Target apologizes after shopper forced to ditch cart over checkout change that led to ‘lines of 25 people’

A FRUSTRATED Target customer has blasted the retailer’s checkout system after they were forced to abandon their cart.

The big box chain has come under fire in recent months for its long waiting times and slow checkout lines.

Getty

Getty

This angry shopper took to social media to speak about their experience.

“@Target in the spirit of job creation having 3 people work the register, shutting down the self check out & having 25 people in line,” they wrote on X.

“You could do a nice job of hiring more people.

“I just left my groceries & walked out. But let me know as a big corp you can’t afford this,” she said.

Customers have regularly complained about Target ‘s checkout process and have demanded change.

“I just left my groceries & walked out.”

A frustrated Costco shopper wrote on X

“We apologize for the experience!” Target said in a response to this shopper’s concerns.

The U.S. Sun approached Target for a comment.

Shoppers are fed up with the lack of staff on cash registers in stores across the U.S.

Some have even threatened to take their business elsewhere if Target does not do something soon.

“Target, if you aren’t going to trust customers with self-checkout, get more employees on the registers,” a frustrated shopper wrote.

“No less than 15 people in each line at three registers. This is a joke.”

“Maybe time to make a switch,” another shopper wrote.

Target recently introduced a 10-item limit for self-checkout lanes at select locations.

While the move was supposedly made to reduce waiting times, it seems to have done quite the opposite for many.

“This is a joke.”

Complaint on X

“Seriously Target you can’t kick me out of the “10 items or less” self-checkout unless you open a reasonable number of staffed registers,” a shopper complained.

“Target making the self-checkout line 10 items or less is the worst policing of all time,” another customer said .

The consensus seems to be that if the retailer wants to maintain this 10-item or less policy, they should employ more staff on cash registers.

“If Target is going to ‘force’ people to use human checkout – rather than self-checkout – they need to open more than two lanes,” a shopper said on Facebook .

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.

Shoppers have also spotted their local Walmart stores restricting customers to 15 items or less to use self-checkout machines.

“I’m done with this business,” another said.

Target is not the only retailer that has implemented such measures, and shoppers elsewhere are equally unimpressed.

Some Walmart locations have introduced a similar 15-item or less self-checkout policy.

The move is designed to reduce waiting times and crack down on theft, but customers are fed up.

“I’m all about obeying rules, but if you’re going to have self-checkout only 15 items or less, you should have more than two cashiers working,” one shopper said .

Alamy