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They also have scales in the self check bagging area, which can tell if the thing you scanned weighs the same as the item you put in your bag.
Which opens the whole can of worms about self checkout. I have tried to use it when I have only a few shelf items, and I've been dragged over there by clerks who do everything for me, and what with one thing and another it takes twice and long and is at least that much more annoying. You can't go too fast, you can't set anything down except in the precise locations, the shuffle between the checkout hardware and the payment terminal is always slightly screwed up... enough.
I just ignore it and keep walking. I don't even look around to see if they're chasing me down. I'm big enough that they probably wouldn't out of some imagined fear for their lives (other peoples' personal issue based on stereotype, not mine, since I can't help the way I was born) if they were to confront me so I guess I do have that advantage.
Ever gone shopping at the local mall where one store's cashier forgot to deactivate a tag, thereafter setting off every other store that has similar equipment? Fun fun.
Funny story, years ago when I was playing music on a pocket tape player, occasionally the music would cause the playback head to resonate a harmonic of the ~100 kHz frequency the acousto-magnetic detectors at Fred Meyer's oscillated at, so at various points within a song the detector would suddenly start going off unprovoked when I'd be standing near them. Then recordable CDs appeared and the phenomenon died, but somehow when I recently converted to a solid-state MP2 player unit (using, incidentally, the same music transferred from those old tapes both times around!) it started again. Must be a poorly-constructed or shielded amplifier in the new unit that's belching out EM noise pollution in harmonics of 100 kHz.
Pretty much ignore them at the local Lowes. The checkout clerks seem to be as annoyed with the dang things as we are. Going off all the time and one of them has to walk over and deactivate it.
Worst experience was in a Walmart a few years ago. Checked out, went to the door and the thing went off. Clerk comes over and ask for my receipt and checks everything against it. All good, you can go. Goes off again. The clerk who has just checked my receipt grabs the cart and checks it again. Once again all good you can go. At this point I'm more than a bit irritated but short of getting into fist fight … BUZZZ. There it goes again. And once again the same clerk grabs the cart to check the receipt. And this time proceeds to un bag everything and spread it across two registers trying to find the item she was sure I had hidden. I was able to catch the attention of one of the other clerks and signal to call a manager. I'm seething as the manager tries to explain to the clerk that some tag just didn't get deactivated and I'm trying to get all my stuff rebagged and go home.
I suppose it does get annoying when the person at the door requests to check your receipt but those people are just doing their jobs and what the company tells them to do. I have seen customers get downright nasty about it and even threaten people because of it. I often wonder if they also shop at Costco and if they treat the door people the same way. Probably not because it has always been that way there and people just expect and accept it.
This practice was started at Walmart NOT because they think their customers are thieves. It was started as a way to check up on their cashiers and make sure everything was rung up. Most especially larger items that aren't bagged like pet foot, cases of water or beer, paper towels, toilet paper, etc.. It is easy for a cashier to miss those items on the bottom of a shopping cart and if the cashier and customer are talking, etc. it's easy to forget about them. If they also caught people trying to be sneaky and stealing, well, it happens. And most, believe it or not, aren't caught. There is no way they can check every single item in a shopping cart bagged or not.
Believe it or not a LOT of theft happens at the self checkouts. Mainly because there is usually only one attendant who is responsible for as many as 10 scanners and they simply cannot watch everyone ALL the time. The stores with new scanners no longer have scales that weigh each item placed in a bag. The only scale is on the scanner itself for weighing produce, etc.. They stopped using the large one because they were so sensitive it was a CONSTANT barrage of "unknown item in the bagging area" that required the attendant to "fix" it and was a real pain. But people have been known to 'pretend' to scan something and place it in the bag. I saw one lady scan one avocado and place three in the bag and did the same with other items. People have also replaced price tags with lower priced items tags. They've been caught scanning an item that had a Kool Aid package over the price tag on meat. People do things like this all the time and it ends up costing ALL of us, in the end.
I was a cashier and self checkout host at Walmart for 8 years and believe me I have seen it all. And, yes, I've even missed large items in the bottom of a shopping cart. It's embarrassing for both the customer and the cashier so it made us a lot more vigilant. Anyway, next time you get annoyed at the person who is 'just doing their job' you might think about it. I mean, how long does it take them to check a receipt? And it's not like they go through everything...that is NOT allowed. I have rarely seen more than a couple of people waiting to show receipts so it's not like there's a long line like at the registers. Please try to be a little patient and understanding. It doesn't make the associate feel good to be harassed and treated badly for doing their jobs.
Pretty much ignore them at the local Lowes. The checkout clerks seem to be as annoyed with the dang things as we are. Going off all the time and one of them has to walk over and deactivate it.
Worst experience was in a Walmart a few years ago. Checked out, went to the door and the thing went off. Clerk comes over and ask for my receipt and checks everything against it. All good, you can go. Goes off again. The clerk who has just checked my receipt grabs the cart and checks it again. Once again all good you can go. At this point I'm more than a bit irritated but short of getting into fist fight … BUZZZ. There it goes again. And once again the same clerk grabs the cart to check the receipt. And this time proceeds to un bag everything and spread it across two registers trying to find the item she was sure I had hidden. I was able to catch the attention of one of the other clerks and signal to call a manager. I'm seething as the manager tries to explain to the clerk that some tag just didn't get deactivated and I'm trying to get all my stuff rebagged and go home.
That should have never happened to you. No matter what they are not supposed to go through all your bags. It sounds like you had an over zealous person on the door, or a newbie who didn't know. Not everything gets deactivated, that's true, and it's mostly from electronics. Jewelry and some health and beauty products will also set the alarms off.
I always stop, as it happens about 9 outta 10 trips for me. Most of the time an employee waves me on, rarely does one come over and actually check my receipt. Not hiding or stealing anything so am never worried.
As long as I have the receipt in my hand (always do) I just keep walking. If they forgot to take off a sensor it’s not my problem.
Me too. The employees don't even give a second look when those alarms go off any more. I just ignore it and leave, I know I did nothing wrong, it is their problem, not mine.
I don't concern myself with the stores that want to look at your receipt. If you sat and watched the front door for any period of time you would understand why they do it. So many thieves out there who walk out with carriage loads of stuff they didn't pay for. This hurts you and I because we pay more for all this stolen stuff.
Tis fine. They can do what they want to do. I simply don't frequent those stores. The practice is mostly bluster and show anyway. A two second glance at a receipt isn't going to tell much of anything unless I bought a dozen eggs and tried to drive out in a stolen golf cart.
I look around to see if they want to stop me, and if not, I keep walking.
Same.
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