Fuming shoppers say they feel like criminals as they are ‘herded like cattle’ through Tesco’s new giant trolley scales aimed at clamping down on shoplifters.
The British Retail Consortium says theft from stores is ‘out of control’ costing shops £2billion a year and Tesco is now taking a new approach to fight back.
But their new initiative has gone down badly in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, in the first UK store where the scales are being trialled.
One shopper emerged close to tears after the weight of her trolley did not match her self-scan receipt and she suffered the ‘humiliation’ of having her bags re-scanned.
She told MailOnline: ‘I felt like a criminal. It was completely humiliating and I won’t be using that service again.’
Tesco Clubcard members have the option of using the store’s ‘Scan As You Shop’ option, scanning though each item that goes in their trolley and paying for it at the end.
The method had relied largely on trust – until the weighing scales were moved into the Tesco Extra at Trinity Square, close to the Tyne Bridge.
Now ‘Scan As You Shop’ customers are directed through the scales and they can be pulled to one side if there is any discrepancy between the weight and what is on their self-scan receipt.
New ‘anti-shoplifter’ trolley scales are being trialled at a Tesco in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
Customers have complained the new additions are making them ‘feel like criminals’
There is then a short ‘walk of shame’ over to an area where bags are unpacked and re-scanned until rogue items are discovered.
In the case of Sara Graham, 42, a mother from Gateshead, the discrepancy was caused by a spare shopping bag she had brought along and had not used.
She said: ‘It was awful actually and it massively held me up. I had done my shopping and was going over towards the Scan As You Shop payment point as I would usually do and I didn’t want to go over the weighing scale.
‘But it turns out that it’s compulsory – the assistant told me I had to go through them, so shoppers get herded through like cattle.
‘I knew I’d scanned everything as I was supposed to but when I put the trolley on the scales it signalled there was a problem.
‘So I got taken over to an unpacking area by two assistants who unpacked my bag and rescanned everything.
‘It felt horrible actually, you do feel as though you’ve done something wrong and as though people are watching you.
‘After they’d gone through all my shopping again they couldn’t find anything extra in my trolley that wasn’t on my scanned items.
The trial comes as stores attempt to crack down on shoplifting – with the British Retail Consortium saying that theft is ‘out of control’ and costing shops £2billion a year
‘So the only conclusion they could come to was that it must have been the weight of my spare shopping bag which had triggered the scales.
‘It would have been quicker to have just gone through the tills and this would put me off using the Scan As You Shop service again – I think people will find it really offputting.
‘I wanted to go through quickly because I’m in a hurry to pick up my daughter and this has ended up taking far longer than it should have.’
Another shopper emerged from a similar experience and appeared on the brink of tears.
The customer, who felt too shaken to be named, said: ‘I felt like a criminal, it was a humiliating experience to be pulled over to the side as if I had been caught shoplifting.
‘They went through my bags and scanned everything and pointed out a piece of cheese that hadn’t been scanned.
‘I know that I scanned it – I would never put anything in my trolley that hadn’t been scanned but for some reason it failed to register and was identified on the scale as an extra item.
‘I’m hardly going to give myself a criminal record after all these years for the sake of a piece of cheese.
The new weighing scales have been introduced at the Tesco Extra at Trinity Square, close to the Tyne Bridge
‘It was a horrible process and the upshot of it is that I will think twice before using Scan As You Shop again, – people will just turn their back on that service.
‘With the best will in the world, sometimes you make an error but Tesco have decided to punish mistakes or technical problems with their own equipment by treating shoppers like criminals.’
Dionna Simpkin, 55, of Gateshead, said: ‘I got through the scales no problem this time but last week it was stopping people for what seemed like no good reason.
‘The Tesco staff seemed to accept there were some teething problems with it, but it slowed down the shopping trip for a lot of people.’
For Pauline Phillips, 76, of Consett, County Durham, it reinforced her decision to do what she called ‘an old-fashioned shop’.
She said: ‘I don’t use Scan As You Shop because I’m of the age where you think, “I’ve used a till and paid in cash for all my life, what’s the point in changing now?”
‘So I don’t complicate things and use all the new technology because I think it can go wrong and it looks as though that’s happening here.
‘People were getting pulled to one side while the rest of us just went through the tills without any problems.
‘I can understand Tesco wanting to stop shoplifters but if they are going to do it these scales won’t stop them. It’s a shame because it’s treating everybody the same and most people wouldn’t dream of pinching from the supermarket.’
Lorraine McNally, of Gateshead, said: ‘I think it’s terrible, it has completely removed the trust from shopping in Tesco.
‘Everybody who cans their own shopping gets herded through these things and it looks as though people are getting pulled for no reason.
Customers have told how some Tesco staff have acknowledged ‘teething problems’
‘I won’t use that service if that’s the way they want to treat their customers and I’ll bet a lot of people will go the same same way.’
Irene Hall, 82, and husband Terence, 84, viewed the three trolley scales near the checkouts with suspicion.
Irene said: ‘I think it’s terrible that Tesco feels that ordinary shoppers just out getting their weekely groceries can’t be trusted.
‘What a horrible business it is to be questioned over your shopping when most people wouldn’t dream of putting an extra thing in their shopping trolley.
‘It’s easier for us to use a packing service because of our age and the assistant are absolutely smashing in this shop.
‘But I think Tesco have got it wrong in forcing people to walk through the weighing scales – it treats everybody like a shoplifter and that’s no way to treat loyal customers week after week.
‘I don’t think Tesco is so short of money it has to resort to things like this.’
Retail analysts say the new move is about saving on staffing costs.
Business retail consultant Ged Futter told the BBC self-scan had increased the rate of shoplifting, but supermarkets were investing in more technology instead of extra staff on tills to combat it
He said: ‘This is supermarkets saying, ‘we know there are thefts so what we are going to do is treat every customer in exactly the same way to reduce theft’.
‘They’re forgetting that trust is the most important thing for all of the retailers and it works both ways.
‘If customers don’t feel trusted or think they’re being treated like thieves they will go somewhere else.’
The British Retail Consortium has said shoplifting is ‘out of control’ after its annual crime survey found incidents of customer theft reported by retailers in the UK rose by 3.7 million to 20.4million, and cost retailers £2billion.
Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics revealed shoplifting offences reported by police in England and Wales rose by 23 per cent to more than 492,000 over the same period, the highest figure since current recording practices began in 2003.
Tesco has not commented directly on the Gateshead trial but the firm has said it was always looking for ways to improve customers’ shopping experience.
MailOnline has contacted the firm for comment.
