RETAIL giant Target has issued an apology to a customer who walked out of the store after being “forced” to use the checkout option.
The fuming customer said he was asked to use a self-checkout with a really long queue instead of the regular cash counter.
Picture showing the long queue for the checkout[/caption]
He said he was shopping at a Target store in West Palm Beach, Florida on a Sunday when he was forced to queue behind at least 30 people.
The frustrated customer wrote in a post on X, formerly, Twitter: “At 2pm on a Sunday the ONLY checkouts open are self-checkouts.
“The line to checkout is 30+ deep. No employees or a manager in sight. Left my full cart and bailed.
“Customer service is pretty much nonexistent anymore.”
A spokesperson for Target soon issued an apology for the fuming customer.
They wrote: “Thanks for sharing your checkout experience with us today. So sorry to see this and have reported this to our store leadership team at this location.
“They’ll look into what happened here to ensure it doesn’t happen again. We appreciate your feedback.”
It comes as frustrated customers said they gave up shopping at Target following the retailer’s new checkout policies.
At the beginning of the year, Target began piloting and eventually fully rolling out new checkout policies.
The company changed all self-checkouts to express lanes, meaning only people with 10 items or less can use them.
On top of the express lane change, Target has given individual stores and their management the ability to shut down self-checkout registers altogether, depending on store traffic.
As these changes hit stores nationwide, customers have been struggling to adjust, complaining about customer experience falling as a result of the new rules.
Pat Host, @Pat_host on X, shared pictures of a long lines at his Target and some choice words about his experience there.
“This is what Target looks like at 8 pm because the store doesn’t want to operate its self-checkout registers,” he wrote.
The first picture shows multiple traditional checkouts with lines of six people or more waiting to be served.
The second picture shows a sign blocking off self-checkout reading that “team members nearby are ready to help you checkout.”
Despite the sign, Host was not going to be bothered after noting how long he would have to wait.
“That’s fine, I put my basket down and left. Target doesn’t need my business anymore,” he wrote.
Others felt similarly to Host, with some even sharing that they have done similar upon seeing Target’s register wait time.
Latest self-checkout changes
Retailers are evolving their self-checkout strategy in an effort to speed up checkout times and reduce theft.
Walmart shoppers were shocked when self-checkout lanes at various locations were made available only for Walmart+ members.
Other customers reported that self-checkout was closed during specific hours, and more cashiers were offered instead.
While shoppers feared that shoplifting fueled the updates, a Walmart spokesperson revealed that store managers are simply experimenting with ways to improve checkout performance.
One bizarre experiment included an RFID-powered self-checkout kiosk that would stop the fiercely contested receipt checks.
However, that test run has been phased out.
At Target, items are being limited at self-checkout.
Last fall, the brand surveyed new express self-checkout lanes across 200 stores with 10 items or less for more convenience.
As of March 2024, this policy has been expanded across 2,000 stores in the US.
