A Target customer went viral after accusing Target’s self-checkout machine of “snitching” on her when she exceeded the 10-item limit.
In the clip, Sandra (@iamsandraav) describes how she decided to go to the self-checkout kiosk, despite having more than 10 items, because there was a line to the cash register.
“So anyway, I was scanning things, you know. And I was trying to hurry up before they told me anything,” she says. “Well, no need to hurry up, no need to get caught, because the freaking machines snitched on me once I scanned the eleventh.”
“I jumped,” she adds of the noise the machine made. “I got scared.”
Sandra says that while she tried to play it off, she found the situation deeply embarrassing. “I’m not going to show my face there ever again. But anyway, in case you didn’t know, if a register says 10 items or less, it’s 10 items or less, or it’s going to embarrass you. That’s it,” she adds.
A Target spokesperson told the Daily Dot via statement, “Our self-checkout systems do not trigger an alert if more than 10 items are scanned.”
So what was that noise?
Several viewers shared their own similar experiences. “Mine did that and I kept scanning,” one wrote. “It went off at least 3 more times.”
Another claimed, “My husband was at self-checkout and had half our items scanned and bagged when a worker told him he had to stop and move to a cashier because he had more than 10.”
In an email statement to the Daily Dot, Sandra said, “I just want to clarify that I was able to complete my purchase of 10+ items. A lot of people seem to be under the impression that I wasn’t able to move forward with it.”
She added, “I’m also not sure if that is what triggered the sound since other employees have said that the sound can be triggered if you scan items too fast or if it believes that you didn’t scan something. I have terrible anxiety so I just completed my purchase then left.”
These employees Sandra referenced are probably right. The sound the machine made was likely triggered by Sandra not scanning the item properly, not because she went over the limit.
Why is Target limiting self-checkout shopping?
In an announcement dated March 14, Target said that it was limiting self-checkout for a number of reasons. Firstly, the pandemic purportedly led to customers wanting a contactless pay option, which was available at self-checkouts. The second is speed. After piloting a 10-item-or-less self-checkout option at certain stores last fall, Target found that self-checkout was twice as fast at these pilot stores.
Furthermore, Target noted in this announcement that “by having the option to pick self-checkout for a quick trip, or a traditional, staffed lane when their cart is full, guests who were surveyed told us the overall checkout experience was better, too.”
It’s also been speculated that retailers like Target are limiting self-checkout to 10 items specifically to curb shoplifting. According to a 2016 study, which involved U.K., U.S., and European retailers, self-checkout lanes and apps have a loss rate of 4%, nearly double the industry average of 1-1.5%.
But it looks like self-checkout might be going out of style, anyway. In a viral clip, TikToker Arianna Cabada (@arianna_cabada_) claimed that her local Target has actually removed self-checkout. As she filmed the long line she was in for a checkout kiosk, Cabada accompanied the video with on-screen text that read, “It’s official…Target decided to remove self-checkout. Now I got to wait 15 minutes to buy my box of tampons.”
@iamsandraav #targethaul ♬ original sound – Sandra 🌷
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