Be Careful Inserting your CC. Wild story!

[RetMD21]

I tend to get a receipt too but recently it has become maybe a 50-50 shot (probably lower, actually) as to whether the pump will spit out a receipt. More often than not, you have to go inside and ask the cashier to print the receipt because they didn't bother to fill up the paper at the pump. So then, you may have to wait in a 5 person line and wait 10 minutes to ask for the receipt. Very tedious!

I snap a picture in those cases

 

[Franklin]

I snap a picture in those cases

great idea MD...helps avoid the lottery line

 

[Alex The Great]

Hmm this has never happened to me so far. But I always insist on getting a receipt. Also I never use a credit card directly these days. I use Apple Pay which has an additional layer of security. But not sure if it helps in such a situation. Anyway thanks for the story, I think we all have to be more careful with Walgreens.

 

[Katsmeow]

Like most here, I always get a receipt.

But, I do more. Many people throw their receipts away. Some wait until the charge shows up on the account. I've known people to simply immediately throw away the receipt. Throwing away the receipt defeats the purpose of the receipt!

So, I scan in all receipts. All of them. No matter how small. It is easier to have a consistent rule to do them all than to think about whether I scan in that receipt or this receipt.

So I gather all receipts and periodically scan them in giving the a name like, say, 2023-09-13 Walgreens. I then put them in folders by year and also save them in Evernote (where they are searchable). So if I need to find the receipt from 3 years ago it is easy to do so.

 

[dixonge]

so far that's my conclusion

I would agree, except for one part - the police report. That's when they added the detail that your ID said you were 35. I have two big problems with this:

1. They never saw your ID. If they did, and became suspicious, they should have kept your purchase and asked you to leave, or called the police right away.

2. Why *would* they have looked at your ID? There is no longer a reason to w/ chipped cards. I haven't had anyone ask for mine for years now.

To me, this indicates that it wasn't just the employee. Their boss would have filed the police report and they probably added the part about a suspicious ID to help justify filing it. I guess.

That's a really odd one!

 

[GenXguy]

I never had an issue in many years of paying with CC at Walgreens.

But on this topic of receipts, Walmart's self checkouts just recently starting prompting me to print or email receipt. It used to just print automatically without prompting.

 

[Alex The Great]

So, I scan in all receipts. All of them. No matter how small. It is easier to have a consistent rule to do them all than to think about whether I scan in that receipt or this receipt.

Actually I do the same. And even more. After the scan I load pdf into GoogleDocs to convert it to the text through the text recognition software. Then manually fix it and store in certain text format. Hope to automate this step as well. After that, a simple script parse all these text files and generate a summary each week, month and year.
But I'm not sure how does it help in this situation?

 

[badatmath]

I never had an issue in many years of paying with CC at Walgreens.

But on this topic of receipts, Walmart's self checkouts just recently starting prompting me to print or email receipt. It used to just print automatically without prompting.

Yes it irritates me to have to touch the dirty screen and wait! (Yes, get off my lawn. . . )

And lest you think I am a germaphobe I don't wipe off the carts either (AZ sun should kill off any germs lurking on the carts as they sit outside. . . maybe). but somehow it is gross to have to touch the checkout when I didn't before.

It is the only store I usually get a receipt now too because some of them want to see it as you leave. The ones that don't check I never take the receipt at all. Perhaps I should start taking them in view of this thread but seems remote chance of such a thing happening . . . IDK.

 

[donheff]

Sounds like the cashier screwed up; wasn't paying attention at the conclusion of the transaction and did not notice that the CC transaction failed. Then tried to cover their own a$$ by blaming the customer.

This was my guess too. She was already in trouble and afraid of being fired so she made it sound like the customer's fault. If so, she went overboard.

 

[old medic]

Had a similar incident at our local store several years ago... They said it was a gas drive off. The nice part is this story shows how our community is.
I stopped and filled up, positive I paid. a few minutes after I got home the phone rings and they informed me I didnt pay... I go back and I said I had paid at the pump, But paid again. Next bank statement... sure enough side by side charges for the same amount. Took it to the store and they paid me back in cash for it. Always got a receipt after that.

Another story from the same store... phone rings and I know the lady. see asks if i lived next to so and so... yup our closet neighbor 300 yards thru the woods. She asked If I could get him a message... He filled his truck with diesel, over $100, went in the store, picked up a few things... BSed a while and left without paying for the fuel.

 

[Franklin]

I would agree, except for one part - the police report. That's when they added the detail that your ID said you were 35. I have two big problems with this:

1. They never saw your ID. If they did, and became suspicious, they should have kept your purchase and asked you to leave, or called the police right away.

2. Why *would* they have looked at your ID? There is no longer a reason to w/ chipped cards. I haven't had anyone ask for mine for years now.

To me, this indicates that it wasn't just the employee. Their boss would have filed the police report and they probably added the part about a suspicious ID to help justify filing it. I guess.

That's a really odd one!

For clarity I purchased a nicotine product and the cashier needed my DL for age ID and she scanned the back. Where the 35 age came from is anyone’s guess.

 

[Time2]

fabricated[/B] the police report.

I would consider not suing Walgreens for them firing the employee. We can't have that person in charge of whether people get a criminal record on fabricated evidence.That person is a criminal.

 

[audreyh1]

Like most here, I always get a receipt.

But, I do more. Many people throw their receipts away. Some wait until the charge shows up on the account. I've known people to simply immediately throw away the receipt. Throwing away the receipt defeats the purpose of the receipt!

So, I scan in all receipts. All of them. No matter how small. It is easier to have a consistent rule to do them all than to think about whether I scan in that receipt or this receipt.

So I gather all receipts and periodically scan them in giving the a name like, say, 2023-09-13 Walgreens. I then put them in folders by year and also save them in Evernote (where they are searchable). So if I need to find the receipt from 3 years ago it is easy to do so.

I keep all my receipts only until I reconcile the associated CC statement. After that I keep only maybe 1-2% of the receipts - medical, large purchases under warranty, etc. No scanning.

 

[RetMD21]

I keep all my receipts only until I reconcile the associated CC statement. After that I keep only maybe 1-2% of the receipts - medical, large purchases under warranty, etc. No scanning.

That's largely what I do too. I just make sure all the charges are ours and scan the 1-2%

 

[folivier]

We all are the exception. I can't count the times I get gas and the previous person's receipt is still hanging out of the machine.

 

[audreyh1]

If the gas pump pumps gas, they’ve already got your CC info otherwise they don’t start. Many times no receipt (by design?) so we take a picture for our records. Rarely willing to go into the station.

 

[Chuckanut]

OP should be happy he lives in a city where the police have the time to investigate suspected small crimes.

Fun Fact: It wasn’t that long ago that Italy required all customers to keep their receipt until they were a certain distance from the store. If a customer was stopped by an enforcement officer from the Ministero delle Finanze and did not have a receipt, the customer was fined. The idea was to make sure the merchants were ringing up all their sales and thus be subject to all the various taxes.
I believe this is no longer done.

 

[euro]

Like most here, I always get a receipt.

But, I do more. Many people throw their receipts away. Some wait until the charge shows up on the account. I've known people to simply immediately throw away the receipt. Throwing away the receipt defeats the purpose of the receipt!

So, I scan in all receipts. All of them. No matter how small. It is easier to have a consistent rule to do them all than to think about whether I scan in that receipt or this receipt.

So I gather all receipts and periodically scan them in giving the a name like, say, 2023-09-13 Walgreens. I then put them in folders by year and also save them in Evernote (where they are searchable). So if I need to find the receipt from 3 years ago it is easy to do so.

That is an impressive degree of discipline! I'm envious, but I don;t think I have it in me....

 

[Franklin]

OP should be happy he lives in a city where the police have the time to investigate suspected small crimes.

Fun Fact: It wasn’t that long ago that Italy required all customers to keep their receipt until they were a certain distance from the store. If a customer was stopped by an enforcement officer from the Ministero delle Finanze and did not have a receipt, the customer was fined. The idea was to make sure the merchants were ringing up all their sales and thus be subject to all the various taxes.
I believe this is no longer done.

OP here. Yes glad the PD investigated but my grip is it's a waste of taxpayers money on stuff the Walgreens should have handled themselves. Snatch N grab and shootings should be the priority.

 

[CaptTom]

Thanks for sharing that story, not something I would have thought of. Now I know to watch out for that situation.

I'm surprised how many here keep receipts. Lately it seems the person at the register always asks me, and it seems they assume I don't want one. I thought I was in a very small minority who keep them.

I used to scan them all in, too, but I've taken to just filing them. They don't take up much room, and I can purge an old years' folder when I start a new year.

Now, my story about having the police called on me:

My son's GF picked up his check and asked me to drive her to the bank to deposit it. I pulled up outside and dropped her off, then drove a little bit away from the entrance to wait for her to come back.

What I didn't know was she was in the bank, waiting for me to come in and make the deposit, because I have an account there and she doesn't. The check, after all, wasn't in her name.

So there's a suspicious young lady loitering in the lobby, and a suspicious-looking old guy parked outside in what might be a getaway car. What would you do?

I figured it out after a few minutes, went in and made the deposit. On our way out the door, we passed the policeman coming in. I heard something along the lines of "never mind" coming from inside, while the door was closing.

Only when I saw the police car pulled up to the curb, like it had been rushing to the scene, did I put it all together.

 

[Sunset]

I snap a picture in those cases

+1
Same here, when the gas pump doesn't print a receipt, I take a photo of the pump when in a hurry (like costco), otherwise I go inside for a receipt.

 

[Sunset]

While I get the receipts. I just stick them into an envelope labeled for month & year. Often I put 3 or 4 months in 1 envelope.
It's easy and in a few years I can just shred the contents easily.

I have started to scan in receipts for large purchases, as it's much easier to find them on the computer and in some cases the warranty lasts years.
Some receipts fade with time.

 

[11522914]

If the gas pump pumps gas, they’ve already got your CC info otherwise they don’t start. Many times no receipt (by design?) so we take a picture for our records. Rarely willing to go into the station.

What a great idea. I always get a receipt and gas stations are notorious for failing to print a receipt. So I have to go inside to get one.

I really only need it to enter into Quicken so from now on I'll just take a picture and avoid going inside.

 

[scrabbler1]

Fascinating story. Sounds like it was a minor PITA to get it resolved.

I keep routine CC receipts for the year in progress and the entire previous calendar year. For special purchases, cash or CC (such as medical or tax-deductible items), I keep them longer and in special files. For small, cash purchases I don't ask for receipts unless it's for stores where I need to show them when I exit.

 

[GenXguy]

What a great idea. I always get a receipt and gas stations are notorious for failing to print a receipt. So I have to go inside to get one..

That's the exception for me that I have to do that, but it seems more likely to happen on cold winter days. I always go in if the pump won't print it.