We’ve all faced frustration and overwhelm when using self-checkout machines at stores, which were intended to simplify our shopping experience but often create more problems. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University highlights that these machines were introduced mainly to cut labor costs, neglecting customer satisfaction.

Retailers like Walmart and Target, which have heavily invested in self-checkout systems to save up to 66% on labor, frequently encounter machine malfunctions that require human intervention. Even more troubling, some retailers have been accused of using self-checkout errors to falsely accuse customers of theft, leveraging these incidents to extract payments for alleged crimes they did not commit. Criminal defense attorney Carrie Jernigan has warned on TikTok that retailers may aggressively pursue customers for minor mistakes, using legal teams to enforce payment, which could lead to severe consequences like a year-long jail sentence. Thus, using self-checkout machines now comes with significant risks, including wrongful accusations and potential legal battles over simple errors.