I do the ‘random checks’ on self-scan customers in Tesco – there’s habit we really hate, it won’t stop us coming to you

A TESCO employee has revealed the customer habit they hate when they’re manning the self-scan tills.

In a post on Reddit, they explained that there’s nothing worse than when someone comes up to the till with a child in the back of the trolley.

On one occasion, they had been supervising the Tesco tills when someone came up with a “big trolley load” of shopping, for which they’d used the portable barcode scanner.

But it was the addition of a child beneath all the products that made it difficult when the employee went to do a random check on the trolley.

“I was on self scan and a customer came in with a big trolley load and in the trolley was a little girl wearing shorts and t-shirt,” they wrote in the Reddit post.

“She wasn’t not just sat there but they had buried her in the shopping up to her waist.”

The employee then asked the parents to take their child out of the trolley, because they “didn’t want to accidentally touch her picking things up and be accused of things”.

However, when the parents refused to remove the child, the worker “insisted politely I wasn’t going to check the trolley until she got out which eventually they did”.

“Am I being silly or is this a sensible precaution?” the Redditer concluded.

The employee then added in the Reddit post, that “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,” they continued.

People were quick to comment on the post, with many insisting they also hate it when kids sit in trolleys.

“That is one of my pet hates, along with these not putting frozen foods back in their proper place,” one wrote.

“That is why I never use trolleys, but hand baskets to do my shopping when off duty,” another added.

“For big shops, I do scan as you shop using my own shopper bags.”

“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),” another wrote.

“Why do supermarkets allow kids to sit in the trolley?” a third questioned.

“My food is going in there!”

“I would be met with abuse and indifference if I were to ask them to take their children out,” someone else raged.

“I am not paid £12.02 an hour to be met with abuse for what is a reasonable request on hygiene grounds.”

While others agreed with the supermarket worker that they’d done the right thing, as the customers could have been trying to sneak some items out without paying.

“100% with you on this,” one wrote.

“Can’t be too careful. Genuinely believe it’s <1% of people that do these things, but you still can’t be too careful,” someone else said.

As a third commented: “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.”

“A fair request,” another agreed.

“You removed the risk.of being accused of touching the girl. Also they should not be in the trolley anyway.”

“100% did the right thing,” someone else said.

“I would have done the same, placed in that situation.”