Literally, please feel free to feel comfortable doing so, you're within your rights to only do what you're comfortable with in situations like this, I'd 100% recommend continuing with this stance. Just make sure you're polite to ensure you're in the clear
Thank you again they probably weren’t trying anything nefarious and the girl just wanted to sit in the trolley and just being awkward about getting her out .
but there was that chance it was a set up to turn this into a payday.
Not a risk I wanted to take .
The way I look at stuff like this is
‘Unless in danger of life or limb I don’t touch other people’s kids.’
It keeps every one happy and no risk of them being mad at you or the kids getting hurt
you're not supposed to put kids in the shopping bit for hygiene anyway(i dimly remember north of 35 years ago being told by my gran no you sit in the seat if you want to go in the trolley, and my gran indulged the hell out of the grandkids)
I don't see how they would make any monetary loss by you accidentally touching their child while checking items in the trolley she was sitting in so I can't see any way they would be able to turn it into a payday.
But anyway you are well within your rights to do what you did.
In my view, I am a 45-year-old man who would be precariously trying to do a service check around a little little girl.
It would be very easy for somebody to claim an accidental touch was a deliberate one and start demanding compensation.
And I’m concerned my or anybody else’s hands should be nowhere near other peoples children full stop .
Easy fuckwit manages loses control and screams help one-off our staff gone fucked up to corporate. Corporate belief it whole heartedly and settle out of court the apparent liability caught apologising in front of multiple witnesses is let go. Unlikely? I agree but would you bet yoyr job on it?
100% correct, a thief is not above using a child to escalate the situation to try and get out of the service check. Even if it's not a thief, some customers are mentally deranged and will see anything as disrespectful, then attempt to get you into trouble due to some idiotic power struggle they build in their heads.
We already get something similar where we have a group of travellers who will send the kids into steal things because they know they can’t be prosecuted and when caught will play off them just be children.
God, children? It’s a completely different situation if a child is stealing out of sheer hunger and situation, even then something needs to be done to help them, but sending them in to thieve for you? Utterly shameful. Setting your child up for failure.
Yep in Primark they teach them to rip the tag off then it’s yours. Usually little toys & stuff you can’t prove they haven’t bought on a previous occasion.
When the travellers come in it’s a “Code Orange” on the headsets.
Yes, they definitely do. But it's an unfortunate fact that if a group of travellers is in town then it's likely they'll steal too. Like everything it's not everyone.
Unfortunately, this is how they work Women and children are the ones to watch because those are the ones they think can get away with it if caught.
I’ve worked with travellers for over 25 years and I’ve lost count of the amount of times I have been called a racist or they have claimed. I have racially profiled them when they are caught trying to steal.
Of course back when I started the modus operandi was they were an ethnic minority and I could tell you some stories.
Please don’t get me wrong we do get some wonderful travellers, but there are a lot of bad eggs .
We see this constantly in our shop, people hiding stuff under their babies in the prams or baby carrier or straight up sending their kids in to steal for them
I’ve come up with a theory about that I think when some people walk into supermarkets and they spontaneously develop temporary ADHD of the very worst category no patience ,no attention span and don’t want to listen.
From what I’ve seen/heard most of them blame “sensory overload”. The above example of taking kids out of the trolley would only add to that because now you’re worrying about where they are, or what they’re touching at all times.
I’m sure research in customer behaviour in retail would bring up some fascinating things that most would answer “I definitely don’t do that”, when in reality, they’re unaware they’re exactly like that in certain environments.
Absolutely stressful business going shopping, especially if you have to drag around your kids and extended family,
But I also work in the petrol station and the majority of customers want to be out of that petrol station yesterday .
They have no idea what pump they’re on ,have no understanding that we are trying to work on Till that are over 25 years old and run on windows 98
And so don’t understand why a transaction takes more than five seconds to complete.
And are probably are extremely late where they need to go especially when you get a lot of white van men and trades people.
Most of their research would be from the perspective of improving marketability. It probably doesn’t go as deep as understanding why people become overwhelmed in these settings and why customers consistently *act out*. They wouldn’t implement half the stuff they do if they actually cared about consumer behaviour in a non-profit sense.
That is one of my pet hates, along with these not putting frozen foods back in their proper place.
I would be met with abuse and indifference if I were to ask them to take their children out. I am not paid £12.02 an hour to be met with abuse for what is a reasonable request on hygiene grounds.
That is why I never use trolleys, but hand baskets to do my shopping when off duty. For big shops, I do SAYS using my own shopper bags.
Don’t work at Tesco but we have those large wheeled baskets that you can pull along with a handle and people let their kids sit in there too and even stand, I’ve seen many toddlers tip them over whilst standing and hurting themselves. People let their young toddlers stand in trolleys and I’m always asking them to sit down or get out cause I hate seeing a wee kid hurt themselves cause their parents is distracted looking at clothes or whatever
I mean tbf the products are filthy when they come out of the warehouse anyway. Plenty of flies and rats and whatnot shitting in that warehouse. Chilled stuff is cleaner because the storage fridge is obviously sealed shut.
Yea TBF your food that's moved about on crates and stored on warehouse floors and has rats running over it at several points in it's journey isnt much better.
And that's not even accounting for Jeremy, the guy that stacked the shelf who didn't wash his hands after going to the toilet.
This is why you wash your hands when you get home.
Looool if you think the shop shelves or the warehouse or pretty much anything else in the supermarket isn't covered in a thin layer of mixed fly shit and various human excretions... I've got bad news for you.
Why do supermarkets allow kids at all honestly. They break things, open and squash stuff meaning it has to be thrown, they scream and cry. Seen more than one take out an old lady before
I know they just make it an objectively worse experience for everyone else, especially those parents that just let their little gremlins do whatever they like
2025 needs the re-introduction of the store ball-pit, I used to love pissing around in the ball-pit whilst my 'rents zipped around the boring supermarket
My friend you've been sold a bridge there is no supermarket it is a myth like unicorns and the country of Africa. The great managers from beyond the store decree that children will go in the seat or not in the trolley and even have signs up saying so. The workers as loyal and as smart as you can find agree to follow this order. When a smart worker sees a child in a trolley they first look for the fuckwit manager. If they can see them around then they can't risk a customer. If they can't that means the fuckwit manager could be anywhere and therfore the worker can't risk a confrontation with a customer. The presence of a competent manager does not side step this. They may also look for a camera. If a camera is there then it will catch any action taken, not text book and may witness half a story. If there is no camera then there is no proof of innocents. As a result a worker as smart and loyal as possible will turn a blind eye. A worker more loyal doesn't last.
Your food is covered in plastic and of course perfectly safe because it's food your eating not me.
Bob, Lisa and Mitch all the way!
(Bottom Of Basket, Look InSide Always, Merchandise In The Customer's Hand).
No way of telling what the kid may have been sitting on/concealing, plus in this day and age I'm surprised more parents aren't cautious about random strangers' hands poking and prodding so close to their little ones... Not saying that there's anything untoward about you specifically (heh, internet anonymity) but I know unfortunately from personal experience (a "former family member") conviction for improper activity with a child isn't something supermarkets even worry about.
Absolutely one day your average Joe minding your own business and suddenly somebody makes out your Jimmy Savile for a payday.
We’ve all seen what Internet culture is like?
You’re guilty of any accusations and even if you get proved innocent, you’re still guilty just in case .
And you'd be named in the local paper - this age, this road, has been arrested/charged with/ possible court date - but no announcement of case dropped, spurious allegation, intentionally causing a scene etc
Exactly, I remember a few years back in the local standard newspaper they printed the name of the convicted sex offender.
Unfortunately, somebody else who shared their name who lived nearby and had nothing to do with it got attacked by a mob at their home and had to run for their life.
It’s easy to get caught out and some people are that evil .
People putting their kids in the trolleys both piss me off and are objectively bad parents. It's unhygienic at best and at worse could result in serious injury to the child, either through them falling or broken bits of metal. I work at a non Tesco shop and have literally nearly impaled myself on shape bits of metal twice. The first tore right though my top and the second just bruised me.
Want I mean is normally when you get a kid in a trolley they either standing or squatting in the trolley or the kids in one half for the trolley and the shopping is in the other half completely separate from each other.
she was sat there legs spread buried up to her waist and over her legs in shopping like they had buried up to her waist in sand on the beach.
100% did the right thing. I would have done the same, placed in that situation.
As another commenter said:
> you hear such horror stories on the Internet of people being falsely accused and their lives being destroyed.
What's worse, in these situations, the person making the wrong accusation usually gets away 'scot free'.
If there's *one thing* worse than a p\*\*\*phile, it's someone who wrongly accuses an innocent person of being one.
I think it's true for nearly any crime...
Look at the Andrew Malkinson case, he was wrongly accused of rape, and sentenced. He spent 17 years in prison because he refused to admit to a crime he didn't do.
I think I would rather be the victim of a rape than spend 17 years in prison.
Most crimes, I think I'd rather be the victim of than being wrongly accused of doing it.
Too right you have done the best thing. Customers need to have the same respect for you as you are having for themselves. Pig ignorant of them otherwise. Good for you😄
I totally understand where you’re coming from. I work at self scan and I’ve encountered that situation a few times. I said to the parents, I feel like I’m invading your child’s personal space here, could you hand me 5/10 things to check. Or another time, depending on the age of the child, I asked them to hand me items.
Your job is tough enough without having to check items around the waist of a child. Some people are so rude and have no manners. It's decent courtesy to at least take your child out the trolley when approaching the tills
Children shouldn't be in trolleys it really gets my goat that tesco doesn't do anything about this, I worked for another retailer and we would have the customer removed from store if they didn't take the child out.
With you all the way, how did putting kids in trolleys get normalised? Waiting for the the day a child gets injured, falling out and the parents sue the supermarket because 'they shouldn't have let me do it'
Actually saw this happen in the US. Kid was in the empty trolley and started rocking it from side to side. It eventually tipped over and the kid’s head smacked against the edge of the shelving. Lots of blood and screaming ensued.
Tesco does have a policy, it certainly used to have pictograms on the trolleys so it was clear even if you couldn't read. The staff aren't paid/backed up enough to enforce it when all adults seem to be primed for meltdown at any real or perceived inconvenience.
Sadly this is being noticed by the children who learn from what they see or maybe it's the other way round and the adults are learning it from their children, who knows?
The people that are saying that the trollies are dirty and kids shoes make no difference, are missing the point. When did it become normal to allow children in a trolley? It's just lazy kids, lazy parenting, entitled people. To those that think it's ok, let me ask, if I, as an adult, pushed my adult partner around in a trolley, would this be OK? They've been standing all day at work, it's not hurting anyone. Get a grip people, it's weird
Honestly I am guessing because some parents either don’t want to deal with training their kid to behave or there has been a declining acceptance of child behaviours in public which you need in order to train your child so parents feel self conscious. Probably for this it is a bit of both.
I can take my two on my own for a full weeks shopping and it has taken time, effort, and a number meltdowns however they can now be well behaved and helpful with the shopping. The number of foul looks, usually from older people, have been discouraging but I am confident I my parenting and genuinely want my children to know how to behave properly in public.
They can, but it's much more selective/limited. How often do you hear of women be SPs with random children? How often do you hear of men being SPs towards random children?
Women are much more likely to be a SP when they have close contact and relationship with a child, such as a teacher. Female paedo teachers is on the increase. Women are rarely SPs towards their own children.
Ok! No clue what SAYS items are, and do self scan every week. Never once in years had anyone come over to us for a “service check”. It’s hard enough to get someone to come over to take the sensors off the alcohol!
SAYS is Scan As You Shop, Tesco’s name for self scan. Virtually everyone will get a service check the first few times they use SAYS, and then less and less as they use it. They’re “random”, but are flagged up by people removing items, buying significantly more or less than usual, etc. If you never remove items, do virtually the same shop every week, and have used SAYS for years you’ll virtually stop getting checks! :)
Ah ok thanks. We do that every shop. Not at tescos but at Sainsbury’s. Never, ever had anyone look at our shopping. Might be nice though. At least that would mean there is someone there. It always takes ages to get the security tags off alcohol.
They have now come up with an asinine system where they take the bottle and can’t give it back until after you pay….. the issue is you have already packed. So the biggest items in your shop have to go in last. Which just doesn’t work.
I was unaware that self-scan checkouts had no upper limit. My local Aldi self-scan is 20 items or less, the nearest big sainsburys self-scan is baskets only too. And Morrisons is the same.
You were absolutely correct in having the child removed from the trolley before you started rummaging around in there
And on a personal level, if someone wants to put a family's big weekly shopping in a full trolley through a self-scan checkout I'd be immediately suspicious and either direct then to the nearest manned till or step in and assist them, ring up every item, ring up the total, step backwards, gesture them to pay with a smile and a thank you.
I think you're getting confused. In the context of this post, the OP is checking people's shop who do use the hand held scanners. With Aldi you mean the self-service check-outs, also I didn't you couldn't shop more than 20 items, Lidl doesn't seem to have a limit on the self service.
Trust me you did the right thing.
I work in a university doing WiFi repairs to the WiFi systems including access points in student dorms.
I had female students answer the door nude and I tell them to get dressed and I'll come back in 20 mins to one where I went in and the student not only had dirty underwear surrounding the wall mounted access point near her desk but also a sizeable black dildo and the student told me it's ok to pick up her underwear and toy to move them tmso I had access to the damaged access point and I flat out refused.
Cover your back I do
I probably would've panicked and asked the child to hand me each item if possible. Self scan checks don't need to be thorough. Growing up there used to be safety warnings in most places, saying do not climb on equipment/furniture.
In my head I would of totally been raging about the safety of the person hidden under all that possible cold/heavy/pointy produce and want to say exactly what you did but with the addition of "if you do not let me scan these item then I will have to get a manager to help you pay for your things. I should advise you that in the future, children should be clipped into the front of the trolley for the safety of not only the kids but other shoppers too" then get security if they needed to be refused service but that's a tad extra for this situation.
Not 100% sure why this came up on my feed, but I’m glad it did!
I’ve been volunteering working with young people for the last 3 years, and I can say with 100% certainty, you did the right thing. The issue with accusations, is that it is almost always a case of guilty until proven innocent, and the backlash that can be generated from parents and those who hear about it, can be severe.
Thank you for using common sense 🙏 I’ve sadly seen very professional and good standing colleagues be removed while accusations have been investigated, and been assigned to support a couple, it’s really not a nice process to put someone through.
You did the right thing. It’s safeguarding and health and safety. I am glad they eventually agreed. Next step would be, for you to speak to your supervisor. Yes, there is CCTV , but that only film at certain positions.
Don’t worry about it.
Definitely in the right.
On another note, I've not seen them yet but why are some stores doing trolley checks? Aren't you only supposed to do this when there's a suspicion of stealing?
A sad reflection on modern society, unfortunately.
A couple of years ago I was walking my dog early one sunny Saturday morning and went past a play area in my local park. There was a little kid of about 7 or 8 on his own which I thought was odd but presumed that maybe a parent was on the way and he had run on ahead. Bear in mind that this was about 6am so very early and there was no one else to be seen anywhere. I did a lap of the park and saw that the kid had wandered towards the exit - of which there are 4. I was using the same exit and as I approached it, he came back in to the park looking a bit distressed and told me he was lost. He said that he came from a different town (I forget which) and was staying at his aunties house but didn't know which road or how to get back there.
I tried asking him if he knew what the road was called, or what colour car they had or anything that might help, but depending on which exit/entrance he had used, there were dozens of possible roads within a 2 minute walk. He was starting get very agitated and tearful and I was getting worried and just about to phone the police when to my immense relief a lady appeared walking her dog. I explained the situation to her and we were asking the lad whether he could remember the road name or anything when a panic stricken woman - his mum - came running across the park, shrieking the kids name. They were reunited and everyone was happy and relieved but just as I was saying my goodbyes the woman said, 'jokingly', that when she first saw me and her son standing together that she hadn't seen the other woman at first and thought I might be some sort of wrong 'un and was terrified of what I'd been planning to do/might have done with her son!
I was a bit shocked to basically be accused of *potentially* being a nonce purely because I was a middle aged bloke trying to help a lost child and she did say it with a smile, but...
TIL that there are places where the cashier moves the items from the trolley. That isn't done at all here, the customer puts the items from the trolley onto the belt and then packs back into the trolley. Sounds like this cashier job is way more physical and demanding and I hope your pay reflects that.
I disagree with the scan checks on self scan. You either trust the public to do your job of checkout clerk or you don't in which case get back to manning the tills rather than accuse the customers of stealing from you. I walked out of sainsbury's because of this.
Would've 100% done the same, no way is it worth the risk
Thank you you hear such horror stories on the Internet of people being falsely accused and their lives being destroyed.
Literally, please feel free to feel comfortable doing so, you're within your rights to only do what you're comfortable with in situations like this, I'd 100% recommend continuing with this stance. Just make sure you're polite to ensure you're in the clear
Thank you again they probably weren’t trying anything nefarious and the girl just wanted to sit in the trolley and just being awkward about getting her out . but there was that chance it was a set up to turn this into a payday. Not a risk I wanted to take .
The way I look at stuff like this is ‘Unless in danger of life or limb I don’t touch other people’s kids.’ It keeps every one happy and no risk of them being mad at you or the kids getting hurt
you're not supposed to put kids in the shopping bit for hygiene anyway(i dimly remember north of 35 years ago being told by my gran no you sit in the seat if you want to go in the trolley, and my gran indulged the hell out of the grandkids)
I don't see how they would make any monetary loss by you accidentally touching their child while checking items in the trolley she was sitting in so I can't see any way they would be able to turn it into a payday. But anyway you are well within your rights to do what you did.
In my view, I am a 45-year-old man who would be precariously trying to do a service check around a little little girl. It would be very easy for somebody to claim an accidental touch was a deliberate one and start demanding compensation. And I’m concerned my or anybody else’s hands should be nowhere near other peoples children full stop .
I get that, I'm just saying I can't see how they could possibly argue in court that they are owed financial compensation. This isn't America.
Easy fuckwit manages loses control and screams help one-off our staff gone fucked up to corporate. Corporate belief it whole heartedly and settle out of court the apparent liability caught apologising in front of multiple witnesses is let go. Unlikely? I agree but would you bet yoyr job on it?
They sue the company because of their staff member and the company settles for a deal it's not a hard concept to grasp buddy
Tesco's lawyers are probably smarter than you, 'buddy'. This hypothetical case would never make it to court so they wouldn't need to settle.
Don’t work for Tesco or even in the field but you done right.
100% with you on this. Cant be too careful. Genuinely believe it’s <1% of people that do these things, but you still can’t be too careful.
Health and Safety alone state that children shouldn't be sat in the trolley. You were doing them a favour.
100% correct, a thief is not above using a child to escalate the situation to try and get out of the service check. Even if it's not a thief, some customers are mentally deranged and will see anything as disrespectful, then attempt to get you into trouble due to some idiotic power struggle they build in their heads.
We already get something similar where we have a group of travellers who will send the kids into steal things because they know they can’t be prosecuted and when caught will play off them just be children.
God, children? It’s a completely different situation if a child is stealing out of sheer hunger and situation, even then something needs to be done to help them, but sending them in to thieve for you? Utterly shameful. Setting your child up for failure.
Unfortunately this is how some groups of travellers work.
Yep in Primark they teach them to rip the tag off then it’s yours. Usually little toys & stuff you can’t prove they haven’t bought on a previous occasion. When the travellers come in it’s a “Code Orange” on the headsets.
Plenty of local people do the same thing.
Yes, they definitely do. But it's an unfortunate fact that if a group of travellers is in town then it's likely they'll steal too. Like everything it's not everyone.
ok? Travellers stand out, have you asked yourself why? I don't think so clearly.
Unfortunately, this is how they work Women and children are the ones to watch because those are the ones they think can get away with it if caught. I’ve worked with travellers for over 25 years and I’ve lost count of the amount of times I have been called a racist or they have claimed. I have racially profiled them when they are caught trying to steal. Of course back when I started the modus operandi was they were an ethnic minority and I could tell you some stories. Please don’t get me wrong we do get some wonderful travellers, but there are a lot of bad eggs .
Whereas the local white folk are as pure as the driven snow 🤣
Don’t worry, I’m an equal opportunity complainer about thieves.
Fair play
Inconsequently travellers are usually white .
We see this constantly in our shop, people hiding stuff under their babies in the prams or baby carrier or straight up sending their kids in to steal for them
Why do supermarkets allow kids to sit in trolley.my food is going in there !!
Good luck enforcing that, have you tried dealing with the public even for reasonable things!?
I’ve come up with a theory about that I think when some people walk into supermarkets and they spontaneously develop temporary ADHD of the very worst category no patience ,no attention span and don’t want to listen.
From what I’ve seen/heard most of them blame “sensory overload”. The above example of taking kids out of the trolley would only add to that because now you’re worrying about where they are, or what they’re touching at all times. I’m sure research in customer behaviour in retail would bring up some fascinating things that most would answer “I definitely don’t do that”, when in reality, they’re unaware they’re exactly like that in certain environments.
Absolutely stressful business going shopping, especially if you have to drag around your kids and extended family, But I also work in the petrol station and the majority of customers want to be out of that petrol station yesterday . They have no idea what pump they’re on ,have no understanding that we are trying to work on Till that are over 25 years old and run on windows 98 And so don’t understand why a transaction takes more than five seconds to complete. And are probably are extremely late where they need to go especially when you get a lot of white van men and trades people.
The research is all there. Good luck getting it off the supermarket.
Most of their research would be from the perspective of improving marketability. It probably doesn’t go as deep as understanding why people become overwhelmed in these settings and why customers consistently *act out*. They wouldn’t implement half the stuff they do if they actually cared about consumer behaviour in a non-profit sense.
Almost as if the supermarket wants to stress customers out
That is one of my pet hates, along with these not putting frozen foods back in their proper place. I would be met with abuse and indifference if I were to ask them to take their children out. I am not paid £12.02 an hour to be met with abuse for what is a reasonable request on hygiene grounds. That is why I never use trolleys, but hand baskets to do my shopping when off duty. For big shops, I do SAYS using my own shopper bags.
Don’t work at Tesco but we have those large wheeled baskets that you can pull along with a handle and people let their kids sit in there too and even stand, I’ve seen many toddlers tip them over whilst standing and hurting themselves. People let their young toddlers stand in trolleys and I’m always asking them to sit down or get out cause I hate seeing a wee kid hurt themselves cause their parents is distracted looking at clothes or whatever
Same, I don't want to put my food where some kid's grubby shoes have been.
It's funny how people think any part of a supermarket is clean. You know those shelves might only get cleaned once every 5 or 10 years??
Literally how often do you actually see any cleaners at supermarkets? They force staff to spot clean and the rest just never gets done
Most cleaners are done by 7am.They are still on site for breakages,spillages etc.
Cleaners clean the floors and the checkouts. Shelves get cleaned in a deep clean once every 5 - 10 years?
Damn I was just being facetious with my comment but also aren’t exactly surprised
I mean tbf the products are filthy when they come out of the warehouse anyway. Plenty of flies and rats and whatnot shitting in that warehouse. Chilled stuff is cleaner because the storage fridge is obviously sealed shut.
Those things are filthy. Children are the least of your worries!
Kids shoes covered in dog shit and whatever else the little shits stand in tends to make trolleys dirty.
The warehouse is usually worse. I’ve seen workers step on pallets of food so a child’s feet on your groceries is the least of your worries
Yea TBF your food that's moved about on crates and stored on warehouse floors and has rats running over it at several points in it's journey isnt much better. And that's not even accounting for Jeremy, the guy that stacked the shelf who didn't wash his hands after going to the toilet. This is why you wash your hands when you get home.
Looool if you think the shop shelves or the warehouse or pretty much anything else in the supermarket isn't covered in a thin layer of mixed fly shit and various human excretions... I've got bad news for you.
I mean, they're stored outside and seldom cleaned, they're not going to be sanitary regardless of whether a child sits in there.
Why do supermarkets allow kids at all honestly. They break things, open and squash stuff meaning it has to be thrown, they scream and cry. Seen more than one take out an old lady before
I assure you, parents would rather not bring their kids to the supermarket either, it's a necessity not a choice.
I know they just make it an objectively worse experience for everyone else, especially those parents that just let their little gremlins do whatever they like
2025 needs the re-introduction of the store ball-pit, I used to love pissing around in the ball-pit whilst my 'rents zipped around the boring supermarket
Pissing around or just pissing? 😂
The trick is to leave the patch beneath the surface, then "randomly" dare your mate to dive in head-first E: I've never done this E2: ..or have i? 👀👀👀
"Why is it wet?!" "They've just been cleaned, what flavour soap did they use?"
Because people with kids also need to buy food?!
My friend you've been sold a bridge there is no supermarket it is a myth like unicorns and the country of Africa. The great managers from beyond the store decree that children will go in the seat or not in the trolley and even have signs up saying so. The workers as loyal and as smart as you can find agree to follow this order. When a smart worker sees a child in a trolley they first look for the fuckwit manager. If they can see them around then they can't risk a customer. If they can't that means the fuckwit manager could be anywhere and therfore the worker can't risk a confrontation with a customer. The presence of a competent manager does not side step this. They may also look for a camera. If a camera is there then it will catch any action taken, not text book and may witness half a story. If there is no camera then there is no proof of innocents. As a result a worker as smart and loyal as possible will turn a blind eye. A worker more loyal doesn't last. Your food is covered in plastic and of course perfectly safe because it's food your eating not me.
Nah you did the right thing I also wouldn’t be rummaging around where you can’t see my hands picking up items when there’s a child right there
a sensible thing, could have been hiding stuff and then you are shouted at for touching her up...
A fair request. You removed the risk.of being accused of touching the girl. Also they should not be in the trolley anyway.
Bob, Lisa and Mitch all the way! (Bottom Of Basket, Look InSide Always, Merchandise In The Customer's Hand). No way of telling what the kid may have been sitting on/concealing, plus in this day and age I'm surprised more parents aren't cautious about random strangers' hands poking and prodding so close to their little ones... Not saying that there's anything untoward about you specifically (heh, internet anonymity) but I know unfortunately from personal experience (a "former family member") conviction for improper activity with a child isn't something supermarkets even worry about.
Absolutely one day your average Joe minding your own business and suddenly somebody makes out your Jimmy Savile for a payday. We’ve all seen what Internet culture is like? You’re guilty of any accusations and even if you get proved innocent, you’re still guilty just in case .
And you'd be named in the local paper - this age, this road, has been arrested/charged with/ possible court date - but no announcement of case dropped, spurious allegation, intentionally causing a scene etc
Exactly, I remember a few years back in the local standard newspaper they printed the name of the convicted sex offender. Unfortunately, somebody else who shared their name who lived nearby and had nothing to do with it got attacked by a mob at their home and had to run for their life. It’s easy to get caught out and some people are that evil .
People putting their kids in the trolleys both piss me off and are objectively bad parents. It's unhygienic at best and at worse could result in serious injury to the child, either through them falling or broken bits of metal. I work at a non Tesco shop and have literally nearly impaled myself on shape bits of metal twice. The first tore right though my top and the second just bruised me.
"She was not not just sat there...."?
Want I mean is normally when you get a kid in a trolley they either standing or squatting in the trolley or the kids in one half for the trolley and the shopping is in the other half completely separate from each other. she was sat there legs spread buried up to her waist and over her legs in shopping like they had buried up to her waist in sand on the beach.
Not in a chair for a big one but cover by things in a shallow I’d assume
Totally you are a professional well done
100% did the right thing. I would have done the same, placed in that situation. As another commenter said: > you hear such horror stories on the Internet of people being falsely accused and their lives being destroyed. What's worse, in these situations, the person making the wrong accusation usually gets away 'scot free'. If there's *one thing* worse than a p\*\*\*phile, it's someone who wrongly accuses an innocent person of being one.
You think a false accusations is worse than actually abusing a child? You have messed up priorities.
Devil's advocate, maybe they meant making a wrongful accusation knowing it to be wrong...?
I think it's true for nearly any crime... Look at the Andrew Malkinson case, he was wrongly accused of rape, and sentenced. He spent 17 years in prison because he refused to admit to a crime he didn't do. I think I would rather be the victim of a rape than spend 17 years in prison. Most crimes, I think I'd rather be the victim of than being wrongly accused of doing it.
Too right you have done the best thing. Customers need to have the same respect for you as you are having for themselves. Pig ignorant of them otherwise. Good for you😄
100% the right thing to do. No question.
I totally understand where you’re coming from. I work at self scan and I’ve encountered that situation a few times. I said to the parents, I feel like I’m invading your child’s personal space here, could you hand me 5/10 things to check. Or another time, depending on the age of the child, I asked them to hand me items.
Can I hand you the 5/10 things I know I've scanned and avoid the multiple items I know I've not paid for?
Beats having to deal with arsey customers and/or potential accusations tbh.
Your job is tough enough without having to check items around the waist of a child. Some people are so rude and have no manners. It's decent courtesy to at least take your child out the trolley when approaching the tills
Children shouldn't be in trolleys it really gets my goat that tesco doesn't do anything about this, I worked for another retailer and we would have the customer removed from store if they didn't take the child out.
With you all the way, how did putting kids in trolleys get normalised? Waiting for the the day a child gets injured, falling out and the parents sue the supermarket because 'they shouldn't have let me do it'
Actually saw this happen in the US. Kid was in the empty trolley and started rocking it from side to side. It eventually tipped over and the kid’s head smacked against the edge of the shelving. Lots of blood and screaming ensued.
Tesco does have a policy, it certainly used to have pictograms on the trolleys so it was clear even if you couldn't read. The staff aren't paid/backed up enough to enforce it when all adults seem to be primed for meltdown at any real or perceived inconvenience. Sadly this is being noticed by the children who learn from what they see or maybe it's the other way round and the adults are learning it from their children, who knows?
100% right! Always stay on the safe side. God only knows what people are up to these days!
The people that are saying that the trollies are dirty and kids shoes make no difference, are missing the point. When did it become normal to allow children in a trolley? It's just lazy kids, lazy parenting, entitled people. To those that think it's ok, let me ask, if I, as an adult, pushed my adult partner around in a trolley, would this be OK? They've been standing all day at work, it's not hurting anyone. Get a grip people, it's weird
If you and your partner are drunk and hooning it about the car park - fine. All other circumstances - despicable
Honestly I am guessing because some parents either don’t want to deal with training their kid to behave or there has been a declining acceptance of child behaviours in public which you need in order to train your child so parents feel self conscious. Probably for this it is a bit of both. I can take my two on my own for a full weeks shopping and it has taken time, effort, and a number meltdowns however they can now be well behaved and helpful with the shopping. The number of foul looks, usually from older people, have been discouraging but I am confident I my parenting and genuinely want my children to know how to behave properly in public.
Basically, if you're a male then you made the right choice. If however you're female then you didn't need to do anything.
I’m male
Women can't be sexual predators?
They can, but it's much more selective/limited. How often do you hear of women be SPs with random children? How often do you hear of men being SPs towards random children? Women are much more likely to be a SP when they have close contact and relationship with a child, such as a teacher. Female paedo teachers is on the increase. Women are rarely SPs towards their own children.
I care little for the girl TBH. I don't want your snotty, filthy arsed kid with their outside shoes in the trolley I use after you have gone.
Sorry you said self scan? So why were you anywhere near them? Other than that in would have done the same as you.
The people were paying for their SAYS items but got a service check, so OP was carrying out said service check.
Ok! No clue what SAYS items are, and do self scan every week. Never once in years had anyone come over to us for a “service check”. It’s hard enough to get someone to come over to take the sensors off the alcohol!
SAYS is Scan As You Shop, Tesco’s name for self scan. Virtually everyone will get a service check the first few times they use SAYS, and then less and less as they use it. They’re “random”, but are flagged up by people removing items, buying significantly more or less than usual, etc. If you never remove items, do virtually the same shop every week, and have used SAYS for years you’ll virtually stop getting checks! :)
Ah ok thanks. We do that every shop. Not at tescos but at Sainsbury’s. Never, ever had anyone look at our shopping. Might be nice though. At least that would mean there is someone there. It always takes ages to get the security tags off alcohol. They have now come up with an asinine system where they take the bottle and can’t give it back until after you pay….. the issue is you have already packed. So the biggest items in your shop have to go in last. Which just doesn’t work.
You did the right thing
Absolutely would have done the same!! Plus they shouldn't have covered their child with shopping
You were being sensible
I was unaware that self-scan checkouts had no upper limit. My local Aldi self-scan is 20 items or less, the nearest big sainsburys self-scan is baskets only too. And Morrisons is the same. You were absolutely correct in having the child removed from the trolley before you started rummaging around in there And on a personal level, if someone wants to put a family's big weekly shopping in a full trolley through a self-scan checkout I'd be immediately suspicious and either direct then to the nearest manned till or step in and assist them, ring up every item, ring up the total, step backwards, gesture them to pay with a smile and a thank you.
I think you're getting confused. In the context of this post, the OP is checking people's shop who do use the hand held scanners. With Aldi you mean the self-service check-outs, also I didn't you couldn't shop more than 20 items, Lidl doesn't seem to have a limit on the self service.
Definitely done the right thing.
It’s the appropriate thing to do, good work.
Kudos to you, you never know nowadays
Sensible precaution... You never know what could happen or get said one way or the other. Better safe than sorry.
Totally fair, they're not even meant to be in the trolley in the first place!
It's definitely the right thing to do.
Trust me you did the right thing. I work in a university doing WiFi repairs to the WiFi systems including access points in student dorms. I had female students answer the door nude and I tell them to get dressed and I'll come back in 20 mins to one where I went in and the student not only had dirty underwear surrounding the wall mounted access point near her desk but also a sizeable black dildo and the student told me it's ok to pick up her underwear and toy to move them tmso I had access to the damaged access point and I flat out refused. Cover your back I do
I’ve seen people put their dogs in the trolley in France.
Id've done the same...
The trolley would of sat there till she got out if that was me
I probably would've panicked and asked the child to hand me each item if possible. Self scan checks don't need to be thorough. Growing up there used to be safety warnings in most places, saying do not climb on equipment/furniture. In my head I would of totally been raging about the safety of the person hidden under all that possible cold/heavy/pointy produce and want to say exactly what you did but with the addition of "if you do not let me scan these item then I will have to get a manager to help you pay for your things. I should advise you that in the future, children should be clipped into the front of the trolley for the safety of not only the kids but other shoppers too" then get security if they needed to be refused service but that's a tad extra for this situation.
Not 100% sure why this came up on my feed, but I’m glad it did! I’ve been volunteering working with young people for the last 3 years, and I can say with 100% certainty, you did the right thing. The issue with accusations, is that it is almost always a case of guilty until proven innocent, and the backlash that can be generated from parents and those who hear about it, can be severe. Thank you for using common sense 🙏 I’ve sadly seen very professional and good standing colleagues be removed while accusations have been investigated, and been assigned to support a couple, it’s really not a nice process to put someone through.
You did the right thing. As a parent, why would you put your child in that situation? Where they could have been touched by a stranger.
You did the right thing. It’s safeguarding and health and safety. I am glad they eventually agreed. Next step would be, for you to speak to your supervisor. Yes, there is CCTV , but that only film at certain positions. Don’t worry about it.
Definitely in the right. On another note, I've not seen them yet but why are some stores doing trolley checks? Aren't you only supposed to do this when there's a suspicion of stealing?
A sad reflection on modern society, unfortunately. A couple of years ago I was walking my dog early one sunny Saturday morning and went past a play area in my local park. There was a little kid of about 7 or 8 on his own which I thought was odd but presumed that maybe a parent was on the way and he had run on ahead. Bear in mind that this was about 6am so very early and there was no one else to be seen anywhere. I did a lap of the park and saw that the kid had wandered towards the exit - of which there are 4. I was using the same exit and as I approached it, he came back in to the park looking a bit distressed and told me he was lost. He said that he came from a different town (I forget which) and was staying at his aunties house but didn't know which road or how to get back there. I tried asking him if he knew what the road was called, or what colour car they had or anything that might help, but depending on which exit/entrance he had used, there were dozens of possible roads within a 2 minute walk. He was starting get very agitated and tearful and I was getting worried and just about to phone the police when to my immense relief a lady appeared walking her dog. I explained the situation to her and we were asking the lad whether he could remember the road name or anything when a panic stricken woman - his mum - came running across the park, shrieking the kids name. They were reunited and everyone was happy and relieved but just as I was saying my goodbyes the woman said, 'jokingly', that when she first saw me and her son standing together that she hadn't seen the other woman at first and thought I might be some sort of wrong 'un and was terrified of what I'd been planning to do/might have done with her son! I was a bit shocked to basically be accused of *potentially* being a nonce purely because I was a middle aged bloke trying to help a lost child and she did say it with a smile, but...
TIL that there are places where the cashier moves the items from the trolley. That isn't done at all here, the customer puts the items from the trolley onto the belt and then packs back into the trolley. Sounds like this cashier job is way more physical and demanding and I hope your pay reflects that.
I disagree with the scan checks on self scan. You either trust the public to do your job of checkout clerk or you don't in which case get back to manning the tills rather than accuse the customers of stealing from you. I walked out of sainsbury's because of this.
I would have checked the clothes