A confused Walmart customer said their cashier was adamant about not hand-scanning a 55-inch TV they planned on purchasing.
TikTok user @themortgageengineer posted a viral video that’s accrued over 96,000 views on the popular social media platform. In his clip, he says he was asked by a Walmart worker to place his TV on the shopping conveyor belt.
“So I’m checking out at Walmart, buying a 55-inch TV. And the guy working the register told me I had to put the damn TV on the conveyor belt,” the TikToker says. “The conveyor belt that you have at a grocery store line. And I was like, can’t we just scan with the hand scanner?”
“He said, ‘Nope it’s gotta go up on the belt,’” he recalls, shocked. “So my question is: if it’s gotta go on the belt. And a Walmart employee’s not capable of putting it on the belt. Why is it okay for the customer to lift something that the Walmart employees can’t lift? I’m very capable of lifting that up.”
He then reiterates his frustration: “I just don’t understand Walmart. And why the guy couldn’t either hand me the hand scanner or walk around to scan it?”
TikTokers seemed equally confused
One person asked what the purpose of having a hand scanner in the first place was. “My question would be why have a hand scanner if everything needs to go on the belt?”
Another said the whole reason for the hand scanner’s existence is to ensure people don’t needlessly lift heavy items. “They scan my toilet paper and water and cat litter so I don’t have to lift it. That’s crazy about the TV.”
Other people remarked that they wouldn’t even have purchased the television at that point. Instead, they would’ve opted to leave it behind for store workers to deal with.
“I would have just said bye,” one remarked.
“I would have left it there & went to best buy,” someone else said.
Another commenter highlighted how their favorite bulk retailer took a different approach to item scanning. “That’s why I like Costco cause you leave the heavy items in the cart,” they penned.
However, there were those who said they didn’t have this problem. “I bought my TV at Walmart and paid in electronics and out the door!!” one said.
Someone else echoed, “I just bought a TV from Walmart and they just used the hand scanner.”
@themortgageengineer No words #walmart #MortgageEngineer ♬ original sound – The Mortgage Engineer
TVs on conveyor belts = bad idea
One Redditor shared how they were also asked to place an expensive TV set on a conveyor belt. However, their incident had a much different conclusion from @themortgageengineer’s situation.
The TV buyer, who uploaded their story to Reddit’s r/maliciouscompliance sub, was shopping at a bulk retailer.
In their tale, they said a floor manager was being particularly bossy about scanning protocols. The woman screamed at patrons, “ALL ITEMS MUST BE PLACED ON TOP OF THE CONVEYOR BELT FOR EASY, QUICK AND EFFICIENT CHECKOUT”!
Thing is, their cart had a 60″ OLED 4K HDTV in it, which they then placed on the conveyor belt. They knew that the employee wasn’t paying attention to their items, and it didn’t take long before the item crashed to floor.
The “loud thud” caught the attention of two managers who approached the Redditor and checkout woman. The social media user’s son spoke to management and explained why they put the TV up on the belt. “I just didn’t want her to yell at me again like she did earlier at the sports apparel section,” the Redditor wrote.
Their TV was replaced and the Redditor said they received a gracious message from a store employee. Written on the receipt was a gracious acknowledgment of their “malicious compliance” to get the bossy floor manager in trouble.
The Daily Dot has reached out Walmart via email and The Mortgage Engineer via TikTok comment for further information.
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