Scanned receipts v Actual receipts

aldredd

Just wondering... do would a scanned receipt give any less protection than an original receipt?

I'm trying to 'go digital', and scan in all my paperwork - including receipts. Just want to check that I wouldn't have any problems with using a printed out scan. I wouldn't have thought so, as it will have exactly the same info, but worth me checking!

Thanks!

stebiz

Interesting question as I too am starting to scan everything. Last year I took an item back to Argos, and showed them a Scan. They were not happy to accept, as they said I could have done this with a number of the same item.

They did give a credit though, and as I was buying something else, never gave much of fuss. But worth bearing in mind.

Esqui

Shouldn't be a problem, certainly not for faulty items where any proof of purchase should suffice.

Many retailers will want to be moving to paperless receipts (i.e. emailed to you) soon, so it'll become irrelevant with time.

aldredd

Thanks Both. In *theory* I'm sure they should suffice, seeing as it contains time & date of the transactions they could use to verify a purchase, but I guess actually getting someone to accept it may be a different story.
I suspect I'll continue to keep receipts for major purchases - especially for the first few months or so.

I'm sure they will also come in useful should I ever need to make an insurance claim in the future.

dacouch

aldredd wrote: »

I'm sure they will also come in useful should I ever need to make an insurance claim in the future.

Make sure you keep a copy away from your home eg on a flash drive or email them to say a hotmail account

scheming_gypsy

If you return something they'll probably want the receipt, if you only show them a scanned receipt then they can't take it off you. It'd be a dream come true for shop lifters; buy one, steal twenty, and take them all back with a scanned receipt

aldredd

dacouch wrote: »

Make sure you keep a copy away from your home eg on a flash drive or email them to say a hotmail account

I have a remote server I use for backing up everything I have )

aldredd

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

If you return something they'll probably want the receipt, if you only show them a scanned receipt then they can't take it off you. It'd be a dream come true for shop lifters; buy one, steal twenty, and take them all back with a scanned receipt

Interesting angle - as you're right - they usually cross off the item and mark it as 'returned'. Whether the retailers interests (loss prevention) come before consumer rights though... not too sure. I don't think they would like it - but not convinced (yet) that they can refuse to accept it.

arcon5

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

If you return something they'll probably want the receipt, if you only show them a scanned receipt then they can't take it off you. It'd be a dream come true for shop lifters; buy one, steal twenty, and take them all back with a scanned receipt

No different to getting a second or third copy of a bank statement to act as proof of purchase.

CoolHotCold

Esquli knows, but any decent retailer (especially large multi chain) should be able to search for the purchase and copy of the receipt years and years. Legally no lesser protection as Retailers don't even have to legally issue a receipt for goods/services paid.

lateandlive

I guess it depends on the EPOS system in use. If it's one with a transaction number then the fact the receipt is scanned is fairly irrelevant - the physical copy is only there to give the retailer the information to get the transaction on their screens in most cases.

That said, smaller stores who DON'T have transaction numbers etc is where the problem occurs. As a poster earlier said, it leaves loss prevention angles wide open. You may as well jot the receipt info and price down in a note book, or just recall it off the top of your head!

Whether the store can refuse a scanned receipt is an interesting one. For non-faulty goods I would think 99% of retailers would refuse it, for just the issues mentioned above. I'd think a very large proportion would do the same if the item was faulty. You could scan a receipt in and very easily falsify details on it with Photoshop or a similar program. Not saying the OP would, but i'd think if it ever came to court after a refusal for something faulty then I don't think it would be a simple decision for the judge.