A Walmart customer posted a viral video after using the no-receipt button at the new self-checkout. The greeters gave him a hard time on the way out.
The user @poppaferrbear has reached over 1 million views and 48,000 likes on his TikTok by Friday afternoon. Viewers think Walmart should change its receipt policy.
@poppaferrbear’s video is captioned “Walmart has a new system. No receipt button.” He starts his video by telling Walmart it should fix this system before “someone who is not as nice as I am does the same thing that I do and gives you hell.”
He begins explaining that his local Walmart is going through a “refresh.” He says it’s getting new shelving, new grocery carts, and adding more self-checkouts.
“But here’s the situation,” he starts.
“In their little self-checkout machine there is the option to not get a receipt,” he says, “which means that they’re gonna have some trouble checking them.”
While at the store, @poppaferrbear says he used self-checkout and chose to not get a receipt because “I don’t care about carrying a piece of paper that says I bought toilet paper.”
“But then they wanted to check it,” he adds.
@poppaferrbear Walmart has a new system. No receipt button. #walmart #check #reciepts #doorgreeter #selfcheckout #shoppingfun #shop #storytime ♬ Cute mischief, scheming (loop) – The Penguin
He says that he told the Walmart greeters he didn’t have a receipt because he didn’t want one. “So whatcha gonna do about it bubba?” he asks.
Next he says the worker asked what he meant by not having a receipt. “Well your machine gives me the option to not print a receipt so I don’t have a receipt,” he says.
He tells the worker that he’s going to leave the store, and that the worker should give him the benefit of the doubt that he is not a thief. “And then, you’re gonna walk on over to your manager and you’re gonna ask him what the protocol is for this situation,” he adds.
@poppaferrbear says he can guarantee that he is not the last person that will do this, but he is likely one of the nicest that he will have to deal with.
“You might wanna figure it out,” he says, ending the video.
One viewer suggests to Walmart in the comment section that, “If they want to make sure that everything is paid for, bring cashiers back.”
Another believes, “Once you pay for items, they are yours. You do not need to submit to a search.”
@poppaferrbear told the Daily Dot that “they have changed it. It now doesn’t have the “no receipt,” option.
Per Reddit, new Walmart touchscreens at self-checkout do allow you to bypass printing receipts. It’s a new wrinkle on a time-tested issue of customers not wanting to show greeters their receipts. Even workers have chimed in.
Update 10:28am CT, Oct. 26: @poppaferrbear’s video has since been viewed 1.2 million times and inspired a number of follow-ups, many of which are of him mocking viewers’ comments.
In one, he says the comments from viewers are “cracking [him] up” and singles out one comment from a viewer who accused the Walmart customer of letting receipt-checkers violate his Fourth Amendment rights, which protects people from “unreasonable searches and seizures” carried out by the government. “It’s not a big deal,” he says, adding that the workers are just “doing their job[s].” “Do you really think that you’re some kind of bada** for yelling at the Walmart greeter?” he questions.
In another, he encourages TikTokers to stitch his video with their own “horrible experiences” while shopping at Walmart because, he says, “it’s clear that a lot of people dislike Walmart.”
The Daily Dot reached out to @poppaferrbear via TikTok direct message and Walmart via media contact form.