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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Neil Shaw & Laura Sharman

Tesco shopper fights back against self-service checkouts as machines 'replace people'

A Tesco shopper is demanding for people to stop being replaced by machines after struggling to use a self-service checkout.

Pat McCarthy, 69, has started a petition calling for more cashiers at Tesco which has gained an astonishing 101,000 signatures so far.

The volunteer, from Brentford, West London, launched the campaign after visiting a store where three quarters of the tills were self service, reports Wales Online.

"These new tills are not accessible for people who don't have credit cards and can only use cash or those with little confidence to use these self-service card only tills, myself included," she said.

"People such as carers, older people, disabled people with mobility problems or lifting problems have to queue waiting for more than 30 minutes," she added.

Pat volunteers with disabled people (wales online)

Shoppers faced 30 minute queues at her local large supermarket where just five or six tills had cashiers, Ms McCarthy said.

The retiree volunteers with disabled people who need help applying for Personal Independence Payment and is a trustee at her local disability network.

"You do need some self-service for the people who find them more convenient but just fewer," she added.

Twitter hashtag #BringBackTescoStaff has been used more than 3,000 times by people sharing the petition.

Simon Attwood tweeted: "If everyone that goes in to a Tesco loads their trolley up and find they are being directed to an automated till, just leave your full trolley at the till.

Pat said the new tills are not accessible for everyone (James Linsell-Clark/ SWNS)

"It will require more staff labour to empty and re-shelve than operate a till"

The Dobson Family tweeted: "My own experience working in retail for six years was that for some of our customers, especially our more vulnerable ones, we were the only people they talked to in a week.

"They may not have bought much, but they were out."

Knitty42 added: "I never use self-serve tills. Invariably the bloody things find something wrong with my purchase or my bag or the way I'm looking at it, so I have to get staff over to fix anyway.

"I don't need my frustration levels pushed even higher by a tetchy machine."

Dr Angi said: "On my last visit to Tesco’s we had a £170 shop.

More than 101,000 people have signed her petition for more Tesco cashiers (PA)

"We were told to go to the self checkout tills. We said unless you open the check out we were leaving all this right here and will never shop here again - they opened the tills"

Tesco is among the retailers now trialling shops that have no tills at all - using apps and scanners to charge customers for what they buy.

Tesco told the Mirror that customers have a choice of both types of checkout.

A spokesperson said: “Our colleagues and the friendly service they provide are absolutely vital to our stores and will always be on hand to help our customers, whether they are checking out at one of our colleague-operated or self-service checkouts.

"We first introduced self-service checkouts nearly 20 years ago to give our customers a choice and our stores have both types of checkout.”

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