“Never Use Self-Checkout”: Lawyer Says One Mistake Could Land You In Big Trouble

Self-checkout sounds great on paper. Your awkward self can avoid the small talk at the register, bag up your groceries on your own time, and walk out into the wild without anyone judging the 25 cans of beans you just bought.

TikTok lawyer Carrie (@carriejernigan1) says that while self-checkout is super convenient, it could also be potentially dangerous.

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She said that three kinds of people use self-checkout based on her experience. In a video where she tells "most people to steer clear of self-checkout," she explains,

"There's currently three groups of people getting charged with shoplifting using self-checkout. The first group of people that are getting charged with shoplifting using the self-checkouts are the people that are going into the stores with the intent to steal."

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The first category is very aware of their intentions and wants to get away with theft using self-service checkouts. 

This category has led to the installation of advanced security systems that record you as you’re scanning items and ensure there’s no funny business.

But thieves are getting even smarter.

"The system is too good to do something that simple. So they come into the store with a very specific plan on what they are stealing, what they plan to use to conceal when they are attempting to scan, many times people will come in with bar codes taped to their hand and they are lesser codes on an item that is much more expensive and it has become much harder for asset protection to be able to identify these thefts."

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This means the eyes of the law are also on people who may make honest mistakes when bagging up their groceries.

"These are the people I genuinely think just forgot to scan an item. It is usually something that was on the bottom rack of the cart or say a DVD that has slid under the purse and when they're walking out asset protection stops them."

Initially, she says, people who had made the error could simply return or go back and pay for the items that were missed. 

But now, as thieves abuse the system, blanket policies of charging for theft may land honest shoppers in court as well.

"The third group of people getting charged I will just call the truly innocent and most of these are not getting charged day of, it is something that say asset protection is doing a quality control check or inventory weeks, days, months later comes up short so they will begin watching hours of video to see the last person who checked out with the Mario Lego set because they're too short."

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If you’re unlucky enough to be the last one checking out, you may be targeted for no reason.

"For some reason they pinpoint that they think you did it. And because of who these big box stores are, they usually have to present very little evidence to get an affidavit for warrant signed the charges that could land you up to a year in jail, get filed, and you are fighting for your life trying to determine what date you were at Walmart, what all you bought, you have to spend thousands of dollars hiring a lawyer and we have to go through grainy video footage to try to determine what all you bought that day."

She says that while going to court and proving your innocence is an option, the harm of subjecting people to the trauma of accusation has already been done.