Should get a discount or something
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Self checkout is the greatest thing ever and I will never understand why so many people seem to prefer waiting in line for a few minutes instead of just using the self checkout.
No human interaction, usually faster because I don't have to wait. What's not to love? Sure occassionally you might get selected for a random check and have to wait a bit, but that still beats the line.
They used to be awful here 10-15 years ago, with a scale for your scanned items that would complain over nothing all the time, but now everywhere I've been has done away with that in favor of random controls and the receipt for opening the gate. I think my highlight so far was the clothing store where you didn't even have to scan, you just put your items in a box and it told you what you have to pay.
I've recently experienced that magic box at a sports equipment store! I was amazed by how it just works.
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receipt for opening the gate
What is that?
The self checkout prints a receipt with a bar code on it and you have to scan it to leave the store.
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I steal on purpose. Fuck self checkout, just more corporate greed.
Have a handful for the incels and weirdos who are too scared to face down an intimidating cashier, but leave us normal folks out of it.
Bagging groceries is a lot of kids' first job, but now I have to do it and they dont get a chance for a low-pressure first job.
Yes, as you shoild, but it's hard to not.
I feel like i should steal less at actual cashiers because labor reasobs.
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In Europe it's becoming popular to have scanners at the store entrance that you can take and scan your products as you go. Sometimes you can also do it with a phone app instead. Then, at the self-checkout, you just scan one code instead and pay right away. I love this system because it's quicker and you get to avoid the anxiety of packing your bags too slowly.
wrote last edited by [email protected]the anxiety of packing your bags too slowly
Haha, spotted the German. This isn't really a thing elsewhere, not to that extent.
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Twenty???
wrote last edited by [email protected]yeah. they took for-fucking-ever but like after five minutes it became entertaining and the whole line got in on it. you ever seen someone pick up a can to scan it, look at it, then put it back in their cart? but still buy the whole cart?
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I will never understand those who are afraid to face down a cashier. Is it REALLY that bad?
So many people complain about how modern society is isolating, but then go running to do stuff where they further isolate themselves.
wrote last edited by [email protected]then go running to do stuff where they further isolate themselves
Mmm yeah, cos it's such quality time interacting with the cashier. Like, you're not totally wrong about the problem, isolation does make us even less able to handle interaction, but making people bag groceries for a living is not the way to solve that problem. Anyway, it's not fair to force your desire to have a conversation on someone who is trapped working somewhere.
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Some stores have scanning from a phone, but for most it is much more cost effective to prevent theft in one place instead.
I know some stores mix self scanning and self checkout, usually they're in the same exit area, or even at the same terminal
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Did that three times, got three times "random" checked, returned my customer card and buy in another store now. Solid 5/7, perfect experience
I think they do more checks in the beginning, or if you missed to scan something as the system probably sees you as more or a "risc". I can understand your frustration though
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I'm split on this. On the one hand if they didn't have self checkout, they'd need more checkout people. On the other hand, before self checkout they didn't really give a fuck if you had to wait in line (especially Walmart holy shit that was one of the biggest reasons I never went there, the fucking checkout line).
wrote last edited by [email protected]if they didn't have self checkout, they'd need more checkout people
They would certainly need more checkout people, but speaking from grocery cashier experience they wouldnāt necessarily have them. I remember my managerās indifference as I was the only one to show up on Thanksgiving and there were literally 30 people in my line.
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Why is everyone so adverse to talking to a cashier? Also, you have cashiers that wish to chat?!
People get more sociable the closer you get to the equator. This is reflected in the distance from which people talk to you. So in the southern USA people are very chatty and will talk about pretty much anything while basically sitting on your lap, but in Norway you'll pretty much just shout across the fjord at someone to tell them their house is on fire if you're in a talkative mood. Talking to cashier's doesn't happen anyway.
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I will never understand those who are afraid to face down a cashier. Is it REALLY that bad?
So many people complain about how modern society is isolating, but then go running to do stuff where they further isolate themselves.
Am I afraid to face down a cashier? No.
Is it REALLY that bad? No.
Can I make awkward small talk with a stranger? Yes.
Do I want to make awkward small talk with a stranger? No.
Am I relieved that Iām not forced to interact with a stranger and can continue to have to my own inner thoughts and not have to spend time rehearsing in my head what to say if they ask me how I am because I feel weirdly compelled to answer it honestly instead of simply saying āfineā like most do? Absolutely.
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The discount you get at the self checkout is the 5 fingered discount.
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the anxiety of packing your bags too slowly
Haha, spotted the German. This isn't really a thing elsewhere, not to that extent.
Speak for yourself
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Meh. Iām usually happy to just scan my own shit and bounce. Even a $500 Costco trip. I usually shop with earbuds in, so itās just me and some tunes anyway. I just switch off my brain, follow my list, and go.
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I'm faster.
Also, trust myself better.
I have some soft bread, I at least know I won't put something heavy on it.
I have some items that are fragile, I can keep track of them packing and keep them separate.
I won't end up single-bagging a bunch of stuff that could be bagged together (e.g. if they scanned some window cleaner, they bag it separate, not knowing that some dishwasher detergent is coming that it could be packed with).
Got some product with a markdown barcode? I can be sure the discounted barcode gets scanned not the full price one.
To the extent possible, I can also just skip bagging most of the time. If I have some very small things sure I might use a bag, but mostly I just scan and put in cart.
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I prefer the human checkout and it's not for any of those reasons.
For one thing I have a family of 5 and scanning that many groceries at a self checkout is super painful.
Next the grocery store made its money off of the backs of their workers then when it wasn't convenient anymore they fired a bunch of them and replaced them with machines. Now you have 2 humans in the front of the store doing the job of 10. Their only motivation for adding them was money and not convenience based on how it's been implemented. I still have to wait in a huge line that wouldn't be there if they had cashiers and machines together.
I love the idea of them it's just not being implemented in the right way to make it super helpful for the customer.
Completely agree with you, I never buy huge amounts when I shop (single guy), big orders are better with human cashier.
There are also zero places around me where there is only self checkout. Having zero cashiers is terrible. Thereās always going to be large orders, elderly or disabled people that might not easily use self checkout.
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We all love to hate on Walmart, but in my part of the world, it's got the closest implementation to what I consider acceptable self-checkouts.
The biggest quality of life feature is that they don't use the the weight sensors in the bagging area. You can use the hand scanner to scan every item in your cart sans weighted produce, as fast as your body will allow.
On the flip side, most of the chain grocery stores in my area have the bagging area scanners that need constant overrides, use AI cameras that lock up after every third item and require an override each time, slow machines that seem to have to compute the pi to the 10 sextillionth digit after each item is scanned before it will be ready for you to place it in the bagging area, and things of that nature. Those suck for sure.
I haven't seen a self-checkout in any store that weighs the bags in quite a few years in my area.
But absolutely they got machine vision looking. Once I got flagged for potential theft because I put the box to the far side of the scanning area before scanning. It flagged me as trying to steal it after I had scanned it with the scanner gun, and I got to see the video 'evidence' of my theft, including grabbing the scanner gun and starting to move toward the box.
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That is literally what I am talking about, though. "you doing more, the store doing less, prices increase anyway" is exactly the same thing as happened 100 years ago.
Stores where customers didn't have access to the back also don't need security cameras, so even that point is 1:1 the same (although that's way later than 1925 then).
We have lost most of the stores where a clerk will collect your items for you, they once were the only option. At this rate, we will lose most of the stores where a clerk will scan the items for you as well. Simply because 1 clerk and 20 cameras is cheaper than 15 clerks.
I'm not saying that you have to like or hate both developments equally, I just wanted to point out that we have had and lost this exact battle before.
We have lost most of the stores where a clerk will collect your items for you
Actually, pretty much the opposite, they are making a comeback in the form of curbside ordering. Walking through a grocery store or walmart nowadays there's a large number of staff picking items from the shelf.
It's been crazy to see people going nuts about having to scan their own items at the same time the bigger pain in the ass of picking the items is now being offered at no additional charge.
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Curbside pickup is an inconvenient option. Screens are a terrible interface for picking groceries. Maybe in the future a VR option will be as, or more, convenient
I prefer the fastest and most convenient option. Picking out products in person is faster, and having a cashier scan the items is faster
Seems most people like self-checkout because they have anti-social tendencies. That's perfectly valid, but I don't have that issue. I actually enjoy small talk with strangers
I don't trust them with produce, but pretty much everything else it's highly convenient for me. I'm certainly happy for the apps to tell me which aisle a food is in, but then I have to hunt anyway. It's certainly not faster for me to walk around versus just picking up the ready to go ordered stuff.
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I'm faster than anyone who works there, and I don't need to worry about long lines (usually the self checkout is the faster option). The time saved is my payment.
You should change place then??
