The Tesco & other non-Morrisons supermarket thread

gottago
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I used the self serve tills in Tesco Express Soho to buy some alcohol the other day and found that my age verification was immediately approved by a staff member at a central controller using the CCTV attached to my till. Has anyone ever had this elsewhere? I assumed the cameras would just be for security and didn't realise they could be used for verification as well. Certainly made the checkout experience much quicker, particularly in a store where everyone was buying booze.
Martin Phillp
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gottago wrote: Fri 15 Jul, 2022 16.56 I used the self serve tills in Tesco Express Soho to buy some alcohol the other day and found that my age verification was immediately approved by a staff member at a central controller using the CCTV attached to my till. Has anyone ever had this elsewhere? I assumed the cameras would just be for security and didn't realise they could be used for verification as well. Certainly made the checkout experience much quicker, particularly in a store where everyone was buying booze.
I've never had to use age verification, but my Co-op has a touch screen console at the kiosk where the staff member can resolve issues without having to leave. In practise however, they still end up having to come over to the self-service tills.
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Jonwo
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Weirdly I got that in a Tesco as well when buying an energy drink, they didn't even bother coming over.
Charlie Wells
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gottago wrote: Fri 15 Jul, 2022 16.56 I used the self serve tills in Tesco Express Soho to buy some alcohol the other day and found that my age verification was immediately approved by a staff member at a central controller using the CCTV attached to my till. Has anyone ever had this elsewhere? I assumed the cameras would just be for security and didn't realise they could be used for verification as well. Certainly made the checkout experience much quicker, particularly in a store where everyone was buying booze.
Had that at the Tesco Extra near me, notably during covid so that staff could socially distance themselves.
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all new Phil
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I always find that when I buy a paper at the local Co-op, it thinks there’s an unexpected item in the bagging area, particularly on a weekend when there are more supplements. They always approve it from a terminal behind the counter. They never actually check. Someone more dishonest than I could surely scam that by sneaking a Curly-Wurly onto the scales at the same time.
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WillPS
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I think gottago is talking about something other than the panel for a member of staff to do stuff remotely
gottago wrote: Fri 15 Jul, 2022 16.56 I used the self serve tills in Tesco Express Soho to buy some alcohol the other day and found that my age verification was immediately approved by a staff member at a central controller using the CCTV attached to my till. Has anyone ever had this elsewhere? I assumed the cameras would just be for security and didn't realise they could be used for verification as well. Certainly made the checkout experience much quicker, particularly in a store where everyone was buying booze.
How did this work then? Did they just ask you to wave at the CCTV camera or did you have to show them some ID?
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gottago
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WillPS wrote: Sun 17 Jul, 2022 14.53 I think gottago is talking about something other than the panel for a member of staff to do stuff remotely
gottago wrote: Fri 15 Jul, 2022 16.56 I used the self serve tills in Tesco Express Soho to buy some alcohol the other day and found that my age verification was immediately approved by a staff member at a central controller using the CCTV attached to my till. Has anyone ever had this elsewhere? I assumed the cameras would just be for security and didn't realise they could be used for verification as well. Certainly made the checkout experience much quicker, particularly in a store where everyone was buying booze.
How did this work then? Did they just ask you to wave at the CCTV camera or did you have to show them some ID?
No, no, I am talking about that central panel next to the tills, just never had anything approved other than from a member of staff coming over to my till and simply assumed that was the only way!

In terms of how it worked, I literally did nothing. The booze made the beacon flash amber but a few seconds later it turned back green as it was approved. They must have observed me from the central panel and saw that I didn’t need age approval due to… well… age!
Martin Phillp
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all new Phil wrote: Sat 16 Jul, 2022 17.59 I always find that when I buy a paper at the local Co-op, it thinks there’s an unexpected item in the bagging area, particularly on a weekend when there are more supplements. They always approve it from a terminal behind the counter. They never actually check. Someone more dishonest than I could surely scam that by sneaking a Curly-Wurly onto the scales at the same time.
An all too regular issue with the self-service at my Co-op as well, although the last time I had an issue, the scales didn't register a packet of Popchips rather than the papers.
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Blewatter
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I was in a local corner shop today, and it dawned on me: I think I actually prefer talking to a cashier, and the added time of having friendly customer service exposure to the convenience of scan and pay kiosks.
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WillPS
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gottago wrote: Sun 17 Jul, 2022 22.02
WillPS wrote: Sun 17 Jul, 2022 14.53 I think gottago is talking about something other than the panel for a member of staff to do stuff remotely
gottago wrote: Fri 15 Jul, 2022 16.56 I used the self serve tills in Tesco Express Soho to buy some alcohol the other day and found that my age verification was immediately approved by a staff member at a central controller using the CCTV attached to my till. Has anyone ever had this elsewhere? I assumed the cameras would just be for security and didn't realise they could be used for verification as well. Certainly made the checkout experience much quicker, particularly in a store where everyone was buying booze.
How did this work then? Did they just ask you to wave at the CCTV camera or did you have to show them some ID?
No, no, I am talking about that central panel next to the tills, just never had anything approved other than from a member of staff coming over to my till and simply assumed that was the only way!

In terms of how it worked, I literally did nothing. The booze made the beacon flash amber but a few seconds later it turned back green as it was approved. They must have observed me from the central panel and saw that I didn’t need age approval due to… well… age!
Oh right, my apologies. Yeah that panel's existed as long as NCR Fastlane self checkouts have been a thing - although Sainsbury's made a point of not letting their staff use their one so they'd have to get up close with punters. Might have relaxed that over the pandemic tho.

I know there are pilot schemes to have tills which validate ID, I've even seen suggestion that they could use AI to determine age but I very much doubt such an approach would be compliant with licensing in the UK as it stands.
Blewatter wrote: Tue 19 Jul, 2022 22.12 I was in a local corner shop today, and it dawned on me: I think I actually prefer talking to a cashier, and the added time of having friendly customer service exposure to the convenience of scan and pay kiosks.
Profound.
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Pete
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WillPS wrote: Tue 19 Jul, 2022 22.56Oh right, my apologies. Yeah that panel's existed as long as NCR Fastlane self checkouts have been a thing - although Sainsbury's made a point of not letting their staff use their one so they'd have to get up close with punters. Might have relaxed that over the pandemic tho.
We weren't allowed to use the panel with the old Nixdorf self scans at B&Q and had to walk up to every customer and put the fob on. The panel was even installed in an inaccessible location just to make it even harder to stand at it.

That said they were so flakey that the first action upon putting the fob on the screen was to press "disable scale" (fun fact: plants weigh more when they've been watered).

The new ones they have seem to be either a lot more trusting, rely on the selfie screen to make you paranoid, or have some clever AI to prevent theft. They're a significant improvement as the queues during lockdown once they'd binned the self scans and forced everyone to go through manned checkouts were horrendous.
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