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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this was petty

240 replies

Givemeabreak88 · 14/10/2020 20:56

I was just at my local coop, I used the self service check out and selected one bag as I thought all my items would fit in one, as I put them in it wasn’t going to fit, I had already paid so just grabbed an extra bag as there was no option to pay for the extra bag as I would have to remove all my shopping and had nowhere to put it, yes I know I should have paid but I had just spent £30 in the shop so for the sake of an extra bag I didn’t see the big deal, anyway as I went to walk out the security shouted at me in front of everyone that I had taken two bags and paid for one! I was made to go back and empty out all my shopping. AIBU for thinking this was really petty? Considering how much I had just spent in the shop it all seemed a bit over the top

OP posts:
sst1234 · 15/10/2020 09:12

Eh? So you take something from a shop without paying, and then don’t like it when you are stopped for doing so? This forum really is batshit.

BagThiefForLife · 15/10/2020 09:13

Conversely, I was charged 45p in Lidl for 3 bags which I had brought with me, only one of which was a Lidl bag. I’m sure this probably happens quite a lot so it goes both ways.

MiddleClassProblem · 15/10/2020 09:15

@BagThiefForLife

Conversely, I was charged 45p in Lidl for 3 bags which I had brought with me, only one of which was a Lidl bag. I’m sure this probably happens quite a lot so it goes both ways.
Yeah... I’m sure this happened...
SnuggyBuggy · 15/10/2020 09:29

I don't get why you wouldn't pack as you go if it's a carrier bag, sometimes I can't with my own bag but that should never happen with a carrier.

That said it sounds like the self scan needs a better system for paying for single bags.

OlympicProcrastinator · 15/10/2020 09:33

So I’m guessing you’ve stolen a bag or two in your life then. Because I sure as hell haven’t.

It’s the extreme language and berating of the OP and the sanctimonious feel of the thread that I find so far removed. Even the response to my comment seems so over the top.

DeliciouslyFemale · 15/10/2020 09:36

@BagThiefForLife

Conversely, I was charged 45p in Lidl for 3 bags which I had brought with me, only one of which was a Lidl bag. I’m sure this probably happens quite a lot so it goes both ways.
So you were charged for something that doesn’t belong to a shop, yet they magically had the bar code for your shopping bag registered on their till. Wow. What’s the chances? Shock Hmm
Howlooseisyourgoose · 15/10/2020 09:38

@OlympicProcrastinator

So I’m guessing you’ve stolen a bag or two in your life then. Because I sure as hell haven’t.

It’s the extreme language and berating of the OP and the sanctimonious feel of the thread that I find so far removed. Even the response to my comment seems so over the top.

How would you like people to respond? With ‘huns’ and 🙈 emojis?

I haven’t used any extreme language. Just sick of people who think rules don’t apply to them. Like the twat who wouldn’t queue for Aldi the other day or the other twat who didn’t wait in the long queue to take the right hand only turn but cut in front of everyone else. Sorry people aren’t expressing annoyance in a suitable lighthearted way.

perfume577943 · 15/10/2020 09:39

YANBU I never pay for them 😬 it's 10p not going to bring the business down

OlympicProcrastinator · 15/10/2020 09:43

How would you like people to respond? With ‘huns’ and 🙈 emojis?

I haven’t used any extreme language. Just sick of people who think rules don’t apply to them. Like the twat who wouldn’t queue for Aldi the other day or the other twat who didn’t wait in the long queue to take the right hand only turn but cut in front of everyone else. Sorry people aren’t expressing annoyance in a suitable lighthearted way

Well if you haven’t used extreme language then my post wasn’t aimed at you then was it?

But if you are ‘sick’ of all these ‘twats’ and a thread over a 5p bag has you so wound up you need to be sarcastic then i will say again, this thread seems a bit far removed from reality.

Caroncanta · 15/10/2020 09:45

Yes, it’s natural to get annoyed when you see people stealing things that you yourself pay for.

I'm not sure it's perfectly natural to get annoyed over the theft of a plastic bag tbh. Not good for your mental health anyway to be so invested in it. 😊

RainingBatsAndFrogs · 15/10/2020 09:45

Yes it asked at the end and I put one and paid, then started packing sorry if that’s not clear

Pack into the bags. Then you won’t have to guess how many you need.
And you will be quicker.

Caroncanta · 15/10/2020 09:46

So I’m guessing you’ve stolen a bag or two in your life then. Because I sure as hell haven’t.

Far more than two I'm sure 😉

OlympicProcrastinator · 15/10/2020 09:52

Far more than two I'm sure 😉

Grin Not knowingly I promise! However, the OP didn’t really ask if it was ok to steal. She just asked if the security guard was being petty by shouting at her in front of everyone. All this outrage seems a bit out of proportion doesn’t it?

If it happened as you said OP then yes it was petty, he could have had a quiet word couldn’t he? But I guess you won’t be doing it again. The biggest mistake you made was posting about it in AIBU!

Howlooseisyourgoose · 15/10/2020 09:54

@Caroncanta

Yes, it’s natural to get annoyed when you see people stealing things that you yourself pay for.

I'm not sure it's perfectly natural to get annoyed over the theft of a plastic bag tbh. Not good for your mental health anyway to be so invested in it. 😊

Not really invested as I’ll forgot it when I click on something else on the internet 🤷‍♀️

But when a poster says you’re too invested it usually means they have no further valid points to make apart from cheap shots so I’ll let you off.

Caroncanta · 15/10/2020 09:58

But when a poster says you’re too invested it usually means they have no further valid points to make apart from cheap shots so I’ll let you off

That's very kind of you im sure 😂 I'll wait with baited breath to see what other valid points you will be bringing to the discussion.

PimlicoJo · 15/10/2020 09:59

I don't know about the Co-Op but at my local Lidl if you use the self service tills you cannot pack your shopping until the shopping has been paid for. I'm always amazed when people on Mumsnet assume that what they experience is the same everywhere.

I don't think you should have taken the bag, but the reaction of the store detective was over the top.

BagThiefForLife · 15/10/2020 10:00

MN’s really seem to have some trust issues in that everyone else seems to be a liar if the event hasn’t happened to them personally.

@DeliciouslyFemale I had the bags ready in my trolley, they put it through the till as 3 of their own bags, they didn’t scan them. They obviously assumed I had 3 of their own bags when I didn’t. And I only noticed when I got home, I was annoyed because I rarely remember to take my own bags. This time I did and I was still charged Shock

@MiddleClassProblem your name says it all. I’m not a liar. My partner gets annoyed with me as I won’t take the bags without paying most of the time, he doesn’t agree with the bag charge. I’ve commented on this thread because everyone piled on the OP calling her a thief and saying she should go to jail when there’s much bigger theft going on right in front of our eyes every single day. Just ridiculous.

DeliciouslyFemale · 15/10/2020 10:03

Fair enough, BagThiefForLife. I can see how that would happen.sorry for my comments.

Carrotcakefiend · 15/10/2020 10:04

Regardless of whether or not you should have/could have paid for a bag, I don't think security handled this well by what you've said. Shouting at you in front of others? Not professional. He should have taken you aside and asked you to pay for the bag. Humiliation is not in his job description, and it sounds like this is what was upsetting about the situation. In my local, I've been caught short before and the guy gave me a bag and said 'dont worry about it', so I assume how much they care depends on who's at work. I'd try not to worry about it OP, stealing a bag is a minor indescretion in the grand scheme of life.

Oysterbabe · 15/10/2020 10:05

I don't know about the Co-Op but at my local Lidl if you use the self service tills you cannot pack your shopping until the shopping has been paid for. I'm always amazed when people on Mumsnet assume that what they experience is the same everywhere.

At the self service in my local Lidl you can weigh your own bags first then pack your shopping straight into them in the bagging area. Or scan any bags you want first then pack your shopping straight into them in the bagging area. Same as every other self checkout I've used really. How does yours work?

OlympicProcrastinator · 15/10/2020 10:05

We’ve had ‘Tories’ ‘Twats’ ‘entitled’ and ‘jail’ so far.

Can someone please bring in Brexit so I can complete my MN bingo card?

Howlooseisyourgoose · 15/10/2020 10:06

@Caroncanta

But when a poster says you’re too invested it usually means they have no further valid points to make apart from cheap shots so I’ll let you off

That's very kind of you im sure 😂 I'll wait with baited breath to see what other valid points you will be bringing to the discussion.

Ooh passive aggressive smiley and crying laughter emojis, someone’s rattled.
LondonJax · 15/10/2020 10:10

The security guard was wrong to shout at you, but he/she can't get close enough to whisper now so someone would have heard him/her - just maybe a few less people!

His or her job is to stop people taking things they should have paid for - whether that's a bottle of champagne or a 5p bag. If he or she had let you go and had been seen doing so then they could have been pulled up by their manager. So they're doing their job. And, talking to my local supermarket cashiers when I get my weekly shop, some customers are still very nasty. I've been told of people spitting on the floor when they've been asked to step back from cashiers, shouting staff down when they've been asked to distance from shelf stackers. You have no idea what the security guard has had to put up with that day, just as they have no idea how your day is going. No excuse for being rude but you brought the 'telling off' on yourself.

Ultimately this happened because you took a chance and got caught, rather than just call someone over who could have helped you. I understand that if you've finished the till transaction then it may not have occurred to you to pack your shopping, start another till transaction and scan a bag but leave it on the rack. But to be honest it's the natural instinct, if you're not sure what to do, to call someone over surely? If you'd realised you had been charged for a bag you hadn't picked up you'd have probably called someone over to remove it from your bill after you'd paid so what's the difference?

So, yes, the security guard could have handled things better. But if you had paid for the bag you wouldn't have been in the position. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Caroncanta · 15/10/2020 10:11

Ooh passive aggressive smiley and crying laughter emojis, someone’s rattled.

Lol

borntohula · 15/10/2020 10:13

I've stolen a bag or two. 🤷