Shops which do the shoplifting

IT is no secret that shops face a difficult future.  According to business recovery firm Begbies Traynor, 140 UK retailers are in a ‘critical condition.’

I have news for them; much the same can be said for their customers, so stop making things worse for us.

Thanks to newspapers most of us are up to the tricks used by retailers to separate us from our hard earned.  Shopping often seems to be a constant battle of wits between buyer and seller.

It is said that the optimist is the person who thinks the chocolate bar is going to be the same size as the wrapper.  The optimist is also the person who thinks three for two deals are all they are cracked up to be.  Sleight of hand can be assumed in all weights and measures. The 20 per cent extra might easily be the 20 per cent removed a little earlier.

I have no sympathy for shoplifters.  We are constantly reminded that we the customers end up paying.  How is it that we also end up paying when it is the retailer doing the pilfering of purses?  Most of us are loathe to check the till receipt before going on our way.  After recent experiences that however seems the best way of saving money.

Being of the old school I can make a pretty good prediction as to how much my shopping basket will come to.  It did seem odd that the bill was often a little higher than I had expected.

One afternoon the till receipt seemed to be near double expectations; I queried it and discovered I had been charged for two cooked ducks.  I am sorry, but when set against my modest single bloke’s shopping needs that was a little bizarre to say the least.

Perhaps I should have called a store detective or the police.  The supermarket would have done so if they had found unpaid for ducks in my pocket.  Stuff happens: I got my refund and I let it drop.

Giving the supermarket the benefit of the doubt I did ponder about mistakes always being in their favour.

The following week I was tempted by teabags reduced from €3.99 to €1.99.  You guessed it; when I got home and checked my till receipt I found I had been charged the full €3.99 for the purchase.

Yes, shoplifting is a problem; especially when the stores are doing it and the victims are their customers.  There is as Spanish saying: ‘fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.’

I have to shop, but in future I will be taking my calculator and suggest others do likewise.  No longer under any illusions, when I enter a store in future I will do so with the same competitive attitude as does a premier division sportsman when he enters the arena.  This is a no holds barred contest between me and them.