Anyone else still angry about self check out lanes?

I hate the self checkout lane. I have supermarkets in general. It AMAZES me that somehow they feel it's not in their best interest to staff the supermarkets so there are enought checkout people that there are no lines.

The two supermarkets i go to have about 15 checkout lanes. There never are more than 5 people working in them. There are often long lines.

The stores are bout a half mile from each other. If one was adequately staffed with no lines, wouldn't they get more customers? If I could save 15 minutes every time I went it would be worth it.

Also if you aren't going to staff the 15 lanes, why not change them into more aisles for products.

I'm worried there will be no jobs left soon.

rojo wrote:

The two supermarkets i go to have about 15 checkout lanes. There never are more than 5 people working in them. There are often long lines.

+1. They could have saved the money building the checkout lanes because all 15 lanes are NEVER open.

I actually like self check lanes cause i don't have to talk to anyone and sometimes they are faster.

But when i have lots of produce and don't know the codes, it's slower. They also assume we are trying to rip them off cause they don't give you more than 5 seconds before it yells "please place the item in the bagging area".

Please place the item in the bag, please remove the item from the bag, please place the item back in the bag, please remov ... please place .. pleas .. pl ... p .. *calls over attendant*

rojo wrote:

I'm worried there will be no jobs left soon.

You ever thought about how many people are involved

- designing

- manufacturing

- selling

- maintaining

these SCOs?

There's a pricetag to it that is about four times higher than a standard till.

And no time is spend after the shift counting cash manually.

Regards,

Industry Insider

totally man wrote:

Please place the item in the bag, please remove the item from the bag, please place the item back in the bag, please remov ... please place .. pleas .. pl ... p .. *calls over attendant*

This. Something effs up ALL THE TIME

Plus, what next? I stock shelves? Slice my own meat? Bake the friggin bread??

If I'm paying the same, the store can do the work thanks.

And everyone can't be unemployed. People need jobs. Even modestly paying jobs. Or are we at the point of not needing employed people in our economy?

Jhonny come lately wrote:

Slice my own meat? Bake the friggin bread??

I do both.

Because I'm rich and I have enough time.

Don't forget the manager and asst. manager who stand together instructing customers which line to go to instead of opening two additional lines.

Doh etosh wrote:

I'm old and anti-social, so I love the self-check lanes. My biggest issues are 1. the people who stand there forever trying to figure them out and 2. the stores that have a person stationed there who feels like she has to interact with you even though that is what you are trying to avoid.

Exactly man, there needs to be a HIGH IQ lane or some kind of IQ evaluation for people who use these lanes....so we don't have to deal with these morons that can't figure out how to scan items. You should be able to figure this $hit out in about 2 seconds - it's not rocket science.

And agree 100% on point 2 too: GET LOST stationed chick, please don't come near me - I don't want to deal with you! Let me check out my items ON MY OWN. I'm in this lane because I HATE OTHER PEOPLE and don't want to look/acknowledge/think about you. LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE - and please don't smile at me and say thank you after I'm done!

Anyone who complains about the speed of self check out lanes either lives in a city with stupid people or is stupid themselves. In the SF bay area, where people are intelligent and can comprehend modern technology, self check out lanes are far faster than normal lanes at every store that I have seen (Safeway, Home Depot, Walmart, Target). I stopped going to Trader Joe's solely because of their glacial checkout speed.

Old stogee wrote: When I first saw one I felt that if I was going to choose that self serve lane then I should get a discount. After all, the retailer is essentially firing the check out staff and asking the customer to do that job for free. All to make more profit at my expense.

Well you won the battle but the war is not over yet. I will get my revenge.

^A tip for the original poster who is pissed that stores are profiting at his expense and wants revenge: shoplift, you will never be stopped. Calculate the amount that you believe the store owes you and just take that discount yourself. Gift yourself a free bagel or donut every time you buy loose items, ring up kiwis as bananas, etc. If stopped, feign ignorance, you miscounted your items or mistyped a code.

Old stogee wrote:

When I first saw one I felt that if I was going to choose that self serve lane then I should get a discount. After all, the retailer is essentially firing the check out staff and asking the customer to do that job for free. All to make more profit at my expense. Well my customer revolt never materialized and many stores have adopted them almost exclusively. ( I am looking at you Home Depot)

Well you won the battle but the war is not over yet. I will get my revenge.

Are you also angry that these same retailers use computers to keep track of their financials - so they fired entire armies of pencil pushers to make more profit?

And don't even get me started about all the jobless horse cart drivers now that these heartless MEGA-CORPORATIONS have replaced them with trucks, cars and trains.

ALL TO MAKE MORE PROFIT AT YOUR EXPENSE!

Revolt! The time has come! Revolt!

Jsshsb wrote:

rojo wrote:

I'm worried there will be no jobs left soon.

You ever thought about how many people are involved

- designing

- manufacturing

- selling

- maintaining

these SCOs?

There's a pricetag to it that is about four times higher than a standard till.

And no time is spend after the shift counting cash manually.

Regards,

Industry Insider

Those people are all Chinese.

Star wrote:

What about waiting in line behind people who issues with the self checkout and need manager help?

Which of course defeats the purpose of self-checkout. All the stores I see with self-checkouts have someone there to help those who can't figure out how to scan an item and put it in a bag. Stores still need the same number of people.

Safeway has one employee for eight self checkout. 90% of their job is age verification for alcohol, some medicines, and some cleaning supplies.

Jhonny come lately wrote:

totally man wrote:

Please place the item in the bag, please remove the item from the bag, please place the item back in the bag, please remov ... please place .. pleas .. pl ... p .. *calls over attendant*

This. Something effs up ALL THE TIME

Plus, what next? I stock shelves? Slice my own meat? Bake the friggin bread??

If I'm paying the same, the store can do the work thanks.

And everyone can't be unemployed. People need jobs. Even modestly paying jobs. Or are we at the point of not needing employed people in our economy?

Exactly! Bring back the horse carriages! Who the hell gave these car companies the right to disemploy people by the MILLIONS (not to mention the poor horses)?

* The self-check is more open, better for people-watching.

* It's also educational - I always press the Spanish button and have started to pick up a few additional words.

* I do a better job bagging than the comatose entry-level teenage baggers.

N.B. If you don't like the self-check, pick the next closest register (often it's the express lane). They tend to put the best, most experienced cashier there in case the self-check needs looking after.

EXACTLY! wrote:

Jhonny come lately wrote:

This. Something effs up ALL THE TIME

Plus, what next? I stock shelves? Slice my own meat? Bake the friggin bread??

If I'm paying the same, the store can do the work thanks.

And everyone can't be unemployed. People need jobs. Even modestly paying jobs. Or are we at the point of not needing employed people in our economy?

Exactly! Bring back the horse carriages! Who the hell gave these car companies the right to disemploy people by the MILLIONS (not to mention the poor horses)?

Worst analogy ever. Congrats.

Phil Fondacaro wrote:

^A tip for the original poster who is pissed that stores are profiting at his expense and wants revenge: shoplift, you will never be stopped. Calculate the amount that you believe the store owes you and just take that discount yourself. Gift yourself a free bagel or donut every time you buy loose items, ring up kiwis as bananas, etc. If stopped, feign ignorance, you miscounted your items or mistyped a code.

Take the organic produce and ring it up as the chemical-laden stuff.

I just avoid them but it is kind of Kafkaesque the way my local Kroger wastes a cashier or two to babysit customers in the self-check lines.