Self-checkout at Walmart remains a major point of contention, especially as there's been a recent uptick in theft accusations and aggressive receipt checks. Shoppers have even taken to social media to warn their fellow Walmart patrons about the impractical and uncomfortable changes they’ve experienced—with some rethinking their allegiance to the big-box retailer altogether. Most recently, however, customers have taken umbrage with surprise item limits at self-checkout kiosks.
RELATED: Walmart Shoppers Slam Aggressive Receipt Checks: "Target Would Never."
Mother of three and TikToker Courtney (@raisingreynauds) was recently shopping for groceries and other household essentials at Walmart when she encountered a "wild" new self-checkout restriction. In her video, Courtney explained that she was shopping for two weeks' worth of food so her cart was fuller than usual. However, she was interrupted midway through using self-checkout when the machine refused to let her scan more than 125 items.
“Did you know that you can only have 125 items at one time at the self-checkout at Walmart?” reads a text box in the video.
As she exits the store, Courtney pans the camera to show both her and her son pushing their own carts of bagged items along with two separate receipts.
"I have two receipts because apparently you can only go to a self-checkout and have 125 items at a time. So that's fun,” she told followers.
The 125-item limit isn’t only a challenge for parents like Courtney, who are shopping for larger families, but for anyone who needs supplies for a big event or is looking to stock up on everyday items.
And Courtney certainly isn’t alone in her surprise. One shopper shared that they also found out about the restriction just a few days prior.
Another TikToker said their Walmart has a 20-item limit at self-checkout, and customers with full carts are forced to wait at manned registers. "You have to go to an actual cashier if you have more, it's so annoying, because they don't have staff,” they commented.
@raisingreynauds I really want to bring y’all on a grocery hall shopping trip, but today was not the day because there was Hella people in the Walmart… let me know how big your family is and what yall spend weekly! 💕 #raisingreynauds #sahm #oilfield #sunday #groceryshopping #walmart #groceryhaul #themoreyouknow #familyof5
A similar discussion is happening on Reddit, and Walmart employees are chiming in with their experience and expertise on the matter. In particular, one cashier said she ran into the issue while working at a manned register.
“I’m a frontend cashier and today a young couple with 2 kids brings up 3 carts full of stuff, I start ringing up the items like usual. Midway through I try to scan an item but a pop up on my screen says that the item limit has been reached,” wrote the cashier. “I was confused, I tried scanning another item and the same thing happened. I told the customers, and they said they never reached the limit before. I had to do 2 orders instead of putting all the items on 1 order.”
Meanwhile, another person said, “The belted registers at my local Walmart have a limit of 150 and the self checks have a limit of 200.”
Best Life reached out to Walmart for comment on the conflicting self-checkout item restrictions and will update the story with their response.
