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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be raging at being accused of thievery by Tesco?

89 replies

BlessYouToo · 25/11/2011 09:51

Rushed round Tesco yesterday after school as DD was not feeling well and I had left her sitting in the car. Found a self service till empty and quickly scanned my items. Made the payment by debit card and stood waiting for my receipt to come out of the till.

It did'nt, then the till screen went blank. So I called over a till assistant and said I needed a receipt. She checked her computer and said that the payment could not have gone through as it was not showing on her machine. I insisted that the payment on the chip and pin went through fine but she would not have it. She called over the checkout manager who went out to the back office to check the 'mainframe' computer.

I was stood there at the tills for over 20 minutes at this point. Whilst waiting for the checkout manager to come back, I said to the till supervisor that I needed to get going because my DD was in the car and could they please leave my receipt at customer services and I would pick it up later. She puts a hand on my trolley to prevent me from leaving with it (cue blood boiling) and says that I would have to wait!

Anyway the checkout manager comes back and says that I could not have put the items through the till as it is not showing Hmm and I would have to put them through again and pay for them this time Shock.

I was rather irate at this point and dumped the trolley there and walked out. I get home and ring my bank and yes, the amount of money has been taken out of my bank but will not show on my statement until Monday. So I came out of Tesco accused of trying to walk out with items I had not put through the till and had not paid for although I have paid for them after all and not got them!

There was a massive queue all listening in to this and I was mortified. I have shopped there for over 6 years week in, week out. I am bloody furious. OK there was a problem with their computers which can't be helped but don't treat your bloody customers like scum!

AIBU to go apeshit in there on Monday (when I can print out my bank statement)?

OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 25/11/2011 11:14

Of course she didn't manufacture the computer breakdown, but that doesn't mean (in Tesco's eyes) that she's not going to take advantage of it.

PelvicF1oorOfSteel · 25/11/2011 11:22

If the OP had needed the shopping so desperately her family wouldn't eat without it, or she had not had enough money to pay again then she would have waited for them to call the bank and confirm payment so that's not really a valid argument for Tesco having to give her goods which she might or might not have paid for.

I have had the coin jam problem, I had to pay by card and return for a refund once the till was cashed up and the amount I'd put in was verified. I did hang around long enough to make sure it was all properly recorded so the customer service staff would be able to provide my refund, even if the people who witnessed the event weren't working when I came back. OP it doesn't sound like you bothered to do this so you'll just have to hope the staff did that for you.

Dartfordmummy · 25/11/2011 11:23

Why did you go to Tesco and leave your poorly DD in the car. Surely if she was ill you'd take her home not make her wait in the car whilst you do your shopping.

PelvicF1oorOfSteel · 25/11/2011 11:38

And I think I'd be able to manufacture a coin jam if I wanted to so I expect there are scammers who've found ways to mess up the self-service tills for their convenience. I don't have any sympathy for Tesco as a company but the staff are in a really awkward position in these situations, going apeshit at them isn't going to help.

Ghoulwithadragontattoo · 25/11/2011 11:45

It's not about treating customers like royalty. It's about good customer service and giving the customer the benefit of the doubt when the shop has a problem.

somethingwillturnup · 25/11/2011 11:49

It wasn't a coin jam, it was a problem with the card. And I agree, I don't think going apeshit will do any good - probably the opposite. But it's the being treated like a thief that would really grind my gears. It's all very well saying the staff were just preventing her from leaving because they weren't sure the payment had gone through, it's the manner in which it's done. And I have to say, while there are some outstanding employees of Tesco, there are some whose manner leaves a lot to be desired.

You have my sympathy, OP, it's not nice being treated like this and they no doubt could've handled it better. Unfortunately, for these huge companies, one person voting with their feet won't make that much difference.

PelvicF1oorOfSteel · 25/11/2011 11:57

I'm willing to bet there are deliberate ways to make a card problem though, the coin jam was just my example. People are surprisingly ingenious at coming up with ways to defraud supermarkets.

tigermoll · 25/11/2011 12:04

It's all very well saying the staff were just preventing her from leaving because they weren't sure the payment had gone through, it's the manner in which it's done.

They didn't prevent her from leaving. They prevented her from taking the goods with her when she left. And it sounds like they were actually pretty reasonable about it. The only thing the OP complains about is that an employee 'put her hand on my trolley' when she tried to leave with the disputed goods. Hardly an act of aggression.

saintlyjimjams · 25/11/2011 12:12

YANBU

Very shoddy customer service. Whether you get a bunch of shoplifters each week or not you don't just assume everyone is. But Tesco customer service on the whole is crap ime.

I'd email head office rather than trail back in with my receipt (more hassle).

saintlyjimjams · 25/11/2011 12:12

stament I mean, I presume you don't have a reciept

Original poster
BlessYouToo · 25/11/2011 12:19

worraliberty [sigh] it's people like you that give Mners a bad name.

My DD is 13 btw and had period pains and a headache. She was quite happy to wait in the car for 10 mins but I was rushing so we could get home.

Have rung Tesco and they are checking again. The manager agreed it was handled badly and thye should have taken my details and let me leave. The customer services staff know me very well anyway.

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 25/11/2011 12:20

PMSL @ screams for compensation.

Original poster
BlessYouToo · 25/11/2011 12:22

It was the way they seemed to assume I was doing wrong that got my goat not the actual computer problem. They should not treat everyone as though they are bloody trying to get away without paying. Just because they may get shoplifters, it does not mean that everyone's one! I surely would not have asked for a receipt if I was Hmm.

OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 25/11/2011 12:32

[sigh] Because I don't agree with you?

Because I think YABU?

Well if voicing my own opinion gives MN a bad name, you're going to have to get over that aren't you?

Personally I thought it was the over use of the word cunt that gives it a bad name? Grin

Trills · 25/11/2011 12:32

Give MNers a bad name? By pointing out that the staff were behaving perfectly sensibly? Hmm

Ghoulwithadragontattoo · 25/11/2011 12:38

Glad it's being sorted OP and that manager has accepted staff should have behaved differently.

fuzzynavel · 25/11/2011 12:41

No-ones fault as in actual people but it would piss me off. Hate supermarket shopping at the best of times, especially now they have the staff cuttingself service tills grrrr.

lurkerspeaks · 25/11/2011 12:43

Good customer service would have been to let you go through with your shopping as it was their system at fault.

The tills in waitrese went down last week and that is precisely what they did - my partner was joking that they should have had more in the trolley!

DuchessofMalfi · 25/11/2011 12:46

The door alarms started ringing yesterday as I walked into ASDA. Bizarre :).

fuzzynavel · 25/11/2011 13:19

Ditto Duchess, same happened in ASDA last week when someone walked in! I was was walking out at the same time Grin

MerryMarigold · 25/11/2011 13:27

YABU. I think were you in a panic because of your dd. (Shouldn't really have left her in there, maybe gone shopping another time eg. when she woke up/ after school run?).

I don't think they accused you of being a thief. It didn't show up for them that you'd paid. If you'd been in less of a rush you could have phoned the bank then and got them to check. They can tell straight away.

edam · 25/11/2011 13:36

It was Tesco's system that went down, the problem is their fault, therefore it's their problem to resolve and to apologise for. They should have been embarrassed and trying to sort it out, rather than assume the OP is a criminal AND charge her for shopping they wouldn't let her take.

Ruddy self-service ruddy tills, I hate them.

MerryMarigold · 25/11/2011 13:41

OK, now I know she was 13. Could you not have left your stuff, gone back to car, said to dd, "I'm going to be a few more mins, there's a prob in Tesco". Then gone back and got Tesco to phone your bank.

rainbow2000 · 25/11/2011 13:54

As somebody who worked in Tesco and worked the self scan you wouldnt believe ho9w people try to scam the shop.Im sorry it happened to you but unfortunately they just couldnt trust you.Imagine if they believed everybody when something happened they would have to close down.And its not always the people you think are stealing like kids,teenagers.More often than not i found it was little old ladies and people with kids than were often than not the worse offenders.

nicknamenotinuse · 25/11/2011 14:20

Just go in on Monday, ask to speak to the Store Manager, explain what happened and I'm sure they'll sort it. Be calm, polite and armed with facts. Just give them a chance to sort it.