Would you have unpacked your shopping and repacked?

[SweeetFemaleAttitude]

Just did a huge weekly shop at Tesco and as I was leaving I was asked for my receipt, that was fine. Then after a pause the shop assistant and security explained they were doing random trolley checks, and asked to check the receipt against the shipping.

I wasn’t impressed, but calmly stood back and said ‘please ensure everything goes back in the correct bags, I’ve sorted it for a reason’.

They then said they expected ME to unpack items as they ticked it off the receipt.

I just laughed a bit inside at the idea. I’d just done a big shop and pissed around with a self service machine wasting a lot of time compared to a human scanner. Red lights for no reason, waiting for tag removal, waiting for another random fault, waiting to weigh my own bags and check them before I started. The idea of then standing there and unpacking for their pleasure was not something I was prepared to do! I’m talking a big trolley load of stuff, and a big job to stand there bending over it lifting. Not like a Costco check for the big items, loads and loads of tiny bits and cans.

I just calmly said ‘no’. I was told it was a policy to do random checks and I wasn’t suspected of theft. I said they may have a policy, but I didn’t work for Tesco and therefore they were unable to direct me to complete any tasks. I’d fulfilled my contract, paying for goods. If they had reason for concern then I’d wait for them to check it themselves, or go through cctv but I expected it to not delay me unreasonably or my shopping to be left unpacked or manhandled.

Ended up with ‘permission’ from a grumpy manager to leave, who had been watching from a distance and came over. I was honestly calm and kept my tone polite, I was quite annoyed by the self check out already and was making an effort to remain calm knowing I was a bit irate. Never been to this store before, not planning to go again! My usual store always has a open checkout to use with a person.

aibu- you’d have stood there and unpacked, it’s policy

yanbu- nope, you don’t work there and it’s not your job to facilitate their security checks.

Well played, OP! Not in the least pompous. Fuck these people and their "policies" which they only use as an excuse to circumvent logic, decency and the law.

Actually, on the last one, it took a good 15 minutes while the lady kept going over to approve alcohol purchases and issues for other self scan customers. While I stood there looking like a shoplifter (as various teachers and parents wandered past in amusement).

If you're doing a random service check, you really shouldn't leave to attend to other customers until it's done.

You’re my hero!

It’s not happened to me yet but I’ve told myself if it does, I will refuse and ask for a refund. I’m not being treated like a suspected thief because they would rather have a robot serve me.

It's not exactly for "their pleasure" what a strange phrase to use.

It's crap but they have to randomly check.

Next time don’t do your huge shop on a self service checkout.

@SweeetFemaleAttitude good job! If I were you I would write to their customer service and suggest they review their policy. The scan as you shop random check involves a staff member coming over, randomly scanning 10 items in the bags and then scanning the machine. There's no reason why something similar couldn't be implemented for other ways of shopping. Nobody has the time to be playing grab the random item as we read off the receipt and then repack it all after.

Well done OP. I hate self service tills any only use them when I've got a small number of items. When I've got a trolley load I'm already putting it in the trolley, scanning it, packing it, loading it into the car then carrying it into the house and putting it away. By this point I've virtually lost the will to live. Anyone adding an extra level of unpacking and repacking into the mix would have got short shrift from me too. If they want to check everything is scanned then they need to employ more staff to man checkouts and stop providing thieves with more opportunities to steal.

They do not have to check by asking someone to unpack each item as they check it off and then repack it all. That is so unreasonable and time consuming and OP has said, "My usual store always has a open checkout to use with a person." So they had no choice but to use the self scan.

I think what you did was perfectly reasonable .I do scan and shop at Tesco and if they do a random check they select the items and put them back . I don’t blame them for doing random checks though as shoplifting has got completely out of hand . At Costco you now have to put packs of toilet rolls on the checkout conveyer rather than leaving them on the bottom of the trolley as people were breaking the plastic and hiding stuff in the loo roll packs to get away with thieving .

but how else do they manage theft?

They picked on the OP for a totally random check. The supermarkets are the ones who thought it a great wheeze to get rid of cashiers and install self-service checkouts, which lots of customers don’t like, then they presumably found that shoplifting was becoming more of a problem - who’d have thought it!

But they can’t have it all ways. We already have to scan our receipts to get out through a barrier. What next, an airport scanner? (Joking - only slightly)

I applaud you, OP.

Well done op...l would now follow this up with an email to their head office suggesting they take away the self serve option - no benefit to anyone!

I've had many random checks at the scan as you go desk at Tesco. They have never repacked my shopping.

Why do people put up with this?? What legal right would they have to make you stay? If you just walked off, what could they actually do about it?

It's their choice to have more and more self checkouts, customers shouldn't be further inconvenienced because of it.

It's people not pushing back on this sort of bullshit that means it will become entrenched.

I would also have asked for a refund and left. Not to be nasty or make a point, but I often pop in to do my shopping just before picking up my DC from school and I wouldn't have time to wait 15 minutes so would just have to walk out without the shopping.

I think they're only doing their jobs. They don't make the policies. Plus once you've paid for the goods you then own them. You can’t have it both ways. If you own the goods, then they can’t do a random check, they can only check if the have good reason to suspect theft

Brilliant!!!

Love that. And you are right. If they save money on till staff they shouldn't expect you to do the job twice for them to check you aren't cheating whilst doing their job on the first place!!!

I have left a shop before when I was called for a check. Apparently it's set to go off at certain periods of day. I was 4th in line for a check.

Luckily it was one of those before you pay checks.

How smug! Not all of us have the time to wait for the only manned checkout. Supermarkets are being ridiculous. They want the cost saving of not having to pay staff to man tills and are now facing the consequence of the surge in shoplifting.
I bet they never do these random store checks on tough looking men who might be less compliant.

I disagree strongly that I feel, or I communicated that I am
superior to retail staff. I’ve worked retail.
It’s precisely because I don’t disrespect staff that I did not raise my voice, swear or use derogatory terminology when I was annoyed by the task they were directed to do.
However, I do have a right to be annoyed at such a stupid rule. Plus, it’s in our collective interest to feed back against such a policy

Good girl.

It's scan and shop and not self service and scan at checkout.

So you walk around scanning items and putting them into your trolley.

I am not, in theory, against them wanting to do random checks. I am impressed that you managed not to start ramming them with your trolley, OP. But your answer was excellent.

But. I never use the self-checkout, and these random checks are one reason

*Why do people put up with this?? What legal right would they have to make you stay? If you just walked off, what could they actually do about it?

It's people not pushing back on this sort of bullshit that means it will become entrenched.*

I do one big shop once a week . I can't imagine anything worse once than walking out and wasting my time by having to do it all again.

I don't actually mind the random checks for scan as you go. I don't want to pay more for my shopping because I'm subsiding dishonest customers. But I think they should take you to somewhere with room for them to repack your shopping at the end of it. And not keep helping other customers.

I wouldn’t have either, I’d have been so annoyed but then I never use self checkouts either. Annoying, takes me ages, things go wrong, they’re always very slow to remove tags from wine. You can guarantee DD will grab stuff and send the damn thing haywire.

I wonder how random the checks are ie do they get a flag for an individual or do they just need to do a set number of checks per hour?
Are they "profiling" shoppers they think won't be aggressive?

I think you’ve handled that very well and would feel the exact same as you.
Sainsburys regularly do checks but they always seem to repack my stuff if it’s had to have been checked and the staff always seem more embarrassed and apologetic than anything else.

You were fine.

I once did a shop with the scanner you use going round. Went to pay and it came up with 'a random check'. The member of staff said he had to scan 3 items. Before I could say anything he dug into the bottom of one of my bags and scanned an item of clothing. It came up that I hadn't scanned that item and therefore he now had to scan the whole of my big shop....but the clothes item he scanned was from a different shop that's why it wasn't recognised! He did have the grace to unpack and pack my shopping, though!

I'm impressed. I don't mind a check, but I get one every time at Tesco and Sainsbury’s and it really mucks up my bags.