A TikTok user has gone viral after he shared a video about his fallout with a Walmart employee. In the video, the man, Travis Lee Ragan, explains that he was “held hostage” by an employee of Walmart located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, after accusing him of stealing.
The now-viral video has amassed over 31.8 million views, 3.5 million likes, 115.7K comments, and 20.3K shares. The caption read something along the lines: “First, they lock carts, and now they refuse to let one leave after they pay?"
In the video, the Walmart employee, identified as Chuck, refuses to leave Travis and holds him hostage against his will even after he shows the employee his receipt. Chuck can also be seen physically removing the cart from Travis’s hands.
Initially, Chuck doesn’t let Travis leave the store by blocking his way. When Travis started recording the video, Chuck said he could call the manager if needed and kept moving in front of his cart so he couldn’t leave. At one point, Chuck physically pulls out Travis’s cart and withholds it.
Since the story isn’t clear in the video, Travis posted a follow-up video explaining what happened. He shared that he had chosen cashier-operated checkout in front of Chuck and assured the latter had seen him check out.
As he is about to leave, Chuck stops and asks him to show the receipt. Since he was on the phone and had to leave urgently, he just showed the receipt and didn’t let Chuck inspect it as he walked past the Walmart greeter.
Travis defends that you’re not required to show the receipt to a Walmart employee while leaving the store, and you can walk away. But if the employee stops you, he is violating your rights then.
According to Aisle of Shame, shopkeepers have the right to detain a customer for a while if they’re suspected of shoplifting. However, they can’t detain a customer for no reason. Also, while detaining, the employee can’t use force, and if a Walmart employee chooses to use coercion to detain a customer, the store may face a false imprisonment case.
Travis was only allowed to leave after another employee went through his receipt. Following this, Walmart let Travis know that Chuck was given a red warning but could still work the door.
Travis revealed that although he didn’t want Chuck to lose his job, he didn’t want him to work the door where another customer could go through the same hostile experience.
What do you think? Should Travis have properly shown Chuck his receipt? Or was Chuck wrong for detaining Travis forcefully?
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Disclaimer: This article is for educational and informational purposes only.
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