Accused of stealing

Browntoa

Most self service tills now tend to have CCTV cameras either in (Asda units) or above the tills .
Was the CCTV reviewed ? 

AskAsk

annabanana82 said:

I try not to use them as they always go wrong.
In Asda once queuing for the cashier, the family in front of me fed up of waiting said they were going to the self scan as it was cheaper! 
I did make a member of staff aware, but I assume that it's a common occurrence, but thinking about it I wonder (as an aside) if the reduced staff costs on self service offset a possible uplift in shoplifting losses?

But I think it would be hard to get away with, Sainsbury's and Asda now seem to have visible cameras and you can see yourself, I would have thought Tesco would have some form of surveillance too?

i always use the self service now and only ever go to the till if i have a trolley or need to use vouchers that the self service tills won't accept.  i prefer to scan my own items and skip out the personal interaction altogether.

the machine can scan and you hear a 'beep' noise without it actually registering.  the price does not come up on the machine.  i have had to call the assistant over to say that the machine won't register and they had to manually add the item into the shopping.  so you do have to pay attention.  however, there is a safeguard for this as the machine will ask you to remove the item if you put it down and it had not been added to your shopping.

i read that shops lose a lot of money from theft since they introduced the self service tills but the machines are getting better at security so it is harder to steal using the self service machines.

Savvy_Sue

justworriedabit said:

marlene1967 said:

’ve been accused of stealing using the  self service tills at Tesco. I work there which makes it even worse. I have used these  types of tills a few times and unfortunately a member of staff said I was stealing as few items didn’t scan, which I didn’t realise at the time hadn’t gone thru . Has anyone else  been through this and what questions will they ask?
thanks 

The bottom line. You are innocent and made an innocent mistake, therefore, if I was in your shoes, I would take it right the way to court and not even accept a reprimand/etc.

You're assuming it will go to court. The employer doesn't need to prove it happened, they can dismiss if they have reasonable grounds to believe it happened. They may or may not report it to the police.

OP, how long have you worked there? If you're a union member, speak to them.

strawb_shortcake

AskAsk said:

annabanana82 said:

I try not to use them as they always go wrong.
In Asda once queuing for the cashier, the family in front of me fed up of waiting said they were going to the self scan as it was cheaper! 
I did make a member of staff aware, but I assume that it's a common occurrence, but thinking about it I wonder (as an aside) if the reduced staff costs on self service offset a possible uplift in shoplifting losses?

But I think it would be hard to get away with, Sainsbury's and Asda now seem to have visible cameras and you can see yourself, I would have thought Tesco would have some form of surveillance too?

i always use the self service now and only ever go to the till if i have a trolley or need to use vouchers that the self service tills won't accept.  i prefer to scan my own items and skip out the personal interaction altogether.

the machine can scan and you hear a 'beep' noise without it actually registering.  the price does not come up on the machine.  i have had to call the assistant over to say that the machine won't register and they had to manually add the item into the shopping.  so you do have to pay attention.  however, there is a safeguard for this as the machine will ask you to remove the item if you put it down and it had not been added to your shopping.

i read that shops lose a lot of money from theft since they introduced the self service tills but the machines are getting better at security so it is harder to steal using the self service machines.

I do like the scan as you shop, I don't have an issue with those, just the ones where you weigh your bags and all your shopping. 
The scan as you shop do have regular checks, whenever I get one I always panic that I've not scanned something.

Diamandis

justworriedabit The bottom line. You are innocent and made an innocent mistake, therefore, if I was in your shoes, I would take it right the way to court and not even accept a reprimand/etc.

You can not accept it and take them to court all you want but if you attempted to leave the store without paying for items then you're in the wrong, mistakes happen but you should still be checking the screen and your receipt. 

AskAsk

annabanana82 said:

AskAsk said:

annabanana82 said:

I try not to use them as they always go wrong.
In Asda once queuing for the cashier, the family in front of me fed up of waiting said they were going to the self scan as it was cheaper! 
I did make a member of staff aware, but I assume that it's a common occurrence, but thinking about it I wonder (as an aside) if the reduced staff costs on self service offset a possible uplift in shoplifting losses?

But I think it would be hard to get away with, Sainsbury's and Asda now seem to have visible cameras and you can see yourself, I would have thought Tesco would have some form of surveillance too?

i always use the self service now and only ever go to the till if i have a trolley or need to use vouchers that the self service tills won't accept.  i prefer to scan my own items and skip out the personal interaction altogether.

the machine can scan and you hear a 'beep' noise without it actually registering.  the price does not come up on the machine.  i have had to call the assistant over to say that the machine won't register and they had to manually add the item into the shopping.  so you do have to pay attention.  however, there is a safeguard for this as the machine will ask you to remove the item if you put it down and it had not been added to your shopping.

i read that shops lose a lot of money from theft since they introduced the self service tills but the machines are getting better at security so it is harder to steal using the self service machines.

I do like the scan as you shop, I don't have an issue with those, just the ones where you weigh your bags and all your shopping. 
The scan as you shop do have regular checks, whenever I get one I always panic that I've not scanned something.

i have never used scan while you shop and wonder how they make sure people don't steal as you don't put the items on the till so they can't weigh it.

strawb_shortcake

AskAsk said:

annabanana82 said:

AskAsk said:

annabanana82 said:

I try not to use them as they always go wrong.
In Asda once queuing for the cashier, the family in front of me fed up of waiting said they were going to the self scan as it was cheaper! 
I did make a member of staff aware, but I assume that it's a common occurrence, but thinking about it I wonder (as an aside) if the reduced staff costs on self service offset a possible uplift in shoplifting losses?

But I think it would be hard to get away with, Sainsbury's and Asda now seem to have visible cameras and you can see yourself, I would have thought Tesco would have some form of surveillance too?

i always use the self service now and only ever go to the till if i have a trolley or need to use vouchers that the self service tills won't accept.  i prefer to scan my own items and skip out the personal interaction altogether.

the machine can scan and you hear a 'beep' noise without it actually registering.  the price does not come up on the machine.  i have had to call the assistant over to say that the machine won't register and they had to manually add the item into the shopping.  so you do have to pay attention.  however, there is a safeguard for this as the machine will ask you to remove the item if you put it down and it had not been added to your shopping.

i read that shops lose a lot of money from theft since they introduced the self service tills but the machines are getting better at security so it is harder to steal using the self service machines.

I do like the scan as you shop, I don't have an issue with those, just the ones where you weigh your bags and all your shopping. 
The scan as you shop do have regular checks, whenever I get one I always panic that I've not scanned something.

i have never used scan while you shop and wonder how they make sure people don't steal as you don't put the items on the till so they can't weigh it.

I don't know the answer to that, I sometimes scan an item and it won't work and tells you to wait until you get to the till. I don't suppose everyone will.
I'd say it relies on honesty and being picked up at the random checks, but that comes from someone who would be mortified if I was accused/caught shoplifting. 

gettingtheresometime

AskAsk said:

annabanana82 said:

AskAsk said:

annabanana82 said:

I try not to use them as they always go wrong.
In Asda once queuing for the cashier, the family in front of me fed up of waiting said they were going to the self scan as it was cheaper! 
I did make a member of staff aware, but I assume that it's a common occurrence, but thinking about it I wonder (as an aside) if the reduced staff costs on self service offset a possible uplift in shoplifting losses?

But I think it would be hard to get away with, Sainsbury's and Asda now seem to have visible cameras and you can see yourself, I would have thought Tesco would have some form of surveillance too?

i always use the self service now and only ever go to the till if i have a trolley or need to use vouchers that the self service tills won't accept.  i prefer to scan my own items and skip out the personal interaction altogether.

the machine can scan and you hear a 'beep' noise without it actually registering.  the price does not come up on the machine.  i have had to call the assistant over to say that the machine won't register and they had to manually add the item into the shopping.  so you do have to pay attention.  however, there is a safeguard for this as the machine will ask you to remove the item if you put it down and it had not been added to your shopping.

i read that shops lose a lot of money from theft since they introduced the self service tills but the machines are getting better at security so it is harder to steal using the self service machines.

I do like the scan as you shop, I don't have an issue with those, just the ones where you weigh your bags and all your shopping. 
The scan as you shop do have regular checks, whenever I get one I always panic that I've not scanned something.

i have never used scan while you shop and wonder how they make sure people don't steal as you don't put the items on the till so they can't weigh it.

I think every so often they randomly select a customer & the assistant looking after that area has to pick so many items to cross check that the items have been scanned.

I think they're understanding of say one or two items not coming up as scanned but I think if there's more then the whole shop has to be rescanned by the assistant 

TELLIT01

As a staff member you must be aware of the potential problems with self scan and therefore need to take extra care when using them.  You didn't, for whatever reason, and that is potentially the reason you are in the current situation.  If it's a one-off and only involves a couple of items you may get away with a warning, but that will depend on company policy.  All you can do is explain what happened as you understand it.

I find self-scan more trouble than they are worth so always avoid them anyway unless I have very few items, and nothing which may be age restricted.

TBagpuss

OP, I think a lot is likely to depend on what you missed - if it happened multiple times and/or with higher value items then they are far less likely to accept that it was a genuine oversight / error than if it was a one-off with a low value item. 
If the items did not get scanned then probably all you can do is tell them that you did not realize, had no intention of taking anything without paying and are happy to pay for the items which failed to scan. 

However, from a disciplinary perspective, they are entitled to take action - they don't need to be able to prove you stole, they only have to have a reasonable belief that you did, which is a much lower standard. 

If there were any mitigating circumstances (for instance, if it happened at a time when you were under increased stress or were unwell, then it is worth raising that. Equally, if you have worked there a long time without any previous disciplinary issues, that's also worth flagging up.

Finally, is there anything between you and the person who reported you? If there has been any previous dispute or they have any reason to dislike you then that is potentially relevant, if there is any reason why they might want you to get into trouble. 

IS there a procedure for when a staff member thinks a customer has failed to scan something? Are you normally expected to draw it to the customer's attention so the item can be scanned, or is it usual to just report it to security?  (The only personal experience I've had was with something very small which I inadvertently left in the trolley as it has fallen under a spare bag. The a staff member just pointed it out and I scanned it - however, that was a case where I was buying about £60 worth of stuff and the missed item was small, light and worth less than 50p, so I think the fact that it was a mistake not an attempt to steal was fairly obvious - I imagine if the items you 'forget' to scan are expensive, large or if you're noticed 'overlooking' stuff regularly then it would be different)