Is this the right category - pedants' corner?

Even if OP has been abroad for many years, and she did not say so, only that she was with a Swiss friend, she would have been hard put to it to find anywhere within Europe at least, where she would not have had to pay for a carrier bag!

And no, only linguistic pedants are welcome here, and even they are often criticised.

What if you don't have a car JackyB?

I thought all countries had imposed a charge for plastic carrier bags. Even before that, I always took my own bags. Here in Germany you are not allowed to take your own bags into the shop, but you can load them into the trolley and sort them into bags at your leisure in the car park. If you choose to pick up bags (a choice of cloth, paper, light weight and heavy duty plastic bags, as well as insulated ones for refrigerated goods is usually available) at the till, these will be charged at varying rates.

Surely you'll get over the shock of a 10p charge without too much angst.

@MawtheMerrier
You must have been out of the U.K. for a long time not to realise this!

Indeed yes...............44 years - and what a shock it was!

Nothing to do with pedantry.
Plastic bags are charged for by law, irrespective of how much you spend.
You must have been out of the U.K. for a long time not to realise this!

From 21 May 2021 retailers of any size (large, medium, small, micro and airport retailers) must charge a minimum of 10 pence for single-use carrier bags in England. You could be fined if you do not charge. Only large retailers are required to record and report the number of single-use carrier bags they sell in England.

Once when buying something in a jewellery shop I was given a very smart carrier bag and the assistant put 5p in a charity tin on the counter. She explained that they were legally obliged to charge for carriers and to give the money to charity but they were happy to give customers the bags without charge and absorb the cost and pass it on themselves.

I thought it was going to be about a sign reading’Tomatoe’s’

I’d rather have new bran than used!?

We have to charge for bags, I cringe when I think of the plastic I have unnecessarily used in the past.

I'd hoped you were going to mention the new trend of 'bran new' in sales listings. 'Bran new'!

My thoughts exactly Elizabeth. I suspect that having only recently returned to the UK the OP may not be familiar with the legal requirement for shops to charge for plastic carrier bags.

I remember once being miffed that after spending a three-figure sum on curtain material, they didn't throw in the thread for free. I didn't mind, and it was their right to do so, as a small business, but I still thought it could have been done as a mark of goodwill.

It was correct to be told that you would normally have to pay to show they are complying with the law.

You got it free, I do not see what point you are making.

PollyDolly

Surely, this is a government incentive to reduce the amount of plastic we use..........nothing to do with how much we can afford to spend

The bags might not have been plastic- brown paper maybe?

I bought a pair of shoes yesterday, they were in a box and I fully expected that to be it, but they were then putnin a paper carrier, which will be reused.

No, Countess, that’s not pedantry; your question should be in Thrift Corner; Avarice Greenhouse; or even Penny-Pinching Cupboard-under-the-stairs

Surely, this is a government incentive to reduce the amount of plastic we use..........nothing to do with how much we can afford to spend