I know I like the automation that comes with the self-checking registers. I don't think they should cancel it just because of freeloading losers who can't pay for their shit.
%% Local WMT almost always has more room @ auto check out .I think they average more accuracy than CNN. Of course for ammo, have to ask the female to unlock it, so auto checker is not suitable for all investors/departments, like leverage . I was in the WMT, bought a watermelon + food one summer + I forgot my wallet, so told cashier, i would 'be back in a few minutes. When I came back /casher, she said lady behind me paid for it LOL/true[ Edit, not a free loader, but enjoyed free food@ WMT that day LOL]
What really did they expect? Shoplifters to start being honest when it comes to self checkout? They act like this is a surprise, and it's anything but a surprise, it's pure f***king stupidity...
The Stop'N'Shop chain in this area introduced wireless barcode scanners some years ago that you take with you while shopping and you scan each item as you put it in cart. When done you just pull up the QR code at self-checkout and pay. (I forget if it displays on the wand or you need their app for this, I used it once many moons ago so don't recall.) They've probably integrated it all into the phone by now where it will just pay from your wallet if you do have the app. Pretty darn quick and convenient, especially if they do it all through the app now so you don't even have to go to self-checkout.
The same security risk still exists. What if you scan the wrong item which is cheaper on purpose to pay for a more expensive item that you took for real? I think the only way to combat that is to eliminate the opportunity for the scammer to switch the items to ensure they only get what they pay for and the only way to do that is to disallow the consumers to scan the items themselves.
I used to live by an Amazon Fresh and I loved it. You just put food in the cart and walked out at the end. It was that simple. There are hundreds of cameras in the store that track what you are putting in your cart. It was so quick and so easy.
That would not be unprecedented. https://www.the-sun.com/news/6503218/walmart-arrest-customers-steal-self-checkout-how-they-know/
I can't stand self-checkout, and I avoid it unless I only have a couple items and the regular lines are really busy. I live in southwest Michigan, and I often travel the Indiana Toll Road. A few years ago, one of the shops at one of the rest stops went cashier-less. It was grab-and-go food. Plastic wrapped deli sandwiches, chips, bottled drinks, etc. It didn't fly. There were other options in the rest stop like Burger King, or Starbucks, or maybe it was a Popeye's Chicken or something. I think the place was shut down within a year. Unlike most of the supermarkets, the self-checkout system did not allow the customer to pay cash. You had to have a credit or debit card. And though many in this community may find it hard to believe, that is an obstacle for some. There are people who travel the highways in this country who are "unbanked." Or they have a checking account, but they are living paycheck to paycheck and the funds in their checking account have to stay there so they can write a check to the landlord. And FYI their landlord does not accept electronic payments, and the landlord lives 60 miles from the house they are renting, so the only reasonable way to pay their rent is to mail a paper check. And there are other folks who may have a checking account with some disposable income. But they don't have a credit card, and they really don't want to use their debit card for a bunch of little charges like $4.50 for a sandwich, because it makes it too hard to keep track of their balance. Or they've had one too many bad experiences with vending machines where they have been charged twice for the same product after swiping their card. Yes, that actually happens, and it is a huge pain in the ass trying to get a refund or disputing the charge with your bank. And if it's $2.00 for a bottle of water and you were charged twice, you may forget about it or not bother because it's too much trouble. And then you just tell yourself you won't use a f**king debit card at a vending machine ever again. Until you have to because there is no other option. I recently stayed at a Sonesta hotel, where the guest laundry was cashless. But I couldn't swipe my card in the laundry machines. I had to download an app on my tablet, and then load money into the app, and then the tablet connects to the machine through the wi-fi network in the laundry room, and when I ran the washer, it deducted $3.00 from my balance. So in order to use the laundry facility, not only did I have to have a credit or debit card, I also had to have a smartphone or a tablet. And it gets worse. The minimum load in the app was $10.00. Each time you run a washer or dryer, the cost was $3.00. Do I need to spell out the rest of the scam? You can't get a refund of unused funds in the app, or if you can, they are counting on lots of "customers" who won't bother to do so. But wait, you can use it the next time you stay at a hotel that uses that particular app in their guest laundry. While the vendor earns interest on that balance and you don't. Interest on a dollar? For the vendor it adds up. Like tiny balances on gift cards that never get spent. There's a name for it in the industry. It's called breakage. There are a few cities that have made it illegal for retail stores to refuse to accept cash.
Now we know the threshold of when big retailers like Walmart would take action. It has to be at least $1K. LOL Stealing $1K+ at a time. Wow!! Ten times, they would've made 10 grand!! Jeez.