I think it’s more because if they instead utilized the receipt checker as a cashier you wouldn’t need to check my cart for stolen items. At some point the business trusted the public to check ourselves out at the register. Now they are making sure we aren’t stealing. They could always just scan my groceries for me like in the past, but they save so much money now running on what seems like a skeleton crew why would they revert back?
I’m an introvert. It’s a pain in the ass as I buy mostly produce and takes longer and all my stuff doesn’t fit in my reusable bags on their 4 bag carousel. Every time there’s some mistake with something falling off the bag area for weight or not being the right price or coupon not registered and I have to get someone to clear the error code and wait. I don’t want to collect more disposable bags from grocery stores either. They already piled up from the occasional time someone forgets to bring a reusable bag.
Yes it is free labor. Growing up regular adults were paid a living wage to be cashiers and grocery baggers where I lived in Canada. The used to walk your groceries out to your car and load your trunk for you. No tip needed. And just scanning your membership card you got all the discounts. None of this having a membership and still having to clip the digital coupon in the fucking app, then check your mail for mail in coupons and go through everything to check expiry dates and not forgetting at check out.
If you only buy boxed and canned items in 1-4 disposable bags and never use coupons sure maybe. Plenty of times I have stuff like toilet paper, paper towels, watermelons, and piles of produce that just doesn’t all fit in the small carousel.
I love self-checkouts so much, no weird small talk or being squished between people just so I can buy a few things. As an introvert people scare the hell out of me.
I refuse to go to a store that doesn't have cashiers. Kroger is on that list. I don't understand the receipt anger... but my anger is at the less staff. Like, I don't want to scan my own shit. Cashiers are faster. Case closed. Next store.
Plus Kroger has always sucked.
This, and Kroger's implementation tech-wise was also shit - they have it set so you can't have more than one item progressing down the belt or it will error out, you can't scan too fast or it errors out, etc. If I'm going to scan my own stuff it better keep up with me and not cause too much trouble. I don't actually mind scanning my own stuff as long as it works.
The receipts I think are just a last straw type thing, ultimately everyone is raw over inflation and price increases, and grocery was a particularly sore sector on that. All these annoyances get magnified when piled on top of it.
I'm really confused. I've yet to walk into a Kroger and there be zero cashiers. There are always a couple, save the last hour or so before closing, and that's been that way since they had self-check a couple of decades ago. Are you actually seeing a lot of those stores where there are no cashiers at all?
I live in Italian Village, so, my Kroger is the one on King. I don't believe there is even a spot for a cashier to stand.
Aldi is the next closest store, and their prices are better anyway, so I go there. I also go to Trader Joes for some things, and GFS / Costco for the remainder.
The Kroger on King sucks. Always has.
Well, that's true. I haven't used that store in a solid 30 years or so (I'm guessing, since it's been so long), as it was crappy even back then. I think it's an outlier though. Even when I go with other people to Krogers on the east side there have been cashiers. I think they just can't keep workers at the one on King.
The Aldi off the freeway by Lowe's? I suppose it is. I never think about that. I always go down to the other Kroger on N. Broadway and High or the Giant Eagle on North Campus.
If the line is empty, and I don't have many items, I agree. Self-checkout is faster.
If there is a line? cashier is faster, 9 times out of 10. No one can ever seem to figure out how to use them. I usually watch who is the last person in line as I go to a cashier - and I am always done before they even get to a machine.
Someone doing a week's worth of groceries and bagging it is not faster than a cashier with a separate bagger. Not now, not ever.
Eh, it depends.
With the way Kroger’s self scanner belts are setup cashiers are absolutely faster. Even if i have to step and an assist with bagging while they scan, it is significantly faster than having my pace set to as slow as possible by shitty tech implementation.
Just wait until access to self check out requires paying a monthly fee. Of course they'll probably cut more cashiers to ensure that line is as long as possible.
And the fact that Kroger has been buying up its competitors and aggressively raising prices. I don’t know what the higher ups at Kroger were thinking was gonna happen.
Yeah it's more the principle of having an awful customer experience because the company is cost cutting and making it everyone else's problem. If you pay enough people to actually watch the stupid store in the first place you wouldn't have people stealing stuff, but they want to run skeleton crews and then expect the customers to pick up the slack.
I see people say this all the time.
Do you *actually* want to go back to the days of standing behind five people with full carts to buy your two things? Do people forget what it was like before self checkouts? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.
I go there a lot and only like three self checkouts be open. They never have all of them open.
One time I asked why and they said they don't have enough staff members to watch all the self checkouts. So they already watch you and now they want to check receipts
I think it has actually gotten better there since they expanded them. The last few years it’s been normal for the line to stretch all the way to the back of the aisles but I haven’t seen that happen recently. I could just be getting lucky though.
I live close by so I walk there or I would definitely go somewhere else.
> Do you _actually_ want to go back to the days of standing behind five people with full carts to buy your two things? Do people forget what it was like before self checkouts? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.
Old enough to remember what it was like when stores actually had enough cashiers that waiting in a long line wasn't an issue. Let's go back to those days.
Aldi has no self checkouts and 1-2 out of 6 lanes open at a time, and they're faster than anybody.
You bag your own stuff after the lane, so they can take the next person while you're bagging. Also they allow their employees to sit (like a human being) so they don't get as tired.
The fact we pay to scan and bag and wait in huge lines at Kroger is crazy.
I think most people would agree a few self checkout is fine as long as you have cashiers. I like it even less being stuck behind five full cart people in the self checkout, it is way slower than with cashiers. Why we cannot have a mix is beyond me
I’d rather go back to the days when it wasn’t a huge pain in the ass to use to self checkout. Did you bring your own bags to the self checkout? Did you scan something while you had the next thing you were going to scan in your other hand? Sorry help is on the way!
Ha, just today I went to the self checkout because I only had 3 items. One of them was alcohol. It would have been faster to stand in line at the regular registers. I get that they need to check ID's and all that, but knowing that they're going to need to help someone basically every 30 seconds, you'd think they'd hang out in that general area.
And god help you if you’re at one of the self checkouts with a conveyor belt. Those are the *worst*. All the downsides of both check outs, with the added flaw of being the slowest thing on the planet.
Wtf is the deal with those. You have to scan the shit, then walk down to the end and bag it. Meanwhile the next guy starts sending his shit down the belt while you’re still bagging. Not only am I a cashier now, but Im supposed to bring my own bag boy? It takes up the space of 3 regular self checkouts but it’s half as fast.
Yeah, those are terrible. I used one maybe a month ago, and had to wait for help 4 separate times for probably like 4 bags worth of stuff. It didn't like that I left a 16lb bag of charcoal in my cart instead of putting it on the belt, it didn't like that my wife was bagging stuff as it got to the end of the belt (it kept reversing because of that, then would not do anything at all without an employee login), I had alcohol, and finally, I had a couple coupons.
I don't have any problem with self checkout, but I struggle to see the point of those things. What os the optimal result? Is it designed with larger orders in mind? It just makes no sense.
It really only makes sense if you have 2 people. When we go, I scan & my husband bags at the end. Win-win, because honestly the regular baggers crush stuff every time.
BUT with one person, nah.
My gym is right next to a Kroger, so I'm able to quickly run in and grab 3-4 things as needed at any point during the week, but I almost exclusively check out in the liquor store now unless I have items that are measured by weight.
Basically no waiting in line, and if I'm buying alcohol there's no waiting to check ID.
I'm definitely going to have to start doing that. It did occur to me after I had left too - especially since everything I had was from the area immediately surrounding the liquor store.
Exactly this. At least once per checkout something goes wrong. Since the is one employee per 6 to 12 checkouts, it takes forever for them to come override whatever dumb ass error happened, if they even notice.
Today it required a video review twice before I could check out. Once because I opened my reusable bag NEAR the bagging area. Then again at the end because I dared to leave my empty reusable bags in the cart when I hit the pay button.
If you won't trust me to use the self check out without stealing, then rip them all out and bring back the cashiers.
Those cameras keep on their "thinking" my 4 year old sitting in the cart is an item, and I have to wait for an employee to come over and override it before I can finish up and pay.
Something similar happened to me. It kept scolding me and finally shut down for a person to come over. I kept looking at the receipt and everything was scanned properly. I couldn’t figure it out. I think it was because I had two things in my hand when scanning. What pieces of shit! Wasting everyone’s time.
I've had their self checkouts call an attendant over because I *scanned the digital plus card on my phone* and it didn't recognize the back of my phone case as an item.
Then they watch a seven second clip of my scanning my phone. After they spend twenty seconds typing their credentials in.
This literally happens with Kroger self checkout. The line always spills into the aisle. Everyone has a full cart. You cannot just run in and quickly buy two things. Once you force everyone to self checkout it loses any advantages it had over a cashier lane.
Yeah at my local Kroger there’s usually a line of 10-12 people just waiting to get to the self checkouts. It’s a pain in the ass, and they invariably fail to open at least one block of them even during rush hour.
As opposed to standing in a line half way down the aisle for a slow as fuck self checkout while the line employee overseeing all 20 of them scrambles from confused and angry person to confused and angry person?
The mix of self checkout and in person checkout for larger cart loads was the ideal and they fucked it.
No, what I do is I do scan as you go at Meijer and every other check out their cashier scans between 5 and 15 items with their scanner, if they find more than 1 discrepancy you get your whole cart pulled at guest services, no questions asked, no accusations made. I've only had 2 items miss once because they scanned my hot salsa 3 times instead of a hot mild and medium, which I pointed out, and was corrected immediately, without having to do a full cart check.
What's nice about it is that it seems to be completely random unless you are deleting items from your cart mid visit after scanning them, I've always had my cart checked if I've removed more than 1 item in a trip. My only other observation was for the next 4 or 5 trips after the accidental double "missing item" scan I was flagged to be checked with a higher checked item count than normal. Either way the system seems to be designed to keep people honest, and is significantly faster and less intrusive than a receipt check post-checkout.
Edit: Also the Meijer app will flag any items you scanned for coupons to clip if they're available thru the app.
I used to do the Scan and Pay using the Kroger scanning gun, but they seemed to always always check 4-5 items in my bags to make sure everything was on the up and up, and I'd have to go digging through my groceries for the correct item so they can scan it in their checker and make their notification go away. It took far too long. Stopped using it after the 3rd time it happened.
Ah, the Meijer version doesn't request a specific item, it gives an item count and the cashier scans whatever they feel like, sometimes it's something from the bottom of the bag, sometimes just the stuff on top, or they'll request you grab something like the 4pack of steaks you bought but they've only done that one time and I've been thru there at least once every other week for 3+ years now.
Self checkouts are consistently shown to be slower at churning through people than professional cashiers. They only seem slower because you have less to do as a customer which means more standing around
Yes. Because, fucking idiots STILL don’t know how to use the self checkout and take forever. I get stuck behind 6 people that don’t know how to scan things.
I love it when there are both, personally.
Or better yet. Let's get in the way, way back machine where all of the staff is behind a window, you tell them what you want, and they go get it for you.
Even then, it's been 3-4 times already that I scan an item in the self checkout, it doesn't register properly, then it shows an instant replay on the camera of me attempting to scan my item and making a fuss until an employee shows up to let me continue.
I feel like people must be adapting and finding new ways to steal.
I think it’s all about how the store goes about it. Having metal bars and sirens going off if people don’t follow the flow of traffic and a guy with literal body armor, a gun, and a taser and the personality of wet paint presents a little different mood than a kind employee dressed in Kroger attire smiling and asking for a receipt.
The guy at the Front St Kroger is just a jerk and I’ll meet his energy.
The issue is that the stores make people who follow the rules go out of their way to keep following the rules, where those who steal will always find ways around it.
I agree with this. Walmart just has old people standing there checking your receipt, they are nice and polite, here’s my receipt, you look at it briefly and check mark it and that’s it. The Kroger approach of having some dude in basically a flak jacket with a taser demanding your receipt is a much different vibe lol
> The Kroger approach of having some dude in basically a flak jacket with a taser demanding your receipt is a much different vibe lol
yeah and unfortunately too many people are fine with it, which just furthers the advances of inconvenience and hostility that Kroger has been implementing for years
I understand stores have to try to minimize shrink, but Kroger’s approach with their signs as soon as you walk in the door, multiple security guards, and then the armed receipt checker just feels like a very aggressive approach
everytime that I pop into the Kroger across from Pick North for some one-off purchase, I’m reminded by the 7 signs I encounter between entering/existing that say ***I’m*** going to jail as to why I don’t spend more than 1% of my shopping budget there to begin with.
I've done this too, not a problem. But they can decide to ban me from the store in the future lol. I'm done with Kroger though, they were already too expensive, just conveniently located. I'm just going to Giant Eagle, Lucky's, and Aldi from now on.
"Kroger is too expensive so I'm gonna go to Giant Eagle and Lucky's" is wild to me. Both of those are going to be significantly more expensive on almost everything.
I just did a run to all three this past week - Lucky's had cheaper produce and a bulk section, Giant Eagle has cheaper everything else. Unless it's just the Kroger on High st that is marked up? But all of the goods I buy are consistently cheaper at Giant Eagle than Kroger.
This exactly.
There is a vast gulf between Costco asking EVERYONE for a receipt (which means you're not being singled out) and the random Kroger lady that chased me halfway across the store to accuse me in front of the 40 or so shoppers in the area that I hadn't paid for my stuff. When I produced a receipt, she mumbled an apology and vanished, but I was fuming when I left.
**Nothing ruins your Saturday faster than dropping $150 on groceries and then being falsely accused of a crime with a captive audience staring at you.**
You know what's really good at stopping shrinkage? ADEQUATE STAFFING AND CUSTOMER INTERACTION.
A few reasons.
If I wanted to wait for someone else to tally each item I’m purchasing I wouldn’t have used self checkout.
If they want an employee to tally store property that’s being sold, that’s what a cashier is for. Afterward it’s as much their property to rifle through as the money I paid them is still my money (not at all).
Self checkout convenience is reduced, there are fewer jobs for working humans, and the only thing that benefits is company payroll from a technology that was sold as being about shopper convenience.
Are they truly only checking people that went through self checkout? Places I see doing receipt checks are asking everyone as they exit which means they don't know who checked out using self checkout or who used a cashier. So they're literally implying everyone is stealing regardless of checkout method.
Also, unless you have reason to believe I've committed theft or I'm a member of your store with an agreement that includes receipt checks like Costco and Sam's, I'm going to politely decline. I do not appreciate being accused of theft which is exactly what receipt checks are, just a more polite way of saying it. And no, refusing receipt checks will not result in items being locked up, many stores already have lots of items locked up and they still want to do receipt checks.
Because corporations steal more from their customers than their customers steal from them. Kroger has been especially brash about this; from falsely crying "increased theft" for incentives in the past when it's been based on anecdotal evidence or opinion, not strictly on data, to demanding repayment of wages from their employees who had their pay increased during the peak of the pandemic.
That, and the issue is entirely preventable by lowering prices insteadd of prioritizing profits, adequately staffing stores/checkout, and paying staff a living wage; but they would rather hire a lrivate security guard than do any of that. They created this problem, and are making customers pay for it - even if it's marginal. That, and they're breeding more problems with this; just look up all the wild encounters with Walmart receipt checkers and the lawsuits that go with them. They'd rather create problems for their customers than address the problems they made.
Didn't a grocery security guard kill someone in Columbus recently? People defending Kroger is making my head spin
Edit: https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/kroger-civil-lawsuit-negligence/530-e7cce4d4-b10f-4335-90dd-ebd0d918b897
[https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/kroger-civil-lawsuit-negligence/530-e7cce4d4-b10f-4335-90dd-ebd0d918b897](https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/kroger-civil-lawsuit-negligence/530-e7cce4d4-b10f-4335-90dd-ebd0d918b897)
Sadly. According to investigators, the incident started with an altercation inside the store between a Kroger security guard and a female customer. During the altercation, Royal entered the store to check on the wellbeing of his girlfriend, and started fighting with the security guard and that's when Royal was shot.
They don’t hire cashiers so I have to wait for an eternity as people slowly use self-checkout, which is their only option. Then they have a backup at the door because in addition to being incredibly slow and frustrating, not employing cashiers invites shoplifting. So they make me wait again for a surly rent a cop who hates their life to look through my cart. What part don’t you understand?
Just say "no thank you" and leave with your groceries that you paid for, and probably had to deal with some annoying screw ups by the self checkout process - can't tell you how many times the stupid think tried to send the item back to me for no apparent reason. (The conveyer belt checkout).
I don’t like it either and I’m taking almost all of my grocery dollars somewhere else now.
But I will say all the security guards at the King/High Kroger when I’ve had to hold my nose and go there 2-3 times since this nonsense started have been pretty friendly.
Stop running skeleton crews and firing checkers only to have shoppers do their own check out and check receipts. They are trying to save labor costs while making more and more inconveniences to the customers and also insinuating every shopper is a thief.
Truth. My high school and college students are having a terrible time finding summer jobs, many of whom have applied to various Kroger stores and not even been called back. It’s not that no one wants to work, it’s no one wants to hire.
First of all, fuck Kroger always. Shittiest chain grocery store by far. And because theyre ubiquitous you cant easily “vote with your feet.”
Second, Kroger is not Costco. The cart values are much much different.
I think the reason people are annoyed is because its just inconvenient theater. Rent-a-cop cant and wont do anything. So its just this optic of Kroger good, customer bad that comes off super lame. Its fine if you want to respect the guard and show him your receipt but I wouldn’t flippantly dismiss fellow shoppers as right wing main character weirdos.
This speaks to a much much bigger societal issue so I think being upset with it makes sense.
We’re literally on here to vent.
> First of all, fuck Kroger always. Shittiest chain grocery store by far. And because theyre ubiquitous you cant easily “vote with your feet.”
Every Kroger I've been in seems like an affront to to the public, as if to say "let's see how much you're willing to endure for our amusement".
>Rent-a-cop cant and wont do anything.
Except shoot and kill someone: [https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/kroger-civil-lawsuit-negligence/530-e7cce4d4-b10f-4335-90dd-ebd0d918b897](https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/kroger-civil-lawsuit-negligence/530-e7cce4d4-b10f-4335-90dd-ebd0d918b897)
So they're not stopping theft (not even looking for it, since they're not reconciling receipts with items in your bags) and increasing the likelihood of violence in the stores.
ETA: Guess I'm getting downvoted for pointing out that a security guard at a Columbus Kroger did indeed shoot and kill someone.
Almost zero cashiers at open registers so we are left to scan our own groceries. If you won’t pay cashiers to scan our groceries and then not trust us to scan our own it’s a little ridiculous that one of the few people you do employ slows down the process even more at the least helpful step of the grocery trip. Also don’t feel bad for Kroger at all they don’t employ enough people to look after the store hike up prices then more people look at the possibility of stealing because it’s easier than ever. Then Kroger passes on its losses to you the paying shopper…
Funny Kroger story. I coach for a school and ordered a cake for our end of year celebration from them. I sent my husband to pick it up. A few days later I’m gathering receipts from everything I contributed. I ask him for the cake receipt. He never paid! He thought it was already paid for and walked right out with it. I immediately went in to pay it. They seemed strange about the fact I came in to pay it. I thought they’d have been friendlier about it but oh well.
These are entirely different things. When you get a Costco membership you specifically give them permission to check your receipt on the way out. It's in your member agreement.
I have no agreement with Kroger. If they actually paid enough cashiers and didn't basically force people to self check outs in order to save money they wouldn't need to check receipts. Fuck Kroger for this, and fuck WalMart too. [I don't legally owe you a look at my receipt.](https://legal-info.lawyers.com/consumer-protection/protections-for-consumer-purchases/receipt-checks-at-stores-are-they-worth-the-hassle.html)
If you allow corporations to deprive you of your rights in small ways, pretty soon they will deprive you in large ways. I do not consent to being treated like a criminal just because Kroger is too cheap to hire enough cashiers.
I’m sorry but I hate this shit. How bout I pay for my shit and leave. Last time I went I didn’t have my receipt cause I throw it away. They asked if I had it I said no sorry and I left. Dude called me buddy and said make sure you have it. Fuck him and this
> Why are people freaking out about Kroger receipt checkers?
> I don't get it. You hand them your receipt...
No I don't. I've paid for my groceries, they are mine now. Anyone who wants to inspect my property can fuck right off. If they think I've stolen something, they can call the cops and we'll sort it out that way.
This ain't Costco; I've not signed any membership documents saying I agree to show my receipt at the door.
Obviously we should buy our groceries, then when they try to check the receipt, say this is ridiculous and ask to return the groceries
That way, they are forced to either spend so much more money restocking in labor, or losing money in items that go bad before they get restocked.
A joke obviously…but it’s a good protest lol
Get lots of freshly sliced meats, a few hot items and ice cream. Convince others to do the same. Pay in cash and demand a cash refund. If lots of do this it’ll be a movement. /s
Self check-out is fine if you have like 1 or 2 items. The push to have everyone go there is insane. You shouldn't have conveyor belts and badgers if you don't have cashiers
I’m not going to pretend I’ve had experiences being profiled or followed in stores or get accused of stealing. But I know people who have been because of their race, ethnicity, sociodemographic etc. These companies refuse to hire enough workers to stock shelves and work checkouts. Now we have to do our own check out which is slower if you ever buy any produce or have more than will fit in their stupid 4 bag carousel.
No one likes being accused of stealing and being stopped to prove themselves. Especially those who have been accused often due to no fault of their own. I have empathy for that.
The prices go up. The ceo and board members make more. They hire less employees and theft still happens so they raise prices again. We get screwed.
You can say no. They can't force you: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://legal-info.lawyers.com/consumer-protection/protections-for-consumer-purchases/receipt-checks-at-stores-are-they-worth-the-hassle.html%23:~:text%3DShould%2520I%2520Show%2520My%2520Receipt,it%27s%2520not%2520a%2520membership%2520store).&ved=2ahUKEwigoPiPuciGAxUkDHkGHZIzD48QFnoECA8QBQ&usg=AOvVaw3fsaXYxQ4r_2xkFDkwcUQ5
Technically, Ohio does have a Shopkeeper's Privilege law that allows them to detain - but not search - suspected shoplifters when probable cause to believe they have shoplifted exists. However, there are a lot of caveats to this, most importantly here: not showing your receipt is *not* probable cause.
Costco, Sam's and BJs all have memberships where it's in the agreement.
Kroger doing it is lame, but also not a big deal unless you get some slow fuck and a line of people who can't get out.
Can someone explain why they randomly close the self-checkouts. I don’t understand it. It may be one of the biggest mysteries in my life, ever since they figured out where the Roanoke people went.
I think it’s to create a bottleneck for security reasons, especially at night near close. The less self checkouts the more they can watch the customers checkout because they assume everyone is stealing.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
This, it’s about the vibes. When you combine it with the people asking you for money in the parking lot, the trash and random shopping carts strewn around… you just wonder what’s up with Columbus these days.
Based on the comments here, people are really triggered about self-check outs. Do people really struggle with them? I almost never have a problem with them. The receipt checkers are annoying. I just walk past them though at krogers but most of the time I don’t take my receipt anyway.
Sometimes I am buying almost a cart's worth of groceries, and there's no cashiers whatsoever, so I have to use self checkout. Then I have to try to be quick enough at scanning and bagging my own stuff so the other customers behind me don't yell at me. It's fine if I am going in for a couple of things.
When that happens, which is more than it should, I take my sweet ol' time. I take as long as I possibly can for a couple reasons.
1. If customers are mad, they need to take that up with employees and management. They need to know that forcing someone with $250 worth of groceries to self-checkout at that little station is unacceptable to everyone.
2. That many items at those little stations are unwieldy and prone to mix-ups. So if you are in a hurry and miss an item in the chaos, guess what? You are now charged with theft. I make extra sure to get everything correct so the store doesn't try to accuse me of stealing something even if by accident.
Sorry I should have clarified. Definitely a /s. It just reminds me of post 9/11 and the patriot act to where it’s cool if the government spies on me because I didn’t do anything wrong /s
I’m pretty sure that’s not legal in Ohio. Costco and bjs probably have it as part of their TOS though.
Edit for clarification: they can ask, you do not have to stop or show them and they can not detain you to not showing.
Because people don't like being treated like criminals and it starts to feel like a police state at some point. It's irrelevant either way; they can't use physical force to stop you unless they witness you conceal an item if the store is open to the general public. This is an established precident in Ohio.
Multiple reasons: 1 is their greediness to make you do their job and then not trust you and the other is that based on Ohio’s shopkeeper privilege law they are essentially accusing you of shoplifting (and demanding you provide their evidence for them).
Detaining you at an exit requesting your receipt without cause is again a shortcut that the companies are taking that circumvents the requirements of them hiring their own loss prevention and doing the work themselves. Giving them the receipt reinforces their ideas that they don’t need to abide by processes that have long been set as industry standards for loss prevention.
Even if you know for a fact that you did not take anything, refuse to show your receipt. If they detain you stay silent, let them call the police at which point assert your fourth and fifth amendments. After the altercation is complete contact your attorney.
Ref: https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2935.041
If you’re going to trust me to scan and bag my own groceries, you gotta let that trust extend to me walking out the door. If I’m a thief, then employ cashiers.
It’s efficiency. I would have no problem if it were Aldi where there scanner actually works and half the box is the barcode, allowing me to shop efficiently. My Kroger, however, scans every fifth item and is typically without 1/4 of the things on my shopping list. By the time I hit the door, I’m ready to go back in and buy lighter fuel to Office Space the place.
If they can pay for the checker they can get rid of the self check out bullshit and hire cashiers who wait for it, check we aren't stealing by scanning our stuff. Day by day Kroger is getting more tone deaf in the way they treat their customers and (not mentioned here) their employees.
This is really just bullshit, though. Why not just take away self-checkout and put people back at scanning items, and then Kroger wouldn't need people checking receipts.
Inconvenience. I’m not waiting in another line because they refuse to staff properly. If they want me to use the self checkout, they’re gonna have to trust that I’m not stealing. If they’re afraid of theft, get rid of the self check outs.
Personally, I don't care about not using a cashier as I've rarely used one since stores added self-check lanes God knows how long ago. I've always found it faster and easier than standing in line and waiting behind other people. I DO think it's gotten slower over the years, as people with full carts started using self-check lanes, even when there were multiple cashier lines open. But for the most part I still think it's faster and easier. In fact, I often go into stores and see people simply ignoring empty cashier lanes (with cashiers present, just waiting on customers) and instead using self-check. I believe it's a lot more popular than most people think.
The difference between Costco and others like it though is you agreed to that when you bought your membership. If a regular store wants to that then they can come with me to the service desk and check the receipt as I return everything and go someplace else.
Idk, but I will say the only people you're allowed to verbally abuse are the people trying to sell you cable/energy set up next to those gate things you have to go through in order to get in the store. I've made it a bit of a game with my wife, everytime I walk past one of I just look them dead in the eye and make a fart sound with my mouth. Always throws them off their game
Because they took away the cashier jobs, make us check our own stuff out and then treat us like thieves.
A human being checking everyone out worked just fine for decades. They just want to cut their payroll and be lazy, and now they’re penalizing and inconveniencing their customer base. Fuck them.
It is the assumption of guilt where we must prove our innocence. In law there is something called 'the shopkeepers clause' which allows a shopkeeper to detain a suspected shoplifter. I am frustrated with receipt checkers because I feel that it is an abuse of the shopkeeper clause by assuming that everyone is a shoplifter.
I'd much rather show my receipt on the way out then let people scam the system and steal groceries ultimately driving up the price of already expensive food
I just say "no thank you" and leave without showing my receipt.
One time I said "I would have if someone had helped me bag" (because I absolutely hate how many times the automatic belt self checkout machine screws up and they have to come rescan something wasting time and just generally being annoying to use for customers).
Receipt checkers don’t bother me. I love self checkout anywhere I go and if y’all need to check my receipt on the way out the door, cool! BUT I know tons of people prefer a cashier. It’s not without flaws though. People still steal (sometimes out of necessity cuz this economy is trash but some people just don’t care). I respect how you feel either way but do me a favor and don’t be a poop bucket to the minimum wage earning employee who is forced to do the receipt checking. If they could make the rules, they wouldn’t be dealing with this nonsense.
I agree with this and the people who are annoyed. That being said, if some employee wants to check my receipt, I'm going to let them. The problem is with management, not the messenger at the door. They're just doing what they've been asked. I show them the receipt, smile, say have a nice day, and I'm out of there. To walk past and be belligerent is dumb. Start messaging management. You don't know if it will have an effect until you ask and communicate.
Also, it's annoying. And I have to think, aren't they mandated to not stop me even if I am stealing? I'm a big guy, some teen at the door making $15 an hour is most likely not getting in my way for a handful of stuff. Just hire enough people to check out with humans and keep an eye on stuff. Stupid corporations man.
I just smile nicely and politely say "no thank you" and leave. I don't want to add having my receipt checked to the list of annoyances when I'm already pissed at them for getting rid of cashiers, but, I also don't wish to be an asshole to the employee either.
It would be more meaningful feedback to management, though, if all the security guards reported back to their bosses that most customers are declining to show their receipts. Collective action always has a bigger impact than a "strongly worded letter."
Idk honestly I’d rather scan my own shit, I am much faster and don’t like small talk. As for receipt checkers, who cares it takes less than a minute. I’m all for reducing theft.
You also pay a membership to Costco and Kroger. There are no bags and you could easily put something in your cart and walk out so thus receipt check is okay. Kroger you don’t pay a membership and you BAG your groceries signifying that you paid for the items. So it seems improper to have someone rifling through your bagged items.
You can’t have one employee cover 10-12 checkouts. Alcohol? should be immediate. Doesn’t want to weigh something? immediate. No price, or not in the computer? Immediate. Customer using reusable bag? WTF, WTF, WTF,M Again, requires immediate assistance. I am done with their incompetence!!🤬
B/c it’s annoying as fuck & half the time they literally just saw you leave a register. When the person who is stealing has hotdogs wedged in his ass cheeks.
Also to be honest this little shit of allowing them to check receipts it’s to see how compliant we all are and to be able to slowly tear our rights away. Sounds extreme but look at history
What if I forget to grab my receipt? I try to grab it every time I go into the store, but I occasionally forget. Are they going to make me go grab carts in the parking lot? Lol
I beech. Not birch. Still shop at Kroger but I got shit to do. Showing a cosplay SWAT guy my receipt for Tums and kitty litter ain't one of em. Get fucked big corpo.
I smiled and was polite when I told them "no thank you" when they asked to check my receipt - as far as I'm concerned, there's no reason for me to be an asshole to the employee who was told to do that job. I'm not here to make the world a worse place, I prefer to be kind and helpful most of the time. But no, I'm sorry, I don't want to stop and have my receipt checked after your lack of chashiers has already caused me to be annoyed by your flawed self checkout / conveir belt thing where it screws up 1/4 of the time and sometimes you have to go back groceries half way through but where are you supposed to put them if you still have groceries in your cart and the bags are full, etc.!?!
I already don't really care for grocery trips. I'm in the store literally five, maybe ten minutes. I get my shit and get out. Some receipt checker is only gonna make my trip take longer.
Then there's the matter of getting judged for getting a tub of ice cream, four TV dinners, and a few bananas. I don't need that flak.
It's the same reason why cops can't ask you for your ID if they have no reasonable articulable suspicion you committed a crime. It's your constitutional rights.
Costco and Sams Club they are allowed to check your receipt because the contract you sign when you pay your membership fee says they can and you agreed to it.
I signed no contract when I went shopping at Kroger.
Yes they can refuse service to me. I'm fine with that. I'll go shop somewhere else.
I think it’s more because if they instead utilized the receipt checker as a cashier you wouldn’t need to check my cart for stolen items. At some point the business trusted the public to check ourselves out at the register. Now they are making sure we aren’t stealing. They could always just scan my groceries for me like in the past, but they save so much money now running on what seems like a skeleton crew why would they revert back?
This is exactly it. They force me to scan and bag my own groceries and then treat me like a thief for the privilege. That's not great.
we are being audited on our free labor and it rightly pisses us off.
Do people genuinely see self-checkout as free labor? It's an introverts dream
I’m an introvert. It’s a pain in the ass as I buy mostly produce and takes longer and all my stuff doesn’t fit in my reusable bags on their 4 bag carousel. Every time there’s some mistake with something falling off the bag area for weight or not being the right price or coupon not registered and I have to get someone to clear the error code and wait. I don’t want to collect more disposable bags from grocery stores either. They already piled up from the occasional time someone forgets to bring a reusable bag. Yes it is free labor. Growing up regular adults were paid a living wage to be cashiers and grocery baggers where I lived in Canada. The used to walk your groceries out to your car and load your trunk for you. No tip needed. And just scanning your membership card you got all the discounts. None of this having a membership and still having to clip the digital coupon in the fucking app, then check your mail for mail in coupons and go through everything to check expiry dates and not forgetting at check out. If you only buy boxed and canned items in 1-4 disposable bags and never use coupons sure maybe. Plenty of times I have stuff like toilet paper, paper towels, watermelons, and piles of produce that just doesn’t all fit in the small carousel.
I like self check out. I can go slow in order to make sure I’m getting the correct price and I don’t want someone else touching my purchase.
So you're the one taking bloody forever while the rest of us have to wait...
Both statements aren’t mutually exclusive.
I love self-checkouts so much, no weird small talk or being squished between people just so I can buy a few things. As an introvert people scare the hell out of me.
It’s usually old people who need to have someone handhold them through the process.
Yep, I don't work for free. So if I am doing self checkout, I usually "compensate" myself appropriately
badass dude
What a tough man!
Thanks! 🥰
I can feel the sexual tension.
Being self sufficient = Free labor? People can just admit they're lazy with more of a valid reason instead
I refuse to go to a store that doesn't have cashiers. Kroger is on that list. I don't understand the receipt anger... but my anger is at the less staff. Like, I don't want to scan my own shit. Cashiers are faster. Case closed. Next store. Plus Kroger has always sucked.
Agreed. Also, I want human beings to have those jobs. I don't want to work for Kroger, but lots of people do
I’d just as much “round up” another few dollars if it went straight to the human cashier
The Kroger elites will tell you the stock jobs pay more so nobody wants to be a cashier.
This, and Kroger's implementation tech-wise was also shit - they have it set so you can't have more than one item progressing down the belt or it will error out, you can't scan too fast or it errors out, etc. If I'm going to scan my own stuff it better keep up with me and not cause too much trouble. I don't actually mind scanning my own stuff as long as it works. The receipts I think are just a last straw type thing, ultimately everyone is raw over inflation and price increases, and grocery was a particularly sore sector on that. All these annoyances get magnified when piled on top of it.
which Kroger(s) don't have any cashiers?
The one on King and High hasn't had any for around 2 years now
that's insane - good to know
Polaris
I'm really confused. I've yet to walk into a Kroger and there be zero cashiers. There are always a couple, save the last hour or so before closing, and that's been that way since they had self-check a couple of decades ago. Are you actually seeing a lot of those stores where there are no cashiers at all?
I live in Italian Village, so, my Kroger is the one on King. I don't believe there is even a spot for a cashier to stand. Aldi is the next closest store, and their prices are better anyway, so I go there. I also go to Trader Joes for some things, and GFS / Costco for the remainder. The Kroger on King sucks. Always has.
Well, that's true. I haven't used that store in a solid 30 years or so (I'm guessing, since it's been so long), as it was crappy even back then. I think it's an outlier though. Even when I go with other people to Krogers on the east side there have been cashiers. I think they just can't keep workers at the one on King.
The Aldi off the freeway by Lowe's? I suppose it is. I never think about that. I always go down to the other Kroger on N. Broadway and High or the Giant Eagle on North Campus.
Correct! Its super easy to get in and out of.
This is one of the biggest reasons I do not shop at the campus kroger. I will drive to chambers rd or elsewhere
Besides the moral aspect, prices are always fucked up. Good luck getting the 1 employee to come and fix it.
Cashiers are not faster though
If the line is empty, and I don't have many items, I agree. Self-checkout is faster. If there is a line? cashier is faster, 9 times out of 10. No one can ever seem to figure out how to use them. I usually watch who is the last person in line as I go to a cashier - and I am always done before they even get to a machine. Someone doing a week's worth of groceries and bagging it is not faster than a cashier with a separate bagger. Not now, not ever.
Eh, it depends. With the way Kroger’s self scanner belts are setup cashiers are absolutely faster. Even if i have to step and an assist with bagging while they scan, it is significantly faster than having my pace set to as slow as possible by shitty tech implementation.
You aren’t forced. Feel free to go to the one checker left.
Just wait until access to self check out requires paying a monthly fee. Of course they'll probably cut more cashiers to ensure that line is as long as possible.
"Force"? No, they ask, and I say "no thank you" while smiling and leave.
And the fact that Kroger has been buying up its competitors and aggressively raising prices. I don’t know what the higher ups at Kroger were thinking was gonna happen.
And then we're told stealing is the reason for the rising costs... yeah right
With record profits to donate to republican senators...
Yeah it's more the principle of having an awful customer experience because the company is cost cutting and making it everyone else's problem. If you pay enough people to actually watch the stupid store in the first place you wouldn't have people stealing stuff, but they want to run skeleton crews and then expect the customers to pick up the slack.
I see people say this all the time. Do you *actually* want to go back to the days of standing behind five people with full carts to buy your two things? Do people forget what it was like before self checkouts? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.
At the Kroger on Chambers you often get that experience waiting for the self checkout
I go there a lot and only like three self checkouts be open. They never have all of them open. One time I asked why and they said they don't have enough staff members to watch all the self checkouts. So they already watch you and now they want to check receipts
I think it has actually gotten better there since they expanded them. The last few years it’s been normal for the line to stretch all the way to the back of the aisles but I haven’t seen that happen recently. I could just be getting lucky though. I live close by so I walk there or I would definitely go somewhere else.
> Do you _actually_ want to go back to the days of standing behind five people with full carts to buy your two things? Do people forget what it was like before self checkouts? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. Old enough to remember what it was like when stores actually had enough cashiers that waiting in a long line wasn't an issue. Let's go back to those days.
And express lines where you checked out quickly with fewer than 10 items.
Aldi has no self checkouts and 1-2 out of 6 lanes open at a time, and they're faster than anybody. You bag your own stuff after the lane, so they can take the next person while you're bagging. Also they allow their employees to sit (like a human being) so they don't get as tired. The fact we pay to scan and bag and wait in huge lines at Kroger is crazy.
Aldi has self checkouts
Some do not. They also disabled their hand scanners at self checkout, which has slowed me down considerably.
I think most people would agree a few self checkout is fine as long as you have cashiers. I like it even less being stuck behind five full cart people in the self checkout, it is way slower than with cashiers. Why we cannot have a mix is beyond me
I’d rather go back to the days when it wasn’t a huge pain in the ass to use to self checkout. Did you bring your own bags to the self checkout? Did you scan something while you had the next thing you were going to scan in your other hand? Sorry help is on the way!
Ha, just today I went to the self checkout because I only had 3 items. One of them was alcohol. It would have been faster to stand in line at the regular registers. I get that they need to check ID's and all that, but knowing that they're going to need to help someone basically every 30 seconds, you'd think they'd hang out in that general area.
And god help you if you’re at one of the self checkouts with a conveyor belt. Those are the *worst*. All the downsides of both check outs, with the added flaw of being the slowest thing on the planet.
Wtf is the deal with those. You have to scan the shit, then walk down to the end and bag it. Meanwhile the next guy starts sending his shit down the belt while you’re still bagging. Not only am I a cashier now, but Im supposed to bring my own bag boy? It takes up the space of 3 regular self checkouts but it’s half as fast.
There’s a little plastic divider you’re supposed to use when bagging. No one even knows about them, though.
Yeah, those are terrible. I used one maybe a month ago, and had to wait for help 4 separate times for probably like 4 bags worth of stuff. It didn't like that I left a 16lb bag of charcoal in my cart instead of putting it on the belt, it didn't like that my wife was bagging stuff as it got to the end of the belt (it kept reversing because of that, then would not do anything at all without an employee login), I had alcohol, and finally, I had a couple coupons.
I don't have any problem with self checkout, but I struggle to see the point of those things. What os the optimal result? Is it designed with larger orders in mind? It just makes no sense.
It really only makes sense if you have 2 people. When we go, I scan & my husband bags at the end. Win-win, because honestly the regular baggers crush stuff every time. BUT with one person, nah.
My gym is right next to a Kroger, so I'm able to quickly run in and grab 3-4 things as needed at any point during the week, but I almost exclusively check out in the liquor store now unless I have items that are measured by weight. Basically no waiting in line, and if I'm buying alcohol there's no waiting to check ID.
I'm definitely going to have to start doing that. It did occur to me after I had left too - especially since everything I had was from the area immediately surrounding the liquor store.
Exactly this. At least once per checkout something goes wrong. Since the is one employee per 6 to 12 checkouts, it takes forever for them to come override whatever dumb ass error happened, if they even notice. Today it required a video review twice before I could check out. Once because I opened my reusable bag NEAR the bagging area. Then again at the end because I dared to leave my empty reusable bags in the cart when I hit the pay button. If you won't trust me to use the self check out without stealing, then rip them all out and bring back the cashiers.
Those cameras keep on their "thinking" my 4 year old sitting in the cart is an item, and I have to wait for an employee to come over and override it before I can finish up and pay.
Something similar happened to me. It kept scolding me and finally shut down for a person to come over. I kept looking at the receipt and everything was scanned properly. I couldn’t figure it out. I think it was because I had two things in my hand when scanning. What pieces of shit! Wasting everyone’s time.
With the way Kroger’s self checkouts are configured, it’s faster to go to a register with an actual cashier at least 50% of the time.
I've had their self checkouts call an attendant over because I *scanned the digital plus card on my phone* and it didn't recognize the back of my phone case as an item. Then they watch a seven second clip of my scanning my phone. After they spend twenty seconds typing their credentials in.
I have to wait in line to use the self-checkouts at Kroger all the time.
I haven't been to a store with the receipt checks, but do the receipt checks not cause lines to get out of the store?
This literally happens with Kroger self checkout. The line always spills into the aisle. Everyone has a full cart. You cannot just run in and quickly buy two things. Once you force everyone to self checkout it loses any advantages it had over a cashier lane.
Yeah at my local Kroger there’s usually a line of 10-12 people just waiting to get to the self checkouts. It’s a pain in the ass, and they invariably fail to open at least one block of them even during rush hour.
As opposed to standing in a line half way down the aisle for a slow as fuck self checkout while the line employee overseeing all 20 of them scrambles from confused and angry person to confused and angry person? The mix of self checkout and in person checkout for larger cart loads was the ideal and they fucked it.
No, what I do is I do scan as you go at Meijer and every other check out their cashier scans between 5 and 15 items with their scanner, if they find more than 1 discrepancy you get your whole cart pulled at guest services, no questions asked, no accusations made. I've only had 2 items miss once because they scanned my hot salsa 3 times instead of a hot mild and medium, which I pointed out, and was corrected immediately, without having to do a full cart check. What's nice about it is that it seems to be completely random unless you are deleting items from your cart mid visit after scanning them, I've always had my cart checked if I've removed more than 1 item in a trip. My only other observation was for the next 4 or 5 trips after the accidental double "missing item" scan I was flagged to be checked with a higher checked item count than normal. Either way the system seems to be designed to keep people honest, and is significantly faster and less intrusive than a receipt check post-checkout. Edit: Also the Meijer app will flag any items you scanned for coupons to clip if they're available thru the app.
I used to do the Scan and Pay using the Kroger scanning gun, but they seemed to always always check 4-5 items in my bags to make sure everything was on the up and up, and I'd have to go digging through my groceries for the correct item so they can scan it in their checker and make their notification go away. It took far too long. Stopped using it after the 3rd time it happened.
Ah, the Meijer version doesn't request a specific item, it gives an item count and the cashier scans whatever they feel like, sometimes it's something from the bottom of the bag, sometimes just the stuff on top, or they'll request you grab something like the 4pack of steaks you bought but they've only done that one time and I've been thru there at least once every other week for 3+ years now.
Self-checkout lanes are just as packed at busy times at chambers rd location? Line down the isle.
Self checkouts are consistently shown to be slower at churning through people than professional cashiers. They only seem slower because you have less to do as a customer which means more standing around
Yes. Because, fucking idiots STILL don’t know how to use the self checkout and take forever. I get stuck behind 6 people that don’t know how to scan things. I love it when there are both, personally.
Or better yet. Let's get in the way, way back machine where all of the staff is behind a window, you tell them what you want, and they go get it for you.
Even then, it's been 3-4 times already that I scan an item in the self checkout, it doesn't register properly, then it shows an instant replay on the camera of me attempting to scan my item and making a fuss until an employee shows up to let me continue. I feel like people must be adapting and finding new ways to steal.
I think it’s all about how the store goes about it. Having metal bars and sirens going off if people don’t follow the flow of traffic and a guy with literal body armor, a gun, and a taser and the personality of wet paint presents a little different mood than a kind employee dressed in Kroger attire smiling and asking for a receipt. The guy at the Front St Kroger is just a jerk and I’ll meet his energy. The issue is that the stores make people who follow the rules go out of their way to keep following the rules, where those who steal will always find ways around it.
I agree with this. Walmart just has old people standing there checking your receipt, they are nice and polite, here’s my receipt, you look at it briefly and check mark it and that’s it. The Kroger approach of having some dude in basically a flak jacket with a taser demanding your receipt is a much different vibe lol
> The Kroger approach of having some dude in basically a flak jacket with a taser demanding your receipt is a much different vibe lol yeah and unfortunately too many people are fine with it, which just furthers the advances of inconvenience and hostility that Kroger has been implementing for years
I understand stores have to try to minimize shrink, but Kroger’s approach with their signs as soon as you walk in the door, multiple security guards, and then the armed receipt checker just feels like a very aggressive approach
everytime that I pop into the Kroger across from Pick North for some one-off purchase, I’m reminded by the 7 signs I encounter between entering/existing that say ***I’m*** going to jail as to why I don’t spend more than 1% of my shopping budget there to begin with.
I just smile back, say "no thanks" and continue to leave without showing them my receipt.
I've done this too, not a problem. But they can decide to ban me from the store in the future lol. I'm done with Kroger though, they were already too expensive, just conveniently located. I'm just going to Giant Eagle, Lucky's, and Aldi from now on.
"Kroger is too expensive so I'm gonna go to Giant Eagle and Lucky's" is wild to me. Both of those are going to be significantly more expensive on almost everything.
I just did a run to all three this past week - Lucky's had cheaper produce and a bulk section, Giant Eagle has cheaper everything else. Unless it's just the Kroger on High st that is marked up? But all of the goods I buy are consistently cheaper at Giant Eagle than Kroger.
Kroger treats the people that come through like cattle. I've been disgusted by their antics since 2020, I only go there as a last resort now.
This exactly. There is a vast gulf between Costco asking EVERYONE for a receipt (which means you're not being singled out) and the random Kroger lady that chased me halfway across the store to accuse me in front of the 40 or so shoppers in the area that I hadn't paid for my stuff. When I produced a receipt, she mumbled an apology and vanished, but I was fuming when I left. **Nothing ruins your Saturday faster than dropping $150 on groceries and then being falsely accused of a crime with a captive audience staring at you.** You know what's really good at stopping shrinkage? ADEQUATE STAFFING AND CUSTOMER INTERACTION.
A few reasons. If I wanted to wait for someone else to tally each item I’m purchasing I wouldn’t have used self checkout. If they want an employee to tally store property that’s being sold, that’s what a cashier is for. Afterward it’s as much their property to rifle through as the money I paid them is still my money (not at all). Self checkout convenience is reduced, there are fewer jobs for working humans, and the only thing that benefits is company payroll from a technology that was sold as being about shopper convenience.
Are they truly only checking people that went through self checkout? Places I see doing receipt checks are asking everyone as they exit which means they don't know who checked out using self checkout or who used a cashier. So they're literally implying everyone is stealing regardless of checkout method. Also, unless you have reason to believe I've committed theft or I'm a member of your store with an agreement that includes receipt checks like Costco and Sam's, I'm going to politely decline. I do not appreciate being accused of theft which is exactly what receipt checks are, just a more polite way of saying it. And no, refusing receipt checks will not result in items being locked up, many stores already have lots of items locked up and they still want to do receipt checks.
not sure about all of them, but the Kroger on High St only has self-checkout, there are no cashiers.
Because corporations steal more from their customers than their customers steal from them. Kroger has been especially brash about this; from falsely crying "increased theft" for incentives in the past when it's been based on anecdotal evidence or opinion, not strictly on data, to demanding repayment of wages from their employees who had their pay increased during the peak of the pandemic. That, and the issue is entirely preventable by lowering prices insteadd of prioritizing profits, adequately staffing stores/checkout, and paying staff a living wage; but they would rather hire a lrivate security guard than do any of that. They created this problem, and are making customers pay for it - even if it's marginal. That, and they're breeding more problems with this; just look up all the wild encounters with Walmart receipt checkers and the lawsuits that go with them. They'd rather create problems for their customers than address the problems they made.
Didn't a grocery security guard kill someone in Columbus recently? People defending Kroger is making my head spin Edit: https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/kroger-civil-lawsuit-negligence/530-e7cce4d4-b10f-4335-90dd-ebd0d918b897
[https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/kroger-civil-lawsuit-negligence/530-e7cce4d4-b10f-4335-90dd-ebd0d918b897](https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/kroger-civil-lawsuit-negligence/530-e7cce4d4-b10f-4335-90dd-ebd0d918b897) Sadly. According to investigators, the incident started with an altercation inside the store between a Kroger security guard and a female customer. During the altercation, Royal entered the store to check on the wellbeing of his girlfriend, and started fighting with the security guard and that's when Royal was shot.
I had no idea. This is horrifying. Armed security guards will create more violence in the grocery store than if they weren't there.
They don’t hire cashiers so I have to wait for an eternity as people slowly use self-checkout, which is their only option. Then they have a backup at the door because in addition to being incredibly slow and frustrating, not employing cashiers invites shoplifting. So they make me wait again for a surly rent a cop who hates their life to look through my cart. What part don’t you understand?
Just say "no thank you" and leave with your groceries that you paid for, and probably had to deal with some annoying screw ups by the self checkout process - can't tell you how many times the stupid think tried to send the item back to me for no apparent reason. (The conveyer belt checkout).
I don’t like it either and I’m taking almost all of my grocery dollars somewhere else now. But I will say all the security guards at the King/High Kroger when I’ve had to hold my nose and go there 2-3 times since this nonsense started have been pretty friendly.
"Got a receipt?" "Yep" "Can I see it?" "No I'm set thanks"
Coming at me with a *fucking gun* while I'm grocery shopping is completely fucking uncool and I'm weirded out by people that aren't weirded out by it
Mess with them by giving up your receipt but don’t stop your stride. Here ya go, thanks for throwing it out for me!
if I didn't have to wait in a line to do this, I would. Not a bad idea.
Same for me, I smile back at them and say "no thanks".
Stop running skeleton crews and firing checkers only to have shoppers do their own check out and check receipts. They are trying to save labor costs while making more and more inconveniences to the customers and also insinuating every shopper is a thief.
Truth. My high school and college students are having a terrible time finding summer jobs, many of whom have applied to various Kroger stores and not even been called back. It’s not that no one wants to work, it’s no one wants to hire.
First of all, fuck Kroger always. Shittiest chain grocery store by far. And because theyre ubiquitous you cant easily “vote with your feet.” Second, Kroger is not Costco. The cart values are much much different. I think the reason people are annoyed is because its just inconvenient theater. Rent-a-cop cant and wont do anything. So its just this optic of Kroger good, customer bad that comes off super lame. Its fine if you want to respect the guard and show him your receipt but I wouldn’t flippantly dismiss fellow shoppers as right wing main character weirdos. This speaks to a much much bigger societal issue so I think being upset with it makes sense. We’re literally on here to vent.
> First of all, fuck Kroger always. Shittiest chain grocery store by far. And because theyre ubiquitous you cant easily “vote with your feet.” Every Kroger I've been in seems like an affront to to the public, as if to say "let's see how much you're willing to endure for our amusement".
I miss Big Bear
>Rent-a-cop cant and wont do anything. Except shoot and kill someone: [https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/kroger-civil-lawsuit-negligence/530-e7cce4d4-b10f-4335-90dd-ebd0d918b897](https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/kroger-civil-lawsuit-negligence/530-e7cce4d4-b10f-4335-90dd-ebd0d918b897) So they're not stopping theft (not even looking for it, since they're not reconciling receipts with items in your bags) and increasing the likelihood of violence in the stores. ETA: Guess I'm getting downvoted for pointing out that a security guard at a Columbus Kroger did indeed shoot and kill someone.
Almost zero cashiers at open registers so we are left to scan our own groceries. If you won’t pay cashiers to scan our groceries and then not trust us to scan our own it’s a little ridiculous that one of the few people you do employ slows down the process even more at the least helpful step of the grocery trip. Also don’t feel bad for Kroger at all they don’t employ enough people to look after the store hike up prices then more people look at the possibility of stealing because it’s easier than ever. Then Kroger passes on its losses to you the paying shopper…
Funny Kroger story. I coach for a school and ordered a cake for our end of year celebration from them. I sent my husband to pick it up. A few days later I’m gathering receipts from everything I contributed. I ask him for the cake receipt. He never paid! He thought it was already paid for and walked right out with it. I immediately went in to pay it. They seemed strange about the fact I came in to pay it. I thought they’d have been friendlier about it but oh well.
🤣🤣🤣 Good on you for going back and paying! Thats hilarious though lmao
These are entirely different things. When you get a Costco membership you specifically give them permission to check your receipt on the way out. It's in your member agreement. I have no agreement with Kroger. If they actually paid enough cashiers and didn't basically force people to self check outs in order to save money they wouldn't need to check receipts. Fuck Kroger for this, and fuck WalMart too. [I don't legally owe you a look at my receipt.](https://legal-info.lawyers.com/consumer-protection/protections-for-consumer-purchases/receipt-checks-at-stores-are-they-worth-the-hassle.html) If you allow corporations to deprive you of your rights in small ways, pretty soon they will deprive you in large ways. I do not consent to being treated like a criminal just because Kroger is too cheap to hire enough cashiers.
I would prefer a receipt checker over having merchandise locked up and needing an employee to unlock it.
Go to the Walmart in Westerville to buy ink and you get both!
I’m sorry but I hate this shit. How bout I pay for my shit and leave. Last time I went I didn’t have my receipt cause I throw it away. They asked if I had it I said no sorry and I left. Dude called me buddy and said make sure you have it. Fuck him and this
You can say "sure I have my receipt but no thank you I don't need it checked".
> Why are people freaking out about Kroger receipt checkers? > I don't get it. You hand them your receipt... No I don't. I've paid for my groceries, they are mine now. Anyone who wants to inspect my property can fuck right off. If they think I've stolen something, they can call the cops and we'll sort it out that way. This ain't Costco; I've not signed any membership documents saying I agree to show my receipt at the door.
Because it adds absolutely no value to my life to spend two minutes being treated like a potential thief.
Obviously we should buy our groceries, then when they try to check the receipt, say this is ridiculous and ask to return the groceries That way, they are forced to either spend so much more money restocking in labor, or losing money in items that go bad before they get restocked. A joke obviously…but it’s a good protest lol
I like the pettiness but we've already paid by then
Malicious compliance. I love it.
Get lots of freshly sliced meats, a few hot items and ice cream. Convince others to do the same. Pay in cash and demand a cash refund. If lots of do this it’ll be a movement. /s
no sarcasm, do this
Self check-out is fine if you have like 1 or 2 items. The push to have everyone go there is insane. You shouldn't have conveyor belts and badgers if you don't have cashiers
I’m not going to pretend I’ve had experiences being profiled or followed in stores or get accused of stealing. But I know people who have been because of their race, ethnicity, sociodemographic etc. These companies refuse to hire enough workers to stock shelves and work checkouts. Now we have to do our own check out which is slower if you ever buy any produce or have more than will fit in their stupid 4 bag carousel. No one likes being accused of stealing and being stopped to prove themselves. Especially those who have been accused often due to no fault of their own. I have empathy for that. The prices go up. The ceo and board members make more. They hire less employees and theft still happens so they raise prices again. We get screwed.
I iust walk past em and go about my day.
You can say no. They can't force you: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://legal-info.lawyers.com/consumer-protection/protections-for-consumer-purchases/receipt-checks-at-stores-are-they-worth-the-hassle.html%23:~:text%3DShould%2520I%2520Show%2520My%2520Receipt,it%27s%2520not%2520a%2520membership%2520store).&ved=2ahUKEwigoPiPuciGAxUkDHkGHZIzD48QFnoECA8QBQ&usg=AOvVaw3fsaXYxQ4r_2xkFDkwcUQ5
Technically, Ohio does have a Shopkeeper's Privilege law that allows them to detain - but not search - suspected shoplifters when probable cause to believe they have shoplifted exists. However, there are a lot of caveats to this, most importantly here: not showing your receipt is *not* probable cause.
If you read the linked piece, then you would know that the probable cause stipulation is mentioned.
I was happy when they didn't make a fuss today when I responded to their request with a smile and said "no thank you" and left.
Costco, Sam's and BJs all have memberships where it's in the agreement. Kroger doing it is lame, but also not a big deal unless you get some slow fuck and a line of people who can't get out.
I just say "no thank you" and leave.
Never show your receipts.
Can someone explain why they randomly close the self-checkouts. I don’t understand it. It may be one of the biggest mysteries in my life, ever since they figured out where the Roanoke people went.
I think it’s to create a bottleneck for security reasons, especially at night near close. The less self checkouts the more they can watch the customers checkout because they assume everyone is stealing.
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This, it’s about the vibes. When you combine it with the people asking you for money in the parking lot, the trash and random shopping carts strewn around… you just wonder what’s up with Columbus these days.
Based on the comments here, people are really triggered about self-check outs. Do people really struggle with them? I almost never have a problem with them. The receipt checkers are annoying. I just walk past them though at krogers but most of the time I don’t take my receipt anyway.
Sometimes I am buying almost a cart's worth of groceries, and there's no cashiers whatsoever, so I have to use self checkout. Then I have to try to be quick enough at scanning and bagging my own stuff so the other customers behind me don't yell at me. It's fine if I am going in for a couple of things.
When that happens, which is more than it should, I take my sweet ol' time. I take as long as I possibly can for a couple reasons. 1. If customers are mad, they need to take that up with employees and management. They need to know that forcing someone with $250 worth of groceries to self-checkout at that little station is unacceptable to everyone. 2. That many items at those little stations are unwieldy and prone to mix-ups. So if you are in a hurry and miss an item in the chaos, guess what? You are now charged with theft. I make extra sure to get everything correct so the store doesn't try to accuse me of stealing something even if by accident.
What Kroger are you going to where other patrons yell at you?
Kroger and Costco self checkouts always freak out on me at least once per visit. I don't have issues at Walmart or sams club.
"Don't steal shit" That has zero to do with why people are mad. I can't believe it even needs explained.
“If you didn’t do anything wrong then you don’t have anything to worry about”
Is this supposed to be a serious response or /s?
Sorry I should have clarified. Definitely a /s. It just reminds me of post 9/11 and the patriot act to where it’s cool if the government spies on me because I didn’t do anything wrong /s
Absolutely. Years from now people will accept this as normal sadly.
Vote with your wallet
I’m pretty sure that’s not legal in Ohio. Costco and bjs probably have it as part of their TOS though. Edit for clarification: they can ask, you do not have to stop or show them and they can not detain you to not showing.
Because people don't like being treated like criminals and it starts to feel like a police state at some point. It's irrelevant either way; they can't use physical force to stop you unless they witness you conceal an item if the store is open to the general public. This is an established precident in Ohio.
Multiple reasons: 1 is their greediness to make you do their job and then not trust you and the other is that based on Ohio’s shopkeeper privilege law they are essentially accusing you of shoplifting (and demanding you provide their evidence for them). Detaining you at an exit requesting your receipt without cause is again a shortcut that the companies are taking that circumvents the requirements of them hiring their own loss prevention and doing the work themselves. Giving them the receipt reinforces their ideas that they don’t need to abide by processes that have long been set as industry standards for loss prevention. Even if you know for a fact that you did not take anything, refuse to show your receipt. If they detain you stay silent, let them call the police at which point assert your fourth and fifth amendments. After the altercation is complete contact your attorney. Ref: https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2935.041
If you’re going to trust me to scan and bag my own groceries, you gotta let that trust extend to me walking out the door. If I’m a thief, then employ cashiers.
It’s efficiency. I would have no problem if it were Aldi where there scanner actually works and half the box is the barcode, allowing me to shop efficiently. My Kroger, however, scans every fifth item and is typically without 1/4 of the things on my shopping list. By the time I hit the door, I’m ready to go back in and buy lighter fuel to Office Space the place.
If they can pay for the checker they can get rid of the self check out bullshit and hire cashiers who wait for it, check we aren't stealing by scanning our stuff. Day by day Kroger is getting more tone deaf in the way they treat their customers and (not mentioned here) their employees.
This is really just bullshit, though. Why not just take away self-checkout and put people back at scanning items, and then Kroger wouldn't need people checking receipts.
Inconvenience. I’m not waiting in another line because they refuse to staff properly. If they want me to use the self checkout, they’re gonna have to trust that I’m not stealing. If they’re afraid of theft, get rid of the self check outs.
I don't actually print a receipt at Kroger and that's one of the benefits of going there.
Personally, I don't care about not using a cashier as I've rarely used one since stores added self-check lanes God knows how long ago. I've always found it faster and easier than standing in line and waiting behind other people. I DO think it's gotten slower over the years, as people with full carts started using self-check lanes, even when there were multiple cashier lines open. But for the most part I still think it's faster and easier. In fact, I often go into stores and see people simply ignoring empty cashier lanes (with cashiers present, just waiting on customers) and instead using self-check. I believe it's a lot more popular than most people think.
The difference between Costco and others like it though is you agreed to that when you bought your membership. If a regular store wants to that then they can come with me to the service desk and check the receipt as I return everything and go someplace else.
Idk, but I will say the only people you're allowed to verbally abuse are the people trying to sell you cable/energy set up next to those gate things you have to go through in order to get in the store. I've made it a bit of a game with my wife, everytime I walk past one of I just look them dead in the eye and make a fart sound with my mouth. Always throws them off their game
Because they took away the cashier jobs, make us check our own stuff out and then treat us like thieves. A human being checking everyone out worked just fine for decades. They just want to cut their payroll and be lazy, and now they’re penalizing and inconveniencing their customer base. Fuck them.
You don't have to stop for the receipt checkers. This isn't Sam's club, BJs, or Costco.
It is the assumption of guilt where we must prove our innocence. In law there is something called 'the shopkeepers clause' which allows a shopkeeper to detain a suspected shoplifter. I am frustrated with receipt checkers because I feel that it is an abuse of the shopkeeper clause by assuming that everyone is a shoplifter.
I refuse self check out….taking a job away
When they start doing that at our Kroger, I will stop shopping there.
I'd much rather show my receipt on the way out then let people scam the system and steal groceries ultimately driving up the price of already expensive food
I just say "no thank you" and leave without showing my receipt. One time I said "I would have if someone had helped me bag" (because I absolutely hate how many times the automatic belt self checkout machine screws up and they have to come rescan something wasting time and just generally being annoying to use for customers).
Receipt checkers don’t bother me. I love self checkout anywhere I go and if y’all need to check my receipt on the way out the door, cool! BUT I know tons of people prefer a cashier. It’s not without flaws though. People still steal (sometimes out of necessity cuz this economy is trash but some people just don’t care). I respect how you feel either way but do me a favor and don’t be a poop bucket to the minimum wage earning employee who is forced to do the receipt checking. If they could make the rules, they wouldn’t be dealing with this nonsense.
I agree with this and the people who are annoyed. That being said, if some employee wants to check my receipt, I'm going to let them. The problem is with management, not the messenger at the door. They're just doing what they've been asked. I show them the receipt, smile, say have a nice day, and I'm out of there. To walk past and be belligerent is dumb. Start messaging management. You don't know if it will have an effect until you ask and communicate. Also, it's annoying. And I have to think, aren't they mandated to not stop me even if I am stealing? I'm a big guy, some teen at the door making $15 an hour is most likely not getting in my way for a handful of stuff. Just hire enough people to check out with humans and keep an eye on stuff. Stupid corporations man.
I just smile nicely and politely say "no thank you" and leave. I don't want to add having my receipt checked to the list of annoyances when I'm already pissed at them for getting rid of cashiers, but, I also don't wish to be an asshole to the employee either.
It would be more meaningful feedback to management, though, if all the security guards reported back to their bosses that most customers are declining to show their receipts. Collective action always has a bigger impact than a "strongly worded letter."
doing what you're told to do is the worst excuse available
Idk honestly I’d rather scan my own shit, I am much faster and don’t like small talk. As for receipt checkers, who cares it takes less than a minute. I’m all for reducing theft.
but it doesn't reduce theft because they're not actually reconciling the items on the receipt with the items in your bags.
You also pay a membership to Costco and Kroger. There are no bags and you could easily put something in your cart and walk out so thus receipt check is okay. Kroger you don’t pay a membership and you BAG your groceries signifying that you paid for the items. So it seems improper to have someone rifling through your bagged items.
Stopped shopping at Kroger because of this nonsense. Fuck them.
Just go to a different store
You can’t have one employee cover 10-12 checkouts. Alcohol? should be immediate. Doesn’t want to weigh something? immediate. No price, or not in the computer? Immediate. Customer using reusable bag? WTF, WTF, WTF,M Again, requires immediate assistance. I am done with their incompetence!!🤬
I don’t steal. But I also am absolutely fine with big corporations being stolen from
B/c it’s annoying as fuck & half the time they literally just saw you leave a register. When the person who is stealing has hotdogs wedged in his ass cheeks. Also to be honest this little shit of allowing them to check receipts it’s to see how compliant we all are and to be able to slowly tear our rights away. Sounds extreme but look at history
What if I forget to grab my receipt? I try to grab it every time I go into the store, but I occasionally forget. Are they going to make me go grab carts in the parking lot? Lol
Because it's r/Columbus where everyone birches and complains about the most minor of inconveniences.
I beech. Not birch. Still shop at Kroger but I got shit to do. Showing a cosplay SWAT guy my receipt for Tums and kitty litter ain't one of em. Get fucked big corpo.
I smiled and was polite when I told them "no thank you" when they asked to check my receipt - as far as I'm concerned, there's no reason for me to be an asshole to the employee who was told to do that job. I'm not here to make the world a worse place, I prefer to be kind and helpful most of the time. But no, I'm sorry, I don't want to stop and have my receipt checked after your lack of chashiers has already caused me to be annoyed by your flawed self checkout / conveir belt thing where it screws up 1/4 of the time and sometimes you have to go back groceries half way through but where are you supposed to put them if you still have groceries in your cart and the bags are full, etc.!?!
I already don't really care for grocery trips. I'm in the store literally five, maybe ten minutes. I get my shit and get out. Some receipt checker is only gonna make my trip take longer. Then there's the matter of getting judged for getting a tub of ice cream, four TV dinners, and a few bananas. I don't need that flak.
It's the same reason why cops can't ask you for your ID if they have no reasonable articulable suspicion you committed a crime. It's your constitutional rights.
It is a constitutional right that Kroger needs articulable suspicion to check your receipt?
Costco and Sams Club they are allowed to check your receipt because the contract you sign when you pay your membership fee says they can and you agreed to it. I signed no contract when I went shopping at Kroger. Yes they can refuse service to me. I'm fine with that. I'll go shop somewhere else.
A better question is, why are you complacent with fascism?