To be really annoyed by this at Sainsbury's

[dcsp]

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).

I find it amusing that this system is clearly in place in dodgy areas like the one I grew up in. When I go back to visit family, no one will accept that its not a nice area and its full of dodgy scrotes.

The fact that the petrol pumps limit you to £50 per fill up and the self service has this on it speaks for itself. Apparently the scallies that live there are the same as everywhere else - they don't like it when I tell them they are wrong.

@IslandsInTheSunshine - You state that without shareholders there would be no supermarkets. Not so! Neither Waitrose nor the Co-op have shareholders. Waitrose/John Lewis staff are partners in the company (sadlly this does not include the cleaners) and the Co-op has mebers.

It's an inconvenience and you have no choice because you only get nectar prices by using the self serve scanner thing. What I hate more is our sainsburys have suddenly barricaded the whole store. You can no longer grab a sandwich or drink from the kiosk if you have already entered the barricade. Same for the toilets and customer service. It's a huge inconvenience especially when shopping with a disabled child. It's like they don't want customers anymore and would prefer to be online only.
I'm also hugely annoyed they have joined the elf on a shelf brigade. My child is terrified of the elf, we cannot shop in any shop whilst the elf is out so September to February. This limits our options, sainsburys was on the safe list but they've now started selling elf on shelf pyjamas.

OP I agree with you.

My local Sainsburys is "trialling" it. Until they stop "trialling" it, I won't shop there. The queues are too long to use a (wo)manned till.

It does not in any way stop shoplifting. I could easily take six items, scan five of them and leave the store. And it doesn't target the right people, who aren't shoplifters, but effectively looters (eg the ones who take a whole shelf of meat and make off with it).

Oh and just to pre-empt the usual riposte - I've been in Germany and Denmark recently and I didn't have to scan my receipt after using self-serve tills anywhere and I used a lot of them, especially in Copenhagen. It is not a widespread thing.

And also we were not taking receipts to save the planet, but that apparently doesn't matter now, to employ a useless system that annoys customers, makes life difficult for staff and doesn't deter a single shoplifter.

I live in a "naice" area and we have it!

The limit on petrol is £99 though.

(I know some MNers hate the "naice" thing so sorry but it does express the type of area really well)

@2PintsOfCidernaBagofCrisps I so agree with this statement , I was coming on to say the same thing . It's ridiculous that people's jobs are being affected by these self service tills , these are important jobs that usually fit around school times and get people into work .

People are more likely to steal/not scan things at a self checkout so can understand why they do it. Not an issue to me.

I have never shopped at Costco, for years I appeared to be about the only person who didn't qualify for a card, but now I wouldn't anyway - I want to get in and out of a shop, not queue to be served and then queue again while every item is painstakingly checked off against my receipt. Surely that isn't actually the case?

If it is, most of the world has a lot more patience than I do!

Lol at being insulted by a gate!!!!

@dcsp Christ, there's people bombing the fuck out of each other at the moment and you are worrying about this non-issue?

It's a blanket check for everyone. I was pissed off at first as I didn't know about it and couldn't find my receipt. I now know. Not a problem.

But it doesn't make any difference. I go to a self-scan with my five items, scan four of them, get a receipt, scan it, leave.

It's completely flawed and just designed to be annoying.

The machines have stopped asking where there are barriers.

I think some brands were looking into it to avoid the issues around age-restricted items too. I don't know how accurate it would be in guessing age, but if it worked, it would be better than having to wait ages if you want to buy a bottle of wine.

It’s a pain in the arse when you’re juggling your till receipt to scan, a trolley, a parking card (which they have to validate) and a walking stick, as I did yesterday at the local Sainsbury’s. Very disability friendly (not).

I don’t mind trolley checks in case you’re smuggling items in your bags (although I pack at the car not as I go round), but in Tesco I have a 100% hit rate on having both 12 item random checks and full trolley checks. No bags to hide anything in, just wobbly me with a stick & trolley. I mean, it’s not like I can make a dash for the exit with a full trolley of shoplifted goods!

I know it’s algorithm based & random or meant to be), but every 2weeks at Tesco for the last 6 months?

I suspect we won’t be seeing a drop in our grocery bills with these loss prevention measures.

If they don't trust the customer, then they should bring back manned checkouts. Leave a few self checkout for people who want to use them and don't mind being checked.
Profits isn't a dirty word, but some are greedy. Our local Asda has less staff now because of self service and it also charges almost 10p more a litre for petrol in our town than any of the other Asdas in surrounding areas. Purely because they have the monopoly. I will always be on the side of customers who are struggling to make ends meet, over multi billion pound businesses who are taking the piss
Stores without shareholders do exist.

@goingtotown - No, not all self-checkout machines automatically produce a receipt. Many shops have self service machines that ask whether you want one or not!

Having someone at an exit checking your receipt against your trolley is standard for Costco, one or two people on each side of the exit.

😂 go to Waitrose, then. They wouldn’t dream of accusing their patrons of something so common as shoplifting.

About a year or so ago, I used the self scanning gun because Sainsburys enticed me to do so by offering me 400 nectar points, because I hadn't used it in ages (because three times running the system/Internet dropped when I was two third of the way through big shops).

Having been enticed to use it again, I did. At the self scanning bit, I was selected for a spot check. The bill was £110.79p. An assistant arrived and said I need to scan six items and if they are correct, I can let you go. He scanned away and at a bottle of tonic water looked up and with a smirk said "well this hasn't been scanned, you'll have to come with me". I was marched across the shop to an empty till-point and he yellednto the tills supervisor "cashier needed to check scanned shopping". I was made to feel like a criminal. Everything rescanned with the store manager hovering. The bill came to £110.79p. I asked for a record from the scanner and was told they weren't kept.

There was dignity and no apology. It was absolutely awful. There was also no apology from Head Office.

I had used that store for about 7/8 years. My average weekly spend was about £180. About £11k per annum. At no other place do I spend that much on a week in week out basis.

I do not use Sainsburys any more and never shall again.

My gain because a combination of Tescos and Waitrose is better.

Whilst I appreciate the losses arising from shoplifting I think the supermarkets need to remember that most people do not shoplift and are regular and loyal customers. If they fail to recognise and respect the rump of their business, those customers will go elsewhere.

Funnily enough a combo of Waitrose and Tescos is working out at about £40 cheaper every month and it's better quality.

I was in my local Sainsburys this morning and the bloody thing broke down! There was a que of about 2 million people trying to get out of the store, all complaining and a poor shop assistant on the verge of tears. It was an absolute nightmare.

It's not to replace the normal security like cctv and the actual staff it's just an added deterant. Also what happens a lot at self scan is people use contact less and walk straight of not realising its declined and they have to actually put their card in so it will completely stop that which is a significant amount of loss.

It’s a darn sight quicker scanning a receipt than it is going through the ‘random’ (yeah right) trolley check every flipping time I do self-scan at Asda.

2 million people 🙄 are you also one of the people who dumps their trolley of food because they've been waiting an hour in a queue

I was clearly being sarcastic and no I have never just dumped a trolley full of food. You sound like a bundle of fun, try getting a sense of humour.

If there's a barrier to exit after self scanning, you will have a receipt.
There's no option on the till asking "Do you want a receipt"
A receipt is produced automatically for you to scan on the barrier to exit.