Agreed. Sick of being abused every day because how dare I do my job?
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The problem is that for tiny amounts of extra profit - supermarkets are putting low wage employees - often teenage casuals - into situations where they need to have these confrontations with customers.
It shouldnât be the job of people who are only trained in operating checkouts to suddenly be placed in a situation of needing to identify potential theft and then confront people - especially when most stores have actual security guards now, as well as extensive surveillance tied with machine learning to try and identify theft - ie if you did grab something and stuff it in your bag, theyâve likely recorded the whole thing and flagged you - pass that on to a security guard to deal with, not a service assistant.
The supermarkets love promoting the âdonât be mean to our staff, they are just doing their jobâ - but they act like thatâs a passive thing - Coles/Woolies have dramatically increased the change of conflict with customers through the introduction of these stricter anti-shrinkage measures. Thatâs not to defend people who do get abusive, but the supermarket giants have put a few % on their annual profit ahead of the safety of their workers.
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Any abuse copped by supermarket staff from customers is unacceptable.
By that same token though, if staff or security are rude or aggressive to a customer (and letâs face it, this does happen) in how you ask them to check their bag, thatâs also a problem.
Some people have social anxiety issues or disabilities and can find such situations quite confronting especially when handled poorly. A bit of patience and understanding both ways goes a long way.
The supermarkets have designed a system where confrontation is inevitable in the pursuit of a few extra $$$ and no one wins except the executives.
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If I was in that situation I would have just walked out and ignored the staff member. Thereâs nothing they can do anyway.
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i do this at my local JB all the time. they put the register at the back of the store - i pay, pocket my item and walk out. only once did i have a security guard on a power trip try to physically stop me and when i said i work for a law firm and hes welcome to try⌠he got out my way
Iâm by no means saying youâre a thief but that kind of behaviour is why they do it though. If you arenât going to take the item out of your pocket of course theyâre going to assume youâre stealing and proceed to do their job.
Why canât you just take it out, show the receipt and item and be on your way? Itâll take no more than 30 extra seconds.
Itâs not a power trip. Their trying to do their job and have to deal with difficult interactions from customers.
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Or if the device is small and not bagged just walk out of the store with the product in your hand alongside the receipt.
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Exactly.
Putting it in your pocket is just asking for trouble.
Put it in after youâve left the store.
I know at JB Hi-Fi they sometimes check your bags when you leave.
I would have banned you from ever shopping there again for being a recalcitrant. 
And they are entitled to. You could easily chuck an extra something in there you didnât pay for.
If you donât want your bag checked or to be questioned then order online delivery. Itâs their store they can do whatever they want to try and protect their stock.
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my objection is simple. they put the registers at the back of the store to increase profit. if they were at the front, security would see ive paid and not have to bother me.
secondly, there is a no legal obligation to show receipts or bags - thereâs no valid contract or law that says you have to (conditions of entry do not constitute a valid contract) - as someone with a law degree (but non-practicing) i see it as an erosion of my rights.
the stores have the right to ban me from entering but none have done so
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Iâm not really understanding what the big deal is. K-Mart and Target where I grew up in Perth used to check womenâs purses back in the 90s to make sure they hadnât swiped anything. Itâs been going on long before self checkouts were a thing.
They also do it at a lot of stores in the US. Walmart does it. In many cases you have to show your receipt and they check the bigger items that they can see in the trolley are on the receipt. The warehouse stores (Sams Club and Costco) scan the barcode on the receipt and randomly scan some of the items in your trolley or bags to make sure they are on there, and that was happening before self checkouts existed too.
It shouldnât be a big deal. If you havenât stolen anything then you have nothing to worry about. Fighting it only makes the whole experience harder than it has to be.
You are correct that there is no legal obligation to do any of it, but the person checking is just doing their job. You can walk right by them if you want, and they canât do anything, but just donât be an ass to them. They personally couldnât give a shit what youâre doing. They are doing what they were told to do.
There are much bigger rights issues in society to worry about that someone asking to check your bag and receipt in a store. But you do you.
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Agreed.
If asked, show the receipt and be on your merry way. Itâs not that hard. Donât make a scene.
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Handbags?
Purses/handbags/anything they were carrying. There was a person permanently positioned at the entrance/exit who would check everyone on their way in and out.
That was still going on when I last visited Perth a few years ago too. Just part of the shopping experience.
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I always find it funny that people will spend more time arguing with staff about it. It takes a few seconds to show them and be on your way, but instead they will argue and hold everyone else up.
Itâs the same with people who make a scene about item prices, like the checkout person is the one who sets the prices. Seriously. Buy the item or donât, no one else gives a shit.
I donât know how people work retail. Full credit to those here who said they do, and to anyone else who does. The public piss me off as it is but having to listen to stupid shit all day every day would be too much for me.
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JB Hi Fi has a person at the exit checking bags and purchases against receipts. Been so for many years. Similarly with K Mart. Everyone expects it and is ready to show their bags on exit.
Itâs fairly well established and acknowledged that businesses have the right to try to prevent theft from their premises and can legally check bags (with some restrictions).
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David Jones is renovating four stores in NSW and two in Victoria, most of which have relinquished entire floors back to landlords as consumers browse the outlets of standalone brands and shop online rather than in person.
In Sydney, David Jonesâ Bondi Westfield store is being refurbished. It will reopen in mid-2025 with only three floors after relinquishing one full floor and part of another. Chatswood Chase and Burwood, which had three floors, are trading across one floor while renovations are under way, and they will shrink to two. The Burwood store will reopen before Christmas and Chatswood Chase is expected to reopen in late 2025.
David Jonesâ Wollongong store shut its food hall and relinquished a floor in the middle of last year.
In Melbourne, David Jonesâ Southland store has started a two-year renovation and will trim one floor and part of another floor to reopen across two floors in June 2026. Refurbishments to the Chadstone and Bourke Street Mall stores will be complete by August, with no changes to the footprint.
Not surprised by this but in my experience they arenât providing anything special as far as the retail experience goes so people would go to the store decide on the size you want but by the time you find a staff member behind a register itâs more convenient to go home and buy it online sometime significantly cheaper. David Jones offers free delivery for orders above $100 which is quite reasonable.
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