Waitrose incident.

[SensitiveSallySue]

I am not sure if I am being sensitive or if I should complain.

Every Sunday morning I go out for a coffee and read my book, then do the weekly shop without the children. I like to be back before midday so I can spend the rest of the time with my children, including 9 month old baby. We have every supermarket local to us, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, M&S, Asda, Tesco, and I always use the ‘scan and shop’ to make the shopping as quick and easy as possible. I’ve never had an issue until today in Waitrose. I’ve only used it a couple of times in Waitrose and never for a big shop.

After scanning my entire shop, strategically packing it so it’s easy to unload at home, I went to pay. When I beeped the scanner, it flagged up as needing to be checked. I thought that was fair enough, it happens sometimes, and I haven’t done a weekly shop in Waitrose before using the ‘scan and shop’ option. The worker came over and said she needed to rescan 30/58 items. I thought that was ridiculous, in every other shop they scan a random selection of a few items, not over half your shop. It seemed pointless to me to have even used the option in the first place, but I didn’t say anything and the worker started to empty shopping bags full to rescan items. This was taking ages, but I just stood patiently waiting for her to finish.

Then, she came across one that I apparently hadn’t scanned. I know I did, but it was a yellow sticker packet so I can only assume that it hadn’t registered properly. She repeatedly asked me if I had scanned it, and I repeatedly told her I had but it clearly hadn’t registered.

She told me she would need to rescan my entire shopping trolley, then took me over to a till, and I stood on the end whilst she unpacked every single one of my bags and scanned every item individually. It was completely unsubtle, in front of all of the other customers, and obvious that they were rescanning the entire shop in case I was attempting to steal things. I felt like an idiot and a thief. To make matters worse, I am a small business owner working with children, and had already bumped into several of my clients in the shop. I was absolutely mortified thinking that they may think I am a thief.

I was thoroughly embarrassed and teary eyed, and hastily shoved everything back into bags whilst the Waitrose worker apologised. Half of my shopping is crushed as I was shoving things back into the bags indiscriminately. I promptly paid and left but it has really upset me. By that point, I’d spent around 20 minutes having everything rescanned.

AIBU to think that if Waitrose are going to have a system that is open to abuse, they need to have a solution that doesn’t involve treating customers like thieves? I have never had an experience like this in any other store and whilst I realise they have to protect themselves from theft, surely this is not the correct way to go about. It’s not the Waitrose workers fault, it just seems like a very poor system and they shouldn’t offer ‘scan and shop’ if this is the way they treat customers.

I shop in Waitrose several times a week. I can say hand on heart I've never noticed if anyone is being scanned by staff and I'd think nothing of it if I did.

+1

When I scan my shopping, the machine goes "beep" when it reads the barcode. No beep, no scan. There isn't some kind of deal where if the barcode is a bit covered by the yellow sticker you can give up after a couple of attempts and get a freebie. You're meant to call for help and say "This item doesn't appear to be scanning".

If anything, the problem with a yellow sticker item is that you scan it and it comes up at the full price rather than the reduced one. So I pay extra attention with those — I actually look at the price on the screen, which I don't always do with ordinary items.

As soon as I saw Waitrose in the subject line I knew it would be good 😂 can’t beat a very middle class style overreaction.

Ignore me.

Total drama lama. I've had this happen at Tesco and whilst inconvenient, I waited and nothing else had been missed. My fault for missing something first time round.

So you had item you weren't paying for in your basket so they checked, you then crushed your own items after you bought them?

I mean you technically did nearly steal from them, you had items you weren't paying for hidden within your shopping and got 'caught'... regardless of if it was 1 mistake or not they aren't in the wrong you still nearly took it without paying.

Exactly. The OP was stealing and she got caught and now she’s embarrassed and making a fuss.

She crushed her own shopping while rushing to get out of there as she was embarrassed.

Teary eyed?! Scan properly then.
It's happened to me. No big deal.
Get it together.

To clear up a few things:

I mentioned my Sunday routine as it’s the only regular break I get from the baby. I like to be back promptly for when the baby wakes from napping, hence using the self-scan in the first place. I was trying to save time.

I definitely scanned the item, it beeped. I’ve used the scanners many times, just never in Waitrose for a large shop. I can only assume it didn’t scan properly because it was a yellow sticker item that didn’t register when the worker scanned it. Not only were there 3 yellow stickers on it, but also the original barcode, so I can only assume something went wrong with their technology. This was an error on Waitrose / the scanners part.

The worker asked me three times to confirm I had scanned it. This was the first time I got the impression that Waitrose / the worker thought I was a thief; she asked me three times in a row to confirm the same thing.

I’ve never experienced over half my items needing to be rescanned. 30/58 is ridiculous, and eliminates the whole point of even using the self-scan. Had I known this was a possibility, I wouldn’t have even used the self-scan. Whenever I’ve been flagged randomly at any other store it has been a handful of items, maximum. The worker was having to place items of food on the floor and precariously place them on shelves and any available spaces in the self-scan area. I tried to pack the items back as she scanned them and was told not to touch the items.

Then, I’m taken to a completely different area of the shop where there is a regular till, but rather than just going through the regular till to save embarrassment, the worker empties every bag and item out one-by-one on the end part and scans everything individually. All the while in full view of other customers and I am not allowed to repack or touch anything.

I am not blaming the staff as I have said repeatedly, they are clearly just doing what they have been told. I’m blaming a system which makes customers feel like they are criminals and embarrasses them in front of the whole store. Supermarkets shouldn’t have systems in place that require customers to have a thick skin.

No- she crushed her shopping and cried because she was being treated like a thief.

This. Massive overreaction and yes you are being hugely over sensitive. Happens to everyone eventually when you use the self scan.

It’s humiliating but it’s a lesson learned to be careful with the scanner.
Your ego is bruised but you’ll get over it. You’ll also be extra careful the next time you shop and scan.

Yep.

They can't control your reaction, or rather, complete over reaction.

30/58 is ridiculous, and eliminates the whole point of even using the self-scan

no it doesn't eliminate the whole point. Not everyone gets randomly selected for a rescan.

Many people do their scan, aren't selected, pay for their goods and are quickly out of the door.

People who get selected for a rescan and don't have a problem, also get passed by the checker, pay for their goods and are quickly out of the door.

You happened to be selected, and it just so happened there was a problem. When a problem came up, one of your items didn't register on the rescan. it heightened the store's security procedure, and they increased the number of items they had to check.

Happened to me once and i nearly left the shopping there, I absolutely do not have time for that. I missed a pack of something that was 2 for 3quid or something rediculous and she tried to make me put 250 quids worth of shopping through again. I said nope, not doing that, leave it, so a manager came over and said im very sorry, let me bypass the system and let you through.
Which is a bit more like it.

I can only assume it didn’t scan properly because it was a yellow sticker item that didn’t register when the worker scanned it. Not only were there 3 yellow stickers on it, but also the original barcode, so I can only assume something went wrong with their technology. This was an error on Waitrose / the scanners part.

Please stop blaming the system. You should have checked your scanner to check if the reduced item had registered.

This is why they ask you at the till if you had any items that didn’t scan.

That was the error on your part, that you failed to ensure item scanned and if not, that you failed to flag it.

Even so, it’s not a big deal. They checked your shopping and rescanned it, they didn’t call you a thief.

You hadn't scanned an item properly, what do you expect? Of course they'll check, it's their job!

You don't seem to understand that having an unscanned item in your trolley makes you a shoplifter!!

@thequickbrowndog I had scanned the item properly, it registered on my scanner, just not the workers (I’m making an assumption it was because it was yellow stickered). Others on this thread have had similar happen to them so I’m clearly not alone.

I’m not questioning them checking, I’m questioning the procedure being done in a way that makes customers feel uncomfortable, embarrassed and criminal. There must be a better way of doing it.

but how should they know you are not a shop lifter op?

I can't get worked up about this. The other week I was selected for a random check and they rescanned some items. Unfortunately I had picked scanned a mozzarella and said I had three of them, but one of the ones I'd grabbed was a light one. So it came up as an unscanned item and they had to redo them all. It wasn't a disaster, I just waited. It was my fault after all..

This happened to me a few weeks ago in Sainsbury’s, I d checked my 6 eggs but then mustn’t have scanned them properly, I was mortified and was taken away for a full trolley scan, needless to say everything else had scanned ok. It’s normal procedure and it happens, I wouldn’t be losing any sleep over it and there’s no point complaining , they were just doing their job

It happened to me last week. The shop worker and I both sighed at having to rescan every item. We did it, then got on with our lives. Absolutely no drama.

@Willmafrockfit That is exactly my point. They don’t know whether I was a shop lifter or not. It’s surely better to give a customer the benefit of the doubt and treat them with dignity and try your best to save them embarrassment, rather than treating them with suspicion from the off.

To be honest I do agree with another poster who said that this is not a perfect system and if is inconveniencing customers this much then it needs to be tweaked.