Tescohas rolled out new ‘Heathrow level’ security scanners to try and combat the scourge of shoplifters – in a measure some have branded ‘dystopian’ and ‘prison-like’.
Britain has been in the grip of a nationwide shoplifting epidemic, with gangs of brazen thieves ransacking stores on a daily basis.
In a bid to combat the skyrocketing rate of criminality, Tesco is testing the futuristic ‘Scan As You Shop’ pay points, which retail chiefs hope will finally help them get a grip of the crisis.
Tesco’s store in Slough has become the latest to test the kit. While some were delighted with the technologically-advanced new system, others lashed out.
Some branded it ‘creepy’ and likened itto airport security gates, while others thought the move was a step ‘too far’ from traditional, staffed tills, and claimed it was part of a drive to erode civil liberties in the UK.
‘The UK is slowly turning into one big corporate prison system,’ raged one person of the technology’s rollout in Slough. Another agreed, adding: ‘UK turning into a prison.’
A video, shared by Ana Lazarus on TikTok, revealed the imposing security system in action in Slough as part Tesco’s small-scale trail of the payment hubs.
Taking to social media, Ana wrote: ‘Slough Tesco showing their avant-garde edge with Heathrowlevel security checkout.’
Tesco has rolled out the Scan As You Shop (SAYS) system in a select number of stores across the UK.
A Tesco store in Slough, London, has implemented a new security system forScan as You Shop customers
Shoppers pick up a scanning device when they enter the store, and then they scan each item as they put it in their trolley or basket.
When they have finished, they can pay for all their items without having to scan them through the staffed or self-serve checkouts.
Upon paying, SAYS customers may be randomly selected for a ‘service check’ where a staff member makes sure each item has been processed correctly.
The new checkouts are said to weigh the trolleys of those using SAYS to ensure the weight is the same as the items scanned.
‘We’re running a trial in a very small number of stores to help our Scan as You Shop customers make sure they haven’t missed any items when scanning,’ a Tesco spokesman told Royale.
‘This will reduce the number of manual checks by colleagues, reduce queuing times and streamline the checkout experience for customers.’
The test comes as retailers nationwide continue to battle record levels of shoplifting, which has seen brazen gangs of thieves ransacking stores up and down the country.
Not everyone is against the new security measures, with one person saying:’I don’t get why some people are complaining; you should only be complaining if you’re a thief.’
Pictured is the Scan As you Shop checkout at a Tesco store in Newcastle
Tesco has rolled out the Scan As You Shop (SAYS) system in a select number of stores across the UK
Another wrote: ‘If you’ve ever been to slough, you 100 per cent understand why they’re needed.’
It comes afterTesco apologised after a customer told of being humiliated when staff wrongly accused him of shoplifting and demanded he paid twice for his items.
Political consultant Andrew Kennedy caused a storm online after sharing posts on X, formerly Twitter, shaming the retail giant for staff’s actions at a branch in Surrey.
Mr Kennedy described being called back by employees at a Tesco outlet in West Moseley who suggested he had not paid for his shopping at a self-checkout.
This was despite his mobile phone banking app demonstrating a transaction worth £75.92 at the self-service till he had used.
Mr Kennedy described how after the dispute with staff on Good Friday, in which he was urged to pay the bill again, he abandoned his trolley and left.
He told how 6,000 X followers that he was then informed, five days later, he must make a 120-mile round trip to the branch from his Kent home for a refund.
Mr Kennedy, who was previously field director for ex-Prime Minister Liz Truss’s Conservative leadership campaign in 2022, has since asked for an apology from the supermarket firm.
He also requested they make a goodwill donation of the £100 to the mental health charity Young Minds.
And now the retailer has backed down, saying sorry to Mr Kennedy for his treatment and agreeing to donate.
Mr Kennedy originally posted on the social media site, directly addressing Tesco, ‘On Good Friday I experienced the most awful and humiliating experience in your Hurst Park (Surrey) store.
‘I popped in to pick up groceries on my way to visit friends. I used ‘scan as you go’ as I always do, and paid £75.92 for my groceries, using my Apple Pay
Viewers took to the comment section to share their thoughts on the new machines – and one likened them to a ‘prison system’
‘As I left the store, an assistant ran after me and said ‘I am afraid you haven’t paid for your groceries, and I must ask you to accompany me back into the shop’. She did this quietly and discreetly and thinking there was an error I happily went back inside.
‘My banking app which evidenced the payment had been made and I showed this to your assistant. She was apologetic and called her supervisor, who was busy.
‘Another assistant came over, and I again explained the situation and showed the payment. At this point things went wrong.
‘The second Assistant than shouted across the self-checkouts, ‘This guy hasn’t paid for his groceries.’
‘The supervisor came over, and for a third time I showed the payment on my phone. She then turned to the other Assistant and said, ‘you need to watch out for this…..
‘…quite often they do two identical shops, pay for one then use the payment to avoid paying for the second.’
‘I don’t know if this happens, but in this case, there was no evidence to suggest I had done such a thing and your assistant was openly inferring that I was a shop lifter.’
Mr Kennedy went on to tell how he agreed to pay again because he was ‘angry, humiliated and running out of time’.
But his bank blocked his card, apparently suspicious about the attempted second transaction, and he was advised by Tesco staff he would have to pay another way.
He added: ‘At this point I was so angry at how I had been treated I just walked out, leaving my full trolley behind.’
The money later went through via his card but he then urged the retailer for a refund, since he did not have the items he had bought – only to be told he must return to the store in Surrey to do so.
Mr Kennedy wrote: ‘So to summarise: (i) you accused me of shoplifting, (ii) you humiliated me in front of other people, (iii) you wasted my time and forced me to be late for a reunion, (iv) your incompetence led to me card being blocked, (v) you took £75.92 from my bank account…
‘…and now you are expecting me to travel three hours and spend £35 on petrol to get back the money you took from my account in the first place. At every level on this Tesco you and your staff have comprehensively failed.
‘Had I been emotionally vulnerable or had some form of learning disability, or being old and confused, this appalling treatment could have resulted in trauma. You should actually be ashamed of yourselves.’
He urged the company to ‘redeem’ themselves by refunding his money, writing to apologise for his treatment, retraining staff at Hurst Park on ‘how to treat people with respect’ and donating £100 to Young Minds.
Mr Kennedy has since shared an update online with his followers, thanking people for their support and revealing Tesco had called to say sorry while also pledging the charity donation as well as providing him with a gift card.
He wrote: ‘So at 7.30pm the CEOs office emailed to apologise for what happened. It was a proper apology, not one of those ‘we are sorry if you were offended’ apologies!
‘Whenever something like this happens I ask myself how I would feel if it happened to my mum.
‘She was of a generation who were deferential to authority and would have accepted what she was told, even when she knew she was in the right.’
A spokesman for Tesco said: ‘Unfortunately, a fault with a scan as you shop handset at our West Moseley Superstore meant that it incorrectly indicated that Mr Kennedy’s payment had not been completed.
‘We are really sorry that this happened and have reached out to Mr Kennedy to apologise for how the matter was handled as it fell below the high standards that we would expect.’
