self checkout lanes

[farmkid]

I'm sure you all remember several years ago when stores began installing self checkout lanes so shoppers could scan and bag their own items. It was supposed to be faster and reduced costs for the store as well. Well, now it seems the trend is going the other way. Shoppers apparently don't like them so some stores are beginning to take them out.

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So, what do you think of self checkout lanes? Personally, I love them. I don't want to talk to anyone; I just want to get my stuff and go. I hope my local grocery store doesn't take them out.

 

[Lindley]

Self-checkout lanes are great unless you need a staff member to come assist you. Then, it's a toss-up whether someone will be along immediately or if you'll be standing there for 5 minutes until they can be bothered to notice.

So don't use them if you are going to need an ID check. That's common sense.

I hate it when they refuse the process an item for whatever reason, but it doesn't happen often enough to be a big issue.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I use them when possible and don't normally have problems, although occasionally something won't scan or it won't register that I put the item in the bag, and I have to wait for the customer service rep to reset it.

 

[Holdfast]

They still seem pretty common round here, and I like them a lot. For a small basket of just a few items, they're a lot quicker (or at least, less frustrating to use) than even the express, staffed, tills. Most people using them are self-selecting (i.e. feel comfortable with the machines) so I haven't noticed too many problems. Every once in a while, something won't scan, but that's pretty rare, and there's usually a staff member floating around to help.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I like them. I also prefer the least amount of human interaction possible. They have gotten better over time too - some of the older ones were extremely fickle about registering whether you'd bagged the item or not, and you could not go forward in the process unless you could get it to recognize the item. Now, at least, most of the machines have the option of not bagging an item, which allows you to continue without having to call someone over.

 

[Mike Farley]

I love self-check lanes. I would never go through the cashier given the choice. That being said, you should have to take a test in order to use them. I'm tired of being behind the guy with a can of peas in his hand and a blank look on his face while the machine repeats "Please put the item in the bag" over and over and over.

 

[John Clark]

For me personally, I don't have that much choice about using them. I tend to stop in at the supermarket on the way to work and they have a member of staff at the self checkout lane and none at the tills.

I don't mind using them, but there usually is an ID check or de-tagging that a member of staff has to do. Fortunately, there's about ten or so of the tills so I'm not holding other people up.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Once you get good at them they're much faster and more efficient. I never stand in line at an attended lane if I have a choice.

I've worked as a computer programmer, and I was annoyed when I first recognized that the various vocal messages and alerts are designed around the premise that the customer is trying to steal items. It makes all kinds of sense, can't argue with it, but I was insulted.

 

[RAMA]

Love self checkout!!! It makes things so fast. I try not to go to stores that don't have them.

RAMA

 

[Scout101]

I like them, unless I'm stuck behind someone that clearly shouldn't be in that line, as they have more items in their cart than brain cells...

Supermarket I go to often also has hand-scanners, so you can tag things as you go, and then just swipe that at the end to tally everything and pay. I like that system a lot, and it tailors special coupons to you as you shop, based on what you buy.

 

[B.J.]

I use them whenever possible, but it is frustrating getting behind someone who is clueless about them, or is trying to check out with a completely full buggy.

Supermarket I go to often also has hand-scanners, so you can tag things as you go, and then just swipe that at the end to tally everything and pay. I like that system a lot, and it tailors special coupons to you as you shop, based on what you buy.

I've never heard of that! What store does this?

 

[Holdfast]

Supermarket I go to often also has hand-scanners, so you can tag things as you go, and then just swipe that at the end to tally everything and pay. I like that system a lot, and it tailors special coupons to you as you shop, based on what you buy.

I've never heard of that! What store does this?

On this side of the pond, Waitrose has this system. I've never got round to trying it, though it makes sense.

I have to say, I'm surprised to read (or at least infer, from what's been posted) that people use the self-checkout lanes for larger amounts of shopping. Over here, it seems that most people using them are those with at most a full basket, and usually less. Certainly I only use them when I only have a basket. For a trolley's-worth of goods (even a shallow trolley), I always go to the staffed checkouts because it seems less work that way.

 

[TrekkieMonster]

I like them, unless I'm stuck behind someone that clearly shouldn't be in that line, as they have more items in their cart than brain cells...

'

^^^ This. I love them when I'm using them, but hate it when I get behind someone with too many items and/or doesn't really understand how to use the machine. A couple weekends ago, I was behind this young couple (whom I initially thought were 2 individuals because they had separate carriages), who decided to self-check their entire month's grocery shopping ... very slowly ... having extreme difficulty with the produce and other non-UPC-tagged items ... and then they couldn't figure out how to scan coupons .... I would have switched lanes, but the others were equally bad, or so I thought.

This was not at my regular grocery story. Coincidentally, they installed the self-check registers when they first opened their new store (where I shop) some 8 years ago, but they are known for their "personal service" (including having a person take your carriage to your car and load your groceries for you), and they soon decided this didn't fit with their "business model", so took them out. I don't mind it there, because they hire mostly really good cashiers and baggers, and they almost always have enough staff working the registers for the crowds. Most other stores, though, I much prefer to self-check.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I use self-checkout lanes--generally called a U-Scan in my area--whenever possible. It's ideal if you have only a few items (Have you ever been at the end of a line in which you're the only one there with less than twenty items? I've seen people literally say "f--- this," drop whatever they were going to buy, and walk out the store).

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Once you get good at them they're much faster and more efficient. I never stand in line at an attended lane if I have a choice.

I've worked as a computer programmer, and I was annoyed when I first recognized that the various vocal messages and alerts are designed around the premise that the customer is trying to steal items. It makes all kinds of sense, can't argue with it, but I was insulted.

Yeah, that's what all that "please place the item in the bag" bullshit is about.

I've read articles on how to rip off the grocery store by swapping UPCs on items of comparable weight. Not that I've done such a thing but apparently others have made it work.

Hell, I've seen people roll out of the store with items on the bottom rack that they never scanned, and the customer service rep meant to be watching for that is too busy yakking on a cell phone or shooting the shit with a coworker.

"Loss prevention," indeed.

 

[MacLeod]

For a handful of Item's, I usually head straight to the Self Checkout far quicker than standing in line waiting for the cashir to finish chatting to the customer they have already finished serving. Don't have to put up with the do you have this or that, would you like a etc...

There really not that hard to use and usually the bank of 4 or 8 is manned at all times.

 

[RobertVA]

I sometimes shop at a "wholesale club" that has conveyers at the self service checkouts instead of bag stations (the place doesn't even provide bags at the full service checkouts). One time I scanned a bag of frozen food and after showing the peoper item and charge on the display the conveyer insisted on reversing, deducted the item back off my total and asking me to rescan it. The casher that supervised the cluster of four self service checkouts had to come over and override it. The cursed machine then proceeded to repeat the ritual with a second bag of frozen food. I'm wondering if there was some sort of scale built into the conveyer that was out of calibration (registering too much weight) or otherwise malfunctioning.

While much of the merchandise, especially groceries, in the wholesale club is in much larger packages than I would normally buy, some items can be conveniently used in smaller increments. As an example, much of their canned goods are a quarter case of canned goods instead of individual cans. Snack food like potato chips are sold in pairs of bags (member picks matched or mixed pair).

 

[K'Ehleyr]

Agreed ~ training should be given for customers attempting to use this facility!

And please parents, I know teaching children is good but self checkouts are not a play toy, especially at 6 pm on a Friday night.

Self checkouts should only be used for baskets really, otherwise the stuff doesn't fit on the other side and you have the 'item removed', 'are you using your own bag', 'I can't understand what you are doing' comments.

Tip for needing authorisation ~ scan the booze first, it gives the worker time to work out what s/he's s'pose to be doing!

Other than that ~ they're great

(Confesses ~ she actually got away with a free item once ~ it was a bottle of 19p water! Still felt guilty )

 

[Robert Maxwell]

How much training could a customer possibly need? The stupid machine tells you, step by step, what to do! And it repeats itself if you don't do it quickly enough.

 

[Lindley]

One time I scanned a bag of frozen food and after showing the peoper item and charge on the display the conveyer insisted on reversing, deducted the item back off my total and asking me to rescan it.

That's the most common type of error. It usually means the weight for that item is incorrect in the computer's database.