Kentucky woman shops at Walmart. Then self-checkout gets her banned: ‘This wouldn’t be an issue IF THEY WOULD PAY FOR CASHIERS’

Self-checkout is becoming more and more common across the U.S.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, cashier employment is projected to fall 6% from 2025 to 2035, a loss of about 200,600 jobs. The agency says that decline is being driven in part by self-service checkout stands and online sales.

That means using self-checkout has become pretty much the norm for shoppers at grocery stores, malls, clothing stores, and more.

These devices, however, are not without fault. Sometimes customers simply don't notice that something failed to scan. Other times, the machine freezes, pauses, or otherwise creates issues during checkout.

According to one Kentucky woman, one such self-checkout mishap, followed by what she says was an unforgiving response from a Walmart employee, got her banned from the store for a year.

What Happened At The Walmart Self-Checkout?

TikTok creator Morgan (@morgyped) shared what went down in a recent video that got over 228,400 views.

“I'm so mad,” she begins while sitting in her car. “I shouldn't even get on here right now and talk about this, 'cause I'm steaming mad right now.”

Morgan says the incident happened on Aug. 7 at a Walmart in Glasgow, Kentucky.

She had gone into the store to buy three packs of eyelashes for a wedding she was working the next day. Her child was also asking for other items, there were people waiting behind her, and Morgan says she was trying to move quickly through self-checkout.

“I go to self-checkout,” she says. “One of the lashes has a security tag on it, right?”

Morgan says she scanned the item, but didn't realize the screen had paused.

“I didn't notice that the screen paused,” she says. “I'm not a damn cashier.”

She continued trying to scan the other eyelashes before eventually noticing that the machine wasn't responding.

“So I tap it. It's not working,” she says.

Morgan called an employee over. She says he entered his number into the machine, removed the security tag from the lashes, handed them back to her, and told her to have a good day.

So Morgan assumed everything was fine.

She paid for the rest of her purchases and started leaving the store.

That's when another man approached her.

“Is there something in your cart you've not paid for I need to know about?” she recalls him asking.

Morgan says she had no idea what he meant.

“I genuinely thought that I paid for these lashes at this time,” she says.

Then The Walmart Worker Allegedly Threatens Her

She pulled up her receipt and asked what hadn't been paid for. According to Morgan, the man told her to follow him into another room and threatened to call police if she wouldn't cooperate.

Eventually, she says she realized none of the three packs of lashes had actually made it onto the receipt.

“I don't know what order I scanned them in, but none of them got scanned,” she says.

Morgan says the lashes totaled about $38.

After leaving briefly, she returned to Walmart with her purchases and apologized for the way she had spoken to the employee.

However, she says police told her she could have been arrested over the unpaid items.

“You should be in handcuffs right now over $38,” she recalls one officer repeatedly telling her.

Morgan was instead asked to sign paperwork banning her from Walmart for one year.

She later tried to appeal that decision.

According to Morgan, the person she spoke with told her he had reviewed the case and that the ban would remain in place because the employee had followed Walmart procedure.

Morgan argued that the store's own system showed she had attempted to scan the lashes.

“I said, did you see on the computer that I scanned them?” she recalls asking.

“He said, ‘Yes,'” she recalls.

“So how is this stealing?” she told the worker.

Are Other Customers Dealing With Self-Checkout Mistakes Or Glitches?

Morgan is certainly not the only shopper to struggle with self-checkout issues.

A 2023 U.S. grocery survey from Market Force surveyed 6,555 American consumers. Among shoppers who said they had experienced a problem during their most recent grocery trip, 16% identified a self-checkout issue, while 14% said they were charged the wrong price.

There have also been confirmed large-scale technical failures.

In 2024, Walmart acknowledged that a technical problem affected about 1,600 U.S. stores and caused customers to be overcharged on thousands of items. The issue prevented updated price information from properly reaching self-checkout kiosks, and Walmart said it worked to refund affected shoppers.

Individual customers have complained about smaller errors too. In one 2025 Better Business Bureau complaint, a shopper alleged that a self-checkout kiosk scanned a $12.98 meal twice, resulting in a $25.96 charge.

In Morgan's case, the problem appears to have involved both human error and the checkout process itself. She didn't notice the machine had paused, while the employee who came over removed the security tag and sent her on her way without apparently confirming that the eyelashes had actually been added to the transaction.

Viewers Blamed Self-Checkout

“It's crazy though how they NEVER NEVER FKN NEVERRRRR catch when you accidentally scan an item twice and double pay,” one commenter wrote. “Nobody ever runs up to give your money back…”

Others blamed Walmart for relying so heavily on self-service machines.

“How about they hire EMPLOYEES to check people out!!!! Not stupid computers!!!! Im steaming for you!!!” another wrote.

One viewer compared Morgan's experience with a much more relaxed interaction at Sam's Club.

“I was doing scan and go at Sam's. My bf put some salsa in the cart and I didn't see him,” they wrote. “When we got to the door the lady whispered to me that I missed it. I scanned it, paid, and was on my way. She didn't embarrass me in front of that long line of people. Walmart needs to get a damn grip.”

Subplot News has reached out to Walmart via its contact form and Morgan via email for comment.

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