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Supermarket checkout scam

Posted: Thu Nov 3, 2022 11:50am
9 replies641 views7 members subscribed
Cyril392

Posts: 56

47 helpful points

Location: San Javier

Joined: 20 Feb 2022

Just a heads-up - a friend was shopping in Lidl (San Pedro) several days ago. There was a black man and woman in the checkout queue immediately behind. Once my friend had all the groceries checked through, the woman pushed past him to the collection area beyond the till and paypoint. My friend paid, then went to put the shopping in carrier bags. As often happens, the next customer's shopping is quickly sent down an adjacent area after being checked through. At that point, my friend still had a significant number if items to pack; meanwhile, the woman who had pushed past was furiously packing her own items. However, as my friend continued to pack his items and turn away to put them in his trolley, he noticed on turning back, that a couple of items that he had bought and paid for, seemed to be  missing. He stopped and gave the couple a look. They just finished packing and left hurriedly. At the time, my friend wasn't sure if they had taken some of his things, and didn't want to cause a scene, but when he got home and unpacked the shopping, a couple of items were in fact missing, when compared with the receipt. Fortunately, the items weren't very expensive, but I thought the incident was worth a post. So keep an eye out for people who get unnecessarily close to you and your shopping in supermarket queues, especially if you are on your own.

eduardo3332

Posted: Fri Nov 4, 2022 11:21am

eduardo3332

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Posted: Fri Nov 4, 2022 11:21am

This post has been marked as unhelpful by our members.

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Cyril392 wrote on Thu Nov 3, 2022 11:50am:

Just a heads-up - a friend was shopping in Lidl (San Pedro) several days ago. There was a black man and woman in the checkout queue immediately behind. Once my friend had all the groceries checked through, the woman pushed past him to the collection area beyond the till and paypoint. My friend pa...

...id, then went to put the shopping in carrier bags. As often happens, the next customer's shopping is quickly sent down an adjacent area after being checked through. At that point, my friend still had a significant number if items to pack; meanwhile, the woman who had pushed past was furiously packing her own items. However, as my friend continued to pack his items and turn away to put them in his trolley, he noticed on turning back, that a couple of items that he had bought and paid for, seemed to be  missing. He stopped and gave the couple a look. They just finished packing and left hurriedly. At the time, my friend wasn't sure if they had taken some of his things, and didn't want to cause a scene, but when he got home and unpacked the shopping, a couple of items were in fact missing, when compared with the receipt. Fortunately, the items weren't very expensive, but I thought the incident was worth a post. So keep an eye out for people who get unnecessarily close to you and your shopping in supermarket queues, especially if you are on your own.

helpful post but I do not see why you have to say Black man and woman? a couple would have been sufficient.

Why is it a scam? It is quite  possible it was a mistake? and maybe they were hurrying away because they had to be somewhere.

If I thought they had packed some of my items I would have politely said "excuse me do you think you may have accidently packed a couple of my items"

Casacymruenespana

Posted: Sat Nov 5, 2022 2:16pm

Casacymruenespana

Helpful member

Posts: 194

148 helpful points

Location: Lo Pagan

Joined: 2 Oct 2015

Posted: Sat Nov 5, 2022 2:16pm

Thanks for sharing and detailing the description, it can be quite fraught at the checkout so mistakes can happen.

It could be worthwhile your friend notifying the store manager as the tills are probably on security camera, too late for him but could be useful to the store and future customers to ensure the "error" isn`t repeated...........

The value may well be incidental but other customers may have experienced this kind of incident already.

Buttercup1206

Posted: Sun Nov 6, 2022 8:28am

Posts: 20

3 helpful points

Location: Camposol

Joined: 13 Mar 2022

Posted: Sun Nov 6, 2022 8:28am

Casacymruenespana wrote on Sat Nov 5, 2022 2:16pm:

Thanks for sharing and detailing the description, it can be quite fraught at the checkout so mistakes can happen.

It could be worthwhile your friend notifying the store manager as the tills are probably on security camera, too late for him but could be useful to the store and future customers to ensure the "error" isn`t repeated..............

...

The value may well be incidental but other customers may have experienced this kind of incident already.

I wander whether you would have described them as white if they had been white?? Just a thought.  It may have been unintended and instead of giving a look you could have asked.  I have lost items at the till its up to everyone to be mindful, polite, and courteous and communicate politely if there are issues. 

RichT

Posted: Sun Nov 6, 2022 1:18pm

RichT

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Location: Lorca

Joined: 13 Sep 2019

Posted: Sun Nov 6, 2022 1:18pm

The OP has helpfully highlighted what his friend thought was a scam or theft, to warn other members of this forum that this may happen. None of us were there, but the friend clearly thought that something untoward had taken place and was concerned enough to inform the OP. Most people don't make spurious allegations, so some of the responses questioning their reasons for raising this are not helpful.

A few points:

Assuming the OPs friend is also an expat, it is highly likely that he is of retirement age and therefore may not feel confident in questioning two people whom he doesn't know, potentially with a language barrier, for fear of the response.

As described, different customers' purchases are separated by a physical barrier, so to take items from another customer's section takes a deliberate effort and could only possibly be excused if they had bought identical items; and it would reasonably be expected that THEY would have politely communicated with the OP's friend that this was the issue ("Excuse me, I think that's my loaf of bread in with your other shopping").

To describe someone as 'black' is factual, just as would height, apparent age, hair colour, other distinctive features, etc. Recently, a poster on this forum described a 'white' van as being suspected to be involved in burglaries on Camposol - there is no difference, unless the person reading the description interprets it as such (in which case that could be considered to be their problem). I'm surprised no-one has jumped in and questioned the use of 'man and 'woman' in the description, as they may have been transgender or non-binary!

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Casacymruenespana

Posted: Mon Nov 7, 2022 12:03am

Casacymruenespana

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Posts: 194

148 helpful points

Location: Lo Pagan

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Posted: Mon Nov 7, 2022 12:03am

Buttercup1206 wrote on Sun Nov 6, 2022 8:28am:

I wander whether you would have described them as white if they had been white?? Just a thought.  It may have been unintended and instead of giving a look you could have asked.  I have lost items at the till its up to everyone to be mindful, polite, and courteous and communicate politel...

...y if there are issues. 

I had my wallet stolen by a distraction robbery not long back, I reported it to the Police & they appreciated the best description I could give of the 2 men involved…I’d like to think I’d be a little sharper in future….too damn trusting.

Next time we are in Lidl I’ll be watchful of a man & woman bustling past me….it could be innocent as it happens or done on purpose but I’d like to give people the benefit of the doubt, however IF I see a black man & a woman doing this, I’ll be far more suspicious because they clearly have a well worked routine….exactly as my distraction robbery experience….the majority of people are trusting & the criminals absolutely play on that.

The suggestion to discuss the theft with the Store Manager could clarify if this was a  genuine error or if they did it on purpose and share the information with the Police & other Lidl stores….these people move around to avoid detection but may return sometime in future.

I appreciated the detailed information…2 white people wouldn’t be as distinguishable, and if it helps prevents another theft the poster has achieved the purpose of his post..!

ann75

Posted: Mon Nov 7, 2022 12:42am

ann75

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Posts: 525

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Joined: 2 Jul 2019

Posted: Mon Nov 7, 2022 12:42am

RichT wrote on Sun Nov 6, 2022 1:18pm:

The OP has helpfully highlighted what his friend thought was a scam or theft, to warn other members of this forum that this may happen. None of us were there, but the friend clearly thought that something untoward had taken place and was concerned enough to inform the OP. Most people don't make s...

...purious allegations, so some of the responses questioning their reasons for raising this are not helpful.

A few points:

Assuming the OPs friend is also an expat, it is highly likely that he is of retirement age and therefore may not feel confident in questioning two people whom he doesn't know, potentially with a language barrier, for fear of the response.

As described, different customers' purchases are separated by a physical barrier, so to take items from another customer's section takes a deliberate effort and could only possibly be excused if they had bought identical items; and it would reasonably be expected that THEY would have politely communicated with the OP's friend that this was the issue ("Excuse me, I think that's my loaf of bread in with your other shopping").

To describe someone as 'black' is factual, just as would height, apparent age, hair colour, other distinctive features, etc. Recently, a poster on this forum described a 'white' van as being suspected to be involved in burglaries on Camposol - there is no difference, unless the person reading the description interprets it as such (in which case that could be considered to be their problem). I'm surprised no-one has jumped in and questioned the use of 'man and 'woman' in the description, as they may have been transgender or non-binary!

The description given was helpful in identifying what probably was a scam. If the couple were white I'm sure, given the helpful account of what happened, that this poster would have said so. Why would anyone take offence at the description given? 

I agree too that it is not that easy to confuse your own purchases with someone else's because of the dividing chute they use. Also, possibly with being unsure and perhaps language difficulties as well &  not expecting this type of thing to happen I can understand why he may not have wanted to deal with it more effectively - I'd probably have reacted the same way. My sympathies to the individual concerned - not a nice thing to experience and thank you for alerting people to what happened. I'll be watchful as a result.

Cyril392

Posted: Wed Nov 9, 2022 3:16pm

Cyril392

Original Poster

Posts: 56

47 helpful points

Location: San Javier

Joined: 20 Feb 2022

Posted: Wed Nov 9, 2022 3:16pm

Oh dear!

Well, first and foremost, my sincere gratitude goes to RichT and those others for their perception in understanding the narrative of my original post. Also, a good point was made about contacting the store manager - it just didn't occur to my friend at the time.

To eduardo3332 and those others who have tried to turn it into a political correctness issue, thank you for your detailed critique on my well-intentioned note to a community forum, some members of which can lay claim to being vulnerable on occasion.

I have no need to justify the contents of my OP, but notwithstanding, I am minded to offer the following:

1. I called them a black man and a black woman for the simple reason that it describes them more accurately than just "a couple" - and also because that, in fact, is what they were/are. Frankly, I wouldn't have cared if they had been purple with green spots and a red stripe down their backs; and if they had been white, I would have said so. It's not in any way a racist comment; it's just a means of more accurate identification - and a statement of fact. Of course, what I didn't realise was that there existed in these parts quite a healthy branch of the "Political Correctness Gone Mad" party. Silly me.

2. On the question of "did they or didn't they?", (if you want to be pedantic about it), without hard evidence, no, I don't suppose any accusation of theft would stand up in a "court of law"(!), but this kind of incident almost invariably falls into the same category as not needing to stick your hand in a fire to find out whether or not you're going to get burnt. Q.E.D. - not!

3. It was, as I said, just a heads-up. Now, please come down from that illusory, self-righteous, moral high ground you feel the need to inhabit.

Buttercup1206

Posted: Wed Nov 9, 2022 11:21pm

Posts: 20

3 helpful points

Location: Camposol

Joined: 13 Mar 2022

Posted: Wed Nov 9, 2022 11:21pm

Cyril392 wrote on Wed Nov 9, 2022 3:16pm:

Oh dear!

Well, first and foremost, my sincere gratitude goes to RichT and those others for their perception in understanding the narrative of my original post. Also, a good point was made about contacting the store manager - it just didn't occur to my friend at the time.

To eduardo3332 and those others who have tried to turn it into a political correctness issue, thank you for your detailed critique on my well-intentioned note to a community forum, some members of which can lay claim to being vulnerable on occasion.

I have no need to justify the contents of my OP, but notwithstanding, I am minded to offer the following:

1. I called them a black man and a black woman for the simple reason that it describes them more accurately than just "a couple" - and also because that, in fact, is what they were/are. Frankly, I wouldn't have cared if they had been purple with green spots and a red stripe down their backs; and if they had been white, I would have said so. It's not in any way a racist comment; it's just a means of more accurate identification - and a statement of fact. Of course, what I didn't realise was that there existed in these parts quite a healthy branch of the "Political Correctness Gone Mad" party. Silly me.

2. On the question of "did they or didn't they?", (if you want to be pedantic about it), without hard evidence, no, I don't suppose any accusation of theft would stand up in a "court of law"(!), but this kind of incident almost invariably falls into the same category as not needing to stick your hand in a fire to find out whether or not you're going to get burnt. Q.E.D. - not!

3. It was, as I said, just a heads-up. Now, please come down from that illusory, self-righteous, moral high ground you feel the need to inhabit.

Black man and woman. Yep a really accurate description! 

 I will be sure to look out for them. 

GrahamG

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2022 10:07am

GrahamG

Helpful member

Posts: 114

57 helpful points

Location: Mazarron

Joined: 31 Jul 2019

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2022 10:07am

Buttercup1206 wrote on Sun Nov 6, 2022 8:28am:

I wander whether you would have described them as white if they had been white?? Just a thought.  It may have been unintended and instead of giving a look you could have asked.  I have lost items at the till its up to everyone to be mindful, polite, and courteous and communicate politel...

...y if there are issues. 

Cant see the problem , they were black and the op described them as black.

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