So, I went to my local Countdown early this morning to buy some supplies for my day out.

I went to the self checkout and scanned my items. All were accepted as OK and I swiped my loyalty card.

Then I tried to pay by card.

I swiped my card and entered my pin.

I was then told to write my signature on a touch screen with an attached pen.

I have not seen that before but I did so.

Then I get a message that tells me that my signature must be authorized by a staff member.

I waited for a few minutes for the staffer to turn up and when she arrived she went into the checkout supervisor's menu and she was presented with two options.

The signature OK option was greyed out and the only one that would respond was signature invalid.

She pressed that and the checkout reported that the transaction was aborted.

I left without my supplies.

No idea what the business case is for this but I guess that I am no longer allowed to shop at countdown unless I bring cash and queue for a self checkout that takes cash. (No going to happen)