Eating without paying

totally agree with op - seeing mums taking sweets / sandwiches etc giving to their kids to eat walking round - I have shamed a few by asking them will they pay at checkout - most just ignore but know one or 2 paid

I've seen people look at recipe books and take photos of the ones they want with their phones, then put the books back.

I've seen this happen many times... people allowin g their kids to eat sweets or fruit as they walk around and yes on occasion I've watched to see if they've paid for it and they haven't, although some do of course.

Just the other day I watched as a mother allowed her children to rip a box to pieces to pull out a toy gun ( a large one) in Morrisons..run around the shop noisily with it, firing it at each other and then when the mother literally screamed at them that she wasn't going to pay for it.. it was dumped in the freezer.. by the mother..

I hate the bread rolls, doughnuts etc which are left uncovered for people to serve themselves. I hate to think how many people have coughed, spluttered and breathed over them and touched them. Yuk!

No...its live and let live with me..why would I stress over someone else's decision to be dis honest, its their problem, and to slate an old lady is a bit much IMHO.

And how are YOU paying for the thieves ?

My advice.. just do your own shopping and don't stress about what other shoppers get up to.. because like I said it is their did honesty and it is for them to have to live with...

I won't buy anything which isn't securely wrapped. A few years ago I was in Safeways where they had a stand where you could weigh out your own olives and other small nibbles. I saw a small boy on the edge picking his nose vigorously, wiped it on his sleeve then stuck the same finger into the olives. Yuk for ever more!

Sorry maddyone but you did give me a chuckle as I visualised you staggering round Waitrose with a bottle of vodka clutched in your hand to help deal with the stress of a busy shop...

As you were <puts thread back onto rails>

Daughter used to have Saturday job at New Look. Quite common for people to go into changing rooms and put on complete new outfit, leave their old clothes behind and walk out without paying. Staff would find old clothes later

Well Serkeen imagine you had a market stall selling little nick naks or cakes or whatever and at the end of a day you expect to make say £50 profit. However upon doing your stock take you find £30 worth missing so now you only have made £20 how will you make that up? You have your overheads a to pay. Stall rent, petrol etc. You make it up by putting up your prices to your paying customers or going out of business.

I can understand parents feeding a child in the supermarket, I used to feed my son a sausage from the deli counter on the way round. I know it doesn't take that long to go round a supermarket but my Monday afternoons consisted of a lot more than that and DS was always hungry. Yes, I paid for it.

And yet....there are moves to reduce the amount of plastic packaging which damages the environment, and people have said, possibly on this forum, that they'd prefer to help themselves to loose goods! I don't know what to think now.
In our Waitrose you can help yourself to bread or rolls with tongs and put in a paper bag which I think is good. Have never seen this coughing, sneezing etc around the bread.
Anything that's going to be cooked will be ok in any case.
I have heard about contamination of nuts etc in bowls on pub bars where people (men mostly?) go to the loo and comeback and take nuts without washing their hands, consequently I avoid those,

It's Tesco here that puts out fruit for children to eat on their way around the store, good idea,
I do try to encourage my grandchildren to choose a banana or orange, as they can be peeled, rather than apples, grapes, etc., that may have had many hands, sneezes, etc., touching them..!!

I was told that by someone that worked there when you buy a bra at M & S they take it out of the packet ostensibly to check the size, but in reality to check there's only one in the packet and you haven't stuffed another in there.

I really hate the idea of people "grazing" when in supermarkets . I am quite sure none of us need to eat or drink whilst walking around a supermarket.
Just make sure you have eaten before you go shoping or go to the supermarkets cafe.
How long does an ordinary shop take? Never much more than an hour if you know your store.

Children should not be snacking all the while anyway no wonder there is an obesity crises.

I do like the idea of free fresh fruit being offered though.

Do not underestimate how much extra money the supermarkets automatically allow for stolen items when they are pricing all their goods .

Things can't get much worse than something that happened in a local charity shop a few years ago. A man took some trousers into a changing room, them walked out wearing them, leaving his old ones behind. When the staff found them they were disgusted to find he had dirtied into them, and the shop had to be closed to be cleaned, as the contents of the trousers spilled out as they were moved. The helpers in the shop told me that the amount of things that were stolen was amazing, and often clothes were left behind, obviously in disgusting condition, but that had been the very worst.

some years ago my hubby and I were in a chemist shop. I heard a commotion and my hubby had got hold of a young male shop lifter. (Hubby is a retired police officer) The shop lifter had a load of perfumes under his jacket. He was kicking and struggling violently. To our surprise the shop owner said "let him go". The guy was allowed to run out of the shop. I can't understand why the police weren't called but the shop owner didn't seem to think it was worth the effort. My husband was very annoyed and said he'll never intervene again.

My DS (particularly DS3) are really eco-militants and can't understand why I prefer to buy wrapped fruit (a tray of 4-6 apples, say, with cellophane over them.

My argument is that not only are the apples less "contaminated" by people touching them all the time, they are also generally less fingered and possibly dropped or bruised).

Swings and roundabouts.

OMG the germ brigade are about. We are probably far more likely to get a cold from sitting next to someone on a bus or by cuddling our own poorly snotty grandchildren who leave snail trails over our jumpers.

When my daughter was a teenager, I asked her to call at the local shop and get some ham. She said “oh no, dont buy it from there, they let the dog lick it”. Apparently the shop owners had a dog And as he walked past would seroptisously give the big ham joint a crafty lick, yuk

I would never buy apples packaged like thatJackieB - I agree with your DS that all that packaging is wasteful and harmful to the environment. Just wash (or peel?) the apples before eating!
I agree with Nellie moser, these scare stories make people neurotic when there is no need. Wash or cook your food where possible, wash your hands after the toilet and before food preparation or eating. That'd all that's necessary!
Of course food needs to be properly cooked and stored and eaten within a sensible time scale (esp meat and dairy).

You all need to shop at Waitrose.

Customers there are FAR too polite to engage in any of the disgusting things mentioned on here!!

I was in my local Morrison’s and saw that someone had placed a baguette on the biscuit counter. On further examination I saw it had all the soft bread taken out , leaving only the outer shell!

Just been to Tesco this morning and most! Of the bread is now wrapped, so perhaps I'm not the only one who was concerned

On the subject of germs on "open" food, have you considered the amount of germs on your own hands from your supermarket trolley? The minute you push one your hands are covered in germs unless you use an antiseptic wipe

My local Tesco offers free fruit for children, great idea, occassionaly when DD was very much younger I would open a bag of crisps (rare treat) for her to eat in the trolley whilst I shopped, I always paid for them at the till.

Can't say I take particular notice of other people's shopping habits

I remember, years ago, seeing someone in Safeways actually open a pack of butter, scrape some off with a grubby finger, taste it, then refold the pack and return it to the fridge. This happened twice before they found one they wanted - then they didn't take the pack that they had opened, but replaced it in the fridge and took a new one. I too reported this to customer services who told me that it happened all the time. I've been always checked the packs since then.
So many people seem to feed their children on the way round, often unwrapped doughnuts taken with grubby bare hands from the loose bins, with several being handled and returned before selection. I only take unwrapped baked items from the very back of the trays now, and prefer to buy them wrapped.