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Child Item

Self checkout machines

Glenster

Just saw this story on BBC

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170509-the-unpopular-rise-of-self-checkouts-and-how-to-fix-them

Am I completely in the minority in saying that I much prefer using them, and find them MUCH faster when buying under 20 items.

The only downside is that sometimes you're stuck behind a luddite moron who cant use it.

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van_beano

PARlance wrote: »

Superquinn had them for a few years before being taking over by SuperValu. Still available in ex Superquinn SuperValu's afaik.

They never really caught on, it was rare enough to see them being used ime.

Tesco Maynooth has it as well

JupiterKid

It's a cost cutting measure, pure and simple. A way to avoid paying staff and employ less checkout staff.

Ever notice how ALDI and LIDL don't have self-checkouts at all? Handy for a small amount of items but when they malfunction it can be a right pain. I also loathe Tesco's Estuary English accent. This is Ireland - can you not bother to use a nice Irish accent here?

I think back to the time before barcode scanner checkouts, when checkout operators had to key in each individual price per item at the till. Now that was skill!

andekwarhola

Brilliant except when you're doing a furtive booze-run in your tracksuit bottoms and hoody and have to call an assistant to authorize it.

pawrick

Hate them with a passion and if directed to them I'll refuse unless I'm not in a hurry or only getting one or two items at most. Most often in a small shop properly staffed I'm quicker going to the till to avoid the inevitable hold up when items wont scan and people stand looking at the machine wondering what to do or the machine breaks down for some reason.

Biscuitus

Hate them so much. 2 self-checkouts jammed when I was trying to scan a bunch of stuff in Boots. FIVE!!!!! staff members had to come over and try get it working. After 10 minutes they gave up and helped carry my shopping to a till where I was done in under a minute. I try to avoid them as much as possible, mostly to keep people on a till in job.

"Approval Needed" is also annoying when you have to wait a few minutes for a staff member to come along because they gave so many the boot when they fit the check outs in.

Not to mention its much quicker going to a till and you're above waist height for loading up your shopping because you didn't bring a bag.

Cienciano

me_irl wrote: »

Like... rolls?

Any bakery stuff that's not prepacked

Anita Blow

I used to work in a shop that had them. Staff obviously hate them too, we had to work with them 8 hours a day as opposed to the customer who only had to use them for a couple minutes. Couple of the arguments we would get:

In general most staff are happy to take you on the till if it's quiet, but when you're the only person rostered to cover self-service checkouts and there is a line of about 15 people and someone goes "I want the till", you get understandably somewhat annoyed. If you take someone at the til then you can't tend to the other 8 people using the self-service checkouts and they end up waiting if they need assistance. Hence why staff prefer to offer to do the self-service checkout for you.

To the people that argue it's no faster than the till, it is. I've seen people waiting in line for 5-10 mins for the till while the 12-15 people in the line behind them go through the self-service.

In general the staff don't care for the "you'll be out of a job" argument. In the grand scheme of things they should, but in reality it's only ever said with venom from a customer which puts staff on the defensive about it. When you're giving out to a customer assistant over self-service checkouts, you're ****ting on the bottom rung of the ladder. If you're that ethically opposed then don't shop there.

jack presley

my3cents wrote: »

How do you put down a bag first without the ubiquitous "unexpected item in the bagging area".

How is a bag in the bagging area unexpected though? If anything was going to appear in a bagging area, a bag would be top of the list.

Glenster

jack presley wrote: »

How is a bag in the bagging area unexpected though? If anything was going to appear in a bagging area, a bag would be top of the list.

Excellent point.

But the checkout doesn't know that its a bag, they just know its a thing.

The machine doesn't have visual sensors like the terminator, its essentially just a robo-scales.

Poochie05

In supermarkets I don't mind them so much, but who ever thought it would be a good idea in airports and train stations when you have a bag with you, trying to balance your case beside you, take out your wallet, then need the boarding card, pay, remember to take back the card, put card back in your wallet so you don't lose it, then make sure you have boarding card, suitcase in tow, scoop up the goods you just bought and clear the area while 20 people are watching wondering what's taking so long and thinking you're an idiot!

paleoperson

I love them. When I first started using them I was a bit scared of them, they felt inhuman. Going in and out of the store without a single interaction with another person.

But I really prefer the privacy of just getting my own stuff now, noone there to judge my choices (obviously they couldn't give a toss really, but it's still a thought). It's just better all around to use the self-checkout. I don't know why everyone doesn't use them to be honest.

jjbrien

The superscan at the old superquinn stores was epic go with the handheld device around the store scan your stuff then just scan your clubcard hand back the device and out the door. Check out time less than 60 seconds.

Frank O. Pinion

In places like Walmart in America, they have self-service checkouts for trolleys. You can do the "big shop", hundreds of dollars worth of stuff, all by yourself, without having to chitchat with a real person. It's fantastic.

paleoperson

Frank O. Pinion wrote: »

In places like Walmart in America, they have self-service checkouts for trolleys. You can do the "big shop", hundreds of dollars worth of stuff, all by yourself, without having to chitchat with a real person. It's fantastic.

They have fairly large ones in Tesco, you can fit a lot on there and they're definitely for trolleys. You can also do a reasonably big shop on the smaller Dunnes ones if you fit them on it right, I sometimes split the Dunnes ones into separate shops if I have >€70 just to make things easier.

Irish Guitarist

What annoys me about them is the other idiots that clamour around them. For instance I've often just paid for my items when some moron starts trying to scan their shopping while I'm putting my couple of things in a bag because they can't wait all of twenty seconds. They seem to be oblivious to the fact that someone else is still using the machine. Sorry I have to actually pick up my shopping with my hands rather than just being able to magically teleport it. There have even been occasions where I've been waiting for my change to come out of the machine and some moron has appeared out of nowhere and stood right in front of it.

And there seems to be a policy in the Tesco in Carlow that at least one of the four machines either isn't working or will only take credit cards.

riverrocked

I love them. Don't have to do annoying pleasantness or say things like "yes they are good" when the cashier hasn't had a product before.

xzanti

I always use them now.

They don't ask me for a value club card, or why I don't want one.

jackofalltrades

I'll use them whenever I can.
Feels slightly weird though when there's someone on a till and you walk past them to use a machine.
That said customer service on the tills is usually terrible.
At least the machine thanks me for shopping there and lets me go at my own pace.

JupiterKid wrote: »

I think back to the time before barcode scanner checkouts, when checkout operators had to key in each individual price per item at the till. Now that was skill!

Yeah remember those days and the epic discussions it could lead to when someone thought they were being overcharged.
That and delays caused by someone having to go find a price of something when a tag was missing.

my3cents

Glenster wrote: »

You hang the bag on the arms.

The arms are still part of the weighing system so that didn't work either.

When the machines first came out in the UK the arms were used to hold packs of the cheap carrier bags that we have virtually stopped using here because of the tax. You just pulled a carrier bag to the front of the rails opened it up and started to fill it all very easy and convenient.

I'll just have to try and see if the on screen dialog for your own bag works next time.

This afternoon I was rewarded with two 5 cents and four 1 cent coins for 14 cents worth of change. The machines must be programmed to get rid of as much copper as possible (Dunnes not sure about the others).

diomed

jjbrien wrote: »

I do use them when I got a small number of items but I hate when they go un identified object or wait for assistance drives me nuts.

And it is about 100% of the time.
I'm an OAP and when this happens I'm sure people in the queue are thinking I've got an age-related brain condition, or I'm confused by the internet.

Tayschren

I dont mind them, except for supervalu, their machines are ****ing terrible for some reason

retro:electro

That moron would be me. I find them woefully annoying. You click "I brought my own bag" and then proceed to pack your stuff into the bag you brought- "help is needed", go call someone and they do some magic swipe, I scan next product and put it into the bag, "assistance needed". WHYYY. Twenty minutes later I'm still there. We should have a system like the UK where you pack your shopping into your bag as you take it off the shelf, then you just weigh your bags at the self service and off you go

Ragnar Lothbrok

anna080 wrote: »

We should have a system like the UK where you pack your shopping into your bag as you take it off the shelf, then you just weigh your bags at the self service and off you go

How does that work? Do you use the scanners as you're putting shopping into the bags?

siblers

The ones in Tesco are a pain in the arse, constantly getting errors when trying to scan through products. The ones in Dunnes are superb though, never once had an issue with scanning items through them

retro:electro

Ragnar Lothbrok wrote: »

How does that work? Do you use the scanners as you're putting shopping into the bags?

Ya there's scanners on the trolley and you scan each item as you put it into the bags

Stephen15

I dont love and I dont hate. They are more or less the same timewise as ordinary checkouts altough sometimes it can be quicker to use the normal checkouts as most seem go to the self service. My local Dunnes used to have about ten self service checkouts and then cut that number to six so they could add two normal twenty items or less checkouts. Its kinda annoying as it just creates a bigger queue.

Outlaw Pete

Love them but they're so stupid.... I'm forever weighing expensive stuff, like a Bottle of Wine or Rib Eye steaks in as "Potatoes" and it never once noticed I was acting the maggot. Threw a dinner party last week and it only set me back €4.27.

paleoperson

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

Love them but they're so stupid.... I'm forever weighing expensive stuff, like a Bottle of Wine or Rib Eye steaks in as "Potatoes" and it never once noticed I was acting the maggot. Threw a dinner party last week and it only set me back €4.27.

So you're a thief?

Stephen15

paleoperson wrote: »

So you're a thief?

More like fraudster. Actually are there many supermarkets left with weigh your own fruit.

Ted_YNWA

paleoperson wrote: »

So you're a thief?

He is an outlaw!!