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Customer demands to charge her phone at supermarket

280 replies

Jdot · 10/09/2025 06:54

She came into the supermarket wanted to pay for her shopping on Apple Pay but her phone is dead. I saw her talking on the phone in the store.

Supermarkets and other places that people pay for products and services - restaurants, retailers, leisure places etc are NOT responsible for people’s mobile batteries and them not carrying their physical cards on them.

OP posts:
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Merida46 · 14/09/2025 15:20

Back up phone chargers are available for purchase in many places. She should try carrying one and not blaming everybody else for her stupidity.

Emmz1510 · 14/09/2025 13:36

I don’t really see how this is a problem, as long as there is a charger available and somewhere to charge the phone. Not something I do, but loads of people rely on their phones for paying for stuff and it’s also really easy to get caught short with no charge! Just because you saw her talking on the phone doesn’t mean much. Perhaps she doesn’t realise she was running down the rest of her battery. Yes it’s her responsibility to have money to pay for stuff, but what’s the alternative? You can either tell her no, she’ll have leave, you’ve lost a customer and you have to delete the items rung up and put her stuff away. Or you can let her charge her phone for five minutes and pay for her items.

tommyhoundmum · 13/09/2025 20:33

LittleBearPad · 13/09/2025 15:56

You genuinely think there wkll be an inundation of chancers looking to save pennies on charging their phones. Really?

Yes, once the word got around, people would turn up to charge their phones. Especially if you live in a large town or city where there are many homeless people.

SerendipityJane · 13/09/2025 16:51

LittleBearPad · 13/09/2025 15:56

You genuinely think there wkll be an inundation of chancers looking to save pennies on charging their phones. Really?

The Duke of Westminster didn't get his fortune from getting other people to charge his mobile tech.

LittleBearPad · 13/09/2025 15:56

SemiRetiredLoveGoddeess · 11/09/2025 21:42

Yes a Power Bank is a good idea.

As she has an Apple phone I'm sure she could afford one. Around £20 for a basic good brand.

Any decent Supermarket will help you in an emergency. But l don't blame them for not letting people charge mobile phones.

They would be inundated by chancers and God knows who else.

This woman seems to think to the World revolves around her. Really on the increase these days.

Best Wishes from

A poor G7 Moto Owner

It is six and a half years old and still going

📱☎️📞

Also still have a land line as well.
X

You genuinely think there wkll be an inundation of chancers looking to save pennies on charging their phones. Really?

bagginsatbagend · 13/09/2025 11:36

AngelicKaty · 10/09/2025 10:22

You wouldn't cancel your cards? So you've set a PIN for your SIM then?

Yes you have a pin for using your cards on your phone or it has to use FaceID to use it. My husband used my phone to pay for fuel, I unlocked the wallet on my phone but there was an issue with a customer so it took ages to for him to get near the front. Thankfully he knows my code so he was able to unlock the wallet again. But otherwise I’d have to do it in order to pay

Ragingoverlife · 13/09/2025 06:32

I remember having to do this. My car charger had broken and I hadnt realised the phone had stopped charging. I had my card on me but needed to transfer money over, and I came in to buy a charger before the phone died. Unfortunately I was too late and had to ask someone working in a shop within Asda hypermarket. That bit of kindness in a stressful situation made a difference.

Beeinalily · 12/09/2025 10:46

The rudeness would bother me a lot more than someone asking to charge their phone, but always make sure to have some cash on me just in case - I think it's crazy not to.

Callipygion · 12/09/2025 09:01

opencecilgee · 12/09/2025 07:20

I was behind someone in M&S who couldn’t pay. They bagged up her shopping and put it aside for her to return later and pay

simple solution

the customer could pop home and charge. Or find a charging point

This! And they could pop off back to their car and do it in there (like I’ve known customers in our store have done). I’m pretty sure most will have driven there.

I would be wary of lending anyone a charger in case of being blamed for wrecking their phone with it. There’s always one. And, as they say, no good deed goes unpunished.

myglowupera · 12/09/2025 08:38

Jdot · 10/09/2025 07:12

She was rude. Self entitlement achieves nothing

She was probably flustered and stressed. Sometimes people come across as rude when really they’re just in a panic.

I think they should have helped her.

Serpentstooth · 12/09/2025 08:10

You sound personally affronted OP. Things happen, people make mistakes, give her ten minutes of electricity. Whatever is wrong with you? Always a joy to make someone's life more difficult when it would cost nothing to make it easier.

Askingforafriendtoday · 12/09/2025 08:04

Kittycat1969 · 11/09/2025 19:45

I work in a supermarket and in situations like that we would charge their phones enough for them to be able to pay. The amount of electricity it would use is minimal and we’re not all miserable like you! Life happens and things you can do to make it easier should be done. It’s no skin off your nose and doesn’t even effect you

Very well said! Thank goodness sensible people like you work there!

opencecilgee · 12/09/2025 07:20

I was behind someone in M&S who couldn’t pay. They bagged up her shopping and put it aside for her to return later and pay

simple solution

the customer could pop home and charge. Or find a charging point

Callipygion · 11/09/2025 22:19

Ratafia · 11/09/2025 21:41

She wouldn't necessarily have needed to. Some supermarkets keep chargers available, or staff may be prepared to lend.

Really? I work in one, and we don’t have them, nor have I seen a staff member with one of their own.

Random2107 · 11/09/2025 21:47

Buddrinker84 · 10/09/2025 07:03

Unless they were really rude, then the safety implications of a woman on her own without phone charge for the journey home would be more concerning for me. A little compassion doesn't hurt and phone batteries get zapped with how much the are used in one day for shopping apps, loyalty cards or the 20 million school platforms. You don't know what that phone call was for.

Agree with so many other replies on this. This is what is wrong with society - we can’t possibly fathom this person was just an entitled arse and now there is ‘safety implications’. Come on, how did the human race survive before phones! Yes plenty of apps can drain our phones but we don’t need them, if you’re going to be reliant on your phone, maybe bear this in mind beforehand. But no…it’s now the supermarket and staffs fault.

SemiRetiredLoveGoddeess · 11/09/2025 21:42

Zanatdy · 10/09/2025 07:10

Jeez, many of us managed for many years before mobile phones. Pretty sure she would have got home ok. I always carry a card with me for this reason, but I always carry a power bank too.

Yes a Power Bank is a good idea.

As she has an Apple phone I'm sure she could afford one. Around £20 for a basic good brand.

Any decent Supermarket will help you in an emergency. But l don't blame them for not letting people charge mobile phones.

They would be inundated by chancers and God knows who else.

This woman seems to think to the World revolves around her. Really on the increase these days.

Best Wishes from

A poor G7 Moto Owner

It is six and a half years old and still going

📱☎️📞

Also still have a land line as well.
X

Ratafia · 11/09/2025 21:41

Callipygion · 11/09/2025 21:35

Oh, she had a charging cable and plug on her did she?

She wouldn't necessarily have needed to. Some supermarkets keep chargers available, or staff may be prepared to lend.

Callipygion · 11/09/2025 21:35

Oh, she had a charging cable and plug on her did she?

Cakeandcardio · 11/09/2025 20:09

Meh. I worked on customer service years ago. If this had happened I would have given them a sneaky charge. What does it matter really?
But then I used to always make sure the customer took advantage of Buy One Get One Free offers etc. I am not one to work for a big company who are raking in massive profits and think that I am important 😅

TheOchreCrow · 11/09/2025 20:02

SimoneHere · 10/09/2025 07:14

It costs less than a penny to charge a phone. I’m sure the store will have made more than that in profit.

Who told you that

Kittycat1969 · 11/09/2025 19:45

Jdot · 10/09/2025 06:54

She came into the supermarket wanted to pay for her shopping on Apple Pay but her phone is dead. I saw her talking on the phone in the store.

Supermarkets and other places that people pay for products and services - restaurants, retailers, leisure places etc are NOT responsible for people’s mobile batteries and them not carrying their physical cards on them.

I work in a supermarket and in situations like that we would charge their phones enough for them to be able to pay. The amount of electricity it would use is minimal and we’re not all miserable like you! Life happens and things you can do to make it easier should be done. It’s no skin off your nose and doesn’t even effect you

CommonAsMucklowe · 11/09/2025 19:37

I hope she had her own charger? Otherwise hard no.

Askingforafriendtoday · 11/09/2025 19:30

This

Askingforafriendtoday · 11/09/2025 19:29

watchingplanesicantafford · 10/09/2025 07:07

She wanted to pay for her shopping, surely she could have charged her phone for five minutes. It would have used the shops electric but how does that compare to the cost of someone having to stop what they were doing to deal with an abandoned trolley of food?

This

RawBloomers · 11/09/2025 19:22

The being rude would sap all my sympathy. But if I were working in a store and a customer couldn’t pay because their phone had died, I’d certainly offer them 10 minutes on a charger if we had one easily available without disrupting others.

The idea that it’s a safety issue to not have a phone on your way home is bonkers. But it’s certainly more inconvenient now to not have a working phone on you than it was 30 years ago because there are virtually no pay phones around anymore.

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