Retail employee maliciously complies with manager's new rule, leaving customers confused: 'You have to use the kiosk for that'

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jan 5, 2026 3:00 PM EST

Kiosks are everywhere you look these days, and shoppers are getting a little tired of just how prevalent they are. 

Nearly every establishment these days either has kiosks, self-checkout, or extremely long lines to check out with a person. You're assigned one of these three options (no, you can't pick), and you just have to roll with it. 

Even if you're young and tech-savvy, kiosks can be quite confusing, depending on how customer-friendly the user interface is. I noticed this recently while ordering at a fast-food taco chain — the interface to buy a burrito had like, dozens of buttons prompting me to add or subtract items to the burrito. I stared at it for a few seconds before pressing the button to add a regular one to my cart, but I couldn't believe how confusing it looked. For anyone non-tech-savvy, or who has poor eyesight, or who has trouble reading, or even people who can't reach the kiosk because they're in a wheelchair, this is just making life way harder. Instead of talking to a cashier for 45 seconds to order, instead, we've got to touch a germy screen and just hope we've ordered correctly. 

As if retail employees didn't have enough to deal with already, this person got a directive to have customers to use a kiosk, no matter what. It seems like it backfired bigly. Imagine you're an older person and you need to find something in the store. You approach an employee and ask them where it's located. With a bored, glazed-over look, they tell you, "Use the kiosk. It's on the kiosk." You then have to dig your glasses out of your bag and try to navigate this touch screen (and you know, all touch screens are different, with some being super fast and sensitive, and others where you need to jam your finger on each button for it to register. Ugh, annoying!). As that customer, you might find it so overwhelming that you just give up and go to another store where an employee can just directly point you to the item. It's crazy that these bosses were directing their workers to interact less with their customer base… but when money is the only thing that matters, instead of customer satisfaction or employee happiness, that's what you get. 

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  • 01
    Employee wearing lanyard puts hands to head and grimaces, to his right a woman touches a kiosk screen with phone in other hand
    via ahmad gunnaivi on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02
    I used to work the service desk at a big box store, the kind with a million tiny aisles and a lot of weekend chaos. Corporate rolled out this "self help" push and our store manager repeated it in a meeting: we were not supposed to walk customers to items
    via u/CasuallyMessingUp
  • 03
    anymore because it "trained dependence" and slowed down the desk. The approved script was to direct them to the new touch screen kiosk map near the entrance. It sounded harmless on a slide, but in real life half our customers were older,
    via u/CasuallyMessingUp
  • 04
    tired, or just in a hurry, and the kiosk was always surrounded by carts and kids. Still, the instruction was super clear: use the kiosk, do not leave the desk unless it's for an actual return. So I did exactly that. Lady asks where picture hooks are, I smile and point to the
    via u/CasuallyMessingUp
  • 05
    kiosk. Guy asks where lightbulbs are, kiosk. Someone asks where the restroom is, yep, kiosk. People would look at me like I was messing with them, and I'd do the same calm line: "store policy, the map will show you."
    via u/CasuallyMessingUp
  • 06
    Within an hour we had a little cluster of confused customers poking the screen, then a line, then a second line for actual returns because I couldnt move faster. One customer got so frustrated they asked for a manager, and I happily called one over, then
    via u/CasuallyMessingUp
  • 07
    stood there quietly while the manager spent ten minutes walking them to the aisle anyway. By the end of the weekend we had three complaints logged, two abandoned returns, and the store manager asking why the kiosk area looked like an airport check in. Monday
    via u/CasuallyMessingUp
  • 08
    morning the rule was magically "use the kiosk when it helps, but just be human about it."
    via u/CasuallyMessingUp
  • 09
    Blonde woman uses kiosk screen while holding phone in her other hand
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 10

    Commenters couldn't wrap their heads around this

    Cheezburger Image 10592923392
    via u/Quoth666
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    Cheezburger Image 10592923904
    via u/Future_Direction5174
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    Cheezburger Image 10592923648
    via u/Future_Direction5174
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    Cheezburger Image 10592922880
    via u/Future_Direction5174
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    Cheezburger Image 10592923136
    via u/theartofwastingtime
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    Cheezburger Image 10592924160
    via u/Wadsworth_McStumpy

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