Tesco self-scan: anyone else stuck in an endless loop of service checks?

[StealthPolarBear]

I've been randomly selected for a service check on my last seven visits, randomly I'm told.
There's never been an issue and I'm spending in my usual pattern, not buying anything out of the ordinary.
I'm told it's all managed by head office, and there's no point talking to customer services.

Prior to this I used it for a couple of years successfully, selected every ten or so shops.

Me too. Used them last 3 or 4 times and each time was selected for a check. One of the times I had only bought 3 items. It’s somewhat annoying as I lose the time I thought I had saved by not going to the checkout.

Was that recently too?
And yes so annoying. The actual checking is quick but they unpack all my carefully packed bags and often you need to wait a while for an assistant to be available.

Partner has been - no longer uses them as a result. He reckons that it took longer to be checked than it did to just use a regular till or get it delivered. He works for Tesco too!

They usually just scan a random number of items for me, sometimes 5 or so. Never have to unpack everything.

No they don't unpack everything unless they find a problem but they usually want to be in every bag and box in my trolley

I get that its a pita, even I get selected but I work for a different super market that does quality checks. There seems to be a big increase in customers not scanning all their shopping. Also it is random, there is an option where everyone gets 'picked' we also have to dig around in all bags, especially at the bottom where people tend to hide steaks and joints of meat that they haven't scanned.

I get it, and I get it's nothing to do with the staff (and learned today it's also nothing to do with the individual shop). But it can't be random, even with a 50/50 chance of getting picked the odds of a run of seven would be tiny surely.

I had this after replacing a lost clubcard. Probably 10 checks in a row until it went back to every couple of months or so.

Interesting. I'll maybe give it another month then. If I can get back to normal that will be fine, but if this is it from now on it's not worth it.

It will be random unless a 'select all' is activated. We have to turn this on every 15 minutes for 5 minutes as its that bad

Ooh I had no idea. The people around me didn't seem to be getting selected though.

I've been getting this in Tesco a lot! Last Thursday I went shopping in the morning after school run with older ds to get him a meal deal for lunch and a few bits, we got picked for a check. Went in after picking youngest dc up, picked up 3 things (including two 20p bags) and got picked for a check again (5 items so all our shop! 😂). The assistant working said almost every scan as you shop was coming up for quality checks that day, there was a fault in the system?

You're not in the North East are you?

I had this happen at Waitrose. And they re-scan every damn thing each time.

In the end it freaked me out. I'd never been told that anything was amiss, so I convinced myself that somehow I was under suspicion. So I phoned their head office customer services. She checked my account (I use my Waitrose card and a 'wand') and said there was nothing on my records to give any reason for me to have been checked.

I've never been checked since. So who knows...

I emailed them and have had a reply! Apart from the overuse of 'myself' I'm impressed, he's checking with the operations team and is getting back to myself. He read my email though, it's not a stock response.

That is weird. I can always predict when I'm going to get flagged for a check, it's when I've either over or underspent compared to normal.

Good that you've had a decent response though, hope the checking stops for you.

For me in normal times it when I've packed highly efficiently. Eg when I've taken a cool bag in for the frozen stuff. That's when I get selected :)

@LizziesTwin

They usually just scan a random number of items for me, sometimes 5 or so. Never have to unpack everything.

Yep, that's what Tesco do. But Waitrose...every damn thing. And at my branch you usually have to take your stuff to a special till of shame. And the staff aren't remotely nice about it. That's why I started getting paranoid and thinking they actually thought I was thieving.

I'm a Waitrose shopper by nature and have never been selected. I think both of our stores don't even have the "unexpected item in bagging area" scales turned on if you use the self scan checkouts.

If I use Tesco I am always stopped and a dour lady slouches over to assure me it's completely random, before hurling my shopping around in its bags. Yesterday I was selected after buying a packet of chewing gum, two breakfast shakes and a bunch of bananas

Apart from the overuse of 'myself' I'm impressed, he's checking with the operations team and is getting back to myself

Love the irony.

I assure you it was intentional :o

I did genuinely forget to scan some cheese once - just not thinking straight, early in the pandemic - was checked every shop after that so I started using the normal tills instead. It finally stopped a few months later!

8 in a row here and I'm stubborn enough to see how long it lasts:) I only ever have a couple of bits as do the main shop elsewhere.

I only get checked if i buy alcohol