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A new security measure rolled out by a major Australian supermarket chain is drawing furious criticism from customers who noticed it at their local store.
A customer at the Coles Mosman Park store in Perth discovered the self-checkout bagging area did not have the usual safety scales that weigh items to ensure they have been scanned correctly and will be paid for.
The shopper said the store had a “sophisticated” renovation last year, but he only noticed this particular change recently.
In an online post, they suggested goods that had not been paid for could have been put into shopping bags without the “higher level” CCTV cameras trained on them.
“I’m not sure the lack of checkout scales will become common in newly renovated stores,” they wrote.
A new security measure rolled out by a major Australian supermarket chain is drawing furious criticism from customers who noticed it at their local store. A self-checkout that does not weigh purchased items is shown
Coles said the technology is already used in 305 of its stores across the country and it relies on advanced technology in overhead cameras to flag any ‘bad scans’.
The company said it was a more efficient system, which led to the change being rolled out.
“Coles has implemented a range of security measures to reduce theft in our stores, including CCTV (and) electronic item surveillance,” a Coles spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
“In some stores, new skip scanning technology is being introduced, which can detect if there are erroneous scans, accidental or intentional.
“This technology removes the need for weighted intervention and will make the payment process faster and easier for most customers.”
The increase in theft cases has led Coles to introduce security measures such as more surveillance cameras, the wearing of body cameras by staff and security barriers at self-checkouts.
“Even though most of our customers are doing the right thing, unfortunately a small number are not,” the spokesperson said.
“Coles has implemented a range of security measures to reduce theft in our stores.”
Scores of customers have expressed outrage at the ever-increasing security measures being used by supermarkets amid a cost of living crisis, with many saying it made them “feel like thieves just because they were trying to do their shopping.”
“I prefer the weight-based system at checkouts,” wrote another.
The most common type of crate, where goods are weighed after being scanned, is shown
A disgruntled customer has said the growing use of CCTV could be counterproductive for supermarkets and cause more problems than it solves.
“It’s very distressing because it’s going to flag everything,” they said.
But as with any new technology, some people have welcomed it.
‘I like this. I can shop without any human interaction, and it’s faster than (previous) self-checkout,” one wrote.