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.

You have a hand scanner that you take round the store with you and you scan and bag your items as you go. You then go to the scan and go tills, scan the barcode on the screen which records what you've bought and then you pay. These tills will direct you to have a bag check before you pay every so often so I don't know why in the OPs case they tried to check her bags after she had paid.

@WeWereInParis

Eh 🤣

Oops, I actually see that it was self service rather than scan as you shop. Lots of stores have self service tills for a trolley shop as well as for smaller basket shops.

How do you do a big shop and go through a self checkout? I only go through there with a basket as there isn't any room for a trolley.

Depends on the supermarket. At the big Sainsbury’s near me there is a bank of self service tills for baskets, and a bank for trolleys, with larger packing areas so you can put multiple bags down.

I fully get this, but I think it's one you take up with the head office, not the sales assistant on the floor who is just doing what they're made to. It's not fair that they should maybe get in bother for letting op leave when tbh if someone refused to do the check I'm sure they were worried it was because there was something off about it. Op put them in an awful position when she could have taken it directly to head office where it could have been reflected on more appropriately and might have actually made them reconsider their approach.

I like it

Well done Op

Well done !
you handled that really well
I Will remember what you said , brilliant

I have also refused to unpack my shopping in a similar situation, but you did this with far more eloquence than me, Op!

Good for you!

She couldn't take it directly top head office because she had a couple of people wanting her to empty her trolley for them.

She wasn't rude or aggressive to them.

The sales assistant didn't let OP leave, it was the manager. And they're expected to make decisions like that.

Another one who thinks you handled it brilliantly and wish I could think on my feet like that!

I like a self service till as I generally don't buy loads in one go these days so a check wouldn't take long (if I was doing a big shop, I'd probably save my back and go through a till). However, I have never used self scan since the time in Safeways about 23 years ago (I believe Safeways were one of the trailblazers for self scan!) when I had done a massive shop while wrangling a bored toddler and feeling pretty shite about life in general and got randomly selected for a rescan. It was one of those straw that broke the camels back moments and put me off for life!

I think you handled that really well. I don’t mind if I get asked for the trolley check but I have never been asked to unpack and pack myself.

On one occasion (Waitrose), the staff member doing the check made a mistake by doing the wrong number of scans for a multiple item and she didn’t know how to correct it. She then asked me if she could put all items through the till instead. On that occasion I did complain that I did self-scan specifically to save time, and that while I didn’t in principle object to them checking shopping she should know that putting things through the till was a pain, time-wise. By the time they finished scanning every single item again, the manager appeared with a shopping voucher for me. But that’s Waitrose for you.

Congratulations on retaining your composure! There's no way I could've
I admire your assertiveness
There's just so many obstacles nowadays

Clear, polite, unequivocal language I'd have said. Well done OP. 🌹

Well done you! I wouldn't have wanted to comply, and would've said so but probably not calmly, I'd have got arsey about it 😂

I'm with you, OP!

ZoChan · Yesterday 21:23

Nope. I also am strategic in packing.

Same here, I wouldn't want someone dumping the bottles on top of the bread and the strawberries!

I beeped on the way out of Sainsbury's, a while back. I went back and offered my trolley to the security guard, he looked, saw a boxed bottle of whisky and opened it, to see the tag, then he waved me off.

I asked how he knew I'd paid and he said that the thieves always run away.

I would have been completely useless in this situation and done what they asked,
feeling completely stressed out inside.

Your strength of character has inspired me to be more assertive if I were ever to find myself in this situation.

Well done you!

You missed out the bit where everyone clapped! 🙄

You're wrong. The situation was occuring at that time in that location and needed an immediate response by OP. As she pointed out it is not her job to do security checks for Tesco, neither is if her job to write reports to their senior management about the implementation of their policies in a particular store.

OP did nothing wrong and in fact she stood her ground against a company that thinks it can make customers do free labour. The bloody cheek of asking a customer to unpack and repack their already purchased shopping because "it's policy". I had checks performed at the till prior to payment but they have always unpacked and (sort of) repacked the shopping I certainly wouldn't be doing it for them.

People don't have time for that position though. It is ridiculous and we the shopper are saving the retailers a fortune on staff. I go to one Sainsburys where they don't have anyone on the till past 8 and I have seen them ask to do this, needless to say I won't be going there again. I usually go to Waitrose where I haven't seen this being done so far mind you they have loads more people on the tills.

Well, bring back staff on tills then. People don't have time to shop, serve themselves via the scanning till and then now it seems also carry out security services on oneself! How have we, the customers, got to the point where we are satisfied with this service or see it as the norm. In my local Sainsburys where as it is small it is most self service, many a time you are just left standing there if there is an issue, customer services nowhere to be seen as stacking shelves and don't notice. You can't just hang around all the time it is not an NHS Doctor's appointment!

People don't have time to shop, serve themselves via the scanning till and then now it seems also carry out security services on oneself!

I think you're slightly missing the point. I use scan as you go (which is not scanning everything at the checkout) as it saves me time and I find it less stressful than packing everything at the till. It's a service the shop provides which I like and therefore choose to use.

I don't actually have an issue with the random checks. No retailer is going to accept a high level of wastage by never checking self scanners. They'll just stop offering it which would be a shame for those customers who like it. My only beef is them repacking it and not going mid-check to help other customers.

There's been a lot of press comment about retailers struggling with the rise in shoplifting. I don't think it would be reasonable for customers to get upset when they're carrying out checks as part of this.

Well done on keeping your composure. I've had our shopping checked a few times. It's never bothered me though as we just take the trolley to the car then pack it in bags we leave in the boot. I find that easier.

One wonders if they would have tried it with a man ?

I have got our self service tills well trained. No "random" check for over six months.