Five Below employee speaks out after self-checkout change and slams ‘entitled customers’ mad at her for doing ‘her job’
A FIVE Below employee has called out entitled customers complaining about the store not having a self-checkout machine.
In a nine-second TikTok, the employee posted herself at the discount chain.
“5below isn’t self-checkout…why do people belittle me for it,” the TikToker who goes by Mads (@minecraftluverrr) posted.
“You sound really entitled, just let me do my job.”
Five Below recently implemented a new policy restricting customers from using self-checkout machines.
The chain, known for having products that cost five dollars or less, no longer allows customers to scan, bag, or use the self-checkout machines.
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Customers used to be able to use self-checkout machines but he kiosks have now turned into “associate-assisted” checkouts, the Daily Dot reported.
Now, the only thing customers can use on their own is the pin pad to pay for their groceries.
“I understand the annoyance of waiting in line and it definitely is a weird setup but customers can be extremely rude I’ve heard multiple horror stories of customers with associates as well as my own,” Mads told the Daily Dot.
“I don’t mind people not knowing the policy I just wish people didn’t take out their frustration onto me,” she said.
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“I really enjoy my job and I love interacting with the customers I’m always trying to give everyone the best experience they can have.”
Although the video was brief, the debate in the comments was extensive.
The video garnered over 83,000 likes and more than 2700 comments.
Rather than agreeing with the employee’s comments, many users took the video as a chance to rant about their qualms with self-checkout machines at retail stores.
“Girl it’s been self-checkout for years and now all of a sudden there’s a worker there rushing me and packing my bags wrong,” one shopper wrote.
“This is NEW policy people are allowed to be mad.”
Plenty of customers wrote about their unpleasant experience checking out at Five Below.
“I was like ‘oh thanks’ when I started and the worker just snatched my items out of my hand… they never did that before its always been self-checkout,” one shopper said.
Latest self-checkout changes
Retailers are evolving their self-checkout strategy in an effort to speed up checkout times and reduce theft.
Walmart shoppers were shocked when self-checkout lanes at various locations were made available only for Walmart+ members.
Other customers reported that self-checkout was closed during specific hours, and more cashiers were offered instead.
While shoppers feared that shoplifting fueled the updates, a Walmart spokesperson revealed that store managers are simply experimenting with ways to improve checkout performance.
One bizarre experiment included an RFID-powered self-checkout kiosk that would stop the fiercely contested receipt checks.
However, that test run has been phased out.
At Target, items are being limited at self-checkout.
Last fall, the brand surveyed new express self-checkout lanes across 200 stores with 10 items or less for more convenience.
As of March 2024, this policy has been expanded across 2,000 stores in the US.
“I hated how me and the cashier stood so close to each other on the same side of the register and just scanned it right next to me when I COULDA done it myself,” another shopper said.
The new changes follow a massive spike in retail theft over the past couple of years.
In 2023, stores lost a total of $121.6 million to retail theft, a Capital One study discovered.
That number is expected to rise to $150 million by 2026.
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"We expect to have 75% of our transactions chain-wide assisted by an associate with a goal of 100% in our highest-shrink, highest-risk stores to be fully transacted by an associate," Five Below’s CEO Joel Anderson said in a March earnings call Fox Business reported.
The company did not immediately respond to The U.S. Sun's request for comment.