Max from the TikTok duo Max & Jess (@ravensblood83) shared his frustrations with Kohl’s after purchasing Nike and Under Armour gear that had security tags attached.
“You guys, let me know if this makes sense,” Max asks viewers.
“We were just at Kohl’s, and, you know, their Nike and Under Armour items have security tags, so you don’t steal them,” he explains.
He goes on to share that Kohl’s only has self-checkout and no cashiers.
“All these security tags are beeping and beeping,” he shares. “So this older employee comes up and says, ‘Well, you gotta take off the security tags before you leave.’”
Max says he then asked the employee to remove the security tag. He says she replied, “’You do it!’”
Stunned, he says he asked her, “’How?’”
He says the employee explained to him, “’Well, there are no employees around a lot, so you have to learn how to take off the security tags yourself.’”
“So you literally grab a pair of Nike pants, bring it over, scan it, remove the security tag yourself with no employees around, and then leave,” he continues. “Kohl’s, how is this preventing theft?”
@ravensblood83 people csn just take more now. #kohls #stores #theft #theftprotection #customerservice ♬ original sound – 💜🧡Max&Jess🧡💜
Widespread frustration
The viral video has 254,000 views and hundreds of comments, with many viewers expressing similar frustrations with Kohl’s.
Some shared experiences of having to return to the store because they couldn’t get all the security tags removed.
“I had the same problem. Had to walk back inside to get the tags taken off by a very irritated employee, by the way. I was just thinking, she didn’t even ask for a receipt; she didn’t even see me check out,” one viewer wrote.
Another shared, “I just had this same experience, and I couldn’t get a tag off, and they yelled at me, like, sorry, I don’t work here.’”
Other viewers chimed in about general frustrations with Kohl’s customer service. “Ours has both self-checkout and cashiers, but one day everyone stood in the one cashier’s line while an employee screamed at everyone to go to self-checkout, and no one would. It was great,” one viewer shared.
Another noted, “My Kohl’s has all the Nike stuff by the front doors, but it’s wired down to each rack. So you have to ask someone to unlock a sweatshirt, which makes me not want to buy them.”
One viewer suggested, “Call Kohl’s and ask them for the SOP for your training and when you can get the employee discount. And when you use the self-checkout, insist on the employee discount.”
Max’s situation speaks to a larger frustration among consumers regarding self-checkout.
Are self-checkout lanes efficient?
According to a Raydiant survey of 1,000 shoppers, 67% said they’d experienced a failure at the self-checkout lane.
“I don’t shop at locations that do not have cashiers! If I have to do all that, I want the employee discount and their pay,” one viewer commented.
The Daily Dot reached out to Max via TikTok comment and Kohl’s via email.
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