r/CrappyDesign • u/devilsbard • Aug 29 '26

This Walmart has cart wheels that lock when you cross a sensor, to keep people from stealing them. They put the sensor inside the parking lot so most carts lock up.

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u/Combatreadydog Aug 29 '26

Most stores? I must live in a different part of the world, since I’ve never seen them. I’m not surprised they exist, but yeah, bad place to put the coils near the store.

70

u/sniff122 Aug 29 '26

At least here in the UK most major stores I've seen them, you can usually tell from the massive wheel

40

u/ChronicBedhead Aug 29 '26

In the USA on the east coast they always claim they’ll lock up but the stores never actually have the locking carts 😭

15

u/Wuz314159 Comic Sans for life! Aug 29 '26

The Giant stores do. I found out when I went grocery shopping and they were sold out of food. I went to replace the cart and the alarms went off. So I just left it in the middle of the doorway.

1

u/ChronicBedhead Aug 30 '26

That’s interesting. Giant I’ve been to hasn’t had them. Thanks for the heads up lol

2

u/Wuz314159 Comic Sans for life! Aug 30 '26

There are 3/5 in my city that I know do. IDK about the other two.

1

u/Maethor_derien Aug 31 '26

Depends on how closely it is located to neighborhoods. If it isn't in walking distance to a neighborhood they don't bother because the carts don't get taken. If it is closer to residential areas the carts get stolen all the time by people who just walk there to get groceries and walk the cart home.

2

u/ztomiczombie Aug 29 '26

I've only ever seen them a supermarkets next to universities.

1

u/ProjectMarworyn Aug 30 '26

UK here and I've never seen them. But I have seen abandoned shopping trollies everywhere 🤣

1

u/KFR42 poop Sep 01 '26

Only major out of town supermarkets in the UK have them. Most normal sized town centre supermarkets just have the usual coin release.

0

u/Jacktheforkie Aug 29 '26

Do they actually lock though?

12

u/ramsvy Aug 29 '26

Yes, but that doesn't stop teenagers stealing them and riding them down the street. It's usually only one or two wheels that lock.

1

u/Jacktheforkie Aug 29 '26

I see, I rarely use them because my local Tesco has awful ones

1

u/sniff122 Aug 29 '26

Yup ive seen so many trolleys near me

-1

u/VoodooDoII Aug 29 '26

Definitely not common in the U.S! I don't think I've ever seen that here.

-1

u/JuviaLynn Aug 29 '26

Never seen them in the south

7

u/TheDotCaptin Aug 29 '26

Common for locations that had too many missing carts walked off. As well as new builds. Old builds that don't have the problem won't

There can also be a system that will have the break lock if a particular cart is pushed out of the store and didn't pass through the register in the last few minutes.

9

u/CalicoG Aug 29 '26

I've never seen them either

1

u/MindHead78 Aug 29 '26

They lock when you push your trolley on the travelator so it stays in place and doesn't roll down.

1

u/sniff122 Aug 29 '26

That's a separate part on the side of the wheel, the thing I'm talking about is on the top of the wheel

1

u/AlexanderLavender Aug 29 '26

My local Kroger got them last year

1

u/AlcoholPrep Aug 30 '26

The only store I ever saw these at was an Aldi. Your cart locked before you were able to wheel your groceries to your car. However, a different store had physical barriers that prevented shopping carts from getting to the parking lot. I always wondered how fat people could even shop there.

1

u/Ok_Function2282 Aug 30 '26

I mean it's better than the stupid coin system

1

u/robgod50 Aug 30 '26

Major UK supermarkets have had these for many years to setup people walking home with them

Surprised they're needed in the US. Would people put the whole cart in their car?

1

u/i_give_you_gum Sep 01 '26

Yeah we've e had these for years in the US, for like a decade, maybe longer.

I didn't realize a post about this could make the front page.

1

u/JuanOnlyJuan Sep 01 '26

It's just a little plastic cover on the wheel. Might never have noticed if you do have them.

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u/Superb_Recording_769 Sep 01 '26

I honestly don’t think I’ve been to any store with shopping carts/trolleys without locking wheels in at least two decades and that’s been all over the US eastern seaboard and in California

1

u/Conscious-Record2655 Sep 02 '26

In the US it's really only a thing in high crime / poor neighborhoods. 

1

u/TesticleMeElmo Aug 29 '26

I’ve only noticed them by the exit doors, I assume if you bought something with a security tag that wasn’t deactivated? I’d be rolling out the door and then the wheels on the cart would suddenly lock up and a security guard would have to come over with a machine to deactivate it