Issue at Bershka - Item Confiscated Despite Payment Proof

Aylesbury_Duck

Simplest thing is to go back to the store and sort it out.  If you fancied a little bit of retribution, you might insist the conversation with the manager to sort it out is conducted at the tills, in earshot of customers.  After all, that's similar to the embarrassing situation your wife was placed in.

Mistakes happen, and equipment can misbehave, but security staff should deal with those situations with greater professionalism and discretion.

Alderbank

I'm not sure that we have the full story.

I've never bought from this company or even seen one of their bricks&mortar stores so I looked at the T&Cs on their website.
I don't usually bother with till receipts for groceries but I was surprised that your wife would deliberately opt for no receipt when buying clothes, considering the importance of receipts if garments have to go back.

Apparently Bershka stores, like other clothes shops, by default do dispense paper receipts, because that's needed if the goods need to be returned.

Their T&Cs say:

When paying for a purchase in Physical Stores, you can obtain a receipt in electronic format instead of the paper one. To do this, you must have previously activated the option “Digital receipt” on the App, and then present your QR ID code so that the receipt can be automatically sent to the App.

From then on, you may make exchanges or returns at Physical Stores using your QR ID, in accordance with the applicable Terms and Conditions, Bershka’s commercial policy, and all relevant legislation.

In this instance, you will not be issued a paper receipt. Therefore, it is paramount that you understand that by activating the option “Digital receipt” on your App you are expressly requesting the e-receipt or the proof of purchase in electronic form, and are therefore opting out of receiving it in paper form.

You can, before each transaction, opt whether to receive the digital receipt or the paper receipt, depending on which is convenient for you.

The T&Cs say that the customer must have selected the option 'Digital receipt'. Is that what happened?

user1977

Ergates said:

user1977 said:

Uk_Dood said:

user1977 said:

Surely the bank transaction is proof of purchase? Just go back to the shop and resume the argument.

Apparently not

Sorry, according to whom (given the incident was only yesterday)?

At the time of the incident, the store refused to take the incidence of the pending transaction as proof of purchase.

But it's now a confirmed transaction, not merely a pending one. It's not up to the store anyway, they could just as easily say a receipt doesn't prove that they still owe you the item.

screech_78

Putting everything else aside, it’s unusual that a pending transaction can go from pending to fully debited on the same day. Never seen that before. 

Okell

Alderbank said:

I'm not sure that we have the full story.

I've never bought from this company or even seen one of their bricks&mortar stores so I looked at the T&Cs on their website.
I don't usually bother with till receipts for groceries but I was surprised that your wife would deliberately opt for no receipt when buying clothes, considering the importance of receipts if garments have to go back.

Apparently Bershka stores, like other clothes shops, by default do dispense paper receipts, because that's needed if the goods need to be returned.

Their T&Cs say:

When paying for a purchase in Physical Stores, you can obtain a receipt in electronic format instead of the paper one. To do this, you must have previously activated the option “Digital receipt” on the App, and then present your QR ID code so that the receipt can be automatically sent to the App.

From then on, you may make exchanges or returns at Physical Stores using your QR ID, in accordance with the applicable Terms and Conditions, Bershka’s commercial policy, and all relevant legislation.

In this instance, you will not be issued a paper receipt. Therefore, it is paramount that you understand that by activating the option “Digital receipt” on your App you are expressly requesting the e-receipt or the proof of purchase in electronic form, and are therefore opting out of receiving it in paper form.

You can, before each transaction, opt whether to receive the digital receipt or the paper receipt, depending on which is convenient for you.

The T&Cs say that the customer must have selected the option 'Digital receipt'. Is that what happened?

This ^

I'm happy to be put right but I find it a little difficult to believe thet the OP's wife had no choice but to opt for an electronic receipt to be emailed to her.

My wife recently bought a security tagged item at a self-service till in a well known chemists chain and of course the alarm went off when she left the store.  Fortunately she had opted for a paper receipt so it was cleared up with no fuss at all.

I get paper receipts for everything - including groceries.

molerat

I can't believe the store manager did not check the till log. It's not like there will be no record of what happened at that particular till, everything including failed transactions will be recorded.

born_again

molerat said:

I can't believe the store manager did not check the till log. It's not like there will be no record of what happened at that particular till, everything including failed transactions will be recorded.

Exactly this.
As well as CCTV to see the the till was used.

Ergates

Okell said:

Alderbank said:

I'm not sure that we have the full story.

I've never bought from this company or even seen one of their bricks&mortar stores so I looked at the T&Cs on their website.
I don't usually bother with till receipts for groceries but I was surprised that your wife would deliberately opt for no receipt when buying clothes, considering the importance of receipts if garments have to go back.

Apparently Bershka stores, like other clothes shops, by default do dispense paper receipts, because that's needed if the goods need to be returned.

Their T&Cs say:

When paying for a purchase in Physical Stores, you can obtain a receipt in electronic format instead of the paper one. To do this, you must have previously activated the option “Digital receipt” on the App, and then present your QR ID code so that the receipt can be automatically sent to the App.

From then on, you may make exchanges or returns at Physical Stores using your QR ID, in accordance with the applicable Terms and Conditions, Bershka’s commercial policy, and all relevant legislation.

In this instance, you will not be issued a paper receipt. Therefore, it is paramount that you understand that by activating the option “Digital receipt” on your App you are expressly requesting the e-receipt or the proof of purchase in electronic form, and are therefore opting out of receiving it in paper form.

You can, before each transaction, opt whether to receive the digital receipt or the paper receipt, depending on which is convenient for you.

The T&Cs say that the customer must have selected the option 'Digital receipt'. Is that what happened?

This ^

I'm happy to be put right but I find it a little difficult to believe thet the OP's wife had no choice but to opt for an electronic receipt to be emailed to her.

My wife recently bought a security tagged item at a self-service till in a well known chemists chain and of course the alarm went off when she left the store.  Fortunately she had opted for a paper receipt so it was cleared up with no fuss at all.

I get paper receipts for everything - including groceries.

For the purposes of a return (a change of mind return), yes.

But within the context of what happened, the evidence of a transaction on the wife's banking app should have been sufficient.

Ergates

born_again said:

molerat said:

I can't believe the store manager did not check the till log. It's not like there will be no record of what happened at that particular till, everything including failed transactions will be recorded.

Exactly this.
As well as CCTV to see the the till was used.

Yup.  It would have been absolutely trivial for them to have confirmed the transaction, they had all the evidence they needed right in front of them.

But they couldn't be bothered to do that so, instead, decided to accuse a customer of theft and confiscate goods they had paid for.  Probably unlawfully (if not illegally)

saajan_12

Okell said:

Alderbank said:

I'm not sure that we have the full story.

I've never bought from this company or even seen one of their bricks&mortar stores so I looked at the T&Cs on their website.
I don't usually bother with till receipts for groceries but I was surprised that your wife would deliberately opt for no receipt when buying clothes, considering the importance of receipts if garments have to go back.

Apparently Bershka stores, like other clothes shops, by default do dispense paper receipts, because that's needed if the goods need to be returned.

Their T&Cs say:

When paying for a purchase in Physical Stores, you can obtain a receipt in electronic format instead of the paper one. To do this, you must have previously activated the option “Digital receipt” on the App, and then present your QR ID code so that the receipt can be automatically sent to the App.

From then on, you may make exchanges or returns at Physical Stores using your QR ID, in accordance with the applicable Terms and Conditions, Bershka’s commercial policy, and all relevant legislation.

In this instance, you will not be issued a paper receipt. Therefore, it is paramount that you understand that by activating the option “Digital receipt” on your App you are expressly requesting the e-receipt or the proof of purchase in electronic form, and are therefore opting out of receiving it in paper form.

You can, before each transaction, opt whether to receive the digital receipt or the paper receipt, depending on which is convenient for you.

The T&Cs say that the customer must have selected the option 'Digital receipt'. Is that what happened?

This ^

I'm happy to be put right but I find it a little difficult to believe thet the OP's wife had no choice but to opt for an electronic receipt to be emailed to her.

OP said that was the only choice at the till OP's wife was at, not in the whole store. I do believe that - I've been in other high street clothing stores where 10+ self service tills offer an emailed receipt only. Then a staffed till covering physical receipts, returns, etc, naturally with a long line.