A video showing a Loblaw-owned store using security locks on shopping carts has made the rounds, leaving some Canadians enraged.
Reddit user Dexter8478 shared the video on the “Loblaws Is Out Of Control” subreddit earlier this week. They said it was filmed at a Superstore in Northwest Edmonton (12350 137 Avenue).
The clip shows a woman whose shopping cart wheels jammed automatically at the exit. A security personnel wearing an “Asset Management” shirt can be seen unlocking the cart.
Dexter8478 said the woman was asked for a receipt before releasing the shopping cart.
“The cart wheels locked, causing the cart to come to an abrupt stop and causing her to run into the car. [The security personnel] asked what aisle she just came from and to see her receipt. After checking the receipt, he then went and grabbed the device to unlock the cart wheel,” the poster detailed.
When asked why the cart was locked, the worker said it didn’t get close enough to the checkout aisle area, even though the shopper had gone through checkout with the cart.
“[The security worker] then followed me out to my car in the parking lot, asking if I was going to post the video to social media,” Dexter8478 added.
Loblaw new locking carts and asking for receipts after customer paid
byu/Dexter8478 inloblawsisoutofcontrol
“What an embarrassing and demeaning process to put customers through,” the top comment on the post reads. Others echoed the sentiment.
The subreddit is home to a massive community boycotting Loblaw stores. While the boycott was initially planned for May, its organizers announced an “indefinite” extension.
“For a lot of people, [this] will be the final straw,” one person commented. “All Loblaws is doing is having more people join the boycott. Some of them might not even know the boycott exists; Loblaws is just that sh*tty right now.”
Several said they would have returned all the items they bought if this happened to them.
“I would carry every single item back to the service desk and return it. People behave like these stores are the only ones selling groceries. They’d never get another penny from me after this embarrassment,” u/Staceyrt said.
“How humiliating! If that ever happened to me, I’d go back in and return it all and never shop there again. It’s pretty bad when you have to do something like that in order to reclaim your dignity while grocery shopping, for God’s sake,” added u/FixEquivalent9711.
A buggy situation: Loblaw’s response
Though the video is recent, many Loblaw-owned and non-Loblaw stores have had cart-locking security measures for years due to theft.
“Organized retail crime has a massive effect on colleagues and customers, including impacting prices at stores. Over the past few years, we’ve introduced a number of different technologies to help mitigate this risk, including smart-wheel technology in carts. This has made a huge difference and has stopped thieves from pushing full carts of groceries out the doors,” Loblaw told Daily Hive over email.
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Shoppers don’t seem that upset with the security measure itself but are furious with its bugginess, which causes carts to lock without good reason.
“Before the boycott started, I was leaving Superstore and my cart locked. I flagged multiple employees asking to unlock and no one cared or helped. I felt shamed and accused, and I switched my groceries to a new cart, walked out and never went back. Complete breaking point for me. Such disgusting treatment of customers, I don’t know why people who have a choice keep going back and I feel awful for people who have no choice but to shop there,” one boycotter shared.
A year ago, a shopper based in Halifax shared that this anti-theft measure caused his cart to jam without good reason.
“Confirmed with an employee that they’re ‘working out some bugs’ as I lost access to my cart about a minute after checking out. Carried my groceries to the car by hand. Thanks, Loblaws!” they wrote on Reddit.
Three months ago, another shopper said their cart jamming at a Zehrs exit was their “final straw with [Loblaw].”
“I thought maybe I hit a stone or something, but no. Alarms are going off and I look at the front wheel of my cart, and it has a locking mechanism. A nice gentleman walks over to me, scans the wheel, and says these do this sometimes. I asked him why in the world are these wheels locking? He said to control inventory. Nothing like continuing to treat us all like criminals,” they wrote.
Some allege serious harm from the suddenly halting carts.
“The other day when I was walking out [of Zehrs], the cart locked and jammed my lower back,” wrote Kitchener, Ontario-based Reddit user Global_Examination_8 in late June.
They said they were still in pain after a doctor’s visit. The poster also claimed that a friend told them he “had his one-year-old in the cart when it locked up,” causing a doctor’s visit.
“When I said something to the lady at customer service, she told me that there have been lots of complaints, including one from a pregnant lady who mushed her belly on a cart. The manager insisted it was a necessity because of the rise in theft. Something needs to be done about this,” they further alleged.
Loblaw addressed the accidental cart locks in its statement to us.
“Very rarely, we’ve had incidents where the wheels accidentally lock. We understand how unpleasant this can be for customers, and we’re continuing to do what we can to fix this. We always value our customers’ feedback to make sure we’re trying new techniques that maintain a great shopping experience,” it reads.
What are your thoughts about this not-so-new anti-theft measure? Should anti-theft cart-jamming security tech be fine-tuned for bugs or scrapped altogether? Have you experienced your cart locking unfairly at a Canadian store?
Let us know in the comments or email us at [email protected].