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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be really annoyed by this at Sainsbury's

337 replies

dcsp · 11/10/2023 11:42

I was at a large branch of Sainsbury's yesterday evening. None of the staffed checkouts were open, so I went to the self-checkouts. On the way out of them they have fitted gates which don't open until you scan your receipt.

If there was a person barring my exit from a shop until I showed them my receipt, I'd feel insulted by what was effectively an accusation of theft. Having a machine perform the same role felt similarly insulting.

I appreciate that retail theft has increased, but treating every one of your customers as if they're a thief until they prove otherwise is not the right thing to do! (also I expect most theft at self-checkouts happens by people who do still check something out therefore have a receipt).

OP posts:
user1497207191 · 13/10/2023 10:48

Mum1976Mum · 13/10/2023 00:19

I honestly think that Sainsburys will be the next one to go bust. Or local one is almost bare, has no one on checkouts, all the counters have closed....it's like a ghost town!

Yet another poster has posted that they made £207 million, so pretty unlikely to go bust any time soon! Maybe, if they're managed properly, your "bare" nearby store may close down, as it makes no sense to keep a store open that makes no profit, but there must be plenty who are making profits!

Cowlover89 · 13/10/2023 10:48

Yabu

user1497207191 · 13/10/2023 10:52

Mum2jenny · 12/10/2023 21:25

Once/If checkouts become obsolete with main stores, I’ll be shopping elsewhere 100%

When they all do it, you're have nowhere else to go.

Except maybe smaller/independent stores, but then you won't like having to pay more.

Samlewis96 · 13/10/2023 14:43

fedupandstuck · 11/10/2023 12:53

As a PP has said, the receipt is issued automatically - you don't get asked if you want it or not.

Show quote history

In our sainsburyslocal it always asks if you need a receipt. If I buy stuff for work I say yes if it's personal I don't bother

Mum2jenny · 13/10/2023 20:30

Tbf I go to the supermarkets for convenience. If I wasn’t working, I’d be more than happy to use independent shops and pay their prices.

Oblomov23 · 13/10/2023 20:40

Nope. Doesn't bother me.

Willitwork999 · 14/10/2023 09:58

What happens if you choose not to have a receipt, which is often now in many shops?

Needmorelego · 14/10/2023 10:02

People that keep going on about the "choosing not to take a receipt" I wish to point this out....
The supermarkets/other shops that require you to scan your receipt have their machines set up to automatically print a receipt.
The supermarkets/other shops than don't require you to scan to leave give you a choice if you print a receipt.
Duh. It's not that complicated.

NameChanged45678 · 14/10/2023 11:47

I don’t think the £200 million profit margin is that big for a company as big as Sainsbury’s.

i work for a company that was forecasting a small portion of that in profit last year ~£1m - they decided to give everyone in the company (50 people) an extra £2k bonus. Cost my employer ~£100k and they still had a good profit. I don’t think Sainsbury’s could afford to give everyone £2k bonus without it having a material impact on that figure. They are huge!

SerendipityJane · 14/10/2023 13:17

Needmorelego · 14/10/2023 10:02

People that keep going on about the "choosing not to take a receipt" I wish to point this out....
The supermarkets/other shops that require you to scan your receipt have their machines set up to automatically print a receipt.
The supermarkets/other shops than don't require you to scan to leave give you a choice if you print a receipt.
Duh. It's not that complicated.

Ah, but have you cancelled the cheque ?

tenbob · 14/10/2023 22:24

NameChanged45678 · 14/10/2023 11:47

I don’t think the £200 million profit margin is that big for a company as big as Sainsbury’s.

i work for a company that was forecasting a small portion of that in profit last year ~£1m - they decided to give everyone in the company (50 people) an extra £2k bonus. Cost my employer ~£100k and they still had a good profit. I don’t think Sainsbury’s could afford to give everyone £2k bonus without it having a material impact on that figure. They are huge!

Edited

Earlier this year, they earmarked £185 million to raise the hourly wages for staff which equates to about £1,400/year
So only a few hundred quid less than your company gave

https://www.retail-insight-network.com/news/sainsburys-employees-investment/

Sainsbury’s to invest £185m to support hourly paid employees

Sainsbury's has announced a £185m ($220m) investment to support its hourly paid employees amid the rising costs of living.

https://www.retail-insight-network.com/news/sainsburys-employees-investment/

bridgetreilly · 14/10/2023 22:55

Get over yourself.

Blueink · 15/10/2023 05:37

NameChanged45678 · 14/10/2023 11:47

I don’t think the £200 million profit margin is that big for a company as big as Sainsbury’s.

i work for a company that was forecasting a small portion of that in profit last year ~£1m - they decided to give everyone in the company (50 people) an extra £2k bonus. Cost my employer ~£100k and they still had a good profit. I don’t think Sainsbury’s could afford to give everyone £2k bonus without it having a material impact on that figure. They are huge!

Edited

You missed off the measly 7 million!

Poor old Sainsbury, they are really struggling, no wonder they are having to barricade in all their customers and check off every receipt on the way out...

Graciebobcat · 15/10/2023 06:25

200 milion profit? Try three times that.

MassageForLife · 15/10/2023 07:15

tenbob · 14/10/2023 22:24

Earlier this year, they earmarked £185 million to raise the hourly wages for staff which equates to about £1,400/year
So only a few hundred quid less than your company gave

https://www.retail-insight-network.com/news/sainsburys-employees-investment/

Show quote history

That wasn't a bonus. That was a wage rise, done if which was legally required as the minimum wage was going up and they would have been paying under it if they hadn't increased the pay rate from April.

Not quite the same thing as giving out a bonus because the profits are high!

MassageForLife · 15/10/2023 07:18

(and also you are assuming by your calculation that everyone in Sainsbury works full time. They don't. Most people will get less than £1,400 per annum)

morebranflakes · 15/10/2023 07:20

I'm not at all offended by it. If I haven't stolen anything, I have nothing to hide.

There's only one flaw in that I often don't opt for a receipt as it feels like a waste of paper! So not sure how it would work in that scenario but otherwise I have no problem proving I paid for stuff.

RampantIvy · 15/10/2023 07:28

If they barred everyone from exiting, including me, then I'd be equally insulted.

It must be exhausting to be so easily insulted all the time and very tiring for other people who feel they have to walk on eggshells around you for fear of offending you.

This isn't a hill to die on.

Tanglin50 · 15/10/2023 08:01

I would always have a receipt for proof of sales at most supermarkets except Lidl Plus receipt on my App.
The other day at M&S, I saw a woman was stopped by the security man and a member of staff. I saw a chicken and a steak was returned to the cashier,not sure if the woman pay for the two items and was let off ?

randomsabreuse · 15/10/2023 08:14

A lot of businesses are trying to do away with paper receipts for environmental reasons so requiring everyone to get a paper receipt is a bit of a backwards step.

I hope there is a bin just past the barrier for no longer required receipts.

In France I ended up having to buy something to get out of the shop (chocolate) after popping in on the off chance that they had a USB plug or UK adapter because I was stupid and forgot to bring one... I considered it a tax on stupidity and blind optimism.

NotMyKallax · 15/10/2023 08:19

This caught me out the other day - I rarely go into Sainsburys and didn’t realise they’d put barriers in. I’d just shoved the receipt in my handbag and it took me ages to find it so I could actually leave the shop.

I don’t mind proving I’ve paid, but I wish they’d made the system more obvious!

MB4123797451 · 15/10/2023 08:28

Our local Sainsburys has installed them. I popped in one day before the school run to buy a sympathy card but they had nothing suitable. I tried to walk out through the self checkouts and I was refused exit without a receipt. Explained I hadn't bought anything and was told to walk to customer services at the far end. There was only one member of staff and a queue so I had to wait just to be let out. I felt I had to justify not buying anything. Fortunately I have other supermarkets I can shop at but I won't be crushing back to this Sainsburys.

MassageForLife · 15/10/2023 08:32

A lot of businesses are trying to do away with paper receipts for environmental reasons so requiring everyone to get a paper receipt is a bit of a backwards step

A lot of businesses want to harvest email addresses as well as saving the money on the paper, and are using being eco friendly as an excuse. Paper is nowhere near the biggest environmental issue that we have.

Billybea · 15/10/2023 08:37

I personally think it's a bloody good idea! It will hopefully help to keep rising costs down that stores increase because of constant thefts!

enchantedsquirrelwood · 16/10/2023 12:28

Needmorelego · 12/10/2023 12:26

@dcsp by shopping at Sainsbury's you are agreeing to follow their rules as soon as you set foot through the doors the same as Costco.
Supermarkets aren't a "public place" They are private companies who can have rules. Don't like those rules... don't shop there.

It's a simple principle of contract law that you have to know what you are signing up to.

So if Sainsburys want this, they need big signs up at the entrance saying that if you go into the store you can only get out by buying something and scanning a receipt.