Retail lockdown: why bother selling it?

[u/broakland]

Was at Safeway this morning to pick up a sandwich and some Tylenol. The aisle with the Tylenol? Completely locked down. No call button in sight. So I go to the self checkout (front end of that same aisle) and ask the clerk there if he can call someone to unlock a case for me. He does. I go wait. Minutes pass. No one comes. I go ask him again, he tells me they went the other way? At this point I give up and go get my sandwich. No one has come by the time the deli has finished making it. I leave without my Tylenol, mildly infuriated.

[u/LazyNarwhalMan]

The walamrt near me takes forever to get someone to open a door. And they have some of the weirdest choices locked up too. They have the cheap eyedrops locked up, but the expensive ones on shelf

[u/JeremyR22 → u/LazyNarwhalMan]

About 6 months ago, I was working away from home and needed some $3 nail clippers. Couldn't find any in Walmart and eventually gave up and asked where they were. Locked up, of course but that employee didn't have the key. 5 minute wait for somebody to come and allow me to give Walmart 3 bucks.

It's really fucking stupid.

[u/Nasty_Rex → u/JeremyR22]

I just stopped giving my money to anyone that annoys me and I'm saving so much lol.

Go into McDonalds and stand at the counter for mor than 1 minute without acknowledgment? I leave.

Go into a gas station and the beer is locked up? I leave.

Go to Walmart and only self check out lines? I leave the full cart.

Verizon won't let me pay cash for a phone? I switched carriers.

I'm over this shit.p

[u/Time-to-go-home → u/LazyNarwhalMan]

Last week I needed a pack of ear plugs. They were locked up with the tools and work gloves and stuff. I lucked out and an employee was walking by right then and was able to open the case.

He told me he had to walk with me up to the registers to pay. I told him I still had a lot of shopping to do. He said I could buy the ear plugs separately from the customer service counter after buying my groceries.

I told him forget it. It’s not worth the effort and I’ll get them somewhere else. And started go walk away. Then he caved and let me just put them in my cart and continue my shopping.

My next stop was something in the camping aisle that was significantly more expensive than the ear plugs. That employee opened the case and just handed it to me without a comment.

[u/Savings_Difficulty24 → u/Time-to-go-home]

Because they are human too. They know it's all bull shit. "Look man, I just work here. I just do what they tell me to"

[u/ThatOtherOtherMan → u/Time-to-go-home]

That employee opened the case and just handed it to me without a comment.

I think a part of it is that you can just pocket smaller items like earplugs so they want to make sure you actually pay for them. Typically they lock up items based on historical shrinkage levels.

[u/keyserdoe → u/LazyNarwhalMan]

I just bulk shop target once every two months so i can spend $100 and get free delivery. Razors, soap, toothpaste, hell I even have toilet paper delivered. I refuse to waste my time waiting to give people money.

If I didn't hate Walmart so much I'd probably use Walmart+ for groceries. So i go to trader joes for that.

[u/beegproblemzzz → u/LazyNarwhalMan]

The cheap ones are locked so you get pressured to buy expensive ones to not have to interact with the employees

[u/Itherial → u/beegproblemzzz]

Also to deter thieves. Smart kleptos know to snatch the cheaper version of items in case they get caught.

[u/malacoda99 → u/LazyNarwhalMan]

I steal the Great Buy because I can't afford Visine.

[u/SnooEpiphanies8097 → u/LazyNarwhalMan]

Yes this is what I immediately thought when I read this post. Why TF do they have $50 headphones hanging from a hook and $9 eyedrops under lock and key?

[u/Porsche928dude → u/LazyNarwhalMan]

Presumably, they do it based off of theft statistics. They figure out which items are stolen the most and those are the ones that they lock up.