Ikea Etobicoke

Walked in by myself to purchase 2 mats. Went to self-checkout and separated the smaller mat from the larger one to ensure they are both visible, scanned both items, and pressed pay. The screen then said "you have been randomly selected for a spot check. An attendant will be with you shortly". At that point, I patiently waited for the attendant to come over. She did about 10 second later and said "oh boy, what happened in a friendly manner". She swiped her card and quickly checked that I did indeed have 2 mats, which is exactly what I scanned.

At that point, I was already fuming inside from the notice "you have been randomly selected for a spot check". The word "random" didn't sit well with me as I'm a minority and life experience has shown many times these things are generally not "random".

I said to her "you know what, I'm going to go forget it, I don't like this process". I left shaking my head and wondering, is this process in fact random or is security watching the cameras above and selecting certain people for this "random" spot check.

I did not start complaining to the attendant, because it's not her fault. However, the entire episode left me feeling profiled. I drove over to another retailer 5 mins away and purchased the mats there without a "random spot check".

Would be interesting to see if Ikea would publicly confirm it is a computer algorithm that in fact "randomly" selects purchases or are personnel involved in "selecting" purchases for "random spot checks". Regardless, this is poor customer service.

I say no thanks to "random" spot checks. I don't need to be profiled or treated like a criminal to purchase products from Ikea.

UPDATE:

Ikea.com privacy policy states an employee can "generate a random spot check on a customer". See link below. Summary: A racist employee can press a button and have the self checkout register display you have been "randomly selected for a spot check". Funny, how Ikea tries to pass this off as being a "random process".

https://www.ikea.com/ms/en_CA/privacy_policy/privacy_policy.html

Purchase verification policy

Please note that IKEA may at any time request to verify your purchases, against your receipt, including examining your parcels and bags. Consent to such a possibility is implied when any said customer chooses to use any checkout at IKEA. IKEA may rely on computer and/or employee generated random checks for selection. Please keep your receipt available to show an IKEA representative upon request.