Fed up with supermarkets

[SelfScanHell]

Sainsbury's reduced me to tears today.

Our DC has recently finished GCSEs so we decided to move from the usual online shop to taking them to learn how to do a shop in real life. They are autistic and can struggle in busy environments.

It was challenging but we managed to do a whole week’s shop using the ‘smart scan’ (they’ve used it before and prefer it) and got to the check-out. A few hiccups but managed with headphones and music. In the past we’ve had the ‘items needs to be checked’ thing every other time we visit, and just put up with 10 items being checked, never an issue.

Today we had the message, only 1 staff member seeing to about 20 check-outs. Other staff just said ‘sorry I can’t do that’. New staff member eventually appeared and told us the WHOLE trolley needed checking - an overflowing trolley with a week’s shop for a whole family. There was nowhere to do this, nowhere to move the stuff from our trolley, no extra bags, no counter space, just the floor for space to move the shopping to. No suggestions of how this was to be done. I was left standing by the trolley piled with food, next to a confused DC with the staff member just staring at me.

My first instinct was just to abandon the trolley to them. I should have said ‘OK I’ll go for a coffee and you do it’. But I wanted to manage the situation for my DC and felt sorry for the staff member who looked clueless, standing there blankly with no way to achieve this. So off we went to join a new queue for a normal till and do it all over again. Thankfully my DC managed, I’m so proud of them.

After getting the shopping into the car, and DC settled with music, I went back to complain at this new ‘whole trolley checking’ rule without the resource in place to do it. Plus, I’m lucky as my DC managed this time, what about someone else who is standing with a mountain of goods with nowhere to put them. After being given the manager’s email to send a complaint to him, I went back to the car and just started crying. Sometimes it’s just too much. First attempt at a full Sainsbury’s shop for DC has taught them they might be expected to pile their shopping on the floor to be checked (no way that’s happening).

I am tempted to ask if all ND people should avoid Sainsbury’s, but being less antagonistic I’ll ask, AIBU to say:

• If Sainsbury’s have to start checking everything in a packed trolley they should provide the staff and space to do this (not on the floor)

You’re right, I stand corrected.
I’m willing to bet money on there not being clauses about ‘cover lack of resource’ and ‘put food on the floor’. If they do exist then doubt they’d stand up in a Court of Law, maybe it’s different in the court of Mumsnet though 😉

You do realise the floor gets cleaned significantly more then trolleys do

You do realised I’d Smart Shopped / scanned all goods into my own bags within the trolley. I would have had to take the goods out of the bags, onto the floor, to unpack them as there was nowhere else.

Its reassuring the Sainsbury’s management, who know this store and how cramped the area is, felt a whole trolley re-scan there was totally inappropriate.

Blame the thieves. Shoplifting is out of control.

Have you ever seen a supermarket warehouse

Indeed! There should always be a second trolley nearby for these kinds of things. i would not countenance my whole trolley shop on the floor, I would just abandon it. (I know it’s not the staff’s fault but I would just have to say thanks but no thanks)

They want me to scan my own shopping, and then, on a random security check (which I have no problem with in theory) they can’t supply a receptacle for the shopping and expect me to use the floor? No sir, no way.

But it isn't about the staff, personally I don't have time to waste doing the supermarkets job for them, for shareholders to receive higher dividends. At the end of the day you should want staff pay/ratios addressed not just give in and expect customers too, presumably you are a customer of goods also.

Funny that trajectory of increased shoplifting corresponds to fewer and fewer members of staff, for the greed of the supermarket owners, equally they owe most of the UK so it also corresponds to the gigantic gap between the richest and the poorest now. It doesn't bother them as they are sitting pretty, why can't they have a bit less, fewer millions and we go back to more equity in society, I think you'll find that may help the shoplifting.

Again, should we just waste our time then as customers doing the work they don't want to pay people to do to increase their wealth even more. Sorry but why should we do that, I don't have time to do a Sainsbury's job, I've got my own job to do.

So sorry you had such a horrible experience. When I had to have a full trolley check I asked the assistant to get another trolley to put it in to. If it had to go on the floor I would have refused to buy it. I wouldn't want food that had been on the floor.

Use a checkout always a staffed one
If enough ppl refuse to.use all this self scan rubbish they will have to change.

What makes you think your doing the job of a Sainsbury's worker

You are being very specific, due to the absence of enough staff, customers are expected to do the work for free! Are you a Sainsbury's shareholder or something as you are strongly advocating for them and their motivations and have justified this shoddy service referencing the terms and conditions.

What work are you doing? I clean my own teeth but I dont think think im a dentist. Just to add iv never stepped in a Sainsbury's in my life

Update.
Sainsbury’s seem to be in agreement with me that this experience was totally unacceptable. I had a long call today from a lovely Customer Experience Manager who is investigating why this happened inc why in earth a full trolly re-scan was required (she suggested that one as she said it should not have happened). They are going further than expected with additional discussions to be planned. So far I’m impressed by their response.

So all's well that end's well.

The lesson is, it’s always worth speaking up and highlighting failures.

That's part of the lesson, but whenever I've been involved in a fuck-up of any size something which didn't go to plan, I've always invested a lot of reflection to see if there's anything at all I could do differently next time. Sainsbury's may have been at fault here ( (I can't comment as I lost track of who did what and when and what might have been wrong with them), but no one died, and there's lots you can do to avoid it in future, such as go to another retailer or use a checkout where a human being processes your shopping through a till.

I am glad it's all over for you now though.

Jeez, the customer is scanning the products something the supermarket used to do for you! Your brushing teeth analogy doesn't work at all.

Then go to a manned checkout if you dont want to scan your own shopping. Scanning your weekly shop (wrongly half the time as people always need help) is hardly working in Sainsbury's how much stock are you putting out are you facing up are you date checking, are you sorting out refunds, doing first aid calls, dealing with shoplifters. Are you doing reductions why being swamped and grapped at. Having to listen to customers whinge and whine all day because a cucumber went up 2 p from last week and how your personally ripping them of. Are you age checking customers so that you dont get a personal fine are you having to tell people no I cant serve you alcohol because you can barely stand or no you can only have 2 packets of paracetamol. Cleaning up sick, shit and piss. Picking up people's used tampons. Stopping fights. Finding lost kids. Being timed on how long it takes to scan someone's shopping. Cleaning up breakages. Having to listen to sleazy old men come on to you while casually touching you up Because these things are actually working in retail not the 5 minutes a week you spend scanning your own shopping that you have chose to do instead of going through a main checkout.

All true. Retail is a tough job and supermarkets are the toughest.

As previously stated, blame the scummy shoplifters not the staff. And that includes the well to do middle class thieves who think it’s a victimless crime to pretend to scan their meal deal and walk out with a free lunch every day.

Listing the duties of a supermarket job is not really relevant to the point being made- maybe you are a shareholder, who knows. The reality is scanning shopping used to be part of the job of a customer services assistant, supermarkets one to up their profits by employing fewer staff, leaving many no choice but to scan their shopping unless they don't have anywhere to get to before next Christmas! Am I seriously supposed to cry over hurting the feelings of the hugely rich in this country, of dear, boo, hoo...

The shop lifting has correspondingly risen in line with the fall in the employment of staff, as those who profit from supermarket businesses have put greed before common sense, they need to be even richer than they are now. Maybe they should look at how that's working out for them, rather than expecting the customers to do the fucking work for them.

Its relevant when someone says they work at Sainsbury's because they scan their own shopping once a week through choice. It completely minimises the work of anyone who does or has ever worked in retail

Who's feelings are you hurting do you think the owner of Sainsbury's is on this thread

I don't scan my shopping once a week, where do you infer that from, I go to the shops every day, not just Sainsbury's as I don't have time for a big shop. I worked in a supermarket, I've worked in a factory, I worked in Top Shop when younger, I worked as a bar person, I have worked in a variety of different positions. You are completely missing my point as you are taking it literally, I'm making a broader point about the miserly owners of supermarkets.

You seem to think I cannot make a political point that is broader about with inequality.

I don't care if they are on MN, they may well be, rich people do frequent MN you know!

Why are you shopping everyday do you just go in their to moan about how you have to scan a few items and to tell the staff that you work their because you cant be bothered to wait in a queue at the main checkout