Retail workers of the UK, how common is skip scanning in self service checkouts?
Posted by Conscious-Cup-6776@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 348 comments
For context - my friend works in a supermarket, and said, people fiddle the self service checkouts all the time, by putting in cheap veg instead of expensive ones.
Are these people reported for shoplifting?
He also mentioned skip scanning, are these people commonly reported for shoplifting, or are they treated as forgetting to scan?
Greedy_Pickle6000@reddit
If you see someone robbing a bit of food, no you never
fidelcabro@reddit
I worked as security in a supermarket. People skip scan all the time. Some staff would give them a gentle reminder, of oh I don't think the machine scanned X. If it was lots of items then they would be stopped at exit, asked for a receipt, which they somehow had always lost.
We would do a full check of the shopping, and make them pay for the items they hadn't scanned. Then if they had hit certain limits banning order of different lengths would be given.
Absolutely hated the job. Glad I got out of it.
Yes we couldn't chase people, once they are out of the door they are gone, some colleagues would chase.
As others have said the idea is to stop them with customer service. This is why I preferred the organised crime gangs. Go towards them and the trolley filled with champagne and spirits, they would leave the trolley and walk out.
seven-cents@reddit
I see it happening fairly regularly as a customer.. do I do it? Never. Will I report it? Never.
Do the staff see it? Of course they do. I've never seen them confront a shoplifter, why would they? They earn so little so why put themselves into a confrontational situation.
StuChenko@reddit
I used to get checked by Tesco security a few times a week because the self service machines weren't deactivating the security tags on the steak I was buying. Always had my receipt. They're used to me now and just waive me past every time. Ngl it's tempting to just start filling my bag with steak now lol.
experfailist@reddit
10 years ago. People stealing small electronic stuff.
Now. People stealing food.
Good times. Good times.
HomelanderApologist@reddit
to be fair it was easier to nick the more expensive electronic stuff when self checkout was new
No_Shine_4707@reddit
Clever! Condition them into complacency then start hitting them big.
Randomn355@reddit
You could literally just till a basket and walk out with it
They aren't allowed to even stand between you and the door, never mind actually stop you.
Brickworkse@reddit
This is true. My mum works for a supermarket chain and I help her with her training as it's all online (and she's useless on the computer!) The training for shop staff was -
I actually saw it in the Coop recently when I was shopping there. One of the staff was following a woman towards the door asking them to pay. She ignored him and continued out, basket and all, and he sort of sighed and wandered off too.
Long story short, there's nothing they can do because they're told not to do anything.
ConversationMore8863@reddit
I worked in a co op in 2008 and got a HUGE bollocking from my manager for following a woman who had stolen a load of meat outside where she ran, I chased her and dragged her back inside and took the meat from her. I’d have lost my job if I did that today. We happened to have 2 PCSO’s who sometimes popped in for a brew, in the office at the time, so they sat with her while the “real” police arrived.
Dramoriga@reddit
Haha yeah, that's what that girl thought when she was shoplifting from Primark regularly, and it turned out they just kept tabs of the goods and the second she hit £X stolen in value they arrested her on a higher charge. She tried to counter sue saying it was a set up or something, I think.
Organic_Bed_467@reddit
This is why I always say yes to having a receipt.
Particular-Zone7288@reddit
It's not the security guard you want to watch for it's the eye in the sky that is keeping tabs on how much people nick
extremistfart@reddit
Ceiling cat?
Car-Nivore@reddit
He just watches you jack off.
Silver-Machine-3092@reddit
He's shoplifting, not wanking over the till
extremistfart@reddit
He could be. Having worked retail myself in the past, I've seen worse things.
2ndBestAtEverything@reddit
Oh, I sense stories.
extremistfart@reddit
Honestly could write a book. As could most retail employees I'd imagine.
Infamous_Biscotti798@reddit
They ain't checking nowt
No-Significance-5571@reddit
Jesus?
aguasingas@reddit
Sauron’s
awunited@reddit
Mirrens?
Unfair_Original_2536@reddit
I’ve been considering only self-scanning 7 of 8 yoghurts for the buzz of it like Antony Worrall Thompson
boojes@reddit
Then you won't get your 4 for 3 offer, though. Swings and roundabouts.
Mrsmancmonkey@reddit
Made me laugh this comment 😆😂
Due-Arrival-4859@reddit
The moment you decide to do that though I bet is the same time security decides to actually check your bag 😂
Lt_Muffintoes@reddit
My toddlers play with the play and go scanner when we're in waitrose and managed to delete some items. Well, that time was a rescan required, and now i get that much more often lmao
Herrad@reddit
I've heard second hand that that excuse doesn't fly, mums with babies are also kept an eye on in some stores. Apparently they're one of the biggest sources of shoplifting
Giggles9994@reddit
I can confirm mum with prams are always watched
darthfoolish@reddit
Yeah, but they tend to just scan random items, and never 2 or more of the same item if you have multiple. This could be a loophole.
StuChenko@reddit
That is the worry. Although they've never actually looked in the bag when they stop me, they just ask to see a receipt and don't check if the bag contents match it.
PartTimeLegend@reddit
You eat steak a few times a week? How’s the cholesterol?
Mysterious-Serve4801@reddit
That isn't how that works
BemaJinn@reddit
Yes, it is. Steak is red meat and can cause high cholesterol.
Revenant690@reddit
I been on/off the keto diet fairly regularly. So lots of red meat, sausages, bacon, chicken, fish, double cream, (your favourite and mine:) some nice juicy gammon and also some low carb nuts & vegetables.
Main thing is very low sugar ie 5-10g max per day, which consequently means very little processed food.
I do some exercise such as Walking/hiking, gym, swimming and my cholesterol levels were absolutely perfect the last time they were checked.
Now I'm not saying my anecdotal experience will be the same for everyone, but having witnessed the shear quantity of unprocessed animal fats I have consumed over the years, with no negative effect on my cholesterol levels, I'm also confident in saying that it's not as simple as eating fat = higher cholesterol for everyone.
Feel free to take my observations with a pinch of salt (which affects the blood pressure of 1 in 3 healthy people).
This study (analysing 32 other studies) seems to support my anecdotal experience, when specifically considering low fat vs high fat whilst in a calorific deficit.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24139973/
"Including only hypocaloric diets, the effects of low-fat vs high-fat diets on total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels were abolished."
StuChenko@reddit
For most people, dietary cholesterol (from foods like steak) has a modest effect on blood cholesterol levels because the liver compensates by producing less cholesterol.
Some people are "hyper-responders," meaning their blood cholesterol levels rise significantly with dietary cholesterol intake. Even for these individuals, the rise often includes an increase in both LDL ("bad") and HDL ("good") cholesterol, which may balance out the overall risk.
Steak contains saturated fat, which can raise LDL cholesterol in some people. However, the impact depends on the person's genetics and lifestyle.
Lean cuts of steak or grass-fed beef tend to have less saturated fat and may have a more favorable nutrient profile. I eat lean grass fed beef. I believe all British beef is grass fed.
Unfair_Original_2536@reddit
OP could be wolf, you don’t know so can’t make assumptions.
derpyfloofus@reddit
Depends on the cut as well, lean cuts like sirloin are better.
StonedMason85@reddit
Could be a chef, buying steaks for their workplace.
StuChenko@reddit
This sounds way better than over eating. I'm going with this.
CrabAppleBapple@reddit
Frankly, who gives a shit? You don't want to live forever do you?
thesimpsonsthemetune@reddit
Please tell me you understand you've created the perfect conditions for the greatest steak heist in British history?
pelicanradishmuncher@reddit
Son let me tell you if the hero of our time, Sir Loin.
Melodramatic_Raven@reddit
Don't you mean Pur Loin?
GandalfsNozzle@reddit
I remember years ago when I worked at a supermarket stacking shelves someone got caught shoplifting and they called a "code 10" over the tannoy.
Everyone went to confront him and pinned him down and held him until the police came, my first thought was "FUCK THAT"
I couldn't believe people got involved like that for such little pay.
Postik123@reddit
When I was younger I did this because the store manager had detained a shoplifter in the warehouse. It was a case of either helping him or stand there and watch. It kind of all happened so fast your first instinct is to jump in and help.
jiggjuggj0gg@reddit
Some people love the rush of feeing powerful and a lot of employers rely on that instead of pay.
Some of the worst jobsworths I’ve ever come across were in volunteer roles - they keep getting ‘promoted’ because they were jobsworths, so they thought they were massively important and powerful because they were a ‘manager’, despite not being paid at all.
laidback_chef@reddit
Mental as they're like the gestapo when it comes to bags. No, Brenda, i havent paid for this Asda bag in Tesco ffs...
StooNaggingUrDum@reddit
The advice in the high street is don't engage a shoplifter. The companies literally tell you, don't engage, but do report it.
Ok_Analyst_5640@reddit
Relevant..
Annual-Ad-7780@reddit
Yeah because most minimum wage shop staff are told never get involved with shoplifting, on safety grounds, let the big burly Security staff deal with it, or if need be, the Cops.
Aggressive-Stand6572@reddit
The big burly security are also told not to chase if you leave the shop. Not worth the risk.
crumblingruin@reddit
I've heard that, but in a dodgy part of my town there's a Tesco Express that I pass when walking into town. On several occasions I have seen someone being physically ejected by a security guard, and one of those times a load of food dropped out of the woman's long coat as she hit the pavement, screaming abuse. My guess is she was a repeat offender and obnoxious with it, and the staff had just had enough. I can see how you'd reach breaking point when people are being so brazen about it.
SkyJohn@reddit
I can understand not chasing them after they’ve stolen something.
Bit they’re known repeat offenders why aren’t they being blocked from entering the store by security?
likesfoodandfitness@reddit
I used to work in retail and the security guard absolutely loved chasing people down the street and pinning them down… not sure if that’s normal though
Fluid_Jellyfish8207@reddit
It's less the risk and more of a insurance thing. Security companies get insurance cheaper if they put a limited area down so ita only the inside of the store. Second you step out and possibly get injured you probably only going to get small amount if anything
ermeschironi@reddit
Fun fact every time someone mentions "for insurance reasons" it's almost never for insurance reasons
Aggressive-Stand6572@reddit
No its not. Its very much a risk assessment thing. These guys are on less than 15 quid per hour. They aint paid to be chasing junkies through the streets the cops are. They can also only use limited force. Ive done the badge and know what the training entails. It’s actually fuckawl training to be a security guard.
LemmysCodPiece@reddit
I am a CCTV operator. I was forced into doing my CCTV operators license. They threw in the "Door Supervisors" licence "for free" within 12 months I was dealing with junkies, instead of "directing" from my nice warm room. I quit the industry soon after.
simiesky@reddit
I would imagine the point of security is mainly just to have a visible presence to act as a deterrent which will be enough to be effective for the majority of people.
Fluid_Jellyfish8207@reddit
Dude I know I was one which is why I quit minimum wage for no risk is better than slightly above it for nothing but hassle. But the insurance thing is right at jobs at iceland and Tesco they literally tell you the boundary not to cross
Randomn355@reddit
Why would they when they are liable to get fired for it*
MargotChanning@reddit
I work on a retail park that has a supermarket and they’re pretty proactive there. Someone who works at one of the other stores got caught stealing their lunch through self scan. Turns out they’d been doing it for a while and got themselves banned from the entire site. Goodbye job, all for a few free sandwiches.
Pale_Goose_918@reddit
Wouldn’t report it either - if supermarkets cared they’d employ more staff and change approach. As much as they whine about theft, there is no way that our current self-checkouts were introduced without an assessment that they’d save more than they cost, and more than the alternative.
dolphininfj@reddit
Having worked in a shop - we were expressly told not to try and stop shoplifters.
KBVan21@reddit
I worked at sainsbo’s as a student overseeing the self checkout and then also worked the customer service desk.
I would watch people scanning stuff as onions all the time. I’d just get their eye contact and give them a look. Never grassed them up but just said as they walked past don’t do it while I’m working as if I see it and don’t tell security then looks bad on me and could impact my job (not that I cared as I’m a student doing 12 hours a week lol). A lot of the regulars actually respected that and went to the other set of self checkouts whenever they saw me on there and gave me a little nod.
On customer service, I’d just refund anything if you brought it back with a receipt, no matter how long ago you bought it. The whole 30 days thing was out the window for me. Had a lady who used to freeze milk. Would bring it back with a receipt and the milk had expired like 3 months earlier so she obviously had it frozen that long. Receipt would be brand spanking new with the date the day before so I’d just refund her. I ain’t messing round with a psychopath that freezes milk.
Only time i grassed someone up is when this 50 year old guy came in on his BMX, wheeled out a 50 inch TV and then came back the next day and did it again. All on camera so all the staff were aware after he done it twice. Tried it a third time and as soon as I saw him, called security. That’s taking liberties trying to rob 3 TV on consecutive days lol.
Also worked at sports direct as a fresh faced 16 year old. Getting paid £3.65 an hour. One day they stuck me as ‘security’ on the front door as everyone is on the rob in sports direct (even half the staff). Guy came in, went to those big bins they have at the front full of Donnay and Dunlop socks. Grabbed arms full and legged it. Socks flying everywhere as he ran out of the front door across the car park. Manager came down and asked why I didn’t chase him. Told them that firstly, I’m 16, secondly I’m paid £3.65 an hour so I ain’t chasing anything for that , thirdly the guy robbed Donnay and Dunlop socks and he can bloody well have them. I lasted 3 months lol.
discombobulatededed@reddit
I worked at boots when I was 17 and some guy walked into the shop, filled a basket with the expensive fragrance gift sets, grabbed a couple more in his other arm and legged it out the door onto the highstreet. My manager gave me a bollocking for not chasing him. He wanted a 17 year old girl to chase down a crack-head looking thief! Not a chance.
boojes@reddit
I can't figure out the scam / benefitwith the milk? What was the point?
KBVan21@reddit
Getting free milk. Buy a new one, drink half, freeze it, bring an old one frozen one back for a full refund using the new one’s receipt. It wasn’t a one time thing with her.
IHateUnderclings@reddit
So she was doing it all for half a carton of milk each time. huh
KBVan21@reddit
Well more than that as she was basically never paying for milk ever again as she was getting a full refund every time but getting new fresh milk and just drinking half and returning it.
IHateUnderclings@reddit
I wonder if it wasn;t milk but some paint? No idea
arivedeci@reddit
Maybe not a scam? Just had tons of frozen milk in their freezer and that one was expired. Idk seems like me to stick something in the freezer and forget about it only to “discover” it again after a couple of months
LuLutink1@reddit
Which nod lol 😜
https://youtube.com/shorts/vTLqA9ugoU8?si=lTxe5oEOlNhZ0Qhp
oateyboat@reddit
I bet you were gutted when you found out the Dunlop sock man shot your uncle dead trying to steal his car for a getaway
Vyvyansmum@reddit
In my large cheap clothing retailer employer we have SCO. We are watching that every item is scanned & not just moved. Our self check doesn’t weigh the items as obviously we don’t sell by weight.
Switching a kimball tag is pointless as any random check will show an item that isn’t there ie if you’ve scanned a £1.50 eyeliner in the place of a £60 cost.
Mostly theft is achieved by concealment. One item within another.
A random check is performed & any discrepancies are flagged up to a manager if anything kicks off.
I’d say the vast majority of attempts take place in our “ red zones” & fitting rooms. The faces change but the methods are boringly predictable.
Happy to answer any questions btw
r_keel_esq@reddit
I use self-scan in Tesco quite regularly.
I've noticed an increase in the number of bag-checks lately - used to be around 1 in 10 shops would get checked, now it's around 1 in 3. Shop worker told me that if they scan anything that I didn't, the whole bag needs scanned. I don't imagine they can do much more to you as you could easily claim "The button maybe didn't work"
Not that I would ever do such a thing
BeatificBanana@reddit
I get checked on self scan maybe 1 in 5 times in Sainsbury's. There has only been 1 time when something hadn't been scanned. I was buying 2 boxes of cereal, same brand but different flavours. I had accidentally scanned the strawberry flavour cereal twice, so the chocolate one got flagged. Both flavours were the same price so it was obvious I wasn't trying to scam them (I thought).
I explained what happened but they still made me go to a staffed checkout to have my entire shop re-scanned. It was annoying, but whatever, it's policy. What I thought was slightly weird, though, was how loudly and obviously the self checkout staff member announced to the person on the till that I had to have a rescan, and how loudly and obviously the till staff repeated "oh she has to have a full rescan because she didn't scan something?" "Yes that's right, she needs a FULL rescan" (they went back and forth repeating themselves about 4 times so they could be sure everyone in a 100 foot radius was listening and had turned to look at me). I didn't really care because I knew I'd done nothing wrong but it was very weird, like they were trying their best to embarrass me.
reggieko13@reddit
I think I have only had about one check in maybe a year and that would be with a visit of maybe 70 times in that time. Before that it was more frequent but not that much.not sure as they were fine I am deemed less of a risk?
Zavodskoy@reddit
I genuinely forgot to scan a loaf of bread or something once and then got "randomly" selected for a basket check every week for 6 months, since then it's been once a month (one out of every 4 shops) I assume cause I got "caught" that one time I'm probably permanently flagged although it only actually happens in the store I got caught in, I've never been randomly selected while staying with friends etc
TempUser9097@reddit
> used to be around 1 in 10 shops would get checked
In my 12 years of living in the UK and using self checkout almost every time, I have literally never been bag checked, anywhere, ever.
Wigwam80@reddit
They're talking about self scan, where you scan your entire shop as you're shopping and just pay at the end, rather than self checkout. Self scan is considered a bit more open to abuse hence the random checks.
Beartato4772@reddit
You also don't get them after a while unless they've caught you being dodgy so OP is telling on themselves.
miaow-fish@reddit
You get them randomly. At my local Tesco the till would say you need a random check, staff would come over and their handset would tell them to check eg. 4 items. The person would just check a couple of items off the top of a couple of bags. I always thought if I was going to steal I would put it at the bottom and I would never get caught.
Speaking to friends and family I've heard they do less checks but when the do they scan a decent amount of items so there is less chance of something being missed.
Wigwam80@reddit
Yep, to be fair I got "caught" myself, it's quite easy to genuinely not scan something by accident especially when you've got a toddler in the trolley seat, missed an item & had to have the whole shop scanned by the checkout person. Mildly embarrassing but shit happens. Then got 'randomly selected' for an accuracy check every time I used it for about 2 months afterwards 🤣.
widnesmiek@reddit
They seem to go in phases
I won;t get checked for months - then get checked every other time for a few weeks
then back to no checks
It takes more staff if they do a lot of bag checks - so it costs the store money to do it
Dadavester@reddit
I have noticed this. I have had like 4 checks in the last month, once I had 3 items and it gave a bag check for one...
I have also had an item in the bag I didn't scan, a 50p reduced price yogurt. They did rescan my entire bag (it was a £50 shop) and that was the only thing missed. nothing was said to me about it.
r_keel_esq@reddit
I don't think staff are likely to give much of a shit. They're likely not paid enough to care
Rossco1874@reddit
The rule is a few items no action. Whole load of stuff especially high price things yeah that gets flagged and handset blocked.
r_keel_esq@reddit
I was checked buying three things recently.
Beartato4772@reddit
That actually makes sense if you think about it. Because if you normally buy a weekly shop and then it sees you only scan 3 things, that's in itself suspicious that you have a full trolley and scanned 3 things in it.
r_keel_esq@reddit
I do the big-shop in Aldi and then cross the road to Tesco for the few bits Aldi doesn't have.
doublemp@reddit
Interesting, because to me, fewer items on paper would mean there are items that weren't scanned. If you have a lot of items, you're likely a diligent scanner.
Rossco1874@reddit
If you have 60 items and forget to scan yoghurt butter and few other things these things happen. Often people will change mind about flavour Nd forget to scan the replacement. If you have number of clothes or alcohol that hasn't scanned would be of the opinion it was deliberate rather than accidentally not scanning them. That's when would block the customer from using scan as you shop.
DivineDecadence85@reddit
Tesco have the worst self-scan handsets. The lag between registering the barcode and loading it onto the device is ridiculous and it wont work if you scan something else while it ponders the item. If you're scanning multiples of the same item or picking up items close to each other, it's an absolute pain in the arse.
I had a full rescan last week and then another a few days later. Obviously, I got another bag-check when I was in yesterday, but this time I'd double checked my whole trolley before heading to the checkouts. That'll be me red-flagged for the foreseeable future.
Significant_Cut_9485@reddit
Happened to me once when I was buying a hair color. I scanned a light black shade and decided I wanted the deep black shade. So I changed the boxes without rescanning because it was the same brand, same price and same type of hair color. But the Lady did a check and it was saying that the hair color box wasn’t scanned.
I tried to explained to her but she wasn’t speaking a very good English and was starting to be angry. She came with a manager and told them in front of me that I refused the rescan. They explained the whole situation which I already knew… it was a strange situation.
In the end she had to rescan all of our groceries and we bought a LOT so she was annoyed about it.
Beartato4772@reddit
You can't "Change boxes without rescanning" because then their stock is wrong, it's also legally still shoplifting because you didn't offer to pay for something you took. The fact you paid for a different item you didn't take is irrelevant
DivineDecadence85@reddit
Ouch that must have been mortifying. I've definitely done that before!
thecatisincharge@reddit
I did have a scanner before Xmas that didn’t work properly (wasn’t beeping), I missed a multipack of tinned goods & something silly like frozen veg but scanned fruit twice & the best bit, I’d scanned a £25+ meat joint twice !!! If I was actually shoplifting I was about £30 down 😂 they went through my whole shop & rescanned, was mortifying but actually grateful because of the meat I’d scanned twice
heywhatwait@reddit
I find we only get checked when we’ve swapped items when using the scan-as-you-shop thing. It’s such a potential for embarrassment that I end up with the same daft ‘I’m innocent’ grin once reserved for passing customs officials when they were a thing back in the day at airports.
r_keel_esq@reddit
Now you mention it, that might have been a factor in my recent inspections. I'll keep an eye on it going forward.
IdentifiesAsGreenPud@reddit
What I had a few times is that I accidentally scanned the QR code on something rather the normal barcode thinking I scanned it. I mean the thing beeps loud and gives and error so it's easy to see. At our local Sainsbury's the wifi is shockingly bad too and I have seen a few times that I scanned something and the scanner eventually times out and all you are getting is 'unable to connect'. So it is easily done to have items that are not scanned.
pajamakitten@reddit
Same in Sainsbury's for me. I used to get one every six months, now I am getting them twice a month.
Particular-Back610@reddit
The security guy at the local LIDL says folk put stuff through scanning into a bag as normal, and when it comes to time to pay they just walk out with the bag, in a medium sized Lidl happening many times a day.
However there is another guard at the exit on the way out recently introduced (a one way secure system) looking at everybody meanly, so not sure how they get past.
It's just as bad now as Airport security.
I have gone to automated checkouts before that have no items there but a bill of 90 pounds or so waiting to be paid.
VirtualMatter2@reddit
In our supermarket there is a gate and you scan your receipt to open the gate.
BeatificBanana@reddit
I hate these so much because I often pop into a shop to see if they've got one specific thing I want, and if they're out of stock I don't need to buy anything else, so I don't have a receipt. It's a massive hassle.
I don't see how these gates are not utterly pointless anyway. If you were going to steal it'd be as simple as filling your boots and just buying 1 banana or something and then hey presto you've got a receipt to scan.
GrilledKimcheese@reddit
These are the worst, so slow and unresponsive. I think even worse - if I was going to steal I doubt it’s going to deter me!
VirtualMatter2@reddit
There is some beady eyed bitch watching you. They picked the most unfriendly worker for that job.
Considering they don't pay me a cashiers wage, I don't use the self checkout if at all possible. They make enough money to employ someone. I don't work there.
OliB150@reddit
They’ve installed that at the Morrisons I go to every now and then - trouble is, there was nothing scannable on the receipt I got last time, so I just tailgated through anyway
ReturnOfTheExile@reddit
many moons ago, i was homeless and had to steal food to survive.
i would get a basket, fill it with what i needed (always expensive, if u gonna steal and potentially get caught u mightaswell knick some good stuff.)
fill basket to the brim, then just walk out the store. go round corner, dispense into a carrier bag and go back to my tent.
i have a decent job now and pay for my food but have zero regrets on what i did and would do it again if i had to.
AnonymousBanana7@reddit
I've done that before by accident. Didn't realise until I checked Monzo later and saw that I hadn't even tried to pay.
NessunoComeNoi@reddit
Happened to me just before Christmas. Checked online banking and noticed that payment was declined, whoops! You just get into a habit of scanning your card, hearing the beep, picking your stuff up and walking out, never occurred to me that my bank might want the PIN now and then.
nathderbyshire@reddit
It happens a lot and it's usually with meal deals at dinner. If you pay with your phone it should always go through barring no funds or something but a card sometimes asks for a pin now and again and people walk off while it's processing expecting it to go through but it doesn't.
Dyalikedagz@reddit
I've actually done this multiple times by accident when my card didn't work.
No I didn't go back and pay.
GarwayHFDS@reddit
That maybe why our local Aldi now videos your face as you swipe.
Chaosblast@reddit
Do they steal planes in their bags? 😱
RekallQuaid@reddit
If a supermarket wants customers to do the job of a checkout cashier, and scan their own shopping and bag it themselves, then people should get a discount for doing it.
It’s not a surprise that people steal stuff. I always try and go to a manned checkout if possible, but I would absolutely use self checkouts more if there was an incentive to do so.
I’m not paying the same amount for my food and doing someone’s job for the privilege.
ofjune-x@reddit
Tbf you’d only have earned like 90p in the 5 minutes you ‘worked’ on the checkout if you were being paid the same as the staff.
RekallQuaid@reddit
That’s not the point I’m making though, I’m saying that they’ve drastically reduced the amount of staff (and therefore, overheads) and expect shoppers to do their own scanning, but prices just keep going up and up.
It’s not even prices, it’s quantities as well. Last year they used to have a 30 box of Walkers crisps for £4, this year they shrunk the box to 20, but it’s still £4.
Kodst3rGames@reddit
Stealing from corporations isn't harming anyone
Lotuswongtko@reddit
They harm you and me. Not the supermarket owner. Because they have people who are very good at calculation. They put all these extra costs and burdens on us. We have to pay more on every item we buy.
JamesTiberious@reddit
Do we need government to step in with new legislation forcing supermarkets to accept accountability or demonstrate progress in helping to thwart theft?
I’d be up for that.
Lotuswongtko@reddit
People work hard to earn money to buy their own food. Why help thieves steal? Do you want your children learn how to steal from them?
JamesTiberious@reddit
And the reward for people that work hard and don’t steal food? The supermarkets make us pay for the thefts rather than dealing with it.
Lotuswongtko@reddit
Why not grow your own food? There’s no use to blame the victims.
JamesTiberious@reddit
Who do you think are the victims here exactly? It’s not the CEO of Tesco, that much is for certain.
Lotuswongtko@reddit
If you are robbed, you will claim compensation from the insurance. Does that makes you not the victim?
JamesTiberious@reddit
And then insurance costs increase, which supermarkets are just passing on to customers instead of trying to help reduce crime.
Lotuswongtko@reddit
Those thieves steal, not because they are hungry, not because they need food. They steal because they are greedy. Poor people can get free food from the food banks. People in need would buy cheap food from the app good to go, bargain food box for 1 pound. They live their lives honestly. Those people who rob the supermarkets, and the whole community are not because they can’t afford to buy food, they are out of greed, out of jealousy, out of laziness. Education is more important. Teach them how to overcome their weaknesses and live honestly are far more important.
JamesTiberious@reddit
People steal from supermarkets for a variety of reasons. I suspect you’re right and most of it is out of greed and general poor/disrespectful attitudes.
However it puts the prices of food up for everyone and something must be done to curtail it.
Our police are a shambles and need investment and improvement, but also the supermarkets themselves have an important part to play. There should be regulation to ensure they are taking steps, instead of just claiming the losses. Otherwise, as prices go up, the more gets stolen and the cycle worsens.
Lotuswongtko@reddit
Who are willing to work without profit or salary? Are they volunteers for whole life? How about the staff in the supermarket? Are they all machines? No need to pay their own bills? If the supermarkets cannot make any profit, they will close down and the staff lose their job. And…you can go to Spain, Italy and Africa yourself for food. Or grow your own food.
JamesTiberious@reddit
I’m sorry but I don’t understand what you mean.
I’m not saying anyone should work without profit or salary? The contrary - if supermarkets took thefts more seriously, they’ll likely create more jobs (eg more cashiers instead of self service or security guards). Instead of spending money on increased insurance premiums, they can hire more staff, pay staff better and keep food prices lower.
Lotuswongtko@reddit
The staff can’t do anything to prevent the thefts or robberies. They are bound by the laws.
JamesTiberious@reddit
At my local ‘express’ style supermarket, they don’t even have a security guard.
At my ‘big’ Tesco supermarket, they have security guards but they aren’t trained enough to stop thieves leaving.
At both stores, I see people of all backgrounds, even children, routinely and regularly steal from the self service tills - that just needs an assistant to watch over
Lotuswongtko@reddit
They were trained not to touch the thieves. It is insurance policy.
JamesTiberious@reddit
That needs addressing then, government level if needed.
JamesTiberious@reddit
It is when they pass the bill on to customers rather than take the hit.
Coraldiamond192@reddit
It is when they decide to close a store because theft is too high.
JamesTiberious@reddit
All the more reason for the problem to be tackled.
easyjo@reddit
lol, who do you think is covering the losses? everyone else because the cost of goods has losses baked in
NonWiseGuy@reddit
Well they factor it into their prices to offset the loss, if there's a lot of theft then prices for everyone not stealing will go up.
JamesTiberious@reddit
Until supermarkets/chains start accepting some of the costs of theft and reducing their profits/ceo bonus pay, or hire security staff paid enough to care and take action (rather than simply just inflating food prices to cover the losses), then the problem will only worsen.
It’s tempting to join in. Why the hell should I pay more to cover the costs of thieves when the business itself is making more profit than ever before?
It’s really not a pretty picture.
Prince_John@reddit
What level of profitability is acceptable to you? Supermarkets have extremely small profit margins relative to most businesses - 3-4%.
JamesTiberious@reddit
Percentages are not useful in this context. They’re massive businesses and have always run on slim margins.
Yet through our cost of living crisis, they’re making growing profits with foul CEO bonuses.
NonWiseGuy@reddit
You seem to think I am cheering for the supermarkets, but it's a simple financial calculation that they will add to prices. The supermarkets around my area have all put up very restrictive barriers in only the last two years and I do see more security guards, so they're already doing what you say. If someone is thieving to eat, I have no problem, but how many are thieving to fund drugs or similar?
Wonderful-You-6792@reddit
Lol you really believe that? They aim for most profit so use that as an excuse for putting their prices up. They'll do it anyway
bowak@reddit
It can make shopping more of a ball ache though when they increase security. My local Morrisons how has all the spirits and some wine in cabinets where you have to press a buzzer to get a member of staff to come get the booze for you.
That's a bit annoying - clearly hardly the end of the world, but it is a bit of added friction.
Kind_Ad5566@reddit
Explain your thought process for that statement.
JamesTiberious@reddit
Supermarkets don’t do enough to help, they just pass the costs of theft onto paying customers.
So I’d like to government step in and force them to report on losses through theft. They should also show what they’re doing to help decrease it.
If a supermarket still posts record breaking profits (and CEO bonuses) and cannot show what it’s doing to help prevent crimes, then it should face meaningful sanctions (not just pathetically small fines).
tmr89@reddit
They’d have to use their three brain cells, and that might be too much of a stretch
Positive-Sound-4972@reddit
Apart from the shopfloor managers who get measured for Shrink(unknown loss), which potentially could lead to their job loss
NunWithABun@reddit
In some chains it affects hourly-paid colleagues too, as more shrink means less profit and thus less available hours.
No-Jicama-6523@reddit
It’s harming us that don’t steal, they increase the prices rather than reduce profits.
simundo86@reddit
I use to get 6 Kripsy kreme doughnuts and put them through as Tesco ring doughnuts that were 25p. Was doing this weekly for months till one day one of the staff came upto me and said I need to check these looked into the bag and said these aren’t Tesco ring doughnuts these doughnuts don’t even have a hole in them 😆
MarthLikinte612@reddit
Had a routine check on my scan as you go weekly shop on Saturday. Bell pepper hadn’t been added yet cause I was gonna add it at the till. Told the checker that. They go “yeah yeah sure”. They then looked at me like I was crazy when I… added it to the list of items?
FriendlyPhrase2808@reddit
Not to be a cheeky cunt but you said your mate works in a supermarket would they not be best person to ask
Gc1981@reddit
My local Morrisons has a mean old lady who patrols the self service like it's her own personal money at stake. She just has this intuition. She knows exactly when someone does this and confronts them every time. Lots of people try it with carrier bags.
mebutnew@reddit
Doesn't seem to be a problem at all at Waitrose. However my local Sainsbury's you need to scan your receipt to leave the building.
Extract from that what you will.
ThePolymath1993@reddit
The last time I went to the Waitrose near me they'd changed the self checkouts to have screens showing that you're on CCTV, which feels kinda threatening. They'd also changed the bagging area to the ones that weigh your bags. OK but that now means if I have half a dozen of something I need to scan and bag each one individually then wait for it to register on the screen instead of just quickly scanning the barcode six times and bagging the lot at once. It's annoyingly inconvenient.
I don't go in there often, I just fancied some posh cheese. Lidl is a much less unfriendly shopping experience and half the price lol.
mebutnew@reddit
Yea I prefer the co-op ones which simply trust that you're scanning what you're scanning (still have CCTV mind).
If they're seeing that much wastage then they could always, ya know, pay people to run the checkout. Novel concept 😅
anonyx@reddit
Skip scanning is great because, hey it’s not you your fault it didn’t scan. Then the retail worker gets what they always get, mismatch weight in bagging area, 99/100 it’s legit and so they just auto accept, throw a cursory glance at your items and then go on their way.
It’s free real estate. If I’m bagging my own, I’m going to be paid for my time 🤷♂️
LakesRed@reddit
Looking forward to seeing more answers from those it's aimed at. Very few people I know would dream about cheating it. One mate would as he'd cheat anything :)
I imagine the "totally random" spot checks take care of it over time. There was one time they accidentally scanned something of mine twice (and apologised and redid it) and mysteriously I was checked every time for weeks after that.
Bad_spilling@reddit
I Wouldn’t dream of it, although I cant say the “how obvious would it be” though given the lack of staff has crossed my mind…
Reading this thread would make you think the world is cheating the system though (although you know that’s obv not the case)
Captain_Chappie@reddit
You mean there's cheap apples and there's expensive red apples? I just always press the button that says red apples, you mean these red apples are more expensive?
Well how was I supposed to know that? I'm just a customer, I don't work here, do I? If only you had some trained staff to check it out for me, these little mistakes wouldn't happen, would they?
PixelNotPolygon@reddit
There’s a reason “scan as you shop” is also known as “steal as you shop”
Hypno1985@reddit
My time in retail, before self service etc... But I didn't see customers stealing a whole lot, staff on the other hand saw a lot of very very cheap discount labels, stealing taking home or just during shift.
RoyalyMcBooty@reddit
My first job at Tesco, a bloke had put the "reduced ham - 25p" yellow label onto a £35 - £40 leg of lamb. I didn't put it through and he said someone must have played a prank on him. Was so obvious he had tried his luck, sort of feel bad as I didn't really give a fuck about Tesco's gross profits.
I did redeem myself...2 months later and I knew I was quitting. A random lady bought a £50 turkey for Christmas and I accidently rubbed the barcode off. I just put it through and told her Merry Christmas.
Annual-Ad-7780@reddit
I'm surprised they didn't sack you on the spot for that, I've heard of people getting the boot for a LOT less.
Agreeable_Fig_3713@reddit
You need to get caught first
stanley15@reddit
The Morrisons I use has most if not all of the security cameras above all the tills, so I presume that is where they expect most theft goes on.
OliB150@reddit
My Morrisons has just installed probably HUNDREDS of small cameras, a pair on each end of an aisle and then some on every divider down the medication and seasonal aisles. I couldn’t actually see if they were connected to anything or just intended as a visual deterrent.
UltimateBadman@reddit
Supermarkets spends hundreds of thousands of £s on their cctv systems. Absolutely cutting edge stuff. Then the almost-minimum wage security staff mostly use it to look at boobs and arses, the really dumb ones save those clips too.
VOODOO285@reddit
Went to the loo at an Asda and as you come out of the corridor back into the store the security desk is there and the chap was zooming right in on this woman's ass in the car park. Then found a down blouse. It was HILARIOUS!
dan0107@reddit
They’re not CCTV cameras. They’re for stock management. They take one picture an hour and it identifies the gaps. Just so you know :)
OliB150@reddit
Including the ones at the ends of the aisle facing the self serve tills? (Although there are magazine shelves along there too…)
dan0107@reddit
Probably…? If they are the tiny ones then yes. All the CCTV cameras look like traditional cameras.
Further info: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13272287/Morrisons-AI-cameras-supermarket-stock.html
OliB150@reddit
Heh. I’ve only been there twice recently so haven’t really scoped out where they are and aren’t installed. They are small, like webcams so it does track that they are used for the stock, not surveillance. They just seem to connect to a small black box though with no other (visible) wires in/out. I guess if they have a low polling rate then battery is feasible but changing them would be a colossal task and you’d have an unknown amount offline for an unknown period of time which screws with the data. Interesting though!
dan0107@reddit
Yeah that definitely sounds like them. They are indeed battery powered. They’re all linked to an app - it tracks battery level and I believe the company sends out an engineer to replace the batteries as needed. I have no idea how much this all costs but I imagine it must be quite a lot!
OliB150@reddit
I guess, with my engineering background, they’ve probably determined that it’s more cost effective to use battery power (quicker to install) and then when they die just replace them and probably upgrade at the same time.
ImSaneHonest@reddit
Heard a lot of the new cameras at the shelves are for stock monitoring so shelves don't stay empty.
stanley15@reddit
The more cameras you have the more staff you need to monitor them. If shoplifters aren't going to be apprehended by the security bloke, there is little point to them. The professionals won't be bothered. My Morrisons and Sainsbury's have a camera at the entrance so you can see yourself entering the shop. If this was hooked up to facial recognition software and matched against a known shoplifter database it would be worth the investment as it could identify shoplifters on entry and allow them to be booted out of the shop unceremoniously.
OliB150@reddit
I suspect they would be for retrospective checking, instead of active monitoring, if anything. It would be far too much for the security person at the front to actively review but if something happens, they can go back and get 100 different angles of the person throughout the whole store and see everything they did. Or they’re fake… haha
Interestingly on the facial recognition side, I noted the B&Q self serve machines have cameras and they put a green box around all detected faces. So I suspect they are already using it there, but again, unknown whether it’s actively feeding into something or just a means to recall all footage that person appears in after something happens.
wordsfromlee@reddit
9 times out of 10 they’re fake
GeekerJ@reddit
Presumably it’s cheaper to do this than actually hire staff to put your shopping through. I have no sympathies for the super markets. Up there on the list that includes energy and water companies.
nathderbyshire@reddit
Each till has a camera (and multiples of other heat sensors) above them but they're not actively checked unless there's a cause. You'd be pretty unlucky to be caught with a spot check so unless a worker saw you, pretty easy to get away with.
I've also just thrown stuff through I couldn't scan, but not a £50 turkey lol
Bug_Parking@reddit
Supermarkets work on a margin of 2-3%.
If there's a groundswell of theft, it's going to show up in consumer prices pretty quickly.
dickwildgoose@reddit
"Tesco's gross profit for the 2023/24 financial year was £2.821 billion, a 100.1% increase from the previous year. This was part of a strong performance for the retailer, with a 4.4% increase in revenue to £68,187 million. Explanation Tesco's profit was driven by strong sales, with like-for-like sales increasing by 6.8%. The retailer's pre-tax profit margin increased from 1.4% to 3.4%. Tesco's retail free cash flow increased by 100.1% to £2,821 million. The retailer's net debt decreased by £729 million. Tesco's market share increased to 27.8%, its highest since January 2022. "
ExcellentCan2525@reddit
Gross profit doubled in a cost of living crisis 💀
Typhoongrey@reddit
Well yeah, that's partly the reason we were/are in a cost of living crisis. Retail especially took the situation as an opportunity to hike prices.
Big_Poppa_T@reddit
Yes, that would be a margin of 2-3%. Nice of you to include the facts and figures that prove that the other commenter was correct
Electrical-Lab-9593@reddit
how does that work if investing that level of money would return about 5%
rustyswings@reddit
Fair question.
The £2.8b on £69bn sales is basically trading profit (gross margin) which is the difference between what you buy the stock for and what you sell it for. (There's other stuff going on but that's the gist)
They didn't buy all the goods up front at the start of the year so never needed £63b to invest in stock.
eg. You have a shop. You sell 100 widgets per week for £100 each. Sales = £10,000 per week. Each widget costs you £70 = £7,000 pw. So your gross profit is £3,000 per week or £156,000 per year. Here's the thing - you only ever needed to hold 100 widgets at any one time - just buy one for every one you sell. So your initial outlay of £7,000 has returned you £156,000 over a year.
It gets better for Tesco because they actually sell stock before they pay the supplier for it (that gets into the cash flow numbers)
But they have invested billions in the infrastructure (shops, trucks, warehouses, IT systems etc) that is the machine that allows them to generate the trading profit. That's the money that has to return more than the 5% than it could if shareholders put it in the bank. That's the capital investment (or return on capital) side of the numbers.
So in your widget shop that might be the money you initially spent on fitting out the shop, buying the delivery van etc.
Finally there are expenses such as advertising and wages, rent, rates, electricity, interest on any borrowing etc. Tesco will have reported some of those in the Gross Margin number and probably some elsewhere but they do affect the overall profit.
For the widget shop same applies. You have to pay to run the shop and that comes out of your trading profit.
Does that make any sense?
Electrical-Lab-9593@reddit
this is a really good explanation thank you
exhausted-pangolin@reddit
Everyone's being very disingenuous when they say "poor Tesco only makes 2-3% margin"
They make it SOUND like investing in a fund would be more profitable, as you say. It's meant to make you feel like Tesco isn't rinsing you for all you're worth.
In reality the margin they make is on the revenue, which is total money coming in for a year. 97-8% of that money almost immediately leaves again to pay their suppliers. So they're not making 2-3% per year on a fat stack of their revenue they're making 2-3% on every single transaction, live, every minute of every trading day.
You could invest your money and get 5% per annum.
Let's say Tesco buys a tin of beans for £1, sells it for £1.02. that 2p is profit and they can use it to buy another tin of beans. They stack their 2% profits up dozens, hundreds, thousands of times a year.
CranberryMallet@reddit
God I hope this thread is parody.
One comment asking why they even bother selling food when they could make 5% doing nothing, and then a follow up ranting that making 2% is indefensible price gouging.
exhausted-pangolin@reddit
If you don't think Tesco is setting the price as high as they can to rinse you for all you're worth, in aggregate across all their customers, I don't know what to say. Except it sounds like you might be being paid by Tesco to make these comments
If course their prices are literally as high as they can make them to maximise profit. The prices would be 10x higher in a millisecond if they thought they could get away with it
CranberryMallet@reddit
Getting a reasonable market price is the opposite of "rinsing" someone.
Accusing someone of being paid to trawl reddit to post pro-Tesco comments tells me everything I need to know about how seriously you should be taken.
andronicustard@reddit
Tesco's return on invested capital is sub -10% and has been for over a decade
lost_send_berries@reddit
Investing in what? If everybody only invested then there would be no businesses to take the investment and spend it on wages...
Supermarkets are a reliable investment, everybody needs food. While every other business has its own issues. Eg cinema is reliant on good films coming out. Restaurant is reliant on people having money to afford it as a treat. Etc. So if you're investing you can't just pick the most profitable thing, you need to diversify.
The profit margin works because of the quantities involved and keeping costs down. This is why you won't find any supermarket without long queues to check out at busy times. They can't afford the extra staff to deal with those queues.
Big_Poppa_T@reddit
I’m not an economist so feel free to assume that everything I say is nonsense.
Tesco is a company not an individual. They have a board of directors deciding on strategy. Investing in the stock market isn’t their business model so can’t see the board deciding to do that instead of being a supermarket is in the company’s best interests.
Annualised return on capital investment is completely different from the profit margin on goods you sell. You really can’t compare them like that
They don’t have anywhere near £68B to invest. That’s revenue.
Think about the revenue/profit/investment returns thing like this - you and me both have £100. You invest it and it grows by 5% annually. End of the year you have £105. I take my £100 and buy something which I then sell for £102.50 and it takes me a month to sell it. Then I do that every month for the rest of the year. My revenue is £1230 and my profit is £30. Now I’ve got £130 with a 2.5% profit margin.
Electrical-Lab-9593@reddit
that makes total sense
Economy_Assistant516@reddit
Profit is after items like salary, company cars and pension contributions too. So for directors/seniors it still makes sense
Ukplugs4eva@reddit
Is this just Tesco shops or Tesco as a whole e.g.banking insurance etc? Also they moved cc to Barclays .
Flobarooner@reddit
Tesco have some 4273 stores in the UK, so if we assume they're open about 360 days of the year and 12ish hours a day on average, that's about £150 of profit per store, per hour
They must get hundreds of transactions every hour so if even one of them is a shoplifter that could make quite a significant dent in their profits
TheBlueDinosaur06@reddit
That's actually miniscule I thought it would be far higher then that. You hear margins are tight but I didn't realise just how tight
Beartato4772@reddit
It's the joy of competition. While you're forced to buy, say, your water from a single group of absolute twats, Within a mile of me there are broadly comparable supermarkets from Sainsburys, Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, Morrisons and Waitrose.
jlb8@reddit
You’re not understanding what a margin is. Margin is the difference between the price you sell at and the price you buy at. So if I buy an apple for 80 p and sell for £1 that’s 20 p of margin. Not let’s say I rent a shop for 1 p pay shop workers 2p pay share holders 1p in dividends and pay the board 15 p, I have only made 1 p profit. It is to the benefit of businesses, especially big businesses to keep their profit near zero to avoid tax liability.
abw@reddit
Dividends are paid after tax. Their gross profit was £2.821 billion. They would have paid about £700 million in corporation tax on that. The remaining £2.1 billion would then be available for distribution to shareholders as dividends or for re-investing into the business.
vishbar@reddit
Wow, very thin margins in the supermarket sector! It’s good to see how competitive that industry is.
Ok-Information4938@reddit
So a margin of 3.4%.
Rexpelliarmus@reddit
You can double your profits whilst keeping your profit margin the same.
If you make £100 in revenue and have £10 in costs, that's a 90% profit margin. If you manage to double your revenue whilst also doubling your costs, your profit margin stays the same at 90% but your profit doubles from £90 to £180.
You can definitely still profiteer massively with a stagnant profit margin.
AlpsSad1364@reddit
So you're agreeing with him?
Bug_Parking@reddit
And to add in, retail theft in the UK is pegged at around 8bil per annum.
Ie significantly higher than tescos profit.
StiffWiggly@reddit
Retail theft from every store in the land is higher than a single franchise’s profit, crazy.
StatisticianOwn9953@reddit
Redditors wank furiously over the thought of mass shoplifting and the perps getting flogged. It's a thing. They love it.
St2Crank@reddit
Yeah you’re right, if someone stole a £50 turkey every second of every day. Tesco would have only made £1.6billion in profit last year.
EatingCoooolo@reddit
Does the weight not matter?
ActAccomplished586@reddit
When supermarkets are using inflation as an excuse to price gouge, fuck em.
I’m putting everything I can, through on weight with easy peelers.
EquivalentNo5465@reddit
As a customer the most common thing I see is people scanning their shopping, tapping their card and then walking off not noticing that it's asked them to insert their card
Coraldiamond192@reddit
I think most of those do it on purpose. If I use scan and go I would always check that it’s accepted it as I would want a receipt.
EquivalentNo5465@reddit
I'm not bothered about a receipt but I always check it's gone through (hangover from days of not being sure if I had enough money for my groceries or not). I've never seen anyone do it deliberately, it's mostly people on their phones, old ladies and people juggling shopping and containing small children. It's a pain because it removes the til from service but the only person I've tapped on the shoulder and pointed it out to was a woman who was talking very loudly on her phone and that annoyed me
CurseTheseMetalFeet@reddit
My flatmate at uni became obsessed with those Panini football stickers for Euro 2016. In order to get the rare players statistically he would have to buy a metric fuck tonne of packs, which being a poor student was financially crippling him. Since they were so light he would scan them though as onions, and so that each pack now cost like 1p instead of £1.
I think he'd got away with his scam a couple of times on a small scale. So feeling emboldened decided to go for his biggest heist yet. Starts just loading up on footy stickers. As he's making good his escape the Manager taps him on the shoulder, asks to look at his receipt.
Onions Onions Onions Onions
Managers looks into a bag full of full football stickers sans onions and goes "where's your onions then mate!!?"
Store threatened him with prosecution. Friend shat the bed a little, did some grovelling and got banned from every Sainsbury's in the country for 2 years instead.
gibbonminnow@reddit
how would sainsburys practically ban him from every store in the country for 2 years? its not like they hand out the face to thousands of stores and then have that security guard on £3.20 an hour compare every customers with every face printed out on the black book
MlLFS@reddit
As someone who has been permanently banned from a chain. It's genuinely fine. I go to them all the time.
CurseTheseMetalFeet@reddit
They hand his details over to interpol who imbed a tracker under his skin. The tracker sends an alarm to interpol headquarters if he comes within 100m of a Sainsbury's, who then instruct the nearest undercover agent to summarily execute him in broad daylight.
dunneetiger@reddit
There is a sub for swapping stickers should have used that
Beginning-End9098@reddit
We should all agree to do it. You're basically saving them money by scanning it all yourself. Feels like it should be accepted that you always grab a chocolate bar or other item worth up to £1 without scanning as a small gesture from them to you.
Coraldiamond192@reddit
Tbh where would you find a chocolate bar for £1 these days?
Beginning-End9098@reddit
Fair point. Maybe if we helped stack the shelves as well, instead of forcing supermarkets to employ people, maybe they could keep the prices down
TEFAlpha9@reddit
Pretty common I'd have thought, it seems harder to do now though. I say this as someone who has paid themselves at self service, so if I've done it a couple of times, it's probably massive. Probably still cheaper than the supermarkets having more staff on.
TheArtfullTodger@reddit
I always wondered if you still get your asda reward points if you then refuse to pay. Or you only get them out on once you've paid. If it's the former I'll just scan through high value items, not forget to scan my rewards card and then suddenly decide I don't want all that stuff after all. But have just earned another 50p
presterjohn7171@reddit
Three staff chased a shop lifter out of my local Co-Op the other day. He got away but they gave it a good go. I was quite proud of them.
Mondo-Ray@reddit
The small cameras at morrisons are for stock control purposes they take photos every hour to identify gaps on he shelf.
AllHailDeath@reddit
yeah i work in a supermarket that is targeted towards the older generation aswell as the higher tax brackets, and it is an issue even with this demographic. the majority of the time, it is due to the older people genuinely forgetting. the ones we catch and report are ones with purchases over 15£ ish. obviously if we catch with a lower amount, a win is still a win.
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LegDayDE@reddit
I once accidentally stole a choccy bar because it slid inside a pizza box in my basket and so I forgot about it and obviously was not able to scan at self checkout.
I haven't been back to that store since in case they arrest me.
pikantnasuka@reddit
I get anxious enough when using the self service checkouts as it is, if I was trying to commit theft when doing so I would probably collapse from the stress
Electronic-Desk-8543@reddit
Not the UK, but in France a kid put a PlayStation through as fruit on the self-service till.... I remember seeing this a few years ago, and being naive not realising this was a 'thing' I was in awe at the level of genius.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/playstation-4-supermarket-selfservice-checkout-fruit-montbeliard-nice-teenager-a8758616.html
Coraldiamond192@reddit
It’s not very genius if he was eventually caught and arrested as your link states.
Electronic-Desk-8543@reddit
Maybe ingenuity was a better description 🤔
Coraldiamond192@reddit
It’s not very genius. They are still watching the cameras so I wouldn’t be surprised if something was done about it.
Draculaaaaaaaaaaahhh@reddit
I used to pop in Tesco every other day for our main shop and fresh shopping top-up. Did that for years. I use a wheelchair or stick. A couple of years ago, every single time I went through the self-scanner section in my wheelchair, I got stopped and checked. My partner was always with me. Always had the receipt. Even if we only had 10 things, we got stopped. It never happened if I was on my walking stick.
The last time I was pulled to the special area off to one side where they checked the stuff, I had a wheelchair-trolley of shopping. It took ages for her to find certain things she had to scan. My partner and I watched as a man with two kids, looked over at us, put down the self-scanner, and pushed a large trolley of stuff through the exit without paying. I didn't say a word. No one stopped him they were too busy searching me to see him.
In that Tesco, I saw a woman push a pram through the self-service with un-scanned shopping underneath, and a guy with a huge coat putting milk and cheese in his pockets. No one on the self-serve saw them or stopped them. Security cameras might have done, but they weren't stopped.
Since then, I've been doing my main shopping in Waitrose and top up in Aldi, and I've not been stopped and checked once. But in Aldi, at Christmas, we all saw a man pick up and carry two boxes of kids' toys out of the entrance. The alarms went off, but they didn't go after him.
Coraldiamond192@reddit
Just because they don’t go after someone doesn’t mean they aren’t going to eventually. They do watch cameras and will know if someone steals a certain amount then they will go after them, they let people steal knowing that they can and do catch them eventually.
I-eat-jam@reddit
I haven't paid for a beef tomato in years.
brothererrr@reddit
Haven’t paid for a plastic bag since they became 20p
AnonymousTimewaster@reddit
40p in Asda now. They're taking the piss.
margauxlame@reddit
So just reuse the bags then lol
AnonymousTimewaster@reddit
Sure but that only works if I've actively planned to go to the shop from home, which I rarely do, because it's usually something I do when I'm getting out of work or otherwise just passing by. I'm not lugging around a set of plastic bags 24/7.
margauxlame@reddit
No one is saying ‘a set’ but is there really nowhere you could keep a spare one?
AnonymousTimewaster@reddit
Not on my person at all times, no.
But I think this is all just ignoring the actual problem of ripping off consumers for no good reason.
Both Asda and Tesco report carrier bag sales along with their general sales and argue that their charity work (which is not necessarily anything to do with the environment) exceed the amount earned.
The government mandates a 10p charge - why are they charging more than 4 times that amount?
LoomerLoon@reddit
Back of the net!
alc451@reddit
I don't get paid enough to care about shoplifting.
LadyMirkwood@reddit
I don't because it's not worth it. I live in a small town and to get caught means not being able to use the one supermarket here and everybody knowing you are a thief.
courtandcompany@reddit
All the time. I never confront about it- I am paid minimum wage and run a shop in a dodgy area with one other staff member bc the company want to save money on wages, why would I put myself at risk?
jesus_mooney@reddit
A few years ago there was a 10 pack of my favourite lager beer and if the self service scanned the barcode on the can exposed at the end of the box rather than the barcode on the box its self it priced it as 4 cans. But the scales were happy with the weight. I discovered this by accident and was very confused.
RandomHigh@reddit
This happened to my brother in Germany and the security guard almost called the police.
He started having a go at my brother and accusing him of being a thief. Until my brother started talking in English. Then the guard just scanned it properly and waived him on with a comment of "silly English".
sailboat_magoo@reddit
I consider a few items my salary for huge wealthy corporations having laid off all the checkout workers and making me do the work for free.
J8YDG9RTT8N2TG74YS7A@reddit
Yeah.
We should go back to Open All Hours type shops and have the staff get the items from the shelves as well.
Why am I doing your job by fetching the items from the shelves?
bacon_cake@reddit
I get where you're coming from but it's a little more complicated than that. Shrinkage just gets added to the markup for the rest of us.
Chriswheela@reddit
100%
fozzythesnowman@reddit
With the rise in AI cameras in stores notifications are starting to be sent to colleagues in store when people don’t scan the items they have picked up, so in the future you’ll probably find automatic crime reports filled for these individuals.
I’ve seen on a few trials many different things appearing from AI; - some detect when a big amount of weight is taken from a shelf - some detect when things are placed in a bag - some detect what your not scanning on self service
As a general rule of thumb where AI isn’t installed though many people won’t challenge you on actually paying for some of it. When you see the regular shoplifters who steal bags or baskets of meat, at least something’s going through the tills!
DebsUK693@reddit
Shop at Tescos, weekly, usually around £120. Started using self scan. Quick and convenient.
One week a tube of tomato puree (cost pennies) failed to scan (i.e. I'd recalled doing it but must have missed it maybe not beeping). Had a random check, that item included. Needed a full rescan of whole trolley to our embarrassment, took to the side, whole trolley emptied, plus we were told we might get checked repeatedly over the next few months.
We just didn't want the hassle, so avoided Tesco for over a year. They lost around £6000 worth of our business over it.
Hopeful_Being@reddit
I was caught straight away for something basic like putting an almond croissant through as a plain croissant 😂 Never done it since
dgl33@reddit
The store I work in is a smaller one (55k-60k per week) and we have it multiple times a day. Sometimes it's a genuine mistake and they either forget something or their card has declined but most of the time they just don't bother hiding it and walk out, only scan half their items or scan the same thing multiple times instead of their actual things
All gets reported to head office and the police but obviously nothing will be done about it, why would they when its just a steak and a block of cheese or some chocolate
MidnightVisible1992@reddit
I heard a load of noise outside once so looked and saw 4 or 5 police chase a homeless man into a giant bush over a packet of meat (looked like a steak but not sure). Had the police van blocking our entire road for almost half an hour. So it seems they do care sometimes..
dgl33@reddit
Unless they were a repeat offender there, we have a few that they call us about but not much else has happened that I know of, not sure how true it is but I've been told they won't do anything unless the value is over £200
hut_man_299@reddit
This is ultimately the attitude of the public too I think. A uni student nicking a pack of beef with their shop so they can have some protein with their dinner cuts a much more sympathetic figure than a massive company like Tesco.
Add on all the profiteering in spite of their customers and staff (not to mention the cost of living going up generally) and you have quite a low bar for what’s generally tolerated with theft against these companies.
Understandable the police don’t give a shit - the public don’t and it’s not like the victim can’t afford it.
dgl33@reddit
I don't expect the police to care. I only report it because I have to, I don't even care to be honest
polopinkgin22@reddit
Shops effectively asked for an increase in thefts when they introduced self service checkouts, what else did they expect?!? They still obviously think that is cheaper than paying staff to man a checkout
TheLowestFormOfHumor@reddit
This is the answer - if the value of self-scan items stolen is lower than the yearly wage for equivalent checkout employees then it's a win for the supermarket.
jordansrowles@reddit
I mean, if you really wanted every item scanned, employ a human - if you get the customers to do the jobs of the checkout staff, it’s obvious things will be stolen.
mashed666@reddit
I used to work in the UK's most stolen from Spar. Was insane the amount of shoplifters we had.... Seemed to be they all knew that we wouldn't chase them... Used to get all the weirdos in there... Cloned credit cards, Dodgy vouchers, Distractions (Someone knocking stuff off shelves) So there mate can rob you blind...
We literally had to fill the shelves 3 times a week... Think it's still there even now... And last time I went in they'd put all the alcohol related stuff behind the counter. And speaking to an ex colleague, He said that it's still just as bad now... Just people are more violent and aggressive when caught.
gibbonminnow@reddit
Why does Spar maintain that location? Surely if its famous for being the most stolen, Spar know about it and it will be deeply unprofitable. At that point its a charity if they don't pack up shop and move
therealhairykrishna@reddit
Presumably the increased levels of theft are costing them less than they're saving in checkout staff wages.
CorpusCalossum@reddit
I'm sure they're just loading it onto the prices. The thieves aren't stealing from the nasty corporation, they're stealing from you.
AnonymousTimewaster@reddit
Shops will charge as much as they can no matter what. Prices are determined solely by demand. If demand drops then price drops.
CorpusCalossum@reddit
Supply and demand, not just demand. Shoplifting increases the cost of supply.
If Heinz puts up the price of beans, the retail price of beans goes up, given the same demand.
If Shoplifting puts up the price of all goods in the store, the price of all goods in the store goes up.
Retailers don't set a sales price and then hope that the costs don't exceed it and pray for profit. They figure out the total cost including overheads, overheads includes losses to Shoplifting... and then they apply a profit margin to that number.
Low_Border_2231@reddit
No but that is how they can frame it. See also fare dodgers, music piracy and the like. They are doing just fine.
lllGreyfoxlll@reddit
You'd be surprised at how "not so much" they pay their staff individually. If you make 27k a year (including pension and performance incentives) you're in the top 25%.
RobynTheSlytherin@reddit
Not sure about that but a few times when I've used Scan and Go I've noticed things not appearing on my rescript because it hasn't added 2 of an item when I press the plus button and it hadn't been picked up in the check they do sometimes 😬
Guess I'm technically an accidental criminal 🤣🤣
Typhoongrey@reddit
That Sainsbury's self scan on your phone seems like it'd be ripe for abuse.
the_sneaky_one123@reddit
Me and my friend in school used to do this. We would get two sandwiches and a bottle of coke, but only pay for the coke.
This was in the early days of these scanners though, don't think we would get away with that today.
Perfectly2Imperfect@reddit
This is why a lot of them have changed their processes. Sainsbury’s now require yellow ticket items to be checked by staff because people were stealing the yellow stickers off stuff and sticking it onto totally different items. It’s a pain in the backside for everyone though.
dallibab@reddit
What did your friend say?
DubbehD@reddit
Surely skip scanning doesn't work on all machines, it will receive an incorrect weight and will require a staff member, most will look at what you have on the table/belt
Successful_Ad_2888@reddit
Wasn't fully concentrating and walked out without completing sale at self serve. Went back the next day and the Tesco member of staff was surprised I'd come back to pay. They still had the whole receipt
ab_2404@reddit
I’ve been ran after into the car park by a member of staff because I scanned my card and it didnt work, but I thought it did so just got my bleach and toilet cleaner and walked off.
farlos75@reddit
If it doesnt scan 3 times its mine by right.
stuaird1977@reddit
If you aren't confident in skip scanning build up confidence by weighing steak as bananas 😁
Breaking-Dad-@reddit
They’ve stopped the yellow barcodes working in the self scan at Sainsbury’s where I live because people swap labels apparently so I guess it is a real issue.
jamnut@reddit
When they were orange (2008ish?) I kept one on the back of my wallet that originally was for a 30p can of coke. It was one that you had to free type, so I would try my luck each time by reducing it from the original 30p down to 1p for whatever I was buying (usually sarnies)
I stopped after I scanned a 2L bottle of doctor pepper and the weight didn't match and a clerk came over to sort it. I pleaded ignorance, paid the quid that I should have in the first place, and never did it again out of fear lol
Previous_Kale_4508@reddit
I saw an ad for a program that would print off barcodes in various store formats, it was a long time back so it's probably been "removed" by now. But you know what the internet is like... nothing ever really disappears. 🤣
roccoborro@reddit
It f'in does. I'd love to be able to play CBBC's 'Big Al' game from their website years back. Was brilliant as far as I can remember.
therealhairykrishna@reddit
There was a guy caught a few years back who had been nicking stuff from B&Q then producing his own, barcoded, receipts and returning it to the store for a 'refund'.
shokalion@reddit
I remember this scam someone I heard about years ago doing at B&Q.
Step 1, get a lawnmower, something large and expensive, take it to the till, pay for it, go out of the shop, load it up in the van.
Step 2, back in the shop, get something trivial like a screwdriver, and another mower of the same model. Bring it back through the till, with your receipt showing the purchase of the first mower, apologise and say "I forgot this" and pay for the screwdriver.
Step 3, Leave with second, free mower.
Allydarvel@reddit
We used to do womething like that when we were kids. There would be about 4 of us and we'd put all our money together. First, one would go into Woolies and buy sweets and a drink. He'd come back out and hand the receipt to the second person, who'd go in and steal the same goods..and the third, then the fourth. Got four loads of goods with the same receipt
Unhappy-Bluejay-6518@reddit
Ah, so it was YOU that caused their demise?
Allydarvel@reddit
KNew someone would say that :)
4 of us brought down the national chain by stealing Irn Bru, Mars Bars and Pick and Mix!
Electrical-Lab-9593@reddit
that is pretty good
isdnpro@reddit
The format of the barcode is trivial to work out, just look at the reduced price and the numbers at the end. However I think fraud is probably worse than theft?
shadowfax384@reddit
You just reminded me of a documentary on channel 4 years ago showing how people got away with stealing thousands every month, and there was this one bloke who had a keyring with loads of laminated bar codes on of all the cheap stuff that weighed the same as the expensive stuff so he was buying all the expensive bottles of wine for a tenner each or something stupid.
xWizzle@reddit
I think Sainsbury’s actually stopped the yellow barcodes working in self-scan in the majority of their stores because there was a scam you could do where you enter the barcode on this website and it would return the same item’s barcode but for 1p based off how the reduced yellow barcodes work. It was ongoing for a long time but a surge in popularity caused them to crack down on it.
edgrant1992@reddit
Gotta be desperate to do that effort for 1p off a heavily reduced item
Electrical-Lab-9593@reddit
i think they mean it tilled it up as 1p total.
edgrant1992@reddit
Thanks, makes more sense.
xWizzle@reddit
Sorry I didn’t explain it very well - I believe it generated a barcode that made any specific item 1p
edgrant1992@reddit
Haha oh I see. Either way I wondered why I couldn't scan them, I assumed it was an issue at the store,. good to know.
AdministrativeShip2@reddit
Ours let's you scan them, but you need to scan your receipt to be able to leave the shop.
MrPogoUK@reddit
They stop working if it’s reduced to under £1 at ours (which is annoying when I manage to snag some half price donuts). I guess they’ve realised most people pulling a fast one will reduce to virtually nothing, so anything above that is most likely genuine.
Breaking-Dad-@reddit
Didn’t know that, the staff just told me it was swapping tickets. It’s a bit of a pain because the staff aren’t always there any more (doing other things too) so you have to stand around waiting. Mind you, they have to approve my Guinness 0% anyway.
fletch3059@reddit
I used to work for ikea years ago. Bloke came in with loads of furniture that he'd scratched off the barcodes off and replaced with barcodes for a mug etc.
Taowoof2012@reddit
I worked as the self check out supervisor at Waitrose (literally quit last week). At least for me, it’s very difficult to figure who is shoplifting unless they are blatantly doing so. I’d try and pay attention to people with alcohol but frankly it’s not feasible to deeply monitor 12 shops at once and deal with customer queries (especially the amount you get from Waitrose customers).
The most common example I came across was when people would use expired cards to ‘pay’ for their shopping and then walk off before the card read failed - this was normally done I had my back turned and was helping another customer (in my branch i would be supervising the area alone). Id say this happened one to two times a shift and the amount the shop last could reach as high as £90 or so but was normally less than £20. During busy periods it wasn’t uncommon for people to wait until I had my back turned helping someone and then march on through without even scanning an items.
In terms of dealing with skip scanning, the most I’ve ever done is follow someone and let them know their card failed - though this would normally be someone I’d already interacted as I found it pretty much impossible to remember which random person was at each till. I’d never do anything that would be even a remote inconvenience if I’m honest as I was not paid enough to put myself in harms way - and they employed security to do so. Even if I was that job required more multitasking that one might think and chasing someone into the car park over £20 just was not a priority for me.
My experience may be different because I was in working in a Waitrose in a very affluent area where the majority of our customers where retirees and housewives.
cvzero@reddit
That happened to me too, even though i ak no thief.
The routine "tap to pay" for a quick shopping, beep and go.
Only problem is sometimes you also need to enter the pin code once in a while, which I didn't expect. Almost left without paying, unintentionally.
Darkerscr@reddit
Before they started putting barcodes on the salad boxes at Morrisons I had some many large salads for the price of an apple
Violet351@reddit
Sainsburys used to a salad thing where you filled it up yourself and weighed it. I worked with someone that used to lift one side up to get charged less. Eventually they changed it to a cost per size of tub. I had the till go off at Morrisons because the pizza person had put too much topping on so it weighed more than that item should be
beepboopbeep9@reddit
I used to work on the self service machines. I'm not paid enough to care if you're stealing. But to answer your question, it is very, very common
soulsteela@reddit
Before they changed how things worked people were putting 55” tv’s on as carrots, Tesco discovered this because according to the self service receipts they sold 60 million more carrots than they had in stock!🤣
not_the_1_who_knows@reddit
I use the hand scanner you take round the store with you. Yeah I’ll leave stuff off now and then like the nice sliced beef or smoked salmon. You get a random check sometimes at the checkout but I just play it down and the staff certainly don’t give a shit. And I definitely don’t pay for bags if I can help it, even if they make you ask for them now.
emilyashford22@reddit
I once had someone try and weigh a £500 tv as a bunch of onions. Had to call that one out, usually i’d just let it slide tho cause I’m not paid enough to care
londonsocialite@reddit
Who could have thought outsourcing part of the shop assistant job to the customers was going to lead to this? Supermarkets can’t have it both ways, especially not in such a bad economic climate.
LemmysCodPiece@reddit
I use scan and go. I have never bothered nicking stuff, because you never know when you are going to get a rescan. I imagine there are those that chance it.
Razzzclart@reddit
I have only ever done it out of frustration because I can't get the machine to scan something properly or similar. The fact that they don't work properly gives me some plausible deniability but also what I consider to be a reasonable tax on the supermarket for having poor quality tech
When they were first introduced it was clear to me that their model would save £x per hour on staff costs but thefts would rise by a further x per hour also. So the fact that a few things get nicked is likely to be baked into the numbers. Or at least it was. Every other supermarket doing the same thing has likely watered down the efficiency savings by now
aqsgames@reddit
Reverse story here. Bought a trolley of booze for studio giveaway at Xmas. Got stopped my M&S security as I was loading into my boot. Accused of stealing, showed them the receipt. Very apologetic and gave me a full refund:)
sailboat_magoo@reddit
M&S is a class act for giving you that refund. I can't think of any other store that would do that.
Chinateapott@reddit
I don’t work food retail but we see it all the time, when we’ve seen them either the coworker on the till asks them to rescan it or if they’re not confident enough to will flag it to security who will do a receipt check.
They’re then asked to pay for the stuff they missed etc.
If they’re refuse and it was a lot of money then we report it to 101. If it wasn’t we just have to let them go but it’s all logged on our internal system.
purply_otter@reddit
Not self scan but I used to work at a primark . A girl bought little denim short shorts and when dropped them in the counter made a big noise
Picked them up they were heavy, pockets filled with about 30 items of jewellery- I couldn't ignore it because it was just insulting to my intelligence
I took them out 'did you want these too?'
'OOH no how did they get in there'
Maybe if she'd put 2 or 3 things it wouldn't have been super obvious and I'd have missed it
paddys_egg@reddit
I knew someone that would regularly scan cheap, then put more expensive items that weigh the same on the self checkout tills.
For example, he'd put 1kg of Lamb on the scales, but scan 1kg of potatoes. He did get caught though. Not sure if he got into any legal trouble, but he was banned from his local Sainsbury's
Zainablicious@reddit
It’s so common that I’m convinced self-checkouts are just the store’s way of saying 'test your morals here.' They’ll probably only report you if you’re a repeat offender or super obvious about it.
AussieHxC@reddit
Theft is pretty damn high but it also always has been.
One shop I worked at, a reasonably large convenience style shop, would have maybe half a dozen bottles of spirits go missing a day. Though it wasn't worth getting security in unless we hit 10 per day though; bad optics for a posh shop.
You'll also get semi-organised raids where folk will take your entire meat aisle and scupper it into IKEA bags etc.
Lots of folk make mistakes whilst shopping (especially the elderly), which is part of the reason why shrinkage through self scan is so high. Also plenty of opportunistic stuff that you wouldn't notice even if you looked for it.
Oddly enough I've never worked anywhere where the cleaners weren't fired on a regular basis for stealing cigarettes etc.
The ones that really get me though are the regulars. The customers who know you all by name and pop in 3-4 times per week but are sneaking bits and pieces when they can.
We had one fella who lived locally and was usually in everyday, lovely bloke too. Well, he had a lucky brush with cancer and the store even threw a mini tea-party for him to celebrate. Anyway time goes on and life returns to normal. At some point we get a new security guard and what does he spot one day in the cameras? Turns out our mate had been helping himself to a bottle of gin. Now nothing was said to them immediately but any time they entered the store, someone would follow them via CCTV. This guy was taking a bottle of gin or whisky every couple of days.. Safe to say the management had a quiet word and they were never seen of again.
Also, were police called? Almost never. Maybe a handful of times over several years for aggressively drunk customers, a homeless guy on drugs locking himself in the toilets etc. - raids would be obviously, but that's a post-incident intel report.
TattyMcBobeh@reddit
Very common. If you don't take the piss you'll get away with it. "Forget" to scan something worth £1-2? Most workers won't bother. "Forget" to scan the £20 bottle of Vodka then yea they will probably mention it. I work retail and will confront people for stuff like booze and other non-essentials because I have to work and fuck you you're not getting that shit for free.
turkishhousefan@reddit
Tbf, after a long day I have caught myself absent-mindedly putting things I haven't scanned into my bag; feel like a villain every time.
jessikamoylanx@reddit
There’s been a couple of times I’ve walked out with a bag of nappies I’ve hung over the pram to pay for at the end I’ve forgotten about - yet the alarm system has never bleeped! Both times I’ve stood there guilty a few steps away debating what to do 🤣
AussieHxC@reddit
Currently doing some part time work for one of them and I managed to pick some bits up for my lunch, chat to the door security and walk out before realising I hadn't actually paid for anything.
ruggpea@reddit
I have accidentally stolen a block of cheese and my husband accidentally stole a bottle of cider…
Think a lot of us have been there.
Prince_John@reddit
Twice I have been halfway out of the shop before my brain caught up and said "hang on, did I *actually* bleep that?
It's surprisingly easy to just scan in autopilot with headphones in and just skip a step. Luckily I realised before I got too far away from the till so didn't have to endure the search of shame!
JamesTiberious@reddit
Supermarkets don’t do enough to help, they just pass the costs of theft onto paying customers.
So I’d like to government step in and force them to report on losses through theft. They should also show what they’re doing to help decrease it.
If a supermarket still posts record breaking profits (and CEO bonuses) and cannot show what it’s doing to help prevent crimes, then it should face meaningful sanctions (not just pathetically small fines).
reggieko13@reddit
Used to work in supermarket and caught someone (didn’t confront at time just told manager) who was putting reduced labels from a cheap product over an expensive one.still scanned but weight element taken out (not sure if still the same). That was used quite a bit it seemed.
yourefunny@reddit
I saw a lady walk out with a large trolley full to the brim at Christmas. Tescos was a madhouse and I just gave her a cheeky grin outside. Would never say anything. I also see people leaving big boxes of nappies and the like on the floor next to the self check out instead of scanning it.
Fecalfelcher@reddit
Done it my self a fair bit accidentally with the self scan, I imagine it happens a lot.
LogicalRestaurant870@reddit
Never worked in retail but I'd hazard a guess that most staff don't give a shit. Minimum wage jobs often get minimum effort staff. Not always the case obviously.
cheesecake_413@reddit
Depends how much they're taking the piss. Had one customer take the 10p reduction sticker off some custard tarts and stick it on a whole chicken. Obviously the self-serve kicked off, as the weights of the two are very different. Came over to help him, he was rude, so I politely explained that the sticker on his chicken must have accidentally made its way there from some custard tarts, as his chicken was still well in date. He suddenly decided he didn't want any of his shopping, and just walked out.
Also if your shop is rife for shoplifting, your managers are more likely to harass you about preventing shoplifting, meaning you're more likely to keep an eye out in order to reduce the nagging
PraterViolet@reddit
"if your shop is rife"
LogicalRestaurant870@reddit
Good point. Maybe it depends on the shop too. A small local independent shop would probably suffer more than a giant supermarket, but a supermarket would have more customers and more stealing.
Candid-Bike-9165@reddit
I simply carry what I'm buying and forget about the stuff I put in my pockets
Content-External-473@reddit
I do scan as you shop and I semi regularly "forget" to scan an item or two
Ok_Young1709@reddit
Depends on if the person there decides to call them out on it. I'm guessing they don't give a shit when they are on minimum wage or close to it.
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