I’ve had enough of Tesco’s. I’ve been a customer for over 15 years, and I’ve never felt so undervalued.

And it’s nothing to do with accounting issues, price, selection or the rise of budget retailers Lidl and Aldi.

It’s the staff, or more importantly the checkout staff. Now I’m no fan of self service checkouts, however a self service checkout has never made me wait while it finishes their private conversation. A self service checkout has never been rude. A self service checkout doesn’t ignore my request, or gets my change wrong.

When I first saw self service checkouts appearing in Ireland, I vowed to never use them, to keep employees in jobs severing people like me – customers.

However these employees don’t deserve jobs. I was once served by a Tesco employee whose name tag informed me her name was “Patience”. Well I tell you, she was so rude, unprofessional and uncaring she tried my patience!

There’s no need for it. Staff in Lidl and Aldi, under high performance targets, are able to provide a better customer service experience.

So employees of Tesco, if there are job cuts in Ireland, as checkout staff are replaced by more automated services, you only have yourselves to blame.