Walmart shopper leaves a full cart & walks out after last cashier in the store said she wouldn’t take any more customers

A WALMART customer shared their frustrating shopping experience, shedding light on one of the common challenges shoppers face — like closed checkout lines at inopportune times.

In a late-night post on Facebook, Carroll Dee Tilghman recounted a visit to Walmart that didn’t go as planned.

After filling her cart with groceries, Tilghman approached what appeared to be the only open register in her North Carolina location.

But before she could get there, another customer with fewer items stepped in front of her.

What happened next left Tilghman exasperated.

"The guy on the register looked at me and said she would be his last customer," she wrote.

lol," read the next sentence in frustration.

Faced with the prospect of not being able to check out, Tilghman made the decision to leave her full cart behind and head home.

Frustrated but managing to keep a sense of humor, Tilghman added, she told the cashier she would "see him tomorrow."

"He said he would be back Monday," she said he cluelessly responded.

"I said ok and left," she explained.

While the post seemed to strike a lighthearted tone, it taps into a broader issue many shoppers can relate to—being left without enough open registers, especially at peak times.

In recent years, complaints about the limited number of checkout lines at big-box retailers like Walmart have become increasingly common.

Even as stores introduce self-checkout systems, some customers prefer the personal interaction of traditional registers, only to find fewer options available.

For Tilghman, who described Walmart as “not my place,” this incident was particularly frustrating.

The post even garnered attention from other shoppers who have experienced similar situations.

Several commenters chimed in with their own stories of long lines and closed registers at Walmart.

"People are so rude," read one comment.

"They need to hire more people," said another.

Others even said they "understand" and have done the same themselves when it comes to ditching a full cart and just walking out of the store empty-handed.

"Walmart has turned bad," another said.

"Really bad," they continued.

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.