self checkout lanes

[Starbreaker]

I like to use it if I just have a few items. However, if there is some old lady with two buggies full in front of me, I want to ram her face into the screen because I know she's going to be there for at least 2 hours.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Don't like 'em. Feels like the store is asking me to pay full price and do the work their job at the same time.

I feel similar.
By using a machine we are putting a entry-level job position out of work. With less entry level jobs that is more people out of work and not starting in the workforce.

I feel that a discount should be provided for using a self-checkout lane.

Once they start offering a 5% discount for checking and bagging your own stuff,

Well I think the discounted price should be more like 20% off the subtotal. Labor is the high cost for a brick & mortar store.

Also I happen to live in NYC and expect full service if I'm paying full price.

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

Please remove items from the bagging area.

Please place items back in the bagging area.

Please remove items from the bagging area.

Please place items back in the bagging area.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Please wait for an attendant.

 

[Sean Aaron]

Please remove items from the bagging area.

Please place items back in the bagging area.

Please remove items from the bagging area.

Please place items back in the bagging area.

This makes me insane. I also enjoyed the time I got a message about not detecting an item in the bagging area before I even had time to put it there!

 

[ALF]

Please remove items from the bagging area.

Please place items back in the bagging area.

Please remove items from the bagging area.

Please place items back in the bagging area.

Seriously.

Does anyone (else) specifically avoid these shops that have self-checkout? This has got to be hurting them in the long run, if people do avoid them.

 

[doubleohfive]

It is fun though, checking through all your items and *then* swiping your membership card and watching the discounts go through. Just don't forget to swipe the membership card!

In California, they're going to start charging $0.10 for every plastic bag you use at checkout if you don't bring your re-usable bags. I think this is an excellent idea and will hopefully take full effect everywhere. Some stores here in Los Angeles have already started doing this, though not all.

 

[farmkid]

I hate them. I refuse to use them.

Once they start offering a 5% discount for checking and bagging your own stuff, then I might consider it. Otherwise, I'm paying for services I'm not getting. They've basically got me doing their work for them while charging me a full service price.

Some of us prefer not to have those services. I don't want to talk to the cashier. I don't mind bagging my groceries. Having someone else scan my stuff and put it in a bag has no value to me, so if I can do it myself and not have to talk to the cashier, so much the better.

 

[doubleohfive]

Why wouldn't you want to talk to the cashier? It's a quick hello-how-are-you, what's wrong with that?

 

[Holdfast]

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.

Waitrose self-scan as you shop system is brilliant with the trade-off being that you're giving them marketing information on what you buy since you need to swipe your debit card which is linked to an account with your address, etc. but I'm not bothered about that.

Yeah, this is pretty low down on my list of worries when going to the supermarket. Hell, I use a Tesco clubcard regularly, so there's already more marketing data about me out there than you can shake a stick at! I'll try the Waitrose self-scan next time I shop there instead of doing it the old fashioned way. I assume there's no problem using a credit card instead of a debit card, if you prefer to pay that way?

Self-checkout I hate, however. As you say I'd only bother with it if I had a light shop, but even then when the things play-up it's far less convenient than going through a cashiere. I think one thing that helps is that the checkers here aren't as "friendly" as in the States and don't try to engage in bullshit conversation as much.

We already bag our own groceries here, so why the hell should I do my own check out?

It's certainly true that the cost is factored into the price of goods, but I have to say I view that service more like the long list of amenities in a hotel. For instance, I never use a hotel gym, but its maintenance cost is factored into my bill anyway. The food in the supermarket is equivalent to the hotel room; who checks out my groceries is like the gym.

Having said that, I do like to think I get value for money by taking as many complimentary sewing kits and free q-tips as I can...

(note: the grocery equivalent is eating a few grapes to check their sweetness before buying, not shoplifting. You have been warned...)

 

[MacLeod]

^Erm, trying a few grapes before you pay for them is theft. You have consumed an item you haven't paid for. And unlike hotel toiletries they aren't complimentary.

And it might only be one or two grapes too you, but multiple that by millions of people and it soon adds up to a lot of grapes to the retailer.

I have never once seen a bank of self checkouts unmanned by a cashier, might be different in the States, but one cashir overseeing 4 self-checkouts has to be more efficent in terms of customer through put than one cashier manning one till.

I don't think retailers plan to get rid of manned tills at any point soon, self checkout simply provides the customer with an alternative.

 

[Kestra]

It is fun though, checking through all your items and *then* swiping your membership card and watching the discounts go through. Just don't forget to swipe the membership card!

In California, they're going to start charging $0.10 for every plastic bag you use at checkout if you don't bring your re-usable bags. I think this is an excellent idea and will hopefully take full effect everywhere. Some stores here in Los Angeles have already started doing this, though not all.

Yeah I linked to an article about a plastic bag ban in San Jose. They're going to make us pay for paper bags though, if we don't bring a reusable bag. I'm going to need to buy a lot more bags. Also, I'd still like to have meat from the grocery store put into a separate plastic bag but I'm guessing that won't happen. Not sure how I'll handle that. We also reuse the plastic bags around the house so I'll have to figure something else out there.

Honestly, I'd rather they increase the price marginally and make you buy a reusable bag rather than a paper one. It seems like it would help the problem a lot more over time.

 

[Mike Farley]

Grocery store prices already factor in the costs of those bags. And now they're going to charge you again? Pure scam on the part of the grocery stores.

 

[RoJoHen]

I do most of my shopping at Aldi. They do not have self checkout. The only store around me that does have self checkout is Jewel, and I don't go there because a) I used to work there, and b) it's a lot cheaper to go to one of the other stores.

 

[Amaris]

Why wouldn't you want to talk to the cashier? It's a quick hello-how-are-you, what's wrong with that?

Depends on where you live. I have found that the further you head into the Midwest and South, the more likely you'll have either a talkative cashier who rings things slowly while spending 10 minutes talking to the person in front of you, or a cashier who doesn't pay attention to you at all cause she's talking to either the service clerk or the cashier next to her.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I gave up trying to use my own bags because I kept getting the annoying message "unexpected item in the bagging area" repeated at me like I'm an imbecile - which I might be - I just don't need the fact broadcasting.

 

[Holdfast]

^Erm, trying a few grapes before you pay for them is theft. You have consumed an item you haven't paid for. And unlike hotel toiletries they aren't complimentary.

And it might only be one or two grapes too you, but multiple that by millions of people and it soon adds up to a lot of grapes to the retailer.

I'll wait to get arrested next time I do it...

Besides, go to any smaller grocer, and it's almost expected to try before you buy, so you know you're getting a good product. It's like speeding a few miles an hour above the limit on the motorway; technically a crime, but no-one really cares. Therefore, fair game. I should also confess to occasionally taking a couple of extra sugar or condiment packets from cafes. I'll expect a Sweeney dawn raid soon.

I don't think retailers plan to get rid of manned tills at any point soon, self checkout simply provides the customer with an alternative.

Yeah, absolutely. Nice to have options in this regard, for sure.

 

[doubleohfive]

Why wouldn't you want to talk to the cashier? It's a quick hello-how-are-you, what's wrong with that?

Depends on where you live. I have found that the further you head into the Midwest and South, the more likely you'll have either a talkative cashier who rings things slowly while spending 10 minutes talking to the person in front of you, or a cashier who doesn't pay attention to you at all cause she's talking to either the service clerk or the cashier next to her.

This has not been my experience at all. If anything, both on the East coast (New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, DC, North Carolina) and all up and down the West coast, from Santa Barbara to San Diego, unless you're dealing with a customer taking their sweet time counting change or heckling over prices or what have you, things are typically well-paced. I can't think of a single time when a grocery line I've been in that has been stalled or we've been held up that was a cashier's fault.

That being said, it would be nice if cashiers were given a little more authority to be able to tell customers "Look, you're holding up the fucking line," to those crazies who try to beat the express line rules or who take advantage of their place in line.

 

[Sean Aaron]

I'll try the Waitrose self-scan next time I shop there instead of doing it the old fashioned way. I assume there's no problem using a credit card instead of a debit card, if you prefer to pay that way?

The card linked to your account has nothing to do with payment. You fill out a form and they swipe a card - debit or credit. You need to swipe that same card at a terminal in the middle of the bank of hand scanners and it says "Hello Mr. Free Marketing Info" and flashes the light on your scanner. You scan as you go and then go to the special check-out (which has no one in line most of the time) hand them the scanner and pay as you like. Every few months you'll get asked to do a bag check and they'll re-scan everything to keep you honest.

I'd likely shop at Waitrose all the time as a result because of the queue-jumping factor alone, but there are things I like better at Sainsbury's and there's a giant Sainsbury's on the way home from work which is more convenient than the walk to Waitrose from home.

Anyway back to the topic: self-checkout sucks; scanning as you shop rules.

 

[Amaris]

Why wouldn't you want to talk to the cashier? It's a quick hello-how-are-you, what's wrong with that?

Depends on where you live. I have found that the further you head into the Midwest and South, the more likely you'll have either a talkative cashier who rings things slowly while spending 10 minutes talking to the person in front of you, or a cashier who doesn't pay attention to you at all cause she's talking to either the service clerk or the cashier next to her.

This has not been my experience at all. If anything, both on the East coast (New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, DC, North Carolina) and all up and down the West coast, from Santa Barbara to San Diego, unless you're dealing with a customer taking their sweet time counting change or heckling over prices or what have you, things are typically well-paced. I can't think of a single time when a grocery line I've been in that has been stalled or we've been held up that was a cashier's fault.

That being said, it would be nice if cashiers were given a little more authority to be able to tell customers "Look, you're holding up the fucking line," to those crazies who try to beat the express line rules or who take advantage of their place in line.

I'll take you to a supermarket here in Ohio, where you will lose all faith in a cashier's ability to be remotely punctual in his or her duties.