I am a loyal customer of your Mashpee store. I have no complaint at all about the store, your inventory or your employees. Indeed, I am always treated with courtesy and respect.
My reason for writing has to do with your audit policy around the handheld scanners.
I like to use the scanners and self-checkout because the process is more efficient, and I sometimes use the discount coupons.
Last evening, I was in a hurry to complete my shopping. When I got to the checkout, though, I was prevented from paying for my order because I was the subject of a random audit.
Immediately, the light at the self-checkout station starting flashing – an embarrassment because it indicates either fraudulence or incompetence on the part of the shopper.
I am an older woman, 62, but computer programming is my profession. While younger people often believe that we old-timers are incompetent about technology, many of us are not and resent being treated like simpletons.
Further, I am highly insulted by the implication that I am a thief. I’ve been audited once after a scan shopping session and found “not guilty” by store personnel. Your system has no good reason to tag me for yet another audit.
Although I am older, I have excellent credit and absolutely no criminal record. And in case you are wondering, no, I don’t believe that your system “randomly” selects people for audit. I suspect that some male chauvinist idiot who uses statistics to support their own prejudices has flagged women over 55 or 60 for particular scrutiny.
I know that the margins are thin in the grocery business and have no desire to steal from Stop & Shop. Further, I’m sure there are a lot of easy ways to steal from your stores without involving the scanner. You might consider implementing a technology that flags unscanned items when shoppers leave your premises rather than subjecting honest people to humiliation.
I have a couple of suggestions.
First, please give the consumer who has been “randomly” selected for audit the option of checking out their goods manually, rather than flashing the checkout lights to call a cashier.
Second, if a consumer has already “passed” an audit – don’t require it again within the next twelve months.
Third, you might consider doing a study of which cohorts of customers are subject to the most scanner audits. My guess is that you will find there are patterns which might surprise you. Better for you to discover this before Attorney General Coakley is asked to investigate.
Thank you for taking the time to read this message.