or should they have just given us a bag?

[Catsize]

So, naice farm shop in a garden centre...

I buy two large homemade(ish) cottage pies and wave my partner in the direction of the till with the cottage pies and my credit card whilst I wait with the ferry double buggy and sleeping children.

She pays for the stuff and is then asked if she would like a bag as the till person forgot to ask.

"Yes please"
"Well, I'll have to charge you 5p"
"But I only have this credit card"
''I still have to charge you 5p"

So, rather than my partner just carrying the things back to us lot and putting them in the probably slightly unhygienic basket bit under the double buggy, the card is proffered and 5p put on a card.

MN jury, this was for a paper bag!!

I think that till person was bu for charging and partner was bu for putting 5p on a credit card, but I was wondering if a) you agree and b) whether we have broken a MN record for smallest credit card transaction ever...

[Sirzy]

But it's not the shop assistants place to decide when to give away free bags though!

[PikachuSayBoo]

I believe a company has to employ 250 people before it has to charge for bags. A smaller company can choose to charge. A big garden centre chain though probably has more than 250 employees.

While we're on the subject how come Tesco can charge 40p for the bags for a home delivery no matter how many bags you have. I guess it's an average and I couldn't care really but I just wonder from a legal point of view. If I have a delivery with 9 bags then they haven't charged me for one bag and that's against the law???

[StealthPolarBear]

Hmm interesting question. I wonder if the law only applies to in store purchases

[TaterTots]

00100001 - the whole point is that they DON'T have to charge for paper bags.

Give me strength.

[TaterTots]

While we're on the subject how come Tesco can charge 40p for the bags for a home delivery no matter how many bags you have. I guess it's an average and I couldn't care really but I just wonder from a legal point of view. If I have a delivery with 9 bags then they haven't charged me for one bag and that's against the law???

I think the point of this law is to cut down on plastic bag use by encouraging reuse. It's not 'we absolutely must have 5p for every single bag'.

[StealthPolarBear]

es that's true bur the law is the law. Which makes me think it's dif fervent for deliveries, where you're not in control of how many they use.
shall we call the police and log it? :)

[2kids2dogsnosense]

Only plastic bags are chargeable, and small businesses are exempt from having to make the charge, as I understand it (our local greengrocer told me this). As someone else said, the handling charge (for them ) will be a damn sight more than 5p. Had I been the shop assistant, even if it was shop policy to charge, I would have given you a bag. What's one bag, more or less?

Seems a bit petty.

[EveOnline2016]

It's not the fault of the till worker. I mean she is paid to do a job. Yabu to expect a low paid worker to risk having a warning over a bag.

My friend works in retail and she would be in trouble if she gives things away for free. It doesn't matter the cost of the item.

You can get sweet lolly for 5p do you think the till worker should give them away free as well.

[tootyflooty]

The law applies to businesses who employ over 250 people, so unless this is a chain, I would challenge them quoting the law, although I guess they are at liberty to charge if they want to.

[RhiWrites]

I agree with Eve.

OP why didn't you have your own bag? You can get ones that fit in a pocket. Bring a bag with you when you shop and you'll be helping the environment.

[QuimReaper]

Stealth I actually did phone the police to "log" something the other day and thought of MN

There was an old man sitting at a bus stop roaring unbelievably blue things at passing girls, and even as a lifelong battle-hardened Londoner I was shocked. I thought I'd better "report" it once I was on the bus in case it turned into something more sinister, and the woman on the other end of the phone asked for exact details, and then repeated in a matter-of-fact sing-songy voice "Get-over-here, I-want-to-fuck-you, get-those-legs-up, I'll-ram-you-against-the-wall"

[QuimReaper]

BUT IT WAS A PAPER BAG AND NOT A PLASTIC BAG SO THE LAW IS IRRELEVANT

[TaterTots]

OP why didn't you have your own bag?

Fairly pointless question. If everyone always had their own bag 24/7, 365 days a year stores wouldn't need to have stock of them to charge 5p for.

[GabsAlot]

its cheap of them but the asistants fault they cant dole out free bags

[lalalalyra]

THe shop policy is obviously to charge for bags and the till assistant won't have the authority to just give one away. Even if they did make an error in not offering.

My BIL does a lot of mystery shopping and since the bag charges came in he's done loads that are basically just shops checking that their staff are following their rules over bag charges.

[Catsize]

Forgive me, for I have sinned.

I did not have my own bag. Because I had a double buggy and thought rather daft partner would come back clutching the things and we would put them under the pushchair. Per my OP, I was a bit about her getting a bag anyway.

Yes, I also had some cash, but I took the card from the purse and give it to my partner to go and pay. Therefore she did not have cash and I was more than a yell away.

Stealth boast about accountant? Nah. Just self-employed.

I have also wondered about the 40p for online deliveries thing too.

I also thought we were going to buy plants, not cottage pies, if that is any mitigation whatsoever for my lack of bag. We didn't buy any plants.

Paper bag, no law to charge, probably no store policy either.

Glad to see that my record has been broken. 1p!