Wot No Scales.

kah22

It' bugs me, it really does bug me. You go into your local friendly supermarket pick up a few tomatoes, maybe a few bananas and a few other products that have to be weighted and there is no scale there to tell you how much you've spent.

Ask an assistant and the polite ones will take them to the check out and get them scanned for you, the less polite ones: 'oh, they'll tell you at the check out.'

Seriously though I hate having to take goods to the checkout not knowing how much they're going to cost me. I've never been embarrassed yet but I could see it happening - I have seen it happen when an elderly gentleman had to leave something back because he was 13p out!

Because the majority of supermarkets seem to be at this I'm assuming it is legal but I'm also assuming that we the customer are buying slightly more than we intend and that adds up over the year. Is there anyway we can have to supermarkets bring back scales, even if only for information purposes, so we'll have an idea how much we have to pay.

McKneff

Dont see your problem, if you want/need 3 tomatoes, get three tomatoes,
you can see the price per pound/kilo to compare with other supermarkets.

Surely you wouldnt buy 2 tomatoes if you really actually needed 3.
I buy what i need - as long as i can see the unit price, thats fine for me.

moonrakerz

I may be wrong but I thought they had to provide them.
I tried Googling - but all I got was rubbish about Prunella Scales and her Tesco ads !!

kah22

anniehanlon wrote: »

Dont see your problem, if you want/need 3 tomatoes, get three tomatoes.

Sounds sensible: but what about mushrooms, grapes, should I take three small carrots instead of two large one. It is not as simple as buy what you need.

The real point that I'm making here is that we cannot see how much we have to pay for goods until we arrive at the checkout and that is wrong and that puts us, the consumer, in an unfair position.

Kevin

OlliesDad

When you are at there checkout there is nothing commiting yourself to buy them? If it is going to cost too much, just take them back.

The supermarkets are acting legally as they are not commiting you into buying them just cos you have picked them up!

Hailz86

i still think having knowledge of what your paying is helpful x

Bogof_Babe

I totally agree with the OP. Also I did think it was a legal requirement to have a scales available where loose produce is sold, but maybe only in supermarkets over a certain size.

Our Tesco and Sainsbury both have one but I don't think I've seen one in the Co-op.

Sometimes I only have a couple of quid in change on me, and don't want to pay by card. I do seek out the scales and make sure I can afford what I've picked up.

Also if shopping for another person, and they have said "1lb of loose sprouts", how else can you ensure you get what they want?

OlliesDad

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

Also if shopping for another person, and they have said "1lb of loose sprouts", how else can you ensure you get what they want?

Tell them to do their own shopping if their going to be so fussy!!

McKneff

kah22 wrote: »

Sounds sensible: but what about mushrooms, grapes, should I take three small carrots instead of two large one. It is not as simple as buy what you need.

The real point that I'm making here is that we cannot see how much we have to pay for goods until we arrive at the checkout and that is wrong and that puts us, the consumer, in an unfair position.

Kevin

Maybe its just me, but if i want a dozen mushrooms, thats what i buy
or a bunch of grapes, big or small enough for what i want. I can see the point if you only have a small amount of cash with you and no card.
I suppose again after years and years of shopping i can more or less gauge the weight of most loose things. So for me its not a problem.

Bogof_Babe

OlliesDad wrote: »

Tell them to do their own shopping if their going to be so fussy!!

Lol I used to shop for my housebound parents until one died and the other went into a home.

Point taken though.

kah22

OlliesDad wrote: »

When you are at there checkout there is nothing commiting yourself to buy them? If it is going to cost too much, just take them back.

I agree with what you are saying OlliesDad and personally I would have little difficulty in putting an item back. But that's not the point - is it?

The point as I see it is that we are been put at an unfair advantage we have to guess the price and that to me is not good enough.

Think about it: every other counter in a supermarket you have control over what you are spending, you know exactly how much you've spent in each department before moving away, except, of course, for the fruit and veg department. Logically that does not make sense.

I'm sure, however, that it makes great economic sense to the supermarkets !

Kevin