Walmart shopper calls out the store for asking her to pay to use self-checkout: 'I’m not paying...'

A Walmart shopper recently blasted the retail giant for being too greedy. The TikTok creator, Madilynn Cameron (@themadivlog), claimed that she was minding her own business at the store when a representative asked her to pay for a membership to use the self-checkout lane at the store. Cameron said that she had been using the facility for years and made it clear that she would never pay to bag her own groceries.

In a viral video that garnered tens of thousands of viewers, Cameron filmed herself walking out of her local Walmart, huffing and puffing, visibly frustrated. With the overlay text "WTF Just Happened at Walmart," she went on a rant about how she was asked to pay for a membership just to use the self-checkout. "I have been bagging my own groceries for over five years at Walmart, and now they are asking me to pay for it!" she said in the video. 

She alleged that the instruction came from a staff member who spotted her using the facility that allows people to scan their items, get the total bill, bag the items, and pay for their groceries without needing the supervision or assistance of a Walmart employee. She claimed that the worker asked her to get back in the regular checkout line, as the self-checkout option was reserved only for members. “He says, ‘You can’t be here unless you are a member,’ I said, ‘A member?’ I pay for delivery. I didn’t know there was a membership," she recalled. 

Sitting in her car, Cameron reiterated that she had been doing this for years and this was the first time she faced this issue. "I am not paying to bag my own groceries," she said at the end of her video. 

In the comments, viewers were equally baffled by this new information. "I guess we need to cancel Walmart. no way in hell," wrote @beckigeiger420. "Wild that Walmart wants you to pay to do their jobs, wtf," added another user, @tattkayaxox.

However, some users suggested that the rule was well and truly in place for a long time. "You probably tried to use scan and go lanes. You have to have Walmart+ for that. 🤷🏻‍♀️" suggested @yulostthegame. "It doesn’t cost to use regular self check out lines might still be packed however if u pay for Walmart plus you will get access to faster lanes only Walmart + members use. For shorter wait," explained another user, @lexibug3. 

As it turns out, Walmart does offer free self-checkout lanes for non-members as well, but not all of them are accessible without a paid membership. Last year, Reuters fact-checked a Facebook video that made a similar claim about Walmart asking for a membership for self-checkout. The report stated that a Walmart spokesperson had clarified that only some self-checkout lanes "may at times be designated to customers who have signed up for its paid membership scheme." For the reader's information, a Walmart+ membership currently costs $99 annually.

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