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.

Agree with other posters - if people use the self-scan option they then should expect that the shop does random checks. Its nothing personal, just checks that need to be done as a regular control on all shoppers, also to show they are being done to deter actual thiefs.
If you don’t like being checked then use the normal tills instead.

You almost were a thief though. The system
worked to stop you becoming one. You may want to avoid Waitrose scan and shop for a while as your card will now have been marked and they will be choosing you more often for the checks.

What does reading with a coffee and your baby's age have to do with it?!

I think you're being very sensitive, maybe go to the till in future.

Yes, hard to avoid this conclusion. The OP is a fragrant Waitrose shopper, who lounges genteelly with her book and coffee before saving time with a scan and shop so she can spend more time with her children. Not someone shoving nappies and gin down her tracksuit bottoms while being followed by security guard because of her high ponytail and feckless air.

Because people who drink coffee and read books and spend time with their children CLEARLY aren’t like the shoplifting scrotes who can’t read and smoke crack instead? - The help desk girl there said all sorts steal from Waitrose.
👀

This happened to me in Sainsbury's not long ago. A 12 item random rescan found a loose apple I had apparently not scanned. I swear until I'm blue in the face that I scanned one apple then changed the quantity on the scanner to x3. Anyhoo, I was carted off to some other tills for an entire rescan. I wasn't upset or embarrassed just pissed off that their system failed somehow. I had a runny nose and kept sniffing and I think the lady thought I was crying as she kept asking me if I was ok! I seem to get clocked for a rescan quite often - perhaps I'm now 'a face' on their tills 🤪 Sainsbury's XXX Most Wanted.

YANBU. Big businesses in the UK want us to spend online so they create a crap in-store shopping experience where we're all treated like criminals. It's rubbish.

All they've done is rescan your shopping and then had to do it all because you had an item that hadn't scanned. They haven't set out to humiliate you.

What special till do you think they should take you through to rescan an entire shop?

I've been using self scan at Waitrose since it started and a re-scan meant they scanned the whole shop through a till, it's really the only way to scan a whole shop.

Pmsl I'd just think you'd triggered a rescan.
(Which was triggered as you didn't scan stuff properly)

If they led you away to another area for a rescan, then I'd think you were tea-leafing.

I only scan if I have a couple of items. Having staff helping the bewildered, rescanning etc. doesn’t seem much of a saving.
My riposte to anyone who asks why I wouldn’t scan a big shop is “I don’t work here”.

My issue is, there should be a system whereby they can check the shopping without making the person feel embarrassed or look a thief.

But the whole point of this public scanning is probably to make Sneaky Sarah Middle-Class, deliberating over whether to scan that second bottle of wine, think twice - they're trying to cut out the small, constant losses since they seem unable to stop the gangs steaming in for big ticket thefts. Our Tesco has more or less given up.

Anyway, I've had my shopping rescanned in Sainsbury’s and Waitrose as part of the random scans - if I saw someone having their shopping rescanned I'd just assume they were too.

😂😂😂

Flippin heck, don't ever have any real problem in your life if this non event has made you tearful to the point you've had to bruise your avocados and squash your crusty loaf on an otherwise idyllic morning. I despair. I'm not sure whether to roll my eyes at this utter overload reaction to the poor old waitress worker simply doing their job, or be envious of what must be a very zen and charmed life you must float through, if this has caused such devastation and shame.

Seriously, please take a reality check and have word with yourself, and whatever you do don't be me - you'd never cope lass.

Why not take ‘suspected thieves’ back through the till traditionally, rather than making a show of it? Surely that’s a better solution than making a customer (who may well not be a thief) feel like shit?

Unless it’s intentional and they want to embarrass people and make them look like thieves to deter actual criminals. I can’t see the reason for not just taking you back through the traditional till.

You're nice

No one has treated the OP like a criminal. They've treated her like someone who hasn't scanned an item.

But you hadn’t scanned an item so they were treating you like a thief

you have massively overreacted to this

What does having a coffee and reading your book have to do with this story sorry

Every supermarket does this. I’ve had it when one of the DC’s dropped something in the trolley that I’d not scanned. It’s embarrassing and inconvenient but it’s not personal. I try to be nice to the supermarket worker if it happens to me, as it’s usually at the most awkward time when I’m rushing to the school run and my instinct is to snap but that’s really not fair. Unless it was a bottle of whisky or champagne, I doubt they thought it was deliberate.

Yep I’m forgetful and found I was wandering around with unscanned things in my hand (loose fruit and veg, looking for a weighing scale). I don’t trust myself to scan everything reliably every single week, so I either go to the till or order a delivery.

How can you survive being a parent if you have such a dramatic reaction over absolutely nothing?

You could have just emptied the bags yourself at the till while the shop assistant was rescanning everything, instead of standing there doing nothing. Apart from that, it's a non-issue.

No need to start crying because someone is scanning your shopping.

The system is to deter theft. And it worked because you hadn’t scanned an item. Maybe not on purpose but to them it’s theft so they were right to re scan you.

Making a show of it?? How was it a "show"? She took you to a til, unpacked, scanned and repacked. There is no other way of doing it. You would
have looked just the same if you'd gone through any other till with your obviously already scanned shopping.

Literally.

The whole point of the checks is to verify (at random) that the contents of your trolley are as they should be, with every item accounted for.

Of the percentage of items they checked in your trolley, there was already a discrepancy, so perfectly reasonable that they now have to check the remainder too.

I really don’t think it matters where the staff member unpacked your shopping - It’s pretty apparent to most people what they’re doing and why - but to be honest, I think the majority of people are minding their own business and actually don’t care what you’re doing.

You know you’re not a thief, but they don’t know that.

There is currently no other way to check except scanning everything.

You chose to take the self-scan option. You could have just gone to a standard till.

I often see people have forgotten to scan an item, including expensive items such as clothing, and staff scan everything. I don’t think they’re thieves so not sure why you think everyone will think you’re a thief.

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.

How is any of this relevant? Anyone can be a thief!