A TARGET shopper has called for change after a self-checkout experience they deemed impermissible.
They detailed the recent store trip and requested that the retailer make a deliberate addition to avoid further problems.
“Ok @Target you can not have it both ways,” the customer, Melinda, fumed in a post to X, formerly Twitter.
Through further explanation, Melinda said that she came to the checkout after gathering groceries to find that all the self-checkout kiosks had been closed.
Only two cashiers remained open, with a line backed up considerably as others waited to pay and exit.
“If you stop the self-checkouts you need more than 2 cashiers otherwise open back up the self-checkout,” she wrote.
The shopper argued that Target should pick the lesser of two consequences rather than make customers wait at checkout.
“Take your losses on theft or pay employees, but waiting 20 minutes in line to check out is unacceptable,” Melinda added.
Target responded immediately to the customer’s concerns, apologizing and requesting more information.
“Sorry to hear about your recent shopping experience,” the brand’s official X account wrote back.
“Can you DM us at the link below with your full first name, email, and store location so that we can document and share your concern with leadership?”
“We will be awaiting your response,” Target continued.
It’s unclear if Melinda has since responded to further resolve the issue.
Complaints from customers over self-checkout processes have been going on consistently over the past year.
In March, the company made a significant policy change to speed up the checkout experience for customers, but it’s caused considerable controversy.
SELF-CHECKOUT MADNESS
The change effectively re-designated self-checkouts at Target stores as express checkout lanes.
Kiosks are now specifically set aside for customers with 10 items or less, with those who have more merchandise required to go to a traditional cashiered checkout lane instead.
Target noted during its test runs of the policy at 200 stores at the end of 2023 that the checkout experience was twice as efficient, but shoppers like Melinda are claiming things are worse off.
Several have claimed that while kiosk areas are either closed off or designated to the 10-item or fewer customers, only one to two cashiered lanes remain open for everyone else.
“Making self-checkout 10 items or less might be the dumbest in a years-long series of dumb format changes Target has implemented,” another shopper remarked in a post to X.
“I can scan faster and bag better than any of the cashiers.”
“Let me do it myself,” they stressed.
Others went as far as to call the brand their “personal hell” due to the change and claimed, “I can never use self-checkout anymore.”
DONE FOR GOOD
A few shoppers said they’d even be boycotting Target from now on and getting essentials from competitors like Amazon after the change.
“Yeah, I think I’m good never shopping [at] Target again,” someone else wrote on X.
“This new self-checkout policy is a disaster.”
“Basically, if I don’t need something in a rush, I am better off ordering from Amazon or some other place, and I will get it dropped off at my door instead,” another added.
A third wrote, “I think my self-checkout will be on Amazon instead of dealing with locked items, long lines like Walmart now, and hard-to-track-down employees.”