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.

I've not been checked for a long time, so know it's looming.
I do get checked every time without fail if I remove something from the basket for whatever reason. A complete PITA when you take your 6 year old who likes to scan and then he accidentally scans things 3 times instead of once. If I'm in a rush, I end up buying 3 of them to save time in being checked!

DH swears that if he removes something from the scanner he will definitely get checked.

I agree with @BestIsWest is you remove something from the basket you get checked so I try and avoid that. I also seem to get checked if it’s a much bigger or smaller shop than normal.

I have never been checked! Didn't even know it was a thing!! Now I'm paranoid! Haha

I had a lot in a row when I started spending more there and also on 1 occasion I forgot to scan 1 item, they then scanned my whole trolley and ie as checked for the following 10 visits. I get a check every 4/5 visits but I find busy times I get more frayed to checks so a Saturday I almost always have a check. Friday morning I don’t

I’ve had this recently with asda. They used to do 10 items but now it’s every single item. I had a massive shop and was going to bag in the car but the women shoved it all on a tiny counter then dropped it all back in the trolley. I was less than impressed!!!

Yes it happened to me a lot in Tesco and Asda. I'm ultra careful but it's still nerve wracking when they're checking it.

What actually happens if you miss something?

Haven't experienced this. I did get selected for a check the other day, but I think it was probably the first time in over a year so I thought it was fair enough.

@ILoveFlumps

I've not been checked for a long time, so know it's looming. I do get checked every time without fail if I remove something from the basket for whatever reason. A complete PITA when you take your 6 year old who likes to scan and then he accidentally scans things 3 times instead of once. If I'm in a rush, I end up buying 3 of them to save time in being checked!

Ooh I wonder if that's it. I do often remove stuff. I have to go today so will be really careful, not remove anything and see what happens.

@LagneyandCasey

Yes it happened to me a lot in Tesco and Asda. I'm ultra careful but it's still nerve wracking when they're checking it.

What actually happens if you miss something?

I forgot to scan a bar of cooking chocolate once. They checked my whole trolley which was a pain. Once they'd established that was the only thing they just added it on to my shop. Presumably if it had been something higher value or if I'd tried to conceal it it would have been different.

Just to be clear, I was buying two and forgot to press the thing to add more (was in asda where you can do that) so onlt one was on my list.

I’ve not been stopped for a while, but at one time it seemed like I was stopped every time. I happened to scan 3 items the same 4 times and as they couldn’t find the item doing the check on 6 items, they had to scan the whole shopping trolley. After that I seemed to get stopped every week for a full scan. I complained and said if it happened the next week, I would just leave shopping. It then stopped.

@saraclara

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...

Last time I was rescanned at Waitrose (fairly recently) they only did a few items.

Prior to that I hadn't been rescanned for such a long time I can't remember. I shop there a lot so don't know if their algorithm trusts you after a while?

I once scanned one bag of potatoes three times while moving 2 more into trolley (if you see what I mean) so I wanted 3 x bags new potatoes and that is what I thought I had scanned. Failed to notice that one was 'miniature' new potatoes and the others were normal ones but had been put in the same crate, price difference of about 10p. Inevitably they were picked out with the 'scan 6 items' thing. Then made to feel like a criminal and have been checked every time since ...

If you were selected once for a random check and they found an item you didn't scan, you will be automatically service checked for the next three visits. That's what I was told at Sainsbury's.

Once I grabbed a pack of cereal hurriedly just before reaching the till and completely missed scanning it. And sod's law, that was the day I was "randomly" selected for a check and the cereal box was the first thing checked Mortifying!

So yes I was checked and recheked for what felt like every time I visited Sainsburys. Sounded exasperated on what felt like the 100th check; that's when the cashier mentioned this.

I have only just started using it at Tesco and so far have been checked twice out of two visits.

I assumed it was because I was a newbie but I‘ll be interested to see if it continues. He didn’t half dig around as well, all my neatly packed stuff

(I was actually more concerned that he took his mask off to talk to me and was soooo close)

I once accidentally scanned only one of the two balls of mozzarella I had bought which came up on the 5 item check which flagged a full trolley check.

After that, I used to get checked constantly. Once they decided on a random full trolley check and the security guard came over and looked on and seemed really disappointed I had not stolen anything.

Well he called myself. Am impressed by the fact they do actually read and respond.
He said it had only been three of my last four visits (I strongly disagree) , and tried to blind me with stats, that my overall check % was way lower than usual in general. He also complimented me on my pristine check record! Anyway I have confirmed there's nothing on my record marking me as a dodgy character and actually I was wrong before, with loads of people using it, sone will find they have a run of seven, eight or even more. I must just be it.
I need to pop in tonight so will report back.

I can predict when I'll be checked.

1. If I take too long scanning the first item or take too long after scanning the last item before paying (basically when I slope off to browse at non-food)
2. If I buy single high price items
3. If I buy too many high multiples (I buy cupboard staples by the month so high numbers of baked beans for example)

But I loath conveyor belt stress and subsequent bag packing so much that it's worth the occasional rummage from a sour faced employee to verify I'm not a thief.

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 not my experience of Waitrose at all! Our Waitrose hasn't scanned a whole shop for at least the last 2 years. Now, when you're flagged, they are given a target amount (relative to what your total shop says you 'should' have spent) and they scan anywhere from 2 to 8 items to come to a certain amount.

I go to my Waitrose most days, so know most of the Quick Check staff to say hello to, and one of them explained how they were changing the system from scanning whole shops to just a few items a couple of years ago.

I guess I get a re-check maybe once in every 100 shops or so? (Or once every few months?) My record is having two items in my bag (I'm never doing a 'big' shop - I'm a daily shopper because that works better for us) and they only had to scan one item out of the two, but I'm dying to get rescanned with just one thing in my bag... it'll happen one day

PS - the staff are usually really polite and friendly.

OK today I made a point of not putting anything back even when I wanted to, and.... No check!

I was going to ask if you removed anything from the basket. That 100% ALWAYS ends up with a check in Tesco.

Asda always checks me when I have alcohol usually because I am buying it along with something random like a toilet brush and a birthday card

I used self scan today accidently scanned in 2 bunches of Sunflowers (Reduced to £1.40 and not even bloomed) so removed one and didn't get checked. I did get checked the previous 2 times though.

I swear I get checked every time I shop with DH though!

I haven't chanhed my habits though. I must have been removing stuff in the years I was rarely checked