Made to pay for a bag in the supermarket

[christmasfoodshop]

Just picked up a few bits for Xmas food shop.

Had baby with me and she was tired so getting a bit irritable.

Scanned all my shopping at self checkout, ended up with a quite a lot more than I needed (as you do).

Baby crying. Paid for my shopping.

Realised I needed a bag at this point so got one and put all my stuff in there.

Go to walk out.

The shop assistant said I needed to pay for a bag. Fair enough.

She said I had to rescan it.

Baby now screaming and wriggling out my arms. Heavy bag of shopping in the other hand.

She made me wait there until she'd scanned a bag, pressed 'check-out' , selected 'pay by card' and then I had to scan. All for bloody 30p.

In hindsight, I do understand I had to pay for the bag but I was so bloody frustrated and just wanted to get out of there that I paid 30p for the bag and stormed off. Left my giant trolley in the middle of self checkout. I was at my wits end. I felt like I was at school being held back by the teacher.

It's 30 bloody pence. Let me go!!

She acted like she was earning money out of making people pay for bags.

YABU - everyone ALWAYS must pay for bags no matter what

YANBU - in the circumstance, she should have just let me go all for the sake of 30p plastic bag.

Clearly due to the way they've been raised 😂

That's the problem though.

"Well they did it for me last time"
"They always let me do X usually"
^"It's never been a problem before"

People take one off kind actions that go against the policy staff have to follow and start expecting it as default. Then when the next member of staff follows the policy (whether that's because they are new and are doing as they're told, don't have the same discretion as the other staff members due to their seniority; or because they have recently been told off for something and are therefore following the rules to the letter) they get it in the neck from customers who expect the "exception" to be the default rather than the exception being the one off

So now, unless there's massive extenuating circumstances I do not make any exceptions to policy because it just isn't worth the hassle it causes to me and everyone else.

bows at your feet I'm so sorry your majesty, i don't spend all day, every day camped out on Mumsnet. /s

I had only just seen the post as it was posted on Facebook. So what if it's been 5 days and others have said the same thing. If the thread isn't locked, anybody can post, so why does it bother you so much?? Me commenting on a post does not affect you in any way whatsoever , other than a notification which can be ignored 😂😂

In my dreams I checkout my stuff take a bag for life ( I'm not paying because even if I did mine will last less time as I'm 63 ) and declare after I've paid for my shopping sans bag. Firstly none of my ire is aimed at the minimum wage staff I know you are working hard and deserve better pay and conditions but I will not pay your extortionate 30p for your vacuous virtue signalling profiteering. If you want to detain and arrest me be my guest but I will not pay. Then flounce out in a theatrical wave of pointless entitlement whilst singing you can shove your bloody bag tax up your arse. This is how the Arab Spring started hopefully more will join us as we storm the bastions of late post industrial consumer crapitalism. Or something like that it is work in progress......

@nanamoo

it bothers me because it’s just fucking tragic that there are still people lining up to give the OP a kicking and the conversation (in the loosest possible sense of the word) has barely strayed from that. It’s just a load of sanctimonious bile aimed at a complete stranger.

If that’s how you get your kicks on the internet crack on, there must be plenty of material for you to work your way through if your contributions aren’t limited to current conversations. 🤷‍♀️

I could do couldn't I? But let's think why not...I might be on the way home from work and haven't planned on buying something, I might have walked past and seen that it's not too busy, I might just not have thought about planning my day around an extra carrier a bag ..

No she should not have let you have the bag for free, it wasn't her fault you had a screaming baby, get a grip woman. You know full and well you must pay for the bag. Next time take plenty of bags ,not difficult and not heavy either.

So why not pay for the bags you need?

The shop assistant doesn’t really have leeway for empathy, the law dictates supermarkets charge for bags and face fines if don’t. As an employee she’s told to make sure that happens. She could lose her job if gives stock away or turns a blind eye.

I don't see how she could lose her job. What about all those shop lifters who steal every day. They don't hold the employees responsible for theft. Surely that's what store detected are for.

You were massively unreasonable. Not the shop assistants fault your kid was screamed. The entitlement!!!

As a checkout girl I never gave a stuff if someone gave their child a banana, what are they like 13p each? The shop throws away more than get stolen so who cares?

The crafty banana ruse who would have thought that was a thing? Earlier in the thread the Mumsnet clucking lawyers would be all over this criminal infraction thankfully we're nearly done. Enjoy nicking your bag today whilst force-feeding your kids with stolen fruit to get in your 5 a day.

Before bloody lock down tesco used to give free fruit to kids to eat while shopping. Bring it back!!

If only the same applied to swigging a bottle of wine whilst wondering round Tesco, surely I wouldn't be expected to pay for it when I reached the checkout. It may make enduring peoples screaming babies more tolerable 😜

People probably do...

Last orders at the Mumsnet Lawyer's bar! Sentencing incoming.... It should have been a vote. Probably have gone 49:51

No chance! It's at least 95:5 for YABU, reading the thread.

I agree with you as I had a similar experience at Boots at the airport last week! Scanned my purchases quickly because they were announcing the gate, and at the end of the shop I had to ask the assistant for help to add a bag. She said I had to add it at the beginning, cancelled my shop and made me put the bag through first then and then the whole thing through again!!

Thieves are going to lie, aren't they?!

Fair point!

Drop the bag and move away from the scanner - and the kid drop that banana skin and come out with your hands up!

Clearly my being handed a bag by an assistant to help me out is bothering you...