Coles shoppers lash out at supermarket giant over ‘prison-like’ security gates: ‘It’s triggering’
Coles shoppers have lashed out at the supermarket giant, complaining that safety measures in its stores are 'triggering'.
The supermarket giant has installed anti-theft systems in all its stores, including automatic gates at the exit.
This move followed a 20 percent increase in thefts, with the measures hitting a nerve with customers.
One customer complained that she was about to leave the local store after paying for her groceries when the gates were closed to her.
Shoppers have been angered by the security gates Coles (pictured) has installed in its stores and have rejected the new security measure, which they say is 'triggering'.
“I finished scanning and paying for my two items and as I leave, this gate flashes red, almost like an alarm,” she wrote on Reddit.
“Then the gate slid shut, preventing me and a 60-year-old, traditional-looking guy from leaving.”
She said an employee eventually let her and the man out of the store. She said the man had previously given her a look as if she was “stealing.”
“I was honestly a little triggered by it and had trouble having self-control, not just kicking the barrier or stepping over it,” she said.
“The way Woolies and Coles have treated people with price gouging makes this just feel like another slap in the face.”
Another shopper said she had a similar experience after being banned from leaving a store after paying for her groceries.
'When I finished shopping, I couldn't leave the self-service checkout until they came [staff] looked at my receipt and pressed a button,” she said.
A Coles spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the gates are part of security measures to protect the safety of staff and customers.
“While most of our customers are doing the right thing, unfortunately a small number are not,” he said.
'Coles has put in place a range of security measures to reduce theft from our stores, including CCTV, electronic article surveillance (EAS) and in some stores new smart gate technology that opens automatically when customers pay for their products.'
A Coles spokesperson said the barriers are part of the security measures the supermarket has put in place to protect the safety of staff and customers.
The gates are part of a number of technologies that the supermarket has implemented in its stores to combat the increase in theft.
Staff recently began wearing body-worn cameras in some locations to reduce incidents of violence against employees.
Overhead cameras have also been installed in the stores to track the movements of shoppers.