My grocery store's app made me do a 15 minute checkout loop

I was at the register last night and pulled up the store's loyalty card on my phone, the one that saves me 40 cents on milk. The app has a barcode that pops up, but only if you hit the right button in the right order. I swiped it and the cashier said it wasn't scanning, so I tapped back, then forward, then the barcode showed up again. By the third try I had closed the app completely, reopened it, and it asked me to log in again with a password I hadn't used in six months. I stood there resetting my password while two people behind me just watched. The whole thing probably took 15 minutes for something that should have been two seconds. Has anyone else dealt with an app that makes simple tasks into a whole project?

2 comments

2 Comments

betty_shah23d ago

Oh man, that is the worst kind of grocery trip frustration. That "please log in" thing after you just had it open is a special kind of rage. It's like the app knows you're in a hurry and decides to teach you a lesson about patience. I've definitely stood there awkwardly while the person behind me just sighs, it's so embarrassing for no reason. Seriously, they make these things so complicated for a simple loyalty card.

the_piper23d ago

Ugh it really is part of this bigger thing where everything we do now has an extra unnecessary hoop to jump through. Like you can't just scan a piece of plastic anymore, you need a whole phone ritual that inevitably breaks down at the worst moment. It's all designed to make the simple stuff feel like a side quest in a video game.