UKC

On the magazine rack, a sole copy of the 2007-8 Ellis Brigham catalogue. £3.00! Not even got any editorial content, it really is just pictures of people in various outdoorsy clothes, and pics of equipment, with prices. Why would anyone pay £3.00?

Then, in the World Foods, Natco chick peas 24p per can or 5 for £1.00, and in the "canned foods", Tesco brand chick peas 43p per can. Hmm

Then the buttons on the Chip and PIN thing would not work. Many attempts. Not once was it suggested that I might simply sign (well I quietly suggested it but it was virtually ignored - they were more interested in getting the buttons to work, whilst a queue built up behind me)

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Came bundled with a recent issue of Trail I think. Someone probably opened it and just had the mag leaving the catalogue

In reply to Blue Straggler: Tesco's own longlife skimmed milk with a caution sign on the side "may contain milk".

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Or you can just buy a huge sack of dried chickpeas for about a quid, that's the equivalent of roughly 20 cans when soaked and boiled!

In reply to Blue Straggler:


It's very rare these days that an issuing bank will authorise a transaction on a chip & pin card that isn't done with pin confirmation. That's probably why they were trying to get it to work, signing isn't an option anymore.
The only way around this would be to put it through as a "customer not present" transaction later on a different terminal, but I can't see Tesco doing that.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

I wonder what they're up to,

Last time I was in there, there was a sign on the toilet that said:

"Every little helps"

What are they doing with our excreta?

In reply to Mike C: Not so sure - my Dad has short term memory problems & cannot remember his PIN N° - when I ask him how he manages to pay for his shopping he tells me that he always signs (he uses Tesco & Morrissons), just as he used to before the UK started using the PIN system in shops

In reply to Mike C: When I worked in petrol station someone from Shell told me that stolen cards could still be used if the criminal removed the chip and replaced it again, thus disabling it. Because they had already put the petrol in the tank we had no choice but to take the transaction on a signature, but Shell were happy with that because the bank had to take responsibility for the fraud because the card had been placed, at least initially, in the chip n pin machine. So much for extra security!

In reply to Doug:

Maybe it's the bank we use for processing payments then (RBS). If the customer can't remember the PIN it tends to deny authorisation by any other method. Basically it means we can't process it, unless we pretend the card isn't there.

In reply to Rob Kennard:

That's probably right. If the chip is damaged it can default to signature verification. With our system though, if it reads the chip OK it then needs the PIN.

In reply to Mike C:

I was in Norway last week and had a senior moment, couldn't remember my PIN before checking out of the hotel. I thought "shit, this is going to be interesting - how am I going to pay".

Managed to phone MrsG, who had to nip back home to get the number (I know you're not supposed to but we have them written down somewhere).

So, fully half-an-hour later, I'm now fully armed with Card and PIN. The lady behind the counter just swipes it and hands it back to me.

Bastard!

In reply to Mike C:

I've signed rather than used PIN several times lately, usually at garages. However this has always been at the instigation of the retailer rather than becuase I've forgotten my number.

In reply to Tyler: There's some really interesting threads on this forum, aren't there?

In reply to Tyler: I'd be a bit wary of that. Garages are something of a hotspot for card fraud and they might be using this as a ruse to skim your card. Much safer just to stick your card in the PIN pad yourself. I don't know of any reason why a bank or a retailer would, as a policy rather than in exceptional circumstances, prefer signing to PIN verification.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

sitting here trying to work out why you picked it up in the first place ?

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Well for a Sainsoddity, over the tannoy this evening whilst shopping came a call for 'all managers, Code 6 alert' .

I was expecting sirens to go off, lights to flash and people to run around in flak jackets but was sadly disappointed.

So is anyone up with sainsbury's code - was it 'underground lair breached' or 'out of chickpeas, Aisle 15'.

I discounted the possibility that it might be 'shelf-stacker collapsed due to exhaustion' as too unlikely.

Steve

In reply to Steve Culverhouse: They've just spotted that Tescos' broccoli is cheaper and need to get it off the shelves.

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Slightly off the point, but while in sainsburies a couple of days ago, i did notice that they had waitrose coffee biscuits on their shelves. I tried to buy a packet to see what happened. They swiped it, and it didn't go through, i packed it and then felt bad, so i fessed up. They then took down the rest of the packets. Anyone else seen stuff likethat?

In reply to diablo:

To see if there was any editorial, or articles. Some catalogues do actually warrant a cover price sometimes (I forget which brand, but I did get one - free - once, which did have some nice articles in it, that did not seem to be product-placement stuff, and good photographs printed on quite good-quality paper)

The Ellis Brigham one appeared to have none of that.

In reply to canadiankate: No but this thread is just getting better and better...

Doh!

In reply to Blue Straggler:


What will happen is that you get used to buying chick peas at Tescos, then they will continually be out of stock of the Natco ones, and you will just buy the Tesco branded ones instead.

They did something like this with white-wine vinegar. Used to be able to get a 500ml bottle of another brand for only just a bit more than the tesco 350ml one. Then the other brand 500ml bottles disappeared, leaving only the more expensive (per ml) 250ml other brand ones. So you then bought the - now cheaper - tesco brand one, even though it was still more expensive than the 500ml bottle had been.

The Tesco in Catterick Garrison (pop. 12,000) has the same number of 'Parent and Toddler' spaces as 'Disabled' ones. The P&T ones are ALWAYS full (not always by cars with baby seats in). The disabled ones however are NEVER fully utilised.

This is because of two reasons. Firstly, TESCO refuse to let P&Ts use the disabled slots as overspill when their 'own' spaces are all full. Secondly, the town is full of SOLDIERS!!

In reply to GavH:

Excellent, but there must be some disabled soldiers around who have lost legs or been otherwise disabled but still in the job. Still do not need the same as a normal town though.

In reply to sutty:

Admittedly and sadly Yes, you do see some blokes walking around who don't look nearly as healthy as they did before they went out. But in most cases, the guys who lose legs etc (and there are quite a few) are medically discharged. Hence the need for everyone to support the Royal British Legion with their annual Poppy appeal. Regardless of political views.

In reply to GavH:

& Aberdeen's store's disabled slots are always full, but rarely a disabled sticker in sight. Lazy sods in 4x4s.

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:


Stick around Rob, things get wilder than this!

In reply to Blue Straggler:


Par for the course, there are lots of examples of this sort of thing if you know where to look. Especially with whole foods, nuts and world foods, ie spices

In reply to nacnud: I recently went to the new Sainsbury's in Matlock (before you ask, yes I was desparate was a Sunday and I didn't have the time to drive to Waitrose in Buxton) anyway their mascapone was about 97p for 250g or £1.04 for 500g. I know there's an economy of scale here but WTF?

PS supermarkets are cvnts, buy local food at local shops whenever you can.

In reply to Anonymous: Better than summerfield basmalti rice; a 500g pack costs more than double a 250g pack of exactly the same stuff.

In reply to GavH:

I'd echo your support for the Poppy Appeal, needed as much now as ever.

You are right that most, (but cerainly not all) amputees are medically discharged. There are more lower limb amputees still serving than you might expect. Medically downgraded yes, but still serving in a more restricted role. Some who could stay understandably choose to go and are medically discharged, but it's not a carte blanche decision.

My father, who recently passed away, was an amputee from WW2 and lived in a BLESMA (British Limbless Ex Serviceman's) home. All the residents dated from WW2. I strongly suspect that BLESMA does sterling work with younger, contemporary amputees, but they are too young to be seem at the homes.

Regards,

Steve

In reply to GavH:

I use them if they are there but I can't say I've ever been horrendously inconvenienced getting the weans into the car in a normal space.

In reply to Removed User: Depends on the age of them. Getting a baby carrier out of a car requires WIDE spaces.

Cx

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Latest Tescodditiy.

This week, they've started heavily advertising their semi-regular "Sepnd £50 and get 5p per litre off your petrol."

At the same time, the branch near me has *added* 5p per litre to their fuel prices! Petrol at 98.9, diesel at 100.9. Cheapest local prices are 93.9 and 95.9p.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Not Tesco but Morrisons.

I found a DVD copy of 'Amazon Women on the Moon' for £2.50, in amongst all the random cheap DVDs of various quality (from 'Anacondas: Search for the Blood Orchid", through "Vertical Limit", to "Your Friends and Neighbors" and "Igby Goes Down" - usual suspects - but Amazon Women on the Moon has hitherto been quite tricky to track down, so that was a good result for me)

Then when at the checkout, nice lady asked me if I was over 21, when my wine bottle rolled up. I am considerably older than 21. I said yes, and that was good enough for her. Then she asked how old I actually was. Odd. Especially as the same thing happened in Morrisons last December.

Actually I had to produce ID when buying one can of beer at an off-licence last night, too. Charmed!

In reply to steve456:

Reminds me of some Yorkshire pub we stopped at during a 5-day trek, when youngsters. Pint of lemonade: 95p. Half pint of lemonade: 45p

I was cheeky enough to ask for two halves and an empty pint glass, which they provided without question.

I like to think it was some sort of test that we passed

In reply to Anonymous:
>

Yes. Our local big tesco in Westhill has started that. However it doesnt have a petrol station attached. So you would need to take your vouchers and drive ohh, about 10-12 miles in opposite directions to the ones in Bridge of Don or Inverurie to use them. Not that you would. Unless you were weird.

In reply to Mike C:

Re: Signing for transactions.

The banks will still let customers sign if they are blind.

In reply to no one in particular:

I can't quite believe that I read this thread.

In reply to Moacs:

Yeah well I replied!

It's a slow morning.

In reply to Blue Straggler:


That's because the fines have gone up if you do sell to under age kids and everyone is paranoid.

In reply to Toby S:

But how does our fully automated system know that they are blind? Unless of course the bank already knows & it is flagged up from their chip. A forgotten PIN wouldn't give the same result methinks.

In reply to Mike C:

Mum declares it when she gets a new card and they don't send her a pin. When she goes to pay the cashier gets a message to say that it's a signature card. I think the bank must program something into the card.