A TikTok user says she accidentally walked out of a Target store without paying for her items after her Apple Pay transaction did not go through at self-checkout. The TikTok video, posted by @anasofiacd5, has been viewed 52,800 times.
In the video, the woman said she went to Target to buy sweaters that were on clearance and two packs of socks. She said she was in a rush and used the self-checkout to pay.
She explained that she normally uses Apple Pay, but that day she tapped her physical card instead, bagged her items, and left the store quickly.
Woman says she found no record of the purchase on her card statement
The next morning, she checked her credit card statement and could not find the transaction. “I’m so confused at this point. I’m like, what?” she said in the video. She said she had no receipt or ticket for the purchase. “And so I’m, I probably stole it,” she said, adding that it was not intentional. “I, I mean, I didn’t realize. It was not my intention.”
She also said she had already washed the clothing items and wanted to keep them. She said she planned to go back to the store to explain the situation and possibly pay for the items. “I’m just bringing like this to see if they can help me, like maybe I can just like pay it, or I don’t know,” she said, holding up a small tag from one of the items.
She said she hoped the store staff would understand. “I mean, it’s just like a human mistake and I’m like being honest about it,” she said. She also joked about a more serious possible outcome, saying, “Or maybe they will take me to jail and I will rot in there forever. So let’s see.”
In a follow-up video posted on TikTok, the woman confirmed that she was not arrested and had gone into the store to explain what happened. She described the experience as “weird” and said she was nervous. “I was really nervous, I was shaking, I was about to shed a tear,” she said.
She said the store employee she spoke to seemed confused at first. “The lady was so confused, she was looking at me like this. I thought she was a little mad,” she said. She said she believed the employee may have initially thought she had stolen the items on purpose and later felt guilty, but said that was not what happened.
According to the woman, the employee checked her card records to confirm the purchase had not gone through, then offered to charge her for the items. “If you want me to, I can charge you,” the employee reportedly said. The woman said she agreed right away. “Yes, please, please, please, please charge me. Charge me double the amount. Sorry for the inconvenience. I’m so sorry,” she said.
She said the employee then gave her a ticket, which she said she planned to keep after viewers in the comments advised her to save it. “I’m okay,” she said, adding advice for anyone in a similar situation: “If this happens to you, you can just go and say sorry and they will be understanding.” Self-checkout problems can escalate beyond confusion, as a North Carolina woman sued Walmart after a freeze led to a security confrontation.
Several viewers responded to the videos with their own comments. One person who said they work at Target wrote, “as a target worker its not that big of a deal on your part! you wont be in too much trouble as long as you pay but its good you went back because the self checkout worker will get in a tinyyy bit of trouble but not when you come back!”
Another commenter suggested the store may have already been aware of the issue, writing, “they definitely caught it. they then add it up till the amount is greater then to call police. no matter the outcome they have your face recognition.” Self-checkout experiences can be confusing, such as when an Ohio woman got stuck waiting at Kroger and witnessed a stranger’s relationship unfold.
A different commenter offered a possible explanation for the missing transaction, writing, “My target transactions don’t show up for like 1-3 days for some reason.” Another viewer questioned whether the situation needed to be shared online at all, commenting, “Just go in there and pay this did not warrant a video about confessing something.”
Published: Aug 13, 2026 06:35 am