Basically i just want to know will the machine be able to tell i put a high cost item in the bagging area that just so happens to have a cheaper barcode? Specifically if the barcode is a sticker that was made in store, like if it was a $3 piece of cheese wrapped and tagged in that store, but i scanned a $15 steak? I assume they have to be similar enough in weights. And if so how much room for a weight difference can it be? Does the barcode tell the machine the exact weight so it knows exactly how much weight should have been added to the bagging area? there has to be a little bit of wiggle room there right?
how precise is that weight calculations for the baggage area?
not worried about stuff like boxes with a upc made by the manufacturer, specifically just stuff that is both tagged in that store.
I went through a self checkout recently at a Meijer that has cameras above each checkout. At one point I couldn't get this cheese to scan (barcode was messed up) and then it locked me out, the light started flashing red and played the video of me trying to scan it.
Dang, can't wait to get shot by a cop for not putting the item in the bagging area even though I did.
goddamn. thankfully the ones by me seem pretty lower tech, they put them in quite awhile ago now. they do have a flashing light but it's incredibly tame and it's almost always going off in one of the checkouts everytime im there. but no cameras like that, that is fucking gnarly fuck that
The key is remembering that nobody at that store is paid enough to give a shit.
i feel u but at the same time reddit is literally such a stupidly small percent of workers. you gotta be a huge fuckin loser to go on that shit and complain all day about petty grievances like that
play dumb and get the goods, i can do that. i can do that really easily lmao
I worked in a grocery store for 10 years stocking shelves and stuff, if there was a way I could get somebody something for free, I'd do it. Doing this always put me in a better mood when I was feeling shitty.
If there's a barcode its gonna tell the machine the weight - like on those deli labels anyway. If the fruit stickers have barcodes they don't contain weight.
i guess i should have just asked how precise is that weight calculations. for example if the cheese is 18oz and i put a 17oz expensive steak with that cheeses sticker on the bagging area, is that within reason or will the machine for sure know that 1 extra ounce or so. is there any wiggle room for weight differences? the bagging area part seems pretty janky tbh
ahh I got ya. there is a little play but not much. also on camera it will look kinda obvious if you scan one item then put a different one on the scale. the best thing to do it with is fruit/veg or bulk items. Throw them on there and ring them as bananas or whatever through the "item lookup". Then you can more believably claim it was an accident if you get caught or whatever. "Oh crap I hit the wrong button"
I wouldn't recommend doing this at the same store very often - they've gotten better at catching stuff like this.
im just gonna try it with something not super expensive first so it hopefully will seem like an accident. i worked at a grocery store before and it wasn't at all uncommon for things to be stickered incorrectly (like ribeyes at $12/lb tagged as pork butt $4/lb.) In those cases it just seems like a simple clerk error not tagging something properly
If you can swap the labels without getting caught on cam I doubt anyone would notice at check out
yeah im pretty sure too, it's worth a shot. i've seen easy to peel off labels a bunch, especially on wet or moist products or even double tagged on accident that is easy to peel off
they have cameras near the scanner and cameras near your face. also stores can track you stealing and then wait until you've stolen more than the felony ammount and arrest you then.
The machines at my grocery store are pretty touchy. I get buzzed at maybe half the time, even though I don't shoplift anymore. I've found they typically have more trouble if you bring your own bag. I've also never had the checkout attendant actually check my bag. They seem like they dont give a shit honestly
I’ve also never had the checkout attendant actually check my bag. They seem like they dont give a shit honestly
same too, usually they walk right up and scan their card and punch in some numbers and walk away. they are almost always overwhelmed with shit going on cause those machines are so touchy and people still haven't figured out when and how to place things in the baggage area properly on top of just the machines being janky. there is 6-8 self checkouts in one store by me and one person is managing the whole thing so they don't seem to even have time to deal with anything else lol
they are not very precise, i scanned a ~10 pound item and then threw on a half pound item and it didn't notice. As the weight increases there is more allowed variance
Also, if there are handicap accessible ones, use those. They tend to have more forgiving/no weight sensors.
interesting. im not sure if my local ones have those actually, but i haven't really paid attention to that if they do, good tip
I put a cheap razor underneath an trimmer and scanned the cheap one then tossed them so you could never see the cheap razor and got a free trimmer.
At that point it's entirely on the person in the line to notice. If you're taking anything but produce, there tend to be alarm stickers. You can try and remove them, but if the alarm goes off, just keep walking and don't stop.
Keep in mind that some stores can and will use security cameras to track multiple thefts. Target is known for waiting to stop you or press charges until total thefts add up to felony charges, so that they can put you away for as long as possible.
At that point it’s entirely on the person in the line to notice
yeah my local one has 8 i think self checkouts with one person manning it but more than half the time they are helping boomers who has no clue what they are doing or they put something on the scale improperly or whatever.
but if the alarm goes off, just keep walking and don’t stop.
always good advice too lol, just don't show back up for a long time and it's fine. that the old, tried and true way but it still works if something goes wrong
I haven't been back to Brand store since the beard trimmer 2 years ago lol. I didn't realize at the time, but they have connections to our local PD and are notorious for playing FBI on shoplifters.
What the fuck, shit. I know Target works closely with local PDs in bigger cities, I want to say it was Minneapolis actually and was one of the first stores that got looted after George Floyd's murder because of that exact reason. If i'm thinking of the same one, they also beta test new shoplifting tech there before implementing it nation wide
I see, you're talking about the HOBART style barcode printing machine.
If the item in the system has the "weighed" flag checked, there **could ** be a weight reported to the self checkout machine. From there the item's actual weight **could ** be compared to the reported weight from the HOBART bar code.
In the USA, anything used to calculate/report weight for sales purposes ~~has ~~ is supposed to be checked yearly. The scale's probably have a sensitivity of something like .01 to .001. But it seemed like the rounding that the little store I had worked for, was something around the .01 of a pound/oz.
I would try to put other things in the baggage area first, leave them there, and put anything I was trying to fudge on with the already loaded scale.
