Customer demands to charge her phone at supermarket

[Jdot]

She came into the supermarket wanted to pay for her shopping on Apple Pay but her phone is dead. I saw her talking on the phone in the store.

Supermarkets and other places that people pay for products and services - restaurants, retailers, leisure places etc are NOT responsible for people’s mobile batteries and them not carrying their physical cards on them.

Safety implications is hilarious. Are we that pathetic that we can't get safely home from the supermarket without a phone, now?

If she had been polite and I had a charger to fit it and a spare socket, I probably would have said yes. If she was rude, I'd have said no and put back the shopping with a smile.

I love being obstructive to rude customers. Be polite to me and I'll bend over backwards to help you. I've gone literal miles out of my way for nice customers who are a bit stuck.

Be rude and I'll take great joy in refusing to help and follow the absolute letter of store policy to make your life as inconvenient as possible. Serves her right.

@Buddrinker84what do you mean? There was life before phones you know. I managed a trip as a 20 year old around Europe on my own without a phone. I think a drive home in a car can be managed.

Ffs can women not go places without a phone now?

I'm sure that it's not an everyday occurrence, yabu.

It would be a massive pain for the staff to charge every other customers phone. Save the transaction, move customer to where she can charge the phone, then when it's charged retrieve said transaction and pay. Or customers could be a bit more organised and ensure their phone is charged before they go out or take a card.
Why should staff on minimum wage have to sort out customers who are too incompetent to have a payment method available? People need to take responsibility for themselves instead of expecting everyone else to put themselves out. And if you are rude or entitled the staff will make it their mission not to help you.

It must be a magic phone that doubles as a taser and an ear piercing alarm

Well i used to carry a handbag. but i haven't for a few years now
I use my phone for everything

But, equally, i'd never leave the house without a charged phone or a power bank if i knew i'd be using it lots and out all day

If only they existed, for female use only. 😆

Haha would love to with some of them! I was and still am to a certain extent, a bleeding heart liberal type, but people that steal while others queue up and pay really test how kind and understanding you can be. It’s definitely worse as time goes on.

hilarious that we need it for safety-erm how did we survive befrehand

if the woman was rude they shouldnt help no

Of course I've set a PIN to access my device (I rather assume everyone does), but this only stops ne'er-do-wells accessing the phone if it's locked. I'm talking about another layer of security i.e. protecting your SIM with a separate PIN so that a criminal who's stolen your phone can't take your SIM out of your locked device and put it into another unlocked device of their own and then start using your phone as if they are you (known as "SIM Swap" fraud). It's great to know that your banking details aren't stored on the SIM, but your contacts, SMS and MMS are and these may reveal information about you that makes it easier for a criminal to impersonate you.

yeah i agree but shit happens you are running late forget " to juice up " so MANY people rely on tech to get through the day the 1 item i say to ALL is buy a power bank they NOW are quite cheap and hold a charge for a long while but i think you can NORMALLY tell if someone is stressed which shopping can be and help the customer out by giving them a BOO😐😐😐

I think that poster is referring to the possibility that the store has dodgy electrical, never had the sockets tested and the phone gets damaged and the woman nearly killed by an electric shock 🤷‍♀️. That said, I would have thought a standard get out could be 'sorry, it's not our policy' or 'we're not allowed to for insurance purposes'

You can get a case that works as a taser - called the Yellowjacket I think ….obviously illegal on the UK but they sell them in the US 😉

But presumably that only works if you've brought along your charging cable and/or a socket?

A friend of mine pays for everything via her phone but she keeps her bank card in the phone cover just in case she needs it. That seems sensible to be. Though personally I'm old school, handbag goes everywhere with me. Those of you who go out with just a phone, do you never need a tissue, comb, lip balm etc?

🤣

Sorry, no, that's not sensible at all. She should keep her bank card somewhere separate from her mobile phone. If someone were to steal her phone they'd also have her bank card to go on a spending spree - and she would be left with no way of paying for her purchases. Having her card with her as a backup in case her phone is stolen is sensible, but keeping it in her phone cover so it gets stolen along with her phone absolutely isn't.

I was able to go out before the mobile phone was invented. Fortunately I had a DP who would hold my hand crossing the road, tell me when it was safe to cross, point out where the curb was and point out any tree roots as I was assisted mounting the curb on the other side

@AngelicKaty That's a risk she's weighed up and is prepared to take, since she doesn't live in an area where phone theft is common. As I said, it's not something I'd do. I'm surgically attached to my handbag.

I occasionally go out without even my phone nowadays as I can pay via my watch!

The only reason I ever carry a handbag is if I'm going shopping as I use it to hold my folded carrier bags! Or I want somewhere to put my car key.

Tissues are either in my pocket or my bra! Don't need to use a comb while out regularly and I don't like lip balm, etc. A handbag is more of a nuisance to me a lot of the time.

How do you know she's weighed up the risk? Have you asked her? How do you know she's even considered it? Surely if she had she would recognise that the very purpose for taking her card (as a "backup" payment method in case her phone is stolen) is completely nonsensical if she keeps the card with the phone so they get stolen together (or indeed if she simply accidentally mislays her phone)? She should keep her card separately e.g. in a pocket. Why don't you do her a favour and kindly point out to her the futility of keeping her card with her phone?

I think she could have had the shopping put on hold and watched whilst she was at customer services and they charged her phone enough for her to pay for the shopping and leave.

It’s not ideal but I can’t imagine it happens often.

I know she's weighed up the risk because we've talked about it. She carries the card with her in case a phone payment doesn't work (which has happened to her), not in case her phone is stolen.

Politely apologising for the inconvenience and asking if you might be able to charge phone - fine. Rudely demanding it- not fine.