A Walmart shopper who was caught putting dozens of items into a bag in the self-checkout line without scanning them was accused of being a thief, but the customer refuted the allegations, saying he was just doing his job.
On May 12, Astle faced intense online scrutiny after a shopper at the Greenmount Commons Walmart in Belleville, Illinois, filmed Bill Astle filling a shopping cart with items and appearing not to pay for them.
“This guy is literally stealing everything,” says the woman behind the camera. In a 14 second video. “He’s not scanning anything. So open it up. Look at the screen. Nothing is ringing.”
The video has been posted to nearly every social media site, with one post alone garnering over 15.6 million views.
Many outraged users commented on the man’s “brazen theft” and used the video to criticise the supermarket chain.
“That’s why Walmart is getting rid of self-checkouts. The idea has backfired hugely for them. Theft is skyrocketing,” one person said.
“This is why we have to pay so much for the little things,” another comment read.
Astle argues the internet is jumping to conclusions and spreading false narratives.
“I’m not a thief. I’m being portrayed as a thief on the Internet,” Astle said. He told First Alert 4.
Astle was visiting Walmart stores as part of his job for Spark, Walmart’s delivery service.
Spark’s delivery drivers collect customers’ desired items via a phone app, then use their camera to scan items in the app while they shop.
“It’s all done over the phone, so you’re not actually scanning the items when you get to the register,” Astle said. He told the media.
Instead of scanning each item at a kiosk, Spark employees can scan a code from their phone and then go ahead and bag the items, just like the viral moment Astle was photographed.
Astle was surprised by how quickly the video spread online, with viewers even contacting the St. Louis BattleHawks to criticize the fan because he was wearing a football team shirt.
“Control your fans,” one person wrote.
“Isn’t cow the law to him?” another added, a play on the BattleHawks slogan, “Cow is the law.”
Astle’s biggest wish is to have all the clips removed from the internet.
“Ideally, we’re trying to find a way to remove them,” he added.
Astle is trying to clear his name after more and more people approach him while he’s shopping and ask if he was a thief.
“Customers sometimes say, ‘Hey, didn’t you see this online? Are you stealing this product?’ So I have to explain what I’m doing,” Astle says.
The Sparks employee showed two receipts for work done at the store as further proof he hadn’t stolen.
But there was one item that Astle did stop by the store and scan and pay for – a bouquet of roses for his wife – and that moment happened just after the video ended.
“If the video had gone on for another 30 seconds, you would have seen me scanning two dozen roses as I completed my delivery order for Spark.”
