to think re-scanning 32 items out of a 66 item shop isn't a sensible check?

@SerendipityJane Fine. But I always carry a back up method of payment, unless I am literally popping out for milk.

No point in having it on your phone then.

Not sure it's a Google problem. I have a suspicion it's my bank playing silly buggers. Either way it's not the fault of the poor staff who have to bear the brunt of it.

I don't pay by phone, but I have been behind people who are struggling to pay with their phone, and sometimes had to use a card. Not to carry a backup is a bit foolish.

I use self-scan always in Asda, packing as I go. I generally only get pinged for a check if I have added then removed things or had difficulty scanning an unrecognised barcode. It seems that they have to rescan a few items up to a specific value rather than a number - I have seen the checkout people keeping checking the handset to see if they have to scan more rather than knowing from the start that they have to scan 5, 10 or whatever.

Even with the random pings it is far better than having to go to a manned checkout.

Of late, much more a bugbear than the rescans are the failures of Google Pay. Quite a challenge if you don't carry a card as backup ...

In my local marks and spencers there is always a longer queue for the self scan checkouts that take cash. Two take cash and cards, three take cards only.

The tinfoil hatted among us will have noticed that some self checkouts have cameras now. And since they are using "AI" cameras for the veg weighing, it's only a matter of time ....

This is so annoying this is why I stopped using them in the end was getting really frustrating

There is a shit load of data behind the process. They know your average shop. What it contains. When and where you shop. Probably even a seasonal record of your habits.

As long as you stay within the parameters, you will be low on the list.

A few years ago I got selected for a rescan. Only what I didn't know was that of you asked for a loaf to be sliced, they print a different code for it. And I being a bit too quick had scanned the uncut load before getting it sliced.

The rescan flagged it, which puzzled me at first as I knew I had scanned it and it was the only loaf in the shop.

Got "randomly" checked for 8 weeks after that ....

I won’t use the self scan checkouts. I once took my Dd with her toddler and I had my baby dgd with me to Tesco’s and for the first time used scan and go.
We both had (very) full trolley recheck. One after the other, not at the same time.
little ones were fractious, as was I.
I have never used scan and go again and never will.
I would rather wait in a queue frankly.

I love self scan. I mostly get deliveries so going to an actual shop is an adventure. Self scan makes it more fun. Also I am genuinely surprised at how little checking goes on. I wouldn't and never have stolen but it feels like it would be incredibly easy to do so.

I usually do click & collect, but had to do a big in-store shop which I did with self scan. It was over £200 and I got selected for a FULL SHOP check - the checkout assistant couldn't believe it, I felt very sorry for him. I called the manager over to complain - absolutely nothing they could do apparently, so I abandoned the trolley, went to another shop to get what I needed for dinner and did a click & collect for the next day. They wasted my time so I wasted theirs, I was polite about it because it wasn't their fault.

I rang to complain, said all the stuff but absolutely no apology, no goodwill gesture or anything. I wanted to know if there was some kind of market on my Clubcard account (because if I sip in store I ALWAYS get some level of check) but they said it was random...

And while I was talking to the manager, someone ran out of the fire exit at the other end of the store with bags full of spirits and hopped on a bike...

Weirdly my self scan shopping hasn't been checked in Tesco for two years now. I could have made a fortune.

There is probably a vogue for bored kids pranking customers by dropping random items in their shopping for the lolz if they get caught in a rescan.

Also, if you are using the scan as you shop, and someone "accidentally" takes something out of your trolley, you still pay for it.

(Working with technology since the 70s ...)

A lot of people in these threads seem to be unlucky. I've been using Tesco self scan for about two years. My first three visits after registration were checked. After that it was almost a year before I had a random check. That needed to scan 6 items. Since then I've only had random checks twice, both for just a few items. And I usually have a trolley full of goods, not just small baskets. And I've often removed items after finding a deal. It's never been a problem.

I had a full rescan at Christmas....husband had swapped the strawberries for a better date without removing and rescanning. I asked them to take me to a till sat down watching how they repacked it all.

If I was waiting for an alcohol approval and the assistant tried to do it in the middle of someone's recheck I'd politely say to finish with that person first. Because I'd expect the same if it was my recheck. Hope I'm not jinxing myself here but I haven't had a recheck in ages. I always slightly hold my breath when I get to the till point!

Whether you refuse to use it or not, do you think it might be possible that staff are instructed to prevent a long queue forming, even if a customer speaks to them in a "teacher voice", like you did by your own admission?

i literally don't care if someone wants to buy alcohol: they can finish scanning my shop then do that.

But as i said it's moot because i won't use these any more and any shop that tries to insist doesn't get my custom. I doubt they care

I didn't use "male Karen" because I presumed the posters on this site are predominantly women.

I apologise for assuming genders here, but I still just call male Karens 'Karens'.

Last time I was selected for a scan it was 10 items that became a full scan on item 8.

I was "that" customer that requested the assistant took the trolley to a till with a belt and unloaded it nicely so it could be repacked nicely. This was a cat/pigeons moment as all the belt tills had queues and I had (very politely) made the point that I wasn't going to re-queue because of their systems. And I also politely declined their attempts to push me into a queue.

Eventually they had to use a bigger shop self service till - even then that meant jumping the queue for those. I let them unpack and i repacked.

Annoyingly my scan was 100% spot on. It really was a "random" check.

Meanwhile :

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/08/16/self-checkouts-went-too-far-admits-morrisons-boss/

A man speaking to someone in a demeaning manner would be a Karen.

Have you ever considered that maybe staff are instructed to pause scanning to approve an alcohol purchase etc to prevent a long queue?

The issue isn't the staff, it's that the supermarket cuts cost by not having enough available to deal with all these issues. That's not the staff's fault, and I highly doubt they're trying to make our lives more difficult, delay us or ruin our eclairs.

The chance of checks like these is the price you pay for using the scan as you shop option.

Stop using it. Go to a till.

We? Is there a rule about using it?

When self scanning first came in I had my shopping rescanned every shop for about 6 weeks so I gave up doing it myself! It was a big shop (5 of us) so a waste of time if I had to unload it onto the till to be checked after carefully packing as I went. I had hoped that technology would have improved after 20 years but it doesn't sound like it.