USA
In all 50 states, shoppers are under no actual obligation to accede to such a search unless the employee has reasonable grounds to suspect shoplifting, and arrests the customer or takes or looks at the receipt from the customer without violating any laws or if the customer has signed a membership agreement which stipulates that customers will subject themselves to inspections before taking the purchased merchandise from the store. In the cases of Sam's Club and Costco, the contracts merely say that it is their policy to check receipts at the exit or that they "reserve the right". That wording does not specify the results of non-compliance by the customer, and since they did not have a right to re-check receipts in the first place, it may not be legally binding at all. The purchaser who holds the receipt owns the merchandise. Employees who harass, assault, touch, or detain customers or take their purchased merchandise may be committing torts or crimes against the customers. They may have a contractual right to check your receipt, but legal experts report that they do not have a right to cross-check it against the merchandise in the customer's cart (which would hold up the waiting line a lot longer)Source URL: http://lifestyleartsblogs.blogspot.com/2011/05/we-hate-shoplifting.html
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