Self Checkout Fails and Then?…

[OldSaw]

What do you do when using self checkout and it gives you a problem? Do you wait for the high school kid to come over and help or do you just leave or something else?

I have very little tolerance for self checkout and rarely use it. When it gives me any issues I get flustered and feel like telling someone off. So to avoid an embarrassing situation, I just leave. I believe that the pain and cost of restocking the items left at the counter will force the stores to either make improvements or give up the self checkout process.

Sometimes I just ask the self checkout attendant to “help” me and then I let them do everything up until I have to put my card in the machine. It seems like that is the only time that things go smoothly.

The stores keep reducing the amount of regular checkouts and it frustrates me. I feel like I’m being forced to use technology that I don’t want to use.

 

[Legion]

I call the kid over to sort it out. That’s what they are standing there for.

I’ve already spent the time collecting all the items, so I am not going to leave, then have to do it again later.

 

[Chef455]

I'm sorry it's a struggle. For me it's an annoyance. I only use it if I'm in a hurry. Alas it's not going anywhere. Even if old goats like you and me do our best to sabotage it.

 

[silverlifter]

I just think back to when I worked in hospo as a kid and had to deal with cantankerous old people bewildered by technology, and then I smile and think that what goes around does indeed come back around again...

 

[gigashadow02]

The only time I have trouble with these machines is when I have to buy fruit or veggies. Everything else is pretty straightforward. You scan the barcode and put the item in the bag.

 

[luvmysuper]

I don't use them.
I'd rather stand in line for 15-20 minutes at a cashier. If it goes beyond that, I'll just leave if they don't open up another register.
If there was a set discount for using self checkout, even a fraction of a percent, I might.
As it is, I'd be doing the work and saving the store the wages of a cashier.
I'm retired and have no desire to get an unpaid part time position as a cashier for a store.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

I don’t use them either. In the UK it seems more and more stores are going back to manned checkouts lately.

 

[luvmysuper]

I don’t use them either. In the UK it seems more and more stores are going back to manned checkouts lately.

I read an article last week saying that many stores were cutting back or abandoning self checkout due to massive losses in revenue.
This is attributed to errors by customers or outright theft by customers and employees.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

I read an article last week saying that many stores were cutting back or abandoning self checkout due to massive losses in revenue.
This is attributed to errors by customers or outright theft by customers and employees.

Yes, theft from stores is kind of an epidemic here and the police aren’t at all interested. I can understand that the police do not wish to devote their limited manpower to compensate for security issues arising from the staff cuts in supermarkets. One major superstore chain (Waitrose) has started giving free coffee and snacks for the police to try and get them to visit the stores sometimes. But fundamentally the stores have saved money by sacking checkout staff and all the thefts are a predictable cost of this business model.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

At my local supermarket, despite the store being open 24 hours, there are now no manned checkouts open until 9am so I am forced to use self checkout during my 7:30am visit.

I read that in the Netherlands the Jumbo supermarket chain has introduced 'kletskassa', or so called 'chatty checkouts'. These are manned checkouts aimed at those, usually older customers, who want to take their time and who are looking to engage in conversation with the cashier or others in the queue. It is part of a noble government initiative to tackle increasing levels of loneliness.

I would find these checkouts doubly beneficial; firstly I could talk to the cashier and pretend to be interested in their replies. Secondly, while waiting my turn, I could complain to all and sundry about how slow the queue was moving, and how the current customer simply will not stop talking. So, a chance to have both a chat and a good moan. The older I get the more appealing that sounds.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I don't use self checkout either. I refuse to pay for the privilege of doing their job for them. Besides which, they are utterly infuriating.

 

[Filudo]

It's amazing how horrible this system is......; if I have a problem: I just walk away and leave the stuff right there!!!

Now they have 2-4 incompetent individuals who just waste time on their phones and talking.....maybe trying to see if someone is stealing.....but still don't do much.

I say: RE open the cashiers.....it's a job for a human.....provide the service. People need jobs.

And in some places those self check outs are vanishing......thanks to thieves.....yes, corrupt society ......

 

[ctr]

Don't use them. Shopped at one grocery early in the morning for years. Maybe 6 6:30 in the morning. They went to self-checkout before 8. Left the groceries right there and walked out of the store never to return.

Lowes that I have shopped at for maybe 20 years recently went to all self-checkout. I no longer shop there.

Self-checkout is the depth of decline in customer service.

 

[Bobbers]

I work in a big box retail home improvement store. I hear what some of you complain about on a daily basis. I also know the stores side.
I will keep this short.
From the stores end it is hard to get employees both to hire them and get them to show up for work. The store could raise wages for the employees then then they could charge more for the products and people would complain about that. It is also a problem with upc switching and people just not scanning all the product. It also does not help the situation when a customer makes the dumb remarks like " I should get a discount if I do the work". The person working the self check out is only doing the job the were hired for. If you feel that strongly complain to corporate not the store.

As far as Lowe's and Home Depot the contractor or lumber end has a cashier use that end.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

I work in a big box retail home improvement store. I hear what some of you complain about on a daily basis. I also know the stores side.
I will keep this short.
From the stores end it is hard to get employees both to hire them and get them to show up for work. The store could raise wages for the employees then then they could charge more for the products and people would complain about that. It is also a problem with upc switching and people just not scanning all the product. It also does not help the situation when a customer makes the dumb remarks like " I should get a discount if I do the work". The person working the self check out is only doing the job the were hired for. If you feel that strongly complain to corporate not the store.

As far as Lowe's and Home Depot the contractor or lumber end has a cashier use that end.

That may be true in some retail outlets, but speaking specifically of large grocery supermarkets here in the UK, I do not believe that staffed checkout lanes are being closed due to a lack of experienced and reliable staff. My conversations with those cashiers that do remain confirm redundancies, reduced hours, and new zero hour contracts, often enforced on reliable, long time served staff. It seems to me like nothing more than a cost saving exercise disguised as improved efficiency and progress, with little or no regard to the customer. I agree it is not fair to complain to the shop floor staff themselves, many of whom will dislike the changes as much as their customers, nevertheless there is a place for polite feedback even if it achieves nothing useful. As others have alluded to, the only thing that will work is to take one's custom elsewhere.

 

[Ravenonrock]

Rather than get frustrated, I just bag up all my purchases and walk out of the store with them. I’m getting some really amazing deals lately and enjoying the terrific savings. Ain’t life grand!

 

[luvmysuper]

It also does not help the situation when a customer makes the dumb remarks like " I should get a discount if I do the work".

It's not a dumb remark. People doing self checkout are performing labor for the store without benefit of compensation.
Recent articles have articulated that stores want to go to self checkout due to perceived monetary savings by reducing checkout staffing.
It's the WHOLE reason they institued the idea.
I think it is hilarious that they turn out to be losing money due to theft.

The store could raise wages for the employees then then they could charge more for the products

I'm ok with that.
I don't think it is odd that a store would raise prices to pay for new staff hires.
I do think it is odd that a store would reduce staff hires without likewise reducing prices.
Particularly for those customers now doing the labor that was previously done by a paid employee.

 

[OldSaw]

The only time I have trouble with these machines is when I have to buy fruit or veggies. Everything else is pretty straightforward. You scan the barcode and put the item in the bag.

If only it were that easy. It seems like any wrong movement of any kind upsets the machine.

 

[DrStrange]

I call the kid over to sort it out. That’s what they are standing there for.

I’ve already spent the time collecting all the items, so I am not going to leave, then have to do it again later.

He thinks you want an explanation of why the receipt paper is colored red
and why you only got half of a receipt.

He's miles away from realizing that you want him to
put in a new roll of receipt paper.

 

[njpaddy]

I use self-checkout at one grocery store when I go alone to stock up on a tonic sale, have few other items, and pay with cash. I take my time and rarely have a problem. It's a small area and help is quick. I hate using them at our main store when I'm with my wife. She wants to use them with a full cart. She scans too fast and locks up the machine multiple times. Plus there's no room to put anything. If I'm with her, I'll push the cart into a regular check out, before the self-scans, and refuse to move.

A bigger annoyance for me is digital coupons. I have a cell phone because my wife insists I have one. I rarely turn my cell phone on, much less use it, so the battery is always dead. I just use my store card, and eat the digital savings. On our main trips, my wife uses her digital account.