Tesco to check all customers' receipts when they leave store to tackle thefts

[suk44]

I know this is just one store they've introduced this policy, but if they rolled it out to others would it put you off shopping there?

www.mirror.co.uk/money/tesco-to-check-customers-receipts-25191701

Would they actually check everything against the receipt, if not it would seem a bit pointless, and they would have to stop everyone otherwise they might get into hot water if they start stopping only individual shoppers?

On one hand the company must be worried about levels of shoplifting, and you do see other things like security tags and cameras at self service, which I think is fair enough especially as shoplifting must go up during recessions and economically unstable times like now etc. On the other hand, how would this work in the run up to Christmas when it's mad busy, people are queuing down the aisles and trolleys piled high with goods?

And does this mean it's now policy that you have to have a receipt? A lot of shops don't even give them out automatically.

Costco won't even sell to you unless you're a member. The membership agreement probably gives them the authority to do checks.

@Kendodd

This is terrible. I'm not suggesting it's ok to steal, not at all, but people would be stealing food. Fair enough if you're that TV chef bloke and, well, no idea why he would be stealing cheese. I'm really uncomfortable about homeless people or parents with no money getting a criminal record for stealing food to eat. The poverty in the UK is absolutely shameful.

I agree that food poverty is a massive issue and is shameful. But a huge amount of theft is NOT food, it's bottles of whisky, electric toothbrushes, not life's essentials...

@Twillow not forgetting the vast quantities of meat, coffee, cheese, boxes of chocolates and other high ticket, desirable food items that get hawked around to get money for a bag of whatever drugs the thief is taking at the time

@Tilltheend99

Once they have caught or scared away whoever the prolific shopper is they will probably stop. Stop clutching your peals.

If I take offence to anything it’s having to see my own face on cctv when checking out in an ASDA

I was in a Tesco last week that had the cctv at the self service till. I got distracted by my eyebrows. I won’t be shopping in Tesco if they start checking receipts and bags. Ive been followed around multiple shops by security guards, I can see myself getting targeted by the bag checkers every single time.

www.retailresearch.org/shoplifters.html for all of you thinking that it's the poor 'stealing to feed their children'

@Twillow @DaphneDeloresMoorhead

AFuturisticalSound, just because people have widely accepted a company policy, it doesn't automatically follow that it can be legally enforced. If someone was inclined to challenge the legality then I do wonder whether Tesco could insist.
A shop doesn't necessarily have to grant you entry but I'm not sure they can prevent you from leaving.

I would also shop elsewhere. I wouldn't want to spend the time re packing as I often am under time pressure and just want to nip in and out quickly. I also don't fancy shopping in a place where the default is to treat all customers as if we are criminals.

If you're the sort of person thinking that you'll tell the security guard in your haughty tone that searching you / your bags could potentially be illegal I am willing to bet my house that you're not the sort of person who security are interested in searching

I would definately shop elsewhere. It's not uncommon for cashiers to make mistakes and I would be too worried about them finding an item that didn't scan.

Smyths do it too. Just like Smyths, Tesco won’t bother! Tesco don’t even give you a receipt half the time!

Who would have thought that getting rid of ten mostly women part time employees and a supervisor on tills in favour of one supervisor and a security guard might actually end up costing them money?

What were the chances of that happening?

Oh it’s like trago mills. Super

It would be annoying if I was rushing to pick the kids up from school or something but people stealing things at the self service tills really annoy me. They are putting the prices up for everybody when they pretend their expensive fruit is a banana or deliberately don't scan an item. I think they should just do away with self service tills instead of holding everybody up by going through their shopping.

Would it be like the random spot checks they do with self service checkouts?

I just noticed on the customer sign in the Rotherham store (from the news article):

"Checking your receipt should only take a few seconds of your time and will never negatively impact a genuine customer"

So I guess if any innocent shopper if stopped for more than a "few seconds" they might want to quote that part back to them! I can't see how they can check even one bag of goods in just a few seconds.. it sounds like they'll just be asking to see that you actually have a receipt if it appears you've bought stuff there, although i'm not sure how that would stop someone stealing and putting it in the bag with the rest of their shopping? The only way they could do that is actually checking through all the shopping.. which is going take more than seconds. If they only do the full check on a section of shoppers then how do they decide who to check? I wouldn't like to be the person having to do that all day.

I wouldn’t mind if they re-packed my shopping for me again afterwards.

Wont be happy to watch the last taxi disappear off the rank and then a half hour wait for another one because my shopping has to be rifled through.

I was jostled by someone running out of the store with a bottle of whisky as i was leaving at the same time as he was doing his nick and run. Cant see how checking receipts is going to stop nick and run.

Ink/toner whatever they use... they must use something unless words just appear on a piece of paper magically..

It’s heat printed paper like you get in fax machines. The paper has something on it that turns black when hot. The little metal line the paper runs through gets hot and kind of imprints it on. There’s no ink.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_paper

Lots of shops do this around here, Costo does it virtually everytime, its fine. They don’t compare every item on the receipt, they generally check the list of items generally matches the amount of stuff in your bags as a quick visual check.

I don’t mind the random spot checks at self service but I’d be annoyed if I’m walking out with bags and was stopped and someone went through my bags. Surely it will also cause bottle necks round the doors?

DH is friends with the manager of our local Tesco. In the last couple of weeks twice DH has seen someone walk out of the door with a full trolly unpaid. Both times the family waited until the security guard was on his rounds and not at the door.

Spoke to his mate about it and was told that someone does or tries to do that every single day. Some they catch, others they see after the fact on the CCTV.

Yeah they’re probably doing this now that bills and prices are going up and some people will end up being so desperate that they will end up shoplifting…