To feel really embarassed?

I think YABU wanting to complain. You don't know they were definitely laughing at you. I imagine you felt embarrassed and flustered at what happened and felt like everyone was staring and laughing at you when in reality they weren't.

Honestly OP, this isn't a big deal. Forget it and move on.

You also gave them a whole load of extra work to do, sorting out your groceries. Some of it may have had to be binned, if it was frozen/refridgerated. Lidl staff are on high performance targets all the time, and you probably knocked them back significantly with your mistake. It was only a mistake but it impacted other people, who reacted. You really need to take this on the chin and be more prepared. Do you have a car charger or power bank if you take public transport? Your phone should never need to run flat.

As if the shop workers care that your card got declined. They must see it 10 times a day.

Please don't report them. There's no need to take your low self esteem issues out on minimum wage workers.

Poor shop workers getting moaned at for being ‘unprofessional’. I mean, c’monnn…. It’s not really a profession, is it? There’s no formal qualifying. Why accuse a Lidl worker of lack of professionalism? Lack of politeness or decency, or kindness, that’s another thing.

Maybe they were smiling reassuringly to make you feel less embarrassed? Of course, this is mumsnet where a smile is a ‘smirk’ a firm voice is being ‘screamed at in my face’ two people chatting at the school gates is a ‘clique’ and no-one is ever quite sure if they’ve been offended and need to ask strangers on the internet if they have! Go ahead and report it…maybe do the MN thing and ‘log it’ with 101 just so, if it happens again, ‘it’s on file’ 👍

This. Seriously declined cards are ten a penny. . I had a part time job in a takeaway where there were regular customers. Once a customer who came in weekly ordered and paid. Then said to me " oh I brought the new card after my old one declined last week"

Now apparently id served her when it happened. I didn't even remember it happen it's so common place

My Google wallet often has the wrong card up to scan on phone and it declined. I look, sigh then rescan making sure I'm using correct card

These are the little annoyances in life No big deal

Aren’t you lovely.

Rubbish.

It may have been the 10th time that person had to deal with the same issue so it may have been an ‘in joke’ but still, they should be professional and should not be shouting across about a private matter. It’s easy in hindsight but you should have pulled them up in it at that time( I’d rather you didn’t broadcast my card decline to the shop) but these things are so common in retail. My card gets declined sometimes because the chip is faulty. The staff don’t bat an eyelid.

You've got nothing to be embarrassed about, so try to adjust your thinking.

You're stressed, try to help yourself with that rather than giving this headspace.

Focusing on grievances won't help you.

Supermarket work is not a profession.
The staff aren’t ‘professional’ because it’s not a career.

This seems mad - so if you’d ordered a coffee and payment declined, the staff would have to throw away the coffee because you didn’t check before ordering it if you could afford it? What about if you’re somewhere where you pay after eating or drinking, do you check then before tucking in?

If you explained what had happened, you’d frozen the card, forgotten and that you’d allowed your phone battery to go flat, you couldn’t unfreeze it, the cashier might have smirked at that, the sequence of events, rather than thinking you had no money. If he was reacting to that he probably wasn’t having a dig anymore than I am. We all have days like that. Was his smirk possibly an attempt at a wry smile?

Lidl checkout staff will see plenty cards declined daily, it's really not something that unusual that it would cause laughter

It's happened to me a few times, without any obvious reason. Luckily I carry a debit and credit card so I can just produce another. Laughter nothing to do with it at all. Maybe the member of staff kept getting interrupted in his work and had been grousing about it. I know that's a bit random but there are a million reasons why something might raise a smile but not for the reason you think.

All anyone thinks when they see this happening is 'God I remember when that happened to me because (insert reason)' and that's it. Reasons off the top of my head. New card not activated properly, card temp frozen by bank or customer, some trigger on banks system as possible fraud, some auto payments taken double payments leaving lower funds, some direct debit going out early leaving low funds, joint account and other person buying something, some credit not clearing or being paid on time. The list is long and it doesn't reflect on your honesty or ability to pay for your shopping and as it is so common nobody gives it a second thought after the event. Time to move on.

Honestly I think you care too much what other people think.

And also some people on this thread do too.

This is really not an embarrassing situation. Perhaps this experience might actually help you not be so bothered about other people's judgement.

Who are these people? Who cares. We'll all be dead one day, nothing matters 🙃

Oh! My card gets declined all the time. Like, every week.

Coz I manage my money in a particular way where I have a separate debit card that I take out with me each day that has a budget allocated to it to cover my impulse buys (chocolate bars etc).

I don't look at the balance, I just go to the till with my chocolate bar and hope it authorises. If it doesn't, I know I have spent my allowance and I just abandon the purchase and walk out.

Sometimes it even happens as I'm ordering a coffee.

I'm not embarrassed? I just say oh I've spent my budget, if I need to say something 🤷‍♀️ I dont care

It’s happened to most of us at some point. I just ask if they’ll keep the shop until I go and get a different source of payment. If your phone has died, you could ask for a charger? I’m sure local Sainsbury’s lend them to people in that situation-must happen all the time.

No. One. Cares.

Truly. Just forget it.

Lidl checkout staff will see plenty cards declined daily, it's really not something that unusual that it would cause laughter.

And, as an adult, these things happen.

Do they make us feel like shit and cringe for days to come (or years!)! OMG!! Yes they do!!

But what else do you expect to keep you up in 20 years time, when you lay in bed, all comfy, warm, just nodding off and THEN THIS MEMORY!! MWAH HA HA!!

Honestly, the staff wont even recognise you next week!

You'll be ok xx

What are you hoping to achieve with the complaint? Disciplinary action against the employees? A voucher for your next shop? Because it’s unlikely to result in either. It’ll be a “he said, she said” scenario as you cannot prove they were laughing at you. Move on. Life is going to get tougher than this.