Self Service Till Checkout Cameras- Is the Close Surveillance they force on us even Legal ?

Ectophile

born_again said:

Grumpy_chap said:

AIUI, Sainsbury's are reducing staff because they are closing their Sainsbury's Cafe outlets, pizza counters and patisserie counters.  These are all high-service parts of the Sainsbury's retail offering.  Reading between the lines, it is a statement by Sainsbury's to focus on their core product (selling low-cost stuff at high volume, low margin) and not carrying the burden of high-staff for the high-service elements of the current business.

Those empty Sainsbury's Cafe outlets will not simply sit empty but will likely be re-purposed to franchised food outlets such as Costa Coffee, Starbucks, Harris + Hoole or whoever bids for the estate.  This non-Sainsbury branded outlet can probably leverage higher prices as a "premium" catering offering than Sainsbury's Cafe which is likely constrained by the "value" positioning of the Sainsbury's brand and difficulty moving away from the traditional "builder's breakfast" that has been offered.  (I happen to like the Sainsbury's breakfast, but that is another thing all together - plus, since COVID, I travel to sites far less and therefore eat far fewer Sainsbury's breakfasts.  My trade probably makes no impact, but the collective change does.)

Which given sainsburys expansion into EV charging. As seems a odd move. Maybe they will just leave a few tables to allow people to buy the meal deals & a coffee (costa self serve) & have a space to sit.

Sains we use went from a sains cafe to starbucks & back to a sains cafe. Given that there is now a starbucks 1/2 a mile away. They will not be back. Thank god. Not that it is ever busy.

I believe Sainsbury's are installing ultra rapid chargers.  In which case, you'd only need to spend half an hour shopping and your car will be more or less charged.

born_again

EV charging is a part of sainsburys. As they are only on sites that sainburys own the land on. 

https://smartcharge.co.uk/

This website is owned and operated by Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Limited 33 Holborn London EC1N 2HT.

Only reason they are doing it is to make money & drive up custom. Just the same as they did when they started into the petrol market 🤷‍♀️

Ergates

Zentex said:

I was forced into an Aldi self checkout as they would not open a till for any of us (despite telling us when first introduced , all we had to was ask for a manned checkout till to be opened if we wanted one to use) , their was a big queue behind me waiting. 
I had a lot of shopping, it took me ages, I had to twice get help, the £20 note would not go in for 10 attempts and to top it off I was watched by Big Brother at the till the whole time without my explicit consent. I have known they have ceiling cameras and am fine with this but this was the first time I saw myself on a big screen above the checkout till, which I found very intrusive indeed.
Do Supermarkets have to warn people they are being surveilled in writing anywhere in the Store? Does this infringe our civil rights to anonymity? By law would they have to open a till if you do not give consent to be closely surveilled at a self service till ? Does anybody know the law around all of this please?
I resented the whole experience and was not expecting to be told it was self service or nothing ! 
When I voiced my dissatisfaction again after scanning over them not opening a till for the big line of customers behind me  I was warned by a very  stressed shop assistant I would be banned by from the store if I continued
I have never been treated so badly in any supermarket in the country.
Is there any way the People can challenge the shops over being forced to scan dozens of items at 5X the time it takes them to do it all? I am a busy person I do NOT have time to scan my own shopping and forcing others to wait a very long time to get to the till. I would love a consumer backlash which is effective to get them to change back to at least 70% manned tills open, any chance of this happening?

You weren't "forced" to do anything, you chose to.
You give your consent to be on CCTV by entering the store, they have notes about it on or by the doors.
There is no such thing as a "civil right to anonymity", and even if there was, it wouldn't apply to doing business with a private company.
Not wanting to be "closely surveilled" is not a protected characteristed, so there is no law that could compel a company to open a till just for you.
If you resent being made to use a self service till, just leave the store without buying anything.   There are other stores.

TooOrangeyForCrows

Largs said:

These cameras worked in my favour when I left my mobile down in the ASDA Supermarket and I was reunited with it.  This was me taking it out to scan the reward APP and getting harrased. I wish they would scrap these points/rewards APPS and just have low prices like ALDI but that's another story.  

I think the point on the APP is that they know exactly what you are buying. Things like these are pretty much the lead in to The Social Credit System.

sheslookinhot

No support for Zentex ? Not what they would have imagined, no wonder they have not been back.

born_again

TooOrangeyForCrows said:

Largs said:

These cameras worked in my favour when I left my mobile down in the ASDA Supermarket and I was reunited with it.  This was me taking it out to scan the reward APP and getting harrased. I wish they would scrap these points/rewards APPS and just have low prices like ALDI but that's another story.  

I think the point on the APP is that they know exactly what you are buying. Things like these are pretty much the lead in to The Social Credit System.

Op said
"to top it off I was watched by Big Brother at the till the whole time without my explicit consent."

So APP has nothing to do with their question. App, would be your choice even more so, than using the store.

Emmia

born_again said:

TooOrangeyForCrows said:

Largs said:

These cameras worked in my favour when I left my mobile down in the ASDA Supermarket and I was reunited with it.  This was me taking it out to scan the reward APP and getting harrased. I wish they would scrap these points/rewards APPS and just have low prices like ALDI but that's another story.  

I think the point on the APP is that they know exactly what you are buying. Things like these are pretty much the lead in to The Social Credit System.

Op said
"to top it off I was watched by Big Brother at the till the whole time without my explicit consent."

So APP has nothing to do with their question. App, would be your choice even more so, than using the store.

Any loyalty card gives the supermarket / shop detailed intelligence on what you're buying - that's why things like the Tesco Clubcard were launched, long before the advent of smartphones and Apps.

roytom2

The obvious win win  solution is for you to do your shopping in Waitrose

Not really. My local Waitrose - that's definitely going downhill - has predominately self checkouts with video recording shown on a screen in front of you. There's also nasty little warning notices at each self checkout about being watched - so don't nick anything. Also there's notices saying shoplifting is ruining everything - I doubt the shoplifters could care less about all this as they have no intension of reading warnings, it just racks off honest shoppers who feel they are being wrongly suspected of theft.
I got stopped the other day coming out of a Sainsburys Superstore because I hadn't bought anything there - I went in to check the price of Seville oranges - and I was carrying a bag (with relevant receipts) of just 2 products from other stores. I'm in my 70s and that's only the second time ever I've been challenged coming out of a shop.
How did things get like this? The invasion of the discounters have made everything horrible. Everything has been cheapened and we're all suffering.

Pollycat

roytom2 said:

The obvious win win  solution is for you to do your shopping in Waitrose

Not really. My local Waitrose - that's definitely going downhill - has predominately self checkouts with video recording shown on a screen in front of you. There's also nasty little warning notices at each self checkout about being watched - so don't nick anything. 

Do the notices actually say that?
Do they refer to theft?

roytom2 said:

The obvious win win  solution is for you to do your shopping in Waitrose

Also there's notices saying shoplifting is ruining everything - I doubt the shoplifters could care less about all this as they have no intension of reading warnings, it just racks off honest shoppers who feel they are being wrongly suspected of theft.

A notice saying there are surveillance cameras doesn't 'rack' me off.
I hope it does actually deter some shoplifters.

roytom2 said:

The obvious win win  solution is for you to do your shopping in Waitrose

I got stopped the other day coming out of a Sainsburys Superstore because I hadn't bought anything there - I went in to check the price of Seville oranges - and I was carrying a bag (with relevant receipts) of just 2 products from other stores. I'm in my 70s and that's only the second time ever I've been challenged coming out of a shop.
How did things get like this? The invasion of the discounters have made everything horrible. Everything has been cheapened and we're all suffering.

Is age relevant?

If I was 'challenged' coming out of a shop, I'd comply with a request to show I'd not walked out without paying for something.
Why has 'invasion of the discounters made everything horrible'. ?

born_again

Emmia said:

born_again said:

TooOrangeyForCrows said:

Largs said:

These cameras worked in my favour when I left my mobile down in the ASDA Supermarket and I was reunited with it.  This was me taking it out to scan the reward APP and getting harrased. I wish they would scrap these points/rewards APPS and just have low prices like ALDI but that's another story.  

I think the point on the APP is that they know exactly what you are buying. Things like these are pretty much the lead in to The Social Credit System.

Op said
"to top it off I was watched by Big Brother at the till the whole time without my explicit consent."

So APP has nothing to do with their question. App, would be your choice even more so, than using the store.

Any loyalty card gives the supermarket / shop detailed intelligence on what you're buying - that's why things like the Tesco Clubcard were launched, long before the advent of smartphones and Apps.

I know they do.
Just this was not the point OP was making. As well as to get the APP, it has to be a positive move on your part. Shops can not set them up for you 👍