CycleChat Investigates - Self Service Tills

[classic33]

I'll leave rather than use them. Get what I want elsewhere.

 

[Cycleops]

Might interest you to know that Walmart is getting rid of it's self service check outs starting with three states:

https://www.newsweek.com/walmart-replacing-self-checkout-states-1892323

Could it happen in the UK too in other stores?

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Another things about the self scan things that you carry around is teaching kids

The middle grandkid is SEN and is just about starting to read simple stuff
currently he is in charge of the scanner - which means he has to stay near me so he can scan things - which helps - he is very dutiful about it (mostly - only found "extras a couple of time when I got to the till!)

Anyway - currently his job is to scan it and check the picture on the screen is the right thing
Soon he will be encouraged to also read the description to check it is right and check the price is the same as on the shelf

all of which helps keeping control of 3 grand kids in Tesco!!

 

[cyberknight]

In Tesco Expresses, Sainsbury's Locals and the likes, where I'm likely only buying 2-3 items, I will use the self-checkout every time through choice - so much faster. But for a full shop with a trolley full, I'm almost always queuing up and getting it scanned the old fashioned way.

im the same
I once tried a weekly shop but it didnt like it due to amount of stuff, the scanner kept going funny so it would have been quicker waiting for service at a normal till .Add in time waiting for someone to reset the scanner/authorize items etc it was a nightmare .

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

Going to a human at a till involves some interaction and communication with another person. That’s a no from me. Give me a self service checkout any day of the week over that.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Going to a human at a till involves some interaction and communication with another person. That’s a no from me. Give me a self service checkout any day of the week over that.

exactly

which is why I never use the normal self service tills - there is always something it doesn;t recognise or which doesn;t register on the scales

Unless you only have a few items that are more trouble than they are worth for me!

 

[potsy]

I love the self scan hand held thingies, much better packing as you go rather than putting all your items on the conveyor belt then having to pack again.
Also easier to keep track of your spending as it gives you a running total as you shop.
Another good thing is you can check the prices as you go, had a few occasions where the advertised price hasn't been the one scanned, would never have noticed with a human scanning at the till.

The occasional bag check I can live with, only happens once in a blue moon.

 

[Dirk]

Personally I detest them and refuse to use them, and stand stoidally next to a till until a human being arrives.

Not only do I end up arguing with theee checkouts, they take peoples jobs.

And then, having reduced staff numbers and introduced what's essentially an honour system of payment, the shops complain about shoplifting.

So it is once again down to to wise and sage philosophers of CycleChat to decide.

I'm with you all the way on this.
You're doing someone else's job and not getting a discount for it.
On the odd occasions I have had to use them, I've always had to call an assistant due to a problem with scanned items.
Leaves me thinking -'why not just put another person on the tills'.

 

[Adam4868]

Might interest you to know that Walmart is getting rid of it's self service check outs starting with three states:

https://www.newsweek.com/walmart-replacing-self-checkout-states-1892323

Could it happen in the UK too in other stores?

Booths were meant to be doing it....still have some self service tills last time I was in.
https://www.timeout.com/uk/news/thi...-first-to-ditch-self-service-checkouts-111323

 

[presta]

I started using them just for a few items, but soon got used to them and now I've been using them all the time for years. It's annoying that the scale won't accept a bag that's already got stuff bought elsewhere in it, but apart from that they're generally ok. No waiting whilst someone in front stands rabbiting to the checkout girl about a new hairdo.

 

[Adam4868]

Never use them...I'll go out of my way to use a real life person to serve me.I sometimes when I'm forced into a supermarket ask them to open a till if nobody's on them.
Anyway i've always got alcohol and it's a pain in the arris waiting for someone to confirm my age 😁

 

[Drago]

Situation like that are why I like the scan as you go type things
you pick it up, scan it and put it directly into the bag

no putting it on a conveyor then having to take it off after the operator has scanned it - then put it into a bag under time pressure

just roll up to the self service till and pay and walk out - much less stress especially after a big shop with several bags full!!!!

But every time I do that I get selected for the apparently random bag check, which clearly isn't random and picks on the large scary looking geezers. By the time I've endured that it's taken longer than going to a till.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Many years ago - when I was a proper IT person, programming and all that - I used to read some of the trade papers
(including Computer Weekly which as been in the News having run with the Post Office stuff first - and several other things that they went for before anyone else dared!)

They were going on a lot about rfid tags being looked at to replace bar codes on food items

an rfid tag can hold a lot more information than a bar code - such as the price and sell by date - but is also easier to read and doesn;t have to be scanned in a specific position or orientation

Their concept was that you will soon (this was in the 1980s!) be able to push a full trolly through a gate and it will detect everything in it and print the bill as you come through after the trolley
then just pay and go

hasn;t happened yet so I presume it was not as possible as they seemed to think at the time
but it was a nice idea!

 

[matticus]

Going to a human at a till involves some interaction and communication with another person. That’s a no from me.

I don't see the problem - they're not REAL people. Just ignore them.

 

[farfromtheland]

I wait for a till with an actual person like me. The less automation and beeping in my food chain the better.

I wonder what the age breakdown in this vote is?