Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Do you allow things to be eaten before paying?

532 replies

georgousbold · 21/03/2022 11:54

In a supermarket etc

When I walk around, I do open something to keep DS quiet. Works a treat.

Nobody has ever told me off or questioned me on it

Is this the done thing in the UK? Can think of a few countries it would be allowed in and nobody would say anything

But you could never do that in Japan for example, South Korea either

OP posts:
Zwellers · 21/03/2022 14:05

Favourodds that's even worse. Why can't you wait till you get home to watch your child smear blueberries around thier face.

DuggeeHugPlease · 21/03/2022 14:06

I don't understand why people are saying they wouldn't do it in case they got to the tills and were unable to pay / card machines went down etc. There are plenty of other situations where you use a service/product before paying and don't think of it as theft - eg eating in a restaurant / getting petrol (excluding pay at pump)

As for the morals of it I really don't care and wouldn't judge. I occasionally bring snacks but normally get out of the supermarket asap. I have let my 4 year old read a magazine in the trolley as we went round and I hadn't paid for that either. But I suppose I could put that back if necessary.

MrsWinters · 21/03/2022 14:09

I used to work in a supermarket and it’s pretty gross to be handed a slightly damp chewed packet. You’d also get the odd CF who would give you the surround from a packet of grapes or similar item sold by weight.
I did come across some awful parents when I worked in Tesco. One gave their kid a lecture in front of me as to why they should work hard in school because they didn’t want to end up working at a checkout like me🤣

ToiletPoster · 21/03/2022 14:13

I see it a lot so I think it has become normalised. I see it as a signifier of entitlement and lack of preparedness, personally. If your child is so young that they can't understand that they need to wait to be satisfied, they're probably also a fairly messy eater and I wouldn't want to have to handle that as a member of checkout staff.

Zilla1 · 21/03/2022 14:15

@Zwellers not sure which post you are referring to but if it was the security guards then I certainly support everyone being treated decently and within the law.

AHungryCaterpillar · 21/03/2022 14:16

@Pyri

The people that bring snacks - aren’t you worried the staff will see your child eating something then you putting the empty wrapper / packet / skin back in yiur bag and thinking you’d nicked it?!
This happened to my mum once, we stopped at a corner shop before going into Morrisons and got my dd some crisps, as we got to the till she had finished them so my mum put the packet into her bag, the woman at checkout then loudly said “aren’t you going to pay for those?!” The only one that was embarrassed in the end was the woman when I pulled out the receipt.

Now that shops charge for bags and encourage you not to use them it’s something that happens often anyway, I was in Lidl and had a toy on my pram and the woman asked me to put it down so she could scan it, it was from sainsburys 🙄 so no I wouldn’t be embarrassed thinking they thought I nicked it.

Lipsandlashes · 21/03/2022 14:17

I think it's really bad manners. I never felt the need to do it with either of my children.
I once saw a couple feeding their kids a bag of the hot rotisserie chicken walking around Tesco. I thought that really took the biscuit.

Original poster
georgousbold · 21/03/2022 14:19

@Pyri

The people that bring snacks - aren’t you worried the staff will see your child eating something then you putting the empty wrapper / packet / skin back in yiur bag and thinking you’d nicked it?!

No, it goes in the bottom of the trolley until I've paid. Then is emptied out into a bag when I get into the car/put into a bin

OP posts:
Blimecory · 21/03/2022 14:19

It’s actually illegal under section 6 of the Theft Act 1968.
www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/18766027.supermarket-habit-illegal-uk/

Franklin12 · 21/03/2022 14:26

Clearly some people cannot stop themselves from eating and drinking continually. Yes, I did work at a supermarket checkout during lockdown for a few months. Its really manky and disrespectful to the staff. What do you expected them to say btw - I am not touching that scummy pack that has been chewed by your child?

Even on this thread, extremely thirsty, surely better than a screaming child. Its all about them.

It was my pet hate. Lockdown was meant to be limited visits to supermarkets, one person at a time, not the usual families coming en masse.

I have my tin hat at ready because people will come on now saying they dont drive, they dont trust partner to look at a list at come back with what is on it. Bit like flying - people dont want to pay for a seat together but fully expect to actually sit together. Its as though they cannot do anything without that person glued to their side.

We actually did fly last year and sat seperately. For a short flight who minds. However thanks to the loud family who held up our flight whilst they argued with the crew that they should be sitting together and when that didnt work stated that the check in agent told them the cabin crew would ask people to move - yeah right....

Pyri · 21/03/2022 14:26

Yes but @AHungryCaterpillar, you can only pull out the receipt if you’ve just bought it. If I had an oaty bar or something for my toddler I could never prove I’d bought it from home, seems easier to just open the box, give them one and then pay for the rest

Or maybe I should bring an MN approved snack, like hummus on brown bread sandwich

SartresSoul · 21/03/2022 14:28

Mum definitely did it with my brother and I when we were young, I remember eating a selection of cheeses every week as we walked around to keep us quiet. I don’t let my DC personally, we have to pay before they eat.

DontbesuchanarseGlenda · 21/03/2022 14:29

@Mariposista

No way, and I hate seeing it. The only reason I can possibly imagine being ok with it would be in the case of a diabetic who has got caught short, and it's a case of eat NOW or end up getting into quite serious trouble. But for regular folk, just wait.
Yep, agree with this.
JesusSufferingFuck22 · 21/03/2022 14:29

@NellWilsonsWhiteHair

I'd feel a bit weird doing it I think. I used to give toddler DS the nose of a baguette - I think that felt like fair game because it was poking out of the packet anyway! But would stop short of actually opening something.

The fact you've never been challenged on it clearly means it's fine and normal though!

My DH used to do this when our kids were wee. Kept them and DH quite and staved off meltdowns. DH used to open bottles of coke and the like. I'm not brave enoughBlushSmile
Franklin12 · 21/03/2022 14:29

That magazine comment reminds me. I was handed a magazine at check out potenitally to put back. CF said they had decided not to buy it after all! The child had clearly thumbed it and it couldnt be sold. Child kicked off and parent told her she had already said she couldnt have it...

AHungryCaterpillar · 21/03/2022 14:30

@Pyri

Yes but *@AHungryCaterpillar*, you can only pull out the receipt if you’ve just bought it. If I had an oaty bar or something for my toddler I could never prove I’d bought it from home, seems easier to just open the box, give them one and then pay for the rest

Or maybe I should bring an MN approved snack, like hummus on brown bread sandwich

I would still tell them it was from somewhere else the woman in Lidl didn’t ask for a receipt she was fine when I said it wasn’t from there.
tobleroneORterryschocO · 21/03/2022 14:31

@Donra

No I would never give my child something that doesn’t belong to me. It isn’t my property until we’ve paid. But we’d never walk around eating something in public anyway, it’s trashy.
Oh please 😂 "its trashy" eating in public ? Get a grip. Take it you don't go out to restaurants/then or fast food chains..HmmLOL
Susu49 · 21/03/2022 14:32

No. Its stealing.

If your child needs snacks to keep them quiet in the shop, then you take the snacks with you when you leave the house.

At the very least, buy something at the tobacco counter before you start the shop.

Lightningrain · 21/03/2022 14:33

No, I always think it’s a bit cheeky when I see others doing it.

Surely better for a child to be taught to wait half an hour until things have been paid for before they can have them unless it’s for medical reasons (diabetic for example).

I don’t remember ever seeing this happen when I was a child so it seems to be a more recent thing. Then again I’m sure snacking wasn’t such a common thing back then either. I don’t recall anyone’s parents carrying snacks around for children like they do now.

MrsPsmalls · 21/03/2022 14:35

jamesclear.com/delayed-gratification
Hope the link works. Really important to teach your children the skill of deferred gratification and this skill alone is a big marker for the future success of a child.

Flubber88 · 21/03/2022 14:35

@icedancerlenny

No. What sort of example does this set? It’s disgusting and it’s disrespectful to the supermarket staff.
this
Franklin12 · 21/03/2022 14:39

Followed by parents who allow their kids to sit in the trolley. Its scummy. Having seen the aftermath of a child that fell face first onto the supermarket floor and an ambulance called.

PLEASE dont do it. I am sure you have your eyes on your child all the time whilst doing your shopping (you dont - you are concentrating on something else).

A colleague did try and request to a parent not to allow their kids to stand in the trolley. Its one of the top 5 complaints from other shoppers as well. Needless to say the Manager was called as the women complained and said it was up to her to allow her child in the trolley and didnt they want her business. We were then told to ignore. any further incidents. This was a supermarket who bends over backwards for their customers. What did surprise me were people who had been banned from the store, for being very rude or being caught missing out items on the self service check out. They would complain to Head Office and after say 1 month were allowed back. How nice for the staff!

Franklin12 · 21/03/2022 14:41

No wonder we have an obesity problem in the UK if people cannot even go around a supermarket without stuffing themselves or their kids with food on demand .

grapewines · 21/03/2022 14:41

No, I wouldn't, no less because the child would maybe come to expect it then. But then we were never allowed anything from the shop until it was paid for so that's probably why I feel that way.

VampireMoney · 21/03/2022 14:41

Yes. I normally get a multipack of sausage rolls and let them have one.