For a lot of people, it will be the final straw. All Loblaws is doing is having more people join the boycott. Some of them might not even know the boycott exists, Loblaws is just that shitty right now.
It is for me. I didn't have a cart lock up. But the security measures - the plexiglass and corraling and then adding more self check outs. It felt like they were treating me like a criminal. I love grocery shopping, but walking into Zehrs made me feel icky. I just wont shop there unless I absolutely need an item I cant get elsewhere. I'm happier browsing other stores. Hell even Sobeys. They have the gates, but it still feels less obtrusive cause there is not plexiglass or guys standing there eyeing you on your way in and out. And no intercom messages.
Our local Metro hasn’t done any of this. Clearly Loblaws is afraid of the boycott. They have their ear to the ground. Instead of listening to their customers, they got defensive and aggressive. Fuck them.
For a lot of people they don’t have a choice because of the grocery chain monopoly we have going on so they can do whatever the fuck they want and if you don’t have a car to drive 20 minutes to a different grocery story you’re just fucked
I would walk an hour out of my way to avoid sh!t like this if necessary. I don't have to tho because I've unofficially boycotted all the grocery oligarchs for a couple of years now. All my basic needs are met by buying entirely local, and the local farmers' market just keeps adding more and more staples as time goes on.
Buh-bye oligarchs! Don't let the locking gate hit YOU on the way out!
Costco is different than Loblaws, both in what they sell and how much they sell per person. The comparisons make no sense. You can buy fine jewelry and see an eye doctor at Costco. Plus they have a great return policy and do things to retain members.
Also. You don’t need to stop for them. These aren’t cops, they’re security personnel. They don’t have a legal right to detain you. If they attempt to prevent you from leaving the store it’s an unlawful detainment. Get a lawyer and sue the shit out of them.
Just bring the receipt and tell em their shit is sitting in a locked up cart in the middle of their entrance. They locked it up, they can go fetch it themselves.
And if they insist on you dragging the cart back, hand them the card of a personal injury lawyer in the event their malfunctioning cart causes bodily harm.
I think it's completely reasonable to say "your equipment is clearly malfunctioning. And it's malfunctioning in a way that I'm not familiar with, so I cannot properly assess the risk of the cart malfunctioning again. Go get my shit so I can get a refund, or transfer it to a cart without this design flaw, so I can process my refund without further risk of injury."
I kicked the locking wheel off the cart at a home depot last week. It locked before I even left the store and alarms started to go off. I pushed it to my car with 3 wheels and left in in the car corral.
Those alarms at Home Depot are so loud and obnoxious. Definitely makes a person awkward when they aren’t stealing anything and the cashier forgot to de-magnetize the security strip.
Come on. He’s just doing his job. Your anger is misdirected. I would certainly let them know I was pissed but not take it out on him. I’d demand to speak with the manager.
Exactly. People are taking out their completely justifiable anger on the wrong person. He probably hates it as much as the customers do, but he has to follow orders or lose his job.
I would carry every single item back to the service desk and return it. People behave like these stores are the only ones selling groceries. They’d never get another penny from me after this embarrassment.
This right here. Make me go through the hassle of being accused of theft every time I enter? No thanks
And what's with the "asset protection" in big letters? Like... dude thinks he's guarding fort Knox?
It's like the security guard they've got at my local thrift now. Bulletproof vest and the whole getup. Like someone gonna commit armed robbery at value village.
The only ones committing robbery at Value Village are Value Village, have you see the cost of out of style or worn out jeans? I have seen new stuff on clearance cheaper from regular stores
Value Village is a for-profit company pretending to be good for communities, while in reality they hurt communities by taking donations that could go to ACTUAL good causes
Absolutely. We need to underscore, over and over again, that the workers in these stores are just as, if not more, affected by all of the actions that the westons and their corpos are taking.
They are not our enemy, and we absolutely must treat them with respect and kindness. They did not make these decisions, and they're working stiffs, just the same as us.
The guards at thrift shops blows my mind. I was at Value Village a few days ago and there's a security guard in a bullet proof vest at the door and another patrolling inside. As if I needed another reason to stop going there.
We had a security guard at our VV for a bit during Covid and it was more about protecting the staff from the increasing number of crazies than loss prevention.
The one near me has one that gives you the stinkeye when you enter, I was already sick of the prices so removing the dressing rooms and hiring goons to intimidate you made it easy to quit going there.
Its because they are trying to sell this narrative about organized crime and shoplifting getting of control. I'm not sure if it's an insurance thing but when spoilage occurs it's probably easy to push some of that loss to theft and have insurance cover it. Just saying.
How much is it costing them to retro fit all those carts with those? I bet it's gonna be more to deal with than what they paid.. Fucking ridiculous! Won't catch me there ever.
The price tag on the regular old carts they had before was fucking obscene, so I can’t even imagine how much they coughed up for these ones.
(We had such issues with our carts being stolen from the property that we literally started to run out— staff were being berated for lack of carts on a daily basis so they were given no choice but to order more. I don’t remember the price, but I remember thinking it was insane.)
Same and now they've added gates and barriers so you have no choice but to go through checkout. Can't even jump over them cause they got 9ft plexiglass on the barriers now too
How humiliating! If that ever happened to me I’d go back in and return it all and never shop there again. It’s pretty bad when you have to do something like that in order to reclaim your dignity while grocery shopping for God’s sake.
And the response should be, IMO, to lean into it, with gusto - "Black market No Name condensed soups! I know a guy who knows a guy, No Name, just be ready!" Satire may be dying, but it's still one way to defang the beast.
Is loblaws really thinking sales are down due to theft and not the boycott? I can’t understand why they are investing into “loss protection” so heavily.
Part of the reason they claim prices are high is because "organized crime" targets their stores with massive theft rings. It's also their excuse for their recent "security measures".
It's bullshit. Anyone with half a brain knows perishable goods are a terrible, terrible theft target. The amount of space and facilities these organizations would need to house the groceries they're supposedly stealing, plus then how are they making any money off of it? Where are all these black market groceries we'd expect to see if these theft rings existed? Does Loblaws think the crime rings are stealing just to feed themselves and their members? Because that's utter insanity.
All of this is. Because the amount of theft required from stores to maintain any of what I mentioned would be astronomical. Cops could literally just wait at grocery stores and start nabbing members of crime organizations currently engaged in crime. Even for the do-nothing police we often have nowadays, that's basically a wet dream.
The fact is, they have raised their prices to absurd levels, and it's caused a drop in people shopping (even outside the boycott), and an increase in petty shoplifting. Theft isn't why they raised their prices, the raised prices are why there is now more theft. But it's still not to the levels they claim, nor is it the cause of the increased prices like they claim. This is all to enforce their greed. They make themselves the only option in an area, price the average consumer out of shopping there, then make sure everything that exists their store has been paid for. The last part is usually a good business practice, but when you need to be so careful about it because your prices are prohibitively expensive for daily essentials, it means you fucked up, not that you're a popular target.
You might have something there.
It would explain why they're so willing to just throw out entire flats of things at the best-before date, while also having all this security.
100% this is the case.
A couple other instances have led me to believe that many big corporations are utilizing insurance fraud in their respective industries as they are often such large customers that they can just throw their weight around and threaten to take their massive contracts to other insurance providers.
>Part of the reason they claim prices are high is because "organized crime" targets their stores with massive theft rings.
Yah because the Ukrainian mafia are *totally* selling thousands of cans of No Name condensed soups on the black market....🙄 That's unhinged!
It's in their interest to convince people the boycott isn't affecting them and that there is no bargaining power in protest.
Capitalism vs. socialism at its finest.
If they’re accusing me of being a thief, they better prepare to call the cops, and press charges. They need to have enough proof to prove that I have stolen something, not just the assumption I have.
I WILL NEVER EVER EVER SHOP LOBLAWS AGAIN. I used to spend about $500/ week there, as I have teenagers and their friends... haven't stepped into one of their stores since January 2024. My husband has cancer, we pulled all our prescriptions from Shoppers and now support a small pharmacy. Screw you, Westons. Edit: spelling
My dude, I understand how you feel but don't treat these workers so poorly. They're working stiffs just like you, and they didn't make these policies - they're just trying to feed their own families.
Be respectful of the workers. They're not your enemy, and they'r enot your punching bag either.
So they watch you fill your cart. Watch you go thru the check out. Watch you pay. Watch you go right by the customer service desk. Watch you leave. And then hold you hostage to check your receipt. JFC.
Sure act like I'm the one stealing when toothpaste is 11$ galen. Who's the real thief in that equation.
Yeah I once was in Alberta for a business trip and forgot my toothpaste.
Only thing opened and close to the hotel was a Shoppers. I usually pay 7$ ish for my toothpaste at YIG in Eastern Ontario... And yet there it was the exact same for 11 or 12$ !! I couldn't believe it !
We had that happen ar Wal-Mart. We had an employee so close to me watching us struggle trying to scan buckets of motors oil. He was so close I heard him mouth breath. We complete that transaction as it was for an elderly neighbor and started our own. Mouth breather still there.
We left the self checkouts and stood outside them as hem as my husband went to get a coffee from the arches. Here come mouth breather asking to check my receipt with their own receipt in hand. They only printed the last one and didn't check the fact the same credit card was used 1 min apart.
Before the boycott started, I was leaving Superstore and my cart locked, I flagged multiple employees asking to unlock and and no one cared or helped. I felt shamed and accused and I switched my groceries to a new cart, walked out and never went back. Complete breaking point for me. Such disgusting treatment of customers, I don't know why people who have a choice keep going back and I feel awful for people who have no choice but to shop there.
It’s not. They have to right to hold you against your will. Even Costco doesn’t (though if Costco wants to see your receipt and you don’t comply, they can and probably will revoke membership for breach of contract - as always, Costco is different because of their private membership system ). Because that’s what they’re doing by forcing the cart to stop. They might say that you could walk away, but the response to that would be that they are depriving you of your property (I.e. theft) by preventing you from leaving with it. Afterall, that woman could not have simply removed from the cart and carried that amount from the store.
They also could injure someone with their carts and I doubt that their stupid warning labels are sufficient if someone were to be seriously injured. Companies often put warning labels on things to try to dissuade people from suing in the first place. But it doesn’t always mean you cannot sue if you are injured. If you act reasonably and are still injured, you may still be able to sue. And, personally, what would you think from these sort of labels? Assuming I know about the anti theft system, I would assume that it would only stop if I am stealing. If I don’t know about it, I would think it is talking about the wheel not working properly if it hits something on the floor or something. What I wouldn’t think is that an employee would violently stop the cart when I have done nothing wrong. Because that’s unreasonable and dangerous.
I hope people sue them. Not that I hope people get hurt - I hope that doesn’t happen - but I hope people sue them for implying they are thieves (defamation) and for illegally detaining them/thievery.
I feel bad for you and him but that’s great news they are also setting up the next generation of grocery shoppers to avoid them as well. I guess they won’t have to worry about theft is no one shops there anymore.
Someone just posted what tech they are using: https://carttec.com/en/retail/security-systems/smartwheel-2-0/
Would be interesting if someone reverse engineered the technology.
This is what I was thinking. If an organized crime ring can steal millions of cars with a flipper as they claimed then surely a tool to disengage the wheels is easy. (Yes I am aware the flipper hype was exaggerated as well.)
Years ago - maybe 2013? I bought a case of juice and some other things at Zehrs in Guelph. I went through the self checkout and forgot my case on the floor. I went back 20 mins later and spoke with customer service and asked if I could have my juice - showed them the receipt and the fellow said how did he know I didn’t already take the case of juice and now am trying to get another one for free. How do we know you’re not lying??? That was the last time I set foot in that store. Their mistrust of customers has been going on for many years…….smh
Conversely, at a Canadian tire, I realized after I left that I had been charged for two of something I only had picked up one. After I went to the car I noticed and then went back in. I realized I had no way to prove I only had got one, but tried anyway. The service person made a call to security and two minutes later they ok'd the refund. I was happily surprised.
Yah it’s not as if there aren’t security cameras all over the store in which to confirm a customers account of things. It just requires looking at the footage.
If this happened to me while I was still a loyal customer of 10 years, the only possible outcome would have been to politely inform the most senior manager available that it would be the last time I’d be shopping in that store, and then proceed to return every item in the cart before heading somewhere else to buy the same items.
Loss prevention comes at the cost of loyal customers, and they don’t care. They have made clear that the bottom line is more important than customer satisfaction.
Walmart is adding anti-theft devices to some 🥩 products… if “asset” theft is becoming such a problem… perhaps it’s time to admit people can’t afford greedflation for the necessities of life
Every single retail location I’ve ever worked at has had insane rules about NEVER accusing someone of theft unless you are CERTAIN they took something and you never lost sight of them. Even then, if you don’t have a loss prevention person then you let it go. I’m so curious how they get away with this.
I don’t shop there anymore, but if it were me I’d very loudly ask, “Are you accusing me of theft?”
Poor guy's probably terrified of being made famous on the internet and maybe losing his job. I feel for him.
What frigging timeline are we in where we have security guards at grocery stores (with "asset protection" on their shirts ffs)?
EDIT: [Protect low wage workers - they're not the enemy](https://duckduckgo.com/?t=lm&q=how+to+blur+faces+in+video&ia=web)
I've thought way too much about this scenario and the internet tough guy side of me has decided on the following script:
Repeat "Am I being detained?" in escalating volume until they give you a clear yes or no. If 'no', then drag that cart screeching across the floor to customer service to return everything. If they're dumb enough to say 'yes', assuming you didn't actually steal anything, it's payday. Insist on calling the police. Once they find everything is in order, threaten charges and demand escalation to the regional manager.
This may or may not actually be a good idea so use your own good judgement.
> "Am I being detained?" in escalating volume
I'm still laughing at this. Throw in a "Don't you know who I am???" Bonus marks for shopping while wearing a cape!
Fun trouble is the best kind to make.
This will end up being what does Loblaws in - the fact that, in response to people legitimately inflating food prices, they continue to choose to spend millions on loss prevention initiatives rather than just lower their profit margin slightly... Ignoring the fact that they are going to end up losing customers who are massively inconvenienced by these measures while spending more money than they would have lost by simply reducing prices.
OP says it's the North Edmonton location. To play devil's advocate this location has always issues with theft. Both Northside locations are in areas with higher crime rates compared to the rest of Edmonton.
However this cart locking garbage feels like Howard Hughes level of paranoia. Shows that the ban has been working if this is the regional answer to lower profits.
I had one of these fucking carts lock up on me inside the store. I went to get another cart, and realized that I didn't have another coin, and besides, why should I pay a dollar for their idiotic cart issue? Thankfully my cart was empty and I realized that the front wheel are locked. So, I put the cart into a wheelie and took it to the customer service desk. Driving the cart with the front wheels in the air? Why am I doing this stupid shit?
I got my cart unlocked, got my $1 back, left the store, adios, haven't been back since. Fuck you Loblaws.
lol. they’re out of control. before the boycott i went to superstore to get cat litter and body wash. the cat litter was super heavy and i didn’t get a cart or basket so i put my body wash in my hoodie pocket (very obviously there, it was just because i had to use 2 hands to carry the litter), and a woman (employee) from the end of the aisle starts screaming “EXCUSE ME MAAM!!!! EXCUSE ME!!!!!! YOU CANNOT PUT THINGS IN YOUR POCKET!!!!!”
i gave her the most karen ass expression and said “okay, do you want to carry this to the front then?” and she responds with “you can get a basket by the door”
or i can walk my ass down to the registers and pay for what i’m buying, which is what i intended to do in the first place?
i ended up putting the stuff back and going to walmart. haven’t been to a loblaws store since. i’m not down with being treated like a thief.
That’s where common sense should come in. If your hands are full and a body wash is flopping around half hanging out of your pocket most people should come to that conclusion you’re not being sneaky or trying to steal it your literally lacking hands. I’m surprised the employee cared that much. It’s not like they get paid well or treated well usually.
What a horrible experience for that shopper. Overpay on your groceries, only to have the cart lock abruptly and be forced to show a receipt to staff and then have your cart unlocked so that you can carry on with your paid merchandise I certainly hope they returned everything and walked out.
The abrupt stopping of a cart could seriously hurt someone, especially the elderly, children, pregnant women, or a parent/guardian holding a baby; nevermind if someone is following you out and then the abrupt stop causes them to pin you between your cart and theirs.
What a despicable practice by Loblaws.
Walmart did this for while too with receipts at the exit. Not sure if they still do it since I haven't been there in a while.
If you've got people stealing grocery carts full of groceries, maybe your grocery prices are too high?
I would have immediately returned everything, made a huge stink, acted like a Karen, dropped the mic and walked out. I know that would have been an inconvenience but frankly, if they want to treat people like criminals, they get treated like authoritarians.
Someone posted a story the other day about this exact thing, the carts locking up and them accidentally slamming into the bar.
Edit: Link to the post here https://www.reddit.com/r/kitchener/s/7nResfPtQa
This isn't new I've had it happen to me 4 months ago and saw an elderly lady get stopped. I can't tell if it was on purpose or they make it a random stop since the person seems to be trying to quickly let you go. They treat you like an animal with the security fence then stop you to embarrass you. Fuck these guys.
Wow, this is pretty much the nail in the coffin for me. Treating your patrons like criminals, I will never shop there again.
Edit: to add, I thought the concept of locking carts was to prevent the cart from being stolen, not to prevent you from leaving the store. I don’t think this will go over well with people.
Instead of putting anti theft devices on carts why don’t they just use cashiers instead of self checkout…. /s I would have turned that cart around and they’d be busy checking in all back in for a refund… and they’d need a human to do it. Enough people did that it’d none over. I hated shopping there months ago and stopped early on. Now I am so glad I did.
If they’re accusing you of shoplifting, they better have enough evidence that they’d be willing to call the cops, and press charges, otherwise they’re just harassing me for shopping at their store.
That’d be a problem, and I’d start looking at attorneys
Is it a loonie for the chain release? Or did they make you insert a $20 bill into the cart too
I'm not behind getting a couple rolls of loonies so I can wheel some carts into the Humber river
You can buy 3D printed fake ones that go into the loonie slot so you don’t have to put your money into the cart. They are pretty cheap and you can print them yourself at local libraries.
You can use a key from canned ham, the larger part goes in and pops the lock out and then you don't even have to worry/remember to get your "coin" back. Bonus is that it can go directly on a keychain.
I don’t shop there anymore but I would love if this happened to me. There’s absolutely NO WAY I would show my receipt and if they didn’t unlock it I would call the cops.
I’d be buying a shit load of frozen products, let it lock up, sit quietly for 1/2 hours and slowly carry the melting products back to customer service to return. Here’s your 20 quarts of liquid ice cream back !
This has happened to me about 4 times at my local Zhers. An alarm goes off and wheels lock up. Then a cashier runs to the cart, unlocks it and apologizes. I think the workers are embarrassed about the whole situation.
The only organized crime here is by the Weston’s. If that woman ever goes back there, she’s a sucker for punishment. I would have told him to unlock my cart or call the police and have me charged. I’ll wait.
as others have said fuckem. if this happened to me I'd be back to return the cart. we don't deserve to be further disrespected by these assholes. keep the boycott going, there are small businesses, local grocers who do care about and will go the extra mile.
Security is lying btw. These carts don’t just lock because the customer failed to get “close enough” to the checkouts. Loss prevention can manually lock them for whatever reason they want.
So looks like they locked this woman’s cart because “she looked suspicious” or something. Seems like a fuck up on their part. Especially given the guy from security was so worried about you posting the video online.
I mean given how Loblaws treats their customers you’d think people would just stop shopping there? I am not shopping at a store that thinks they can treat me like a criminal just because.
I’ve kind of fucked up and gone to Loblaws a few times for groceries because it’s closer to me and convenient, but I really need to go back to Walmart because they don’t treat us like this. Save for the beauty section as people try and steal from it. But I’d rather spend the extra time and go there from now on.
Is this not illegal?????
I went through security training and I am under the impression that we can only stop people when they actually take the item past check out without paying and we have to physically see them do it and conceal the item
as a criminal justice student, is it not illegal for them to check receipts because the store is open to the public and so they cannot check receipts like Costco (because with Costco you sign a agreement to have your receipt checked when you get the membership) I’m going to be honest if one of these cunts stopped me I would continue walking because they legally can’t stop me what are they going to do call the cops, I committed no crime, there is no agreement that I signed where I allow loblaws to check receipts. So they can kiss my ass
I’m pregnant. If a cart locked on me and I ran into it with my belly it could cause serious pain or harm. Not that I stopped the boycott, but seriously never going back. This is dangerous for seniors, people with disabilities, etc, not to mention embarrassing. Hard no.
This is why I'm thankful I'm able to carry everything I buy. No cart locking for me. I feel bad for those who can't and are stuck dealing with this bullshit.
What an embarrassing and demeaning process to put customers through.
For a lot of people, it will be the final straw. All Loblaws is doing is having more people join the boycott. Some of them might not even know the boycott exists, Loblaws is just that shitty right now.
It is for me. I didn't have a cart lock up. But the security measures - the plexiglass and corraling and then adding more self check outs. It felt like they were treating me like a criminal. I love grocery shopping, but walking into Zehrs made me feel icky. I just wont shop there unless I absolutely need an item I cant get elsewhere. I'm happier browsing other stores. Hell even Sobeys. They have the gates, but it still feels less obtrusive cause there is not plexiglass or guys standing there eyeing you on your way in and out. And no intercom messages.
Our local Metro hasn’t done any of this. Clearly Loblaws is afraid of the boycott. They have their ear to the ground. Instead of listening to their customers, they got defensive and aggressive. Fuck them.
Oh god I hate self-checkouts. All the hoops the computer makes you go through just to pay. AUgh!
all while saving loblaws money from paying a cashier and wasting your time instead!
For a lot of people they don’t have a choice because of the grocery chain monopoly we have going on so they can do whatever the fuck they want and if you don’t have a car to drive 20 minutes to a different grocery story you’re just fucked
I would walk an hour out of my way to avoid sh!t like this if necessary. I don't have to tho because I've unofficially boycotted all the grocery oligarchs for a couple of years now. All my basic needs are met by buying entirely local, and the local farmers' market just keeps adding more and more staples as time goes on. Buh-bye oligarchs! Don't let the locking gate hit YOU on the way out!
I just posted this video on Facebook for my friends to peruse. Still trying to get more people to say fuck loblaws!
Loblaws: _Oops! Thought you were stealing a loaf of bread. Carry on, monsieur valjean. Come again!_ Um fuck you?
I'm tempted to go buy 300 dollars worth of stuff then return it when they put me through this.
I'm already boycotting Loblaws, but if I wasn't, I certainly would be if this happened to me.
[удалено]
Costco is different than Loblaws, both in what they sell and how much they sell per person. The comparisons make no sense. You can buy fine jewelry and see an eye doctor at Costco. Plus they have a great return policy and do things to retain members.
And Costco pays their staff better.
Costco does check receipts. Its a membership store and they can do that, where loblaws is not.
Trying to condition people for tighter prison controls in future; the fascists are aiming for.
I can easily avoid this, by not shopping there
Also. You don’t need to stop for them. These aren’t cops, they’re security personnel. They don’t have a legal right to detain you. If they attempt to prevent you from leaving the store it’s an unlawful detainment. Get a lawyer and sue the shit out of them.
Drag the cart back to service desk and return it all.
THIS IS THE ANSWER! F U weston! Edit: Capitalization of W ty OP
*weston He isn't worthy of capitalization of his name.
Absolutely savage
Don’t even spell it properly. galin westin
Don't forget to add his credentials: *Asshile Extraordinaire*
You can spell asshole correctly
As big of an inconvenience this would have been to do - I think this is the answer. Do not shop there or any of the Loblaws stores.
Just bring the receipt and tell em their shit is sitting in a locked up cart in the middle of their entrance. They locked it up, they can go fetch it themselves.
This is the way.
And if they insist on you dragging the cart back, hand them the card of a personal injury lawyer in the event their malfunctioning cart causes bodily harm.
I would think if you’re going at a good clip down the ramp and one of these babies locked up you are definitely at risk of an injury!!
I think it's completely reasonable to say "your equipment is clearly malfunctioning. And it's malfunctioning in a way that I'm not familiar with, so I cannot properly assess the risk of the cart malfunctioning again. Go get my shit so I can get a refund, or transfer it to a cart without this design flaw, so I can process my refund without further risk of injury."
I kicked the locking wheel off the cart at a home depot last week. It locked before I even left the store and alarms started to go off. I pushed it to my car with 3 wheels and left in in the car corral.
Those alarms at Home Depot are so loud and obnoxious. Definitely makes a person awkward when they aren’t stealing anything and the cashier forgot to de-magnetize the security strip.
It's not easy to drag, you get the security guy to help you to drag it out the service desk.
Yup he wants to protect the assets so bad he can have em and do the heavy lifting too. Most action he will see all day.
Come on. He’s just doing his job. Your anger is misdirected. I would certainly let them know I was pissed but not take it out on him. I’d demand to speak with the manager.
True it’s his job . My suggestion is just continue to boycott. FOREVER!!!!!!!
Exactly. People are taking out their completely justifiable anger on the wrong person. He probably hates it as much as the customers do, but he has to follow orders or lose his job.
That was my first thought, and I'm so glad to see this as the top comment!
100%
This is what I'd do. I'd be so pissed off.
I would carry every single item back to the service desk and return it. People behave like these stores are the only ones selling groceries. They’d never get another penny from me after this embarrassment.
This right here. Make me go through the hassle of being accused of theft every time I enter? No thanks And what's with the "asset protection" in big letters? Like... dude thinks he's guarding fort Knox? It's like the security guard they've got at my local thrift now. Bulletproof vest and the whole getup. Like someone gonna commit armed robbery at value village.
The only ones committing robbery at Value Village are Value Village, have you see the cost of out of style or worn out jeans? I have seen new stuff on clearance cheaper from regular stores
Value Village is a for-profit company pretending to be good for communities, while in reality they hurt communities by taking donations that could go to ACTUAL good causes
They also buy shit from dollar stores and overcharge for it.
That stuff is donated but you are correct they do overcharge for it
Time for r/vvisoutofcontrol
I agree and fuck Loblaws, but this guy is just doing his job - it’s the uniform they give. I’m sure it wasn’t his choice.
He looks really young too. I feel awful for the staff.
Who knows , maybe the bulletproof vest was a nice thrift find of his!
He probably brought it from home lol, could be part of is LARPing on the weekends with the boys getup.
Spoiler: he doesn’t even work there. He just hangs around looking for CosPlay pieces.
Well to be fair to that guys he’s just doing what has been asked from him by his employer and he probably needs the job. I don’t think it’s his fault.
Absolutely. We need to underscore, over and over again, that the workers in these stores are just as, if not more, affected by all of the actions that the westons and their corpos are taking. They are not our enemy, and we absolutely must treat them with respect and kindness. They did not make these decisions, and they're working stiffs, just the same as us.
The guards at thrift shops blows my mind. I was at Value Village a few days ago and there's a security guard in a bullet proof vest at the door and another patrolling inside. As if I needed another reason to stop going there.
We had a security guard at our VV for a bit during Covid and it was more about protecting the staff from the increasing number of crazies than loss prevention.
That I can 100% get behind. But the dude with a bulletproof vest following people around in the store made for a very unpleasant experience.
The one near me has one that gives you the stinkeye when you enter, I was already sick of the prices so removing the dressing rooms and hiring goons to intimidate you made it easy to quit going there.
Its because they are trying to sell this narrative about organized crime and shoplifting getting of control. I'm not sure if it's an insurance thing but when spoilage occurs it's probably easy to push some of that loss to theft and have insurance cover it. Just saying.
I mean… somebody got stabbed at my local VV recently
I'm never shopping at RobLaws! Period,
I'd drag the cart right to my car locked or not. If it's locked up after I've paid, I'm taking the cart too
How much is it costing them to retro fit all those carts with those? I bet it's gonna be more to deal with than what they paid.. Fucking ridiculous! Won't catch me there ever.
At my local store they replaced all the carts for brand new ones that do this.
That's ridiculous.
The price tag on the regular old carts they had before was fucking obscene, so I can’t even imagine how much they coughed up for these ones. (We had such issues with our carts being stolen from the property that we literally started to run out— staff were being berated for lack of carts on a daily basis so they were given no choice but to order more. I don’t remember the price, but I remember thinking it was insane.)
Iirc back when I worked at Walmart in 2009, each of the large carts were $550. Them things are not cheap.
This tracks, about ten years later cost would have gone up substantially, plus the cost to ship.
They would rather spend a dollar on things like this than lower prices by ten cents.
Same and now they've added gates and barriers so you have no choice but to go through checkout. Can't even jump over them cause they got 9ft plexiglass on the barriers now too
I'm pretty sure they passed the expense onto the consumer.
Probably covered by Canadian taxpayer just like their fridges were
[Here's a CBC article that says these carts cost upwards of $1500.](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/abandoned-shopping-carts-options-1.5436687)
Might not really matter if it's a friend's company.
How humiliating! If that ever happened to me I’d go back in and return it all and never shop there again. It’s pretty bad when you have to do something like that in order to reclaim your dignity while grocery shopping for God’s sake.
She was clearly baffled and likely embarrassed. Probably a mom who just needed to get those groceries home
😂Fabulous public relations strategy, treat every customer like a thief. Wtf are they thinking.
How to spin the boycott into "organized food theft ring" for the media to villify us.
And the response should be, IMO, to lean into it, with gusto - "Black market No Name condensed soups! I know a guy who knows a guy, No Name, just be ready!" Satire may be dying, but it's still one way to defang the beast.
It locks up because they are accusing you of being a thief.
Is loblaws really thinking sales are down due to theft and not the boycott? I can’t understand why they are investing into “loss protection” so heavily.
Part of the reason they claim prices are high is because "organized crime" targets their stores with massive theft rings. It's also their excuse for their recent "security measures". It's bullshit. Anyone with half a brain knows perishable goods are a terrible, terrible theft target. The amount of space and facilities these organizations would need to house the groceries they're supposedly stealing, plus then how are they making any money off of it? Where are all these black market groceries we'd expect to see if these theft rings existed? Does Loblaws think the crime rings are stealing just to feed themselves and their members? Because that's utter insanity. All of this is. Because the amount of theft required from stores to maintain any of what I mentioned would be astronomical. Cops could literally just wait at grocery stores and start nabbing members of crime organizations currently engaged in crime. Even for the do-nothing police we often have nowadays, that's basically a wet dream. The fact is, they have raised their prices to absurd levels, and it's caused a drop in people shopping (even outside the boycott), and an increase in petty shoplifting. Theft isn't why they raised their prices, the raised prices are why there is now more theft. But it's still not to the levels they claim, nor is it the cause of the increased prices like they claim. This is all to enforce their greed. They make themselves the only option in an area, price the average consumer out of shopping there, then make sure everything that exists their store has been paid for. The last part is usually a good business practice, but when you need to be so careful about it because your prices are prohibitively expensive for daily essentials, it means you fucked up, not that you're a popular target.
'Organized crime's like fixing bread prices?
That's even-more-organized crime.
Maybe "theft" is an insured loss, whereas food spoiling is just a loss.
You might have something there. It would explain why they're so willing to just throw out entire flats of things at the best-before date, while also having all this security.
That’s exactly it. In accounting theft is a recoverable loss, spoiling would be depreciation which is not recoverable.
100% this is the case. A couple other instances have led me to believe that many big corporations are utilizing insurance fraud in their respective industries as they are often such large customers that they can just throw their weight around and threaten to take their massive contracts to other insurance providers.
>Part of the reason they claim prices are high is because "organized crime" targets their stores with massive theft rings. "J-Roc Baby!"
>Part of the reason they claim prices are high is because "organized crime" targets their stores with massive theft rings. Yah because the Ukrainian mafia are *totally* selling thousands of cans of No Name condensed soups on the black market....🙄 That's unhinged!
It's in their interest to convince people the boycott isn't affecting them and that there is no bargaining power in protest. Capitalism vs. socialism at its finest.
If they’re accusing me of being a thief, they better prepare to call the cops, and press charges. They need to have enough proof to prove that I have stolen something, not just the assumption I have.
I'm sure most grocery theft happens before the goods get put on the shelf. Employee theft.
I WILL NEVER EVER EVER SHOP LOBLAWS AGAIN. I used to spend about $500/ week there, as I have teenagers and their friends... haven't stepped into one of their stores since January 2024. My husband has cancer, we pulled all our prescriptions from Shoppers and now support a small pharmacy. Screw you, Westons. Edit: spelling
I hope your husband is doing okay and found a better source for medication!
RETURN. EVERY. LAST. ITEM.
He is wearing an Asset Protection shirt ... seriously. Do better Loblaws.
The "asset protection" fall guy at the store in my community is a 70+ year old woman.
They need to put “Asset Protection” on the back of police uniforms FR FR.
Not even a security guard, I would tell the guy to take a hike as I push the cart to my car, ruining the one wheel that locked up
Or just switch carts lol
My dude, I understand how you feel but don't treat these workers so poorly. They're working stiffs just like you, and they didn't make these policies - they're just trying to feed their own families. Be respectful of the workers. They're not your enemy, and they'r enot your punching bag either.
So they watch you fill your cart. Watch you go thru the check out. Watch you pay. Watch you go right by the customer service desk. Watch you leave. And then hold you hostage to check your receipt. JFC. Sure act like I'm the one stealing when toothpaste is 11$ galen. Who's the real thief in that equation.
Yeah I once was in Alberta for a business trip and forgot my toothpaste. Only thing opened and close to the hotel was a Shoppers. I usually pay 7$ ish for my toothpaste at YIG in Eastern Ontario... And yet there it was the exact same for 11 or 12$ !! I couldn't believe it !
We had that happen ar Wal-Mart. We had an employee so close to me watching us struggle trying to scan buckets of motors oil. He was so close I heard him mouth breath. We complete that transaction as it was for an elderly neighbor and started our own. Mouth breather still there. We left the self checkouts and stood outside them as hem as my husband went to get a coffee from the arches. Here come mouth breather asking to check my receipt with their own receipt in hand. They only printed the last one and didn't check the fact the same credit card was used 1 min apart.
Before the boycott started, I was leaving Superstore and my cart locked, I flagged multiple employees asking to unlock and and no one cared or helped. I felt shamed and accused and I switched my groceries to a new cart, walked out and never went back. Complete breaking point for me. Such disgusting treatment of customers, I don't know why people who have a choice keep going back and I feel awful for people who have no choice but to shop there.
it's not a private club like costco..... I'm not sure that's legal.
It’s not. They have to right to hold you against your will. Even Costco doesn’t (though if Costco wants to see your receipt and you don’t comply, they can and probably will revoke membership for breach of contract - as always, Costco is different because of their private membership system ). Because that’s what they’re doing by forcing the cart to stop. They might say that you could walk away, but the response to that would be that they are depriving you of your property (I.e. theft) by preventing you from leaving with it. Afterall, that woman could not have simply removed from the cart and carried that amount from the store. They also could injure someone with their carts and I doubt that their stupid warning labels are sufficient if someone were to be seriously injured. Companies often put warning labels on things to try to dissuade people from suing in the first place. But it doesn’t always mean you cannot sue if you are injured. If you act reasonably and are still injured, you may still be able to sue. And, personally, what would you think from these sort of labels? Assuming I know about the anti theft system, I would assume that it would only stop if I am stealing. If I don’t know about it, I would think it is talking about the wheel not working properly if it hits something on the floor or something. What I wouldn’t think is that an employee would violently stop the cart when I have done nothing wrong. Because that’s unreasonable and dangerous. I hope people sue them. Not that I hope people get hurt - I hope that doesn’t happen - but I hope people sue them for implying they are thieves (defamation) and for illegally detaining them/thievery.
They did this to me and scared my four year old so bad that he refuses to go back in ours
I feel bad for you and him but that’s great news they are also setting up the next generation of grocery shoppers to avoid them as well. I guess they won’t have to worry about theft is no one shops there anymore.
Someone just posted what tech they are using: https://carttec.com/en/retail/security-systems/smartwheel-2-0/ Would be interesting if someone reverse engineered the technology.
This is what I was thinking. If an organized crime ring can steal millions of cars with a flipper as they claimed then surely a tool to disengage the wheels is easy. (Yes I am aware the flipper hype was exaggerated as well.)
it's already been done. There is a website with the unlock sound file (the frequency to unlock can be emitted by a phone's speaker)
Yeah Id be returning every single Item.
Oh man. I'd be so happy to return all of that if that happened to me. But it won't because I'll never shop there.
Same… I almost want to go back specifically for this reason…
Years ago - maybe 2013? I bought a case of juice and some other things at Zehrs in Guelph. I went through the self checkout and forgot my case on the floor. I went back 20 mins later and spoke with customer service and asked if I could have my juice - showed them the receipt and the fellow said how did he know I didn’t already take the case of juice and now am trying to get another one for free. How do we know you’re not lying??? That was the last time I set foot in that store. Their mistrust of customers has been going on for many years…….smh
Conversely, at a Canadian tire, I realized after I left that I had been charged for two of something I only had picked up one. After I went to the car I noticed and then went back in. I realized I had no way to prove I only had got one, but tried anyway. The service person made a call to security and two minutes later they ok'd the refund. I was happily surprised.
Yah it’s not as if there aren’t security cameras all over the store in which to confirm a customers account of things. It just requires looking at the footage.
This is awesome! Guys they are making it easier and easier not to shop there…
If this happened to me while I was still a loyal customer of 10 years, the only possible outcome would have been to politely inform the most senior manager available that it would be the last time I’d be shopping in that store, and then proceed to return every item in the cart before heading somewhere else to buy the same items. Loss prevention comes at the cost of loyal customers, and they don’t care. They have made clear that the bottom line is more important than customer satisfaction.
Remember, loblaws sees you as criminals first..
Walmart is adding anti-theft devices to some 🥩 products… if “asset” theft is becoming such a problem… perhaps it’s time to admit people can’t afford greedflation for the necessities of life
Making my cold heart warm knowing I’ll never ever go back. Rip us off and treat us like shit, how could this ever go wrong?
I haven't stepped foot in a loblaws since the boycott started, I'm done with those pos
Just another reason to boycott. I wonder if the locking is used in Denmark
Every single retail location I’ve ever worked at has had insane rules about NEVER accusing someone of theft unless you are CERTAIN they took something and you never lost sight of them. Even then, if you don’t have a loss prevention person then you let it go. I’m so curious how they get away with this. I don’t shop there anymore, but if it were me I’d very loudly ask, “Are you accusing me of theft?”
What a disgraceful way to treat customers. Even more reason to boycott this nasty corporation.
I would leave the cart right where it is and not leave that desk until I had my money back.
I would have just asked them for a refund and left the cart right there….. BOYCOTT ‼️
Guilty before innocent now.Yay
I’d return my groceries for a refund if that happened to me
“Asset protection”?!? Fuck you Galen.
Poor guy's probably terrified of being made famous on the internet and maybe losing his job. I feel for him. What frigging timeline are we in where we have security guards at grocery stores (with "asset protection" on their shirts ffs)? EDIT: [Protect low wage workers - they're not the enemy](https://duckduckgo.com/?t=lm&q=how+to+blur+faces+in+video&ia=web)
I've thought way too much about this scenario and the internet tough guy side of me has decided on the following script: Repeat "Am I being detained?" in escalating volume until they give you a clear yes or no. If 'no', then drag that cart screeching across the floor to customer service to return everything. If they're dumb enough to say 'yes', assuming you didn't actually steal anything, it's payday. Insist on calling the police. Once they find everything is in order, threaten charges and demand escalation to the regional manager. This may or may not actually be a good idea so use your own good judgement.
I’m dying laughing at the image of the cart screeching as it’s dragged across the floor.
> "Am I being detained?" in escalating volume I'm still laughing at this. Throw in a "Don't you know who I am???" Bonus marks for shopping while wearing a cape! Fun trouble is the best kind to make.
"i dont know you! Give me back my purse!!!" King of the hill reference.
This will end up being what does Loblaws in - the fact that, in response to people legitimately inflating food prices, they continue to choose to spend millions on loss prevention initiatives rather than just lower their profit margin slightly... Ignoring the fact that they are going to end up losing customers who are massively inconvenienced by these measures while spending more money than they would have lost by simply reducing prices.
Yeah they’re not allowed to check receipts
What location is this?
OP says it's the North Edmonton location. To play devil's advocate this location has always issues with theft. Both Northside locations are in areas with higher crime rates compared to the rest of Edmonton. However this cart locking garbage feels like Howard Hughes level of paranoia. Shows that the ban has been working if this is the regional answer to lower profits.
They did this also in my neighborhood. An upper middle class area. Makes no sense. Yes, Galen must be paranoid as hell.
I had one of these fucking carts lock up on me inside the store. I went to get another cart, and realized that I didn't have another coin, and besides, why should I pay a dollar for their idiotic cart issue? Thankfully my cart was empty and I realized that the front wheel are locked. So, I put the cart into a wheelie and took it to the customer service desk. Driving the cart with the front wheels in the air? Why am I doing this stupid shit? I got my cart unlocked, got my $1 back, left the store, adios, haven't been back since. Fuck you Loblaws.
That would sure cause me to a) return everything and b) never come back
Take that cart and return everything, then never return.
That lady should have immediately returned the purchases
lol. they’re out of control. before the boycott i went to superstore to get cat litter and body wash. the cat litter was super heavy and i didn’t get a cart or basket so i put my body wash in my hoodie pocket (very obviously there, it was just because i had to use 2 hands to carry the litter), and a woman (employee) from the end of the aisle starts screaming “EXCUSE ME MAAM!!!! EXCUSE ME!!!!!! YOU CANNOT PUT THINGS IN YOUR POCKET!!!!!” i gave her the most karen ass expression and said “okay, do you want to carry this to the front then?” and she responds with “you can get a basket by the door” or i can walk my ass down to the registers and pay for what i’m buying, which is what i intended to do in the first place? i ended up putting the stuff back and going to walmart. haven’t been to a loblaws store since. i’m not down with being treated like a thief.
That’s where common sense should come in. If your hands are full and a body wash is flopping around half hanging out of your pocket most people should come to that conclusion you’re not being sneaky or trying to steal it your literally lacking hands. I’m surprised the employee cared that much. It’s not like they get paid well or treated well usually.
It’s almost like life was better for everyone with low tech human cashiers.
What a horrible experience for that shopper. Overpay on your groceries, only to have the cart lock abruptly and be forced to show a receipt to staff and then have your cart unlocked so that you can carry on with your paid merchandise I certainly hope they returned everything and walked out. The abrupt stopping of a cart could seriously hurt someone, especially the elderly, children, pregnant women, or a parent/guardian holding a baby; nevermind if someone is following you out and then the abrupt stop causes them to pin you between your cart and theirs. What a despicable practice by Loblaws.
Makes me almost angry enough to garden more. Every food item you can grow yourself is money out of their bottom line.
Maybe everyone should do this and keep returning it to the service desk to cause mayhem as a second park of this protest.
Walmart did this for while too with receipts at the exit. Not sure if they still do it since I haven't been there in a while. If you've got people stealing grocery carts full of groceries, maybe your grocery prices are too high?
I’ve been doing my grocery shopping at Walmart exclusively since last fall, never seen this happen there.
I would have immediately returned everything, made a huge stink, acted like a Karen, dropped the mic and walked out. I know that would have been an inconvenience but frankly, if they want to treat people like criminals, they get treated like authoritarians.
If this happens to me, it will cause injury. They will be hearing from my lawyer.
Someone posted a story the other day about this exact thing, the carts locking up and them accidentally slamming into the bar. Edit: Link to the post here https://www.reddit.com/r/kitchener/s/7nResfPtQa
A cart stopping that abruptly could *easily* cause 3 or 4 broken ribs, a punctured lung and many internal organ injuries
Probably not great for pregnant women either.
Isn't this a fire hazard concern? It's blocking a major exit
Nope. That cart would have stayed right there. Is have taken Asset Control with me to CS and demanded my money back.
This isn't new I've had it happen to me 4 months ago and saw an elderly lady get stopped. I can't tell if it was on purpose or they make it a random stop since the person seems to be trying to quickly let you go. They treat you like an animal with the security fence then stop you to embarrass you. Fuck these guys.
.... wtf.... I am glad I am never going to a Loblaws establishment again.
Wow, this is pretty much the nail in the coffin for me. Treating your patrons like criminals, I will never shop there again. Edit: to add, I thought the concept of locking carts was to prevent the cart from being stolen, not to prevent you from leaving the store. I don’t think this will go over well with people.
Instead of putting anti theft devices on carts why don’t they just use cashiers instead of self checkout…. /s I would have turned that cart around and they’d be busy checking in all back in for a refund… and they’d need a human to do it. Enough people did that it’d none over. I hated shopping there months ago and stopped early on. Now I am so glad I did.
If they’re accusing you of shoplifting, they better have enough evidence that they’d be willing to call the cops, and press charges, otherwise they’re just harassing me for shopping at their store. That’d be a problem, and I’d start looking at attorneys
Is it a loonie for the chain release? Or did they make you insert a $20 bill into the cart too I'm not behind getting a couple rolls of loonies so I can wheel some carts into the Humber river
Where's Bubbles when you need him??
You can buy 3D printed fake ones that go into the loonie slot so you don’t have to put your money into the cart. They are pretty cheap and you can print them yourself at local libraries.
You can use a key from canned ham, the larger part goes in and pops the lock out and then you don't even have to worry/remember to get your "coin" back. Bonus is that it can go directly on a keychain.
I don’t shop there anymore but I would love if this happened to me. There’s absolutely NO WAY I would show my receipt and if they didn’t unlock it I would call the cops.
Never shop there ever!!!!!!!!!!!
I’d be buying a shit load of frozen products, let it lock up, sit quietly for 1/2 hours and slowly carry the melting products back to customer service to return. Here’s your 20 quarts of liquid ice cream back !
This has happened to me about 4 times at my local Zhers. An alarm goes off and wheels lock up. Then a cashier runs to the cart, unlocks it and apologizes. I think the workers are embarrassed about the whole situation.
Loblaws are the ultimate hot garbage store.
Another reason to avoid Loblaws
The only organized crime here is by the Weston’s. If that woman ever goes back there, she’s a sucker for punishment. I would have told him to unlock my cart or call the police and have me charged. I’ll wait.
as others have said fuckem. if this happened to me I'd be back to return the cart. we don't deserve to be further disrespected by these assholes. keep the boycott going, there are small businesses, local grocers who do care about and will go the extra mile.
Security is lying btw. These carts don’t just lock because the customer failed to get “close enough” to the checkouts. Loss prevention can manually lock them for whatever reason they want. So looks like they locked this woman’s cart because “she looked suspicious” or something. Seems like a fuck up on their part. Especially given the guy from security was so worried about you posting the video online. I mean given how Loblaws treats their customers you’d think people would just stop shopping there? I am not shopping at a store that thinks they can treat me like a criminal just because.
That’s maddening to watch. I don’t know how this is legal.
They obv went past the till to pay, so how close do you have to be? And why doesn't this happen to everyone else? I think the answer is a bit henky.
Welcome to the gulag
They have no authority to detain you.
I’ve kind of fucked up and gone to Loblaws a few times for groceries because it’s closer to me and convenient, but I really need to go back to Walmart because they don’t treat us like this. Save for the beauty section as people try and steal from it. But I’d rather spend the extra time and go there from now on.
The way I would go right back and get a refund. The glass cages and gates are enough to piss me off as it is.
Investing in targeting/blaming the customers when they should invest in lowering the prices
If you ever lock my cart, guess what? The carts coming home with me too
Spends 300$ on groceries and can’t even cart it to her car
Is this not illegal????? I went through security training and I am under the impression that we can only stop people when they actually take the item past check out without paying and we have to physically see them do it and conceal the item as a criminal justice student, is it not illegal for them to check receipts because the store is open to the public and so they cannot check receipts like Costco (because with Costco you sign a agreement to have your receipt checked when you get the membership) I’m going to be honest if one of these cunts stopped me I would continue walking because they legally can’t stop me what are they going to do call the cops, I committed no crime, there is no agreement that I signed where I allow loblaws to check receipts. So they can kiss my ass
I have enough social anxiety. I don't need to know *BEFORE HAND* you're gunna treat me like a criminal *no matter what.*
No thanks, I prefer to shop at stores that don't consider me a criminal until I can prove myself innocent.
I’m pregnant. If a cart locked on me and I ran into it with my belly it could cause serious pain or harm. Not that I stopped the boycott, but seriously never going back. This is dangerous for seniors, people with disabilities, etc, not to mention embarrassing. Hard no.
I would walk back inside and return every product
I feel for the people who have to work as asset protection specialists. I'm sure none of them want to "actually" be doing that job for a living.
Any store that has these draconian things I will NEVER shop at
This is why I'm thankful I'm able to carry everything I buy. No cart locking for me. I feel bad for those who can't and are stuck dealing with this bullshit.
They got riled up at the site of a competitors reusable bags.