Scanned copies of Receipts - Valid or not?

ninjasurfer1

Hi,

Not really a consumer "issue", but does anyone know what the legality is with producing a printed copy of a receipt rather than the original?

I'm constantly misplacing receipts for stuff, so i hit on the brainwave of scanning them to my computer where they'll be safe for eternity (i have them backed up for all of the techies reading!!:P).

The thing is, if i need to use the receipt, can a shop refuse to honour it if it isn't the original receipt?

Thanks for any info.

foggy_lad

ninjasurfer1 wrote: »

Hi,

Not really a consumer "issue", but does anyone know what the legality is with producing a printed copy of a receipt rather than the original?

I'm constantly misplacing receipts for stuff, so i hit on the brainwave of scanning them to my computer where they'll be safe for eternity (i have them backed up for all of the techies reading!!:P).

The thing is, if i need to use the receipt, can a shop refuse to honour it if it isn't the original receipt?

Thanks for any info.

What shops require is a proof of purchase and a scanned copy of the receipt is perfect.

sandin

There's an app for that! !!

wmpdd3

It sounds great and I like the idea, but I know that most places wouldnt just accept it straight off for say a cash refund for a faulty item. I think the retailer would take the details from the receipt and check them with their records just to make sure.

I've often had fake receipts offered (really!)

UDP

It depends what you want to use the receipt for. If it is for something that falls under your statutory rights then it should be sufficient but if it falls under anything else then it totally depends on what the shop is willing to accept e.g. for things such as 30 days money back for a change of mind.

athtrasna

It's a good idea for large purchases to scan the receipt. Receipts on that waxy paper that 90% of shops use fade fast and will be almost illegible in 12 months.

mathepac

Obviously I'm missing something here, but if you can hold onto receipts for long enough to scan them, then surely you have them for long enough to file them physicallly.

All you need is an envelope labelled "Duunes", "BT", "M&S", "B&Q" or where-ever. You don't even need new envelopes. I find the A5-sized envelopes from utility companies, banks, insurance, credit-cards are perfect.

You could also label them "Shoes", "DIY", "Cars", Hand-bags", "Hair" - whatever takes your fancy.

I find 99% of my receipts last fine, it's only the minority issued of that thermal paper (old fax-machine paper) that fade. As an aside, the credit-unions wasted an ass-load of their members' money on these stupid things and have now gone back to old dot-matrix printers.

ninjasurfer1

mathepac wrote: »

Obviously I'm missing something here, but if you can hold onto receipts for long enough to scan them, then surely you have them for long enough to file them physicallly.

All you need is an envelope labelled "Duunes", "BT", "M&S", "B&Q" or where-ever. You don't even need new envelopes. I find the A5-sized envelopes from utility companies, banks, insurance, credit-cards are perfect.

You could also label them "Shoes", "DIY", "Cars", Hand-bags", "Hair" - whatever takes your fancy.

All that sounds good, and I've tried it, and then i go and misplace the envelope!! :D

The reason for the PC idea is that i have a never fade/wrinkle/misplace, easily searchable list of receipts that i can print off as required.

I'd primarily be aiming to copy high value, electronic type receipts (2-5 year warranty, etc) that i can easily lay my hands on, but I'm wondering is it worth doing if shops can demand the original receipt rather than a copy?

So the question is, will a proof of purchase (i.e. a scanned copy) suffice (which the shop can go off and verify) or can they insist on the original receipt?

mathepac

What's required is "proof of purchase". and this must be agreed between the parties concerned. I think Citizens Information indicated that a bank or credit-cart statement was sufficient, for small claims court. I just don't know about a scanned receipt. Maybe the scanned receipt with the corresponding statement would do. I think you'd need clarification from the seller what they would require.

UDP

ninjasurfer1 wrote: »

All that sounds good, and I've tried it, and then i go and misplace the envelope!! :D

I just use a biscuit tin and lob them in unordered. Fits a lot of receipts and they don't fade. It's very rare that I need a receipt so I can spend the time searching then should a need arise.

rubadub

mathepac wrote: »

Obviously I'm missing something here, but if you can hold onto receipts for long enough to scan them, then surely you have them for long enough to file them physicallly.

You could take photos with a camera phone the moment you get it. Many receipts degrade over time too.

lemeister

For anyone with an iphone/android phone, there's a very handy app called camscanner - it scans the reciept, crops it and enchances it so that it is very readable when saved, even if it was a bit crumpled to begin with!

I use it to scan receipts litterally minutes after purchase and best of all, it syncs across all devices you might own and also to cloud storage.

Regarding whether retailers would accept a scanned copy of the receipt, I really cannot see why not. Any sign I have ever seen in shops always mentions proof of purchase required for returns/etc rather than original receipt. They may initially try to refuse it, but I certainly wouldn't take that as their final answer.

Queen-Mise

ninjasurfer1 wrote: »

All that sounds good, and I've tried it, and then i go and misplace the envelope!! :D

I bought a double drawer filing cabinet about ten years ago, one of the smaller ones & it is the greatest purchase ever made.

The top drawer is anal (with its dividers for: house, car, bank...) and the bottom is shove stuff in (usually receipts, bills, statements etc.).

Maybe once a year I'll go though it, bin and file. But is so handy - once something is put in there, it stays. The other side is, I can put my hands on birth certs, passports, NCT cert etc in less than a minute usually.