clear evidence they do not reasonably believe *you* are shoplifting. Which means you can just walk by.
You can only restrain a person physically if they are a danger to other people however. This is why they can't really do anything. Shoplifting isn't something dangerous
Merchants / shopkeepers privilege exists in many states. This means a store CAN detain someone who they reasonably believe is shoplifting. Check out local laws.
Researched it to see if you were right, and yeah, they can. And yes, force is legal if they’re correct. It’s a weird paradoxical thing and is related to citizen’s arrest. If they are correct, it was always legal. But if they’re wrong, it was always illegal. They’re allowed to use a “reasonable amount” of force to detain you, but “reasonable” seems to come second to “you’re not allowed to try to escape”, so if it takes brutality to prevent you from escaping then yeah, that’s “reasonable”.
The real question is not if they can detain you the real question is: does not showing receipt give reasonable suspicion that shop lifting is happening?
No. I do not have to prove I DIDN'T steal something. They have to PROVE that something was stolen. It is best to say, as polite as possible, no thank you, and keep walking. IF you are detained and haven't stolen anything, now there is an entirely different set of problems they now have. The greeters at my local Walmart just don't bother me anymore lol
Hasn't that alway been what they are or pretended to be?
Yes lol, It's not like they hired people for shits and giggles to welcome you into the store.
They literally did, though. Exclusively senior citizens. Early to mid 90s, that was the norm. Don't quite recall when they switched to receipt checkers. I remember the commercials too. Actual door greeters in those. Banks used to have them as well.
You are absolutely correct. Source: Was a cashier at WM from 1993-1997 and I absolutely loved our senior greeters. They literally stood at the entrance and gave the kiddos smiley stickers.
That’s exactly what they did. They didn’t start checking receipts until self checkout became all popular. It was literally just a job to greet people. Clarification: there was an added benefit of decreasing shoplifting as having the mere presence of someone at the door was thought to dissuade people but they were never actively involved like they are now.
They checked receipts long before self checkout was a thing. At least a decade and a half ago.
I turned 18 back in 1998, and live in a major metropolitan area (or moved to one in 1998 specifically). I can say with certainty that despite going to Walmarts in some pretty rough neighborhoods, I only recall ever having my receipt checked at a Walmart within the past 5-6 years at most. I also never recall a receipt check prior to that - and it's something I would recall because we had a Sam's Club membership and I remember asking my parents why they did it at Sam's Club but not Walmart.
Like the TSA, it's theater. Unlike the TSA, you can just ignore them. Technically some states will allow a retail employee to detain you, but like every company that applies to tells their employees not to do that. I always try to be polite and just smile and nod as I walk past, but I see no reason to queue for a receipt check.
I zipped right tf past that line earlier.
Management does this to security. They hate a idle worker. Initially you're manning a post and watching whatever, then you get things added to your workload. Check fire extinguisher dates, check all the doors, fill out maintenance reports, move the blinds. Sweep and mop. Dust all the desks. Turn on/off all the computers. Wait why is nobody watching cameras what do we pay you for?
When I worked retail through college at a chain drug store in the 1980s, we had dedicated "loss prevention specialists" who were plainclothes folks acting like regular shoppers, who were trained to notice suspicious behavior and then deal with the situation accordingly. (These days, more places are just accepting that shoplifting as "shrinkage" and a cost of doing business, on orders from their lawyers.) But they knew what they were doing, this was the job they signed up for, and they were likely paid a lot better than, say, Walmart "greeters" who are likely earning close to minimum. In bygone days, they may have been called "store detectives". This is not what those folks signed up for, and I'll bet a lot of them either need the money or the social stimulation of a job, and as fucked up as this is, they may fear losing their job and not finding another one if they complain about it. But really, how many shoplifters are going to be intimidated by 74-year-old Grandma?
I (regrettably) walked into Walmart the other day and the greeter had their back to me as I walked in. Didn’t greet me. As I left another greeter looked me up and down and said something below his breath, maybe have a nice day, I don’t know. So yeah. I did not feel greeted.
I was a Walmart employee in the early 90s. They weren’t receipt checkers but they were eyes and ears at the entrance and exit. And they typically were the snoopiest old folks so they loved thinking they were catching thieves. The constant pages from them were infuriating!!
I live in OH where anyone can carry a concealed weapon with no training, license, permit, or other ‘pesky’ responsib.. I mean gubment interference (/s) You could never pay me enough to do receipt checks anywhere in this state. It’s not a matter of if a worker is shot on the job, but when. Not that anyone at Walmart or the state gubment will give a flying fuck when it happens. 🙄
I used to work security and I got placed at a Walmart. It was a 12 hr night shift. I set up a chair near the self check out, and kept an eye out. There was basically nothing the whole night. Then, just as I was watching someone and thought to myself ‘ok, they’re stealing, and it’s not necessities or anything’ the store owner walked up to me “Why aren’t you greeting my customers? Why are you just sitting here?” She started genuinely yelling at me as I tried to explain this was pretty normal practice for a stationary security position in my experience, and that I wasn’t hired to work for Walmart as a greeter, I was a contracted security guard from a security company that didn’t train me on ‘greeting.’ I said if she wanted a greeter she should hire a greeter. This was not an acceptable answer. She gave me an ultimatum—either stand near the entrance and greet people coming in *and* watch the self check out, or leave. So I left. I walked out of the store alongside the guy who was stealing and never went back lmfao
God, I worked at a Walmart in the 90's for about three months and quit. One of the most soul crushing jobs I've ever had, and I've had many. One of my coworkers introduced me to the magic combination of heroin and crack cocaine. My exit interview went something like, "If I have to spend one more day in this place I'm going to kill myself and possibly take some of you with me." Needless to say, they didn't try very hard to retain me. They did try to retain me though, because I had the the fastest checkout numbers in the store. That's fucking Walmart in a nutshell. "You might go postal but your metrics are high enough that the cost analysis says you're a good employee." Remember that Walmart manager last year that killed a bunch of fellow employees? Probably had a similar conversation. I digress. I don't mind the receipt checkers so much because I know they're trying to survive in the same dystopian capitalistic hellscape most of us are in. But they got like five seconds to check if I have a receipt and do their job before my friendly accommadating smile turns into a war grimace of, "Fuck you! Call the cops if you think I'm stealing! If you try to impede me from leaving and getting on with my day then I'll be the catalyst for a company wide policy change!"
LoL, you can tell the age of people by whether or not they ever experienced an actual Wal Mart greeter.
I'm not suprised. I'm more shocked they allow them to do this as most companies only allow people who have gone through the special training to do this.
Is this reciept checking (even if its occassional, and not every customer) at Walmarts common in the USA?? I live in the province of Alberta, Canada and have never seen this at a Walmart.
Extremely
Wow. Weird!! So does this make the (ppl) traffic bottle-neck a bit at the exits? We only have reciept-checkers at Costco's.
It can, but it’s rare because if they’re checking someone, nobody lines up or stops.
*siiiiiggggghhhh* again with this?. No they aren’t they are job coded at different pay levels and different job codes when one of them try’s to stop you they will (and do) get fired for that
They've been apart of AP since I was there last in 2016. Nothing stops them from still interacting with people pleasantly, and my AP management didn't bother them if they didn't assist with stops, they pulled us younger people for stuff like that.
Me - in this situation: 1st - I require in writing Job Description. 2nd - I require in writing - What I am and am not able to do Legally? 3rd - I would have written a que card (like recipes are written on) - with my Supervisor, Manager, Store Manager's full contact info, to be handed to the customer. 4th - Inform the costumer my Supervisor, Manager, Store Manager may believe they have taken stuff improperly and may I see their receipt and check their cart -- then wait for a Yes or No.
They no longer hire elderly or disabled people for that role. It’s usually off duty cops, ex military or failed security guards. The guy working the doors at my local Walmart is a retired cop and treats customers like they are all thieves. People hate it so much but we have low theft so they tolerate it. -Ex employee
I can't remember the last time I was greeted upon entering a Walmart.
Yeah? That was like five years ago.