Supermarkets discussion

[takno]

The guideline limit is not targeted at those who have a little stash at home (sensibly - in my view - I have some paracetmol, ibuprofen, loperamide and a few other bits and pieces stashed in the bathroom cabinet since you never know when you may need it) - but those who may be in some distress and about to do something foolish. It does not take much effort, if determined, to buy excess - you could go back around and go to a different cashier, or go to another shop down the street - but supposedly the research shows that this inconvenience is sufficient to put people off.

To be honest it's one of those things where the main annoyance for me is that I have to go to the big shop to buy them. My local Tesco Express and chemist only sell branded stuff, and the price difference is wild.

 

[Cloud Strife]

It’s a clumsy piece of law. The legal limit is 16 tablets in a pack unless sold under the guidance of a pharmacist, and 100 tablets per purchase. However best practice as per the MHRA is two packets maximum per purchase and to avoid multi-buys as it may encourage stockpiling

I was once sold a lot more than this at Boots, but I explained to the pharmacist what the issue was: OTC medicine in Poland is weak and hideously expensive compared to the UK, while even prescribed painkillers can be weaker and less effective. I showed her the prices and compositions, she was surprised and called over a Polish assistant working there. She asked if it was true, the assistant nodded and said that she was always stockpiling medicine to take over for her family, and so she let me buy a lot more than what most people would get.

I was buying different things though, so it wasn't a case of trying to buy 2000 paracetamol.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Do the current TV adverts for Tesco wish to show the type of medically challenged customers who use the manned checkout sections rather than the self-serve ones, as all the people that I have seen using the Waitrose manned checkouts do not seem to have the need to burst out with short musical phrases when asked by the checkout operator? Does anyone know what the medical term is called for those afflicted Tesco customers?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Does anyone know what the medical term is called for those afflicted Tesco customers?

Are they really Tesco customers or just paid actors, hamming it up, and straight out of drama school?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Are they really Tesco customers or just paid actors, hamming it up, and straight out of drama school?

The last advert I saw had a man and a woman who looked over 75 years of age, so they must have been "slow learners" who had only just come out of drama school...

 

[takno]

Personally I use the Tesco manned checkouts because I want to pay with cash and they are, uniquely in the area, too pathetic to provide a self-checkout that takes cash. I also don't watch TV. Am I to take it that they have made adverts which needlessly slander me in some way?

 

[skyhigh]

Do the current TV adverts for Tesco wish to show the type of medically challenged customers who use the manned checkout sections rather than the self-serve ones, as all the people that I have seen using the Waitrose manned checkouts do not seem to have the need to burst out with short musical phrases when asked by the checkout operator? Does anyone know what the medical term is called for those afflicted Tesco customers?

It's an "advert", not a "documentary".

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

It's an "advert", not a "documentary".

Tesco seem not at all bothered how stupid they portray their customers in these adverts...

Two of my neighbours are widowed ladies in their 70s, one is a former headmistress and the other is a former civil servant and this matter came up in a conversation in the last week and both are very annoyed that an elderly woman is portrayed in the way shown as in the advert. I have made mention of their feelings over this matter.

 

[Non Multi]

Ads these days feature heavily the sort of customers the advertiser wishes to attract. I'll leave it at that.

 

[Busaholic]

Personally I use the Tesco manned checkouts because I want to pay with cash and they are, uniquely in the area, too pathetic to provide a self-checkout that takes cash. I also don't watch TV. Am I to take it that they have made adverts which needlessly slander me in some way?

My local Tesco had five card only and two cash/card self-checkouts, but in last couple of weeks has changed a card one to take cash as well. Conversely, at the same time RBS took away one of the two cash dispensers in the car park.

 

[jon81uk]

Personally I use the Tesco manned checkouts because I want to pay with cash and they are, uniquely in the area, too pathetic to provide a self-checkout that takes cash.

Central London and its not unique at all, the co-op just removed all the self-checkouts and replaced them with new card-only machines.

 

[Lewisham2221]

Central London and its not unique at all, the co-op just removed all the self-checkouts and replaced them with new card-only machines.

Obviously far easier for the cash office to process a handful of till cash drawers than to faff about emptying a bank of self service machines and ensuring they are topped up with the correct change float as well. Much less maintenance required with the card-only versions too, without the mechanical cash acceptance parts. Also, I imagine the vast majority of cash transactions were going through the manned tills anyway, as the people using cash a probably more likely to reject the self service machines anyway.

 

[Peter Sarf]

My local Morrisons now has only six manned checkouts since early August. Not that I ever saw more than six in use before when there were about sixteen !. The self checkout area has got a lot larger. But the two self checkouts for trolley users have gone !. So it looks like supermarkets are catering for self checkout customers who buy less on each visit !.

 

[jon81uk]

My local Morrisons now has only six manned checkouts since early August. Not that I ever saw more than six in use before when there were about sixteen !. The self checkout area has got a lot larger. But the two self checkouts for trolley users have gone !. So it looks like supermarkets are catering for self checkout customers who buy less on each visit !.

My local Sainsbury's did a similar thing, only 5-6 staffed checkouts left now with at least 8 basket self-checkout, at least 6 larger trolley self-checkout (no conveyor but room to pack) and 4 exclusively for scan-as-you-go.
We walked to the store so only had two bag fulls of stuff, but still used scan-as-you-go so can pack straight into bags, there was four staffed checkouts open all with a queue but we walked straight to the self-checkout with our handheld scanner and paid instantly.

 

[takno]

Obviously far easier for the cash office to process a handful of till cash drawers than to faff about emptying a bank of self service machines and ensuring they are topped up with the correct change float as well. Much less maintenance required with the card-only versions too, without the mechanical cash acceptance parts. Also, I imagine the vast majority of cash transactions were going through the manned tills anyway, as the people using cash a probably more likely to reject the self service machines anyway.

I don't think Tesco are seriously testing whether the majority of cash users would "reject the self service machines", since I haven't seen an Express with a self-service machine that accepts cash since the pandemic.

Moreover it's an assumption which rather sneeringly combines cash with technophobes in a way that isn't supported by wider research.

 

[Lewisham2221]

I don't think Tesco are seriously testing whether the majority of cash users would "reject the self service machines", since I haven't seen an Express with a self-service machine that accepts cash since the pandemic.

Moreover it's an assumption which rather sneeringly combines cash with technophobes in a way that isn't supported by wider research.

I don't think they're "seriously testing" it either. They will know how many cash transactions use self service. They will know how many cash transactions use manned checkouts. They will know if the effort and cost of maintaining the cash functionality of the self service systems is worthwhile, or if they think the manned checkouts can adequately cope with demand. As you are still using their stores, paying with cash at a manned checkout, their calculation appears to be correct.

 

[takno]

I don't think they're "seriously testing" it either. They will know how many cash transactions use self service. They will know how many cash transactions use manned checkouts. They will know if the effort and cost of maintaining the cash functionality of the self service systems is worthwhile, or if they think the manned checkouts can adequately cope with demand. As you are still using their stores, paying with cash at a manned checkout, their calculation appears to be correct.

I mean I am still using their stores, but I'm using them less, and I'm using significant staff time at the tills. Added to which I'm occupying the tills and getting in the way of people making high-value purchases of spirits and cigarettes.

In any case, my intention is to moan about how Tesco are irritating me to the point of losing my business, which they are. I don't for a second imagine that they're reading this thread for tips, or that some other reader is going to launch a rival supermarket that better caters to my needs.

 

[Trackman]

I mean I am still using their stores, but I'm using them less, and I'm using significant staff time at the tills. Added to which I'm occupying the tills and getting in the way of people making high-value purchases of spirits and cigarettes.

In any case, my intention is to moan about how Tesco are irritating me to the point of losing my business, which they are. I don't for a second imagine that they're reading this thread for tips, or that some other reader is going to launch a rival supermarket that better caters to my needs.

You'd be surprised who read these forms.
What's your irritation with Tesco? (I do not work for them!!)

 

[Bald Rick]

I used Tesco today, like most days. Used the card only tills today, like all occasions for the past 5-6 years. Process took 20 seconds. Perfect.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I used Tesco today, like most days. Used the card only tills today, like all occasions for the past 5-6 years. Process took 20 seconds. Perfect.

Did that absolve you from letting everyone near you know that "You had the power".....

 

[takno]

I used Tesco today, like most days. Used the card only tills today, like all occasions for the past 5-6 years. Process took 20 seconds. Perfect.

They sell dozens of kinds of pasta, and let you pay for them through any of the tills. Taking two forms of payment without making people queue up behind the suckers getting their lottery fix wouldn't kill them

 

[Bald Rick]

They sell dozens of kinds of pasta, and let you pay for them through any of the tills. Taking two forms of payment without making people queue up behind the suckers getting their lottery fix wouldn't kill them

No, but it would make it more expensive for them, and ultimately me and you. And also slower for us phone users whilst we wait for people in from to dig out the right cash and get it accepted and get any change.

I know we have done the card v cash thing elsewhere on the forum, but I am now genuinely startled when I see someone pay by cash in the supermarket. It’s just so rare.

 

[Peter Sarf]

No, but it would make it more expensive for them, and ultimately me and you. And also slower for us phone users whilst we wait for people in from to dig out the right cash and get it accepted and get any change.

I know we have done the card v cash thing elsewhere on the forum, but I am now genuinely startled when I see someone pay by cash in the supermarket. It’s just so rare.

What scares me is our total dependence on plastic. A friend of mine has got caught out twice with network/computer failures. I try to keep a decent amount of cash for emergencies - but it is getting tricky if no one takes cash !.

 

[rangersac]

Even if cash is accepted the problem is when the networked tills go down, no payment of any sort can be accepted. My main issue with the move to a cashless society is the inevitable creep of card surcharges that get introduced. I live in Australia now which is further down the cashless road than the UK. Two years ago the addition of card surcharges by retailers was definitely unusual. Now the vast majority of retailers apply a card surcharge, and many business owners are encouraging people to pay by cash to avoid them.

 

[Russel]

My local Morrisons now has only six manned checkouts since early August. Not that I ever saw more than six in use before when there were about sixteen !. The self checkout area has got a lot larger. But the two self checkouts for trolley users have gone !. So it looks like supermarkets are catering for self checkout customers who buy less on each visit !.

My local Morrisons and Tesco both have plenty of staffed checkouts that are never used as they only have a couple open, I'd rather they rip the majority out as they aren't used anyway and replace with another bank of self checkouts for those of us who aren't afraid of technology.

 

[High Dyke]

My local M&S has just removed two staffed checkouts to install self-serve trolley tills. The downside of this is that the self-serve basket only tills (3 out of 4) are now card only. One remains as cash & card. I believe the new trolley tills are also cash & card friendly. The store manager seemed unimpressed when I asked how many staff had been made redundant.

The Aldi store has also just gone over to having some self-serve tills.

 

[DelW]

My local Morrisons and Tesco both have plenty of staffed checkouts that are never used as they only have a couple open, I'd rather they rip the majority out as they aren't used anyway and replace with another bank of self checkouts for those of us who aren't afraid of technology.

I don't think it's fair or correct to label those of us who prefer staffed checkouts as being "afraid of technology", in fact it's verging on insulting.

I use staffed checkouts (a) because I buy loose produce (to avoid unnecessary plastic wrapping) and the checkout operators can weigh it, and crucially, find the right category on their screen, much faster than I can; and (b) because I often have a pleasant but quite unplanned conversation with the operator, or with the customer in front of or behind me. As a retired person living alone, that's a worthwhile benefit to me. Why should I be considered "afraid" because I prefer that?

 

[Russel]

I don't think it's fair or correct to label those of us who prefer staffed checkouts as being "afraid of technology", in fact it's verging on insulting.

I use staffed checkouts (a) because I buy loose produce (to avoid unnecessary plastic wrapping) and the checkout operators can weigh it, and crucially, find the right category on their screen, much faster than I can; and (b) because I often have a pleasant but quite unplanned conversation with the operator, or with the customer in front of or behind me. As a retired person living alone, that's a worthwhile benefit to me. Why should I be considered "afraid" because I prefer that?

You can purchase loose produce through a self checkout, I do it nearly every time I do a food shop.

Regarding your second point, I get that and think there should always be a couple of manned tills, but these days the priority should rightly be self checkouts, those of us who work full time and have busy family lives want to be in and out of a supermarket as quickly as possible.

I find there is more room for error with manned checkouts too, at least with self checkouts I can keep an eye on what is happening, I can't accidently scan something twice and I know I'm scanning the right barcode if something has a yellow reduced sticker on, both of which I've had to point out when I've used a manned checkout recently.

 

[rangersac]

You can purchase loose produce through a self checkout, I do it nearly every time I do a food shop.

Regarding your second point, I get that and think there should always be a couple of manned tills, but these days the priority should rightly be self checkouts, those of us who work full time and have busy family lives want to be in and out of a supermarket as quickly as possible.

I find there is more room for error with manned checkouts too, at least with self checkouts I can keep an eye on what is happening, I can't accidently scan something twice and I know I'm scanning the right barcode if something has a yellow reduced sticker on, both of which I've had to point out when I've used a manned checkout recently.

I find that as long as you aren't waiting in a queue, manned checkouts are far faster to get through than the self serve ones because you don't have to wait for the system to register the weight of what you have just scanned before you can move onto the next item. Fortunately given where I live I have very little need to shop at major supermarkets, but when I do I frequently get irritated by how slow the self service procedure is.

 

[Blindtraveler]

My parents live in a small town in South West Scotland and the local co-op is about to go through a remodel, something that they consulted customers about when planning said remodel was. Were they interested in self-scan the town has plenty of younger shoppers, secondary school, kids and young and middle-aged parents and families in the main, but also has a large population of older people, big retirement area, especially from the stock, broker belt etc. And co-op management couldn't make up their mind if self-scan was something worth incorporating or not. So they kicked the can back to local management, the loud and clear answer from all customers was absolutely not