Supermarket self checkout scam to be aware of

I saw that today in Sainsbury - the couple next to me scanned their scanner and the bill came to £81. They had actually spent about £30.

Aren't they disgusting, some people.

I suppose this is why places like Sainsbury are making you scan your receipt on the way out.

The security alarm activated as I was leaving Tesco yesterday and I immediately stopped in the doorway. The security guard stepped forward and asked for my receipt. As I handed it to him I said it’s just a few items of food, I don’t have any clothing with security tags on. But it was actually the small joint of roasting beef, it had a security sticker on it which the checkout girl hadn’t deactivated.

I always take my receipt and check it for errors. But I’m frequently asked on payment “do you want your receipt? I’d have been mortified yesterday if I hadn’t taken my receipt and then stopped by security on the way out. I’m sure they’d have found a way to check I’d paid for the beef but it would have involved me returning to the checkout with a security guard under the suspicious gaze of other customers 😳

Thanks for this issue being raised I do check my receipt but usually walking out the store so things can be missed.

On a number of occasions I have gone to the self checkout and not been able to scan because the previous customer has not paid for goods.
I don’t see how this can happen.

That's happened to us in Asda twice with sirloin steak. Luckily I had our receipt in my hand. I try to remember to watch for the cashier deactivating the tag now.

Me neither Sago. The screen always says thank you for shopping at XX, or similar, before you start the self check out, so surely the previous customer’s items would still be showing on the screen?

Must admit always getting a receipt in supermarkets, anywhere in fact. Shame some awful people around.

We don't have self checkouts here in Germany. Not where I live, anyway. After reading some threads on here a while back, saying that people had had things on their receipt which they did not pay for, I always park my trolley somewhere out of the way and go through the till slip. Once the cashier had by mistake charged me for 12(!) face creams where I had only bought one! As I was still in the shop with my full trolley I could get that refunded at the Information desk.

If a customer doesn't pay and leaves with the goods doesn't the following warn/prevent you using the til?
1. The 'Welcome' page won't display on the screen
2. If you do scan an item and put it in the packing area the screen will say "unaccounted item in the baggage area" and you can't scan anything else.

Have to say I avoid self service checking, even if there is a queue.
Happy to report our local Poundland have reverted to only cashiers again. Result!

I will make sure I don't start scanning until I see the welcome screen. I can see how people would fall victim to this scam if they were in a hurry or had something else on their mind.

So many scams. I was charged for something in M&S food store a few months ago. I checked my online receipt for some reason and didn’t recognize an item so called to ask what it was. Turns out it was a length of ribbon!?! Was advised to go back for refund. When collecting my refund I was told that the Sparks loyalty card may have triggered something as there are no ribbons in that store. I now always ask for paper receipt at the till and check before leaving the store.

Two weeks ago went to Birmingham Bullring with a friend for day out and. Christmas shopping. Had lunch at a place called Bill’s which is part of a chain. Bill came to £31.16 for two. My friend gave me cash and I paid the bill with my card. Didn’t want receipt. Noticed when checking bank statement I’d been charged £34.16. Another £3 had been added on. This wasn’t service charge or extra. The bill was £31. We also left a £4 tip!

Moral of the story? Always ask for a receipt and always double check what’s inputted into those card machines.

Grannynannywanny, similar happened to me - a small pack of steak with a tag on the back, which I hadn’t noticed. I used a self-checkout and didn’t take my receipt - never again!! Was stopped at the door and taken back - flanked by security guards! - to the self checkout, where they went through the bin to find my receipt - thank goodness it was there!
Horrible experience , though!

And I do think there should be an automatic alert for anything with a security tag that all too often you just don’t notice.

Nowadays I always take my receipt, even if it’s for just one small item.

Sometimes, in the effort to keep long queues down, retail staff forget to deactivate the security tags or just don’t see them - especially if they are new to the job.

Also a customer may pay with a card and assume it has all gone through, and walk away into a crowded shop without a receipt so won’t be aware that the items are still on the till and won’t be cleared without the supervisors intervention.

So if the next customer (also in a rush) doesn’t check for a blank page or the assistant is busy scanning the next items and doesn’t check, then the previous unpaid items can be added.

It is sometimes a genuine mistake rather than a scam.

Annoying for the customer but can be rectified easily. Always take the receipt and keep an eye on what is going through so that it tallies with what you are putting in your bags.

I refuse to use self checkout I hate them. They also mean there are less jobs available for real people

I always ask for a receipt, as there have, in the past been errors that can be corrected.
At our Tesco store, quite often the receipts are illegible.
An assistant can print off another receipt, from another machine? using your club card, but it is a nuisance that could be avoided I'm sure.

Our local Aldi had done away with the majority of its self checkouts as thefts were so high. Back to traditional tills. At Sainsbury’s you have to scan your receipt to get out .

How embarrassing Witzend!
There would be no risk of missing the security protection on the steaks in the Asda store I was in recently. At first I couldn’t figure out what the woman in front of me was buying when she placed 4 almost shoe box size transparent containers on the conveyor belt. Then the the assistant unlocked and removed a sirloin steak from each one !

I can’t see how this can happen.
I have to scan my “gun” to download my list and total shopping and it would not start if there was already shopping on it.

thanks eGJ, that's a new one to me, I regularly use the self checkout at Sainsbury's.

On a different tack I recently tried to return a top to M&S with the receipt for several items. Turned out the top wasn’t on the receipt! I know it was the right one as remembered buying it with other things. The ladies were puzzled and couldn’t accept it back as a return and advised I give it to a charity. But I felt very embarrassed in case they thought I was trying to scam them!

Thanks for posting this