Retailers are stepping up security due to a rise in theft, but some anti-theft measures are sparking customer backlash. Several Loblaw shoppers said they were upset after their cart's wheels locked and they were asked to show their receipts. Mark Barrey says the wheels suddenly locked on his shopping cart when leaving a Loblaw-owned store in Waterloo, Ont. (Sophia Harris/CBC) Mark Barrey says a recent shopping trip to his neighbourhood Zehrs in Waterloo, Ont., was humiliating.
He said just before leaving Zehrs, a grocery chain owned by Loblaw, a 'ridiculously loud' alarm went off and the wheels on his shopping cart locked. 'I'm standing there, my neighbours walking past me, looking at me like I've done something wrong,' said Barrey. 'It was incredibly embarrassing.' He says a store security employee checked his customer receipt, which proved he hadn't stolen anything. Even though he was now in the clear, Barrey said he had to wait with the immobile cart — with the alarm still blaring — until the employee found the remote device used to deactivate its wheel lock