Drivers stunned by cages installed over gas pump buttons sparking new wave of complaints after locked up items in stores

DRIVERS are stunned after stumbling upon a gas pump with its fuel option buttons locked behind a cage.

A TikTok user recorded the strange sighting at a gas station in Alabama, something that present-day shoppers find all too familiar.

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“It’s really sad when your local gas station has to put a rack thingy over the [fuel] buttons,” Lacey J Coan said in her video, which has been viewed by nearly 650,000 users.

“People actually steal these things. What wants that?” she added while tapping the gasoline octane rating cap.

The U.S. Sun has reached out to Lacey for comment.

Fellow TikTok users were speechless at the sight.

One TikToker claimed he once peeled the sticker off one of the buttons to decorate his vehicle.

“I took the sticker once and put it in the inside of my gas tank door,” the person wrote in the comment section.

“And whenever my family members used my car when they put gas back they thought it only took 93 because of the sticker lol.”

Another person said the same caged gas pump buttons are happening in his hometown in Oklahoma.

“Happening here in Tulsa now too!” the user said.

A third driver said he once stumbled upon a gas pump without one of the buttons.

“I went to a gas station once and one of those buttons was actually gone. I was confused,” the TikToker wrote.

However, others believe the gas station workers placed the cage to prevent drivers from damaging the buttons.

“It’s probably so people don’t push the button with the nozzle of the pump,” one person said.

“That damages the octane rating stickers, which are likely required by the state.”

A second agreed, “I think it’s so people don’t push the button with the pump handle.”

“I think it’s because people damage the buttons. Not steal them? Idk,” another questioned.

“It’s so the hose doesn’t hit the wrong button lol at least that’s why they do it here,” said another.

Businesses that lock items behind shelves

Retailers have started to lock items behind shelves and glass panels to combat rising theft.

The retailers include:

• Walmart
• Target
• Walgreens
• CVS
• Duane Reade
• Rite Aid
• Dollar Tree
• The Home Depot
• Sephora

STAYING SAFE

The locked fuel pump option seemed eerily familiar with what businesses across America are doing to their products to combat shoplifting.

Retail giants such as Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and several others have begun locking up items behind cages or glass panels to prevent theft.

Target’s CEO even spoke out about the future of anti-theft actions.

Despite backlash from shoppers around the country, CEO Brian Cornell said the anti-theft measures – including locking up items – are creating positive change.

“To be clear, we do not like locking up product, but we like running stores, and we want to keep our stores open,” Cornell told Yahoo Finance.

“We want to make sure they’re safe.”