Anyone else do this in small shops?

Since lockdown I've never used a basket and only twice used a trolley.

Always put the shopping in my bag,unload and pay, then pack again.

Loads of people do this in my big Tesco too.

I used to do this because I would go shopping on my motorbike and if I bought anything more than would fit in my bag I'd be in difficulty. Learned this one the hard way having had to ride home with a jacket stuffed full of tins 🫣

I didn't - I asked what her problem was and asked if she thought she was providing a "good customer experience" and said perhaps she should try to be polite to repeat customers such as myself. I then emptied my bag of random items on top of things for sale and folded my bag neatly, smiled and left

Wow - what a crap thing to do.

@SmudgeButt You are a cretin, you are the type of person that makes my job so much harder be being a prick like that! We have so many people do that&walk out which is why we are told to look out for people filling their own bags, but for you to tip it out and walk out that means someone like me had to go put it all back. And if there were fridge/freezer items we have to write them off which then pushes up the prices for customers.

This week i've been coughed on a lot, hit by baskets/trolleys which left me bruised, leant over while filling the shelves, which is dangerous, what if the people who lean over knock something on my head because they won't say excuse me or wait a few seconds? I'm talked to like i'm stupid!

I do this all the time and as a result got shouted at by the manager of a food shop who assumed I was going to do a runner. I would have had no problem if she'd said "here's a basket. It's much easier for the staff if you use that rather than your own bag." or similar.

But, no. Shouting across the shop "hey you! yes you in the green top. Stop putting things in your bag you haven't paid for." It's the sort of behaviour that makes me want to upend my bag to dump everything on the floor and walk out.

I didn't - I asked what her problem was and asked if she thought she was providing a "good customer experience" and said perhaps she should try to be polite to repeat customers such as myself. I then emptied my bag of random items on top of things for sale and folded my bag neatly, smiled and left.

If the shop doesn't have baskets on wheels then sometimes it's the easiest option. Heavy baskets are awkward to carry. I've also seen elderly people use a granny trolley as a basket as it's clearly all they can manage.

Speaking as staff, not really. You take it out of the basket, scan and put it in a bag.

The way op does it you take it out scan it, put it to the side until you have scanned everything and then put it all back in the bag. Or worse, the customer takes it all out and puts it on the side, then I have to scan it, making sure nothing gets scanned twice by accident, then the customer puts it all back in the bag. Its a faff.

They had signs up in one of my local Tescos asking you not to. One of the guards told me that some people were unloading a modest amount of shopping and scanning it, while there was meat or drink in the bottom of the trolley. When the alarm went off, they would produce an item that should have have bee tagged an the guard would check the receipt clear the alarm and wave them through. Mom

You'd do the same with a basket

I know that's what you said, but I still don't see how it 'feels stealy', it's literally just goods in an open vessel, same as a basket would be. These aren't concealed goods.

I do it to make sure I can fit my shopping in the bag I carried. I kind of make a fuss making sure I take everything out when I pay

Well, they were caught as in the staff saw it happen and were doing what they could but I have no idea if they were ever arrested. They definitely did make off with some of it at least. I can't remember exactly though as it was before covid and I just turned up when it was all kicking off!

Sadly, in my local store, the staff are told not to chase after the shoplifters. They used to have security there, years ago when I first moved here, but they got rid of them.

I've seen a few shop lifters in the same shop over the years, it's my local and I am in their almost daily so most of the staff know me by name and I'll go mention to one of the staff when I've seen one. It's always at the alcohol.

The other day, I was getting my coffee before leaving the store and some people were leaving, one of the staff who I know by name, was walking behind them to the door, the children then turned round and scolded her, she then said to me that they'd been thieving but she wasn't allowed to stop them leaving. Then the checkout lady came out and told her that they'd forgotten to lift their cigarettes which they'd paid for! Karma 😂

I couldn't put it all in the bag, and then take it all out again to be scanned....then put it all back in thr bag again. 🙄

A basket is beat, and should be used as intended.

I started putting my shopping in my own bag during Covid and I still do it now, every time. Prefer that to touching the trolleys/baskets. But I never do a "big shop" so it's easy for me to do.

I didn’t say it was stealy, I said it felt stealy.
Like, I wouldn’t just pop things in my handbag - even if I knew I would pay, it would just feel wrong!

That's awful! Did they get caught?

So to all of you who are horrified at this...my local small branch of Waitrose, some people used a trolley, filled it right up with alcohol, and then opened the fire exit door, which opened straight onto the disabled parking bays where they had conveniently parked to load up.

My point is, if people are going to be thieving robbing bastards, they'll use any means, whether being sneaky, slipping a bottle of whiskey into their coat or brazen as fuck by filling up a big fuck off trolley and using the fire door.

The people using a shopping bag to carry goods to the checkout to pay for them are not doing anything remotely horrifying here.

But it means you have to get everything back out again at the counter. What's the point in that?

Just like a basket except easier to carry when heavy

Some people do it. I'd rather you didn't as we have to take it all out of the bag, scan it and put it all back in again which is time consuming and annoying if there is a queue. If you're using self service or a conveyor belt till then its probably fine. People with baskets and trollies shop lift too so it doesn't make me any more concerned than anything else.

Oh and yes I am in the UK.

And honestly I don't care if it's a bit annoying for the retailer or the staff. I'm not shoplifting I'm carrying things in the most convenient way around the shop and then paying for them all.

If we're supposed to be bringing our own bags now then this is completely logical.

Baskets are difficult to carry with a buggy, heavy and kind of unhygienic too.

Sticking to my bag!

It's literally a shopping bag though. As in, a bag meant to carry shopping in.

It's not "stealy" unless you leave the shop without paying for it.

This thread is exhausting!

So would you walk around a shop putting things in your clothes pockets? Or your handbag?
It just seems so weird to load up your own bag. I see how it’s fine, it just would feel so stealy to me 😁

"To me, the items don't belong to you, and shouldn't be in your bag, until you've paid."

But the whole concept of the 'scan and shop' that many stores have is that you pack your food as you shop, and that doesn't get paid for until the end. So it's not really any different getting everything scanned from the bag at checkouts.

Those of us who do it aren't "concealing" items in our bags but carrying them. it's easy enough to get our small number of items out and then hold the bag upside down to make sure there is nothing else in there. Like other people I often have two bags with me so that I can pack into a second bag which takes no longer than using a basket.
If I'm buying more than a few items I'd use a small trolley anyway (usually after wiping the handle) but I don't like using baskets, they're cumbersome and filthy.