Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that things in your supermarket trolley aren't yours until you have paid for them

491 replies

jandymaccomesback · 08/10/2011 15:52

This morning in Tesco we kept passing a womanwith a child in a trolley. We first saw her in fruit and veg, as she peeled a banana and handed it to the child. Next time we saw her the child was eating from a packet of cheese strings. Finally we saw her opening a carton of juice. All of these things came off the shelf. DH was so enraged he wanted to tell the staff, but I persuaded him not to. To me this is wrong, even if you intend to pay,and definitely gives a message to the child that she can help herslf. AIBU?

OP posts:
IWantWine · 08/10/2011 18:59

SpectralHarrassmentPandaPop You really could not wait to apply hand cream before you purchased it?

Ok if it was from a tester!

And not having paid for something isnt a valid reason to withhold it? I mean, actually making them wait until you are out of the store?

Well I may be wrong, but... here comes another 'entitled' generation. .... :(

SpectralHarrassmentPandaPop · 08/10/2011 18:59

Just to be clear on the law as some people don't seem to know (one of whom is calling other people stupid strangely enough) - for it to be theft you have to leave the shop having concealed the item and without paying for it. So giving a child something out of a multipack and then paying for it isn't theft. Neither is it theft if you, for example, leave a shop with an orange someones toddler has stashed in your pushchair basket without you seeing. As you haven't had the intention of deceiving or depriving of payment.

peanutbutterjellytime · 08/10/2011 19:00

Og

SpectralHarrassmentPandaPop · 08/10/2011 19:01

IWantWine - I don't personally apply hand cream in shops I was just pointing out that the law is in no way confusing and so long as you pay for items before you leave the shop you aren't stealing them.

ShellyBoobs · 08/10/2011 19:02

Well I may be wrong, but... here comes another 'entitled' generation.

Exactly.

Don't want to wait until food is paid for? Easy, just eat it straight from the shelf.

Don't want to to wait until you've saved up for a holiday? Easy, just go on holiday anyway and pay for it on a credit card.

It's all the same.

TheControversialJessie · 08/10/2011 19:03

I eat food in restaurants before I pay for it. All the time!

Roseflower · 08/10/2011 19:03

"Don't want to wait until food is paid for?"

Then I imagine you must only approve of fast food resturants.
Not the the posh one's where you wait for the bill....

Roseflower · 08/10/2011 19:04

Ha x-posted Jessie!

TheControversialJessie · 08/10/2011 19:04
BoffinMum · 08/10/2011 19:05

and your point is?

SpectralHarrassmentPandaPop · 08/10/2011 19:05

How entitled of you Contraversial! I can only assum that the children of some people on here find restaurants very confusing!

WidowWadman · 08/10/2011 19:05

Theoretically a supermarket can refuse to sell you an item when you take it to the till. If you have consumed it before taking it to the till, you have assumed ownership and permanently deprived the supermarket of the goods without their explicit agreement.

TheControversialJessie · 08/10/2011 19:06

Maybe that's why the OP's DH is so grumpy and touchy lately? He hasn't had the chance to eat at a nice restaurant for ages!

WidowWadman · 08/10/2011 19:07

Spectral when eating in a restaurant and ordering my food the agreement that I will pay for the food has been made at the point of order listing explicitely what you intend to eat.

I don't know any self service restaurants where you pay after consumption on leaving the premises.

BoffinMum · 08/10/2011 19:07

Don't want to work until 70 to prop up an ageing population?
Tough.
Don't want to have to rush around the supermarket in half an hour flat because you're holding down three jobs in order to pay the mortgage?
Tough.

I could go on.

Roseflower · 08/10/2011 19:11

Actually legally you don't have to pay a resturant bill:

"If the problem is the quality of the food rather than the service and it is so poor as to be a breach of contract, again you are entitled to reduce the bill or refuse to pay. However, if you are going to do this you need to tell the waiter at the time the food is served or if you first taste it. The restaurant is entitled to have the opportunity of putting good the problem"

If you do not like making a fuss or you are with a party and do not want to upset the atmosphere, you can always pay 'under protest' and write on the back of the bill that you are doing so. This gives you the chance of claiming against the restaurant at a later date. Usually only worth it if you are with a big party.

It is a criminal offence on your part to go into a restaurant and order a meal with the intention of not paying for it. Restaurants often wrongly believe this means you have to pay for a meal whatever the circumstances. This is not the case. So long as you have a genuine reason for not paying and you leave your name and address, you have not acted in any way dishonestly"

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 08/10/2011 19:12

Excellent news Wink

Debs75 · 08/10/2011 19:13

I don't see how it is 'chavvy' at all to let your child have a quick snack or drink?

Of course there will be some people who don't pay for the food but I be t the majority of them put the empty wrappers on the checkout.

I only let dc's have a healthy snack whilst shopping, if they want a chocolate then that is usually saved as a treat for being good and a bribe to stay in the car seat. I also don't use the snack to stop a tantrum, it is more likely i know one might be coming as in ds's case so i pre-empt it.

Also is it any different from the time dd threw up in the car and she needed a new outfit. We went to tescos I picked up some clothes and changed her in the changing room then took the tags to the checkout. It was freezing cold and I wanted her out of the sicky clothes asap. No-one minded but I might of missed the masses giving me cats bums faces and thinking 'what a chav'

cleanandclothed · 08/10/2011 19:18

I agree with OP. DS knows it is not ours until we pay for it. When he was little I took snacks for him if necessary.

KeepInMind · 08/10/2011 19:19

Maybe the child was diabetic and needed carbs/sugar

Most likely not but you never know

OriginalGhoster · 08/10/2011 19:23

Maybe we could just have 'eat all you can supermarkets' and pay a flat fee to enter, cut out all that going through the tills, carrying food, cooking and dishing up malarkey. It would be a great timesaver for all those too busy and stressed to remember to make sure their dcs are not 'hypoglycemic' before they enter the shop.

duvetdayplease · 08/10/2011 19:24

Oh, what? I thought everyone did this! It's a sad day when you can't eat a bit of crappy supermarket baguette whilst wandering up and down the aisles.

TheBloodCountessBathory · 08/10/2011 19:25

Shock at this thread! Had no idea it was "chavvy" to give a child a snack on the way round the supermarket - my mum always did it with us and she's quite posh!!

I mean, an adult walking round stuffing their face sounds a bit wrong but I have NEVER seen anyone doing this. Snacks and drinks for toddlers, maybe the odd bottle of pop for an adult - really can't see the problem.

TheBloodCountessBathory · 08/10/2011 19:29

Oooh, the people who are getting on their high horses about this are really irritating me and I can't quite put my finger on why!

Confused
fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 08/10/2011 19:32

My dear mum once pinched a strawberry in a shop..I was about 5 and said "Mum, that's STEALING"..so she smacked me and told me off, would you believe.

Still, have never committed a crime, apart from giving my DD a breadstick from a pack in the supermarket once or twice

Swipe left for the next trending thread