Very strange ....

Quick update, if you can call it that..
An email from "Scott" the Customer Service Executive to the Board.
He's as baffled as I am, he is apparently in touch with the "Technical Manager for the specific product"
Who is going to contact the suppliers :rolleyes:

He also asked if I had used my club card in the transaction, as this could be very useful.
I wonder if he doesn't believe me? and I did ask the question. ( next stop "social media" ;) )
As it happens CC points aren't applicable to cigarettes, but as I bought other items as well, I did.

Awaits update...
 
It's beginning to sound like this little gizmo is something designed to be hidden in the delivery artic to make sure it doesn't make any little detours, and shouldn't have got anywhere near the retail shelving...
 
He also asked if I had used my club card in the transaction, as this could be very useful.
I suspect that is more to do with ensuring that you bought the items from Tesco and weren't just blagging. As you suspect he might not believe you.

You could always ask on here for a character reference:eek:
 
It's beginning to sound like this little gizmo is something designed to be hidden in the delivery artic to make sure it doesn't make any little detours, and shouldn't have got anywhere near the retail shelving...

As I said, for supply chain & logistics..............not for the retail environment ;)
 
I suspect that is more to do with ensuring that you bought the items from Tesco and weren't just blagging. As you suspect he might not believe you.

You could always ask on here for a character reference:eek:
@Cobra I can pen a very convincing character reference in return for a nice weekly theme sometime.
 
It's beginning to sound like this little gizmo is something designed to be hidden in the delivery artic to make sure it doesn't make any little detours,
I was wondering that too, @Box Brownie seems to have sussed it earlier.
You could always ask on here for a character reference:eek:
Yeah right, that's a great idea :D
@Cobra I can pen a very convincing character reference in return for a nice weekly theme sometime.
I'll bear that in mind :D
 
If I were you I wouldn't be worrying about the tracking device. (I mean, I know you're not, but if you were, you shouldn't.) I trialled some of these little GPS trackers a little while ago, with the idea that I might secrete them into the cases of some of our most valuable equipment. But they really didn't work very reliably at all. I took one on a weekend trip to Norway but the tracking got lost and interrupted frequently. There was no way it would have been good enough to be used in evidence if it had ever been deployed in anger.
 
If I were you I wouldn't be worrying about the tracking device. (I mean, I know you're not, but if you were, you shouldn't.)
No dark Limo's parked outside, no "men in black" wandering about..
I think I'm OK :D

I took one on a weekend trip to Norway but the tracking got lost and interrupted frequently.
Very efficient then :rolleyes:
It seems strange in that case, that either a very large company like Tesco, or a cigarette / bonded supplier would use something that is inefficient, in the first place.

It has just occurred to me while typing, the company that used to deliver cigarettes to Tesco and others went bust recently,
I cant remember the name but they were cream and red lorries and I think it was an "HP" logo.
I wonder if its one of theirs?
 
My guess is the Russians trying to get the dirt on a social media moderator!
 
If I were you I wouldn't be worrying about the tracking device. (I mean, I know you're not, but if you were, you shouldn't.) I trialled some of these little GPS trackers a little while ago, with the idea that I might secrete them into the cases of some of our most valuable equipment. But they really didn't work very reliably at all. I took one on a weekend trip to Norway but the tracking got lost and interrupted frequently. There was no way it would have been good enough to be used in evidence if it had ever been deployed in anger.

Out of plain old curiosity how would this work in a practical sense with mobile devices being put to flight mode on aircraft (and security checks) and also potentially customs regulations if you hired to someone going outside the eu on commercial work? I know the bbc had tracking gear on a shipping container for a year as part of an article and had to declare it as a temporary import each time it went in and out of a country.
 
My guess is the Russians trying to get the dirt on a social media moderator!
They tried that and gave up ...
... there was just too much for them to collate
:D
 
They tried that and gave up ...
... there was just too much for them to collate
:D
And there was me thinking they had found you just skipped the foreplay and went straight for the cigarette! ;)
 
Out of plain old curiosity how would this work in a practical sense with mobile devices being put to flight mode on aircraft (and security checks) and also potentially customs regulations if you hired to someone going outside the eu on commercial work? I know the bbc had tracking gear on a shipping container for a year as part of an article and had to declare it as a temporary import each time it went in and out of a country.
Some very good questions there.

For my trial I carried the tracker in a jacket pocket, so it went through the X-ray scanner. I don't think it had a 'flight safe' mode, and I don't know whether or not that's actually an issue these days. (It doesn't seem very long ago that filling stations had signs warning you not to use your mobile phone, but these days a lot of them offer quick pay by app. Has there been a similar change with aircraft? I don't know.)

My business doesn't ship gear outside the EU, because customs, so that wouldn't have been an issue for us.
 
And???????
That'll be me and Diana Ross then ... :(
I have friend who understands the social media stuff, far better than I do.
I'll give it a couple more days, and then over to him ;)
 
That's a pity. I don't do social media either. Could be interesting when it gets on there - and all for a packet of fags!
 
According to post #3, there's a SIM card in there. Stick it in an unlocked burner phone and see if you get any free calls! :D
 
So did you ever get a final response/resolution?
 
According to post #3, there's a SIM card in there. Stick it in an unlocked burner phone and see if you get any free calls! :D
A hot line straight to the Kremlin perhaps? :D

So did you ever get a final response/resolution?
As per my post #95 Roger, time to turn up the heat I think ;)
 
And finally ...

Scott the Customer Service Executive to the board tells me ( after extensive research) that its a tracking device!
Nice one Scott but the good people of TP told me that weeks ago. (y)

But it seems he has no idea how it got there, where it came from, and wasn't aware of this particular "Unexpected item in the bagging area"!
It seems that I should return it to the store, asap. The Area and local store managers have been informed and await my arrival :D
(I'm expecting a red carpet as an absolute minimum)

I was offered a £20 gift card to spend at one of their stores!
I bet the the press would pay a lot more than that ;)

But as I said to Scott its not about the compensation, but about curiosity..
I shall purchase £20 worth of non perishables and drop into the " in store charity food bank "
( I was hoping he would increase his offer, but not so far)
 
If it's not a store you go to regularly then I'd have suggested dropping it off at your local branch instead and doing a reverse charge version of 'click and collect'. :D
 
I was offered a £20 gift card to spend at one of their stores!
Seems reasonable, after all they only made £1.64billion this year!

Seriously though I'd be inclined to tell them to come and pick it up as it'll cost more then £20 of my time.
 
The Area and local store managers have been informed and await my arrival :D
So, there'll be a Tesco Suit with a tablet, waiting by customer service, saying to the assistant, "Okay, it says he's in the store, should be here any minute..."
Bip... Bip... Beep.. Beep.. Beep.. BEEEEEEEP! "Mr Cobra, I presume." :)

:p
 
The Area and local store managers have been informed and await my arrival :D
(I'm expecting a red carpet as an absolute minimum)
You seriously reckon that you will get to see a store manager?
Red carpet maybe. ....leading directly to a rest area where you will wait, and wait, and wait. Out of sight of other customers....natch.
Some underling will come almost immediately to take the tracker off you then you will be forgotten.

Have a nice day.
 
If it's not a store you go to regularly then I'd have suggested dropping it off at your local branch instead and doing a reverse charge version of 'click and collect'. :D
What a brilliant idea :D

As it happens its about 1 mile away ( from home) totally in the opposite direction to the one I pass on my way home from work which is about ..... 1 mile away from home ..
Spoilt for choice eh? :D

Seems reasonable, after all they only made £1.64billion this year!
Yeah I did hear something about them "struggling" :rolleyes:
Seriously though I'd be inclined to tell them to come and pick it up as it'll cost more then £20 of my time.
That's actually a good point Roger..


But will you get a packet of ciggies?
Apparently so. a "direct replacement" ( I hope not) was the word used

So, there'll be a Tesco Suit with a tablet, waiting by customer service, saying to the assistant, "Okay, it says he's in the store, should be here any minute..."
Bip... Bip... Beep.. Beep.. Beep.. BEEEEEEEP! "Mr Cobra, I presume." :)

:p

I'm dusting off my Tux and trying to find the Ray bans as we speak (y)
 
it seems he has no idea how it got there, where it came from, and wasn't aware of this particular "Unexpected item in the bagging area"!

Actually, re-reading it I would ask them to let you know if/when they find out who it belongs to so that you can return it to the rightful owner. :)
 
You seriously reckon that you will get to see a store manager?
I've seen the "badge" serving before now ;)

leading directly to a rest area where you will wait, and wait, and wait. Out of sight of other customers....
Its only a little local express, tiny in fact.... ( hence not my preferred store)
one loud whisper from me and the whole store will know about the unexpected item in fagging [sic] area ;)
 
Actually, re-reading it I would ask them to let you know if/when they find out who it belongs to so that you can return it to the rightful owner. :)
Another interesting scenario ;)
 
I'd turn up in as much branded clothing as possible were I in your line of business... ;) :D
 
I'd turn up in as much branded clothing as possible were I in your line of business... ;) :D
:LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
I think he's already been replaced by a replicant.
Yeah a bloody zombie at the moment :(

So, I wandered in to the store the first person I saw was a security guard ( its a tough area that one, ;) )
Asked to speak to the duty manager, who duly appeared, Ah he said I think I may be expecting you. (Mr Bond)

We exchanged a little banter, and apparently he knew all about these tracking devices, which is more than "head office" do!

Seems when the device went AWOL, he'd mentioned to the staff, "Don't worry it'll be back shortly"
How wrong was he :D

I said that once I discovered what it was, I was actually expecting a knock on the door to recover it.
That certainly wasn't going to happen though, after he told me the address that he had it "pinned down to"

He was a couple of 100 yards out ( as the crow flys, the distance was to short) :D
 
:LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

Yeah a bloody zombie at the moment :(

So, I wandered in to the store the first person I saw was a security guard ( its a tough area that one, ;) )
Asked to speak to the duty manager, who duly appeared, Ah he said I think I may be expecting you. (Mr Bond)

We exchanged a little banter, and apparently he knew all about these tracking devices, which is more than "head office" do!

Seems when the device went AWOL, he'd mentioned to the staff, "Don't worry it'll be back shortly"
How wrong was he :D

I said that once I discovered what it was, I was actually expecting a knock on the door to recover it.
That certainly wasn't going to happen though, after he told me the address that he had it "pinned down to"

He was a couple of 100 yards out ( as the crow flys, the distance was to short) :D

Certainly sounds like what I surmised (way back on page #1?) i.e. a tracker for use in the logistics supply chain.....that should never have reached the retail shelf let alone left the store!
 
I suppose if you're looking for a hijacked artic, within 200yds is pretty useful; they're kind of noticeable.
One fag packet however... Search 1.gif
 
I suppose if you're looking for a hijacked artic, within 200yds is pretty useful; they're kind of noticeable.
One fag packet however... View attachment 124465
After my conversation with the store manager, as I understand it, it tends to be "white vans" that smash the front of the shop in and clear the shelves.
I suspect that its probably only a couple of hundred packets that are held in these (smaller) stores,
and soon end up at a "Mate or two's" house.
 
After my conversation with the store manager, as I understand it, it tends to be "white vans" that smash the front of the shop in and clear the shelves.
I suspect that its probably only a couple of hundred packets that are held in these (smaller) stores,
and soon end up at a "Mate or two's" house.

In that case think yourself very lucky that a "white van" didn't decide to attack the store shortly after you left otherwise I fancy a knock on the door would have been a raging certainty! :police:
 
I fancy a knock on the door would have been a raging certainty! :police:
As above, my address is some distance from the assumed tracker location.
I have no fear :D
 
Since no crime had been committed, they were just looking at the GPS data the thing was phoning home.
If they were looking for a ciggy thief, they'd be combining that with mobile phone mast triangulation data, and likely hand held direction finding kit tuned to the unit's phone or other signals once they were in the area.

And in those circumstances, they don't knock. :p
 
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