To be livid at Tesco again

[Mallenstreak]

Further to my other post-while standing at customer services saw a woman with a child in her trolley stop at the sandwich section,grab a packet,open & eat it then walk off. I pointed this out to the manager who simply said "yes I expect the empty packet will go on a shelf somewhere". She also said that this happens all the time and she is always finding apple cores or banana skins where shoppers have just picked up food and eaten it as they go around the store. Tesco have loads of signs warning that they prosecute shoplifters but it's obviously o.k to eat the evidence as you go along!

I've done it occassionly with DS (almost 2) and got him something like apple, banana, buttons out of a multipack that can be scanned - not something done on weight, and its more expensive this way. I've only done it out of shere desparation - most times he is told to wait. Or more importantly i don;t go shopping when he's starving!!!!!

Adults have no excuse.

Problem i find is if i do take a snack with me - (which i do around town.) i then feel guilty by thinking they might think i've stolen something - as i haven't bought it in that shop and can't prove it!

I got a pack of buttons. DS started whining not long before i was going for the check out. I opened the pack, took one out and put it back in my trolly. It was the first thing I paid for. I normally try to take snacks myself or pay first if I think I am going to do this but i was caught out. The differencr is whether it is paid for or not. (and in my case the store is a small one in a very comunity based area and I knew loads of the people working there who wouldn't have blinked at me doing this)

I never allow dd to have something before it is paid for. I have had debt problems in the past through thinking I could have things before paying for them. You wouldn't (or I hope you wouldn't) do the same to a small family run shop, so why send the message that is ok? I think it is an excellent oppurtunity to teach self control.

You need to actually find something that is that important that it is worth the time that you spend typing it to whine about and is worth the time of others to read also.

My god I cannot believe this place today - do you guys have nothing else to do that you have time to write that you are pissed at the most stupedest things?

I can't believe you would open something before paying for it. If you really can't wait to eat or want to entertain your child, bring something with you or pay for it first.

I think it's theft.

I also tend to do my supermarket shopping online...the delivery charge isn't that much more than the bus fare, and if you add in the costs of bribes to DD healthy snacks in the cafe it is actually cheaper. It is loads easier to do in front of the tv once the kids are in bed than struggling around with a trolley full of children.

I used to use the local market, which was much less stressful, but we have moved to one of those new towns with no market, set up for cars, now so supermarket it is.

How can it be theft if you pay for it?

How?

I cannot understand why people are so outraged at the thought of something being eaten in a shop and paid for on the way out.

I bet the shop doesnt give a toss.

you can thinks it theft all you want, it isnt, scroll up for legal definition if you want

Personally, I have no qualms about nibbling as I go - I once fed DD her entire dinner, including dessert, entirely from the shelves of Sainsbury's as we shopped. I was happy, DD was happy, and Sainsbury's was happy because it meant I had time to do a huge shop and spend loads more than if I'd been racing home to feed DD. Obviously we paid for what we ate when we got to the till. Who on earth is it harming?

As for being theft, clearly it isn't. The definition of theft (which remains unchanged since 1968) is the dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it. Thus, if there is no element of dishonesty (i.e. you intend to pay for it, or even, if you accidentally walk out of the shop without paying, but had no intention of taking it - it was simply a slip of the mind - not one to try though) then it is not theft. Simple as that.

haha what a wind up merchant you are.do you take your own napkins or use theirs

YANBU

I have never given my children something to eat from the trolley whilst going around the supermarket. They are 21m and 3yr and can last quite well on a 45min shopping trip without food. When they were younger and I wanted a snack to keep them entertained etc I would take something with me in my bag.

I have opened a pack of wet wipes before paying though. DS2 was 6mo and threw up his latest milk feed everywhere - I opened a pack of wet wipes from the trolley to clean as much up as I could from him/trolley seat/floor before the assistant could get there. I went straight to CS and offered to pay for them though.

Oh, and I opened a packet of paracetemol and a bottle of water once when I was heavily pregnant and got struck down by a migraine in the middle of the store. Couldnt even see to walk and had to take them immediately, my pregnancy/breastfeeding migraines were so instant.

But I have to say IMO I dont agree with kids or adults eating whilst going round the supermarket to be honest. I think once they are a certain age they should be able to get through a 45min trip without eating.

I'm laughing at the implication that those of us who disapprove of eating food before it's legally ours and would never do it are only saying this because we clearly order food online - it's like suggesting that it's impossible to go shopping without being rude and stuffing stuff down your throat that doesn't belong to you yet! Talk about weak self-justification! I never order online and I somehow heroically manage to do v big shops without having to take the piss by eating stuff before purchase.

I think things like needing some medication urgently, like the poster who needed paracetamol when pg or needing something to wipe up a sicky DC are fine, as these are clearly exceptions to a rule, but I can't see why people don't do what other posters have done (as have I) - if you or your DC have to have something there and then, why not go quickly buy it? You can buy under 3 or under 5 items from the tobacco/lottery bit of every supermarket (ie no waiting or v little), so there's really no excuse. And if kids are whining for a treat, how's about just saying no? Now there's a radical idea! We all managed to go round supermarkets as kids without being bribed with food all the time, so how come today's kids can't manage it? Or today's adults, come to think of it.

Hmm I am laughing a bit at the implication that those of us who do do it are morally redundant and have weak characters.

Of course I could wait. I dont want to. As I dont see it as morally wrong I dont see why I should. If I thought it was stealing (because it clearly isnt) I wouldnt do it.

The thought of me giving in to my kids is hilarious. Me? Bow to the whims of a child - NEVER

How on earth is it taking the piss? You eat it, you pay for it. I cannot see the dilemma.

Unless its because its a bit common.

When my mother was a girl, being seen on the street eating was considered beyond the pale. It didnt make it illegal.

I should imagine the cost of a losing a sandwich, is far cheaper than prosecuting.

For those who say eating before paying sets a precedent for other shops/life experiences: where else is it necessary for DCs to be put in a trolley? Clearly an entirely different shopping experience altogether.

And as I have no legal or moral qualms about consuming (with restraint,) when I intend to pay at the checkout, making a special trip to the customer service counter would merely be for the benefit of of the lemon suckers - I'm quite simply not going to do it.

Comparing the modern day supermarket shop with the one (lots of) our mothers did is a bit of a red herring - times have changed. I for one was rarely taken to a supermarket as a child; most of the shopping was done elsewhere. I do recall that they were (as well as being a bit of a novelty,) much smaller, and sold only food.