Metropol

I don't get why they don't just put bollards on the walking routes out of tesco. mine always has an assortment of abandoned trolleys there too.

on a differnet note i am very pleased to have a coin placeholder, if you attach it to a keyring you can easily remove the coin after the trolley has been removed.

The Asda I shop at (because I'm royalty, innit) installed this trolley locking technology last week. They've buried some kind of device in the pavements outside. Now this has lead to people deliberately seeing if they can defeat it by wheeling trolleys on to the road to avoid the red line and then putting them back on the pavement. Hence there are now lots of abandoned trolleys in the surrounding area. Well done, Asda.

Chie wrote:The Asda I shop at (because I'm royalty, innit) installed this trolley locking technology last week. They've buried some kind of device in the pavements outside. Now this has lead to people deliberately seeing if they can defeat it by wheeling trolleys on to the road to avoid the red line and then putting them back on the pavement. Hence there are now lots of abandoned trolleys in the surrounding area. Well done, Asda.

Sorry - you're blaming ASDA for some immature people's idiocy? I think that there would be even more trolleys around if there weren't any prevention facilities.

Oh - and the word is LED dear boy, as in "This has led to ..." I know they don't speak English much in Birmingham any more but do try. It helps us understand your nonsensical ramblings.

Alexia wrote:

Chie wrote:The Asda I shop at (because I'm royalty, innit) installed this trolley locking technology last week. They've buried some kind of device in the pavements outside. Now this has lead to people deliberately seeing if they can defeat it by wheeling trolleys on to the road to avoid the red line and then putting them back on the pavement. Hence there are now lots of abandoned trolleys in the surrounding area. Well done, Asda.

Sorry - you're blaming ASDA for some immature people's idiocy? I think that there would be even more trolleys around if there weren't any prevention facilities.

Oh - and the word is LED dear boy, as in "This has led to ..." I know they don't speak English much in Birmingham any more but do try. It helps us understand your nonsensical ramblings.

Sadly, Alexia's nonsensical ramblings will never be fully understood.

Chie wrote:The Asda I shop at (because I'm royalty, innit) installed this trolley locking technology last week. They've buried some kind of device in the pavements outside. Now this has lead to people deliberately seeing if they can defeat it by wheeling trolleys on to the road to avoid the red line and then putting them back on the pavement. Hence there are now lots of abandoned trolleys in the surrounding area. Well done, Asda.

This will probably be outweighed by the money they save long term and the fact this won't happen very much once all the chavs got over the novelty of it.

It's not as if the system is new, so it's obviously worked well elsewhere longer term.

Alexia wrote:Sorry - you're blaming ASDA for some immature people's idiocy? I think that there would be even more trolleys around if there weren't any prevention facilities.

It just seems like an open invitation for people to try, that's all. Whereas before they wouldn't have really thought about it.

Alexia wrote:Oh - and the word is LED dear boy, as in "This has led to ..." I know they don't speak English much in Birmingham any more but do try. It helps us understand your nonsensical ramblings.

LED is an acronym, you mardy old cunt.

Chie wrote:

Alexia wrote: It just seems like an open invitation for people to try, that's all. Whereas before they wouldn't have really thought about it.

Before they'd have took one them home with them every week and dumped it in a stream, making a mess of the nation and costing the supermarkets hundreds of thousands each year.

wells wrote:Before they'd have took one them home with them every week and dumped it in a stream, making a mess of the nation and costing the supermarkets hundreds of thousands each year.

DAILY MAIL ALERT

I actually have to give Chie a bit of YAYing in this thread now, firstly because he used the word "mardy" and secondly because he called out what does sound like a number wells has pulled from his arse. Prove me wrong wells!

Oh I have no evidence to back this up, I'll admit that now. But Chie can't come to a conclusion as to whether the scheme is worthwhile or not on the evidence of a week or so.

I seem to remember something in the dim and distant past saying it cost supermarkets a fair bit of money to replace the trolleys that go missing and if it wasn't saving the money for the supermarkets they wouldn't be still putting these systems in. I remember having a walk from my local Tesco some years ago and being amazed by the amount of these lying around around on the side of the footpaths in bushes and streams etc.

Well I have done some research, and the average supermarket loses £150.32 worth of shopping trolleys every year. I therefore conclude that it will take several years to return a financial benefit from installing these expensive wheel locking mechanisms.

It should be noted, in fairness, that councils now have the power to seek and destroy abandoned trolleys and claim the cost back from the owner under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, if the trolley is not reclaimed by the notified supermarket within six weeks. However, I suspect that most stores do reclaim the majority and thus don't incur any charge.

A few other points, a lot of people who nick trolleys live close by to the supermarket and simply store the trolley in their alleyway, garage or somewhere else and take it back to the supermarket next time they shop. They only really end up in ditches and canals when stolen by kids. The rest are abandoned at bus stops and other areas where they don't cause any enviromental problems.

Also because the wheel locking mechanisms bring the trolley to an abrupt halt, they present a health and safety hazard and leave the supermarkets open to claims for damages should any serious injury result, further reducing the cost benefits of the system.

Another health and safety hazard may be caused by trolleys which are rendered immobile at limited exit points around the store. In particular, they pose a large obstacle for wheelchair users. The paths on which the magnets are sited around my supermarket are about four feet in width - if there's an immobilised trolley in the middle of the path, then no wheelchair user will get past it. The magnets are located 400 feet (according to Google Earth) from the front doors of the supermarket, so it's impossible for staff to continually monitor the area and collect immobilised trolleys all the time. They could place two bollards at the end of the car park instead, which would allow wheelchairs to pass freely, but not shopping trolleys.

By the way, if you're interested in seeing the patent designs for the wheel locking mechanism and magnets, they're available on the Intellectual Property Office website.

(10,000 trolleys x £80 per trolley) / 5322 supermarkets = £150.32

Data sources:
DEFRA (2007). Guidance on the Management of Shopping Trolleys.
The Institute of Grocery Distribution (2007). UK Grocery Retailing Store Numbers & Sector Value.