Self checkout

[vraiblonde]

I keep seeing these memes about how terrible self checkout is - checkers don't get paid, etc etc etc.

I love self checkout and use it whenever it's available. I don't mind the checker people most of the time but I'm usually a lot more efficient than they are. And I always want to bag my own groceries or have Monello do it if he's with me. To the point that I'll politely tell the bagger that I brought my own personal bag boy and s/he should go help someone else.

Some checkers and baggers are awesome, but mostly they're blithering idiots who put raw meat in with my produce. I don't need some rocket scientist scanning my groceries. I don't even need them to be friendly. I just want them to be at least semi-capable, otherwise I'm okay with self checking and putting them out of a job. And I don't feel bad one speck for that.

I almost posted this diatribe on my friend's FB after she posted the "don't use self checkout" meme, but I came here to gripe instead.

 

[GURPS]

Self Check Out Is Awesome [ when it works ]


these whiners must be the sames one's as Obama Whining about ATM's putting bank tellers out of business

 

[Bann]

I always use the self check out, as well. I am waaay more efficient than the check out peeps.

I ALSO hate having to tell them not to put fresh meat in a bag with anything else, but I do. I can be as nice as pie and they'll still have an attitude because I said it. I just give them the look back, too. Not sure why this isn't common sense! (not really, I know most of them don't have any!)

 

[limblips]

Why don't these whiners complain about pumping their own gas? Online banking? Self-serve kiosks at fast food joints and convenience stores? You know, things that they aren't paid to do and have put others out of jobs.

 

[PrchJrkr]

I keep seeing these memes about how terrible self checkout is - checkers don't get paid, etc etc etc.

I love self checkout and use it whenever it's available. I don't mind the checker people most of the time but I'm usually a lot more efficient than they are. And I always want to bag my own groceries or have Monello do it if he's with me. To the point that I'll politely tell the bagger that I brought my own personal bag boy and s/he should go help someone else.

Some checkers and baggers are awesome, but mostly they're blithering idiots who put raw meat in with my produce. I don't need some rocket scientist scanning my groceries. I don't even need them to be friendly. I just want them to be at least semi-capable, otherwise I'm okay with self checking and putting them out of a job. And I don't feel bad one speck for that.

I almost posted this diatribe on my friend's FB after she posted the "don't use self checkout" meme, but I came here to gripe instead.

You'd better be careful. Posting something like that on FB may earn you a timeout, but I've heard the forum moderator here can be a real b!tch. Just looking out for ya!

 

[PrchJrkr]

I always use the self check out, as well. I am waaay more efficient than the check out peeps.

I ALSO hate having to tell them not to put fresh meat in a bag with anything else, but I do. I can be as nice as pie and they'll still have an attitude because I said it. I just give them the look back, too. Not sure why this isn't common sense! (not really, I know most of them don't have any!)

I'm sad to say this, but common sense isn't so common any more. When I started at Mattingly's IGA back in the 70s, the whole first day was training on bagging groceries so that like items were together and the bags (paper) were loaded so that the corners stayed crisp and uniform. With today's plastic bags, it's impossible to get any kind of uniform shape and if you don't tie the handles together half of your items spill out on the trip home. That and the fact that 99% of the "baggers" today really just don't give a care.

 

[glhs837]

I'm with you.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

I hate Walmart's self checkout, it's slow as hell and I can never get the bags open so I have a pile of bags laying on the floor when I'm done.

Best self checkout I ever used was the one at Superfresh 20 years ago, they are all still playing catchup to that one.

 

[Merlin99]

I'm going to remain a curmudgeon who makes them do the work, that is unless it's signifigantly easier to go the other way.

 

[RoseRed]

I only use it if I have a few items.

 

[Kyle]

I request curb-side pickup and avoid it all.

There are too many people in the store. :shudder:

 

[PJay]

In home delivery..

 

[SamSpade]

I'll use self-checkout under rather limiting conditions -

1. Self-checkout LINE is short - seriously, why on Earth would I want to wait in a LONG LINE, just to check myself out?
2. Very small number of items. Even if I have 20 boxes of Jell-O - I'd still rather have the checker beep 'em all. My experience with LOTS of items is it's just a matter of time before the machine tells me to take it out of the bag and re-scan, or put it back where the bag is. And my light starts flashing and I'm stuck because the machine just - stops.
3. Nothing that needs to be weighed or "looked up". I'm not weighing the vegetables and looking them up.
4. Special conditions - for example - coupons and especially in-store coupons - they NEVER work right for me. Always makes the light blink.
5. More special conditions - I need a bag of ice, but it's past the register or outside. How do I scan THAT? Or I am returning a bottle of water with a deposit on it. Heck, even the checkers take a while on that one.
6. If it's really a FUBAR kind of store - they don't have handheld scanners - and the thing you got is WAY too big to hold over the register.

Sometimes - I'm just fine with waiting a bit longer. I hate self-checkout. I mostly use it at places like Wal-Mart, where they have 30 lanes - THREE PEOPLE manning them - and tons of self-check stations. And it's Wal-Mart, which means the checkout lanes have people with TWO carts teeming with stuff and somehow they manage to make the process last longer than buying a car - coupons, writing a check, asking questions.

Seriously - this is also why I don't bother to even SHOP at some stores. Dollar General and ALDI's used to be one of my favorite go-to places - but they rarely have more than one person running a register, even if the line is ten deep. When I worked a register in my teens the store rule was - when the registers have more than THREE, you must open another one. Why? Because people can buy milk and bread elsewhere.

 

[SamSpade]

In home delivery..

This is my preferred method - most of the time - when delivery is free.

But I am also seriously pissed that the driver manages to put the package where I would never think to look for it - instead of the front porch or mailbox. This happens all the time. Just a couple days ago, they tucked a package behind a trash can close to my garage door. One of my kids FOUND it.

 

[my-thyme]

I love the hand held scanner at Giant. Scan it, bag it, pay, go. Haven't had a problem yet.

 

[CRHS89]

1. What I hate about self checkout is getting the bag apart....freaking impossible, especially when there is someone waiting in line behind me...causing anxiety...then even more difficulty getting the f**king bag open. 2. I figure all of the cashiers that are no longer cashiering are now shopping for those that do curbside pickup 3. The worst self check-out is BJs. I don't think I have ever had a problem-free self checkout experience there.

 

[PrchJrkr]

I use the one at Food Lion Leonardtown all the time. I'm usually just picking up a few things and paying by debit card. I had a cart load of Mommy Dearest's sodas along with my "regular" bachelor shopping for the week. All the registers were 2-3 deep with overflowing carts so I choose self checkout. There was a helpful cashier standing by who assisted me with a coupon and I was out like a flash.

 

[TPD]

Not everyone can program a computer or build an airplane. We need ditch diggers in this world. We need cashiers. If for no other reason than to give people a job and a reason to get out of bed. I usually support the manned/womaned checkout lines.

 

[vraiblonde]

Not everyone can program a computer or build an airplane. We need ditch diggers in this world. We need cashiers. If for no other reason than to give people a job and a reason to get out of bed. I usually support the manned/womaned checkout lines.

See, and I would give that checker $10 out of my own pocket not to have to deal with them.

But that is strictly for Walmart and the grocery stores. A hardware shop, for example, gets a lot of people like me who ask for guidance, so fully automating something like that would suck. Those checkers actually know things.

 

[limblips]

I would use self-checkout more often if the checker wasn't such an obnoxious a$$hole.