To wonder if I've been put on a watch list! (slightly light-hearted)

[Toothsil]

A few weeks ago I posted saying I had accidentally not paid for my Tesco shop (I'd link to the thread but not sure how 😂) and the assistant rushed out after me and took me back in.

Every single time since then, I've had to have a service check at the self scan. Every time. For the big weekly shop and when I just go in for a few bits and pieces in between. I was checked on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday and I bet I'll be checked again tonight when I do the weekly shop. Even the lady on the self service checkouts said "not again!" on Saturday. She's the usual one who's on, the one who chased after me isn't often on.

Do they have some kind of watch list? I'm seriously starting to think I'm on one 😂 They've never discovered anything I haven't scanned, because I'm very careful to make sure I scan everything - I'd never steal!

Probably!

Yes they do its linked to your club card. Give it a few months and it should become less often and then go back to normal as long as nothing else goes wrong

Does it flag it after you put your card in or before?

Yep! 👀

I remember a few years ago I was in H&M and picked up a shirt to try on but changed my mind / forgot about it once I'd finished browsing. I got to the top of the street away from the store and realised I'd taken the shirt with me!

I had to go back and explain to the guard on the door what I'd done. I was mortified.

It was a miracle he didn't stop me on the way out or that I didn't set off any alarms or anything!

That happened to me in Tesco. My card payment hadn't gone through but I didn't realise. I was halfway down the road and could hear someone calling. I turned around and the shop assistant was running after me! It was an innocent mistake. Nothing happened since.

I didn't realise there was such a thing as a watch list. And I don't see how it could be linked to your club card

Of course it can be linked to your club card! That knows who you are and where you live, and that all those shops are yours. So when that clubcard’s used again, Tesco knows the previous offender is back. In just the same way that my Tesco club card comes up with vouchers off booze and pizza, because that’s all they think we buy. It is all we buy from our local Tesco, but all the rest of our (highly nutritious) food is delivered by Mr Morrisons.

@bluntness100 nothing happens when I use the clubcard to pick up the scanner before I start shopping, but as soon as I scan the barcode on the screen at the self service checkouts, the handheld scanner screen goes yellow and says service check.

I hope this is over soon, it's becoming a bit embarrassing! The whole thing was a mistake in the first place!

omg how annoying

I'd probably be shopping elsewhere for a while id be a bit annoyed about this hahaa

@Funkyslippers that's exactly what happened to me, I didn't realise it hadn't gone through, and was at the car having just loaded everything in, when the woman came running after me and told me I'd have to take it all back in. She wasn't all that pleasant about it either, I think she genuinely thought I'd tried to shoplift £90 worth of shopping 🙈 I was clearly very embarrassed, shocked and horrified by it and so apologetic - unless I'm very good at acting I'd say it was obvious that was the first I knew of not having paid 😂 I did find out when I was in a few days later that the machine I used was dodgy - I'd put my card in, it said it was approved, then suddenly all the shopping was back on the screen again and it said it wasn't approved. So I tried again and it went through. I hadn't hung back to see, on the time I hadn't paid, and obviously was on autopilot and hadn't twigged about not having a receipt! Something really small, under £1, wouldn't scan as I was going round and I had told the woman, and she did whatever she needed to do, also I had bought aspirin so that needed to have the age check thing so I had quite a lot of interaction with her and don't think I'd have done all that if I had been planning to steal the lot 😂

She wasn't all that pleasant about it either, I think she genuinely thought I'd tried to shoplift £90 worth of shopping

Well, yeah.

@flaviaritt People do sometimes make genuine mistakes, I was clearly mortified about it, I wasn't trying to hide in any way as I was going through, I must have looked confused when she told me I hadn't paid, because I genuinely thought I had. She really treated me like a criminal, the lady who put it through for me inside was so much nicer about it.

It’s really horrible to have to keep going through it all over and over again, but I think the only way to get back to normal is to keep going there, keep having to have your basket checked, and then when they see there’s no discrepancies over and over, it should start to ‘trust’ you again. Try to think of it as a computer doing this, rather than the staff, because that’s really what it is. And of course neither the staff nor the computer knows you had no ill intent. If it helps, just remember that you’re helping keep prices down for all of us!

Yes, you will be on the check list now. Just get a new Clubcard and after the new user checks (which is only the first couple of shops) you’ll be fine.

Dont use your clubcard, save your receipts and get customer services to add your points for a month.

@Coffeecak3

Dont use your clubcard, save your receipts and get customer services to add your points for a month.

Don’t you need a Clubcard to be able to use the scanner though? Otherwise you might as well use the self service or go through the till.

Sorry to hear this op. This is why DH and I never do self scan and only do self checkout if we have a few bits and pieces. We can't trust ourselves not to feckup even with the best of intentions . In your position we would just go to the checkout counter to save all the embarrassment and prevent it from happening again. Once at the checkout counter , it's their responsibility to ensure all items are scanned.

Yes, I think it does. Dh and I were using the scan and shop for the first time a few years ago and we missed the 2 value bottles of bleach too busy talking, we had to have the whole £150 shop put through the checkout and were checked everytime for a while. We started using it for very small shops until this stopped.
It didn't help that I had very poor mental health at the time and ended up having a panic attack. Dh sent me to the car to breakdown in peace whilst he sorted it out.
We rarely get checked nowadays.

Of course people make mistakes. But if someone leaves a shop without paying for goods I don’t think the shop is under any obligation to act like it was an accident. I’m sure it was, but naturally they thought you were shoplifting, however mortified you acted.

I definitely think there is a flag associated with different clubcards. My husband and I share a clubcard account but we have our own cards with different numbers on. He probably shops in Tesco more than I do and never gets pulled for a basket check yet I get checked every other time I go in. He generally does the weekly shop and I generally do top-up shops buying nappies or other stuff for the kids so assume I'm targeted because people often steal that sort of thing? Either way no check on me has ever found anything untowards because I'm super careful to make sure everything gets scanned but the checks continue

Oh no, that's mortifying! I'm paranoid on those tills, they're so slow to put out the confirmation and receipt I could totally see me walking off oblivious...

[quote Toothsil]@flaviaritt People do sometimes make genuine mistakes, I was clearly mortified about it, I wasn't trying to hide in any way as I was going through, I must have looked confused when she told me I hadn't paid, because I genuinely thought I had. She really treated me like a criminal, the lady who put it through for me inside was so much nicer about it.[/quote]
People also steal and when they get caught act surprised,embarrassed and claim it was mistake. You made a mistake and unfortunately these are the consequences of it. It won't last long.
Last week I was using the self checkout scanned 600 dollars worth of groceries and walked out. Way too much on my mind. Girl comes running after me asked me if I was planning paying. I walked back and tapped my phone and it was paid for. Ever since then I get a friendly little chat while I'm checking. Met some really nice people and have gotten some great recipes.
The point is I did accidently try to steal from rhe store. This is what I jave to deal with until their trust is restored in me. Nothing to do about it and keep smiling. They are only doing their job

Ugh there’s an aisle in our store where the scanners don’t work. They can’t connect or something. Of course it’s an aisle we buy from weekly. I always have to put the items aside and scan them elsewhere in store. I make a big song and dance about trying to scan the items for anyone looking, but it freezes the scanner.

I refuse to use the self scan now as my DC added something to the trolley once and I was randomly selected to have my shopping checked. After this I was always selected. It must flag it up on your clubcard. It takes ages to have a part of your ship rescanned so I stopped using it in Tesco.

I then used a self scan in a different small supermarket at a later date and was distracted by a physical altercation between a shop lifter and security guard. I didn't pay for a bag of shopping. Since this I have always used the traditional checkout as I can't trust myself.

@SunbathingDragon yes, you have to scan it to get the scanner in the first place.