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submitted 11 months 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.

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[-] garretble@lemmy.world 249 points 11 months 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 148 points 11 months 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.

[-] Thymos@lemm.ee 5 points 11 months ago

Also, some places do random inspection. But that’s frustration free too

Yeah, I'm gonna disagree with that. They've recently ramped up those checks because of increased theft due to inflation. They also scan more items now. After having been checked 4 times in a row and them completely emptying my bag each time, I no longer use the self checkout.

[-] IrrerPolterer@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago
[-] Thymos@lemm.ee 1 points 11 months ago

NL as well. Maybe it's because it's a big city, poor neighbourhood, more theft, I don't know, but I'm done with it.

[-] IrrerPolterer@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

Sounds frustrating, sorry to hear that

[-] Thymos@lemm.ee 1 points 11 months ago

Thanks, it really was. I had happily used the self-checkouts for years before that, so it's a real shame.

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this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2023
542 points (97.7% liked)

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