Do you want a receipt

[Bunnybenty]

I moved to England not that long ago.

In other countries that I lived in, they just gave me a receipt in the shops, everytime that I bought something. The receipt was always handed to me with the purchase.

Why in the UK do they not just give the receipt to you,

instead they always ASK you if you want a receipt.

What annoys me about it, is that it slows the shopping experience down so much.

Many times I have been called back to the till, to be asked if i want a receipt.

Example: I was in a small shop this morning. I only had a certain amount of time, as i was on the way to work. I was walking out of the door, when the woman at the till shouted at me "Wait. Come back! come back!".

I thought maybe my payment hadn't gone through, so I walked all the way back to her.

She said "Do you want a receipt?".

It drives me mad!

That would be because every other country is wasting paper. Pretty obvious really.

This is a good point.

At our local Lidl you need to scan your receipt to exit the barrier at eve self checkout.

Not related but it annoys me that they forced everyone to move to self service under the guise that it would reduce queuing but now they only ever have half the self service tills available to use. (Lidl and ASDA) They are all card only so no one is manually cashing them up at night so there is literally no reason to have everyone stood in a massive queue for the privilege of scanning and bagging their own purchases.

A quick Google search tells you that in the UK over 11 billion receipts are printed and approximately 9.9 billion are thrown away.

Even without that do you not have common sense to think how often you actually need a receipt? How wasteful that is?

I live in Spain and am frequently asked if I want the receipt.

"Can I take your email for your receipt?"
No. Chelsea, love, just print it for me please.

No loads of other countries don’t give receipt. Most Europeans countries don’t. Maybe you come from a country where there is not much awareness and consideration for environment if you argue back when other posters explain that it’s due to environmental reasons. I am originally from a country where consideration to environment is lower than in European countries but that does not want me to expect my adopted countries to do things the same way. I feel living in other countries should make people a bit open to doing things differently otherwise why even leave own country to live in a country if there way of doing things annoy you. Even in Switzerland, a pretty efficient country in so many ways, they ask if you want a receipt. You need to travel a bit more if you think UK is unique for asking before printing receipt.
Anyways, asking someone if you need a receipt does not take that long.

Because I don’t want a receipt so why waste the paper. It’s a lot of paper worldwide. More deforestation for something most people don’t use.

I am always asked before the receipt is printed. For clothing etc I'll take one, not for a sandwich meal deal.
I think it is a good idea.

General day to day shopping most don't want a receipt so why bother with 1. The only time I get a receipt is if I have bought clothes. My ds lives in sheltered housing I have to keep all his receipts when he's out with us. I always ask but staff sometimes forget so then I have to replace it out of my own pocket. Really annoying I would rather they double check than just not bother.

How is this happening?

If you want a receipt, why do you leave before you get one? If you don't want a receipt, and you're in a hurry, why don't you say "I don't need a receipt, thanks" as you leave?

If you stand and wait while the cashier finishes what they're doing, they'll remember to ask (even if they initially forgot).

TBH it sounds like you are (rudely?) immediately walking away from the till after paying, without waiting for your receipt, and without saying anything. And then you complain that you didn't get a receipt, or that people ask.

If this keeps happening for you, this sounds like a you problem. Because it's never happened to me.

You say you recently moved here. Maybe you're struggling to fit in. Instead of complaining to British people about Britain not being how you want it to be, maybe you could try fitting in.

What annoys me about it, is that it slows the shopping experience down so much.

Oh god forbid anything (such as politeness, manners and social niceties) interferes with your ability to spend and consume as fast as possible.

That is completely illogical! Why does other countries doing it mean it can’t be a waste?

Rude nasty person.

You wrote "god forbid anything interferes with your ability to spend and consume as fast as possible"

I wrote that i was in a hurry to get out of the shop, to you know, go to my job. I work in a school. We cannot be late.

Aren't there better things to get indignant about?

I really can not believe you were on your way out 3 times this week and you were asked to come back for the receipt, simply because the receipt question comes right before the transaction is completed, and you can not close the transaction without selecting yes or no. Is hard to believe they stay with the transaction open after you left the till. You say it can not be so much paper, it absolutely can, did you see how many people shop every day in a normal supermarket? Now quantify in your head number of shoppers to number of shops and you will be horrified.not to say that many people litter and discard it wherever they can if the don't need it. I twist it and I say it can not slow you down that much, it takes 3seconds to ask. Why am I doing this at 2:27am?

I think you could preempt it by saying, “I don’t need the receipt, thanks.” Easy.

For food I say no. Anything that can break/ need returning I get a receipt. I definitely prefer to be asked.

The difference is in the legislation. In many countries if you are not given a receipt you are not obliged to pay. Under UK law, there is no obligation to give a receipt.

I live in Ireland 24/7/365 and always get asked. Its better. Im expecting the question and already know my answer based on the purchase. Everywhere should be doing it

I’m guessing you lived in the other European countries a while ago. Asking if you want a receipt is a thing in every European country now. It’s to save paper and to reduce waste. It also has the added benefit of saving money for the seller😉
It is definitely done in Ireland! As well as Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Austria…

You're bonkers, OP 😂

What job do you have in the school OP just out of interest?

I do wish they’d ask. They rarely do in some places (local Costa) I get work expenses but need a receipt so I have to ask.

I agree, I alway want and expect a receipt.

I'm in Vancouver, Canada. Most cafes don't give a receipt unless you ask because no one wants them. 🤷‍♀️
A lot of places don't automatically give them anymore.

They always ask in Finland