Supermarkets discussion

[Phil56]

Lidl and Aldi might be two different supermarkets but I am quite sure their products are made in the same factory but just come under different packaging. An example is their cartons of milkshake always taste exactly the same. Infact the cartons at Tesco, Morrisons, Co-op all look alike and taste the same. Could they be produced in the same factory?

Maybe same factory, but different recipes/ingredient quality. I used to go to audit a couple of couple of food manufacturers, one a chicken factory and the other a sandwich factory. The sandwich factory made sandwiches for different supermarket chains, but the ingredients/recipes could be very different, even down to using different qualities of mayonnaise, different grades of meat, different types of margarine, bread, etc. In particular, for some supermarket chains they used fresh chicken cooked in house, and for others they used frozen that they defrosted. For others, the recipes/ingredient quality was virtually the same and yes, little more than a different label for the likes of Spar and other chains of convenience stores/garages, etc such as Shell labelled sandwiches.

 

[MikeWM]

I had an experience with Lidl where they assumed I had shoplifted. I was in the store for like 2 minutes trying to find the new range of craft beers they were promoting. I walked straight back out, empty handed, as I couldn't find them.
I was called back inside the entrance by a staff member. He asked to see a receipt for my shopping. I said I had not bought anything so I did not have a receipt. He said I was seen in the alcohol aisle. You are correct I said and explained what I had been looking for with no joy. He asked me to open my backpack and then I realized he thought I had shoplifted. I told him I was not opening my bag for him. I asked him what he thought had happened but he skirted around the issue without actually calling me a thief. He then said that my bag looked heavy and asked to me to open it again. (Well yeah, the bag was heavy as I had my camera and lenses from a Class 37 photo op about 10 minutes beforehand). Again I refused to open it. He was embarrassing me in front of all the customers walking by so I decided to call his bluff and try to embarrass him and the store in return. I told him to call the police down to the settle the matter in front of them. He had a headphone set on and it was obvious someone was reviewing video footage in the store while we talked and they informed him of the non theft. He then told me I was free to go. No apology.

That's pretty poor - most of these things rely on the assumption that people have powers they don't actually have, just because they're wearing a uniform. Or that because some sort of alarm has gone off that you're required to prove your innocence. Or both.

I guess it makes sense to go along with it and try to be somewhat helpful if you're ever intending to use the shop again, but otherwise I'd say just a firm 'no' to any request to return to the shop. Personally, I just keep on walking if anything beeps when I'm trying to leave a shop. I've not done anything wrong and therefore I've no requirement to account for myself.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

That's pretty poor - most of these things rely on the assumption that people have powers they don't actually have, just because they're wearing a uniform. Or that because some sort of alarm has gone off that you're required to prove your innocence. Or both.

I guess it makes sense to go along with it and try to be somewhat helpful if you're ever intending to use the shop again, but otherwise I'd say just a firm 'no' to any request to return to the shop. Personally, I just keep on walking if anything beeps when I'm trying to leave a shop. I've not done anything wrong and therefore I've no requirement to account for myself.

Innocent until proven guilty. A key point many people seem to be unaware of, or be actively attempting to turn the other way round. Hello TV Licensing!

If the exit alarm beeps at a shop, I will look to see if there is an interested staff member nearby. If not I won't be wasting my time waiting for someone to attend, as I am not in the habit of shoplifting or even accidentally walking out with an unpaid for item.

Want some sport? Do your shopping trip by placing all your items into your shopping bag / rucksack rather than a trolley / basket. Then at the till (self-service or manned) remove and pay for all your items. See how many times they get shirty with you. This is a technique I generally employ when there are no baskets anywhere to be seen and I really don't want to manoeuvre a trolley round for half a dozen items: Too many items to easily carry but to few to be worth using a trolley.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Want some sport? Do your shopping trip by placing all your items into your shopping bag / rucksack rather than a trolley / basket. Then at the till (self-service or manned) remove and pay for all your items. See how many times they get shirty with you. This is a technique I generally employ when there are no baskets anywhere to be seen..

Had that happen once at a local Co-op. No hand baskets to be seen anywhere. Staff were convinced that I was shoplifting, but couldn't work out why I was specifically targeting only those items that were on special offer, rather than high value stuff.

 

[Hadders]

Innocent until proven guilty. A key point many people seem to be unaware of, or be actively attempting to turn the other way round. Hello TV Licensing!

If the exit alarm beeps at a shop, I will look to see if there is an interested staff member nearby. If not I won't be wasting my time waiting for someone to attend, as I am not in the habit of shoplifting or even accidentally walking out with an unpaid for item.

Want some sport? Do your shopping trip by placing all your items into your shopping bag / rucksack rather than a trolley / basket. Then at the till (self-service or manned) remove and pay for all your items. See how many times they get shirty with you. This is a technique I generally employ when there are no baskets anywhere to be seen and I really don't want to manoeuvre a trolley round for half a dozen items: Too many items to easily carry but to few to be worth using a trolley.

Why are you even bothering to unload your stuff at a till. Just pick up a handset, scan your shopping as you go round, placing it in your own bag. Visit the till to pay (no need to unload anything) then exit.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Why are you even bothering to unload your stuff at a till. Just pick up a handset, scan your shopping as you go round, placing it in your own bag. Visit the till to pay (no need to unload anything) then exit.

A good point but:
I'm not that into 'advanced' technology;
You can be stopped for a random check anyway;
I only have two hands, one for basket, one for scanner, which bodily appendage shall I use to knock items off the shelf into my basket (discussed previously, basket or bag can be put over the arm or scanner in a pocket poking out);
Most importantly, items in the supermarket are not arranged in the same order I want them in my bag ie heavy items at the bottom.

I shop frequently for a small number of items each time (less than a dozen). It's the only way I can carry shopping home with my old bones and the walk to the supermarket gets me my goverment recommended 30 minutes exercise each time.

 

[Acey]

Haven't been in a supermarket for 3 years,have it delivered or occasional click and collect,started when the virus thing started and never looked back,so much easier ,time saving too !

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Haven't been in a supermarket for 3 years,have it delivered or occasional click and collect,started when the virus thing started and never looked back,so much easier ,time saving too !

I have supermarket (and others) deliveries. I generally can't use 'click & collect' as I don't drive and pedestrians don't seem welcome to use such facilities where I have looked into it. Someone tried to walk through a McDonalds drive-through when the restaurant was closed 'due to Covid' and was refused service!

Click and collect would have been convenient during Coronabobs because the minimum spend is lower than for home deliveries but even the £25 limit would be too heavy to carry home unless it was something like a bottle of spirits at £20 and a handful of other items to make up the minimum.

I had weekly supermarket deliveries during the covid period but I struggled to reach the Tesco £40 limit. Now that Tesco has increased the minimum home delivery basket to £50 (or pay a £5 fee) I shall be having fewer deliveries and doing more top-up shops - often not at Tesco!

 

[Gloster]

I must admit I remain determinedly old school. I go in on the bus (*), walk around the supermarket, load my stuff into a basket, go to the self-checkout (yes, I have progressed to them) and pay in cash. Then it is load it all in to a shoulder bag (the size of a large box of cereal) and back on the bus.

It can be a problem when you want to get something and you have a basket in one hand and a stick in the other: smooth shelf ends on shelves that are full means it can be difficult to get one hand free. Still a reversed stick can be used for hoicking items from the back of shelves.

* - I have a car, but I don’t like driving. I bought it for a house move and the only time it has been out of the village in eighteen months was a quick spin before it went in for its MoT. I hope to sell it before the next MoT.

 

[Eyersey468]

We tend to use Aldi, Iceland and Asda, occasionally Tesco or Morrisons, though I agree Morrisons are expensive these days. Very occasionally we will go into Sainsbury or M&S

 

[yorksrob]

M&S used to do a decent range of ales in cans and bottles at their stations.

Then it was just the bottles - not ideal, but useful if in a spot.

Now the only decent beers they do are in iddy-biddy coke cans priced a £2.20 a pop.

Bunch of con artists.

 

[maniacmartin]

A few recent unrelated supermarket experiences from me.

I was in Aldi recently and they have changed their self-service tills to fix one of my longstanding bugbears. You can now tell the checkout that your bakery paper bag contains multiple different types of item. e.g. 1 Pretzel and 2 Apple turnovers, and then place them all on the scales a once. I wish other supermarkets would adopt this. Even better, get rid of the stupid scales altogether, as whenever they alert, a staff member in any supermarket will just override it without checking anyway.

I also learnt of this new idea of scanning your reciept to open the exit gates. It seems more like security theatre to me, given how you could just not scan some items. Unlike railway ticket gates, I'm not aware of any bylaws against using them incorrectly though.

I tried a new online service called Bother recently because they had some discount codes. It only sells things with a long shelf life, so no fresh or frozen produce such as fruit, veg, milk or bread. The product range lends itself to heavy things such as tins and cans, which are all dispatched floating around loose in a box via DPD. I guess you can imagine the state of the tins when they arrived. Since they only sell branded items, its more expensive than a real supermarket too, and since you'd have to place another order to a real supermarket anyway for your fresh stuff, why not just buy everything from a real supermarket at the same time? I sometimes wonder who comes up with these business plans!

 

[JamesT]

As it's advised to shred receipts I'm quite happy to not receive one when doing small visits, especially when at work, because it saves me the hassle of running them through the shredder, which is even more annoying nowadays as shredders don't seem to have an "on" function and receipts often struggle to press the "trigger."

I'm a big fan of the Lidl system where if you use their app, you get your receipt sent to it and there's a checkbox to disable printing paper receipts when using the self-service checkout. So you still have the record of purchases where necessary but not bits of paper cluttering the place up.
In principle I think that should be possible for any store using a loyalty card, they've almost certainly got your email address so could send the receipt to there.

 

[Hadders]

I was in Aldi recently and they have changed their self-service tills to fix one of my longstanding bugbears. You can now tell the checkout that your bakery paper bag contains multiple different types of item. e.g. 1 Pretzel and 2 Apple turnovers, and then place them all on the scales a once. I wish other supermarkets would adopt this.

That's interesting. I do find it frustrating when I buy different products and out them in the same bag.

Even better, get rid of the stupid scales altogether, as whenever they alert, a staff member in any supermarket will just override it without checking anyway.

Industry research has shown that shrinkage in stores that don't have weigh scales on their self checkouts is higher than those that do. Staff shouln'd be just clearing the error but trying to understand what has caused it.

I also learnt of this new idea of scanning your reciept to open the exit gates. It seems more like security theatre to me, given how you could just not scan some items.

On its own it isn't going to solve shrinkage that happens at self checkouts but it's part of a range of deterrents.

I tried a new online service called Bother recently

Sounds a right load of bother!

 

[Cloud Strife]

I also learnt of this new idea of scanning your reciept to open the exit gates. It seems more like security theatre to me

They've been in Poland for a while now, and it's hard to see what the purpose is.

 

[maniacmartin]

Staff shouln'd be just clearing the error but trying to understand what has caused it.

There aren't enough staff for them to have time to do that! They're all already rushed off their feet manning a dozen self-service machines. In the case of my local Co-op, one of the staffed checkouts has an additional screen where they can approve things at the self-checkouts such as proof of age without getting out of their seat, so they can continue to scan items for the customer at the staffed checkout at the same time.

I'm a big fan of the Lidl system where if you use their app, [...]

Every time I've tried to use their app, its given me a random error, so I gave up and deleted it. I'm amazed you got it to even login.

 

[RuddA]

Every time I've tried to use their app, its given me a random error, so I gave up and deleted it. I'm amazed you got it to even login.

I've never had a problem with their app. Some of the vouchers can be good, including the post 7pm bakery discounts.
I once bought frozen prawns and didn't open them for a few months. When I did I found a bit of plastic inside. The receipt was in the app. Quick email sent with photo of product and screenshot of the receipt; an apology and £10 voucher was soon received in the post.

 

[Bletchleyite]

They've been in Poland for a while now, and it's hard to see what the purpose is.

Like ticket gates staffed by security guards who can't do much if you say you have no ticket, it's to deter casual theft.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I may have grumbled about this before, but it still annoys me so I'll do it again:

Several supermarkets have decided to replace the sensibly sized small baskets they used to have with those ridiculous and awkward wheeled baskets with long handles that you're supposed to drag behind you. Lidl seem to be the main offenders in this particular crime against humanity, but several others seem to be following their example. I for one will never ever use these poorly-designed monstrosities, as they're far too tall and narrow meaning it's hard to prevent heavier items such as large bottles from falling over as you move and squashing your bread. They also (much like wheeled suitcases) present a trip hazard. I'm not sure what is driving this move to these daft contraptions, but I'm surprised there hasn't been more of an uproar about it.

 

[Hadders]

They've been in Poland for a while now, and it's hard to see what the purpose is.

I first saw them at an ELeclerc hypermarket in Toulouse about 10 years ago.

They are one of several things used as a deterrent. Like ticket barriers on the railway they will deter some but not all.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

I may have grumbled about this before, but it still annoys me so I'll do it again:

Several supermarkets have decided to replace the sensibly sized small baskets they used to have with those ridiculous and awkward wheeled baskets with long handles that you're supposed to drag behind you. Lidl seem to be the main offenders in this particular crime against humanity, but several others seem to be following their example. I for one will never ever use these poorly-designed monstrosities, as they're far too tall and narrow meaning it's hard to prevent heavier items such as large bottles from falling over as you move and squashing your bread. They also (much like wheeled suitcases) present a trip hazard. I'm not sure what is driving this move to these daft contraptions, but I'm surprised there hasn't been more of an uproar about it.

Some of them have normal carry handles as well as the extending handle (B & Q have them).

Much more bulkier though.

Call me a traditionalist / nostalgist but I have spent my life using the wire framed baskets with coloured plastic on the handles.

 

[Gloster]

I may have grumbled about this before, but it still annoys me so I'll do it again:

Several supermarkets have decided to replace the sensibly sized small baskets they used to have with those ridiculous and awkward wheeled baskets with long handles that you're supposed to drag behind you. Lidl seem to be the main offenders in this particular crime against humanity, but several others seem to be following their example. I for one will never ever use these poorly-designed monstrosities, as they're far too tall and narrow meaning it's hard to prevent heavier items such as large bottles from falling over as you move and squashing your bread. They also (much like wheeled suitcases) present a trip hazard. I'm not sure what is driving this move to these daft contraptions, but I'm surprised there hasn't been more of an uproar about it.

They are larger (deeper) and further away from you (ankle level rather than on your arm). It is therefore easier for all but the most disciplined shopper to put in more than intended. They then rely on people’s natural inertia to go ahead and pay for everything at the till, even if they didn’t really mean to buy it all.

 

[route101]

Had that happen once at a local Co-op. No hand baskets to be seen anywhere. Staff were convinced that I was shoplifting, but couldn't work out why I was specifically targeting only those items that were on special offer, rather than high value stuff.

I do that all the time as I forget to pick up a basket from the front. I have had no hassle/

 

[londonbridge]

Just let him see inside the bag.

Why should he when he hasn’t bought anything from the store and has done nothing wrong?

I had a similar experience yesterday. I’d done some shopping in Sainsburys and started walking home when I was suddenly caught with an urge for the toilet. I was approaching the Morrisons, as you go in the customer toilets are to your left, past the security station and about ten yards up the aisle, you are still behind the checkout area. I went in, used the toilet and came back out, as I left the alarm beeped (it didn’t beep when I went in). I carried on walking and was over halfway across the car park towards the pavement when I heard “yo” and saw the security guard approaching. When he caught up he said “you beeped man”. I said I hadn’t bought anything and had only used the toilet, to which he replied “listen, when you beep you need to stop”. I said “why do I need to stop when I haven’t bought anything”? and repeated that I had only used the toilet. He then said let me see your bag. I told him no, by this point I was at the exit, I stepped onto the pavement, told him to go back inside and check the cameras, and carried on walking, at which point he gave up. The point being that it would be clear from the cameras exactly what I had done, that I had not entered the main shopping area, and that I had not made any purchases or removed anything from the store.

 

[Bald Rick]

Why should he when he hasn’t bought anything from the store and has done nothing wrong?

Why shouldn’t he? Take 3 seconds, Easier for everyone, and proves innocence.

 

[D6130]

Why shouldn’t he? Take 3 seconds, Easier for everyone, and proves innocence.

Innocent until proved guilty?

 

[Bald Rick]

Innocent until proved guilty?

In a court of law, yes. But outside Tescos, it’s rather quicker and easier to prove innocence, no?

 

[Baxenden Bank]

In a court of law, yes. But outside Tescos, it’s rather quicker and easier to prove innocence, no?

And just as quick and easy to let the innocent shopper continue on their way without hindrance. If the staff member is so sure of their suspicions, they can always formally detain the customer, but I guess they don't want the paperwork or compo bill which may follow!

 

[Bald Rick]

And just as quick and easy to let the innocent shopper continue on their way without hindrance. If the staff member is so sure of their suspicions, they can always formally detain the customer, but I guess they don't want the paperwork or compo bill which may follow!

Why would there be compensation?

I just don’t get this attitude. If a store security officer thought I had been shoplifting, he or she is only doing their job. I would want to very quickly prove that I hadn’t, and be on my way. It’s called being reasonable.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Why would there be compensation?

I just don’t get this attitude. If a store security officer thought I had been shoplifting, he or she is only doing their job. I would want to very quickly prove that I hadn’t, and be on my way. It’s called being reasonable.

Well they aren't doing their job because they should have reasonable grounds for suspicion before making any allegations. You will see from the examples people have given that the shop staff have been very careful not to make any specific allegations. 'Can I just have a quick look in your bag please?' is, in essence, a fishing expedition. The police aren't allowed to do that and neither is anyone else. A good old fashioned 'store detective' would be watching the perpetrator and gathering their evidence (ie putting items under the pram cushion and walking out without paying for said item) before approaching the suspect.

Walking into, through, then out of a store is not suspicious activity. People do it all the time for any number of reasons, perhaps because the shop didn't have in stock what the customer was looking for, or they wanted to compare prices.

As for compo, I was thinking along the lines of 'unlawful arrest', 'false imprisonment (detention)' and even 'malicious prosecution' if it went that far. But I will leave it to the retail / legal experts to state exactly where the thresholds lay and what may or may not constitute 'reasonable suspicion' etc.