self checkout, opinions

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Originally Posted by ethnix
Only good if you have a few items (under 10), otherwise it's easier to go to a checker.

It's a way for a company to save money at your expense. They wouldn't be doing it if they didn't receive a gain.

Not only are they saving money at your expense, the big WMs around me all have the camera displaying your face on the screen as you scan your purchases. I don't want to see that while I'm in the grocery store. Yes, I know there are 500 cameras on me at all times in the store, but this is unnecessarily in-your-face. If I absolutely have to use a scan 'n' go, I hold my hat up over the top part of the screen so I don't see the pic. Which is annoying and slow to say the least.

Last fall I put one of their plastic bags over the top of the Monitor. Some officious little floorwalker demanded I remove the bag, because, she squawked, it was "suspicious." She threatened me with her manager; I said, "Bring it on." Manager was too busy looking at her phone to come over.

Now I insist on using the checkouts.
 
Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
Last fall I put one of their plastic bags over the top of the Monitor. Some officious little floorwalker demanded I remove the bag, because, she squawked, it was "suspicious." She threatened me with her manager; I said, "Bring it on." Manager was too busy looking at her phone to come over.


If someone is in my business putting a bag over my security camera, I'll have pulled my gun out and politely ask him what is he trying to do. You can't blame anyone but yourself for that.
 
Originally Posted by PandaBear
Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
Last fall I put one of their plastic bags over the top of the Monitor. Some officious little floorwalker demanded I remove the bag, because, she squawked, it was "suspicious." She threatened me with her manager; I said, "Bring it on." Manager was too busy looking at her phone to come over.


If someone is in my business putting a bag over my security camera, I'll have pulled my gun out and politely ask him what is he trying to do. You can't blame anyone but yourself for that.


Yeah, definitely a no no. It's their business, If you don't like it, don't shop there.
 
Originally Posted by PandaBear
Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
Last fall I put one of their plastic bags over the top of the Monitor. Some officious little floorwalker demanded I remove the bag, because, she squawked, it was "suspicious." She threatened me with her manager; I said, "Bring it on." Manager was too busy looking at her phone to come over.


If someone is in my business putting a bag over my security camera, I'll have pulled my gun out and politely ask him what is he trying to do. You can't blame anyone but yourself for that.
You'll be in jail or the cemetery doing stuff like that in real life. Sounds good on the internet though.
 
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Originally Posted by hatt
Originally Posted by PandaBear
Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
Last fall I put one of their plastic bags over the top of the Monitor. Some officious little floorwalker demanded I remove the bag, because, she squawked, it was "suspicious." She threatened me with her manager; I said, "Bring it on." Manager was too busy looking at her phone to come over.


If someone is in my business putting a bag over my security camera, I'll have pulled my gun out and politely ask him what is he trying to do. You can't blame anyone but yourself for that.
You'll be in jail or the cemetery doing stuff like that in real life. Sounds good on the internet though.

"Like"
 
Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
ethnix said:
Only good if you have a few items (under 10), otherwise it's easier to go to a checker.



Last fall I put one of their plastic bags over the top of the Monitor. Some officious little floorwalker demanded I remove the bag, because, she squawked, it was "suspicious." She threatened me with her manager; I said, "Bring it on." Manager was too busy looking at her phone to come over.

Now I insist on using the checkouts.


You ashamed of how you look? Do you avoid mirrors as well ?
Click to expand...
 
Originally Posted by madRiver
I would say OKAY BOOMER.

I have read that the appropriate response to that is BRING IT ON SNOWFLAKE.

Be that as it may, I've found the self checkouts to be a mixed bag. They can save time for small to moderate size orders as long as everything works OK. I've had far too many experiences though where the danged thing starts screaming "Unexpected item in bagging area!" for no apparent reason. Then you have to wait for the single human watching over 8 self-check stations also having problems to come over and fix it.

The trouble is that all the stores have been phasing out human-staffed express lanes in favor of self-checkout, so it's either deal with the droid when buying some milk and bread or wait behind a line of people doing a month's worth of shopping.

Some say that stores should give a couple of percent discount when using self-checkout since the customer is being put to work doing what an employee should be doing.
 
Despite the struggles so far in this thread has anyone answered this monumental question:
How do they put that tiny little code sticker on a piece of fruit?
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by 4WD
Despite the struggles so far in this thread has anyone answered this monumental question:
How do they put that tiny little code sticker on a piece of fruit?




https://youtu.be/1_6cHRb6IPo


https://youtu.be/j5mfRwZUOss


I guess that's why they're on loose and some don't even have stickers, either they didn't go on in the first place or the fell off.
 
Many do come off … I always make sure one piece goes in the bag with a sticker … self checkouts have become my default anyway
 
wow, OP here, Im shocked at how much traction this thread got and how sensitive some are on this subject. Not that I really care, just interesting.
 
Originally Posted by PandaBear
Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
Last fall I put one of their plastic bags over the top of the Monitor. Some officious little floorwalker demanded I remove the bag, because, she squawked, it was "suspicious." She threatened me with her manager; I said, "Bring it on." Manager was too busy looking at her phone to come over.


If someone is in my business putting a bag over my security camera, I'll have pulled my gun out and politely ask him what is he trying to do. You can't blame anyone but yourself for that.

As long as I'm a paying customer, and not damaging the equipment, I see no reason to be confronted with my unshaven, sweaty image that early in the morning.

The key word here is "politely." Little floorwalker was demanding, not treating me politely, so I ignored her. The so-called manager couldn't be bothered about it either.

I'm not looking for confrontations, so now I use the regular checkout. I await, however, the day that the only checkout stand available is the 10 or less line, and they tell me that because I have 20 items I can't check out there. The manager will hear from me on that.
 
I like self checkout when it works and it can truly be a SELF checkout. I have mixed success. One scenario: Picked up a sushi tray from the deli section at the grocery store. You can grab a set of chopsticks, but silly me didn't realize I was supposed to hold on to the chopsticks, so the scale detected there was an extra item and it required the attendant to clear it and affirm I wasn't trying to steal something.

Home Depot I don't seem to have a lot of luck with. Either I'm buying paint, adhesives, or "controlled" substances, I'm buying hardware like loose bolts or screws that don't have a means to look it up at the self checkout, or something that happened recently; the outside kiosk for the propane exchange was broken, but when I had to go to inside to the self checkout, there was no option to exchange a propane tank. Even the attendant seemed annoyed that she had to assist just to ring up a propane exchange. The outside kiosk was still functional; you could put in the code you bought in the store to make it open the locker to swap your tank, you just couldn't buy it there. Why I couldn't just buy a code from the self checkout is unknown, unless it was just that the card reader was broken on the propane kiosk and they didn't figure you wouldn't be able to pay for it outside.

Edit:
I do like the automated gas stations. I just wish Get Go would bring back the ability to buy washer fluid at the pump; they still put the washer fluid bottles next to the pumps, but the pump no longer asks if I want to add anything (like washer fluid). That was very convenient.
 
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I use whatever is more convenient, generally self-check, but subject to some basic exceptions:

a) any alcohol is going to require someone to assist me anyway, so I pass on self-check
b) at Meijer, any coupon greater than $5 is not going to work at self-check so I pass
c) too many coupons means that eventually one of them will be rejected until a human comes to assist so I pass on self-check
d) greater than the maximum allowed items in my cart means I pass

Not worried about making any sort of political statement by refusing to use self-check because companies don't listen to me anyway.

Interestingly enough, last Saturday was the first time I've been to Meijer in the late morning and none of the staffed lanes had more than two people waiting while self-check was mobbed. Usually they are at least 5 deep and everyone's cart is loaded to the gills. The big crush was earlier in the morning - apparently everyone went out early to beat the rain/ice/snow that was forecast so by the time I got there, the crowd was gone.
 
Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
[
As long as I'm a paying customer, and not damaging the equipment, I see no reason to be confronted with my unshaven, sweaty image that early in the morning.

A less obvious way to accomplish this, at least for those lanes using an iPad type device, might be to stand to the side and surreptitiously place a small piece of black tape over the lens.
 
Originally Posted by Saabist
Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
[
As long as I'm a paying customer, and not damaging the equipment, I see no reason to be confronted with my unshaven, sweaty image that early in the morning.

A less obvious way to accomplish this, at least for those lanes using an iPad type device, might be to stand to the side and surreptitiously place a small piece of black tape over the lens.


Or just not look at the screen. Same as avoiding eye contact.

Or shave and shower before you go shopping.

If you don't want to be reminded that you look like a bum, don't look like a bum.
 
Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by Saabist
Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
[
As long as I'm a paying customer, and not damaging the equipment, I see no reason to be confronted with my unshaven, sweaty image that early in the morning.

A less obvious way to accomplish this, at least for those lanes using an iPad type device, might be to stand to the side and surreptitiously place a small piece of black tape over the lens.


Or just not look at the screen. Same as avoiding eye contact.

Or shave and shower before you go shopping.

If you don't want to be reminded that you look like a bum, don't look like a bum.

Another option is just not to care one bit what others think of you when you're not currently under purview of your employer. Really, what does it matter? What is some random to you?
 
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