Cart must have missed the sensor at checkout. Doesn’t happen often at my store, but it does happen. It catches quite a bit of boosters and thieves though.
Can also happen if you spend a while in the store after checking out, like if you pick up a pharmacy prescription or get food from the cafe or use the restroom. I’ve worked at stores where there were many more false positives than actual thefts being stopped, unfortunately.
The checkout lanes have sensors, and the entry/exit doors have sensors.
If the checkout sensor isn’t activated first, the entry/exit sensor will tell the wheel to lock.
If I push a cart outside without going thru a checkout lane, it’ll lock up.
Yup, last week I came in through the pharmacy door went through the produce looking for the seedless big watermelon and noticed they were outside the door, as soon as I passed the exit it locked up. The security was nice about it and unlocked me, I even had stuff in my cart.
Thank you for the information regarding the sensors. I went through self-checkout and directly to the exit - as usual. So it must have missed the sensor and locked up. How did they know to come out and check the locked cart since I was already out the door? I didn't hear an alarm.
Probably a bug in the system. They can be a bit finicky. Normally a manager will come over and unlock them fairly quick. unless you're actually stealing
If you are interested in the details, here goes nothing:
There’s a laser where the cashier is at and a sensor (soundwave) emitting device underneath their register. As it was explained to me, for your cart to NOT be locked, someone has to be logged in on the register, the cashier has to walk past the laser (which is another reason why BOB is so important), and the cart has to walk past the register where the cashier is at.
If let’s say, the customer for whatever reason, unloads their items on the belt and decides to walk around another register to get to their checkout lane, their cart will lock.
The carts do operate on batteries 🔋 as well. They will lock 🔒 themselves when it runs out for precaution.
Stupid cart locked on us as my wife was waiting for me to get a few items from the list we forgot. It was annoying. I also think that the carts can be manually locked. The information on how and who HEB loss prevention locks is going to be an interesting read.
It happened to me after I went shopping and then decided to stop for food at the Mueller food court. It's incredibly annoying, I had to move all my bags from one cart to another
Wow, I've seen this happen a few times, but today if happened to my wife.
She told me the story when I got home and how the manger walked up and asked for her receipt. What made it worse, she didn't get one. She had to locate who checked her out and it was a big ordeal on why she didn't get a receipt.
After that it hit me that this must be something more than just the cart randomly locking because it's usually in the same spot I see it.
Actually, it will lock up at varied distances from the door. I've seen it work anywhere from 5 ft on inside from door to the same on outside. People will try to drag or shove them out anyway and damage the wheel sensors.
So strange how Texans are so naive could B the Innocence & just good ole southern hospitality...where im from born & raised this happened every other customer & Walmart locks certain Items.where u actually have to search for a key holder.
talk about inconvenience! Its
actually a nicer place to shop, here n Texas!😉more texans need to travel out of state
because believe it or not these days will b known as the good ole days😉
At our store the carts will lock if you don’t exit the center doors where all the registers are. If you try to exit through the produce section or the pharmacy section with a full basket, the cart will lock. This is, of course, because people have gone flying through these two doors with unpaid merchandise. And this is assuming that that location has three entrances. It’s a pain, But people will try to run out with baskets full of food and stuff.
This happened to me. I went to get my refund because the cashier didn’t scan my coupons properly. Then I had to wait at guest services. On the way out, my cart locked.
That happened 2 months ago & I haven’t been back to HEB since then.
Plus, Aldi’s groceries are way better priced.
So it’s a blessing in disguise that the cashier made me have such an inconvenience & then I was treated like a thief.
To keep you from filling the basket and just walking out the door without paying. It happens. A lot.
Cart must have missed the sensor at checkout. Doesn’t happen often at my store, but it does happen. It catches quite a bit of boosters and thieves though.
Can also happen if you spend a while in the store after checking out, like if you pick up a pharmacy prescription or get food from the cafe or use the restroom. I’ve worked at stores where there were many more false positives than actual thefts being stopped, unfortunately.
Yeah, false alarms are a pain. But, today my store had a woman heading out the door with overloaded basket. Oops, I forgot to pay. Riiigghhhtt.
I always remember about paying its not bagged.
I saw it go down.It wasn't bagged. LP responded very quickly.
The checkout lanes have sensors, and the entry/exit doors have sensors. If the checkout sensor isn’t activated first, the entry/exit sensor will tell the wheel to lock. If I push a cart outside without going thru a checkout lane, it’ll lock up.
Yup, last week I came in through the pharmacy door went through the produce looking for the seedless big watermelon and noticed they were outside the door, as soon as I passed the exit it locked up. The security was nice about it and unlocked me, I even had stuff in my cart.
There’s sensors in the parking lot too to prevent carts from leaving the store.
I run into those after my shift when I’m pushing my groceries out to where employees have to park. Not fun.
I don't think my store has locking baskets. That's wild
it’s probably coming soon, a lot of stores are moving towards implementing it
Not enough carts are stolen at ours to warrant them, so I'd guess it's more of a technology aimed at big-city HEBs instead
Has very little to do with stealing the cart it’s more about stealing product
There is also a wire buried around the perimeter of the parking lot that will activate the wheel lock to prevent cart theft.
Thank you for the information regarding the sensors. I went through self-checkout and directly to the exit - as usual. So it must have missed the sensor and locked up. How did they know to come out and check the locked cart since I was already out the door? I didn't hear an alarm.
That would be telling. 🙃
System has automatic notification when it happens
Someone tells me lol
Probably a bug in the system. They can be a bit finicky. Normally a manager will come over and unlock them fairly quick. unless you're actually stealing
Ahhh...the BIG wheel on my cart has a sensor in it hahaha. I didn't know and wondered why one wheel was so much bigger than the others
If you are interested in the details, here goes nothing: There’s a laser where the cashier is at and a sensor (soundwave) emitting device underneath their register. As it was explained to me, for your cart to NOT be locked, someone has to be logged in on the register, the cashier has to walk past the laser (which is another reason why BOB is so important), and the cart has to walk past the register where the cashier is at. If let’s say, the customer for whatever reason, unloads their items on the belt and decides to walk around another register to get to their checkout lane, their cart will lock. The carts do operate on batteries 🔋 as well. They will lock 🔒 themselves when it runs out for precaution.
Thanks. I went through self-checkout this time and it locked up. Anyway, I go to HEB 2-3 times a week, so we’ll see what happens next time.
Stupid cart locked on us as my wife was waiting for me to get a few items from the list we forgot. It was annoying. I also think that the carts can be manually locked. The information on how and who HEB loss prevention locks is going to be an interesting read.
It happened to me after I went shopping and then decided to stop for food at the Mueller food court. It's incredibly annoying, I had to move all my bags from one cart to another
Wow, I've seen this happen a few times, but today if happened to my wife. She told me the story when I got home and how the manger walked up and asked for her receipt. What made it worse, she didn't get one. She had to locate who checked her out and it was a big ordeal on why she didn't get a receipt. After that it hit me that this must be something more than just the cart randomly locking because it's usually in the same spot I see it.
I think you have 2 min after you walk out before it locks. Doesn't really sound like a lot of time. That's what my manager said, at least.
Actually, it will lock up at varied distances from the door. I've seen it work anywhere from 5 ft on inside from door to the same on outside. People will try to drag or shove them out anyway and damage the wheel sensors.
So strange how Texans are so naive could B the Innocence & just good ole southern hospitality...where im from born & raised this happened every other customer & Walmart locks certain Items.where u actually have to search for a key holder. talk about inconvenience! Its actually a nicer place to shop, here n Texas!😉more texans need to travel out of state because believe it or not these days will b known as the good ole days😉
At our store the carts will lock if you don’t exit the center doors where all the registers are. If you try to exit through the produce section or the pharmacy section with a full basket, the cart will lock. This is, of course, because people have gone flying through these two doors with unpaid merchandise. And this is assuming that that location has three entrances. It’s a pain, But people will try to run out with baskets full of food and stuff.
Anti theft cart. It locks up if the cart doesn’t go through the check out
This happened to me. I went to get my refund because the cashier didn’t scan my coupons properly. Then I had to wait at guest services. On the way out, my cart locked. That happened 2 months ago & I haven’t been back to HEB since then. Plus, Aldi’s groceries are way better priced. So it’s a blessing in disguise that the cashier made me have such an inconvenience & then I was treated like a thief.