Supermarket Self checkout - not paying
Supermarket Self checkout - not paying
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Discussion

Bright Halo

Original Poster:

3,986 posts

265 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
I was in my local Tesco supermarket yesterday picking up a view things and used the self service checkout. When I walked up to it I noticed it was still asking for payment from the previous user who had left the area.
I pointed this out to the checkout assistant who said " I'll reset it for you"
I said shouldn't you call security to go after them. She said "we don't have any and it happens all the time, we are told not to do anything ourselves"

Surely this can't be correct, they must be loosing thousands a week from this.

steveo3002

11,212 posts

204 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
guess its cheaper to let it happen than have some legal fight with a scumbag that claims they were assaulted /hooman rights etc

pincher

10,567 posts

247 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
Wasn't there a big thread on here about a chap that claimed he was assaulted by a Security Guard after going through a self-service checkout?

Can't remember how it ended up?

anonymous-user

84 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
Ah yes, the 'Milkround Saga' smile

Chris32345

2,141 posts

92 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
Bright Halo said:
I was in my local Tesco supermarket yesterday picking up a view things and used the self service checkout. When I walked up to it I noticed it was still asking for payment from the previous user who had left the area.
I pointed this out to the checkout assistant who said " I'll reset it for you"
I said shouldn't you call security to go after them. She said "we don't have any and it happens all the time, we are told not to do anything ourselves"

Surely this can't be correct, they must be loosing thousands a week from this.
Very common pretty much just pass cctv to the police these days
Security guards have no real power to stop them plus the issues of them getting aggressive if stopped

Byker28i

92,331 posts

247 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
pincher said:
Wasn't there a big thread on here about a chap that claimed he was assaulted by a Security Guard after going through a self-service checkout?

Can't remember how it ended up?
He accepted the charge at court?
Long thread here
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

NikBartlett

703 posts

111 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
I know that we all want to save the fluffy polar bears but making receipts optional on a self service machine is asking for trouble. If you just happen to be stopped on your way out of the store then where is your proof of purchase ?

BertBert

21,287 posts

241 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
Byker28i said:
He accepted the charge at court?
Long thread here
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I thought he lost in court

SteBrown91

3,145 posts

159 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
Bright Halo said:
I was in my local Tesco supermarket yesterday picking up a view things and used the self service checkout. When I walked up to it I noticed it was still asking for payment from the previous user who had left the area.
I pointed this out to the checkout assistant who said " I'll reset it for you"
I said shouldn't you call security to go after them. She said "we don't have any and it happens all the time, we are told not to do anything ourselves"

Surely this can't be correct, they must be loosing thousands a week from this.
Fairly sure tesco self service machines have cameras on them pointing straight at your face so staff can go back and report it to police if needed.

xx99xx

3,046 posts

103 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
Byker28i said:
He accepted the charge at court?
Long thread here
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
The summary was:

- chap gets assaulted by security guard who thought he hadn't paid
- security guard claimed chap assaulted him
- police gave chap option to apologise and would be the end of the matter
- chap decided not to so it went to court
- chap lost and got a fine and criminal record

vikingaero

13,399 posts

199 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
NikBartlett said:
I know that we all want to save the fluffy polar bears but making receipts optional on a self service machine is asking for trouble. If you just happen to be stopped on your way out of the store then where is your proof of purchase ?
Cameras on checkouts if you paid by cash, additional proof on card/contactless.

But it seems that Tesco Metros/Locals/Co-ops seem to be free food/alcohol dispensaries for the local unwashed.

MGZTV8

599 posts

179 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
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My son works in the local co-op in a decent area of our town.

The amount of shoplifters they get each day is staggering and many are so brazen about what they do.

Staff are allowed to verbally challenge but get hands on and you’re in trouble from Management as it’s frowned upon.

They won’t pay for security so are losing hundreds of not thousands a week I would guess.

Richard-390a0

3,531 posts

121 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
MGZTV8 said:
They won’t pay for security so are losing hundreds of not thousands a week I would guess.
They're not losing though are they, it just goes onto the basic cost the rest of us law abiding suckers pay...

CLX

383 posts

87 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
Bright Halo said:
I was in my local Tesco supermarket yesterday picking up a view things and used the self service checkout. When I walked up to it I noticed it was still asking for payment from the previous user who had left the area.
I pointed this out to the checkout assistant who said " I'll reset it for you"
I said shouldn't you call security to go after them. She said "we don't have any and it happens all the time, we are told not to do anything ourselves"

Surely this can't be correct, they must be loosing thousands a week from this.
There is a reasonable explanation for this. It's happened to me twice recently. I'm not bothered about a receipt, so I just pay with my card using the touchless method and leave. However, on these two occasions I noticed a message on the screen as I was walking away. The card transaction didn't work. I called the assistant, who asked me to put my card in the machine and use the PIN. It would be very easy to just grab your shopping and walk away without noticing that.

monthefish

20,467 posts

261 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
Richard-390a0 said:
MGZTV8 said:
They won’t pay for security so are losing hundreds of not thousands a week I would guess.
They're not losing though are they, it just goes onto the basic cost the rest of us law abiding suckers pay...
..and the cost-saving in employing fewer staff.

Evanivitch

26,409 posts

152 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
monthefish said:
Richard-390a0 said:
MGZTV8 said:
They won’t pay for security so are losing hundreds of not thousands a week I would guess.
They're not losing though are they, it just goes onto the basic cost the rest of us law abiding suckers pay...
..and the cost-saving in employing fewer staff.
Yep. Paying around £10 an hour for checkout staff, or a bank of 8 self service machines plus some "shrinkage".

Not sure why anyone expects a shop worker to chase down a shoplifter. I've seen it happen. There's no reward for it. There's no insurance for it. Perhaps a photo in the newspaper with your arms crossed, pushing out the 'guns'.

Most the effort is put into internal shrinkage. Once caught a store manager stealing high value electrical goods using emptied beer boxes. Seems a bizarre thing for someone on £85k+ in South Wales...


98elise

32,689 posts

191 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
CLX said:
Bright Halo said:
I was in my local Tesco supermarket yesterday picking up a view things and used the self service checkout. When I walked up to it I noticed it was still asking for payment from the previous user who had left the area.
I pointed this out to the checkout assistant who said " I'll reset it for you"
I said shouldn't you call security to go after them. She said "we don't have any and it happens all the time, we are told not to do anything ourselves"

Surely this can't be correct, they must be loosing thousands a week from this.
There is a reasonable explanation for this. It's happened to me twice recently. I'm not bothered about a receipt, so I just pay with my card using the touchless method and leave. However, on these two occasions I noticed a message on the screen as I was walking away. The card transaction didn't work. I called the assistant, who asked me to put my card in the machine and use the PIN. It would be very easy to just grab your shopping and walk away without noticing that.
Same here, except I didn't even use contactless!

I was buying alcohol so the age check came. The member of staff took ages to get to me, by which time I'd forgotten that the age check is BEFORE you can pay.

Once he verified my age I simply picked up the bag and left, as if that was the transaction complete. The Guard stopped me outside the store and escorted me back to pay.

paperbag

jamei303

3,084 posts

186 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
Richard-390a0 said:
They're not losing though are they, it just goes onto the basic cost the rest of us law abiding suckers pay...
Not really. Shops that have better security or are otherwise less subject to theft can afford to charge lower prices, thus competing for customers with shops that suffer a lot of shoplifting.

The price of products is therefore determined largely by the overall market, and not the revenue of a particular store. If a particular store or chain loses more to theft than another one, they will have to largely absorb that in their profit rate rather than pass it on to customers.

Canon_Fodder

1,775 posts

93 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
Easy to do at Tesco if your credit card is Tesco Bank and so is also your clubcard...

Go to tap to pay, get a nice 'beep' to confirm, and off you go - without realising that was just a beep to say 'clubcard accepted'

Sheepshanks

41,160 posts

149 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
quotequote all
98elise said:
Same here, except I didn't even use contactless!

I was buying alcohol so the age check came. The member of staff took ages to get to me, by which time I'd forgotten that the age check is BEFORE you can pay.

Once he verified my age I simply picked up the bag and left, as if that was the transaction complete. The Guard stopped me outside the store and escorted me back to pay.

paperbag
I had similar buying a kitchen knife. Staffer OK'd it and I'm sure I then scanned it and it was only on looking at the bill afterwards that I realised I hadn't been charged,

I don't often go to supermarkets but picked up the Xmas M&S food, which is paid for on collection. Wife had asked me to pick up a few other items - I think just five in all. I used the self -checkout and although I'd made an effort to keep them separate from the Xmas food, I clean missed one of the items, which cost almost a tenner. Realised as I was putting them in the car so went back. On looking at the receipt one of the other iitems, which I'd definitely gone through the motions of scanning, hadn't registered either.

Staff were a bit odd - torn between suspicious of me of being a thief and thanking me for going back.