Jonathan Rowson struggled to enter because he didn’t have an app or a Clubcard (Picture: PA)
A man was left fuming after a Tesco refused to sell him a sandwich until he downloaded the supermarket’s app and signed up for a Clubcard.
Author Jonathan Rowson popped into the supermarket on Tuesday night at around 11pm,
He was on the hunt for a sandwich for his son’s packed lunch, but quickly hit a hurdle.
Jonathan claims an employee refused him entry into the new checkout-free store until he downloaded their app.
When the flustered dad struggled to sign up at the door, he says a staff member took his phone from him and changed the option to ‘accept Clubcard’ before he could refuse.
Jonathan then told the employee he didn’t want a Clubcard.
He claims the employee replied: ‘This is store policy now and it’s what customers want. Soon all stores will be like this. People protest, but then they come back a few days later.’
Unbeknownst to Jonathan, the store was part of a new trial of checkout free stores that use cameras and weight sensors to calculate which products customers have picked up and charge for them when they leave.
The store was part of a trial of checkout-free stores which allows customers to grab items and pay for them via an app (Picture: PA)
Following the encounter, Jonathan took to Twitter to vent his frustrations, and wrote: ‘Never have I felt the pinch of surveillance society more acutely. My shock at the compulsory data cost for entry to a supermarket to buy a sandwich.
‘What I felt at that store tonight was thoroughly dystopian. It was a taste of the future in the present, and I didn’t like it at all.’
Tesco said the shop in question was one of the supermarket giant’s ‘GetGo’ stores. First opening in 2021, the ‘no-checkout’ stores feature just three members of staff and one till, which is used to approve age restricted items.
Retailers claim the new system is a benefit to shoppers who just want to quickly grab a few items and leave, although Dennis Reed, of campaign group Silver Voices, said Tesco’s checkout-free stores were a form of ‘digital discrimination.’
But author Jonathan Rowson was left fuming after telling an employee he ‘doesn’t want a clubcard, he just wants a sandwich (Picture: PA)
‘It might be fine for younger people who have the eyesight and the dexterity to manipulate small screens, but in our view that is discrimination,’ he said.
‘It was bad enough with self-service checkouts. It’s changing the way in which society operates and not in a good way. We seem to be dispensing with the human touch. For older people that’s important – it’s good to chat to a cashier as your shopping goes through.’
A Tesco rep has since been in touch with Jonathan and offered to help him cancel his Clubcard, and told MyLondon: ‘Our customers that do use the GetGo store, enjoy the experience. There are many of our stores in the area that do not require the app to be downloaded or require a Clubcard to access it.’
‘We want everyone to feel welcome in our stores and we’re really sorry to hear that Mr Rowson was not happy with his experience at our GetGo store in Holborn, central London,’ they said.
‘This store trial uses technology to offer a checkout-free experience, giving customers the opportunity to shop and pay without scanning a product or using a physical checkout.’
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Jonathan claims an employee refused him entry into the new checkout-free store until he downloaded their app.