Sainsburys think I’m a thief - AIBU?

[OreganoOregano146]

Something really odd happened to me the other day and I want to see what others think of it. I’ve been shopping at sainsburys for over 3 years now using scan & go (extremely convenient!) Been selected for a random check maybe 3 or 4 times in all this time, all clear, no issues at all.
Recently I’ve noticed that every time I’m shopping the security guard seems to be following me. For instance last week I was looking for my DD’s formula on the shelf and when I turned around I noticed he walked right past me. I was the only person in that isle. Yesterday I was looking in the meat section and surprise surprise, he was there again. Now, having finished my shopping I went over to the self checkout till to pay and I suddenly get a message on my device saying “hold on, we just need to do a trolley check” - I thought okay, never mind, it happens. I suddenly notice the security guard talking to the guy who’s about to scan my shopping, they were having a random chat about something laughing. The guy comes over and says “oh today we need to scan 40 items” .. I thought whaaat? They usually scan 10max, where did 40 come from? (Unless I heard 40 but in reality he said 14, not sure now). Anyway, he starts scanning my shopping and then goes “oh shit sorry I think I’ve scanned the Maltesers twice, you’re gonna have to do a full trolley re scan now”. So I proceeded to a separate till where they scanned all my shopping again, the woman didn’t say anything at all, just apologised, I paid and that was it. When I got home I realised that my shopping ended up being £18 more expensive than what it said on the hand-held device, making me look like a thief? I did buy a lot of the same items twice so perhaps it didn’t register properly.
AIBU to think this whole experience was a bit strange?

Did you use a nectar card? It might be that the extra £18 was because you didn’t get members offers? Although that’s mainly in Tesco where it’s a complete joke if you don’t have a Clubcard now

She got SmartShop offers when she did her own scanning but they don't apply when you go to a cashier - and are separate from Nectar offers.

Why don't they apply when you go to a cashier?

No wonder, shopping has become so expensive, with scan and go shoppers getting 18 quids with for free

Well they'll have saved the shop far more than that in staff costs.

"No wonder, shopping has become so expensive, with scan and go shoppers getting 18 quids with for free"

Don't be daft. She was taking advantage of a nectar offer. You can too. When they took her through the manned till her nectar prices didn't apply since they are for smart shop only. I'd be back in store with my receipt and make them add it to a gift card.

This is an example of nectar prices. It clearly says only with smart shop.

"Why don't they apply when you go to a cashier?"

Because they don't 🤣. It's a SmartShop only offer

Thanks spell check police...fs people are petty find something productive to do with ur life, typing can cause mistakes 🙄

@RosaBonheur because they don't have to pay as many cashiers if you scan your own shopping. It's an incentive.

Eagle eyed shoppers will have noticed that the total on the scanner now reads "estimated", which I vaguely assumed was because of the bespoke nature of the offers. Presumably two people with identical shops might see different totals on the handset ?

Shoplifting on the rise in the UK, attitudes of younger people of concern:

www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/58228/1/how-shoplifting-has-become-our-weapon-of-choice-against-capitalism

I only use Sainsbury's for the nectar price offers, that are only valid with the smart shop. I get what you are meaning, those offers were no longer applied as you had to go through a till so it feels like because you were charged more you appear to have stolen but in reality you hadn't ( or if you had it was possibly an accidental innocent error- and not £18 worth) .

The smartshop offers are quite lucrative, I currently have £1.66 off lurpak so they can add up. I think Sainsbury's have quite an issue with theft as they have installed barriers in my local store, and you have to scan your receipt to escape from the self service area.

I use an app on my phone.

I'm impressed the OP saved £18 in one shop, my savings are only about 30 -60p an item. I currently have 10 offers, 1 for something I have never bought. A Friday works out a bit better due to how the offers run.

Well I never- just checked and I can indeed use it there via my phone!

If this was a weird Sainsburys ad for Smart Shop it's worked a treat..

I thought that, but they also save on cashiers if you use self scan checkouts and the same discounts don't apply at those?

If you are self-scanning you do have to check to make sure what you scanned went into the system. However I would be really angry that they re-scanned my cart to "make sure I hadn't stolen anything" and hence deprived me of almost 20 pounds worth of coupons. Presumably you use the scanner to save time and by re-scanning your cart, they took extra time out of your day AND removed your legitimate coupon savings. I would be making a complaint to the store over that. I know people are going to say (or have said) that the onus is on you to ensure that the coupons get re-scanned but when a security guard is following you and you get flagged for re-scanning you're going to feel flustered and it's not surprising you forgot to ask them to re-scan your coupons.

You're not even using their hardware so this is another level of saving VS self checkouts

I've had similar. SMART scanned - no vouchers to apply but got a rescan message. Chap came over and said I'll just check a few things. Looked at me and smirked and said "well this hasn't been scanned" £1.35 bottle of tonic. Bill at smart till £110 something; bill at till £110 something so it had been scanned. I was literally marched to a till opened specially and three staff observed.

I had shopped at Sainsburys for more than 40 years. I cashed in my nectar points and returned my nectar card. I am still waiting for an apology.

Happily Tescos is much better and so far I have not had a single substitute on home deliveries or click and collect. Neither have they been late.

There have been a few newspaper articles about Sainsburys heavy handedness of late.

f they rescanned the whole trolley, you should have got them to scan your Nectar card. That’s why you didn’t get the discounts - it was no longer in your handset 🤷🏼‍♀️ Lesson learned!

With Sainsbury’s there are some cheaper prices you only get when you use the scan and save - because they were eventually put through the till they’ve probably dropped off. Seems rather unfair on the op

I've no idea what kind of training they give sainsbury's security guards but it's the only place I've ever been obviously followed around. And it's happened twice by two different security guards on different occasions.

I've never been followed around by security anywhere else, unless they were doing it discreetly

@NeverApologiseNeverExplain no they don't but they're not suitable for big shops at the self service tills (unless they've introduced them to Sainsburys since I last went).

Self service came in long before SmartShop too so it's technological advancements.
They'll encourage people to use SmartShop before wiping out alternatives.

were you using the smart shop app on your nector card,you get lots of offers each week they choose what you buy most, my fav pack of ham £ with app it can be £2.50 plus extra points that reduces your shopping, BUT ONLY IF YOU USE SELF SCAM GUN .COULD YOU HAVE GONE BACK TO FULL PRICES BY THEM PUTTING IT THROUGH A NORMAL TILL.

She's already explained that that's exactly what happened. The shop being scanned on a normal till meant she lost out on her SmartShop offers.

You only get those discounts when you use the self scanner, so as you had to go through a regular checkout they wouldn't have been applied to your shopping

But then they need to honour those deals for the customers whose shopping gets checked. It's bad enough that they end up being stuck for longer when they thought they were saving themselves time.