No baskets at Stop & Shop

does SS still have the weight measurement?  It seems shoprite stopped using it because of the various bags..  Union shoprite double scanned an item on me, and it didn't yell at me to put the phantom item in the bagging area so I didn't know until i got home.  The weight check was also a safeguard from accidentally double scanning..and that was before May 4


S&S is not one of my regular stops but it sounds like it's become a bit chaotic.


I never have a problem there.  I use the personal scanner and scan things as I select them.  They go right into my bags in the cart.  Checkout takes less than a minute.  Once every 6 or 7 visits the computer flags me for an honesty check and a cashier scans 7 or 8 things out of my bags.  Their algorithm figures they would find an unscanned item by then.


Smedley said:

I took a lap around the front end today looking for one, to no avail. Asked the nice lady by the self-checkout and she said after the single-use bag ban, some people would decide use the basket as their bag on the way out of the store rather than buy a reusable bag, and just plop it in their trunk and never return it. She said at this time S&S doesn't plan to order more baskets. 

As Seinfeld said about people: they're the worst.

I saw a lady do this exact thing last week at Stop & Shop.  The unmatched nerve.


Smedley said:

Yeah I ended up using my reusable bag as a de facto basket, but I don't think this is a sustainable practice. Stores in general disallow, or at the very least frown upon, putting unpaid-for stuff in a bag, for obvious reasons. It's considered concealment of merchandise and I think that in itself might even technically be a misdemeanor.

I think the answer is more more smaller carts.  

I use the hand scanner and place the items in my tote.  I  believe that's the purpose of the hand scanners.


Folks I meant a carry basket like the ones that Stop and Shop took away. Oy. I'll edit now.


3 out 5 last shopping trips were unplanned and resulted in loose groceries on the back seat because I'm petty  oh oh about buying bags. Must get better at keeping bags/totes in my trunk. 


the18thletter said:

3 out 5 last shopping trips were unplanned and resulted in loose groceries on the back seat because I'm petty 
oh oh
about buying bags. Must get better at keeping bags/totes in my trunk. 

stop at dollar tree and get a box of garbage bags to keep in the car just in case you get stuck, or just take a couple of your good garbage bags.  I specifically do this for the thrift store...i like to seal the items in plastic until I can wash them.


So, what do you think people are going to do with the baskets now that they have them at home? I would think that you'd bring them back the next visit. Who wants one of those?


jmitw said:

the18thletter said:

3 out 5 last shopping trips were unplanned and resulted in loose groceries on the back seat because I'm petty 
oh oh
about buying bags. Must get better at keeping bags/totes in my trunk. 

stop at dollar tree and get a box of garbage bags to keep in the car just in case you get stuck, or just take a couple of your good garbage bags.  I specifically do this for the thrift store...i like to seal the items in plastic until I can wash them.

why not just buy two or three fabric bags for the same price?  They can be laundered when needed.  I've collected so many from street fairs, etc over the last few years. Let's try to get rid of plastic bags.  It isn't hard.


jmitw said:

stop at dollar tree and get a box of garbage bags to keep in the car just in case you get stuck, or just take a couple of your good garbage bags.  I specifically do this for the thrift store...i like to seal the items in plastic until I can wash them.

The reason I'm petty is because I have more than enough reusable and old plastic bags at home. Once I went in the store and left my bags in the car having forgot I put them in for an emergency. At least there was no line to hold up while I bagged my groceries at my trunk that day. 


a small box of plastic REUSABLE/multi use garbage bags takes up less room and is a LOT CHEAPER (NOT the SAME PRICE).....10 for 1.25...and are a good back up plan for when you forget to put the canvas/cloth/POLYPROPYLENE.  I actually wash my canvas/cloth/POLYPROPYLENE and hang them to dry.....and i have memory issues from a brain injury...so I repeatedly forget to bring them with me.

if you bring a few hefty/glad stretch bags, they are very sturdy...and can easily just be used for garbage after you unload the groceries...or reused for a few shopping trips before lining your garbage.

personally I am reusing the dollar tree bags for thrift store purchases....i don't have to worry about them being germy because I wash all items as soon as I  get home anyway.   canvas/cloth/POLYPROPYLENE  can't be sealed shut in case there are any bugs at the thrift store.

and don't forget...research has shown that these so called reusable bags are worse for the environment because of the resources they use to make and transport them....and worse once they enter the landfill.  I have a lot of bags from over the last 20 years that ripped when I barely used them.  Shoprite is selling some cheap bags I think 4/$1 that don't seem like they will last a month.

not everyone gets to go to street fairs....and yes it is that hard for some people.....among other issues living in poverty due to being actually severely disabled as per SSA standards...my washer is 22 years old...when it breaks, I can't afford to fix it.   I can't get out to the laundromat....even if I could, I can't afford it....and washing the bags is bad for the environment..with water and energy use....and the cloth bags are a pain to use, at least with the flat bottom bags, you can stand them up on the shelf and put items in as you go, with cloth, you need to hold it open to bag


jmitw said:

[M]y washer is 22 years old...when it breaks, I can't afford to fix it.   I can't get out to the laundromat....even if I could, I can't afford it....and washing the bags is bad for the environment..with water and energy use....and the cloth bags are a pain to use, at least with the flat bottom bags, you can stand them up on the shelf and put items in as you go, with cloth, you need to hold it open to bag

NEVER get rid of that washer, if you can help it. We have a washer/dryer combo here that were the previous owners prior to 1999 and they still do a great job. New machines are designed to fail much sooner than that.


DanDietrich said:

I never have a problem there.  I use the personal scanner and scan things as I select them.  They go right into my bags in the cart.  Checkout takes less than a minute.  Once every 6 or 7 visits the computer flags me for an honesty check and a cashier scans 7 or 8 things out of my bags.  Their algorithm figures they would find an unscanned item by then.

I do this also.  It solves the issues mentioned and speeds me through checkout.  They have had this system for at least three years, maybe more. (Well before Covid.)  In all that time I've only been "audited" three times (where they come over and randomly check a certain number of your items (to try to catch people taking stuff without scanning it.)  I don't love S&S in general, but it is good enough and this hand-scanner system tips the balance in their favor for me. I love that my groceries are all bagged (they way I want them bagged) before I ever get to the checkout and then checkout is really quick.  Even better would be if they had one or two checkout stands dedicated to people using this system so we wouldn't have to wait for other people scanning their stuff at the check-out station.


KarenMarlowe said: "NEVER get rid of that washer"

Second that!  I truly wish i had fixed whatever was wrong with my early 90s machine a few years ago, even if it cost X hundred dollars.  Most of the machine was fine, and it was WAY more convenient than the new one (shorter cycles, more flexible controls, wasn't so much like a computer that needs to be reset every now and then...).


Hubby & I both have foldable waterproof bags attached to our keyrings (came from a storage shop over 10 years ago for an extremely reasonable price, well under $10). There’s a loop at top to hang from your shopping cart if you wish, so it’s easier to fill directly; and it folds into its own storage bag. Great value. 
we keep other foldable cold bags and baskets in the boot (trunk) - most are over 15 years old and barely cost $5 at the time. Easy to oversew if stitching is starting to give way. If a basket dies (happened once) it goes in recycling. 
i mostly don’t bother with bagging fruit/veg; if I do, I go for paper bags then reuse them. 
Luckily all my fave stores still their carts and baskets cheese


DanDietrich said:

I never have a problem there.  I use the personal scanner and scan things as I select them.  They go right into my bags in the cart.  Checkout takes less than a minute.  Once every 6 or 7 visits the computer flags me for an honesty check and a cashier scans 7 or 8 things out of my bags.  Their algorithm figures they would find an unscanned item by then.

This is what I do too!  And I have not been flagged nearly that often for the "honesty check" (audit) ... maybe 3-4 times total in several years since they put in the scanners.  My one wish is that they would have one or two "express self-checkouts" for people with scanners because the check-out is so quick with those, but it is annoying to have to wait in line behind people who are slow with their scanning at the checkout.  


joanne said:

Hubby & I both have foldable waterproof bags attached to our keyrings (came from a storage shop over 10 years ago for an extremely reasonable price, well under $10). There’s a loop at top to hang from your shopping cart if you wish, so it’s easier to fill directly; and it folds into its own storage bag. Great value. 
we keep other foldable cold bags and baskets in the boot (trunk) - most are over 15 years old and barely cost $5 at the time. Easy to oversew if stitching is starting to give way. If a basket dies (happened once) it goes in recycling. 
i mostly don’t bother with bagging fruit/veg; if I do, I go for paper bags then reuse them. 
Luckily all my fave stores still their carts and baskets
cheese

easy?  glad you know EVERYONE has the ability to sew or pay someone..and $5/bag for someone not scamming social security by working full time as a waitress while supposedly severely physically disabled is a lot of money


I’m on disability and have to count my pennies (lettuce here s over $10 each at present), yet I can find a way to make this work - or get one as a birthday gift. 
A close friend oversewed the stitching by hand for me, while we sipped coffee at her plaace

jmitw said:

easy?  glad you know EVERYONE has the ability to sew or pay someone..and $5/bag for someone not scamming social security by working full time as a waitress while supposedly severely physically disabled is a lot of money

(I’m trying to post a link to the supermarket catalogue but it won’t paste. Just search for Australian lettuce prices)


jmitw said:

joanne said:

Hubby & I both have foldable waterproof bags attached to our keyrings (came from a storage shop over 10 years ago for an extremely reasonable price, well under $10). There’s a loop at top to hang from your shopping cart if you wish, so it’s easier to fill directly; and it folds into its own storage bag. Great value. 
we keep other foldable cold bags and baskets in the boot (trunk) - most are over 15 years old and barely cost $5 at the time. Easy to oversew if stitching is starting to give way. If a basket dies (happened once) it goes in recycling. 
i mostly don’t bother with bagging fruit/veg; if I do, I go for paper bags then reuse them. 
Luckily all my fave stores still their carts and baskets
cheese

easy?  glad you know EVERYONE has the ability to sew or pay someone..and $5/bag for someone not scamming social security by working full time as a waitress while supposedly severely physically disabled is a lot of money

Somehow, I am always receiving reusable bags without even asking and had built up quite a collection.  I just donated a bunch to someone who gives food and clothing items to homeless people but I'm sure I'll end up with more.  I haven't paid for any in years.


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