A man says a Target employee refused to believe he bought a bottle of Gatorade at self-checkout. This is in spite of having a receipt that clearly shows he paid for the beverage.
Pure (@skylouieee) posted a viral TikTok delineating his recent trip to the retailer that garnered over 20,000 views. Several folks who responded to his clip stated that they believed Pure was “profiled” as he is a Black male.
Shopping trip gone wrong
Pure begins recording his video from the interior of his car. He speaks loudly and in several moments, seemingly without breathing or slowing down throughout the clip.
Out the gate, he vows to stop shopping at Target after such a negative experience.
“Dawg I’m never going into a Target self-checkout no more I swear,” he says. He explains he decided to pop into Target to get some ibuprofen for his toothache. However, it wasn’t as quick a trip as he anticipated.
“I went to the self-checkout to go pay for my ibuprofen,” he says. “[Out of] nowhere for some reason this one dude had came up with me. And he was like, ‘Oh are you paying cash or card?’ And I was like, ‘I already told you I’m paying with card.’”
Pure says he was frustrated with the employee overseeing the self-checkout terminals. According to him, the man was intentionally just trying to accuse him of stealing as some form of perverse entertainment.
@skylouieee Starting all that over a drink #target #selfcheckout #storytime ♬ original sound – Pure👾
“At least at my Walmart, when they ask are you doing cash or card, they’ll ask me that before I go to the register,” he says. “Not while I’m in the middle of checking out my stuff.”
Regardless of receipt
Pure, who may’ve initially chalked up the employee’s behavior to a misunderstanding, became annoyed further.
“Then when I was getting my bags ready to walk out the door he asks me, ‘Did you pay for the Gatorade?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah I paid for the Gatorade’. And he was like, ‘I didn’t see you ring up the Gatorade. Are you sure you did it?’” Pure recalls.
Pure explains that he had proof of purchase with the drink listed on it. However, it seems like that wasn’t enough for the Target worker. According to Pure, the Target worker insisted Pure did not pay for the beverage. Eventually, the worker got a manager involved.
Manager involvement
Pure says the incident was finally resolved once a manager was involved. “This team leader or manager or whatever had came by to see what was going on,” he shares. “When I told him that I had paid for the Gatorade, showed him my receipt, that man ended up letting me go. Like, bro he just wanted to start something ’cause he [was] just bored.”
The TikToker added that the incident is just “another reason why” he has vowed to never give Target his business again.
“I am not stepping foot in no more Targets bro,” he says. He ended his video by stating that he’s “sticking to Walmart for now.” Pure has gone viral several times before for sharing his workplace qualms while working at Walmart.
The Street writes that both Target and Walmart have taken “mixed” stances on in-store self-checkout aisles. Some locations experiencing high levels of theft have opted to ditch the self-service terminals altogether.
USA Today also detailed upgrades to Target’s security in an April 2024 article. The measures were implemented as a response to the heightened levels of thieving. These theft spikes were linked to the prevalence of self-checkout aisles.
Target reduces
The Minnesota-based retailer placed a limit on the number of items self-service customers can scan. It went from 17 separate items to 10. Target said that this new protocol “could add to a more positive customer experience by shaving off time.”
Also, the outlet revealed Target has adopted Truscan technology as part of its in-store monitoring. The software is purportedly “designed to detect if there is anything near a kiosk that has not been scanned. It will then release audio and visual cues if an item isn’t scanned correctly,” USA Today wrote.
The story goes on to state that Truscan performs live monitoring sessions of customers in-store. “One of the technology’s most critical functions will be to track people who have been flagged with improper scanning.”
TikTokers react
Many viewers referenced Pure’s previous gripes with Walmart customers. Like one TikToker who remarked, “Damn even target making bro mad.”
Another joked, “Bro beefing with target now.”
“First walmart customers now target?? Bro be beefing fr,” another said, echoing the aforementioned user’s sentiment.
Someone else said that they believed Walmart and Target were pre-treating customers as thieves. “I’m done with Walmart cause they accusing everybody like target.”
While another was shocked by the employee’s response to seeing Pure’s bill of sale. “Okay it don’t matter if they saw you ring up the Gatorade or not, if the receipt says you paid for Thr Gatorade than you paid for it.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Target via email and Pure via TikTok comment for further information.
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