Ikea customer asked to prove she had paid for goods loses €75k damages case

Judge rules that asking customer to see a receipt does not amount to defamation of character

Shop staff asking a customer to show a receipt for goods they have bought in the store does not of itself amount to defamation of character, a judge ruled when he threw out a €75,000 damages claim.

Laura Byrne, of Lucan, Co Dublin, told Judge John O’Connor in the Circuit Civil Court that she felt upset, shocked, and absolutely mortified when a member of Ikea’s staff asked her: “Did you pay for that. Where is your receipt?”