Self Checkout Rant

While I am almost always a proponate of putting people to work and usually go through a manned checkout at the grocery store.. today I was in a hurry and only had three items.. so I dropped into the self checkout line.

Nobody in line ahead of me.. just two people at the self checkout machines.. One had loose veggies and I had a feeling she was going to take forever.. the other had about a dozen items... well, 5 minutes later, I am still waiting when the veggie lady (who got to her machine after the other) finished up her checking out and left..

I was in and out before the other woman finished..

The rant is.. everytime I go to the grocery store, why do people who don't know how to use these machines, and need help from the one checkout person there (to service 4 machines) use them? It just slows them and the people behind them down.

I feel bad using the lines when buying beer. But not that bad. I'm not gonna wait in the regular line with all the schmucks with full carts.

mad_machine wrote: The rant is.. everytime I go to the grocery store, why do people who don't know how to use these machines, and need help from the one checkout person there (to service 4 machines) use them? It just slows them and the people behind them down.

Why, because people in general are inconsiderate. One more reason I am ready to move away from society.

I was an early adopter of the self checkout. I like to say that it is because it allows me to be even more anti-social but the truth is I chat with the attendants more than I would ever talk to a cashier.

I am a frigging pro at the things and it amazes me the amount of people who just don't get them. The notion that the bagging area is a scale seems to elude a fair portion of the population. Trying to explain it just makes it worse. They scan the item, place it back in the cart and then start shouting at the machine.

I'm fascinated by the inverse customer model at the supermarket. Most business models say to take care of your best customers. The airlines have special security lines and boarding lanes for their first class passengers. Places with loyalty cards can reward their frequent guests. Yet at the grocery store, the customer with two fully loaded shopping carts spending $500 is the pariah while the guy who comes in to buy one loaf of bread is the one that is given the special "express lane" treatment.

I hate how my albertson's got rid of self check out. Now I have to wait in line with all the suckers.

The self-checkout is a slap in the face of customers who deserve better service. On the face of it, the idea has some merit. They cut their payroll, add to unemployment, and pad their bottom line a little. The reality is, these machines rarely work the way they are supposed to. Scanned item not found, please wait for attendant. Ever try scanning a lightweight item that the scale can't detect? Please wait for attendant. Almost every time I've elected to use a self-checkout because the store had only one or two warm bodies working registers, I've regretted it. An idea that due to poor execution fails miserably and has a powerful ability to make your customers hate you.

the walmart in Hickory NC has about a dozen self checkout stands, they haven't opened any of them for the last year. I don't understand that.

Aaaa... settle down. Maybe they just like DIY'ing it. Maybe they weren't in any hurry (not everyone is). Maybe they just like trying new stuff. Sure it's annoying to you, but there's no way (or reason) they should know they'd (necessarily) be inconveniencing you or anyone else. They just took the same option you did. Oh well.

I haven't found a self checkout line I don't like!

Even the ones at HD where you are sometimes buying itty bitty, no weight items it almost always gets it right or else they have a very good work out routine.

I'm not the biggest fan of Walmart's simply because they have too many lines and idiots shop at Walmart, I guess I'm one cause I shop there too.

But more importantly, at night they'll have 1-2 manned lines with all the self check out lines closed so there's always a line. To be able to see them and not be able to use them is the worst.

1988RedT2 wrote: On the face of it, the idea has some merit. They cut their payroll, add to unemployment, and pad their bottom line a little.

I don't see this. The Fred Meyer/Kroger down the street fit 8 self checkout registers in the place of two regular ones and has 2 attendants at it at all times. They have the same amount of staff as they did before. That staff is just able to help 4 people at a time.

During peak hours when every register is open those self checkout machines allow those of us with a small basket of items to be in and out of the store in a few minutes instead of having to wait behind the people with 3 carts playing their own home game version of extreme couponing.

Humans at the grocery store are at their worst. All civility is abandoned. I don't want to hang around with them any more than I have to. The self checkout affords me this luxury, plus I get to chat with the employees that are there and not get forced to stare at celebrity gossip magazines and chapsticks.

I use the self checkout at the grocery store all the time, I just stopped there tonight after work. Never had a problem with it.

failboat wrote: I feel bad using the lines when buying beer. But not that bad. I'm not gonna wait in the regular line with all the schmucks with full carts.

It is now illegal in Calif to buy alcohol in self checkout lanes. Prior to 2012, it always required an employee to check ID or hit OK on their end to verify age, delaying the process and usually making the regular lane quicker.

The same as people who can't figure out to take off ALL metal AND their shoes at airport security.

Hey Dumb mass! It's been looping on the TV screen the entire time you've been waiting to get to the checkpoint!

I almost never use the self-checkout line at my grocery store. By some twisted bit of logic, the lines for those four machines are always the longest. They rarely have enough cashiers, but the cashiers move faster than the self-checkout, and there's almost always one with a much-shorter line.

Weirdest grocery store ever.

I'm biting my tongue on this topic, but I'll say that stores like the SCO's because they take a lot of pressure off of the floods to the front as the tides roll in, and a lot of customers prefer to skip the small talk frequently encountered at the register.

i refuse to use the self checkouts. partly because i'm lazy, and partly because i like the idea of making people serve me for money.

I usually get a chuckle from anyone within earshot when the machine starts saying things like, "Please scan your first item, please insert payment, please take your receipt, etc... I then shout, in a exasperated woman's voice, "STOP YELLING AT ME!"

novaderrik wrote: i refuse to use the self checkouts. partly because i'm lazy, and partly because i like the idea of making people serve me for money.

+1. I refuse to use them also. I refuse to bag my own groceries too. I don't get a discount for "working" for the store, but more importantly, that could be job for a high schooler trying to get ahead. If you're in such a hurry buying your six-pack that you can't wait in line for five minutes, I sure as heck don't want to be driving in front of you. You're probably the same guy bitching there's no jobs. All the stores have a "15 items or less" line. There is no good reason for self service check outs.

I love 'em, use them all the time. If you know what you're doing, they're very efficient. I actually think it's good marketing strategy. It'll keep the customers who want to get in and out quickly coming back.

I like the self check-out....when it works right. Somedays you can zip through and be on your way, others the employee has to reset the stupid thing every third item. Overall it's faster and I can get everything in one bag instead of three when they do it.

I dislike the token small talk that is a mandatory part of the regular checkout experience, so I'm all for the self serve type.

I use self-check out lines when it's convenient and I've only ever had a few problems with them, most of which were caused by me doing something out of order.

And to everyone ranting about how a machine 'is taking a job' form someone think about it for a second. Someone had to make that machine, and they probably get paid a lot more than a cashier or a bag boy. Someone had to install it, someone has service it, someone has to train people on how to service it, someone had to make the various parts that went into, etc.

Quit buying your groceries at Wal-Mart and you can avoid many of the complaints in this thread.

Walmart's not the only place that has them.

I've found that at many stores the self service attendant is the best one they have. How smart do you have to be to run an item in front of a scanner? Well most of them aren't even that smart!