A couple of weeks ago Nick and I went food shopping and ended up in Le Clerc in Loches. We like this supermarket and seem to think it has been refurbished in recent years, transforming it from a dimly lit dump of a place to a smart and airy place that's nice to be.
However, on this occasion we were the victims of a theft.
Having completed our shopping and on returning our trolley to the shelter (I don't know what you call those little huts where trolleys are stashed) I found that there was no longer our euro in the slot in the handle. I went back to the car to ask Nick if he had selected a trolley that was a free spirit and didn't need a euro and he said "no!".
On closer inspection it seems that some little bar steward (I suspect a grubby looking kid that was following us around the aisles for a time) swooped and looped. In other words, waited until our backs were turned and looped the chain back into the slot to eject our euro. Leaving a trolley with the chain/catch thing inserted into the slot and our euro in his pocket.
Further investigation reveals that most supermarkets have trolleys where the chains are not long enough to do this. At Le Clerc however, they are. Their trolleys are giant fancy plastic affairs as opposed to metal ones and maybe the design requires a longer chain to link all the trolleys together in the shelter (or whatever it is called).
Friends then alerted me to the existence of the jéton - a plastic token that you obtain from the shop itself to use instead of a euro to release a trolley from the stash. Now, instead of having a couple of euros permanently in the car door pocket, we have a small collection of jétons instead.
I suspect that the swoop and loop technique used by the little kid in Le Clerc was well practised and no doubt earned him some regular pocket money. I will not be robbed again and will continue acquiring tokens until I have at least one for every handbag, purse and car door pocket !!
So I assume you don't have the same system in the U.K. Not in the U.S. either. Even in San Francisco, where there are many many homeless people who are glad to roll supermarket carts full of their belongings along the streets and sidewalks in both residential and hyper-urban neighborhoods.
ReplyDeleteKen, it depends on the location and how frequently trolleys get stolen. Mostly around us you don't need a coin or a token. Near to where I used to work you needed a £1 coin but they were taken home by people who found it cheaper than getting a taxi! Then many of them ended up in the canal.
DeleteAldi in the USA uses the coin system, it does result in fewer carts rolling across the parking area.
ReplyDeleteDavid, not long ago I stopped a free wheeling trolley from bumping into someone's parked car at our local supermarket. People can be so thoughtless and inconsiderate.
DeleteWe still have our free french ones and use them when necessary in £1 slots in the UK. Many supermarkets have stopped using due to Corvid now though. We once had our bags for life stolen out of the trolley!!!
ReplyDeleteColin/Elizabeth, when the supermarkets first stopped the supply of free bags and began selling bags for life (which I actually think are great and a bargain) there was a smash and grab raid at our local Co-op where a youth dashed in, grabbed a few bundles and ran off.
DeleteThat's taking resentment and entitlement to a whole new level!!
The tokens are a much better idea, we use them here in Italy. However last week I accidentally took one of those really large trollies with a seat for a child. When I went to return it there were several ordinary trollies locked at the front of the large trolley park and the release on them wouldn’t work and ours wouldn’t loop round. We ended up using then reclaiming in the correct bay several euros moving trollies before we could get our token back. I won’t make that mistake again. Usually there is someone at the park asking for the euro, which is another good reason to use the tokens, fortunately they must have been on lunch break.
ReplyDeleteYou would know if you had been "swooped and looped" because the chain would be locked home in its socket.....
ReplyDeletehowever, you will have seen trolleys that are missing their point of attatchment.... they nick those and file off the two lugs.... this can be palmed or, as I spotted, worn on a charm bracelet in full view!
It is micro seconds to release your coin that way.... and there's always two of them... they get 'twixt you and your trolley and appear to be looking at the shelves... it is the one furthest from you that will be collecting your Euro....
it has been going on since trolleys were invented.... I had a lass on Community Service who had been done for going equipped.
Tim, it was only when i tried to return thr trolley to the stash that I noticed the chain looped back. The little toerag that did it must have been very slick.
DeleteSo, your chain was locked home.... poor design on those trolleys then.... one link too many... and they are "hooooge"... remind me of Costco, but with a touch of style......
DeleteI like Le Clerc, tho'... their range of stuff is good... we use Chatellerault by preference... there aren't the "hangers around"....
Tim, we like Le Clerc, might go to Chatellerault instead in future. Or use SuperU again, it's also had a refurb.
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