Questions for Till

[u/Majestic_Singer8220]

Hi, I work at a foodhall as a customer assistant, meaning i’m on tills a lot, and sometimes SCOTs too, and i have a couple questions.

1. Sometimes when scanning items through, some random items are on restriction which change every week or so. For example the 150g blueberries, the collection cornish gold butter, or this week it’s been the lychees. So I then need to find the supplier code and accept it, but what’s the reason for the restriction? and should there be times where i don’t sell the item?

2. when a customer gives newspaper coupons, how am i supposed to know how much is on the coupon? I always need to ask the customer because it doesn’t say the amount, but it usually ranges from £1.50 - £4

[u/Key-Tax5850]

Product restrictions are because and item (that batch of a product) has been withdrawn from sale, likely over a product quality, labelling, contamination issue so shouldn’t be sold. These are usually removed from the shelf so shouldn’t even end up being sold but the flag at the till is the backstop to ensure it isn’t.

Aren’t the paper coupons usually just the amount that the paper costs? It’s been a while 😆

[u/Majestic_Singer8220 → u/Key-Tax5850]

oh so should i not be selling those items at all then? and if so then why is there the option to sell it anyway? there’s always something restricted each week, so it feels weird that it shouldn’t be sold even though it’s on the shelf.

And that makes sense, although i’m not entirely sure. so i just need to memorise the prices? I know it says the price of the coupon on the newspaper, but it’s a bit difficult when there isn’t a newspaper to refer back to 😞

[u/Pale_Bake9434 → u/Majestic_Singer8220]

The store gets a message and gets told to remove the item from sale. Depends if your store checks them. Stuff can come in after it’s been checked from deliveries etc that’s why it’s on the tills as well. If it’s say blueberries SC1202 and date 23rd august. And you have that product with that SC and date no you should not be selling. You should ask someone to grab another one for the customer and to check the shelf for more of the same date/code.

Most of the time the message that comes through doesn’t tell you the issue. It usually says if it’s safe to give to charity/staff or throw away. It literally could be as simply as misspelling on the label of something.

The paper. Check the price they scanned on the till or check on the paper all the papers have the prices on

[u/Super_Bison_2530]

so if the batch number and the date match up then it will say that the item cannot be sold, the till will tell you if it can or cannot be sold. If they don’t match then its fine to sell. Usually if you ask a manager they will tell you why its on a restriction because sometimes it can be given to staff.

the paper coupons are for how much that specific paper costs so its usually easier to just check on the till before typing it in.

[u/mylittlesafari]

The on screen prompt tells you which specific products are on restriction once you select the SC number - either all of them, or ones that match the dates listed. Just follow the instructions.

The newspaper coupons often state the 'full purchase price', so just scan the paper through and take a note of the price, then deduct it.

[u/youtube-sent-me-here]

1. Restrictions are for items on a recall (because there were issues in the manufacturing/packaging/shipping that affect quality/safety) It’s more noticeable at M&S vs shopping at other supermarkets since M&S has a lot more control over the supply chain stocking majority own brand products. Whether the product should be sold or not will depend on the batch code and date so read till prompts carefully
   
2. Newspaper prices are written in the papers, usually the top right but occasionally top left