It can be frustrating when you’re out shopping and can’t find anybody to take your money. You’ve got all of your items piled up in your cart or are clutching them to your chest—because you didn’t have the foresight to grab a basket—and there’s not an employee in sight to process your transaction.
While many retailers have managed to remedy this by providing customers with self-checkout options, some stores require folks to remit payment to a human being.
But when there’s no worker in sight to watch you swipe your card and accept a transaction through the business’ POS system, it can be tempting to just go behind the counter and ring up the items yourself.
This is exactly what a TikToker who goes by Pilot (@privateprofit) did while shopping, and he ended up in a sitcom-esque situation.
@privateprofit #fyp #trending #funny #viral #uk #meme #pov ♬ original sound – Pilot🛩
Pilot begins the video standing in front of an allegedly un-staffed checkout register.
“There’s no one here to take my payment so…I’m just gonna have to do it myself,” he says in the clip.
The TikToker then takes the product he’s holding and walks behind the counter to the cash register and as he’s about to ring it up, a customer approaches the front and asks if they can have a SIM card. Without skipping a beat, Pilot looks around and grabs an “Unlimited” usage SIM card still in the packaging and hands it to the gentleman before the clip ends.
Viewers were amused that the TikToker immediately decided to take on the role of an employee just mere seconds after stepping behind the counter.
“You even stepped in to help,” a user wrote. Someone else joked, “Bro had to work full 8 hour shift.”
Other users on the platform identified the store as the UK-based retailer Superdrug. One commented that the shopping experience at Superdrug is less-than-stellar, writing, “I’m telling u superdrug is the trenches,” while another remarked that they “swear all superdrug stores are understaffed.”
Another TikToker pointed out that Superdrug employees receive a commission for every single SIM card that they sell, so whoever missed out on that sale would probably have been upset.
“Nah cos the employees would be RAGING they missed a SIM,” they wrote. Another shared, “you get commission on sim cards too whoever would have put that through would’ve been so happy.”
One other user joked, “Hope you got that extra £1 for selling that sim card.”
Someone who said they used to work for Superdrug replied that store policy appeared to differ greatly from whatever Pilot was experiencing in the location he shopped at.
“I worked at Superdrug we weren’t allowed to leave the till without being in a close area,” they said.
So what should have Pilot done in this situation, seeing as he isn’t an official employee of the store? One TikToker said that he wouldn’t have been able to ring up his item as it requires folks to log in. “U have to log into the till u should’ve just pressed the bell,” the user wrote.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Superdrug via email and Pilot via TikTok comment.
