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Lifetime ban from Sainsburys after accidentally leaving with wine in buggy

91 replies

TWMumma · 23/02/2014 23:41

I shop in Sainsburys every week both online and in store. Thousands spent every year. I am the classic Mum who buys something from nearly every dept. Last week I was doing a mini shop with DS & DH in double buggy, having to carry items on the hood as you can't push a double maclarens with one hand. I had put two bottles of wine in the bottom so they wouldn't roll off and smash on the floor. I paid at one of the self service check out tills and headed for the door where I was stopped by a undercover security guard. I had totally forgotten to pay for the wine. I was absolutely mortified and asked to pay for it immediately. I was told to wait for the manager who would decide whether to call the police. The security guard told me they weren't going to call the police but issued me with an immediate life time ban. I was stunned. It was an accident. I feel totally enraged but also let down. No common sense was used at all and the manager could not even be bothered to come and speak to me himself. There has got to be a better way for mums with buggys to shop! We are supposed the supermarkets biggest and most valued customers. I am still in shock....

OP posts:
Aliama · 24/02/2014 15:38

I wish supermarkets DID have wheeled big baskets like Wilko's. It would be FAR easier to shop with a pram then. Why DON'T they do that? They could then say to people that there is no reason for putting things under the pram... Makes sense, no?

I cant see how a wheeled basket would help if you need both hands to push the pram. OP mentions hers is a double buggy so I'm guessing that was the case in her situation. If you can get away with pushing the pram one handed, I guess it's more comfortable than hoiking a basket in your free hand, but also seems like it would actually be more awkward to me.

Buggy stores are a good idea, but possible security risk from bombs (paranoid, I know, but considering how busy some supermarkets can get at peak times, something they will need to consider.)

And realistically, how many people really do big heavy shops on their own with a pushchair in tow? Enough to make it worth the supermarkets ' while putting facilities like that in? I honestly doubt it. People with prams in supermarkets are the exception, not the norm. I don't have a car and usually manage hooking a basket over my arm. Big shops or heavier items I go with DH (although obviously not everyone has a partner to help) or we can shop online.

Aliama · 24/02/2014 15:46

Looking at my last post, I'm not sure if i was clear. I wasn't meaning to say because I manage everyone else should as well. Just making the point that while facilities like that would be useful, most people cope without them. Unfortunately it's not easy for everyone, but my point was whether there are enough people without a car, needing to do large shops without any assistance to make it worth the supermarkets' while to put facilities in.

satintaupe · 24/02/2014 15:56

I put the basket on the crook of my arm when I'm pushing the pushchair.

BrandNewIggi · 24/02/2014 16:26

The reason for the wine being under the buggy, of course, is the weight of it - not something you'd want to balance on the hood! In my case, it's always 12 packs of coke that go in there..

SolomanDaisy · 24/02/2014 17:16

The place I shop does have the big wheeled baskets and they're impossible to use while pushing a buggy. I've never seen someone with a buggy using them.

Shockers · 24/02/2014 18:10

I haven't read the whole thread so this may already have been suggested. Could you get a nectar card statement and pop it in a letter to HO to show that you are a very regular customer who usually pays for her wine?

If it helps, I saw our Parish Priest being frisked in Sainsburys doorway once by the security guard. I had to step in and vouch for the fact that, no he wasn't roaring drunk and acting suspiciously, he had previously suffered a stroke.

They are very thorough in there!

CouthyMow · 24/02/2014 20:12

I can push a 3yo in his buggy round Wilko's with one of those wheelie baskets pulled behind me, despite joint problems. Far easier than managing a trolley!

CouthyMow · 24/02/2014 20:15

Allama - I do a big shop every blasted week with a buggy in tow. And I have a journey that's too far for my DS3 to walk (joint issues + other things that make walking near roads too dangerous). So do over half of the people I know. You get a faux home, but it's too costly yo get one both ways...

CouthyMow · 24/02/2014 20:15

Faux = taxi.

likeneverbefore · 24/02/2014 20:16

I've done this too!

Didn't get stopped and only realised when I got home.

I phoned the store to apologise and ask if there was some way I could pay for it over the phone. I couldn't (they were gobsmacked I'd phoned to ask).

I also once hung two pairs of jeans on the buggy in a dept store and had a complete mindmelt and walked into a totally different shop with them still on there, thinking that it was a different dept of the same store. I was mortified when I realised and the ladies in the store I walked into reassured me that it had happened a few times to a few people.

I had to creep back INTO the store with the stuff.

likeneverbefore · 24/02/2014 20:18

Oh, and a couple of weeks ago I 'paid' for something at a self service till, paying no attention to my receipt and went to walk out.

The self service person followed me and asked me to come back and pay for my stuff- when I looked at the receipt the payment had actually been declined Shock That was at Saisnburys, I am lucky they let me do that by the sounds of it!

likeneverbefore · 24/02/2014 20:23

Me again Blush

I also got followed halfway back to my car by 2 staff at B and Q as I left the store through the Entrance door rather than the Exit door with a lamp (that I had just paid for) on the buggy hood.

They obviously thought it was really dodgy to go out through that door but our B and Q is MAMMOTH and I had parked by the entrance door and the exit was miles away from my car, it was pissing with rain and I had a baby and a toddler with me b and q I hate your door setup

DeborahRoss26 · 27/02/2014 08:24

Love shopping its theraputic and picking nice things to cook from scratch..i end up with too much in my basket which im balancing on the pram...which isnt ideal as my daughter kicks it.. i have wanted to stick some of my shopping underneath in the big basket space my pram has but am paranoid to do so incase im being watched. Shopping is just stressfull now. But if i were Iou id just write to the head off and shop elsewhere. Dont give them your custom!

Withalittlesparkle · 27/02/2014 22:44

This reply has been deleted

The OP has privacy concerns about this post and so we've agreed to take it down.

ijgolding · 17/03/2014 11:59

If you have commented on this thread, you may be interested in reading the full story. You can do so via this link ijgolding.com/2014/03/17/guilty-before-proven-innocent-how-not-to-treat-your-loyal-customers/

monkeymadness1 · 18/03/2014 01:16

You don't need to leave the store for it to be theft if your intention was to steal it.

(I know it wasn't but just saying...)

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