I’ve stopped shopping at Loblaw’s as they have make it increasingly clear that they don’t care at all about their customers. I used to actually be a big fan, they had good selection and their house bands were actually pretty good. But I’m tired of continuously being treated like a criminal as they continue to cut costs and raise prices. Their self-checkout stands must be the most user-hostile thing ever. I actually enjoy using self checkouts when they don’t suck. Have you used self-checkout at IKEA? Absolutely pleasurable. You just grab the scanner and go beep-beep-beep and you are done in like 3 seconds. But Loblaw’s is like beep, place item in bagging area, wait for the bagging scale to stabilize, beep, wait for scale, beep, out of space try to put something on the floor, YOU HAVE ANGERED THE SCALE!!! LOCKING WHOLE UNIT UNTIL ATTENDANT COMES!!!, a minute the attendant—who is clearly also tired of these hostile machines—unlocks it without even looking at the error or what you have “stolen”, then I can continue scanning hoping that I don’t anger it again. When I am done it asks how many bags I used, they don’t even have bags anymore. Then it asks if I want to make a charitable donation in their name, go away and donate yourself and I’ll donate on my own. Finally I can pay. And now I have the pleasure being locked in until I scan my receipt.
Also who is this stopping? If I want to steal something I’m not going to sticker-swap or try to sneak it on the scale. I’m just going to leave it in the bag and never scan it. What happens if I didn’t buy anything, am I going to be allowed out? Are they going to demand to pat me down? They don’t have the right to do that.
I’m tired of this shit, I’ve recently been shopping at Farm Boy and they have a nice human who quickly scans my stuff and I am on my way. It isn’t even any more expensive for most things. (though they do frequently lack bulk options which can result in a higher price.) I have the luxury of being able to pretty freely choose where I shop, and I appreciate that no everyone has that privilege, but I’ve started shopping mostly based on how they treat me. Loblaws and Canadian Tire can fuck right off, they treat me like a criminal. Shoppers and Amazon are bad, but not awful. IKEA and Farm Boy treat me like an actual human who’s time and experience is valued, so they get my money.
I don’t know if it’s everywhere, but there’s a Decathlon store near me that has RFID on everything. When you get to the register, you just chuck everything in the box and it shows you what you need to pay. Take something out of the box, and it takes it out of your purchases.
They can’t legally force you to show a receipt. From recent article on it.
it’s important for consumers to know receipt-checks are not enforceable by law and customers can decline and walk away, said Alex Colangelo, lawyer and business law professor at Humber College.
Police officers have the power to arrest … but store security and loss-prevention officers are regular people. They have much more limited powers of arrest under the criminal code,” Colangelo said. “They can ask you to show your receipt and you can consensually allow them to do it. But there is no power or authority to detain you if you say no.”
Detaining someone who has not committed a crime can result in legal issues for retailers, Colangelo said, adding that a customer would “be able to sue for false imprisonment.”
Yeah. Basically they can’t stop you from leaving the store unless they have strong evidence that you committed a crime. Not showing a receipt is not strong evidence. Probably string evidence would be they saw you pick something up and followed you to the door without paying.
Apparently one exception may be Costco because they make you sign an agreement before entering. But I don’t think this has ever been tried in court.
I’ve stopped shopping at Loblaw’s as they have make it increasingly clear that they don’t care at all about their customers. I used to actually be a big fan, they had good selection and their house bands were actually pretty good. But I’m tired of continuously being treated like a criminal as they continue to cut costs and raise prices. Their self-checkout stands must be the most user-hostile thing ever. I actually enjoy using self checkouts when they don’t suck. Have you used self-checkout at IKEA? Absolutely pleasurable. You just grab the scanner and go beep-beep-beep and you are done in like 3 seconds. But Loblaw’s is like beep, place item in bagging area, wait for the bagging scale to stabilize, beep, wait for scale, beep, out of space try to put something on the floor, YOU HAVE ANGERED THE SCALE!!! LOCKING WHOLE UNIT UNTIL ATTENDANT COMES!!!, a minute the attendant—who is clearly also tired of these hostile machines—unlocks it without even looking at the error or what you have “stolen”, then I can continue scanning hoping that I don’t anger it again. When I am done it asks how many bags I used, they don’t even have bags anymore. Then it asks if I want to make a charitable donation in their name, go away and donate yourself and I’ll donate on my own. Finally I can pay. And now I have the pleasure being locked in until I scan my receipt.
Also who is this stopping? If I want to steal something I’m not going to sticker-swap or try to sneak it on the scale. I’m just going to leave it in the bag and never scan it. What happens if I didn’t buy anything, am I going to be allowed out? Are they going to demand to pat me down? They don’t have the right to do that.
I’m tired of this shit, I’ve recently been shopping at Farm Boy and they have a nice human who quickly scans my stuff and I am on my way. It isn’t even any more expensive for most things. (though they do frequently lack bulk options which can result in a higher price.) I have the luxury of being able to pretty freely choose where I shop, and I appreciate that no everyone has that privilege, but I’ve started shopping mostly based on how they treat me. Loblaws and Canadian Tire can fuck right off, they treat me like a criminal. Shoppers and Amazon are bad, but not awful. IKEA and Farm Boy treat me like an actual human who’s time and experience is valued, so they get my money.
I don’t know if it’s everywhere, but there’s a Decathlon store near me that has RFID on everything. When you get to the register, you just chuck everything in the box and it shows you what you need to pay. Take something out of the box, and it takes it out of your purchases.
10/10 self-checkout experience.
An old IBM commercial:
https://youtu.be/wzFhBGKU6HA?si=NX5vVi6QhSPOOFTS
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/wzFhBGKU6HA?si=NX5vVi6QhSPOOFTS
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Same thing at Uniqlo
They can’t legally force you to show a receipt. From recent article on it.
Yeah. Basically they can’t stop you from leaving the store unless they have strong evidence that you committed a crime. Not showing a receipt is not strong evidence. Probably string evidence would be they saw you pick something up and followed you to the door without paying.
Apparently one exception may be Costco because they make you sign an agreement before entering. But I don’t think this has ever been tried in court.
Costco i could see being different because you have a membership, and rules that go with it.