A few months ago using a self scan with scan and go in my local Asda I got a quality check and a 95p item hadn’t scanned properly, it hadn’t registered on the scales as it was too light. It was a big shop over £80 and I’d think common sense would show it was obviously a mistake that there was only one cheap, light unscanned item.
The staff member doing the check made it into a huge issue and basically acted like I was a shoplifter.
The next time I went in when she was working I didn’t get an automatic quality check that showed on the scanner but she said there had been problems with the tills and had to check my shopping, she seemed almost disappointed that everything had been scanned. I was going to email and complain to Asda but in the end just thought she’s only doing her job.
I stopped using scan and go after that but in the evening when I shop there are only self checkouts open and every time she was working she was hovering around me, DP once said loudly “I wish that stupid woman would stop staring at us and do some work!” But she still stood watching us like we were criminals.
A few weeks ago she struck again, I go shopping late on as DP finishes work in the evening and has the car for work, there are usually lots of reduced items and on this occasion we decided to use scan and go again as we wanted to add it up as we went along because we were trying to stick to a budget. There were about 15 things in our trolley that were reduced. Again no quality check showed on the scanner but same woman rushed over and told me she had to check my trolley and do a full rescan and put it through the checkout. I wish I’d walked out but we really needed the shopping and it was decent stuff that was marked down.
At the end the total on my scanner was £74 but when she put it through the checkout it was £89, the manager gets called over and I get a lecture about how bad it is to shop lift and the impact it has on the store and other shoppers. The staff member said she needed to speak to the manager about involving the police. I was mystified as I’d made sure everything had scanned properly and counted items in my trolley and matched them to the total on the scanner.
The manager realised that the reduced items had scanned on the scanner but not added to the total of the shopping and explained to this staff member that I had indeed scanned everything but it was a fault on their end. I got no apology and other customers were staring at me and DP having our shopping checked by the manager with other staff all standing round us watching.
I was so embarrassed and humiliated and was almost in tears, DP was angry but just trying to pack it up quickly and get out.
I emailed ASDA but got no apology and just told that staff have to do quality checks in case of shoplifting or people “making errors whilst using self scan”
With the amount of staff that were standing watching that night and the manager involved surely one of them could operate a till?
I avoided going back but as it’s the only late opening supermarket and I needed to use the pharmacy one evening we went back, I thought we’d be left alone after what happened but same staff member homed in on us, we just left the trolley and walked out and haven’t been back.
This is why lots of people hate to use the self scan, as a pp said you watched and treated like a shoplifter even if you are just trying to scan your shopping, you often need approval anyway or coupons validated or something is too light. If they are that concerned about shop lifters that they have several staff standing round watching then why can’t those staff jump on a till?
Its put me off using any self checkout now and all for a genuine mistake and a technical fault that wasn’t down to me.
I recently went to Aldi with a full trolley and there was no one on the tills and just self checkout open, I asked if I someone could jump on a checkout and they were more then happy to open one up. I had nothing against a self checkout before but I doubt I’ll use one again now after what happened in ASDA.