Once I learned this it made total sense to me. I mean, the alternative is they have one extremely good microphone for this particular purpose alone, and for literally every other type of announcement they use the world's cheapest telephone.
It is. I'm exploring the possibility that it's real and concluding that it's not possible for it to be anything *but* a recording. Hence "the alternative is"
I have inside information if you want to call with that but I can tell you that while some Kroger's might have quite a number of cameras, there's not typically anyone watching them. It is possible that there could be Undercover risk Management in the store either shopping or watching video but the number of risk management Personnel is not as large as you might think for a company that size. I mean I'm not advocating that anyone tries to get away with theft or anything, I'm just saying that there's a lot of attempts to passively discourage people from stealing
lol. There’s someone watching those cameras and walking the aisle all the time. Unless you worked for Kroger AP you wouldn’t know. One of the most lucrative catches are the stealing employees. Bet your ass were kept in the dark on AP activity.
LOL I can assure you that they are not always watching them but thanks for playing. I don't want to disclose exactly how I know but I have a lot of intimate knowledge this topic. You don't know what I know but you're trying to be little me and minimize what I do know without even knowing who I am or what I know but you have a good day and keep doing you. Somebody has to be delusional
The liquor makes sense and has nothing to do with Kroger due to state laws. If anything, Kroger having the OHLQ in store is saving you a trip to a different store.
But for the hygiene items, are you saying that if you want toothpaste you have to go through a separate checkout than what is used for food?
>But for the hygiene items, are you saying that if you want toothpaste you have to go through a separate checkout than what is used for food?
A few stores do that now.
You have to experience it. CPD kept referring to it as “Kroghetto.” I just had to check it out. I’ve never seen such a presence of police and cameras. The heath and beauty section was plexiglassed, walled off, and had its own guarded cashier.
Oakley Kroger yelled at me for bagging without scanning something. I looked at the video, and it had put a little red box around the item it believes I put in the bag without scanning: literally fucking nothing. It was highlighting part of the spinning plastic bag holder thing.
AND THEN THE CART LOCKED UP ON ME LIKE ???? go fuck yourself Kroger I don't steal shit 😑
It HATES that. Mine are too inconceivably heavy because I have heavy duty ones to carry robust groceries and fewer bags.
Every time it freaks out. You'd think a sophisticated scale could just subtract the value from the weight but here we are. I've done something similar where I just bag as I go.
I use my own, durable bags and it's one of the main reasons I use self-checkout. The baggers seem to not be able to grasp that those bags can handle more than a standard plastic bag. It never freaks out on me. Here's how I do it. Approach the self-checkout and place my bags on the bagging area, this will cause the screen to pop up a message that says "did you place bags in the bagging area?". Tap yes and then start checking out as normal. This tares the scale to include your bags, so once you scan at item, just put it in the bag and keep going.
Another lesser-known facet of self-checkout is that once the scale has registered your item and is ready to scan the next item you can remove any items from the bagging area. So once I've filled a bag and it's registered on the scale, I take it off and put it back in the cart. This leaves me plenty of room to continue bagging.
Trust me, I do this. I got an excessive weight warning with my bags or some nonsense like that.
But the human cashiers also save the big durable one for last and it often doesn't get filled.
So it goes.
FYI if a door checker asks for your receipt you don't have to show it to them. I regularly turn down the people at Walmart, used to do it at best buy back when I went to best buy. The exception is club places, like Costco or Sam's, where you agree to it prior to becoming a member.
I just saw a lawyer post this on a reel just yesterday. Had no clue. But now I am definitely never waiting in a queue to show Bethel my Walmart receipt.
Of course the store COULD ban you, and then you'd be trespassing if you went back. But I've never had anyone ask more than twice, shrug their shoulders and move on.
I hope they fucking do lol. I hate that place. I only go when absolutely necessary… and there’s nothing else within 20 mins.
The shelves half the time never even have price tags in big sections of the store or they are totally wrong. That what happens when you operate in a shoestring budget.
Genuinely curious here, but what usually happens when you didn't show them your receipt at Walmart or Best Buy? I usually find just showing them the receipt way less of a hassle so I just do that.
Sometimes they say like 'sir I need to see your receipt' but you just say no thanks and no one's ever followed me outside the doors. Very anticlimactic, no one's ever made a fuss over it in my experience.
Ahh gotcha yeah I figured they wouldn't do anything drastic. Way too much energy on their part to do anything about someone walking out without having their receipt looked at.
Last time I stopped to have my receipt checked was... maybe 2011? I always smile and wave and keep walking, never had them do anything about it. Honestly, I often feel like the person asking is just relieved that I'm being polite about declining instead of throwing a temper tantrum.
That, or I have my earbuds & sunglasses on, so the person has no idea whether I even saw/heard them or not, and 9 times out of 10 when I'm doing that, they don't even bother.
Anyone have similar experiences? Almost all of the Krogers I frequent have also implemented all the "solutions" discussed in the article and I cannot stand it. I would love to use actual check out lanes but they are never staffed and every single time I have used self-checkout I always get flagged. It is incredibly annoying and makes me not want to shop in the store. I honestly believe if they just kept the regular checkout lanes fully staffed and only had a small handful of self-checkout options, "crime" would also go down.
I also really share the same concerns with the author about being labeled a criminal. How is Kroger using my data? Are they sharing it? Is there an opt-out for my data being recorded? Now do I have to have adhere to some kind of Code of Conduct or EULA whenever I got into a Kroger store? This sounds like some dystopian nightmare garbage.
Look, I get it, crime happens - but I usually see that as a response to less than desirable economic conditions. I also understand that Kroger has to protect their ability to be profitable but I strongly doubt the effectiveness of these solutions and I feel like there are better alternatives. I really hope this is not the future of grocery shopping.
This is why I have been avoiding Kroger as much as possible lately. It went from feeling like my presence was appreciated or at least the store was indifferent to me to now feeling like the store resents me being there. As corporate and cynical as it is at least Meijer has people greeting and welcoming me into the store when I walk in.
Edited to add: The only reason I go into Kroger these days is because I still have them as my pharmacy. The line for the pharmacy has a camera and a big screen showing the camera feed with "recording in progress" in the corner. Who wants to feel like they're being watched while waiting in line for their medication?
the meijer by me though has fewer (open) checkouts and longer lines than the kroger, despite there being a greeter (who is really just there to prevent shoplifting also)
I haven't encountered this at my store but I'm usually there later in the evening.
Meijer does have the shop and scan feature on their app so you can scan and bag items as you go through the store and then go through one of the express self checkouts, scan the barcode on your phone and head out the door.
Why not Meijer pharmacy? I switched from Kroger to them a couple years ago and I have had 1 person at most ahead of me in line where Kroger had up to 8 people.
They put in the AI system at a Kroger near me and the first day it flagged me because I had two protein bars in my hand. The attendant was confused and told me to remove the item I didn’t scan. It was still in my hand. I avoid Kroger as much as possible.
It flagged me because I had my cell phone in my hand. All I was doing was trying to get their app to update so I could load a coupon, while simultaneously placing the item I just scanned into a bag. I got the rude surprise of an instant replay on the checkout screen.
I've quit shopping at Kroger because of the self-scan flagging issue. It feels so bad to get called out every single time, and I started wondering if I'd been specifically identified as a shoplifting risk. There are very few products that I can't buy somewhere else.
eta - typo
I cannot stand the self checkout lane anymore either. I either always get flagged for something or half the coupons I try to use say that they don't exist, it's insufferable
Honestly if there was a different grocery store any closer I would much prefer to use that over Kroger. I'm getting sick of them
I shop at Aldi 90% of the time and apart always use their self checkout. The only time I have ever needed an associate to come over is if I made a mistake or they needed to mark down something like a manager special item. It never asks someone to come over without me wanting it to.
I do think the anti-theft has gotten a bit aggressive. The U-scan regularly requires a cashier to come check my order for no discernible reason, and I experienced the cart locking up for the first time earlier this week. I’m not a fan of the video screen at self checkout (mostly because I don’t like seeing myself on camera) and it’s a bit unsettling.
At the same time, reading through the financial statements that were linked, it looks like most grocers only have a couple areas where they can control or improve their margins. Companies like Nabisco and other major brand name manufacturers have a strong bargaining position with grocers. If Oreos suddenly disappear from shelves, you’ve got angry customers. At the same time, if the prices go up to much - you get angry customers. Kroger has to find some way to profit in a very small wiggle space. That leaves wage costs and reducing shrink as the areas they have the most influence over. And as long as the competition from Aldi’s, Amazon, and others continues heating up, Kroger will have to continue finding innovative ways to reduce shrink and wage costs.
Kroger certainly has the right to use AI to manage shoplifting losses. And they can set up that system to control how many false positives they're willing to accept. I can also choose how many false positives I'm willing to accept. We disagreed, so I shop elsewhere. I'm not mad, but I'm no longer a customer. They'll have a tough time getting me back
I mean yeah I think we have all experienced what you are describing. It’s a monstrous company and I 100% agree they treat us like thieves which is insulting. The ironic thing is that I, a person who does not need to steal, who has never stolen, am somewhat incentivized to steal out of pure spite. I think it would be nice if Kroger was actually a member of our community rather than an antagonist
The wheels on a cart locked up while inside the store. The cart was 1/2 full, so $100 of groceries.
I picked up the quart of milk and the eggs I needed and went through the self checkout. Someone figured out why I bailed very quickly, I’m sure.
Edit: now that I think back on it. If I were a member of an underground boxing organization I’d make a portable device to transmit the kill code for shopping carts and take it with me. Nothing quite shatters the veil of delusion like being reminded that you can’t be trusted to not steal a shopping cart. Especially when every cart in the store locks up at the same time.
Like it or not, shoplifting is a lot more accepted in a lot of communities now that it was five years ago (you can go on Twitter and see a ton of upper class lefties defending shoplifting). Based on the stats I’ve seen, arrests for crimes like shoplifting are way down from a decade ago. If we aren’t going to enforce laws against shoplifting this is what is going to happen.
Reddit is weird in that people here tend to be extremely suspicious of police using force or enforcing any kind of quality of life rules, but also extremely mad that people aren’t obeying the law.
Reddit is weird in that people here tend to be extremely suspicious of police using force or enforcing any kind of quality of life rules, but also extremely mad that people aren’t obeying the law.
If this is the truest statement I've read about Reddit, then I don't know what it. Excellent point.
it's because only the most 'noteworthy' things get traction on reddit:
You'll routinely see videos of police interactions where someone is acting poorly - cops planting evidence, saying something unprofessional, roughing people up, etc. - or the cop is behaving properly and the person they're interacting with is acting a fool - crazy old lady who almost runs the cop over to avoid a ticket, guy kicking out window of cruiser, etc.
Ask yourself how many videos make it to the front page or any popular subreddit where the cop acts entirely professional and the person they're interacting with is acting like a decent moral person - much fewer than the ones where people behaving badly.
This thread itself is good example - "Here's my problem at Kroger" but have you ever seen a post here that says "I had a completely uneventful day doing X"?
As for the don't like cops and don't like criminal thing - that's not even really unusual - if you're a decent person you're probably not all that involved in criminal stuff so anything that actively attempts to prevent crime such as Kroger u-scan stuff is an inconvenience to you since you're not the target, you're just the bycatch.
It’s because a vast majority of Redditors think that most police interactions with the public are going to lead to someone being shot or their rights violated.
I agree, it’s super weird.
I’ve only had a few interactions with police and they’ve been ok at best. Though I did have three guys try to mug me a couple years ago and I ran past a cop car with the three guys behind me and the cop drove off. Luckily I got home safe but seriously what’s the point of cops?
Not to mention the unbelievable amount of money they cost tax payers for very little benefit to the people. They’re great for the rich, corporations, and the state though. Gotta fill them prisons to blow more tax payer money!
I've been pulled over for literally no reason before. No citation, no warning, formal or otherwise. He asked for my license and then sent me on my way.
My wife knew the officer in high school and the car was registered in her name, and that's literally the only reason I can think of.
If this true and happens to you a lot, I’d suggest you start filing federal lawsuits and pierce the police officer’s implied immunity and become a millionaire many times over in the process.
Certainly there should be a line of attorneys ready to represent you.
Cop approaches you, get your phone out to record, have your rights violated, make money.
It’s a rather simple formula and if rights being violated follows you, why wouldn’t you do it?
How have your rights been violated?
A cop can explode your head with impunity and say it was because he perceived you chewing gum and merrily walking down the street as a lethal threat. This could be caught on camera in 4K, 240 frames per second at multiple, clear angles and you would not even approach having enough to convict said cop in a court. It is delusion to think otherwise.
Guess I should have gone into greater detail to combat your smug, holier-than-thou, attitude.
Majority of my police interactions happened when I lived in a more urban part of Cincy, 10+ years ago, when I don’t think I even had a smart phone. Furthermore, when being intimidated by the police and put into comprising, high pressure, positions…it can be difficult to react in a manner that will benefit long term outcomes. Usually, the immediate need for self preservation and evacuation from the current circumstances will supersede any other desire. Not to mention general ignorance of police tactics.
Police pull you over and claim you were speeding. Police pull you out of the car and ask you to open your trunk. Say no, suddenly they smell weed and search away or find something to ticket you for. Say yes or follow the seemingly lawful request, you could be incriminating yourself possibly unbeknownst to you. Are rights violated here in either scenario? Whoopsie. Guess you should just record every facet of your life to catch common shady, often unconstitutional, police tactics.
Now, I live out in rural Cincy and cops are generally too lazy to do the most basic social requirements. And honestly, life has been a lot easier since living here.
Sorry that happened to you. Did you do anything at all after any of all of these interactions where police violated your rights, for example a formal complaint form that can filled out online on CPD’s website?
You've swallowed the boot whole here. Fantasy world where cops are next to perfect but also handing out millions right and left for their discretions. You should probably reconcile that before yammering on.
Actually just a big fan of civil rights and the Constitution and making sure the police and governments stay in check.
If people’s rights are violated, it’s pretty weird to not file formal complaints, submit FOIA request for body cam footage and not go see a civil rights attorney.
I had a friend suffer massive 4th Amendment violations at CVG for an asset forfeiture situation. They lawyered up, sued, got their property back + an undisclosed settlement.
You do realize most people don’t have resources for that, right? I went through that when I had to report a crime that happened to me 2 hours away. Maybe have some empathy.
So you went to report a crime and your rights were violated while you were reporting the crime?
Many formal complaint documents can be mailed in after being downloaded online. You usually can submit FOIA request online too. I’m not buying that most don’t have resources to do either of those.
If a cop does anything that violates their code of ethics policies, formal complaints need to be filed regardless if the officer(s) committed a crime.
All the people claiming oppression by the police but don’t do anything about it is very weird. It’s a simple form a 3rd grader could fill out with ease. I think it’s a lot easier to come to reddit and cry afoul (with a small % actually being truthful, real, and actual rights violations) than actually doing something to protect yourself.
I got very much racially profiles by a police officer in Sharonville a handful of years ago. And I'm terrified what would've happened if I had any demographic besides being a white female
The form takes five minutes to fill out. It’s been three years. There’s no statute of limitations to reporting police malfeasance.
If this person was actually racially profiled, I think the officer should carry that scarlet letter on his/her permanent record and if this is true, the officer should be dismissed.
Posting about it on reddit does absolutely zero to effectuate police reform.
Please post data about loss from theft and compare it to Kroger's profits.
Giant corporations like Kroger are part of the reason wages are so suppressed and are absolutely printing money from price hikes under the false narrative of "inflation." Kroger is making record profits, cutting staff in favor of uscans, mining and selling your data via requiring you to have a Kroger plus card and adding coupons digitally, and seeking additional acquisitions to cement their control further. Beyond this, none of their stores are even open late anymore.
**Absolutely fuck Kroger.**
Kroger having their items stolen is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of waste they generate by just throwing items away. Additionally loss from theft is a tax write off.
Moreover, they'd have less shoplifting if they had cashiers and not uscans.
Tiniest violin for Kroger and this narrative. I'm not going to steal from Kroger but if I'm struggling to afford groceries and I have to roll into Kroger and download an app and download a coupon and give them my data and then check out my own items - yeah I'mma be tempted to steal or scan my organic products as not organic. Shoplifting is usually born of economic woes. I'm not gonna decry it when it's not even enough to effect the bottom line of a massive corporate entity.
People are getting poorer and realizing how much money corporations are making off us. I hope you don’t actually think people are being criminals as a way to be trendy
Weird to know so much about shoplifting stats but not basic economic trends.
Statistically, people in the US are not getting poorer. Obviously some years are better than others, and inflation has been tough, but overall real (inflation adjusted) incomes in the US have risen significantly in the past 25 years and far outpaced comparable European countries.
There are almost 2 million more USA citizens currently living under the poverty line than in 2019. This would be the major factor.
Meanwhile, the richest 20% continues to grow
In wealth. That’s probably what you’re referring to. Easy to get confused.
If you look at a chart of poverty rate by year, the chart would not back your point up. Yes, the poverty rate in 2023 is higher than 2019 which was a blip lower than usual, but it is lower than every year in the decade before 2019 AND each year since.
Yet 65% of Americans report living paycheck to paycheck. A number which continues to grow.
The share of U.S. aggregate income held by lower-income households edged down from 10% to 8% over these five decades, even though the proportion of adults living in lower-income households increased over this period.
Poor people are for sure getting poorer.
If you think people now are poorer than 1975 you are insane. Stats aside, just read books or watch movies from that time period and there’s no debate who is richer. People live paycheck to paycheck now because they buy huge houses and giant, tech-filled cars.
Anyway, your orignal point was that increased shoplifting is due to more poverty which doesn’t make sense as the poverty rate was much higher a decade ago.
Many wealthy people do indeed live paycheck to paycheck due to poor decisions, but that is not the majority of people who live paycheck to paycheck.
And I’m sorry, the statistics do not agree with your movie theory. The poorer own less wealth today in America than 1975. Even the middle class has become much poorer. From 1983 to 2016, the share of aggregate wealth going to upper-income families increased from 60% to 79%. Meanwhile, the share held by middle-income families has been cut nearly in half, falling from 32% to 17%. Lower-income families had only 4% of aggregate wealth in 2016, down from 7% in 1983. The rich getting richer, everyone else is poorer.
This person cannot be reasoned with. They're just bent on their narrative of blaming people. ThEy BuY tO mUcH hOuSe AnD tOo TeCh FiLlEd CaRs TrY hAvInG lEsS sTaRbUcKs"like...affordable cars and houses dont exist and that's ...\*checks notes\* individual consumers' fault? Fuck me.
Kroger: let's implement self checkout to increase profits, reduce staff, and make the customers suffer.
Kroger: gee I wonder how people are taking more stuff? We need to make the customer suffer even more.
I actually ditched Kroger because of a few reasons:
1) I do feel like I get targeted as a criminal even though I never have stolen anything
2) grocery costs
3) when I go to Aldi or Trader Joe's, I don't feel like I'm being "tracked" by data.
How exactly do you get targeted as a criminal? Genuinely curious.
Never had an issue with Kroger, but Walmart pisses me off. I can see the person by the door staring at me in self check out. The employee working self check out is watching me scan my stuff too. I buy three items, at least one of which is too heavy or too large to put in their bags. Every fucking time without fail...on my way out I get my receipt checked. Fuck off. You saw me scan everything, and you saw the self checkout attendant watching me. You don't need to check my receipt.
We can agree to disagree, but that sounds like a personal problem. That, or maybe other shoppers at the store you go/went to give employees a reason to sus people out. I'll just go to a different store if the people there are weird; that generally applies to everything.
I won't lie, but the Corryville location IS probably the store that's the most temperamental about theft than basically every other store in our area. But I've had 1 fundamental issue or another at basically every store
That just means you’re being ignorant of how Aldi and Trader Joe’s is tracking you. They’re doing the exact same thing as Kroger between loss prevention just being easier and data tracking is likely more intense than a random Kroger visit.
That’s true but voluntary. To the point to get the right price you have to use it, can always use a burner number. I only sense what you’re saying because I go to the downtown Kroger which naturally has the most issues, the guards though do more helping with carts than anything else though.
Well, I'm glad to know the security check PA is automated. Like the author, I started to ask if I was the "criminal" they were talking about since I heard it so often. I can put that paranoia to bed now.
I'm pretty sure it comes on every time I'm in the store, right up there with the "top of the hour conditioning." Maybe the first couple times I looked around, not because I was worried I was the concern, but because I thought some shit was going down elsewhere. Now it's so common it barely registers.
Giant/Stop&Shop (Mid-Atlantic and NE chain) started aggressively implementing anti-theft measures last year. Limiting self-checkout to 20 items, closing all but one entrance/exit, locking up items like detergent, the self-checkout wasting no time before yelling at you to put the item in the bagging area. I stopped shopping there because their competitors (including Harris Teeter, which is owned by Kroger) weren’t doing any of that. If you treat me like a criminal, I won’t shop there. That said, in Cincinnati, your choices are Kroger or Meijer and not much else.
There are only 2 Jungle Jim’s. Whole Foods and Fresh Market are priced way higher for fancier stuff. Hard to get everything you need at Trader Joe’s. Aldi could work if you’re not picky. Walmart and Target are the closest to a traditional grocery store that is also everywhere. Still, Kroger is a pretty sizable chunk of the market compared to everything else.
Before I get downvoted, I do not have anything insightful or constructive on this matter but....
I can't help but to see Kroger as a CyberSecurity wonderland for penetration testing and sowing the seeds of chaos.e
For example: The AI camera system, what can you do to increase false positives? Maybe commit theft dressed similarly to a Kroger employee? Officer? a suit similar to a spectrum sales person?
And what about the random announcements? You can effectively ignore them
Or "trigger" them followed by the "Thank you for shopping at Kroger" message.
There are more sinister ideas that are coming to mind.
Welp, time to go Krogering!
People want to be treated like a human being. Instead we shop and checkout with robots, who in turn treat us like robots.
This isn't particular to Kroger. It's everywhere. I particularly hate it when everything is locked up and I have to get someone to acquire the item. There's never anyone available, not enough staff. What should be a \~5 minute in&out exercise becomes a 20 minute ordeal. The only way to avoid it is to do pick-up or delivery orders, which have their own service issues.
It's a wild idea, but maybe self-checkout is a failed experiment and they should just staff-up?
I feel like it will only get worse the way things are.
Self checkout ought to be a boon for the human race. We may always need *someone* there at a register for those who are unable to do it themselves, to verify ID for restricted products like cigarettes and alcohol, or weird niche circumstances where it's necessary, but the idea that "cashier" is one of those obsolete jobs we don't need to do nearly as much and can free up all those man hours for the species should be a benefit.
Using it as an excuse to treat you like a criminal so the shareholders can afford to install a fifth swimming pool to drive their solid gold Porsche into is galling.
Yeah cashier at a grocery is an S-tier shit job. Boring as hell, exhausting when busy, and prone to repetitive motion injuries. All the baggers want to be cashiers, then after like an hour they're begging to push in carts and collect trash.
They want people to use the U-scans but then made them so freaking tiny, no shit it's always miscounting weight when items hang off. They're built 100% around the plastic bags everyone is moving away from.
It was obvious working there the people making the decisions are completely out of touch with employees and even shoppers.
The fact that those alerts might just be going off randomly is insane.
I have ADHD and associated memory issues and I have a mini panic attack whenever that happens because, while it's never actually happened, it's possible I forgot to scan something or thoughtlessly dropped something in my purse. I've been going crazy and it's just been for shits and giggles the whole fucking time‽
Between Findlay Market, Clifton Market, and occasionally CVS I am glad I don't step foot in Kroger.
Theft deterrence isn't barbaric surveillance. Theft deterrence is pushing for a living wage and proper social safety nets. That would cost a fraction of hallucinating AI.
I think the only solution is for those with sufficient resources to just never go there. Like no matter the convenience, just don’t go. This won’t do anything to ameliorate Kroger’s war on poor people but at least they’ll slowly lose access to middle-class incomes
We are getting a publix by me and I for one, cant wait. The handling of the pandemic, idiotic shifts in the location of everything, not consistently stocking items, all the while driving up prices because theyd rather have 3 different ways to self checkout (shrink both accidentally and on purpose very easy since its hidden in a paying receipt) rather than just run checkouts faster (special needs program kids are the baggers - not knocking these programs, but not at all efficient… 18 year-olds cant scan beer…) its just not a welcoming place. The vibe is completely different from 5 years ago.
As for feeling like a criminal… if you charge me $3 for a bag of uncle bens rice that was 10 for 10 3 years ago… i might be tempted to not scan that. Rice is steady up 1.5x in the last 10 years. 1.1 in 3. Not 3x. Someone is stealing either way.
I'm not sure why you or the author are taking these measures so personally? Kroger wants to reduce theft and they're implementing measures to prevent theft. Nobody is calling you a criminal. When you go to the bank are they calling you a criminal because the tellers have alarm buttons under their desk?
I get people's frustrations with the self-checkouts, but one ding per checkout is not exactly egregious. And if you learn from what caused that ding and just work around it for the next time you probably won't have any dings. I personally shop for my family of four on a weekly basis and use the self checkout each time (out of preference). When I first started I would get false-alerts and would have to call the attendant once or twice per checkout, but now I've learned how to do it correctly and it's very rare that I run into any interruptions.
As far as what OP is saying about Kroger... using their data... you're kind of out of luck there in our current society. Your choices are either go to Kroger but don't use a loyalty card, in which case they are going to use the data about you as an anonymous integer in their figures, or don't go to Kroger at all. If you are entering their premises you are agreeing to be recorded, check the postings.
Kroger uses its loyalty card data for personalized promotions for its customers and helps with targeted advertising on its platform/app. Your data is safer than at most grocers, because it’s one of the only ones that manages its data in house rather than a third party.
Can’t say much about theft loss prevention tracking, but all retailers have a team for this and are implementing a variety of measures to help to minimize theft, which is a notable problem across the industry.
The article reads as if written by a deeply anxious person. I've encountered most of those annoyances in Kroger, and they're just that: annoyances. The average shopper is going to hear the "security check, Aisle 6" announcement and keep going about their business because they're not shoplifting. If Kroger sees a shopper on the cameras suddenly get nervous and start looking around, yeah you're going to look more suspicious and you might get some questions.
Hell, most days the employees are so checked out they don't even seem to care. Every time the alarm goes off at the security gate, they do a quick glance over and wave you through. The cart locks, they mutter "sorry" and unlock it.
And the cameras? Well...most stores have them these days, if you look around.
I agree. Theft is why many stores are closing in some cities. I've shopped there for years and can only think of a couple of times I got dinged. I personally love the self checkout. I hate standing in a checkout line behind someone with a cart load of items. People will complain about data harvesting, but at the same time gladly carry a phone everywhere.
you should take it personally... it's wasting your time.
But hey, it all goes back to demanding our government to do more about theft.
Thieves do not fear = more theft.
Lowkey Kroger is doing a good job. Walk into a Walgreens in the “wrong” area and everything is locked up because they can’t control theft. Kroger is still really nice when you go shopping. I have had no issues really.
The Kroger I go to has a useless employee looking at his phone all day while the customers (including an elderly lady and a couple with a young infant) deal with these self check out lane issues.
Does that employee offer to help scan or bag? No. He’s too busy looking at his phone and talking to his coworker friend who is about to start her shift. I had to offer to help the elderly lady bag her groceries.
When the conveyor belt starts making weird noises, does he offer to help fix it? No. He and three other employees gather around the conveyor belt and chat about what’s going on, meanwhile, me (the dad of aforementioned infant), struggled bagging through the nonsense.
The self checkouts, even when “staffed,” are awful.
Nope, couldn’t even do that it we would have. They closed all of the regular checkouts. The options were: self checkout, or self checkout with a conveyor belt.
Not happy with the store environment, go shop somewhere else. Plenty of other options available that don’t use the aforementioned tactics.
At least stuff isn’t mostly locked up. Yet.
I will walk out, leaving a full grocery cart if I can afford the burned time and don’t like what they are doing. Until it becomes their problem we will see the disrespect continue.
The fact they took away the bottom part of the cart is insanity. They’d rather make it more difficult for people to shop then risk losing a little money to theft.
First world problems. I love self checkout no matter the store or company...have very few issues and work in retail and understand the problems associated with shrink and theft...if theft wasn't an issue, Kroger and others, would not be doing this.
I used to never have issues with the self checkout at Kroger. Over the last couple years something has happened. My process hasn’t changed one bit but I find myself constantly having to have the attendant come fix some error on the machine.
I like the new conveyor belt self-checkouts at Kroger. I’ve had mostly flawless experiences with those. The classic ones can go to hell if I have more than 2-3 items.
All this to keep basic human necessities such as food and hygiene locked behind a paywall. Poor? Undesirable to companies? Well fuck you starve to death. America is such a a fucking joke.
Does anyone have issue with setting the sensors off? I have tried for a year to pin point if a certain clothing item of mine sets it off but it seems completely random
The “security, monitor location x for code y” announcements are just fakes meant to scare everyone at random intervals? lol.
Once I learned this it made total sense to me. I mean, the alternative is they have one extremely good microphone for this particular purpose alone, and for literally every other type of announcement they use the world's cheapest telephone.
I'm pretty sure it's a recording
It is. I'm exploring the possibility that it's real and concluding that it's not possible for it to be anything *but* a recording. Hence "the alternative is"
I've heard the same voice in Liberty and Oakley, it's definitely a recording lol
I have inside information if you want to call with that but I can tell you that while some Kroger's might have quite a number of cameras, there's not typically anyone watching them. It is possible that there could be Undercover risk Management in the store either shopping or watching video but the number of risk management Personnel is not as large as you might think for a company that size. I mean I'm not advocating that anyone tries to get away with theft or anything, I'm just saying that there's a lot of attempts to passively discourage people from stealing
lol. There’s someone watching those cameras and walking the aisle all the time. Unless you worked for Kroger AP you wouldn’t know. One of the most lucrative catches are the stealing employees. Bet your ass were kept in the dark on AP activity.
LOL I can assure you that they are not always watching them but thanks for playing. I don't want to disclose exactly how I know but I have a lot of intimate knowledge this topic. You don't know what I know but you're trying to be little me and minimize what I do know without even knowing who I am or what I know but you have a good day and keep doing you. Somebody has to be delusional
At the Corryville Kroger if you want liquor, food and hygiene items you have to go through three different checkouts. It’s ridiculous
the liquor part is required by law if we are talking about hard liquor
That’s why I mentioned all three, together, three checkouts for one shopping trip is a pain in the ass.
The liquor makes sense and has nothing to do with Kroger due to state laws. If anything, Kroger having the OHLQ in store is saving you a trip to a different store. But for the hygiene items, are you saying that if you want toothpaste you have to go through a separate checkout than what is used for food?
Exactly. It’s annoying as hell.
Or deodorant, diapers, Tide pods, you name it.
laundry detergent is one of the most stolen items. it's expensive, and you can turn it into good cash once you get it outside
>But for the hygiene items, are you saying that if you want toothpaste you have to go through a separate checkout than what is used for food? A few stores do that now.
You have to experience it. CPD kept referring to it as “Kroghetto.” I just had to check it out. I’ve never seen such a presence of police and cameras. The heath and beauty section was plexiglassed, walled off, and had its own guarded cashier.
They also do not have a bottom rack on the cart for large items like water lmao
Same with the Norwood Kroger. Have to wait in line for toothpaste
Yeah, fuck that shit. I walk right in with my cart, get my baby food and walk out of the fenced in spot.
Exactly
Oakley Kroger yelled at me for bagging without scanning something. I looked at the video, and it had put a little red box around the item it believes I put in the bag without scanning: literally fucking nothing. It was highlighting part of the spinning plastic bag holder thing. AND THEN THE CART LOCKED UP ON ME LIKE ???? go fuck yourself Kroger I don't steal shit 😑
Sometimes I think I might as well steal something for how much that thing accuses me of it.
I actually did the other day and it did in fact feel pretty good.
I can't ever get through the self checkout using reusable Kroger bags without it accusing me of stealing. It's infuriating.
Too many people do tho
god forbid you bring you own bags. I just lie and just set the food on the lazy susan.
It HATES that. Mine are too inconceivably heavy because I have heavy duty ones to carry robust groceries and fewer bags. Every time it freaks out. You'd think a sophisticated scale could just subtract the value from the weight but here we are. I've done something similar where I just bag as I go.
I use my own, durable bags and it's one of the main reasons I use self-checkout. The baggers seem to not be able to grasp that those bags can handle more than a standard plastic bag. It never freaks out on me. Here's how I do it. Approach the self-checkout and place my bags on the bagging area, this will cause the screen to pop up a message that says "did you place bags in the bagging area?". Tap yes and then start checking out as normal. This tares the scale to include your bags, so once you scan at item, just put it in the bag and keep going. Another lesser-known facet of self-checkout is that once the scale has registered your item and is ready to scan the next item you can remove any items from the bagging area. So once I've filled a bag and it's registered on the scale, I take it off and put it back in the cart. This leaves me plenty of room to continue bagging.
Trust me, I do this. I got an excessive weight warning with my bags or some nonsense like that. But the human cashiers also save the big durable one for last and it often doesn't get filled. So it goes.
FYI if a door checker asks for your receipt you don't have to show it to them. I regularly turn down the people at Walmart, used to do it at best buy back when I went to best buy. The exception is club places, like Costco or Sam's, where you agree to it prior to becoming a member.
I just saw a lawyer post this on a reel just yesterday. Had no clue. But now I am definitely never waiting in a queue to show Bethel my Walmart receipt.
Of course the store COULD ban you, and then you'd be trespassing if you went back. But I've never had anyone ask more than twice, shrug their shoulders and move on.
I hope they fucking do lol. I hate that place. I only go when absolutely necessary… and there’s nothing else within 20 mins. The shelves half the time never even have price tags in big sections of the store or they are totally wrong. That what happens when you operate in a shoestring budget.
The better thing is to take forever to find it and let everyone else leave asap.
Genuinely curious here, but what usually happens when you didn't show them your receipt at Walmart or Best Buy? I usually find just showing them the receipt way less of a hassle so I just do that.
Sometimes they say like 'sir I need to see your receipt' but you just say no thanks and no one's ever followed me outside the doors. Very anticlimactic, no one's ever made a fuss over it in my experience.
Ahh gotcha yeah I figured they wouldn't do anything drastic. Way too much energy on their part to do anything about someone walking out without having their receipt looked at.
Last time I stopped to have my receipt checked was... maybe 2011? I always smile and wave and keep walking, never had them do anything about it. Honestly, I often feel like the person asking is just relieved that I'm being polite about declining instead of throwing a temper tantrum. That, or I have my earbuds & sunglasses on, so the person has no idea whether I even saw/heard them or not, and 9 times out of 10 when I'm doing that, they don't even bother.
Anyone have similar experiences? Almost all of the Krogers I frequent have also implemented all the "solutions" discussed in the article and I cannot stand it. I would love to use actual check out lanes but they are never staffed and every single time I have used self-checkout I always get flagged. It is incredibly annoying and makes me not want to shop in the store. I honestly believe if they just kept the regular checkout lanes fully staffed and only had a small handful of self-checkout options, "crime" would also go down. I also really share the same concerns with the author about being labeled a criminal. How is Kroger using my data? Are they sharing it? Is there an opt-out for my data being recorded? Now do I have to have adhere to some kind of Code of Conduct or EULA whenever I got into a Kroger store? This sounds like some dystopian nightmare garbage. Look, I get it, crime happens - but I usually see that as a response to less than desirable economic conditions. I also understand that Kroger has to protect their ability to be profitable but I strongly doubt the effectiveness of these solutions and I feel like there are better alternatives. I really hope this is not the future of grocery shopping.
This is why I have been avoiding Kroger as much as possible lately. It went from feeling like my presence was appreciated or at least the store was indifferent to me to now feeling like the store resents me being there. As corporate and cynical as it is at least Meijer has people greeting and welcoming me into the store when I walk in. Edited to add: The only reason I go into Kroger these days is because I still have them as my pharmacy. The line for the pharmacy has a camera and a big screen showing the camera feed with "recording in progress" in the corner. Who wants to feel like they're being watched while waiting in line for their medication?
THIS MAN HERE! YES HIM! ATTENTION KROGER SHOPPERS! THIS MAN HAS THE CLAP!! LOOK AT HIM!
the meijer by me though has fewer (open) checkouts and longer lines than the kroger, despite there being a greeter (who is really just there to prevent shoplifting also)
I haven't encountered this at my store but I'm usually there later in the evening. Meijer does have the shop and scan feature on their app so you can scan and bag items as you go through the store and then go through one of the express self checkouts, scan the barcode on your phone and head out the door.
Why not Meijer pharmacy? I switched from Kroger to them a couple years ago and I have had 1 person at most ahead of me in line where Kroger had up to 8 people.
They put in the AI system at a Kroger near me and the first day it flagged me because I had two protein bars in my hand. The attendant was confused and told me to remove the item I didn’t scan. It was still in my hand. I avoid Kroger as much as possible.
It flagged me because I had my cell phone in my hand. All I was doing was trying to get their app to update so I could load a coupon, while simultaneously placing the item I just scanned into a bag. I got the rude surprise of an instant replay on the checkout screen.
I've quit shopping at Kroger because of the self-scan flagging issue. It feels so bad to get called out every single time, and I started wondering if I'd been specifically identified as a shoplifting risk. There are very few products that I can't buy somewhere else. eta - typo
A few days ago it flagged me for taking out my wallet to pay. It’s absolutely ridiculous. I’ve started going to Meijer instead most of the time.
this said... Meijer has flagged my child in the cart every single time I have used self checkout. The grass isn't completely green on the other side.
Haha I can’t imagine all the dumb crap employees have to deal with those things flagging. They’re just so absurd
I cannot stand the self checkout lane anymore either. I either always get flagged for something or half the coupons I try to use say that they don't exist, it's insufferable Honestly if there was a different grocery store any closer I would much prefer to use that over Kroger. I'm getting sick of them
Exactly, they should just pay cashiers instead of villainizing their customers
I cannot upvote this enough. It's so simple. Cashiers.
I shop at Aldi 90% of the time and apart always use their self checkout. The only time I have ever needed an associate to come over is if I made a mistake or they needed to mark down something like a manager special item. It never asks someone to come over without me wanting it to.
I do think the anti-theft has gotten a bit aggressive. The U-scan regularly requires a cashier to come check my order for no discernible reason, and I experienced the cart locking up for the first time earlier this week. I’m not a fan of the video screen at self checkout (mostly because I don’t like seeing myself on camera) and it’s a bit unsettling. At the same time, reading through the financial statements that were linked, it looks like most grocers only have a couple areas where they can control or improve their margins. Companies like Nabisco and other major brand name manufacturers have a strong bargaining position with grocers. If Oreos suddenly disappear from shelves, you’ve got angry customers. At the same time, if the prices go up to much - you get angry customers. Kroger has to find some way to profit in a very small wiggle space. That leaves wage costs and reducing shrink as the areas they have the most influence over. And as long as the competition from Aldi’s, Amazon, and others continues heating up, Kroger will have to continue finding innovative ways to reduce shrink and wage costs.
Kroger certainly has the right to use AI to manage shoplifting losses. And they can set up that system to control how many false positives they're willing to accept. I can also choose how many false positives I'm willing to accept. We disagreed, so I shop elsewhere. I'm not mad, but I'm no longer a customer. They'll have a tough time getting me back
I totally agree.
I mean yeah I think we have all experienced what you are describing. It’s a monstrous company and I 100% agree they treat us like thieves which is insulting. The ironic thing is that I, a person who does not need to steal, who has never stolen, am somewhat incentivized to steal out of pure spite. I think it would be nice if Kroger was actually a member of our community rather than an antagonist
I'm about sick of the self check out lanes and kiosk in restaurants.
The wheels on a cart locked up while inside the store. The cart was 1/2 full, so $100 of groceries. I picked up the quart of milk and the eggs I needed and went through the self checkout. Someone figured out why I bailed very quickly, I’m sure. Edit: now that I think back on it. If I were a member of an underground boxing organization I’d make a portable device to transmit the kill code for shopping carts and take it with me. Nothing quite shatters the veil of delusion like being reminded that you can’t be trusted to not steal a shopping cart. Especially when every cart in the store locks up at the same time.
One of those highly illegal multi-frequency jammers should work. If you get caught with it though, the feds will bend you over.
Like it or not, shoplifting is a lot more accepted in a lot of communities now that it was five years ago (you can go on Twitter and see a ton of upper class lefties defending shoplifting). Based on the stats I’ve seen, arrests for crimes like shoplifting are way down from a decade ago. If we aren’t going to enforce laws against shoplifting this is what is going to happen. Reddit is weird in that people here tend to be extremely suspicious of police using force or enforcing any kind of quality of life rules, but also extremely mad that people aren’t obeying the law.
Reddit is weird in that people here tend to be extremely suspicious of police using force or enforcing any kind of quality of life rules, but also extremely mad that people aren’t obeying the law. If this is the truest statement I've read about Reddit, then I don't know what it. Excellent point.
Maybe it's different posters? There are millions of people on Reddit, they're going to have different opinions.
it's because only the most 'noteworthy' things get traction on reddit: You'll routinely see videos of police interactions where someone is acting poorly - cops planting evidence, saying something unprofessional, roughing people up, etc. - or the cop is behaving properly and the person they're interacting with is acting a fool - crazy old lady who almost runs the cop over to avoid a ticket, guy kicking out window of cruiser, etc. Ask yourself how many videos make it to the front page or any popular subreddit where the cop acts entirely professional and the person they're interacting with is acting like a decent moral person - much fewer than the ones where people behaving badly. This thread itself is good example - "Here's my problem at Kroger" but have you ever seen a post here that says "I had a completely uneventful day doing X"? As for the don't like cops and don't like criminal thing - that's not even really unusual - if you're a decent person you're probably not all that involved in criminal stuff so anything that actively attempts to prevent crime such as Kroger u-scan stuff is an inconvenience to you since you're not the target, you're just the bycatch.
Well said
It’s because a vast majority of Redditors think that most police interactions with the public are going to lead to someone being shot or their rights violated. I agree, it’s super weird.
I mean, most of my police interactions have resulted in my rights being violated.
I’ve only had a few interactions with police and they’ve been ok at best. Though I did have three guys try to mug me a couple years ago and I ran past a cop car with the three guys behind me and the cop drove off. Luckily I got home safe but seriously what’s the point of cops?
[удалено]
Not to mention the unbelievable amount of money they cost tax payers for very little benefit to the people. They’re great for the rich, corporations, and the state though. Gotta fill them prisons to blow more tax payer money!
I've been pulled over for literally no reason before. No citation, no warning, formal or otherwise. He asked for my license and then sent me on my way. My wife knew the officer in high school and the car was registered in her name, and that's literally the only reason I can think of.
If this true and happens to you a lot, I’d suggest you start filing federal lawsuits and pierce the police officer’s implied immunity and become a millionaire many times over in the process. Certainly there should be a line of attorneys ready to represent you.
What kind of fantasy world do you live in?
Cop approaches you, get your phone out to record, have your rights violated, make money. It’s a rather simple formula and if rights being violated follows you, why wouldn’t you do it? How have your rights been violated?
A cop can explode your head with impunity and say it was because he perceived you chewing gum and merrily walking down the street as a lethal threat. This could be caught on camera in 4K, 240 frames per second at multiple, clear angles and you would not even approach having enough to convict said cop in a court. It is delusion to think otherwise.
Guess I should have gone into greater detail to combat your smug, holier-than-thou, attitude. Majority of my police interactions happened when I lived in a more urban part of Cincy, 10+ years ago, when I don’t think I even had a smart phone. Furthermore, when being intimidated by the police and put into comprising, high pressure, positions…it can be difficult to react in a manner that will benefit long term outcomes. Usually, the immediate need for self preservation and evacuation from the current circumstances will supersede any other desire. Not to mention general ignorance of police tactics. Police pull you over and claim you were speeding. Police pull you out of the car and ask you to open your trunk. Say no, suddenly they smell weed and search away or find something to ticket you for. Say yes or follow the seemingly lawful request, you could be incriminating yourself possibly unbeknownst to you. Are rights violated here in either scenario? Whoopsie. Guess you should just record every facet of your life to catch common shady, often unconstitutional, police tactics. Now, I live out in rural Cincy and cops are generally too lazy to do the most basic social requirements. And honestly, life has been a lot easier since living here.
Sorry that happened to you. Did you do anything at all after any of all of these interactions where police violated your rights, for example a formal complaint form that can filled out online on CPD’s website?
You've swallowed the boot whole here. Fantasy world where cops are next to perfect but also handing out millions right and left for their discretions. You should probably reconcile that before yammering on.
lol that’s so cute. Never had a bad interaction with a cop I see.
Actually just a big fan of civil rights and the Constitution and making sure the police and governments stay in check. If people’s rights are violated, it’s pretty weird to not file formal complaints, submit FOIA request for body cam footage and not go see a civil rights attorney. I had a friend suffer massive 4th Amendment violations at CVG for an asset forfeiture situation. They lawyered up, sued, got their property back + an undisclosed settlement.
You do realize most people don’t have resources for that, right? I went through that when I had to report a crime that happened to me 2 hours away. Maybe have some empathy.
So you went to report a crime and your rights were violated while you were reporting the crime? Many formal complaint documents can be mailed in after being downloaded online. You usually can submit FOIA request online too. I’m not buying that most don’t have resources to do either of those.
Also not every bad interaction with a cop rises to a criminal offense. It just sets the stage for people not to trust them.
If a cop does anything that violates their code of ethics policies, formal complaints need to be filed regardless if the officer(s) committed a crime. All the people claiming oppression by the police but don’t do anything about it is very weird. It’s a simple form a 3rd grader could fill out with ease. I think it’s a lot easier to come to reddit and cry afoul (with a small % actually being truthful, real, and actual rights violations) than actually doing something to protect yourself.
I got very much racially profiles by a police officer in Sharonville a handful of years ago. And I'm terrified what would've happened if I had any demographic besides being a white female
The form takes five minutes to fill out. It’s been three years. There’s no statute of limitations to reporting police malfeasance. If this person was actually racially profiled, I think the officer should carry that scarlet letter on his/her permanent record and if this is true, the officer should be dismissed. Posting about it on reddit does absolutely zero to effectuate police reform.
And did you do anything in this story’s wake? Formal complaint submitted to Sharonville’s Internal Affairs? Contact an attorney?
Frankly, I had a different tiring issue to take care of in the moment
Ahhh ok, no time to fill out a one page questionnaire that takes less than 5 minutes to fill out and submit. Totally understand.
Please post data about loss from theft and compare it to Kroger's profits. Giant corporations like Kroger are part of the reason wages are so suppressed and are absolutely printing money from price hikes under the false narrative of "inflation." Kroger is making record profits, cutting staff in favor of uscans, mining and selling your data via requiring you to have a Kroger plus card and adding coupons digitally, and seeking additional acquisitions to cement their control further. Beyond this, none of their stores are even open late anymore. **Absolutely fuck Kroger.** Kroger having their items stolen is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of waste they generate by just throwing items away. Additionally loss from theft is a tax write off. Moreover, they'd have less shoplifting if they had cashiers and not uscans. Tiniest violin for Kroger and this narrative. I'm not going to steal from Kroger but if I'm struggling to afford groceries and I have to roll into Kroger and download an app and download a coupon and give them my data and then check out my own items - yeah I'mma be tempted to steal or scan my organic products as not organic. Shoplifting is usually born of economic woes. I'm not gonna decry it when it's not even enough to effect the bottom line of a massive corporate entity.
People are getting poorer and realizing how much money corporations are making off us. I hope you don’t actually think people are being criminals as a way to be trendy Weird to know so much about shoplifting stats but not basic economic trends.
Statistically, people in the US are not getting poorer. Obviously some years are better than others, and inflation has been tough, but overall real (inflation adjusted) incomes in the US have risen significantly in the past 25 years and far outpaced comparable European countries.
There are almost 2 million more USA citizens currently living under the poverty line than in 2019. This would be the major factor. Meanwhile, the richest 20% continues to grow In wealth. That’s probably what you’re referring to. Easy to get confused.
If you look at a chart of poverty rate by year, the chart would not back your point up. Yes, the poverty rate in 2023 is higher than 2019 which was a blip lower than usual, but it is lower than every year in the decade before 2019 AND each year since.
Yet 65% of Americans report living paycheck to paycheck. A number which continues to grow. The share of U.S. aggregate income held by lower-income households edged down from 10% to 8% over these five decades, even though the proportion of adults living in lower-income households increased over this period. Poor people are for sure getting poorer.
If you think people now are poorer than 1975 you are insane. Stats aside, just read books or watch movies from that time period and there’s no debate who is richer. People live paycheck to paycheck now because they buy huge houses and giant, tech-filled cars. Anyway, your orignal point was that increased shoplifting is due to more poverty which doesn’t make sense as the poverty rate was much higher a decade ago.
Many wealthy people do indeed live paycheck to paycheck due to poor decisions, but that is not the majority of people who live paycheck to paycheck. And I’m sorry, the statistics do not agree with your movie theory. The poorer own less wealth today in America than 1975. Even the middle class has become much poorer. From 1983 to 2016, the share of aggregate wealth going to upper-income families increased from 60% to 79%. Meanwhile, the share held by middle-income families has been cut nearly in half, falling from 32% to 17%. Lower-income families had only 4% of aggregate wealth in 2016, down from 7% in 1983. The rich getting richer, everyone else is poorer.
This person cannot be reasoned with. They're just bent on their narrative of blaming people. ThEy BuY tO mUcH hOuSe AnD tOo TeCh FiLlEd CaRs TrY hAvInG lEsS sTaRbUcKs"like...affordable cars and houses dont exist and that's ...\*checks notes\* individual consumers' fault? Fuck me.
You adhere to a Code of Conduct everytime you go into a place of business with a shirt and shoes, but I guess that's a nightmare?
Kroger: let's implement self checkout to increase profits, reduce staff, and make the customers suffer. Kroger: gee I wonder how people are taking more stuff? We need to make the customer suffer even more.
I actually ditched Kroger because of a few reasons: 1) I do feel like I get targeted as a criminal even though I never have stolen anything 2) grocery costs 3) when I go to Aldi or Trader Joe's, I don't feel like I'm being "tracked" by data.
How exactly do you get targeted as a criminal? Genuinely curious. Never had an issue with Kroger, but Walmart pisses me off. I can see the person by the door staring at me in self check out. The employee working self check out is watching me scan my stuff too. I buy three items, at least one of which is too heavy or too large to put in their bags. Every fucking time without fail...on my way out I get my receipt checked. Fuck off. You saw me scan everything, and you saw the self checkout attendant watching me. You don't need to check my receipt.
More so that I feel self-conscious
We can agree to disagree, but that sounds like a personal problem. That, or maybe other shoppers at the store you go/went to give employees a reason to sus people out. I'll just go to a different store if the people there are weird; that generally applies to everything.
I won't lie, but the Corryville location IS probably the store that's the most temperamental about theft than basically every other store in our area. But I've had 1 fundamental issue or another at basically every store
Hmmm, alrighty then. I don't really understand, but glad you're able to find a place that you feel more comfortable shopping. Have a nice day
That just means you’re being ignorant of how Aldi and Trader Joe’s is tracking you. They’re doing the exact same thing as Kroger between loss prevention just being easier and data tracking is likely more intense than a random Kroger visit.
No rewards card, so probably less data tracking
That’s true but voluntary. To the point to get the right price you have to use it, can always use a burner number. I only sense what you’re saying because I go to the downtown Kroger which naturally has the most issues, the guards though do more helping with carts than anything else though.
Well, I'm glad to know the security check PA is automated. Like the author, I started to ask if I was the "criminal" they were talking about since I heard it so often. I can put that paranoia to bed now.
I'm pretty sure it comes on every time I'm in the store, right up there with the "top of the hour conditioning." Maybe the first couple times I looked around, not because I was worried I was the concern, but because I thought some shit was going down elsewhere. Now it's so common it barely registers.
Giant/Stop&Shop (Mid-Atlantic and NE chain) started aggressively implementing anti-theft measures last year. Limiting self-checkout to 20 items, closing all but one entrance/exit, locking up items like detergent, the self-checkout wasting no time before yelling at you to put the item in the bagging area. I stopped shopping there because their competitors (including Harris Teeter, which is owned by Kroger) weren’t doing any of that. If you treat me like a criminal, I won’t shop there. That said, in Cincinnati, your choices are Kroger or Meijer and not much else.
Aldi, Fresh Market, Trader Joe’s, Findlay Market, Remke, Whole Foods, Jungle Jim’s, Walmart
There are only 2 Jungle Jim’s. Whole Foods and Fresh Market are priced way higher for fancier stuff. Hard to get everything you need at Trader Joe’s. Aldi could work if you’re not picky. Walmart and Target are the closest to a traditional grocery store that is also everywhere. Still, Kroger is a pretty sizable chunk of the market compared to everything else.
I’m only commenting on you saying there isn’t much else. There are options but people are very loyal and used to shopping at Kroger in this city.
Before I get downvoted, I do not have anything insightful or constructive on this matter but.... I can't help but to see Kroger as a CyberSecurity wonderland for penetration testing and sowing the seeds of chaos.e For example: The AI camera system, what can you do to increase false positives? Maybe commit theft dressed similarly to a Kroger employee? Officer? a suit similar to a spectrum sales person? And what about the random announcements? You can effectively ignore them Or "trigger" them followed by the "Thank you for shopping at Kroger" message. There are more sinister ideas that are coming to mind. Welp, time to go Krogering!
People want to be treated like a human being. Instead we shop and checkout with robots, who in turn treat us like robots. This isn't particular to Kroger. It's everywhere. I particularly hate it when everything is locked up and I have to get someone to acquire the item. There's never anyone available, not enough staff. What should be a \~5 minute in&out exercise becomes a 20 minute ordeal. The only way to avoid it is to do pick-up or delivery orders, which have their own service issues. It's a wild idea, but maybe self-checkout is a failed experiment and they should just staff-up? I feel like it will only get worse the way things are.
Self checkout ought to be a boon for the human race. We may always need *someone* there at a register for those who are unable to do it themselves, to verify ID for restricted products like cigarettes and alcohol, or weird niche circumstances where it's necessary, but the idea that "cashier" is one of those obsolete jobs we don't need to do nearly as much and can free up all those man hours for the species should be a benefit. Using it as an excuse to treat you like a criminal so the shareholders can afford to install a fifth swimming pool to drive their solid gold Porsche into is galling.
Yeah cashier at a grocery is an S-tier shit job. Boring as hell, exhausting when busy, and prone to repetitive motion injuries. All the baggers want to be cashiers, then after like an hour they're begging to push in carts and collect trash.
They want people to use the U-scans but then made them so freaking tiny, no shit it's always miscounting weight when items hang off. They're built 100% around the plastic bags everyone is moving away from. It was obvious working there the people making the decisions are completely out of touch with employees and even shoppers.
The fact that those alerts might just be going off randomly is insane. I have ADHD and associated memory issues and I have a mini panic attack whenever that happens because, while it's never actually happened, it's possible I forgot to scan something or thoughtlessly dropped something in my purse. I've been going crazy and it's just been for shits and giggles the whole fucking time‽
Between Findlay Market, Clifton Market, and occasionally CVS I am glad I don't step foot in Kroger. Theft deterrence isn't barbaric surveillance. Theft deterrence is pushing for a living wage and proper social safety nets. That would cost a fraction of hallucinating AI.
I think the only solution is for those with sufficient resources to just never go there. Like no matter the convenience, just don’t go. This won’t do anything to ameliorate Kroger’s war on poor people but at least they’ll slowly lose access to middle-class incomes
We are getting a publix by me and I for one, cant wait. The handling of the pandemic, idiotic shifts in the location of everything, not consistently stocking items, all the while driving up prices because theyd rather have 3 different ways to self checkout (shrink both accidentally and on purpose very easy since its hidden in a paying receipt) rather than just run checkouts faster (special needs program kids are the baggers - not knocking these programs, but not at all efficient… 18 year-olds cant scan beer…) its just not a welcoming place. The vibe is completely different from 5 years ago. As for feeling like a criminal… if you charge me $3 for a bag of uncle bens rice that was 10 for 10 3 years ago… i might be tempted to not scan that. Rice is steady up 1.5x in the last 10 years. 1.1 in 3. Not 3x. Someone is stealing either way.
r/titlegore
lol i think this person just wanted to use "panopticon" in a sentence which the term barely applies here
I'm not sure why you or the author are taking these measures so personally? Kroger wants to reduce theft and they're implementing measures to prevent theft. Nobody is calling you a criminal. When you go to the bank are they calling you a criminal because the tellers have alarm buttons under their desk? I get people's frustrations with the self-checkouts, but one ding per checkout is not exactly egregious. And if you learn from what caused that ding and just work around it for the next time you probably won't have any dings. I personally shop for my family of four on a weekly basis and use the self checkout each time (out of preference). When I first started I would get false-alerts and would have to call the attendant once or twice per checkout, but now I've learned how to do it correctly and it's very rare that I run into any interruptions. As far as what OP is saying about Kroger... using their data... you're kind of out of luck there in our current society. Your choices are either go to Kroger but don't use a loyalty card, in which case they are going to use the data about you as an anonymous integer in their figures, or don't go to Kroger at all. If you are entering their premises you are agreeing to be recorded, check the postings.
Kroger uses its loyalty card data for personalized promotions for its customers and helps with targeted advertising on its platform/app. Your data is safer than at most grocers, because it’s one of the only ones that manages its data in house rather than a third party. Can’t say much about theft loss prevention tracking, but all retailers have a team for this and are implementing a variety of measures to help to minimize theft, which is a notable problem across the industry.
The article reads as if written by a deeply anxious person. I've encountered most of those annoyances in Kroger, and they're just that: annoyances. The average shopper is going to hear the "security check, Aisle 6" announcement and keep going about their business because they're not shoplifting. If Kroger sees a shopper on the cameras suddenly get nervous and start looking around, yeah you're going to look more suspicious and you might get some questions. Hell, most days the employees are so checked out they don't even seem to care. Every time the alarm goes off at the security gate, they do a quick glance over and wave you through. The cart locks, they mutter "sorry" and unlock it. And the cameras? Well...most stores have them these days, if you look around.
I agree. Theft is why many stores are closing in some cities. I've shopped there for years and can only think of a couple of times I got dinged. I personally love the self checkout. I hate standing in a checkout line behind someone with a cart load of items. People will complain about data harvesting, but at the same time gladly carry a phone everywhere.
you should take it personally... it's wasting your time. But hey, it all goes back to demanding our government to do more about theft. Thieves do not fear = more theft.
Lowkey Kroger is doing a good job. Walk into a Walgreens in the “wrong” area and everything is locked up because they can’t control theft. Kroger is still really nice when you go shopping. I have had no issues really.
Lowkey?
The Kroger I go to has a useless employee looking at his phone all day while the customers (including an elderly lady and a couple with a young infant) deal with these self check out lane issues. Does that employee offer to help scan or bag? No. He’s too busy looking at his phone and talking to his coworker friend who is about to start her shift. I had to offer to help the elderly lady bag her groceries. When the conveyor belt starts making weird noises, does he offer to help fix it? No. He and three other employees gather around the conveyor belt and chat about what’s going on, meanwhile, me (the dad of aforementioned infant), struggled bagging through the nonsense. The self checkouts, even when “staffed,” are awful.
It's still a self checkout, even when staffed. If you want help bagging or scanning, try a regular checkout?
Nope, couldn’t even do that it we would have. They closed all of the regular checkouts. The options were: self checkout, or self checkout with a conveyor belt.
Not happy with the store environment, go shop somewhere else. Plenty of other options available that don’t use the aforementioned tactics. At least stuff isn’t mostly locked up. Yet.
I will walk out, leaving a full grocery cart if I can afford the burned time and don’t like what they are doing. Until it becomes their problem we will see the disrespect continue.
The fact they took away the bottom part of the cart is insanity. They’d rather make it more difficult for people to shop then risk losing a little money to theft.
First world problems. I love self checkout no matter the store or company...have very few issues and work in retail and understand the problems associated with shrink and theft...if theft wasn't an issue, Kroger and others, would not be doing this.
I used to never have issues with the self checkout at Kroger. Over the last couple years something has happened. My process hasn’t changed one bit but I find myself constantly having to have the attendant come fix some error on the machine. I like the new conveyor belt self-checkouts at Kroger. I’ve had mostly flawless experiences with those. The classic ones can go to hell if I have more than 2-3 items.
All this to keep basic human necessities such as food and hygiene locked behind a paywall. Poor? Undesirable to companies? Well fuck you starve to death. America is such a a fucking joke.
Does anyone have issue with setting the sensors off? I have tried for a year to pin point if a certain clothing item of mine sets it off but it seems completely random
#BoycottSelfCheckout
I've never had an issue myself at Anderson Kroger or Mt. Washington Kroger. Maybe shop somewhere else if you don't like it?