Carrefour

I am deeply saddened and concerned by an incident that took place when I visited this store today. I am in Paris for a few days as a tourist and this incident left a sour taste and discourages me from coming back to visit.

I can't believe that a brand like Carrefour endorses such behaviour by their staff and encourages random security checks on brown/black people.

I purchased some items and completed the payment using my card at around 6:40 PM. The lady at the cashier counter where I paid for the items said that they were out of plastic bags, so I placed all of the items in my backpack. After this, I was standing beyond the store's exit, in the corridor of the mall and waiting for my wife who was still inside the store.

My wife called me and said she wanted to purchase a few more items and that she was going to stand in the billing queue again. When she was done billing and paying for the remaining items using her card (around 6:52PM), I went over to the exit to place the items she purchased in my backpack

When I opened my backpack, the cashier peeped inside it and the moment he realised I had groceries in the backpack, he shouted at me in French and asked for a receipt. Fortunately, I had the receipt in my pocket and I showed it to him. He grabbed it and walked off angrily without a word, abandoning all the customers who were waiting to bill their items and handed the receipt over to a man who claimed to be the security. The security guy then comes over and points to my bag asking me to open it and take out everything. I asked him if they can explain in English what is happening but all he kept saying was 'bag'. I then had to open my bag and take out every item and place it on his table. At the end, he just said 'C'est Bon' and neither of them had the courtesy to explain why I was being searched or even acknowledge the fact that I cooperated with them despite being humiliated in public and not being provided with any reason for this search. When I questioned them and tried to take out my phone to use Google translate to communicate, they just walked off.

I would like to understand:

(i) Under what authority can cashiers decide to search me and what is the decision based on? Was there any suspicion of theft? I don't see how they could have even suspected theft since I've never heard of a thief walking out of a store with stolen items and then going back to the store to pick up his wife along with some other items that she paid for in full.

(ii) Why the cashier didn't back off and let me go once I showed him a receipt for groceries from the store that was generated 12 minutes earlier. If he was still suspicious, couldn't he just walk over to his colleague at the next counter and check? What was the need to call security and have me empty my backpack and do a search?

(iii) Is it the brand's policy to treat groceries in a brown man's bag as stolen unless he can prove that they are purchased? What would have happened if I didn't have the receipt?

(iv) Why no one had the courtesy to even explain what was happening and explain why they needed to search my bag- any explanation (even in French) would have been much appreciated.

Someone else in the check-out line mentioned that the security personnel were checking a lot of other people and all of them were people of colour. This is very concerning as it tantamounts to racial profiling. My wife also said that the cashier kept yelling at her in French and kept gesturing at her to stand in a specific spot without moving till she finished paying for the products. We've never seen a cashier be this painful.

All in all, I'm shocked at the sheer stupidity and lack of empathy from the staff at the store. This was an extremely disappointing experience and I hope to never visit the store again.

PS: If I'm reading the invoice correctly, it appears that the cashier person who caused this incident was sitting at counter no. 23 and the one that billed the items I purchased earlier was sitting at counter no. 21.

Clean on most days, including space around it,and safe to shop. Most if not more essential items can be found for your daily activities.

They said they close at 930 but it not true the security don't allow yo enter at 9 15 pm

Has everything you need at good prices! I was looking for a box of cereals and I’ve spent 30 minutes trying to find it(maybe because I wasn’t actually paying attention as I was looking to get one can of Monster Energy to get some sugar into my system).
I was happy being able to find everything I needed and got hope with a big smile on my face. LOL

Although they are hard to communicate with them but you will find every thing you need under one roof

Sunday morning shop is a real thrill. Get in, get out, don't get yelled at. Had the honor of being the final customer at the self-checkout 🏆 however I realized once I got home that the last product I picked up was the wrong thing and I only grabbed it in a panic as I was being rushed out.

They carry several harder-to-find vegan products like multiple brands and varieties of cheese but it's kind of hidden and not in the place I would've expected.

Not bad overall, will come back when I've got more time to find all the best organic and vegan products.

Wide variety of products to choose from at reasonable prices. This location also has some clothing options available.