CycleChat Investigates - Self Service Tills

[Electric_Andy]

What annoyes me about Lidl self checkout is - they provide a huge tall basket for shopping, but when trying to use the self check-out the basket doesn't fit in the packing area. So you can't just scan it through and dump it in the basket. You have to pile up the loose shopping in the bagging area and then transfer to something else after you have paid.

 

[BoldonLad]

I prefer them.
I wish "Lidaldi" would get them; I have never seen self operated check outs in any of their branches. And queuing to pay for shopping (in fact queing for ANYTHING) is another of my growing list of pet hates.
If Sports Direct had them (or even sufficient manned tills) then I wouldn't have walked away from a £90 purchase yesterday of a pair of trainers (Glasgow Argyle Street branch). I had tried them on, decided to buy; so the assistant who had gone and got the trainers for me then took them and put them behing the counter at the till, where only 1 person was on duty (at a bank of about 6 tills). I was told to join the queue of 3 people to pay for them. Fair enough; but the person in front of me was buying half the stock of T shirts in the place! And each one had to be removed from it's hanger, have the security tag removed, then scanned, folded and placed in a bag. Then, the customer notices that one of her purchases is the wrong size. So it has to be voided on the till which involved summoning a supervisor, while another member of staffed joined in the faffing around behind the till. No sign of any of them wanting to open another till - so I walked away. I suspect none of the staff could care less about the lost sale, but it's not just that. I won't be back in another Sports Direct, and in fact I am quite annoyed with myself for going into the place at all. Is it not part of Mike Ashley's empire? I won't buy anything he has a hand in if I can help it.

Our local Aldi has self serve tills (not portable scanners). Have not yet encountered a Lidl with them.

 

[BoldonLad]

I actually stopped going in Aldi after I once unloaded all my shopping onto the conveyor only to be told the till wasn't being opened (even though there was a call out for someone to open it)
I then left the shopping there and walked to Sainsbury's!

Having heard they had installed some of these self checkouts I went for a look, have used them a couple of times now for a small basket shop, wouldn't want to use them for a decent trolley shop though.

Scan as you shop is the only way to go

A man after my own heart. I have done same in ASDA

I am also a big fan of "scan as you shop".

 

[BoldonLad]

I feel knackered just watching the staff at Lidl. They certainly earn their money, but I've found the, unfailingly polite, good natured and always up for a quick chat.

One of the nice things about retirement is having the time to chat to folk.

You sound like the type of customer who makes me prefer scan as you shop' and pay at the machine

 

[BoldonLad]

I'm gardening at the moment and currently in for a pit stop...

... but, I have been wondering, whilst cutting & strimming, if I had sent the thread off in a NCAP direction.

I didn't fancy having to self-flagellate.

Or alternatively, having @Pat "5mph" give me a rollocking. 🙄

Own up, you are looking forward to it

 

[Badger_Boom]

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!

A nice idea if you don't worry too much about the cost and waste associated with sticking disposable RFID tags on every item.

 

[presta]

Conversely, shops that have reduced staff numbers by virtue of opening these self service tills aren't passing on any saving by charging less.

I don't think you could tell from looking at the prices on the shelves whether they have gone up less fast than they would if there were more staff.

One of the nice things about retirement is having the time to chat to folk.

Frozen food doesn't have time to wait whilst people chat.

The same argument was made when supermarkets first came along, and you selected your own goods from the shelves, as opposed to shops where you were served by the staff.

And I actively avoid shops where you have to ask for what you want. I like to walk in, look at something, and walk out again without being pestered by a salesman.

On a more positive note there is an Aldi getting built near me, and it will be closer so I'm looking forward to going there instead!

According to their website there's been one coming to Braintree for years, but it's never arrived.

The issue is that people see £billions of profit, and think that is "greed", when it is only actually 2-3% profit margin, which is really rather low.

To quote Tim Harford from More or Less: Always ask yourself 'Is that a large number'.

I often don't pack as I go, just pack at the end so you don't have bag weight problems

Something that irks me a bit is that you can't start with a bag partially filled at a previous store. I go to Sainsburys first, then Tesco, and if I can't manage to keep a separate bag for each store, I have to put all the stuff onto the scale loose, then put it all back in the trolley, then get out of the checkout area whilst I load it into the bags.

I actually stopped going in Aldi after I once unloaded all my shopping onto the conveyor only to be told the till wasn't being opened (even though there was a call out for someone to open it)
I then left the shopping there and walked to Sainsbury's!

There was an occasion when a self-service till annoyed me once too often, so I got hold of the bottom corners of the bag, tipped everything out onto the scale, and walked out.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I do agree that the ones where you scan it all yourself at the self service tills at the end of the shop

are a pain - especially the "bagging area" thing that checks whether you are cheating ot not - very badly

if I am getting more than a couple of things then I never use them


It really doesn;t make any sense that I can get a self scan unit and carry it round the store scanning stuff (or not!) and packing it

then just go and pay at the end with about a 1 in 30 or 1 in 100 chance of getting a check - which then may or may not spot the cheating/mistake

it would be very easy to scan a pack of butter but put 2 in the bag (other goods are available!)


but if I lob it all in the basket and scan it at the end then it checks everything is OK by weighing it which may or may not work!

If I have more than I expected - or if there is a large queue for the self scan tills - then I go and get a self scan unit, scan everything (which will only be 5-50 things) and then go and pay with no checking and a shorter weight!

 

[AndyRM]

See this "I got mad and left my shopping" patter? It's tragic.

You know all you're achieving with that is annoying other customers and leaving some underpaid employee with the headache of your tantrum, and those customers, right?

This is why everyone should have to work in a customer service role for at least 6 months of their life so they can, hopefully, learn how to behave in shops/pubs/restaurants or whatever it may be.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

See this "I got mad and left my shopping" patter? It's tragic.

You know all you're achieving with that is annoying other customers and leaving some underpaid employee with the headache of your tantrum, and those customers, right?

This is why everyone should have to work in a customer service role for at least 6 months of their life so they can, hopefully, learn how to behave in shops/pubs/restaurants or whatever it may be.

Also - if there is chilled or frozen stuff in there then they can;t be put out again as they don;t know how long it has been out of a controlled environment
so it is just wasted

However, if the wast rises and the manager asks why - and finds out that loads of people have been abandoning trolleys then it might just send a message
maybe

 

[AndyRM]

Also - if there is chilled or frozen stuff in there then they can;t be put out again as they don;t know how long it has been out of a controlled environment
so it is just wasted

However, if the wast rises and the manager asks why - and finds out that loads of people have been abandoning trolleys then it might just send a message
maybe

I love the idea, but there's no way it would be seen like that, not somewhere that's capable of having self scan checkouts/scan as you shop options.

 

[Drago]

At last, a shoplifter has voted!

 

[Drago]

This is why everyone should have to work in a customer service role for at least 6 months of their life so they can, hopefully, learn how to behave in shops/pubs/restaurants or whatever it may be.

I recommend joining the police. If you meet a customer like that you can taser them.

 

[wiggydiggy]

According to their website there's been one coming to Braintree for years, but it's never arrived.

There was an occasion when a self-service till annoyed me once too often, so I got hold of the bottom corners of the bag, tipped everything out onto the scale, and walked out.

Well they've put the sign up and the site is a literal building site so I'm hopeful!

I've never lost my temper with the staff, no point, but I have got bored waiting for someone to authorise my purchase and picked up stuff and gone to a till instead.

 

[AndyRM]

I recommend joining the police. If you meet a customer like that you can taser them.

If I'd been allowed to taser people when I worked at Bury's, you wouldn't have been able to move for bodies convulsing in the aisles.

ETA: I worked at Waitrose for a bit once and it was even worse. The number of fancy pants sounding individuals who came in asking for stuff they'd probably read about in Food Monthly but didn't know how to pronounce, much less cook, was glorious. My favourites were quinoa and puy lentils, or anything Spanish with a "z" in it.