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I encountered these gates at the local Coles this morning. I think it's a knee jerk reaction to their bad publicity recently about overzealous staff dictating how you have to scan through..
Anyway, I checked myself out and packed away in my bags and went to leave, but the gate thing is new and didn't open, I did not know what I was meant to do and no staff in sight. There is a sort of pictogram on it showing that they swing open outwards if pushed, I suspect for emergency use, but I went ahead and pushed it and they swung a bit and opened up and sounded an alarm. That sure made a staff member appear in a hurry! She glared at me, I said how are you supposed to open these things? She said they open automatically. I said well, they didn't. Walked away, that was it. I'll see how they go next time but it definitely makes me want to shop elsewhere.
I thought I was going to avoid self-serve checkouts completely once they introduced these gates. But if you can just push through - maybe that's what I'll do.
They don't have any right to stop us leaving if we haven't stolen anything. This is so ridiculous. And it was so predictable that these gates would malfunction, it's not like the self-serve checkout weighing our items has been a smooth experience.
Brute force and ignorance is the solution imo. I'm no thief, so I'm going to leave, and as far as I'm aware they're not legally allowed to physically detain you.
That said, I vehemently refuse to use self serve for any reason. Every sale on them, no matter how small, validates their existence. Fuck self serve.
I'm not getting on the staff considering comments here saying they're getting reprimanded if they don't scan bulk first in 80% of transactions and it's a huge tracked KPI. It's annoying and they shouldn't have to do it but I'm not going to be shitty on them for it
I'm not getting on the staff about that - staff aren't responsible for putting these gates in, it's the company. And I think it's been done because of the bad press the staff have caused themselves, but that is from corporate pressure above, for sure. But it's a ridiculous situation, a sign of our ridiculous times for sure. I do think if they are going to repeatedly lock people in the checkouts instead of opening as they should, then they need staff to man them instead, right back to where we should just have manned checkouts at that point.
Get in the habit of not replying to gaslighting conversations. It takes a bit of mind power but just carry on through and do not flinch when engaged in ridiculous scenarios. Polite society is over. There's a gate, go through it if you have paid. Do not engage.
I think this sounds like the solution, if everyone who is inconvenienced pushed on them, left and triggered the alarm and just went on their day, I feel like the stores would be begging to remove them due to the annoyance of the constant alarms
If you don’t trust your customer base, don’t let them scan their own groceries. If you don’t want to pay a teenager to do the job, then suck the losses from a few bad apples.
This IS their reality. No-one will do shit about it, nothing will change for the better, everything will just get worse. When was the last time this country saw any kind of civil unrest that wasn't motivated by racism? We deserve to lose everything they take from us. The lucky country is only lucky for rich cunts now.
The economic conditions they’ve curated have made it so individuals feel too precarious to take the risk of fighting back. OP should have just kicked it open. But they are worried there will be backlash from police or the supermarket demanding they pay the damages. And too many people are in the same boat so they don’t want to run the risks involved with supporting OP fighting back.
When the media whips up the racism crowd, they can finally outlet their outrage against an adversity who doesn’t have the means to fight back like the rich cunts can, so it’s treated as fair game. The game is rigged.
I wonder if I'm eligible for workers compensation if I injure myself in my new grocery scanning job that I'm doing without adequate 'safe scanning' training...
At Woolworths, we were trained to never block or even try stop someone who is stealing. Just report to the police, but never ever block or get in their way.
Funny, because I have seen a "loss prevention officer" literally drag a person back into the store. That was a long time ago though, things might have changed.
Legit, not worth it for anyone involved.
Who honestly gives a fuck about the groceries that get stolen? It's budgeted for, the net profits are still there, log it with the camera footage if you have to, then move on.
Not worth anyone's life, or even anyone getting arrested over tbh.
And unemployment is only scary in order to enable corps to exploit their workers. If we treated our unemployed with any amount of dignity the multinationals would have a much harder time exploiting all of us.
We were taught that when I worked at a servo as well.
Same thing if we were ever to get robbed - just give them whatever they want and let them go. Its not our stuff, it's the company's stuff, don't put ourselves at any kind of risk whatsoever.
BWS uses the same resources as Woolies for training. Not only was i surprised that this is what they suggest, but it was also reinforced on-site. If you suspect anyone of theft, just make sure they are aware that you're aware of their presence. And if they do continue to walk out, let them go, write it down as an incident and contact the necessary people.
There was a fire in my apartment building.
I was unable to leave via my ground floor gate with my keycard, as it had somehow locked as part of the buildings fire response.
I asked the building manager about it who was obviously hopeless, and I never really got a reply.
I mean, if it were a fire in my apartment, I’d jump over my garden fence, but it’s like 9 foot tall and metal spikes, so it wouldn’t be the easiest.
My elderly neighbours what.. just fucking perish?
It definitely has impacted the level of trust I have in automation.
As a security system tech, most of these systems require power to lock, and the default state (ie, when there's no power) is unlocked.
I don't trust Woolies or defend them at all, but think of apartment buildings - there can sometimes be 4 or 5 electronically locked doors between you and safety in the event of a fire, and I trust them with my life.
Just read your comment after leaving my last.
Maybe you’re the guy to ask.
Why did my garden gate (electronic) lock when there was a fire in my building?
I would have presumed that all exits have to be accessible and open in the even of a fire alarm.
This is 100% true. As a fellow software developer (in training) I’m fully aware that every piece of software and technology has bugs and imperfections, and can glitch at any moment for one of a million reasons.
IMO every piece of hazardous equipment like this should have a manual fail-safe that can be used in an emergency, in the event that the automatic process fails.
Or they could do like these guys did in Paraguay: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ycu%C3%A1\_Bola%C3%B1os\_supermarket\_fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ycu%C3%A1_Bola%C3%B1os_supermarket_fire)
'Several survivors of the fire and volunteer firefighters alleged that, when the fire broke out, doors within the complex were deliberately closed under the direction of the owners, Juan Pío Paiva and his son, Víctor Daniel, trapping people inside, in order to prevent people from fleeing with merchandise without paying for it.'
374 fatalities.
Ah yes, shades of the Station nightclub fire all over again: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Station\_nightclub\_fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Station_nightclub_fire)
Or the one in South Korea (OK, that one wasn't a fire, it fell down due to some truly horseshit design decisions, but they kept the place open until the bitter end, even though they knew it was gonna fall down): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampoong\_Department\_Store\_collapse
You can easily push straight through them which I do when they close on me if the attendant doesn’t immediately come over to check my receipt. I’m not wasting time because of their faulty coding/equipment.
It must be super awkward for the staff also, and I bet some hot heads have already taken out their frustration on the staff whose fault it is not…
I realised from a comment further down you're talking about the older ones that are still around apparently, I'm talking about the new ones that have panels that come from the sides
Yeah of course it will. People in those situations are extremely likely to panic and lash out at whoever’s forcing them into that situation of being locked inside somewhere they don’t wanna be.
OP wasn’t even guilty of anything but still felt the subconscious urge to lash out at the gate or employee to escape. Imagine what someone who was actually guilty and was used to breaking the law would do in that situation.
The poor staff members are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They can either intervene and attempt to stop the shoplifter (and put themself in physical danger by doing so), or they can leave the shoplifter alone to protect their own safety (and then face the backlash from their bosses and upper management).
To any retail workers reading this - male or female, young or old - I want you to know there is absolutely no shame in avoiding confronting a shoplifter to protect your own safety. You’re not a coward, and you legally (and imho, morally) have absolutely no obligation to intervene against a thief in your store. That’s why they have things like security guards + devices, loss prevention programs, and insurance.
Please don’t put yourself in danger to protect the merchandise of a billion-dollar corporation that doesn’t care about you.
Somewhat-relative personal anecdote -
When I was a young teenager I used to work at a Reject Shop store in W.A, about a decade ago. One day we had a guy come in who was on something (probably meth). While he was in the store a couple of my coworkers noticed him stash some chocolate and an energy drink in his clothes. So when he tried to leave, one of my coworkers (a lady in her 50’s) blocked the door and attempted to physically stop him from leaving, and told him to give the stuff back or she was gonna call the cops.
What happened?
Well, it turned out this guy had a small knife in his pocket. Without warning he pulled it out, stabbed her twice in the neck, and then made a run for it, slashing at another worker (a guy about 5 years older than me at the time) on his way out.
I think the cops caught up with him a little while later in the swampland that used to be behind the shopping centre. Last I heard he was sentenced to something like 20+ years in prison for a range of crimes including attempted murder, armed robbery, 2 counts of malicious assault with a weapon causing bodily harm.
Edit - Yes, she did survive. She spent a few weeks in hospital, so she was okay physically (aside from a few scars), but she was still never the same after that. She suffered from severe anxiety and PTSD, and has never gone back to work anywhere (as far as I know).
The other coworker was okay. He just needed a few stitches and some time to recover. He came back to work a couple weeks later.
Story checks out:
https://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/perth-thief-stabs-reject-shop-worker-in-throat-in-rockingham/news-story/999ccd629d6bba4fbdde4d73b717bae0
I remember this story. My grandmother had actually been at the mall that day to buy some stuff. When she tried to enter the wing where the shop is, it was blocked off. She said she couldn't see anything and the security guard wouldn't tell her why. Maybe they put up hoardings or a screen so nobody could see but she didn't mention that. We found out what had happened on the news that night.
Staff are trained not to block exits because it can make a thief feel trapped and cause them to become violent. OP didn't even steal anything and it made them incredibly anxious and caused them to consider breaking the thing. I have to imagine that it would cause an actual thief to panic and lash out. To unblock that exit a staff member would have to get closer to it, putting them in harm's way. If the exit is not unblocked, it'll put everyone between the thief and other exits in harm's way. This is going to put people in danger. Someone is going to get hurt, and, when they do, I hope they literally make the company responsible for it pay the price.
I went through one the other day (I'm an aldi person but had just a couple of things to grab and it was closest). The doors swung shut on me, while I was with my kindy kid, and beeped a little I think. It did put me on edge, wondering what the fuck I did to bother it.
The staff just waved me through. Those poor bastards have enough shit to deal with, and now you lump this on them, just before Christmas, too.
I just went through one today....person in front of me got locked in....i got locked in. The service attendent has the remote but no attention....was thinking of writing a negative review
Go on their social media and reviews and complain! We can’t just all continue to be treated like this. You should have to walk on eggshells going to coles.
Feeling like a criminal for nothing
I tried this when Woolies started introducing the automatic trolley checks, the comments ended up being flooded with boomers telling me they were "just protecting their stock" and that I was "probably actually stealing".
I only really use Facebook and Reddit tho so idk what their other social media pages are like.
Edit: also I can't imagine Coles would be much better
I know several disabled individuals have already reported Coles to the human rights commission due to the gates.
The backlash from the gates in general means their days are numbered. One person gets hurt, one child gets out while parent is stuck behind the gate…. Only a matter of time.
The same thing happened to me and my daughter in coles. Paid for items ,didn't know they put gates up and walked straight into it with the alarm going off. The coles worker said it's happening all the time. I did feel bad for my daughter. She has ASD and doesn't handle loud and unexpected noises.
I'm 44 and it wasn't as bad as when I was a kid because we've got a lot more automated systems now than we used to. Unfortunately, automated systems still need to have a mechanism to communicate and a ton of things fall outside of normal parameters when you're automating things on shoestring budgets and with limited and improper user studies.
The blips and beeps will likely be a more temporary experience as technology advances, but the loss of freedom as a result of allowing ourselves to be imprisoned because a corporation is worried about losing some money is how we work our way to dystopia. The real issue here is that people are being treated like this and they are allowing it to happen.
Aldi, Costco, Friendly, Foodland, Foodworks, Harris Farm, and IGA are all alternative shopping markets where you can go. Australians should knock Coles and Woolies out from the top two grocers spots over this. If they don't, the alternate stores will also lock the customers up until they squeeze out every penny, too.
I needed a pee mid-shop and neither of the cell wardens would let me out - EMPTY FUCKING HANDED! Eventually I bolted through the entrance as someone entered and hopped ran to the loo's (I'm on diuretics), I was fuming and humiliated (and ashamed that I lacked the forethought to squat piss on their shoes), took it up with Coles HQ ..'What right do you have to detain me?'. They responded, 'it's a trial in a few stores'. No apology, nothing, zilch, nada. I haven't been back since.
'Trial' is right, and you're guilty before the hearing, just for wanting a piss!!
https://www.armstronglegal.com.au/criminal-law/national/offences/false-imprisonment/#:~:text=For%20a%20person%20to%20be,of%20escape%20available%20to%20them.
It's a grey area. You or I do it, yes.
The carve out for "shopkeepers" you can understand, say, a jeweller with an airlock system or bank going into "lockdown".
This... Feels like a stretch
The shopkeepers defence only covers them if they reasonably believe you have committed theft. This is a massive stretch as they are locking first and checking later. Their only defence is that it gives way when you push it but that may be overriden by people being worried about the alarm.
Should have just gone in the chest freezers so they couldn’t just mop it they’d actually have to break it up and carry the chunks away. For sure management would make the person responsible for keeping you in do it… and they’d never stop anyone ever again.
These gates are being rolled out everywhere. Staff hate them as much as customers.
I literally can’t exit my workplace on my break until a team member has checked my bag for stolen items, makes sure that there is a check seal on everything in said bag and buzzes me out. Then I get in the shit for coming back from my break late.
How about trust us and let me escape for ten minutes with out patting me down every single time? We’re treated like a criminals by our own employer and they wonder why staff turnover is so high.
Sometimes it take up to fifteen minutes to be able to exit the store after your shift because the understaffed ACO team are dealing with customers and if you walk out without having literally everything on you checked, you’re treated as suspicious. I’m gonna start charging the company for that lost time.
Pretty sure there have been court cases over that time - think it was prison security guards and needing to clear security before being checked in. But anyway, there is precedent for claiming it
If it's a mandatory activity required as part of your employment, on site, then you should be paid for it. If it's unpaid then it's your time and shouldn't be required to do things ordered by the company
My patience would last around 15 seconds before I force the gate open.
It's never actually happened to me even though some of the supermarkets i go to have these gates
That's 10 more seconds than I would have put up with being held up by some flimsy gates and an alarm. Fuck that shit. I'm pushing my way out and Colesworth can KMA.
I was leaving Coles once with my groceries and an alarm sounded and some things started flashing, I got my receipt out and prepared for accusatory treatment, waited a minute or 2 and no one came, so I just left. Shoulda stolen the groceries after all.
I just keep walking whenever an alarm goes off leaving a store. I know I paid for my stuff so it’s not on me to prove because their equipment doesn’t work properly.
I get really worried about those gates closing on elderly people or those with mobility challenges - all it takes is a fractured hip to really fuck someone's life up. Be interesting to see what would happen if someone was seriously injured by those gate things.
Also I personally hate them, it's dystopian and eerie.
No doubt its the idea of some corporate dumbarse as it sounded good in their head so the company ran with it.
Too many Elon Musks out there thinking they are geniuses.
So you’ve got to hit it with force to make open? Well, problem solved then.
Launch the trolley straight into the poxy gate and when someone approaches you, tell them “your gate wasn’t working but I’ve fixed the cunt for you… it opens now”
Yup this. My first experience was sneaking up on it sideways, guess it didnt see me coming. I bunted it a few times and it gave up. I had a full trolley, two kids and one wanted to pee. Get out my way.
In b4 "If you do that they'll ban you"
Well what if everyone did it? They're not going to ban everybody from shopping at their stores. They literally cannot stop us, they are totally at our mercy here.
Saw a post in a Facebook group earlier where this ladies child ran off through the gate whilst she was scanning her items. She went to run after child, and it locked her in.
The staff that was manning self serve was no where to be seen which means the lady was unable to chase after her son until she could find another staff member to open the gates (all checkouts had the gates).
Thankfully she ended up getting to her young child.
This could have been different and had a worse outcome. These gates are BAD.
That's a fear of mine - that either one of my kids will run off, or they'll dawdle and get stuck after me. At which point, I have to point out, I will kick the fucking thing in as best I can (which probably won't be much).
Ironically if workers do suspect or know someone is stealing, they are told to not interfere, but when it is self serve checkouts they can lock you in? How does that work?
I paid for my items and tried to leave and it wouldn't open so I simply pushed the whole barrier away into the shopping centre and walked out at Coles northcote. The staff member said 'thankyou' quote loudly and sarcastically. I didn't even bother to look at them
Thanks for mentioning that Northcote is one of them. I've mainly been doing online deliveries due to disability and no car but Northcote was one of the closest Coles that I had been considering going to.
A store is not entitled to detain you, only the police can, and if you have no stolen items you can leave the store. If the store then accuses you of stealing without any evidence then that is a court case that you will win.
Technically it’s not theft until the item has left the property.
So no matter what, these gates are locking in technically legal people 100% of the time, since the gates are not placed at the store exit, they’re like a metre back.
It's reasonable to consider someone who is shoving things in their pockets and going for the door to be assumed to be stealing. The problem is that that isn't what's causing these barriers to come up. It's an ambiguous AI making decisions and the programmers don't likely know what conditions will cause an event to be triggering.
It's not even about the distance to the door, but the fact that a robot is deciding to imprison humans. Asimov would be disappointed in the blatant disregard for his rules.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_robotics#:~:text=For%20the%201986%20tribute%20anthology,or%20Second%20or%20Third%20Law.%22
Actually, there's a lot of laws of robotics and AI that are being violated here.
300th time I've said this.
Call your local council. Ask for the building department. Speak to your council's building surveyor and ask them to provide a justification for blocking a fire escape with an automatically closing gate.
Put it in writing.
Escalate to your state's building commission/body.
Raise hell.
These things are illegal.
Considering security staff don't have the power to physically detain you, I wonder how this stacks up legally? What's the real difference? Physical barrier vs physically detained. I'd be tempted to step over / around it. Breaking it would probably have legal repercussions back your way
I was stuck with a trolley full of groceries I’d paid for and a screaming toddler for ages while the one employee was helping others with their checking out before she came over to press the button to let us out. If they aren’t checking your receipts then what’s even the point. I found it very upsetting.
I was trapped recently by a similar gate in Woolworths, having not bought anything. I just barged through it, bending it to get past. Locking anyone in a shop is false imprisonment, not to mention dangerous in an emergency.
I saw these this weekend at my local shops as a shopper was held up behind the screen and the employee apologetically explained it keeps happening because it’s too slow to register the payment. The customer was pretty agitated and considering my area has some socioeconomic challenges, I kept thinking how this was such a lose lose for customers to be treated as guilty, while the employees will bare the brunt of the consequences for this decision. It’s only a matter of time before an employee is hurt over this.
I feel like this whole shoplifting boom is a problem that Coles & Woolworths have created for themselves.
Sure there’s always been shoplifting, but back in the day the shoplifters had to be more brazen and so it was a lot rarer.
Everyone had to go through the cashier, so there wasn’t really a way to get things for free or cheaper at the register.
Nowadays with them forcing everyone into the self-checkouts and price-gouging out of pure greed, I wouldn’t be surprised if at least 1 in every half a dozen people was stealing or being dishonest at the self checkout. I know I damn well do.
Not to mention they have the chutzpah to ask me to round up to the next dollar so they can donate it to charity on my behalf - and obviously claim the tax credits that come with that - after I’ve already overpaid like 50% more for my groceries than they’re worth.
Back in the day every retail job I worked how 'shrinkage' factored into their business models, it included everything from stuff broken in transit, staff theft, shoplifting, even people eating a few grapes in store, and so long as it didn't exceed that number it was fine.
It was just generally accepted that you couldn't totally account for all factors, it seems like these new CEOs have forgotten it and are on a 900% profit binge.
How the fuck is this not straight up deprivation of liberty?
I really want to know what risk management Coles corporate has done on this. Even putting aside the staff safety issues of locking a potential criminal in with staff and other customers. How are Coles not being sued for locking people in who haven’t done anything wrong.
I didn't actually see it happen, but I heard the alarm when I was walking towards the self-serve checkout. After paying for my items, I noticed shit on the floor and an elderly lady talking to some Coles employees. These barriers are not a good idea.
Encountered this at a Coles store yesterday. The customer wanting to leave ahead of me, took time packing their shopping and the gates closed on the customer. I do not think this is a winning move by Coles.
Annoyed that the same gates operated as you left self serve checkouts that encourage you to empty your shopping on the conveyor.
Do not think this will end well for Coles
I've had my toddlers lunchbox searched - honestly crazy. I've just spent over $300 and your asking to search his lunchbox as his sits there munching his snacks I bought from there a few days prior.
Even large brands with multiple stores nationwide monitor reviews anything mentioned about them on local community social media pages. Plus if the company provides a customer feedback form all this data gets compiled and scores the store. I know of one very very large retailer where scores through the customer feedback system actually contributes to the staff end of year bonus and is weighted in a way that a 1 takes a lot of 10s to recover from.
I had similar recently. The gate flashed up and locked me in - purely because I was carrying my two items instead of buying a bloody bag. The person who let me out said they were really sorry and let me straight out without even looking for a receipt. It’s fucking ridiculous
I didn't even know they did this. I'm pretty sure trapping customers inside your store is holding them against their will, which is a crime. I'm not a lawyer though, so I might be wrong on that. Either way, I hate shopping at. Coles and avoid self-service like the plague.
I am certain it’s only a matter of time before the legality of these gates are challenged. Firstly because of fire/evacuation risk, and second because they’re trying to detain people. In the meantime we should just step over or push through them.
It's a trial. So, leave constructive, formal feedback on the website, by email or with the department/store manager, and vote with your wallet (yes, even going to Woolies instead actually works - as a slight drop in customer numbers does translate the way you'd think it would)
if my local store ever gets them, and I get shut in, I'm going to haul my 135kg ass through it, and act like I didn't even notice it had shut.
I'm pretty sure there are enough bulky, "oblivious" people out there that these things won't last that long.
It's an interesting legal question.
To the best of my knowledge, only police have the right to detain someone - and even then only under certain circumstances.
Coles does not have any right to detain you at all. Whilst they can stop you entering their store, they cannot stop you from leaving it.
I wonder what the legal ramifications would be if you damaged the mechanism by which you were illegally detained?
Any lawyers out there care to comment?
I ran into one of these as well. Dropped in to grab something for lunch, they didn't have what I wanted so went to leave and this gate was in the way. I waited a few seconds, but figured it must be a push thing so I bumped it.
It opened, and set off alarms. I was in a rush to find what I wanted and only had a few minutes of spare time, so just kept going. 100% certain the workers despise them too, so we can sure Coles HQ will decide to roll it out everywhere.
They have these at my local coles except they block everyone in. The self serve registers are closest to the exit and the staffed ones are furthest. So we all feel like crooks walking through them.
It's hard for me to get out of the house to shop. When I do go out, I just refuse to go to Coles (or any store) that has those gates.
It was bad enough that the scanners are so shitty that I have to wait for the attendant to come review footage and tap keys repeatedly just so I can take my things and get the fuck out of there.
I've gotten used to Aldi now. Even just the vibe there is more pleasant.
I didn't actually think this was legit before reading peoples comments omfg... another day im glad i moved to a new town without colesworth. Noticed i also get way more bags for the same money everytime too and better stuff with foodworks and iga. Foodworks also doesnt have self serve And if one spot doesnt have a sale i can drive 30 seconds away and get it from there and its never busy. Fck colesworth.
Encountered one of these coles gates yesterday.
Store didn’t have what I wanted.
So didn’t need a checkout.
Couldn’t get out of the place through the usual routes.
So went through the self checkout zone.
There it was. That horrid gate you are all talking about.
Pushed on it.
It alarmed and opened shortly afterwards.
And then I walked out.
Looked straight ahead and thought ‘ I don’t give a rats. This situation sucks’
Saw these gates for the first time today, I just kept ramming it with my trolley until she opened it. They're pretty flimsy, I don't think they'll last long
Read This!
[https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/human-rights-scrutiny/public-sector-guidance-sheets/right-security-person-and-freedom-arbitrary-detention#:\~:text=Everyone%20has%20the%20right%20to,as%20are%20established%20by%20law](https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/human-rights-scrutiny/public-sector-guidance-sheets/right-security-person-and-freedom-arbitrary-detention#:~:text=Everyone%20has%20the%20right%20to,as%20are%20established%20by%20law).
And This
[https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/buying-products-and-services/buying-products/bag-check-guidelines#:\~:text=A%20retailer%20is%20only%20allowed,store%20management%20or%20NSW%20Police](https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/buying-products-and-services/buying-products/bag-check-guidelines#:~:text=A%20retailer%20is%20only%20allowed,store%20management%20or%20NSW%20Police).
And This.
[https://lsc.sa.gov.au/resources/SecurityGuardsBouncersYoungPeopleFactsheet.pdf](https://lsc.sa.gov.au/resources/SecurityGuardsBouncersYoungPeopleFactsheet.pdf)
These are your rights.
I haven't had that happen to me yet thankfully. I don't like having to look at my face when I'm scanning my items. I shouldn't have to put on full make up just to get milk and toilet paper.
It's only a matter of time before somebody walks straight into / through these things after they have paid and ends up with serious injuries and sues the pants off Colesworth.
i dont know how theyre allowed to lock people in, i was under the impression that it is illegal to detain someone without reasonable suspicion? surely a machine is gonna make mistakes. sometimes the self checkout thinks ive not scanned something in my trolley, when its just my handbag.
Completely agree. I was shopping with my young daughter and partner. I realised I needed a trolley because my kid wanted to be held, so I went through self checkouts to get one and was held up. The girl was like whats the problem and Im like im trapped. She asks why do I wamt to get out, and I looked at her like you fucking serious?
I haven't come across them yet. I usually try to avoid Coles and Woolies anyway.
If I ever do encounter one I doubt I would handle it well at all.
They'd want to be smash resistant
I'm finding it really anxiety inducing shopping in super markets now. I just want someone to scan my shopping and I'll pay and leave. Doing it all myself with someone watching over me is terrible. Now they have body cams and parade up and down. How did this happen just serve me!
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I encountered these gates at the local Coles this morning. I think it's a knee jerk reaction to their bad publicity recently about overzealous staff dictating how you have to scan through.. Anyway, I checked myself out and packed away in my bags and went to leave, but the gate thing is new and didn't open, I did not know what I was meant to do and no staff in sight. There is a sort of pictogram on it showing that they swing open outwards if pushed, I suspect for emergency use, but I went ahead and pushed it and they swung a bit and opened up and sounded an alarm. That sure made a staff member appear in a hurry! She glared at me, I said how are you supposed to open these things? She said they open automatically. I said well, they didn't. Walked away, that was it. I'll see how they go next time but it definitely makes me want to shop elsewhere.
I thought I was going to avoid self-serve checkouts completely once they introduced these gates. But if you can just push through - maybe that's what I'll do. They don't have any right to stop us leaving if we haven't stolen anything. This is so ridiculous. And it was so predictable that these gates would malfunction, it's not like the self-serve checkout weighing our items has been a smooth experience.
Brute force and ignorance is the solution imo. I'm no thief, so I'm going to leave, and as far as I'm aware they're not legally allowed to physically detain you. That said, I vehemently refuse to use self serve for any reason. Every sale on them, no matter how small, validates their existence. Fuck self serve.
I'm not getting on the staff considering comments here saying they're getting reprimanded if they don't scan bulk first in 80% of transactions and it's a huge tracked KPI. It's annoying and they shouldn't have to do it but I'm not going to be shitty on them for it
Oh so that’s why the poor frazzled teenager just about leapt in front of me to scan my toilet paper pack last week.
I'm not getting on the staff about that - staff aren't responsible for putting these gates in, it's the company. And I think it's been done because of the bad press the staff have caused themselves, but that is from corporate pressure above, for sure. But it's a ridiculous situation, a sign of our ridiculous times for sure. I do think if they are going to repeatedly lock people in the checkouts instead of opening as they should, then they need staff to man them instead, right back to where we should just have manned checkouts at that point.
Get in the habit of not replying to gaslighting conversations. It takes a bit of mind power but just carry on through and do not flinch when engaged in ridiculous scenarios. Polite society is over. There's a gate, go through it if you have paid. Do not engage.
I think this sounds like the solution, if everyone who is inconvenienced pushed on them, left and triggered the alarm and just went on their day, I feel like the stores would be begging to remove them due to the annoyance of the constant alarms
If you don’t trust your customer base, don’t let them scan their own groceries. If you don’t want to pay a teenager to do the job, then suck the losses from a few bad apples.
encouraging busy ripe practice badge lock unpack sheet alleged unwritten *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Because they can. No one is reining them in.
This IS their reality. No-one will do shit about it, nothing will change for the better, everything will just get worse. When was the last time this country saw any kind of civil unrest that wasn't motivated by racism? We deserve to lose everything they take from us. The lucky country is only lucky for rich cunts now.
The economic conditions they’ve curated have made it so individuals feel too precarious to take the risk of fighting back. OP should have just kicked it open. But they are worried there will be backlash from police or the supermarket demanding they pay the damages. And too many people are in the same boat so they don’t want to run the risks involved with supporting OP fighting back. When the media whips up the racism crowd, they can finally outlet their outrage against an adversity who doesn’t have the means to fight back like the rich cunts can, so it’s treated as fair game. The game is rigged.
They figured out if they lock you in and put you on camera and everything else, they can force you to work for them for free.
Hopefully they provide housing and bathrooms
Everywhere is a bathroom if you get locked there
I wonder if I'm eligible for workers compensation if I injure myself in my new grocery scanning job that I'm doing without adequate 'safe scanning' training...
Yes in indeedy 👍
Stupid sexy Flanders.
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At Woolworths, we were trained to never block or even try stop someone who is stealing. Just report to the police, but never ever block or get in their way.
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I’m not stealing anything, but if anyone other than a cop tried to restrain me I’d absolutely get violent.
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Funny, because I have seen a "loss prevention officer" literally drag a person back into the store. That was a long time ago though, things might have changed.
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Legit, not worth it for anyone involved. Who honestly gives a fuck about the groceries that get stolen? It's budgeted for, the net profits are still there, log it with the camera footage if you have to, then move on. Not worth anyone's life, or even anyone getting arrested over tbh.
Bro imagine risking your life for the bottom line of a billion dollar company, that is some clown level stuff.
Sometimes people feel the need to do some pretty degrading stuff in order to retain their employment. Unemployment can be scary.
And unemployment is only scary in order to enable corps to exploit their workers. If we treated our unemployed with any amount of dignity the multinationals would have a much harder time exploiting all of us.
It’s insured.
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A couple of dollars is easier to write off compared to a staff member in the hospital with an injury...
I pay for my fare on public transport, but you can bet I’ll jump the gate at Coles.
Have you paid? If so, walk right on through it
We were taught that when I worked at a servo as well. Same thing if we were ever to get robbed - just give them whatever they want and let them go. Its not our stuff, it's the company's stuff, don't put ourselves at any kind of risk whatsoever.
BWS uses the same resources as Woolies for training. Not only was i surprised that this is what they suggest, but it was also reinforced on-site. If you suspect anyone of theft, just make sure they are aware that you're aware of their presence. And if they do continue to walk out, let them go, write it down as an incident and contact the necessary people.
I still work for Woolworths and this is still the policy. The saying is ‘no amount of stock is worth your safety’
Or customers, if there's a fire. How does this gel with fire safety regulations?
I think the doors are pretty easy to escape from. But maybe not if you were really old or in a wheelchair.
Or if you had a kid, or a pram... I really hope this initiative is wheeled back, I don't like it.
Well, it’s certainly making it hard to wheel forward.
Thank you, really. I needed that little guffaw today.
Lucky none of those people ever go to the shops then :P
It would probably unlock on alarm activation. Lots of things already do.
I’m not sure I’d trust it to actually work if there was a fire or other emergency.
as a software developer I would definitely not trust that the gates would unlock in an emergency/fire
There was a fire in my apartment building. I was unable to leave via my ground floor gate with my keycard, as it had somehow locked as part of the buildings fire response. I asked the building manager about it who was obviously hopeless, and I never really got a reply. I mean, if it were a fire in my apartment, I’d jump over my garden fence, but it’s like 9 foot tall and metal spikes, so it wouldn’t be the easiest. My elderly neighbours what.. just fucking perish? It definitely has impacted the level of trust I have in automation.
Contact your local firies and explain what happened to you. They should be able to get your manager to sort out out.
Security measures like this should be tested weekly as part of compliance
As a security system tech, most of these systems require power to lock, and the default state (ie, when there's no power) is unlocked. I don't trust Woolies or defend them at all, but think of apartment buildings - there can sometimes be 4 or 5 electronically locked doors between you and safety in the event of a fire, and I trust them with my life.
Just read your comment after leaving my last. Maybe you’re the guy to ask. Why did my garden gate (electronic) lock when there was a fire in my building? I would have presumed that all exits have to be accessible and open in the even of a fire alarm.
Which is cool if the power goes out, which isn’t guaranteed in the event of a fire initially.
This is 100% true. As a fellow software developer (in training) I’m fully aware that every piece of software and technology has bugs and imperfections, and can glitch at any moment for one of a million reasons. IMO every piece of hazardous equipment like this should have a manual fail-safe that can be used in an emergency, in the event that the automatic process fails.
You mean you don't trust the fire safety mechanisms of the thing introduced as a cost cutting measure to be properly maintained? Shock.
Or they could do like these guys did in Paraguay: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ycu%C3%A1\_Bola%C3%B1os\_supermarket\_fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ycu%C3%A1_Bola%C3%B1os_supermarket_fire) 'Several survivors of the fire and volunteer firefighters alleged that, when the fire broke out, doors within the complex were deliberately closed under the direction of the owners, Juan Pío Paiva and his son, Víctor Daniel, trapping people inside, in order to prevent people from fleeing with merchandise without paying for it.' 374 fatalities.
Ah yes, shades of the Station nightclub fire all over again: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Station\_nightclub\_fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Station_nightclub_fire) Or the one in South Korea (OK, that one wasn't a fire, it fell down due to some truly horseshit design decisions, but they kept the place open until the bitter end, even though they knew it was gonna fall down): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampoong\_Department\_Store\_collapse
They aren’t locked to begin with. They sit on pivots. You can just push them out of the way. The green/white sticker shows this.
I haven't come across them myself but everyone here seems pretty adamant that they turn the place into Long Bay Gaol immediately.
Not the ones at my local. They're slidey not swingey
You can easily push straight through them which I do when they close on me if the attendant doesn’t immediately come over to check my receipt. I’m not wasting time because of their faulty coding/equipment. It must be super awkward for the staff also, and I bet some hot heads have already taken out their frustration on the staff whose fault it is not…
Do you just like, push through them or push them apart? Asking for future me
The hinges and gate ‘flaps’ themselves have heaps of give, just walk though
I realised from a comment further down you're talking about the older ones that are still around apparently, I'm talking about the new ones that have panels that come from the sides
Yeah of course it will. People in those situations are extremely likely to panic and lash out at whoever’s forcing them into that situation of being locked inside somewhere they don’t wanna be. OP wasn’t even guilty of anything but still felt the subconscious urge to lash out at the gate or employee to escape. Imagine what someone who was actually guilty and was used to breaking the law would do in that situation. The poor staff members are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They can either intervene and attempt to stop the shoplifter (and put themself in physical danger by doing so), or they can leave the shoplifter alone to protect their own safety (and then face the backlash from their bosses and upper management). To any retail workers reading this - male or female, young or old - I want you to know there is absolutely no shame in avoiding confronting a shoplifter to protect your own safety. You’re not a coward, and you legally (and imho, morally) have absolutely no obligation to intervene against a thief in your store. That’s why they have things like security guards + devices, loss prevention programs, and insurance. Please don’t put yourself in danger to protect the merchandise of a billion-dollar corporation that doesn’t care about you. Somewhat-relative personal anecdote - When I was a young teenager I used to work at a Reject Shop store in W.A, about a decade ago. One day we had a guy come in who was on something (probably meth). While he was in the store a couple of my coworkers noticed him stash some chocolate and an energy drink in his clothes. So when he tried to leave, one of my coworkers (a lady in her 50’s) blocked the door and attempted to physically stop him from leaving, and told him to give the stuff back or she was gonna call the cops. What happened? Well, it turned out this guy had a small knife in his pocket. Without warning he pulled it out, stabbed her twice in the neck, and then made a run for it, slashing at another worker (a guy about 5 years older than me at the time) on his way out. I think the cops caught up with him a little while later in the swampland that used to be behind the shopping centre. Last I heard he was sentenced to something like 20+ years in prison for a range of crimes including attempted murder, armed robbery, 2 counts of malicious assault with a weapon causing bodily harm. Edit - Yes, she did survive. She spent a few weeks in hospital, so she was okay physically (aside from a few scars), but she was still never the same after that. She suffered from severe anxiety and PTSD, and has never gone back to work anywhere (as far as I know). The other coworker was okay. He just needed a few stitches and some time to recover. He came back to work a couple weeks later.
Story checks out: https://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/perth-thief-stabs-reject-shop-worker-in-throat-in-rockingham/news-story/999ccd629d6bba4fbdde4d73b717bae0
Rockingham, of course it was...
Yes that’s the one! Thankyou
I remember this story. My grandmother had actually been at the mall that day to buy some stuff. When she tried to enter the wing where the shop is, it was blocked off. She said she couldn't see anything and the security guard wouldn't tell her why. Maybe they put up hoardings or a screen so nobody could see but she didn't mention that. We found out what had happened on the news that night.
This was my first reaction when I heard about this. Absolutely absurd that the idea passed even the most superficial risk assessment.
Staff are trained not to block exits because it can make a thief feel trapped and cause them to become violent. OP didn't even steal anything and it made them incredibly anxious and caused them to consider breaking the thing. I have to imagine that it would cause an actual thief to panic and lash out. To unblock that exit a staff member would have to get closer to it, putting them in harm's way. If the exit is not unblocked, it'll put everyone between the thief and other exits in harm's way. This is going to put people in danger. Someone is going to get hurt, and, when they do, I hope they literally make the company responsible for it pay the price.
I went through one the other day (I'm an aldi person but had just a couple of things to grab and it was closest). The doors swung shut on me, while I was with my kindy kid, and beeped a little I think. It did put me on edge, wondering what the fuck I did to bother it. The staff just waved me through. Those poor bastards have enough shit to deal with, and now you lump this on them, just before Christmas, too.
I just went through one today....person in front of me got locked in....i got locked in. The service attendent has the remote but no attention....was thinking of writing a negative review
Nope. It’s not a stretch to see some hostile customer is going to go all rage on a poor unsuspecting employee over it.
But there will be no staff just Ai enabled robots. Check mate consumer!! /s
The doors swing open with the slightest force.
"I'm not locked in here with you, you're locked in here with me!!" -The junkie at Frankston Coles to the staff
Classic Rorschach
Go on their social media and reviews and complain! We can’t just all continue to be treated like this. You should have to walk on eggshells going to coles. Feeling like a criminal for nothing
I tried this when Woolies started introducing the automatic trolley checks, the comments ended up being flooded with boomers telling me they were "just protecting their stock" and that I was "probably actually stealing". I only really use Facebook and Reddit tho so idk what their other social media pages are like. Edit: also I can't imagine Coles would be much better
I know several disabled individuals have already reported Coles to the human rights commission due to the gates. The backlash from the gates in general means their days are numbered. One person gets hurt, one child gets out while parent is stuck behind the gate…. Only a matter of time.
The same thing happened to me and my daughter in coles. Paid for items ,didn't know they put gates up and walked straight into it with the alarm going off. The coles worker said it's happening all the time. I did feel bad for my daughter. She has ASD and doesn't handle loud and unexpected noises.
God, her and me both. I hate how many things make unnecessary loud noises these days. I swear it wasn't as bad when I was a kid.
I'm 44 and it wasn't as bad as when I was a kid because we've got a lot more automated systems now than we used to. Unfortunately, automated systems still need to have a mechanism to communicate and a ton of things fall outside of normal parameters when you're automating things on shoestring budgets and with limited and improper user studies. The blips and beeps will likely be a more temporary experience as technology advances, but the loss of freedom as a result of allowing ourselves to be imprisoned because a corporation is worried about losing some money is how we work our way to dystopia. The real issue here is that people are being treated like this and they are allowing it to happen. Aldi, Costco, Friendly, Foodland, Foodworks, Harris Farm, and IGA are all alternative shopping markets where you can go. Australians should knock Coles and Woolies out from the top two grocers spots over this. If they don't, the alternate stores will also lock the customers up until they squeeze out every penny, too.
Yep I’ve had this too. You’d think they’d make sure it was fool proof before you lock in paying customers who then have to wait to be let out.
I needed a pee mid-shop and neither of the cell wardens would let me out - EMPTY FUCKING HANDED! Eventually I bolted through the entrance as someone entered and hopped ran to the loo's (I'm on diuretics), I was fuming and humiliated (and ashamed that I lacked the forethought to squat piss on their shoes), took it up with Coles HQ ..'What right do you have to detain me?'. They responded, 'it's a trial in a few stores'. No apology, nothing, zilch, nada. I haven't been back since. 'Trial' is right, and you're guilty before the hearing, just for wanting a piss!!
Complain about this one. They can’t refuse to let you out of the shop.
That's what I'm wondering. Is the gates closing on you considered illegal detainment?
https://www.armstronglegal.com.au/criminal-law/national/offences/false-imprisonment/#:~:text=For%20a%20person%20to%20be,of%20escape%20available%20to%20them. It's a grey area. You or I do it, yes. The carve out for "shopkeepers" you can understand, say, a jeweller with an airlock system or bank going into "lockdown". This... Feels like a stretch
The shopkeepers defence only covers them if they reasonably believe you have committed theft. This is a massive stretch as they are locking first and checking later. Their only defence is that it gives way when you push it but that may be overriden by people being worried about the alarm.
I have IBS so I'll just give Coles a wide birth from now on unless they want poo poo on their 'security gate'
Fire hazard! How are you supposed to escape in the event of a fire or some other disaster.
Should have just gone in the chest freezers so they couldn’t just mop it they’d actually have to break it up and carry the chunks away. For sure management would make the person responsible for keeping you in do it… and they’d never stop anyone ever again.
These gates are being rolled out everywhere. Staff hate them as much as customers. I literally can’t exit my workplace on my break until a team member has checked my bag for stolen items, makes sure that there is a check seal on everything in said bag and buzzes me out. Then I get in the shit for coming back from my break late. How about trust us and let me escape for ten minutes with out patting me down every single time? We’re treated like a criminals by our own employer and they wonder why staff turnover is so high. Sometimes it take up to fifteen minutes to be able to exit the store after your shift because the understaffed ACO team are dealing with customers and if you walk out without having literally everything on you checked, you’re treated as suspicious. I’m gonna start charging the company for that lost time.
You get your bags searched at work?! That’s fucked!
Didn't you know? Everyone is a thief as far as Coles worth are concerned - especially the staff.
>Everyone is a thief as far as Coles worth are concerned That is some major projection on their part
Tbf, that's been a thing since the 90's. As closers, we would occasionally have our bags checked by management as we left the store.
Pretty sure there have been court cases over that time - think it was prison security guards and needing to clear security before being checked in. But anyway, there is precedent for claiming it
If it's a mandatory activity required as part of your employment, on site, then you should be paid for it. If it's unpaid then it's your time and shouldn't be required to do things ordered by the company
If that's mandatory, your break doesn't start until your bag has been checked.
My patience would last around 15 seconds before I force the gate open. It's never actually happened to me even though some of the supermarkets i go to have these gates
That's 10 more seconds than I would have put up with being held up by some flimsy gates and an alarm. Fuck that shit. I'm pushing my way out and Colesworth can KMA.
I was leaving Coles once with my groceries and an alarm sounded and some things started flashing, I got my receipt out and prepared for accusatory treatment, waited a minute or 2 and no one came, so I just left. Shoulda stolen the groceries after all.
I just keep walking whenever an alarm goes off leaving a store. I know I paid for my stuff so it’s not on me to prove because their equipment doesn’t work properly.
I do that as well, even if I have stolen something. Nothing makes you look more guilty than turning around to look at the alarms in shock..
I imagine speeding up your pace a bit would be a bit more sus
Yeah, that's why you keep casually walking
I get really worried about those gates closing on elderly people or those with mobility challenges - all it takes is a fractured hip to really fuck someone's life up. Be interesting to see what would happen if someone was seriously injured by those gate things. Also I personally hate them, it's dystopian and eerie.
Sounds like a challenge to see if it’s tougher than your trolley next time you visit…
I don't know where cunts come up with this shit. If someone is desperate enough to steal your poxy little gate isn't stopping shit.
No doubt its the idea of some corporate dumbarse as it sounded good in their head so the company ran with it. Too many Elon Musks out there thinking they are geniuses.
Or a company exec bought shares in the company that makes the gates.
I've done this. It makes a noise and flashes and opens. I just looked around confused like I expected it to open.
So you’ve got to hit it with force to make open? Well, problem solved then. Launch the trolley straight into the poxy gate and when someone approaches you, tell them “your gate wasn’t working but I’ve fixed the cunt for you… it opens now”
They are not really (at least at my local store) bolted down or anything so the gate mechanism itself can be moved with enough force.
[Run straight at the wall, best to do it with a bit of a run up if you're nervous](https://youtu.be/x4hyAAV1kwQ?si=--oIo_dnpTMiiDn-&t=121)
Yup this. My first experience was sneaking up on it sideways, guess it didnt see me coming. I bunted it a few times and it gave up. I had a full trolley, two kids and one wanted to pee. Get out my way.
Oh, let me just check my grocery list on my phone just to make sure I didn't forget something while I push this heavily laden trolley.
I'm not even going to do that. No trolley, just me and a bag. I'm just going to push through and keep walking as it cries and carries on.
Now I want to try and find out.. I know of one a few suburbs from me, i might have to test its strength.....
i'd climb over it
100%. What are they going to do about it?
In b4 "If you do that they'll ban you" Well what if everyone did it? They're not going to ban everybody from shopping at their stores. They literally cannot stop us, they are totally at our mercy here.
How are they going to ban you? You've walked out of the store.
Saw a post in a Facebook group earlier where this ladies child ran off through the gate whilst she was scanning her items. She went to run after child, and it locked her in. The staff that was manning self serve was no where to be seen which means the lady was unable to chase after her son until she could find another staff member to open the gates (all checkouts had the gates). Thankfully she ended up getting to her young child. This could have been different and had a worse outcome. These gates are BAD.
That's a fear of mine - that either one of my kids will run off, or they'll dawdle and get stuck after me. At which point, I have to point out, I will kick the fucking thing in as best I can (which probably won't be much).
Ironically if workers do suspect or know someone is stealing, they are told to not interfere, but when it is self serve checkouts they can lock you in? How does that work?
I paid for my items and tried to leave and it wouldn't open so I simply pushed the whole barrier away into the shopping centre and walked out at Coles northcote. The staff member said 'thankyou' quote loudly and sarcastically. I didn't even bother to look at them
Thanks for mentioning that Northcote is one of them. I've mainly been doing online deliveries due to disability and no car but Northcote was one of the closest Coles that I had been considering going to.
A store is not entitled to detain you, only the police can, and if you have no stolen items you can leave the store. If the store then accuses you of stealing without any evidence then that is a court case that you will win.
Technically it’s not theft until the item has left the property. So no matter what, these gates are locking in technically legal people 100% of the time, since the gates are not placed at the store exit, they’re like a metre back.
It's reasonable to consider someone who is shoving things in their pockets and going for the door to be assumed to be stealing. The problem is that that isn't what's causing these barriers to come up. It's an ambiguous AI making decisions and the programmers don't likely know what conditions will cause an event to be triggering. It's not even about the distance to the door, but the fact that a robot is deciding to imprison humans. Asimov would be disappointed in the blatant disregard for his rules. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_robotics#:~:text=For%20the%201986%20tribute%20anthology,or%20Second%20or%20Third%20Law.%22 Actually, there's a lot of laws of robotics and AI that are being violated here.
Im waiting for people to start kicking / damaging these barriers. Those def cost more than the shoplifting
300th time I've said this. Call your local council. Ask for the building department. Speak to your council's building surveyor and ask them to provide a justification for blocking a fire escape with an automatically closing gate. Put it in writing. Escalate to your state's building commission/body. Raise hell. These things are illegal.
Considering security staff don't have the power to physically detain you, I wonder how this stacks up legally? What's the real difference? Physical barrier vs physically detained. I'd be tempted to step over / around it. Breaking it would probably have legal repercussions back your way
I went in to check something and tried to exit, the gates wouldn't open. I guess not buying anything is as bad as stealing.
I was stuck with a trolley full of groceries I’d paid for and a screaming toddler for ages while the one employee was helping others with their checking out before she came over to press the button to let us out. If they aren’t checking your receipts then what’s even the point. I found it very upsetting.
I was trapped recently by a similar gate in Woolworths, having not bought anything. I just barged through it, bending it to get past. Locking anyone in a shop is false imprisonment, not to mention dangerous in an emergency.
I saw these this weekend at my local shops as a shopper was held up behind the screen and the employee apologetically explained it keeps happening because it’s too slow to register the payment. The customer was pretty agitated and considering my area has some socioeconomic challenges, I kept thinking how this was such a lose lose for customers to be treated as guilty, while the employees will bare the brunt of the consequences for this decision. It’s only a matter of time before an employee is hurt over this.
I feel like this whole shoplifting boom is a problem that Coles & Woolworths have created for themselves. Sure there’s always been shoplifting, but back in the day the shoplifters had to be more brazen and so it was a lot rarer. Everyone had to go through the cashier, so there wasn’t really a way to get things for free or cheaper at the register. Nowadays with them forcing everyone into the self-checkouts and price-gouging out of pure greed, I wouldn’t be surprised if at least 1 in every half a dozen people was stealing or being dishonest at the self checkout. I know I damn well do. Not to mention they have the chutzpah to ask me to round up to the next dollar so they can donate it to charity on my behalf - and obviously claim the tax credits that come with that - after I’ve already overpaid like 50% more for my groceries than they’re worth.
Oh the stupid rounding up thing irritates me! Like just let me pay the ridiculously high price for my groceries without adding an extra prompt!
Back in the day every retail job I worked how 'shrinkage' factored into their business models, it included everything from stuff broken in transit, staff theft, shoplifting, even people eating a few grapes in store, and so long as it didn't exceed that number it was fine. It was just generally accepted that you couldn't totally account for all factors, it seems like these new CEOs have forgotten it and are on a 900% profit binge.
How the fuck is this not straight up deprivation of liberty? I really want to know what risk management Coles corporate has done on this. Even putting aside the staff safety issues of locking a potential criminal in with staff and other customers. How are Coles not being sued for locking people in who haven’t done anything wrong.
I've not seen this set up yet. Pretty sure I'm not going to willing enter a supermarket that is going to lock me in like that. Sounds horrible
I didn't actually see it happen, but I heard the alarm when I was walking towards the self-serve checkout. After paying for my items, I noticed shit on the floor and an elderly lady talking to some Coles employees. These barriers are not a good idea.
The one at my local has already been broken twice so I don’t think the people in my area are as good at controlling their impulse to kick it in 😂
Encountered this at a Coles store yesterday. The customer wanting to leave ahead of me, took time packing their shopping and the gates closed on the customer. I do not think this is a winning move by Coles. Annoyed that the same gates operated as you left self serve checkouts that encourage you to empty your shopping on the conveyor. Do not think this will end well for Coles
The correct answer is to never go back.
I've had my toddlers lunchbox searched - honestly crazy. I've just spent over $300 and your asking to search his lunchbox as his sits there munching his snacks I bought from there a few days prior.
I fkn hate those things.
reminiscent ugly dull shocking innate historical wild sugar erect seed *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Right? It's never crossed my mind to look up grocery store reviews.
Yeah who would rate it 5 stars if it did a good job? So you would only ever get 1 star reviews?
Even large brands with multiple stores nationwide monitor reviews anything mentioned about them on local community social media pages. Plus if the company provides a customer feedback form all this data gets compiled and scores the store. I know of one very very large retailer where scores through the customer feedback system actually contributes to the staff end of year bonus and is weighted in a way that a 1 takes a lot of 10s to recover from.
I had similar recently. The gate flashed up and locked me in - purely because I was carrying my two items instead of buying a bloody bag. The person who let me out said they were really sorry and let me straight out without even looking for a receipt. It’s fucking ridiculous
I didn't even know they did this. I'm pretty sure trapping customers inside your store is holding them against their will, which is a crime. I'm not a lawyer though, so I might be wrong on that. Either way, I hate shopping at. Coles and avoid self-service like the plague.
I am certain it’s only a matter of time before the legality of these gates are challenged. Firstly because of fire/evacuation risk, and second because they’re trying to detain people. In the meantime we should just step over or push through them.
It's a trial. So, leave constructive, formal feedback on the website, by email or with the department/store manager, and vote with your wallet (yes, even going to Woolies instead actually works - as a slight drop in customer numbers does translate the way you'd think it would)
Always keep your receipt. Step over/walk through that shit. They have zero right to detain you or block you from leaving.
Just keep walking into them thinking they're automatic doors. The maintenance might make them give it up.
I didn't purchase anything so the gates wouldn't let me out. I just forced them open (which sounds an alarm) and walked away.
Make a non urgent report to the police that you were illegally detained by Coles.
the same cops who are known to not turn up for an assault or home invasion?
Aye, just like how they brought down the Tsar. Reviews, land, and bread were their demands I believe
if my local store ever gets them, and I get shut in, I'm going to haul my 135kg ass through it, and act like I didn't even notice it had shut. I'm pretty sure there are enough bulky, "oblivious" people out there that these things won't last that long.
It's an interesting legal question. To the best of my knowledge, only police have the right to detain someone - and even then only under certain circumstances. Coles does not have any right to detain you at all. Whilst they can stop you entering their store, they cannot stop you from leaving it. I wonder what the legal ramifications would be if you damaged the mechanism by which you were illegally detained? Any lawyers out there care to comment?
I ran into one of these as well. Dropped in to grab something for lunch, they didn't have what I wanted so went to leave and this gate was in the way. I waited a few seconds, but figured it must be a push thing so I bumped it. It opened, and set off alarms. I was in a rush to find what I wanted and only had a few minutes of spare time, so just kept going. 100% certain the workers despise them too, so we can sure Coles HQ will decide to roll it out everywhere.
They have these at my local coles except they block everyone in. The self serve registers are closest to the exit and the staffed ones are furthest. So we all feel like crooks walking through them.
If I was going to steal from them, a little gate wouldn't stop me....
It's hard for me to get out of the house to shop. When I do go out, I just refuse to go to Coles (or any store) that has those gates. It was bad enough that the scanners are so shitty that I have to wait for the attendant to come review footage and tap keys repeatedly just so I can take my things and get the fuck out of there. I've gotten used to Aldi now. Even just the vibe there is more pleasant.
I didn't actually think this was legit before reading peoples comments omfg... another day im glad i moved to a new town without colesworth. Noticed i also get way more bags for the same money everytime too and better stuff with foodworks and iga. Foodworks also doesnt have self serve And if one spot doesnt have a sale i can drive 30 seconds away and get it from there and its never busy. Fck colesworth.
Encountered one of these coles gates yesterday. Store didn’t have what I wanted. So didn’t need a checkout. Couldn’t get out of the place through the usual routes. So went through the self checkout zone. There it was. That horrid gate you are all talking about. Pushed on it. It alarmed and opened shortly afterwards. And then I walked out. Looked straight ahead and thought ‘ I don’t give a rats. This situation sucks’
Saw these gates for the first time today, I just kept ramming it with my trolley until she opened it. They're pretty flimsy, I don't think they'll last long
Read This! [https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/human-rights-scrutiny/public-sector-guidance-sheets/right-security-person-and-freedom-arbitrary-detention#:\~:text=Everyone%20has%20the%20right%20to,as%20are%20established%20by%20law](https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/human-rights-scrutiny/public-sector-guidance-sheets/right-security-person-and-freedom-arbitrary-detention#:~:text=Everyone%20has%20the%20right%20to,as%20are%20established%20by%20law). And This [https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/buying-products-and-services/buying-products/bag-check-guidelines#:\~:text=A%20retailer%20is%20only%20allowed,store%20management%20or%20NSW%20Police](https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/buying-products-and-services/buying-products/bag-check-guidelines#:~:text=A%20retailer%20is%20only%20allowed,store%20management%20or%20NSW%20Police). And This. [https://lsc.sa.gov.au/resources/SecurityGuardsBouncersYoungPeopleFactsheet.pdf](https://lsc.sa.gov.au/resources/SecurityGuardsBouncersYoungPeopleFactsheet.pdf) These are your rights.
I can't say I've ever checked the star rating of a Coles before going to get milk.
What's the point when you know they're all shit?
I’m not a lawyer. But isn’t locking someone in a deprivation of liberty? And what about fire evacuation? More shitty behaviour by the two gorillas…
Don't forget the supermarkets turned record profits while we're all getting our rents increased 30%
I haven't had that happen to me yet thankfully. I don't like having to look at my face when I'm scanning my items. I shouldn't have to put on full make up just to get milk and toilet paper.
It's only a matter of time before somebody walks straight into / through these things after they have paid and ends up with serious injuries and sues the pants off Colesworth.
Im glad my local store is a woolies and its like the middle of nowhere so we get tech last we only got new self checkout 7 months ago
i dont know how theyre allowed to lock people in, i was under the impression that it is illegal to detain someone without reasonable suspicion? surely a machine is gonna make mistakes. sometimes the self checkout thinks ive not scanned something in my trolley, when its just my handbag.
Completely agree. I was shopping with my young daughter and partner. I realised I needed a trolley because my kid wanted to be held, so I went through self checkouts to get one and was held up. The girl was like whats the problem and Im like im trapped. She asks why do I wamt to get out, and I looked at her like you fucking serious?
[удалено]
Like....the place down the road that is the exact same? The major competitor who does the exact same thing?
Like the Coles a few kms down the road?
Man I wish it was that easy but were I used to live it was the only shop in walking distance
I haven't come across them yet. I usually try to avoid Coles and Woolies anyway. If I ever do encounter one I doubt I would handle it well at all. They'd want to be smash resistant
did it not just push open when you pushed it?
No the new ones have panels that slide in from the side. You can’t push throug like the older metal swinging ones.
The whole structure swings out if you push it. Both the plastic panel that slides out and the chunk that it slides out from.
Just walk though it. It has a panic force for emergency exits. Same as the entry gates. They only stop the honest
I'm finding it really anxiety inducing shopping in super markets now. I just want someone to scan my shopping and I'll pay and leave. Doing it all myself with someone watching over me is terrible. Now they have body cams and parade up and down. How did this happen just serve me!