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Thread ID: 88561 2008-04-01 00:33:00 When asked to submit your bag for inspection by security upon leaving a retail store legod (4626) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
654803 2008-04-01 00:33:00 What do you do? legod (4626)
654804 2008-04-01 00:37:00 If I was asked politely, I would allow it - most stores that ask for this also have a notice near the door stating it as a condition of entry. If I thought they were on a power trip though, forget it. Erayd (23)
654805 2008-04-01 00:40:00 i do this:

youtube.com

:lol:

not really but to be honest ive never asked to have my bags searched at all - been asked once to show a receipt to prove ive bought something but thats it
MAC_H8ER (5897)
654806 2008-04-01 00:45:00 Wal-Mart here in the US has their official "Greeters" and they look at your receipts and the goods in your shopping cart to see if they tally up OK .

If I have been shopping at any other store and they accost me once I am outside, it is a technical arrest . . . and if they're wrong and I have no purloined objects, they are subject to false arrest and monetary adjustments to my bank accounts . . . so they like to check you before you leave the door .

The gray areas here are what constitutes illegal search and seizure

In the US . . . . any time they impeded you egress, they are subject to fines and such . They have to make a case to make it stick . It's hard .

If you are caretaking a small child at the time, they can be sued for kidnapping . The Lindberg Law was expanded to include intrastate as well as interstate kidnapping of a child under 18 years .

I try to co-operate as much as possible . . the shrinkage of goods in the stores is part of the escalation of the prices to everyone .
SurferJoe46 (51)
654807 2008-04-01 00:51:00 I'm assuming this is your April Fool's Day joke, legod..?

After all, why would anyone care enough to make a thread/poll on this?
Laura (43)
654808 2008-04-01 01:17:00 I'm assuming this is your April Fool's Day joke, legod..?

After all, why would anyone care enough to make a thread/poll on this?

Well obviously not all of us look as sweet and innocent as you and never get accosted unnecessarily by over zealous security staff 'just doing their job'.

Anyway, if you don't care about the topic then why did you bother posting?
legod (4626)
654809 2008-04-01 01:50:00 Whether or not a poster is situated at the door stating "conditions of entry" - the fact is that (most of) any store is a public place. (see Parker v British Airways Board [1982] 1 QB 1002 - and other, older cases cited in that case as to the nature of public and private spaces and some of the rights pertaining thereof.)

Also, when I purchase something from a shop the contract is completed when I pay for the goods at the checkout - in other words, once I pay for the goods they are mine. I have title to them.

So the nature of actually being in a shop - and the nature of buying something there - are two separate issues. Shops might like to give the impression that the "right" to search is somehow part of a contract when you enter the shop - but in actual fact there is no offer, acceptance or consideration or any other contractual component at that point in time.

When I leave the store with goods that fairly and squarely belong to me, the onus is hardly on me to prove it to anybody. If anything, the onus is on any person alleging or even suggesting that the goods are not mine to prove that they are not.

Searches that take place on leaving a store are consensual. If you refuse there is absolutely nothing that the shop can do unless there is genuine cause to believe that you have stolen something and even then they have no actual rights to search your person or your property.
Deane F (8204)
654810 2008-04-01 02:05:00 Whether or not a poster is situated at the door stating "conditions of entry" - the fact is that (most of) any store is a public place. (see Parker v British Airways Board [1982] 1 QB 1002 - and other, older cases cited in that case as to the nature of public and private spaces and some of the rights pertaining thereof.)

Also, when I purchase something from a shop the contract is completed when I pay for the goods at the checkout - in other words, once I pay for the goods they are mine. I have title to them.

So the nature of actually being in a shop - and the nature of buying something there - are two separate issues. Shops might like to give the impression that the "right" to search is somehow part of a contract when you enter the shop - but in actual fact there is no offer, acceptance or consideration or any other contractual component at that point in time.

When I leave the store with goods that fairly and squarely belong to me, the onus is hardly on me to prove it to anybody. If anything, the onus is on any person alleging or even suggesting that the goods are not mine to prove that they are not.

Searches that take place on leaving a store are consensual. If you refuse there is absolutely nothing that the shop can do unless there is genuine cause to believe that you have stolen something and even then they have no actual rights to search your person or your property.

Certainly sounds correct to me. I don't think that even the police can search you without your consent unless they suspect you are carrying drugs or you have been arrested.

Decline politely and decline firmly.
Roscoe (6288)
654811 2008-04-01 02:06:00 I never have a bag.

But no, I wouldn't be co-operative.
pctek (84)
654812 2008-04-01 02:35:00 I don't take bags with me when I go shopping, but Deane, that was a very interesting read. Thank you. Nermal (7077)
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