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[–] 48 points 3 years ago (1 child)

Dont forget the fact most stores refuse to hire the staff needed to run the place smoothly. Why pay eight cashiers hourly wages when you can just have two cashiers?

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  • [–] 26 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    There's a BofA branch near me that has a dozen windows. I've never seen more than two clerks. Whenever I see something like that I remember that there used to be a time when corporations actually cared about providing good service. That time is long since gone.

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  • [–] 43 points 3 years ago (18 children)

    I find cashier lines to be too slow because of the socialization so I always go to the self checkouts.

    A lot of old ladies will go to cashiers and have ridiculous questions and requests and you're standing there with your 3 items dying inside.

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    [–] 41 points 3 years ago (3 children)

    I actually prefer self checkouts. It's a simple task and going grocery shopping is one of my moments of solitude in the week, I don't wanna talk to anyone that I don't have to.

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  • [–] 10 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    I live by a food basic. Before they implemented self checkout there used to be a pretty long line at peak hours and weekends. After they added self checkout, there is pretty much never a line anymore. The most people I've had to wait behind was like 3. The difference was extremely noticeable.

    There are probably some really terrible implementations of self checkout in some stores or locations but when it's done right it seems pretty good.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    You know you don't have to have a conversation with the cashier right? I put my stuff on the conveyor, say 'yup' when asked if I find everything alright, and 'thanks' when they're finished.. Or just silently nod 🤷‍♂️

    But literally two days ago I was at the store and the self checkouts were full with 7 people still waiting to use them, while one employee ran around trying to handle all the errors.. and only one standard checkout open for people with full carts. It was soo damn frustrating.

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  • [–] 35 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    Speaking as someone with a physical handicap, self-checkout can be very difficult.. especially with a larger amount of items or heavy things

    Even opening finicky bags causes me a lot of frustration, because my dexterity is bad some days. Continuously bending down to lift, bag, & load stuff into the cart? Very very bad.

    Local grocery stores in my area have been cutting back on cashiers, and it is really causing me issues.

    I've seen old ladies struggling a lot, too! They probably have it much worse than I do! It's probably a thing they so they don't have to pay more workers, but those workers are sorely needed!

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    [–] 30 points 3 years ago (4 children)

    Do I get a discount for checking myself out? Unless it's 1-2 items and the normal line is full - it is cashier every time for me.

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  • [–] [S] 19 points 3 years ago (3 children)

    Same. I will go to the cashier even when it's somewhat inconvenient to me just because I despise the idea that the grocery store is making me be the cashier for free.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 years ago

    That’s why if something “fails” to scan or you input some produce at a cheaper price “on accident”, then it’s the store’s fault - you’re not a cashier, just a customer doing self-checkout.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    What value does a real human provide you though?

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  • [–] 9 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    They’re a skilled worker that has memorized the codes for the different types of potatoes, a skill I am unlikely to learn.

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    [+] 25 points 3 years ago
    [–] 20 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    I love self checkout, at least when it's implemented well.

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  • [–] 13 points 3 years ago (4 children)

    As far as I can tell there isn't a single one that isn't a steaming pile of shit. Where have you found acceptable ones?

    That said I'm against them because it reduces the employment that a business requires while pushing the work onto the customers. Unless they are giving me a discount for using the self checkout you are effectively being an employee for free for the store.

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  • [–] 15 points 3 years ago*

    you are effectively being an employee for free for the store.

    You already accepted being an employee of the store when you decided to enter the warehouse to pick the items off the shelf yourself.

    The only question is: Can you clock out faster if your co-worker helps you process the items you picked or will it be faster if you do it all by yourself?

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  • [–] 19 points 3 years ago (6 children)

    I'm a huge self checkout fan, but I think we need more perspective on how shitty ours is sometimes. Loblaws and all of them are way behind on how it should work. Look at the Netherlands and how it's often done there, you walk around with a scanner so you can scan as you go and quickly pay at the end.

    Or even better, look at how Uniqlo is doing it. It's all RFID, so you just drop your basket on the checkout, and it scans it all for you basically instantly.

    The problem isn't self checkout, it's that the grocery stores are using it to purely cut costs and don't actually care if it's better for the consumer in any way. But hey, at least it's easy to "accidentally" not scan something right now.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    Look at the Netherlands and how it's often done there, you walk around with a scanner so you can scan as you go and quickly pay at the end.

    Walmart and Sam's Club have this with their Scan & Go app in the US. Scan the barcode with your phone, add it to your cart, pay from your phone, and someone at the door will scan a QR from your phone then scan a few random items in the cart and you're done.

    I pretty much wouldn't shop at Sam's if it didn't exist. The checkout lines there have always been long and a pain. It cuts a ton of time standing around waiting in line out of a trip.

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    [–] 16 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    I like self-checkout especially when there's lot of people and you have 1 or 2 items, it's convenient, for me. But as written in the article, someone in need like this woman, needs a cashier lane. I'm not against self, but all stores should have at least one lane with cashier, always, for people in need.

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  • [–] 14 points 3 years ago (6 children)

    I don't appreciate stores trying to force me to do the cashier's job.

    I also don't appreciate them trying to pull the rug out from under the economy. If there's one thing my country does not need, it's millions more homeless people.

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    [+] 14 points 3 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)
    [–] 12 points 3 years ago (4 children)

    This commercial was made at least 17 years ago. This is what we need. We have the technology. We just need the price to come down.

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    [–] 10 points 3 years ago (5 children)

    I don't mind there being a self-checkout, but for the love of everything good in this world, these companies need to stop asking 21 questions when you use one! "Do you want to apply to a credit card?", "Do you want to donate?", "Did you want a receipt emailed?", "Did you want to fill out a survey?", "How many bags did you use?", etc.

    And if it's a self-checkout at Walmart, expect to have 10 available, but only 2 working and three staff overlooking them...

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    [–] 9 points 3 years ago (11 children)

    I try to do self checkout whenever i can. Cashier is one of the most soul crushing jobs, no one needs to be dealing with food shoppers

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    [–] 6 points 3 years ago

    I prefer self checkout if I have a few items but it can be a pain the more items you have. There isn't a lot of room in the bagging area and I have to fight with the machine freaking out over unexpected items in the bagging area 🙄

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago (7 children)

    My insistence on paying cash for in-person purchases means that I can't—and won't—shop at a store that only offers self-checkouts. I haven't come across any yet in this neck of the woods that don't have at least one cashier, but if I did, chances are good that I'd put the goods down and walk out without buying.

    I do understand, however, that most people aren't willing to make that level of sacrifice just to keep the credit card companies from tracking part of their purchase history.

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    [–] 6 points 3 years ago

    If self check is too hard to use, just take the items for free

    I got into a situation where a cashier came to debug an issue and she wasn't able to.

    It just ended up with her letting me go with the item for free because ''she isn't paid enough to fix this shit''

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  • [–] 5 points 3 years ago

    Most stores near me don't let you use the self checkout with more than a basket, but then they will not have anyone at any of the normal checkouts while having 3-4 employees just chilling "watching" the self checkouts.

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