Tesco customers are blasting the supermarket chain over a rise in the number of self-service checkouts that have appeared in stores.
One disgruntled shopper took to Facebook to claim staff told them the supermarket was now "prioritising" self-service tills instead of conventional checkouts.
The shopper, who visited the Whiteley branch in Hampshire, wrote: "If you don't mind waiting in huge queues or using self-serve for a full trolley of food this is the store for you... might as well use Lidl now."
Other shoppers agreed with the complaint and shared they had also visited the same Tesco branch in Whitely and had experienced "packed tills".
Another commented: "It was the same on Saturday, absolutely packed at the tills and when customers commented on it staff said, it's a normal Saturday.
"It was not normal, I'd never seen Tescos like that before. I won't be using the store if it continues. Awful policy."
The complaints, however, are not just limited to the Whitely branch.
Tesco shoppers across the country are venting their frustrations online about the limited number of till staff working at their local stores.
One shopper shared on Facebook: "Just been into Tescos, the first time since Christmas and they've replaced most of the serviced tills with self-service. I would say at least 3/4 of them are now self-service.
"This is in a Tesco Extra Store, I refuse to use them, and I can see a few arguments ensuing in the future. They seem to have put most of the staff overseeing the self-service tills for now!
"I expect more redundancies will follow putting many people out of work.
"It's disgusting! IF YOU WANT TO PROTEST USE THE SERVICED TILLS, EVEN IF IT MEANS STANDING IN A VERY LONG QUEUE! Remember we are all getting older and life becomes more difficult as it is!"
Another shared their experience at the Tesco Newry branch and said the number of manned tills had "been greatly reduced" and the self-service area extended.
They wrote: "Only a few tills open forcing customers with trolleys to queue in the aisles. I asked one of them to open another till but he refused.
"They were herding everyone to use self-service instead. Defiantly will not be back to shop there again. Disgrace... on a busy Friday afternoon..."
Further criticisms have also been made on the decision to make their self-service checkouts cashless which many have said penalises those wanting/needing to pay with cash.
Twitter user @mb20nut said: "Hey @Tesco if your Extra branch in Streatham is going to discriminate against those wanting to pay with cash at self-service, and your lottery till won't allow more than 3 shop items to be purchased there - PUT MORE PEOPLE ON THE TILLS. Queues are a joke."
Last year Tesco announced it was to remove some of its traditional checkouts from many of its larger stores to move to more self-service tills.
The supermarket said the decision to do this was due to the “lack of customer demand”.
Tesco said the newly introduced self-service checkouts would be three times longer than standard sizes, allowing up to six bags to be packed at once, making them more suitable for customers buying more goods for a weekly shop.
This news was met with divided opinion, with some loving and some hating the announcement, but does follow the trend of other supermarkets such as Co-Op and Sainsbury's choosing to turn to automation services.
A petition was launched last year by disability campaigner Pat McCarthy on Change.org which called on Tesco, which was her local supermarket, to stop introducing self-service, card-only tills in its stores as it was discriminatory to disabled individuals.
As of February 2023, this petition has received nearly a quarter of a million signatures.
Tesco told Mirror Money that all of its stores, bar its Holborn branch in central London, offer a choice between staff-operated and self-service checkouts
A Tesco 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.
“We also remain committed to providing a wide choice of payment options at our stores, so that customers can pay using the method that best suits them, whether that is cash, card or contactless.”
