543
submitted 1 year ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

Some Walmart employees say customers are getting hostile at self-checkout — and they blame anti-theft tech::When Walmart's anti-theft self-checkout tech alerts an employee of a missed scan, it can cause some uncomfortable situations.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] garretble@lemmy.world 250 points 1 year ago

You force me to check out my own groceries. Fine.

But don’t get pissed when I have a lot of groceries and have to move my bags because you gave me one square foot of space to bag everything. That’s often my biggest frustration. The robot thinks I’m trying to do some shady stuff, and I’m not.

[-] IrrerPolterer@lemmy.world 149 points 1 year ago

The 'robot' isn't the problem. This design is intentional and human made. Here in the Netherlands self checkout is the norm, even in very small grocery stores. However, it's super easy and not frustrating at all, because the stores TRUST their customers. The self checkout is super simple, you scan a product and put it on your bag, or backpack or whatever you have. No need to weigh the scanned products or anything. Nothing overcomplicated.

Now there are some control measures, but they are designed in a way to not be too intrusive or create unnecessary frustration: First, most places have a gate at the exit that only lets you leave by scamming your receipt (or if you go paperless, you scan your membership card on your phone). Also, some places do random inspection. But that's frustration free too - a worker comes up to you with a hand scanner, scans like four or five random items of yours and leaves. Boom, done.

[-] elbrar@pawb.social 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

most places have a gate at the exit that only lets you leave by scamming your receipt

That would be unlawful detention here. Also, what about people that go in and decide they don't actually want to buy anything after all?

Fun fact: You can ignore the receipt checkers at wal-mart in the states. They have no legal authority to require you to stop. Costco, on the other hand, since it's a membership club, can.

[-] SocialEngineer56@notdigg.com 8 points 1 year ago

Costco can stop you from leaving either. They can however revoke your membership for breaking the terms. But if you not longer care about you membership you ignore them like the Walmart checkers

[-] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I did that last time I went to Walmart for something. Long line of people waiting to show their receipts and I just walked out.

[-] boerbiet@feddit.nl 1 points 1 year ago

That would be unlawful detention here. Also, what about people that go in and decide they don't actually want to buy anything after all?

It's not like you're trapped... you can just walk out if you want, but doing so without paying and carrying full bags may raise an eyebrow with employees. Although I think I could easily get away with that in my small village supermarket during quiet hours when nobody is paying attention.

load more comments (22 replies)
load more comments (29 replies)
this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2023
543 points (97.7% liked)

Technology

59381 readers
976 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS