What began as a routine shopping trip at Walmart ended in frustration for one customer: He abandoned his shopping cart and walked away.
Loren Fray, a frustrated Walmart customer, recently shared his disappointing experience at the retail giant on Facebook.
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After he finished his grocery shopping, Fray says he got in line and waited for quite a while.
At least before the cashier abruptly announced that the line he was in was being closed.
It’s not clear how many checkout lanes were open at the time, but Fray says he and a number of other customers were standing there with their shopping carts full of items.
“(The cashier) says he’s closing and the rest of the line just stays there,” Fray wrote.
“After a few, I just left the whole car there and left,” he said.
Fray says he went to Price Chopper instead and saw a noticeable difference there compared to Walmart.
“At Price Chopper, however, a man asked me if I wanted to join the line he was opening,” Fray explained.
“He even wrapped the meat I bought in a paper bag, which I had never seen before,” he continued.
Fray says that in addition to better customer service, Price Chopper has actually lowered its prices compared to Walmart.
In his post, he explains that he generally focuses on purchasing special offers and was pleasantly surprised by the personal attention he received at Price Chopper.
“I only got a few discounted items, I usually look for discounted items,” Fray explained.
Although he only purchased a few items on sale—six items for $16—he left the store feeling valued as a customer.
This was something, he says, that was noticeably missing during his visit to Walmart.
And he’s not the only customer who recently abandoned his entire shopping cart and went elsewhere in frustration.
A customer decided to do her shopping at Food Lion instead and left her full shopping cart in aisle 3.
Another customer said she left her shopping cart with over $300 worth of items in it when no cashier was available.
These experiences underline the growing dissatisfaction of buyers with the large-scale and impersonal service.
Latest changes to self-checkout
Retailers are developing their self-checkout strategies to shorten checkout times and reduce theft.
Walmart customers were shocked when self-checkout lanes at several locations were made available only to Walmart+ members.
Other customers reported that the self-checkout lanes were closed at certain times and more cashiers were offered instead.
While customers feared that shoplifting was the reason for the changes, a Walmart spokesperson said store managers were simply experimenting with ways to improve checkout performance.
One bizarre experiment involved an RFID-supported self-checkout kiosk that was intended to eliminate the hotly contested receipt check.
However, this test run was discontinued.
At Target, the number of items at self-checkout lanes is limited.
Last fall, the brand tested new express self-checkout lanes with a maximum of 10 items in 200 stores to increase convenience.
Starting in March 2024, this policy will be expanded to 2,000 stores in the United States.
Customers have also noticed that their local Walmart stores are limiting the number of customers at self-checkout lanes to 15 items or less.
It also highlights the growing gap in customer satisfaction between large retail chains and smaller, more personal retailers.
And many in the comments agreed.
“In some places, customer service is lacking,” comments Richard Angelo.
“You got fed up and I don’t blame you for leaving,” Ryan Smith wrote.
“Totally unacceptable service.”
As consumers continue to navigate a retail landscape dominated by big-box stores, many, like Fray, are beginning to look for alternatives that prioritize customer service and treat shoppers as more than just another face in the crowd.
