A bizarre video raised questions about the new surveillance system at this Coles store
- Replies 32
We all have a right to privacy, and that includes having a sense of safety and security when we go about our daily business.
But recently, supermarkets have been increasing surveillance and taking extra measures to keep their premises and customers safe. While this does provide some feeling of security for the store, some customers have been feeling a bit restricted when it comes to the stringent measures.
Case in point: A Coles store in Victoria ran into some trouble because of their new ‘smart gate’ system. A move that raised concerns about customer rights at Coles.
It wasn’t that long ago when Coles introduced new smart gates in some selected stores. These gates refused shoppers to exit if the surveillance suspects that they hadn’t bought the items they were carrying.
The video online shows two women clashing with a Coles manager over the smart gates installed at self-service checkouts. The footage, which was believed to be taken in an unnamed shop in Victoria, showed the manager asking the two women whether they had gotten permission from the store to film.
‘No, but you’re filming us all the time,’ said one of the women.
‘Did you get permission to film us?’ another woman asked the manager.
The manager replied that there were signs at the front entrance of Coles stating that Coles has a right to film customers. The manager then refused to answer the women’s questions and asked them to leave the store.
The woman said in the video, ‘Are you being gagged? They’re being gagged.’
At this point, the women had passed through the gates and were standing on the other side, taunting customers with comments such as, ‘You’ve escaped!’ each time customers walked through the gates.
One commented that the gates made customers feel like ‘caged animals’ and that no one liked them.
However, when one customer was asked what they think about the gates, they said, ‘The gates don’t really bother me.’
One of the women remarked that she ‘couldn’t believe’ that the shopper wasn’t bothered with the gates.
The other woman said that ‘it’s always the young ones’ who don’t care.
One of the women then proceeded to tell viewers to ‘dig your heels in and push back’.
You can watch the video below:
The video sparked mixed reactions, with some people calling out the women for harassing the supermarket staff.
One shopper said, ‘The staff you're harassing didn’t install these.’
Another said, ‘There’s more than enough information about how these systems work if these [people] cared enough to do their research.’
‘Private company does thing in their store & these people think it's a public place that they get to complain about,’ a third commented.
‘Surely they have better things to do,’ said another commenter.
However, one shopper said that ‘the amount of theft that occurs here is ‘insane’ and that the new smart gates were necessary to stop thieves.
‘A couple walked out a few weeks ago with a full trolley—no longer after these gates went in. It’s not rocket science!’ they said.
A Coles spokesperson responded to the situation and said, ‘We know that retail crime is on the increase across all retailers.’
'We have a range of security measures in place to reduce theft from our stores, including CCTV, electronic article surveillance (EAS) and in some stores, new smart gate technology that automatically opens as customers make payment for their products.’
It seems like Coles is not the only supermarket giant wary of security risks. In a previous article, Woolworths also decided to take a step further in improving their security by installing automatic gates and high-tech surveillance in their self-serve checkout areas. Read more about the story here.
What are your thoughts on Coles’s new smart gates? Do you think it’s helpful? Let us know in the comments below!
But recently, supermarkets have been increasing surveillance and taking extra measures to keep their premises and customers safe. While this does provide some feeling of security for the store, some customers have been feeling a bit restricted when it comes to the stringent measures.
Case in point: A Coles store in Victoria ran into some trouble because of their new ‘smart gate’ system. A move that raised concerns about customer rights at Coles.
It wasn’t that long ago when Coles introduced new smart gates in some selected stores. These gates refused shoppers to exit if the surveillance suspects that they hadn’t bought the items they were carrying.
The video online shows two women clashing with a Coles manager over the smart gates installed at self-service checkouts. The footage, which was believed to be taken in an unnamed shop in Victoria, showed the manager asking the two women whether they had gotten permission from the store to film.
Coles installed new smart gates near the self-service checkouts, which raised questions for two women. Credit: Shutterstock
‘No, but you’re filming us all the time,’ said one of the women.
‘Did you get permission to film us?’ another woman asked the manager.
The manager replied that there were signs at the front entrance of Coles stating that Coles has a right to film customers. The manager then refused to answer the women’s questions and asked them to leave the store.
The woman said in the video, ‘Are you being gagged? They’re being gagged.’
At this point, the women had passed through the gates and were standing on the other side, taunting customers with comments such as, ‘You’ve escaped!’ each time customers walked through the gates.
One commented that the gates made customers feel like ‘caged animals’ and that no one liked them.
However, when one customer was asked what they think about the gates, they said, ‘The gates don’t really bother me.’
One of the women remarked that she ‘couldn’t believe’ that the shopper wasn’t bothered with the gates.
The other woman said that ‘it’s always the young ones’ who don’t care.
One of the women then proceeded to tell viewers to ‘dig your heels in and push back’.
You can watch the video below:
The video sparked mixed reactions, with some people calling out the women for harassing the supermarket staff.
One shopper said, ‘The staff you're harassing didn’t install these.’
Another said, ‘There’s more than enough information about how these systems work if these [people] cared enough to do their research.’
‘Private company does thing in their store & these people think it's a public place that they get to complain about,’ a third commented.
‘Surely they have better things to do,’ said another commenter.
However, one shopper said that ‘the amount of theft that occurs here is ‘insane’ and that the new smart gates were necessary to stop thieves.
‘A couple walked out a few weeks ago with a full trolley—no longer after these gates went in. It’s not rocket science!’ they said.
A Coles spokesperson responded to the situation and said, ‘We know that retail crime is on the increase across all retailers.’
'We have a range of security measures in place to reduce theft from our stores, including CCTV, electronic article surveillance (EAS) and in some stores, new smart gate technology that automatically opens as customers make payment for their products.’
It seems like Coles is not the only supermarket giant wary of security risks. In a previous article, Woolworths also decided to take a step further in improving their security by installing automatic gates and high-tech surveillance in their self-serve checkout areas. Read more about the story here.
What are your thoughts on Coles’s new smart gates? Do you think it’s helpful? Let us know in the comments below!
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