Locking carts at Target is leaving customers frustrated. Is the measure worth it?
Featured Video
While trying to load their groceries into their car, a Target customer, Neysita Ney (@neysitaney), was met with surprise. Ney’s cart seized up. Apparently, Ney was unable to bring the cart up to the side of their car and load their car with ease. As a result, Ney had to carry heavy items, like a pack of Gatorade to their car. But to do that, Ney had to leave their cart full of groceries unattended near the store.
“I had to go back and forth, leaving all of my stuff in the cart by itself and then having to go back to grab more. Hopefully nobody stole anything,” Ney says.
Neys says they went in to complain, and workers told the shopper, “‘There’s nothing we can do.’”
“Does your cart do this as well? Or is it only the one Located in the ghetto?” the text overlay on Ney’s video reads.
‘Is this the new thing with Target?’
The Daily Dot reached out to Ney for comment about the video, and they responded via a comment, saying, “That specific place had carts at lock up at different distances. It seems to be an issue with the sensors or calibration of them. And they don’t seem to care. … and people just accept it,” said Ney.
Customers frustrated
Ney is not the only one frustrated by Target’s cart-locking. In 2021, content creator @taylormadesince1993 capture the moment Target customers realized their carts were locked. “People are getting stuck in the parking lot with their belongings,” @taylormadesince1993 said at the time. Customers appeared confused and upset by the carts’ abrupt stops.
Why does this happen?
Cart-locking is an anti-theft measure. Interestingly enough, sensors that detect when a cart has left the store’s perimeter are in the form of a wire buried underneath the pavement, according to this article by Willamette Week. Back in the day, it was a series of magnets buried underneath the pavement.
Apparently, people stealing carts is a real thing. A Business Insider article reports that about 2 million shopping carts are stolen each year. This amounts to about $800 million in losses for businesses yearly. Despite the inconvenience this causes customers, perhaps it is financially worth it for businesses to have carts that lock.
What are viewers saying?
Viewers expressed their frustrations with locking carts or just how used to them they are in Ney’s comment section.
“If I can’t roll my purchases to my vehicle then I won’t be shopping there. I’d have gone back in and told them to refund me for every item and that I would not be back,” shared one commenter.
“That’s definitely a thing, but they are supposed to be able to go out into the far end of the parking lot and not any farther,” said another.
“It’s typically high risk stores that put locking wheels on carts as they count the carts throughout the year and the stores with constant carts missing eventually get locking wheels to help with loss,” weighed in a different commenter.
“One of the Targets back home is a 3 story one in a shopping mall & you couldn’t even take the carts out of the store. I used to drive 30mins out of my way to another location bc what even tf,” mentioned another.
The Daily Dot also reached out to Target for comment via email.
@neysitaney I guess we need to bring our own carts. Just in case we go to the incorrect store #target #ghetto #targethaul #targetedaudience #shoppingattarget ♬ original sound – Neysita Ney
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