16 Comments

  1. I would have understood if they did not fine him as he is tourist but I also understand what happened.

  2. ProfessionalDish on

    If you get caught you always have an excuse, no matter if you did it on purpose or not.

    Not starting with exceptions is understandable.

  3. DeloronDellister on

    If I were the cashier I would have never enforced that as it was clearly done out of ignorance.

    My student job is in a Voi and I never fined anyone anything. I was always lenient when someone made a mistake

  4. “it has a barcode du-uh” is ridiculous, if you travel a bit outside of the EU it’s extremely common still to use (plastic) bags and grab a bunch for free. I’ve been in Brazil a lot and people take them like they take the receipt – without much thinking, without hesitation, the association between seeing a bag and taking a bag is so ingrained, after a while I took bags without even needing that for two cans of beer and a snack. That’s why its so frustrating to me to see this guy being fined so strictly. It was an honest mistake, no one steals a damn bag.

    The staff should have acted accordingly and in general they should act more lenient. Instead of being dragged in the stasi backrooms and treated like a criminal, the staff needs to have some leeway when judging a situation.

    I once walked out from a self checkout at a Migros without paying, because the terminal took at least 10 seconds to process the contactless transaction. I walked out and looked at the people behind me that immediately proceeded to walk to my self checkout, it appeared fine to me. I moved on, but they did look confused when I got on the escalator. I proceeded to buy cigarettes at the next kiosk and the card reader asked me for my pin. Only then I realized the transaction at Migros wasn’t completed and I contacted them, paid the invoice. This happens. People that are shopping are not thinking about shopping, during shopping. Everything else. It happens that something goes wrong, you’re not attentive, you’re not “there” with your mind. They effectively make business on this, they are leading you through isles knowing you are not attentive, allowing them to lead you through a path *they* want you to walk through. At least at the checkout they could be a tiny bit self-aware. Ridiculous.

  5. I have been caught at Migros with something I forgot to scan by accident or which didn’t register and they just made me pay for it and told me if it happens again I’ll get fined which sounds more sensible. Maybe they became stricter since.

  6. KapitaenKnoblauch on

    While I understand the sentiment of the “victim” here, I also think “I didn’t know I’d have to pay for this” and “It was all in French, I didn’t understand what they said” are not very good excuses. And also I can see Migros’ position, for them it really doesn’t matter if you steal something worth a few Rappen or many CHF, they have to act on either one. Also they can’t make a difference if you understand their rules or not, if you enter the shop and you go buy something there, you implicitly agree to their rules I guess. In hidsight you may say it was all unclear but that’s rather your problem than the shop’s one.

  7. It’s not but I am fucked off beyond means, because I’ve worked in a migros before and they let you go if it’s something small, (up to like 6-7 CHF with f.e. cheese) as long as you pay it afterwards. I don’t usually jump to “oh its racism” but it really does feel like thats the only explanation for such a behaviour.
    Shame on them.

  8. Makes me wonder why am I even doing the Self-Checkout. I do the job of the cashier – make them even more money. In return I get nothing at best and f**ked if I do a mistake. Do you fine your own employees over mistakes too??

    I have no mercy for all these greedy corporations. I’ll avoid Self-Checkouts and next time I’ll go in a Migros I’ll eat some grapes thinking about this guy.

  9. Living_Substance_487 on

    People are saying he couldn’t have known and he might not be used to this. So then don’t use self check out?!
    I think 200.- is ridiculous, but its also not migros fault this happened.
    He even admitted he thought about paying for it but couldn’t find a button so he thought it was free. So then just ask someone for help?!

    This guy couldn’t be inconvenienced by waiting in line or asking for help and now plays the victim card?
    Next time I get caught speeding I just tell the cop I didn’t see any signs so I thought I could go as fast as I want because that’s the case in germany.

  10. Vom April 2024: Migros-Mediensprecher Patrick Stöpper erklärt: «Seitens des Migros-Genossenschaft-Bundes können wir feststellen, dass sich die Diebstahlquote seit Einführung der Subito-Systeme nicht signifikant verändert hat.» Stichproben sind jederzeit möglich.

    Werde bei einer Stichprobe festgestellt, dass ein Artikel nicht gescannt wurde, würden die Migros-Mitarbeiter grundsätzlich von einem Versehen ausgehen und die Kunden bitten, das Produkt nachträglich zu scannen und zu bezahlen. «Bei Wiederholungstätern oder grösseren Diebstählen wird anders vorgegangen», so Stöpper.

    Translated:
    Migros media spokesperson Patrick Stöpper explains: “On the part of the Federation of Migros Cooperatives, we can state that the theft rate has not changed significantly since the introduction of the Subito systems.” Random checks are possible at any time.

    If a random check reveals that an item has not been scanned, Migros employees generally assume that this was an oversight and ask customers to scan and pay for the product at a later date. “A different approach is taken in the case of repeat offenders or major thefts,” says Stöpper.

  11. As someone who lives in Switzerland, I know that the bags are not free. But I totally understand that as a tourist you might get that impression.
    It’s absolutely stupid of the workers at Migros not to show any tolerance for this obvious and unintentional mistake.
    On the other hand, maybe this happens every day and they don’t punish it in the other cases.
    Nevertheless, this makes Migros look bad.

  12. This is why I find that when the price at the register is higher than marked on the shelf, this is attempted theft. So as a customer I should be able to call the police, have the manager arrested and fined for 200 chf. Ladendiebstal works both ways !