We always hear about criticism against big retailers in the US, and they’re usually for good reason. Whether it involves offering employees too little wages, punishing workers with medical needs, or engaging in other unfair labor practices, Walmart has shown up in the news time and time again. Now, a woman has gone viral for her complaints regarding a Walmart in Virginia when she was not permitted to scan her own items in their self-checkout. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose?
Tonyse Dionn shared her experience in a now-viral video on TikTok. While she was using the self-checkout at her local Walmart, Tonyse noticed an employee was watching her closely. The employee then offered to scan her items. She felt like the worker was “stalking” her and even said, “This young lady here stood behind me as soon as I went to the register.” Tonyse even said that she asked the employee why they were watching her so closely. The employee didn’t give her an answer and instead took over on the scanning.
Tonyse went on to say that she believes that she was followed and singled out by Walmart staff. She even suggested in the video that it was her casual looks that made her quickly profiled by an employee. She believes that, had she been dressed more formally, they may not have mistrusted her to scan her own items. Viewers weren’t sure about what to expect from the video, some agreeing with Tonyse and some suggesting that this is actually typical of some stores.
One TikTok viewer commented, “She’s forced to do that. It’s part of a CUSTOMER SERVICE initiative.” However, if a face-to-face experience is what they want, why wouldn’t Walmart simply open more aisles and axe the self-checkouts altogether? Another viewer agreed with the first commenter, saying, “That young lady is only doing her job. Whatever happened isn’t her fault!”
Others believed that it was an intrusion and have experienced similar interactions at Walmart. One woman shared, “Happened to me. They said it was a requirement. After she scanned everything, I tried to hand her the cash. She told me it wasn’t her job to load the cash… I walked out the store empty-handed and went to Kroger. Wasn’t gone stress me out.”
No matter how it played out for Tonyse, Walmart has always has issues surrounding self-checkouts. Over the years, customers have complained that self-checkout is their only option with aisles being continuously closed or the lanes being limited to only Walmart+ members. With Walmart being accusatory toward customers who use the self-checkout service and even checking receipts to prevent merchandise loss, it’s normal to feel like a criminal even when you haven’t stolen anything at their stores.
