Self service

Upforthematch

There's never been so much self service around.

Supermarkets, petrol stations, tolls, chemists the works.

Given the choice between an empty checkout or a free machine I've seen people go for the machine and even a queue for the machine leaving the checkout person idle.

What's your preference, are you all into self service or is human interaction a must for you when shopping?

frag420

Unexpected human in the bagging area, please remove now...

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

I like to use the self service option

Pros: don't have to make small talk
I can use the machines very quickly personally
I don't have to pretend to care about the other persons day or how they are
I can't be just judged for buying rope, lube and lime in one purchase

Cons: people are slow using the machines
It's a person out of a job

_Brian

Whatever gets me out the door the quickest.

seamusk84

Don’t like interacting with people unless I have or want to. Always the machine.

Hell I get my big shop delivered from Tesco now so I don’t have to deal with running into folk in the shop and deal with the stress/rush at the tills!

Tell me how

Having a growing dislike for self service options unless when they facilitate unsociable hours or something.
People are becoming less engaged with each other and I don't think it's a good thing.

Working from home, ordering food shopping delivered, doing clothes shopping online, getting takeaways delivered, not going out but 'socialising' online, and now this growing practice of basically walking in to a warehouse and gathering your goods and walking out without talking to anyone means your in public but really still on your own.

Population has grown steadily in recent years and yet many people are more isolated than ever before.

Greyfox

I'm saying checkout as there's a 75% chance I'll get the poxy remove from bagging area message. In fairness though it doesn't make much difference which people choose but queues for self service are usually much shorter

Pauliedragon

I have 2 points on this. I think it's good as an option. I work in hospitality and spend a fair chunk of my time chatting and making small talk which I enjoy and I like my job but when in my downtime I like to take a break from that so self serve machines means I can skip the "hows your day" chit chat and just get on with it.
Also this reasoning that someone's losing a job. My local supervalu installed them recently and noone has lost their job. My brother in law is a manager there and says they have no intention of getting rid of anybody. Someone has to design, build, install, maintain etc these machines so doesn't it create jobs?

JohnnyFlash

I really don’t like those self-service tills in the supermarket, but they are slightly more appealing than having to deal with the average Tesco employee.

Jimmy McGill

You can't beat the human touch when it comes to service. More and more places including shops and banks are just using machines now. When we get to the stage where its machines absolutely everywhere we'll regret that we allowed them in the first place, there'll be no going back.

SEPT 23 1989

It was nice to have some teenager on the forecourt putting the petrol into your car

Twenty pounds please

Yes Sir

biko

I will always choose the human over the machine.

Human being, who is going to employ these people in the future if machines are doing this work.

Don't expect prices to fall because machines are doing the work. We'll just have more welfare to pay for the unemployed.

Shefwedfan

People want cheaper prices. It’s cheap to have less staff so the cost gets reduced. Look how popular Aldi and Lidl are who have 2-3 people running an entire store. I used to work in Tesco to pay for college and a minimum staff was about 10 for the larger stores.

The trend at the moment is moving away from all interaction, banking and everyone talks about Revolut and N26...not a brand in world. KBC are similar but they just have sales pods which don’t do banking but can sell you products

I seen years ago, in 90s an IBM as when a person in hoodie goes into shops and fills pockets with stuff and just walks out...you think he is shop lifting, then he gets stops....someone hands him a receipt....that’s is what majority of shops want

This trend will continue for the next few years and then someone will flip it and bring staff back but at a premium price

I do remember an older was buying petrol at a really expensive garage, I knew her husband and he was telling me, anyway after a while he figured out and asked why....we’ll the nice man fills the car for me....so some people are willing to pay a premium for service but they are few and far between

Personally if I could do everything online and get delivered to door I would....I did shopping delivery with Tesco but moved and outside area now

fatknacker

Self service usually as there's a less likely chance that a space invading sniffer is standing on my heels and breathing down my neck.

G Shock

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

I really don’t like those self-service tills in the supermarket, but they are slightly more appealing than having to deal with the average Tesco employee.

Exactly this!
Why are the women on the Tesco tills so fuking miserable.. 99% of them imo.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

It depends on the situation. For instance, I'll always use the self service in the bank for deposits as it's much more efficient and quicker. I never use the supermarket self service, no matter what the queues are like; hateful things. So, I'll not vote, as no one opinion fits all circumstances.

LionelNashe

When I worked in a supermarket as a teenager, there was a manager, an assistant manager, the butchers, the till operators (all female), the shelf-stackers (90% male & mostly part-timers like myself).

Often in Aldi or Lidl, even the bigger stores, I don't see anyone who looks like a manager, never mind an assistant manager. There's usually just the twenty-somethings who work on both the tills and the shop floor, unsupervised. I'm guessing that computerised stock control, centralised purchasing, scanners instead of sticky price-labels, has made the whole business of running a supermarket way more efficient. I think it's a good thing for the consumer.

riffmongous

Personally I actually enjoying scanning the items myself, it's like a little game. It's also nice that I can bag them properly at my own speed rather than just shoving everything into my backpack to make space for the next person who's items would otherwise be rolling down towards my own by that point

It helps that where I live you never get the bagging area problems, or I've gotten so used to using them I don't get it.. either way.

kikilarue2

I don’t mind at the supermarket. The trend towards no counters at the bank absolutely wrecks my head though. The two nearest BoIs to me couldn’t change some sterling into euro for me because they are “cashless banks”.

Atlantic Dawn

Self service in some supermarkets is compromised by idiots bringing a full weeks shop through in a trolley, they should all be basket only. If you want to spend your time doing a trolley full drop your CV in at the front desk.

Jimmy McGill

kikilarue2 wrote: »

I don’t mind at the supermarket. The trend towards no counters at the bank absolutely wrecks my head though. The two nearest BoIs to me couldn’t change some sterling into euro for me because they are “cashless banks”.

Permanent TSB are going down this route too. At certain times of the day you'll be lucky to even find anybody working there.

Shefwedfan

kikilarue2 wrote: »

I don’t mind at the supermarket. The trend towards no counters at the bank absolutely wrecks my head though. The two nearest BoIs to me couldn’t change some sterling into euro for me because they are “cashless banks”.

In the same conversation you are probably complaining because BOI are not offering competitive mortgage rates

Due to insurance they have removed cash from some branch’s, the security is too expensive

So either you have the old banking system with one on the corner and you can do everything in it or you have competitive rates?

Baron Kurtz

What's with the aversion to interacting with people/shop assistants in this thread. It's not an interview.

Is a large swathe of society actually like this or is it generally a Boards-user thing - sullen and introverted?

It'd be eye-opening if this was the general feeling of the population.

kikilarue2

Shefwedfan wrote: »

In the same conversation you are probably complaining because BOI are not offering competitive mortgage rates

Due to insurance they have removed cash from some branch’s, the security is too expensive

So either you have the old banking system with one on the corner and you can do everything in it or you have competitive rates?

My problem isn't so much that BoI are automating services as that they are doing it badly. Pretty much all banks should have one counter open, a cashless bank makes about as much sense as a vegetarian butcher.

McCrack

Tell me how wrote: »

Having a growing dislike for self service options unless when they facilitate unsociable hours or something.
People are becoming less engaged with each other and I don't think it's a good thing.

Working from home, ordering food shopping delivered, doing clothes shopping online, getting takeaways delivered, not going out but 'socialising' online, and now this growing practice of basically walking in to a warehouse and gathering your goods and walking out without talking to anyone means your in public but really still on your own.

Population has grown steadily in recent years and yet many people are more isolated than ever before.

They're all choices.. You can choose Internet or you can decide to go outside your door to shops and businesses and meet people face to face,...

Poochie05

I don’t mind then in supermarkets, although I generally don’t tend to use them but whoever thought self service tills in airports and train stations were a good idea. Trying to keep hold of your luggage, then remembering to take out your boarding pass, scan, pay, gather up everything, grab your luggage and scuttle away while being given daggers by the people behind you for being so slow. And usually for no more than a bottle of water and a magazine... really emphasises they are doing it for their own convenience and highlights the lack of regard for the customer.

Tell me how

Shefwedfan wrote: »

In the same conversation you are probably complaining because BOI are not offering competitive mortgage rates

Due to insurance they have removed cash from some branch’s, the security is too expensive

So either you have the old banking system with one on the corner and you can do everything in it or you have competitive rates?

I think that that is being way too kind to the businesses. They may suggest that security costs make cash banking prohibitive but what evidence is there that this is the case? Just what percentage of banks have actually been physically robbed. It is definitely cheaper for them to do so but it is ludicrous to suggest banks are intent in providing the best rates to their customers.

Similarly in terms of shops and suggesting reduced staff count is to facilitate savings to the customer. I think this is an easy out which isn't necessarily always the case. (particularly so when it comes to large national/international chains).

Companies want to maximise their profits and that is their priority over providing best service to the consumer. I suspect their frame of mind is 'what can we get away with' as opposed to 'what is the best service can we offer'. For example, when chain stores advertise deals of 3 for 2 or many items reduced, they have initiated that deal by going to to the producer and saying 'we want to run this deal and we need you to reduce your costs to facilitate it, if you don't, we'll get another provider.' or similar which often puts small producers in extremely difficult positions.

fatknacker

fatknacker wrote: »

Self service usually as there's a less likely chance that a space invading sniffer is standing on my heels and breathing down my neck.

Even if I'm oy buying a box of match, they can stare I to my pretty face. I might have my "Tony Montana" business demeanor though.

kneemos

Shefwedfan wrote: »

In the same conversation you are probably complaining because BOI are not offering competitive mortgage rates

Due to insurance they have removed cash from some branch’s, the security is too expensive

So either you have the old banking system with one on the corner and you can do everything in it or you have competitive rates?

Some people are suckers for corporate cost saving PR guff.

Tell me how

McCrack wrote: »

They're all choices.. You can choose Internet or you can decide to go outside your door to shops and businesses and meet people face to face,...

To some degree... some shops are moving towards solely having self service kiosks.
The difficulty in accessing some services such as customer support without doing so online is another one where the choice is really being removed.

Renewing insurance with a % deduction for doing so online is a choice but one which we are being coerced in to selecting because ultimately it will mean reduced costs and increased profit margin for the company.

namloc1980

Jimmy McGill wrote: »

You can't beat the human touch when it comes to service. More and more places including shops and banks are just using machines now. When we get to the stage where its machines absolutely everywhere we'll regret that we allowed them in the first place, there'll be no going back.

Lodgement and cash counting errors were a big source of complaints when Humans were behind the cashdesk. Now the error rate is miniscule with machines but the complaints about lack of humans in branches has gone up. People are weird.

kikilarue2

namloc1980 wrote: »

Lodgement and cash counting errors were a big source of complaints when Humans were behind the cashdesk. Now the error rate is miniscule with machines but the complaints about lack of humans in branches has gone up. People are weird.

Yeah, because there's a whole bunch of stuff I can't do at ATMs or online, like currency exchange or withdrawing money above a certain amount (with very small daily limits).

namloc1980

kikilarue2 wrote: »

Yeah, because there's a whole bunch of stuff I can't do at ATMs or online, like currency exchange or withdrawing money above a certain amount (with very small daily limits).

Revolut for currency exchange. Much much better rates than banks.

I don't carry large amounts of cash as have no reason to.

kikilarue2

namloc1980 wrote: »

Revolut for currency exchange. Much much better rates than banks.

I don't carry large amounts of cash as have no reason to.

How do I use Revolut to change the £20 in my pocket into euro?

namloc1980

kikilarue2 wrote: »

How do I use Revolut to change the £20 in my pocket into euro?

Don't use cash in the first place!

Tell me how

Tell me how wrote: »

I think that that is being way too kind to the businesses. They may suggest that security costs make cash banking prohibitive but what evidence is there that this is the case? Just what percentage of banks have actually been physically robbed. It is definitely cheaper for them to do so but it is ludicrous to suggest banks are intent in providing the best rates to their customers.

Banks are under intense pressure to provide better rates, from the public, the government and the regulators. Suggesting otherwise just sounds like a conspiracy theory about 'the man'.

Cash costs aren't just about the insurance. Cash carries with it enormous costs. Delivery, safeguarding, an entire cash desk set up, employees, centralised management and logistics, etc. In a lot of cases, maintaining a cashless bank is probably the alternative to having to close down banks altogether, something which would affect customers' quality of service (and of life in some cases) much more drastically.

lainey_d_123

Will always go for the human being if possible.

What really makes me laugh is when I go to pay at the checkout and the person directs me to the self service machine, so they can carry on standing there doing nothing. Hope they don't go whining to anyone when they lose their job and are replaced by a machine.

Turkeys voting for Christmas.

kneemos

true-or-false wrote: »

Banks are under intense pressure to provide better rates, from the public, the government and the regulators. Suggesting otherwise just sounds like a conspiracy theory about 'the man'.

Cash costs aren't just about the insurance. Cash carries with it enormous costs. Delivery, safeguarding, an entire cash desk set up, employees, centralised management and logistics, etc. In a lot of cases, maintaining a cashless bank is probably the alternative to having to close down banks altogether, something which would affect customers' quality of service (and of life in some cases) much more drastically.

How do people get taken in by banks? They don't give a **** about the public,the Government or the regulator. They have the highest mortgage rates in Europe.
They are also taking in a billion in profits each year.

Not to mention the various scams they have orchestrated over the years.

eviltwin

Baron Kurtz wrote: »

What's with the aversion to interacting with people/shop assistants in this thread. It's not an interview.

Is a large swathe of society actually like this or is it generally a Boards-user thing - sullen and introverted?

It'd be eye-opening if this was the general feeling of the population.

I've no problem talking to a person but I talk all day in work and sometimes I just need that 15 or 20 mins to myself to not have to talk to anyone.

Ficheall

How pretty is the cashier?

AllForIt

Single, male, live opposite 3 supermarkets, in them almost every day for a handful of items - love self service machines. You do get human interaction at them too* and not the more mechanical kind.

*like when they go wrong or you have to ask for assistance to find something in the menu system

edit: I was delighted that my local Dunnes introduced them some months ago as they are particularly slow at the checkouts in my local branch.

Tammy!

I wanted to be a checkout girl when I was a kid. I wouldn't mind but when I actually got a part time job later in a shop, they put me on the deli :mad:

r93kaey5p2izun

I hate the self service, avoid at all costs. In the shops I go to most frequently they seem relatively unpopular. They are often empty while people queue for the regular tills, and I often hear people say no they'd rather wait when a staff member suggests they try the self service.

Atlantic Dawn

JeanL wrote: »

I wanted to be a checkout girl when I was a kid. I wouldn't mind but when I actually got a part time job later in a shop, they put me on the deli :mad:

I think you would need the patience of a saint to be working on a checkout...

• the constant beep, beep, beep from the scanning would be torture
• dealing with idiots who only realise when all their goods are packed away that they actually have to then pay for the stuff, should a sign be put up at the checkout to assist them?
• customers with not enough money with them to pay for the items they have selected to buy that had such useful information as a price displayed when they selecting them
• customers who have totalled €47.89 on their bill but need to hit €50 to get their €10 off and then have to do a Supermarket Sweep type task to pick up something costing exactly €2.11
• people who don't understand that after their stuff has been paid for they need to clear out of the way in order for the next customer to be able to get there items scanned through
• people thinking they are in Loius Copelands and expect the cashier on the till to know will a pair of shorts fit their son Billy and be able to measure him on the spot

I'd last about an hour before I'd be locked up for assault or murder.

Fr_Dougal

namloc1980 wrote: »

Revolut for currency exchange. Much much better rates than banks.

I don't carry large amounts of cash as have no reason to.

I’m currently on holidays I’m Asia, Revolut is overrated, rates are better with one of the Irish debit cards; I was shocked.

suicide_circus

the margin for grocery retailers is under 10%. thats before they pay staff, insurance, lighting etc. its an incredibly tough business. its all about volume.

freshpopcorn

I certainly prefer self service.
You can go to them scan your stuff at your own pace and the same with packing your shopping whilst at the regular checkout you have somebody pushing your goods on top off you.
I say any time I go to the self service I still say hello, thanks, goodbye, etc to the staff member who's working in the self service area.

ballsymchugh

Pauliedragon wrote: »

I have 2 points on this. I think it's good as an option. I work in hospitality and spend a fair chunk of my time chatting and making small talk which I enjoy and I like my job but when in my downtime I like to take a break from that so self serve machines means I can skip the "hows your day" chit chat and just get on with it.
Also this reasoning that someone's losing a job. My local supervalu installed them recently and noone has lost their job. My brother in law is a manager there and says they have no intention of getting rid of anybody. Someone has to design, build, install, maintain etc these machines so doesn't it create jobs?

Heard this comparison before explaining how the german economy works. In the UK, you'd have 10 lads digging a hole with shovels, but in Germany, you'd have one digger but a few lads employed in higher skilled jobs maintaining the machinery.

Balanadan

I'm a male, and I will choose whatever way is quickest, which sometimes means going to a normal checkout while plebs queue for self service. If there is nobody at either checkout, I'll go to the normal one. The only exception to this rule is if there's a beautiful checkout girl.

Baron Kurtz

Baron Kurtz wrote: »

What's with the aversion to interacting with people/shop assistants in this thread. It's not an interview.

Is a large swathe of society actually like this or is it generally a Boards-user thing - sullen and introverted?

It'd be eye-opening if this was the general feeling of the population.

Boards weirdos I'd imagine.