Be honest, zero judgment - how often do you steal from supermarket self-checkouts?

[Alwaysthelastone]

My theory is, “decent, up-standing” people do it a lot more than they’d ever admit. Let’s try to stop this thread descending into judgement and criticism of people who are just answering the question honestly. Otherwise they just won’t be honest. No judgement from me, as long as we’re talking large chain supermarkets only. I’ll admit that I sometimes forget to weigh fruit & veg, get to the till and can’t be bothered going back so don’t bother paying. Occasionally in the past when money’s been tight I haven’t paid for a few of the more expensive items like laundry detergent, nappies, the odd bottle of wine. But we’re talking 3 or 4 times I year. I’m not some sort of serial shoplifter and I consider myself a decent person (although I’m sure I’ll swiftly be told I’m not on here 🤣) anyway, would be interested to hear how often the mostly upstanding, middle-class MN population really does it…

You do know that the costs of shoplifting are passed to the consumer? So although you are justifying it as taking from huge companies, its actually the regular consumer who takes the hit

It's going to be a very low percentage. Reassuring to know there are so many honest people out there.

Never intentionally. I used to work in a supermarket and know that they won't confront you over a small item shoplift, but will keep track and eventually bring criminal charges/ban you from the shop which would be mortifying. I've seen it be done. And you're right, it is rarely who you would expect.

Admittedly though I have forgotten to scan things DC have been holding or even that I've had tucked under my arm, or in the hood of the pram PLENTY of times and I don't bother going back to pay for it later. Once I accidentally took a full crate of ciders that I DID go back and pay for (I'd put them under the pram and totally forgot as I don't usually do that because it is usually full of crap)

we went through a period when, as we got to the til, I'd demand all the kids showed me their empty hands as I explained to the cashier my kids had developed a problem 😂😂

Never.

Far from being a high morals - not stealing is base line for not being a scumbag of a person!

Oh god. That trolley check thing is horrendous. I once went and the person checking accidentally scanned the original barcode instead of the discounted one then said she had to rescan my entire massive trolley of stuff. I said I’d just go through a till it would be faster and she wouldn’t do that either.

On the original post I’m sure there will have been a time I’ve failed to scan something when you do it going round the store & that there will have been times I’ve scanned something twice when I only have one. Unless it’s an expensive item I wouldn’t notice either way. Definitely I once scanned a pack of steak twice when I’d only picked up one. I only know because they did a trolley check and scanned the normal label instead of the discount one on something else so had to check everything. I wouldn’t take things on purpose as it wouldn’t occur to me to do so. If I realised after the fact I’d taken something by accident I wouldn’t be overly concerned though and I wouldn’t make any huge effort to return it.

The supermarkets give little impression they care. Last year we collected an order from Morrisons & said we didn’t want to take a couple of the substitutions. Someone at the shop messed up and returned the whole order instead of the items. I told the store when I went in a couple of days later and they said I had to call a central phone number. I called and they refused to discuss with me as it was my husbands Morrison points card/account. He then called them and they refused to speak to him as it was my credit card. At that point we just emailed the generic customer services and said this is what happened and they just apologised for the inconvenience and said they had no mechanism to take payment at this stage 🤷‍♀️

Never.

I am astonished by the OP posing this as a normal cool girl thing.

Once I realised when I was home that I hadn't scanned sausages so the next time I went I scanned a pack and then put them back.

Never

Never. However, i know my fil once got caught stealing a basic food item many years ago when he was in a dire financial situation. It makes me sad to think of how desperate he must have been as it is totally out of character.
If i was totally broke i wouldn't totally dismiss the possibility of stealing from a major supermarket. I am lucky never to have been in that situation.

Not deliberately. There was one time a few weeks ago in a tesco express where bananas were sold by the number of bananas rather than by weight, and I pressed the button to say there were 5 bananas in the bunch, which at that exact moment I believed to be true, but then realised as I put it into the bag that there were actually 6. I could have called over an assistant to help me correct it and I didn't as I was in a hurry.
Not with self-checkout but about 15 years ago I accidentally stole a big pack of loo roll - there wasn't room in the trolley for everything and I balanced the loo roll on the bars underneath the trolley where the wheels are, then forgot it was there when going through the checkout (a normal till with a checkout assistant) and didn't realise till I was putting the trolley back in the trolley park bay.

So twice in 15 years is my frequency.

i know you said no judgement, but my answer to your question as why I would not steal is not fear of being found out, but that I do judge other people for doing it. I do think it’s pretty scummy, and I don’t wish to think of myself in that way. I would judge myself for doing it.
That said, I would do it for my kids if I was desperate, but I would feel gross for it.

I don't because a) I think theft is theft and I'd never be able to look my kids in the face if I was caught and b) I obviously look like I could because I get checked probably 3 out of 4 shops so am extra careful.

I know full well that lots of people like me do though and it's generally for the thrill of it not because they can't afford it. I used to work in a big supermarket near me and it was shocking to watch people being openly dishonest and knowing we'd been told we couldn't confront them.

Never, because I’m not cut out for the criminal life and the bad karma would come get me!

Never. Guess my internal moral compass keeps me on the straight and narrow 🤷 I wouldn't judge someone stealing baby formula if they were very desperate but I'd prefer people don't steal unnecessary stuff for the sake of it, it makes all our shops more expensive.

Never.

I wouldn’t do it because I know the difference between right and wrong

Never intentionally but I’m sure there have been occasions where either myself or partner have put something in the bag whilst using self scan without the person scanning being aware

Never. Self checkouts usually weigh too.

Meh, life goes on. I could claim it was a mistake. Bigger things in life to worry about.

Literally never. Never have, never would.

OP and her warped thinking sums up modern Britain for me. There will be a lot of people like her trying to justify that what she does is widespread and ok. I think it is more widespread than years ago but there are also people like me, and most people on this thread, where it would not occur to them to steal.

OP is a thief. Used to be a dirty word but seemingly shame about these things has decreased. But not for me. Nappies buying suggests OP has kids, I feel sad for them.

Never. Never crossed my mind.

I did, over 10 years ago, buy a bikini from M&S. The top and bottom were priced separately. I also bought other items and just paid what I was asked.
When I got home I realised that the assistant had put the bikini through as a set for the price of the top alone.
I didn't go back to pay because I was going on holiday 2 days later and just didn't have time.

Never. Like others, I find they accuse me of adding extra things often enough!

Never. What are you basing your theory on?