Tesco Lotus App

[Ratsima]

So, I installed the Tesco Lotus App on my phone mainly because it lets you scan your Club Card and store the number as a bar code which can be scanned.

 

Trouble is, it doesn't work. Tried at the local Express this morning and the lady flat out told me that they can't scan bar codes when they're on a phone.

 

Weird because boarding passes and the like, which us the same sort of barcode, seem to work just fine.

 

Anyone else have a similar experience or did I just run in to a non-functional scanner (which worked fine with the physical card)?

[lomatopo]

Do you have the Android version or the iPhone version?

 

Th android version is pretty new, maybe only a day or two old, and it FCs (crashes when viewing the weekly promotion pages) for me. Maybe not all retail outlets are up to speed on this new capability?

 

The scanner did not work, but you can manually enter your card number, which then displays allowing any POS terminal scanner to scan it just as it would your card.

Edited August 29, 2013 by lomatopo

[kkerry]

I don't have the Tesco app but have my Club Card barcode on Keyring, an Android app for barcodes. At the checkout for Tesco they always manually input the details because I've been told the same as you at different stores. I also have a BigC bigcard, same thing. With the Keyring app they say not all scanners work with their app so looks like the scanners in Thai supermarkets don't support these apps, at least the stores I have shopped at.

[Ratsima]

I'm using the iPhone app. The app was able to scan my Club Card and displays the correct bar code.

But, the scanner at the store was unable to scan the barcode displayed on the iPhone screen.

[lomatopo]

Do you have a screen protector?

 

Not sure, I haven't tried as the Android app. was just released a few days ago.

 

Maybe their scanners need an update? Did they try to scan your bar-code as displayed on your iPhone? Or did they not even try? Your post is less than clear.

 

I manually entered my card number, the embedded Tesco-Lotus club card scanner function didn't work on my Android phone. ( I did use a separate QR/bar code scanner app. o my phone to download the app.)

[Ratsima]

the scanner at the store was unable to scan the barcode displayed on the iPhone screen.

 

 

Did they try to scan your bar-code as displayed on your iPhone? Or did they not even try? Your post is less than clear.

 

 

Exactly what's not clear about: "the scanner at the store was unable to scan the barcode displayed on the iPhone screen."???

 

And, no, I do not have a screen protector.

 

As I said in the OP: "... boarding passes and the like, which us the same sort of barcode, seem to work just fine."

 

In other words, prior to the failure at Tesco Lotus, I have had no trouble with barcodes displayed on my iPhone screen: Nok Air, Alaska Air, Bangkok Air, Amtrak, etc., etc., etc.

[Totster]

1d barcodes are not easily scanned from a mobile device screen, there are lots of errors and it erratically works, this is due to the way traditional 1d barcodes are scanned with a laser, this laser will reflect off the screen rather than be reflected/absorbed by the bars in the 1d barcode.  It was for this reason that Apple limited the barcodes used on the Passbook application to 2d barcodes, namely, QR, PDF417 and AZTEC.

 

totster

Edited August 29, 2013 by Totster

[Ratsima]

Thank you Totster.

[2008bangkok]

the scanner at the store was unable to scan the barcode displayed on the iPhone screen.

Did they try to scan your bar-code as displayed on your iPhone? Or did they not even try? Your post is less than clear.

Exactly what's not clear about: "the scanner at the store was unable to scan the barcode displayed on the iPhone screen."???

And, no, I do not have a screen protector.

As I said in the OP: "... boarding passes and the like, which us the same sort of barcode, seem to work just fine."

In other words, prior to the failure at Tesco Lotus, I have had no trouble with barcodes displayed on my iPhone screen: Nok Air, Alaska Air, Bangkok Air, Amtrak, etc., etc., etc.

You came on asking for help now your getting all nearly when you don't like the anwawe or comments so why bother posting at Mr Cobby Bollox

[54321]

"the scanner at the store was unable to scan the barcode displayed on the iPhone screen."

I for one thinks that is clear, it's not as if he had said the assistant refused to scan it, he said
"the scanner at the store was unable to scan the barcode displayed on the iPhone screen." Which strongly suggests, in fact it seems obvious an attempt was made, but failed.

the scanner at the store was unable to scan the barcode displayed on the iPhone screen.

Did they try to scan your bar-code as displayed on your iPhone? Or did they not even try? Your post is less than clear.

Exactly what's not clear about: "the scanner at the store was unable to scan the barcode displayed on the iPhone screen."???

And, no, I do not have a screen protector.

As I said in the OP: "... boarding passes and the like, which us the same sort of barcode, seem to work just fine."

In other words, prior to the failure at Tesco Lotus, I have had no trouble with barcodes displayed on my iPhone screen: Nok Air, Alaska Air, Bangkok Air, Amtrak, etc., etc., etc.

You came on asking for help now your getting all nearly when you don't like the anwawe or comments so why bother posting at Mr Cobby Bollox

[lomatopo]

I apologize. I misunderstood the OP's first statement:

 

"Tried at the local Express this morning and the lady flat out told me that they can't scan bar codes when they're on a phone."

 

to mean that he was told they can't scan the loyalty card account bar code, rather than they tried first, failed, then was told they can't scan bar codes.

 

 

And I did not read the follow-on post:

 

"But, the scanner at the store was unable to scan the barcode displayed on the iPhone screen."

 

which clearly and obviously explains that the scanner failed to read the bar-code.

 

 

[AdeleB]

1d barcodes are not easily scanned from a mobile device screen, there are lots of errors and it erratically works, this is due to the way traditional 1d barcodes are scanned with a laser, this laser will reflect off the screen rather than be reflected/absorbed by the bars in the 1d barcode.  It was for this reason that Apple limited the barcodes used on the Passbook application to 2d barcodes, namely, QR, PDF417 and AZTEC.

 

totster

 

Hi, Totster

I'm agree with you to some degree. Your suggestion is good. I noticed that 2d bar codes like PDF417 is always too long, not suitable for viewing or scanning on mobile screen, like iPhone.

[Chicog]

When I left T5 in June a quick scan of my online boarding card was all that was required to get me airside.

 

Although the scanners in Dubai don't seem to handle phones too well.

 

That's a Note 3 too, with a big screen, so it's quite readable.

[Crossy]

Many older (and not so old) barcode scanners cannot scan codes displayed on an LCD (or certain types of LCD), it's well known in the industry (I'll try and find a link).

 

When we specified the scanners for the Thai HST we had to state that they must read codes (QR in our case) on all types of phone display.