self check outs in supermarkets

[swee'pea99]

They're great! I never have a problem with them, and they've cut the wait for my daily sangwidges down from four or five minutes to one, tops. And that's every day. Mustard!

 

[wafflycat]

I refuse to use them. Not because of the technology but it strikes me that those tills represent fewer jobs in corporations that make vast profits and can afford to be employing people without denting profits severely.

 

[vernon]

I put all my more expensive loose veg through as something cheaper. I think of it as my fee for becoming a temporary checkout operator.

I'd call it obtaining goods by deception and resent your contribution to elevated prices to cover theft.

 

[bauldbairn]

I refuse to use them. Not because of the technology but it strikes me that those tills represent fewer jobs in corporations that make vast profits and can afford to be employing people without denting profits severely.

So did I! Until a recent visit to our all-night Tesco left no option - they have no till staff after midnight now.

How long before no till staff at all? Just security on CCTV and shelfstackers.

 

[HLaB]

Somedays I find them usefull & quick if you've only a few items but other days I find them a pain, "unexpected item ....." "take the item out of the bag", "put the item back in the bag"

Untill recently my local supermarket self checkouts only worked if you used their polythene bags, fortunately they've changed this so you can use your own bags.

 

[taxing]

I'd call it obtaining goods by deception and resent your contribution to elevated prices to cover theft.

I'm saving them money by using the self-checkouts, because that's someone else they're not paying £5.80 an hour plus holiday pay etc. Let's round that up to £6, and say I would have taken five minutes to pay at a till, that's a saving of 50p for the company. If I save 10p on my sweet potatoes by putting them through as normal potatoes, they're still gaining 40p. So why don't you go tell everyone who has gone to a manned checkout that they're elevating prices and you demand that they all pay the company 40p for every five minutes of checking out time they require to ensure that you pay rock bottom prices for your tins of beans?

 

[JediGoat]

This reminded me of a time when I was 'encouraged' to use the auto-checkout in B&Q. When I say 'encouraged' the supervisor woman actually shot in front of me as I approached a normal till (only one person waiting in the queue), insisted I use the auto one, mocked me when I said no thanks by saying (very loudly), "There's no need to be scared of it, it won't bite you, hahahaha!", then led me by the arm to the auto-checkout.

Now, I generally avoid them as I usually do any shopping whilst on my motorbike, and there is nowhere to put my lid without the dreaded "Unidentified item" alarm. This time, I really wanted to get rid of a pocket full of loose change. I had a £10 note, and £3 worth of 20p's. I was buying something for £8.

The lady said I had to put in the £10 first, I argued that it may not then let me put in the loose change that I wanted to get rid of, so perhaps I should just use the normal till. She said, no, I should feed in all the coins, then the £10 note, and it should give me either a £5 note or 5 £1 coins.

I dutifully did this (one handed, as was still having to hold crash helmet), and it gave me £5 change....in 20p's

She just shrugged apologetically and said, "Well, we don't like them either"

Not used another one since.

 

[Spokesmann]

Horrible things - I avoid them like the plague, although the checkout captains at Sainsburys keep encouraging peeps to try them.

 

[661-Pete]

I use them for just one or two items and no bags. Or if I have a rucksack, I don't put it down anywhere - not until I've got the receipt. I always make sure to take the receipt, just in case....

For example: fine for the one bottle of milk I pick at Tesco's every Monday morning. If they work first time they're quick. Main problem seems to be swallowing up coins and failing to register them - but on the whole I find that the assistant usually believes my story.

Before Safeways disappeared they introduced a self checking system that allowed shoppers to scan the goods as they placed them in the trolley and the checkouts took the money that was indicated on the scanners. To discourage dishonesty self service shoppers were randomly picked for a full scan at the checkouts.

I never got to try the system but it sounds superior to the current self service tills.

Reading this, I curse sometimes at a missed opportunity many years back. This was back in the 1980s, before such systems came into being. A colleague of mine, who had just given in his notice and was about to go freelance, earnestly tried to tempt me to team up with him. He'd dreamt up just such a system as this, and with my experience in embedded software, and he in hardware, he thought the two of us could make a killing. He showed me encouraging letters from the till manufacturers.

But I refused. I thought the whole idea was just too far-fetched.

I haven't been in contact with him since, so I don't know whether it was his design that went forward, or someone else's.

Anyway, enough of that...

 

[661-Pete]

This reminded me of a time when I was 'encouraged' to use the auto-checkout in B&Q. When I say 'encouraged' the supervisor woman actually shot in front of me as I approached a normal till (only one person waiting in the queue), insisted I use the auto one, mocked me when I said no thanks by saying (very loudly), "There's no need to be scared of it, it won't bite you, hahahaha!", then led me by the arm to the auto-checkout.

I wouldn't have stood for that. They can't surely prevent you from using a staffed till, as long as it's open without restrictions, can they? Perhaps you should have asked to see the supervisor's supervisor/manager...

She said, no, I should feed in all the coins, then the £10 note, and it should give me either a £5 note or 5 £1 coins.

I dutifully did this (one handed, as was still having to hold crash helmet), and it gave me £5 change....in 20p's

The railway ticket machines always do this, they give you change only in coins (although usually there are £1 coins) - even if it's £10 worth or more. I think it's something to do with the risk of notes jamming up the ticket and change dispenser...

 

[vernon]

I'm saving them money by using the self-checkouts, because that's someone else they're not paying £5.80 an hour plus holiday pay etc. Let's round that up to £6, and say I would have taken five minutes to pay at a till, that's a saving of 50p for the company. If I save 10p on my sweet potatoes by putting them through as normal potatoes, they're still gaining 40p. So why don't you go tell everyone who has gone to a manned checkout that they're elevating prices and you demand that they all pay the company 40p for every five minutes of checking out time they require to ensure that you pay rock bottom prices for your tins of beans?

That is a verbiose attempt at justifying theft.

See how far your justification would get you in a magistrates' court.

 

[661-Pete]

That is a verbiose attempt at justifying theft.

See how far your justification would get you in a magistrates' court.

And what's more, that's exactly what you would be charged with, if they caught you. And it's highly unlikely that you'd get off with a plea of absent-mindedness (if such a plea ever stands up in court: I don't know)...

 

[PBancroft]

I never use them in food supermarkets. I do use them whenever I go to B&Q. Much quicker (since no one else uses them at all) and I've never had a problem with them there either.

I am aware of someone at my local Waitrose who uses the self scanning service in conjunction with the Waitrose Bikehod things. He walks around the supermarket filling the Bikehod with what he wants and scanning it as it goes. When he's done he walks up the the checkout (no queueing required), pays, and within moments he's cycling home again with his shopping. Its one of those times where for him its genuinely quicker to cycle than to drive.

 

[snapper_37]

I refuse to use them. Not because of the technology but it strikes me that those tills represent fewer jobs in corporations that make vast profits and can afford to be employing people without denting profits severely.

+ 1.

I did use it at the local Asda when they first implemented them. Somehow, and I still don't know how, I managed to walk out with a bottle of something, still with the security tag attached.

 

[zimzum42]

It's definitely worth using the equivalent machine in Argos, it saves a bunch of time and avoids a moron typing in the wrong number at the normal till...