Do you like self-checkouts for small amounts of items?

[Tap]

Safeway grocery chain is getting rid of self checkouts in our area. Target and Walmart have added them in this year.

 

I was wondering what people thought of them overall.

 

Safeway says they want more 'face time' with the customers, but I suspect it is more because they are a high theft problem. 

 

Walmart /Target (same demographic area) is adding them in to reduce wait times. Walmart has it set up different, so there is less of a chance of theft. 

 

 

 

You can determine what a small amount of simple to scan items means to you.  I personally prefer it for up to about 15 items unless it is a bunch of difficult items like produce.  

[Crimson Wife]

I feel badly about cashiers losing their jobs but they are so annoying in always trying to make small talk. Just ring me up already and skip the chatter. So yeah, I will use the self-check unless the line is significantly shorter at a manned checkout.

[HomeAgain]

I prefer them.  I didn't think I did until I went to Albertson's here.  It was a block from the park, we had 10 minutes before we were supposed to meet friends there.  Great.  I ran in, grabbed my two items and waited for 20 minutes in the "express lane" behind two other people.  The cashier was just really, really slow.  She stopped to think of conversation small talk.  She scanned an item...then bagged it...then scanned the next item.

 

If I go to Target I really don't mind the cashiers.  I like them.  I like the policy of opening another register whenever there are more than five people in line.  It's great.  I'm in, out, and still get a small pleasant conversation from it.  However I'm just as fast at the self-checkouts as the cashiers at the grocery store and there's usually no line (or huge carts from people who can't count their items to see if they belong in the express lane)

[elegantlion]

I prefer self checkout. I worked as a cashier for many years and I might have some control issues when it comes to bagging.

[Scarlett]

I love them. Our WM has just installed about 6 stands and they are bigger than others I've seen and they have the wand too.  So now I will check out more than I ever have.  I love no lines. 

[Guest]

I love them for up to 5 non-produce items.  I'm a little deaf and making small talk in a crowded and noisy and distracting environment is a chore.  But ... whatever.  :0)

 

My dh intensely hates the self-checkout process.  He's more amenable now that I showed him how to turn off the robo-voice.  

[Miss Peregrine]

I prefer it when the computers are not temperamental. My son thinks scanning is the best thing in the world. 

[Ailaena]

I always use self-check, but I rarely have more than a few bags. It's my daily MO to avoid people :p

 

Regarding the theft issues, it's easy for a customer to bait-and-switch, but the cashier should be checking every time there is a weight discrepancy. And they very, very rarely bother.

[happypamama]

I generally love them.

[marbel]

I love it.   Even with produce - sometimes it's easier to do it myself instead of telling the cashier what it is, then waiting for him/her to look up the code.  

 

I don't like it when the computer thinks I didn't bag something, and I have to  wait for the cashier to reset it (or whatever has to be done to get it going again).  It can be a bit of a wait when there are a lot of people and some are having trouble. 

 

Though, I do feel badly for people losing their jobs.  

[gingersmom]

I use self check even with a huge order (it's set up with 8 bags). So much faster plus I can bag all produce together, all frozen together, etc.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I like them.  Especially at Walmart because they tend to use 5000 bags and I don't need 5000 bags.

 

 

[TravelingChris]

I prefer cashiers

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

I love it.   Even with produce - sometimes it's easier to do it myself instead of telling the cashier what it is, then waiting for him/her to look up the code.  

 

 

Oh yeah I make them twitchy anytime I buy fennel.  LOL 

[Chelle in MO]

My dh intensely hates the self-checkout process.  He's more amenable now that I showed him how to turn off the robo-voice.  

 

You can DO that??!!  Please share!! :bigear:  She's SO bossy!! 

[HS Mom in NC]

I strongly prefer self check out.  I have no desire whatsoever to socially interact with a cashier or anyone else when I'm shopping.  I don't like small talk and chit chat.  I hate shopping.  I want to get in, get out and get on with the things I do enjoy. Hopefully technology will improve enough that even produce can be scanned quickly without having to look it up.  It should just can from the sticker and weigh on the scale.  I wait in anxious anticipation for self check out at clothing store and stores of all kinds.

If I could do my banking without talking to a teller every time that would be lovely too.  I consider it very unprofessional for the teller to make personal chit chat with me, but I know they were trained to do so.  I only want to discuss my financial transactions at the bank, not my day, my weekend, the holidays, etc. 

And no, I don't want chit chat from my healthcare providers either. I only want to discuss the care being provided.  I have friends, family and acquaintances to chat with, I don't need the staff of business or service establishments to take on that role.

[Farrar]

Loathe them.

 

I don't care about the jobs (well, I care, but if the self-checkouts worked better, I'd happily move on) but they take longer. I was at one the other day and had to flag the guy FIVE TIMES to come unlock because it didn't recognize the weight of any of the five things I purchased as legitimate. And we have to pay for bags so everyone brings their own, but the weight thingy can't stand your own bags. But I don't want to pay for bags.

 

Our Target is one of the (at one point it was THE) highest volume sales Targets in the country. So you can imagine it's always a madhouse there. But they had an amazing single line system that moved super fast for all purchases 20 items or less. It was great. It worked incredibly well. Then they replaced it with self checkouts. Now, sometimes, you can't move in the front of the store because the lines are so slow and the process takes so long. I have been spending easily twice as long in line at Target since they did that.

 

You don't have much choice at the Target now, but at the supermarket, unless there's literally one available right then and I have fewer than three things, I'll wait for a checkout person nearly every time.

[HS Mom in NC]

I like them.  Especially at Walmart because they tend to use 5000 bags and I don't need 5000 bags.

 

What's that about?  It seems like Walmart employees were told to bag each item individually.  If they're only going to put one item in each bag, it sort of defeats the purpose of the bag in the first place. 

 

I'm not a greenie but I've converted to reusable bags because you can put sooo many things in them without the bag falling over or the handle breaking.  It makes unloading the car so much more efficient. 

[kewb]

It is a good day when I can shop and not have to talk to anyone. I love self checkout.

However, I do switch it up between self check and the cashier because I don't like to see people lose their jobs.

[Farrar]

Are the people who love them mostly shopping at stores where the lines stretch into the aisles though? That's why I'm convinced they're slower. Most of my stores are city stores and serve a lot more people. I think the volume of the sales helps me see... they're not saying any customers significant time and they're hurting most costumers.

[Tap]

I always use self-check, but I rarely have more than a few bags. It's my daily MO to avoid people :p

 

Regarding the theft issues, it's easy for a customer to bait-and-switch, but the cashier should be checking every time there is a weight discrepancy. And they very, very rarely bother.

One thing I know people do is buy two items that have the same weight.  Like two fifths of alcohol (sold in regular grocery stores in my state).  The customer rings the cheap one, but puts the expensive one on the scale. Then rings the cheap one again.   For alcohol that can be $30-60+ more expensive, that is quite the theft over time.   I have also seen people not ring up items in their cart.  The cashier is often busy helping other customers (legit issues or part of a theft team?), so the unscanned item goes out the door.  Especially with people using their own bags, it is hard to see what is left in the cart. It isn't like the customer is missing a $2 pack of gum, what they 'forget' to ring up is the $30 pack of steak. LOL

[Guest]

You can DO that??!!  Please share!! :bigear:  She's SO bossy!! 

 

Yeah, I know.  Like, "I KNOW I HAVE TO INSERT MY CREDIT CARD!!!!!"  

 

At the bottom of the screen, look for the little bullhorn icon and turn it downnnnnnnn.  :0)

[SKL]

I actually don't love self checkout.  I don't always have the patience for stupid things like, if my item is lightweight (birthday card), it keeps saying "put your item in the bag" even though it's already in the bag.  I don't usually feel like looking up produce numbers.  And a few other annoying things that can make it take just as long as waiting in a regular checkout.  And maybe it's also the annoying loud repetitive voice of the machines.

[MooCow]

Cashiers. I don't like the job loss.

 

I hate the ATM as well. Give me a bank teller. :)

[HS Mom in NC]

Loathe them.

 

I don't care about the jobs (well, I care, but if the self-checkouts worked better, I'd happily move on) but they take longer. I was at one the other day and had to flag the guy FIVE TIMES to come unlock because it didn't recognize the weight of any of the five things I purchased as legitimate. And we have to pay for bags so everyone brings their own, but the weight thingy can't stand your own bags. But I don't want to pay for bags.

 

Our Target is one of the (at one point it was THE) highest volume sales Targets in the country. So you can imagine it's always a madhouse there. But they had an amazing single line system that moved super fast for all purchases 20 items or less. It was great. It worked incredibly well. Then they replaced it with self checkouts. Now, sometimes, you can't move in the front of the store because the lines are so slow and the process takes so long. I have been spending easily twice as long in line at Target since they did that.

 

You don't have much choice at the Target now, but at the supermarket, unless there's literally one available right then and I have fewer than three things, I'll wait for a checkout person nearly every time.

My husband has written software for interactive payment type kiosks.  You'd be amazed at how few companies bother with much testing before they sell them.  It sounds like the ones you're dealing with skipped most of the testing phase. He had to fix payment kiosks for the power company that were a mess.  That government agency (and the taxpayers) were basically scammed, paying for something that didn't really work and paying an expert to redo it.

 

Now he's redesigning code industrial lasers that had been poorly designed, untested and sold to customers.

[athomeontheprairie]

I like them. Especially at Walmart because they tend to use 5000 bags and I don't need 5000 bags.

There's no trash pickup where I live (in the country), trash is burned.

I won't buy trash bags since I would literally be setting my money on fire. We use Wal-Mart bags as trash can liners. I love that they give me 5000 bags, even though it's so incredibly wasteful. Its very helpful to us 😀

[Code Lyoko]

I like the idea and have used them in the past (especially at Wal-Mart because the wait time is LOOOOOOONNNNNNNNGGGGG for checking out with a cashier - they usually have like 25 checkout stands and only two are open) but out of the maybe dozen times I have used self-check something has glitched with the system roughly half of those times and I have had to get assistance.  In one instance they never could fix the issue and I had to take my things, put everything back in the cart and go get in the regular line.  Really annoying.

 

Do I think it is easier to cheat the system?  Yes.  Do I think stores may lose money this way?  Yes.  Do I think this will cost a lot of people jobs?  Yes.

 

But I don't think they are going away.  When they work, it IS more convenient, for small numbers of items especially.  

[Lady Marmalade]

I LOVE self check, but not just for small amounts of items.  My preferred grocery store has regular self checks for 15-20 items or less plus 4 lanes of self-checks for any amount of groceries.  They are longer and hold a full shopping cart's worth of groceries.

 

I started using the self-checks several years ago when we were using food stamps.  I hated feeling like the cashier was judging me for the occasional treat/soda/chip item that I bought.  Once the self checks were available, I no longer hated pulling out the snap card to make my purchases.

 

Now I just use them all the time because they are almost always available and there's no wait.  I can scan my groceries pretty fast and bag them how I like. 

 

I don't use self-check at the liquor department though because they still need to come over and check ID, and I may as well just wait in line for the cashier at that point. 

[regentrude]

I much prefer self checkout, even for large amounts. I get to scan the items in the order in which I want to pack them, get to pack my reusable bags efficiently, grouping items together the way I want them. Something baggers can't seem to manage.

 

Aldi checkout is OK because they don't bag, just throw everything in the cart, and I get to do my own packing.

 

ETA: I wish they would ban free plastic bags already. What a waste.

Edited November 16, 2016 by regentrude

[FaithManor]

I use them a lot. Meijer and Walmart are always bizarrely understaffed here. To use a regular check out, even the "fast" one that is for 20 items or less, is a long wait. I zip into the self checkouts and am out very quickly. Since I don't enjoy time spent in big box stores, this keeps me happy, LOL.

 

That said, I do not like the job loss. BUT, in terms of these two companies, if customers didn't use them, they would still refuse to hire more cashiers. They are determined to keep payroll immorally low so my choice is to wait forever to check out, or go use the self checkouts. I tend to try to avoid these two companies because I do not like their hiring practices, however since we live 50 minutes from a "city" and by that I mean an urban center with lots of options, I am forced to have to deal with these two companies sometimes.

[kiana]

I like them if I need just one item. I absolutely hate them if I'm buying large amounts of a single item because I have to scan each one individually and then bag it instead of just letting the cashier count 20 of them. 

[luuknam]

Depends on the store. There's one chain of stores where their self-checkout never seems to work right for me, so I absolutely hate it there. Of course, that store often only has self-checkout open during the hours I'm there. As a result, I only very rarely shop there (there are other reasons I don't like that chain of stores, but the self-checkout is the reason I won't run in there to get 1-2 items I forgot and will take a detour to another store instead).

 

Other stores, I prefer a cashier if there isn't a line. But with a small number of items (less than 7 or so), I don't mind the self-checkout all that much.

[zoobie]

Target's self checkout sucks. The machine never works with Cartwheel deals. Costco's are ok. I hate it when I have my kids because they want to "help."

 

Most of the time I'd rather be able to get in the cashier's spot and ring it myself with the real machines. He or she can go get coffee or something.

[Anne]

I don't have a huge problem one way or the other, but our Safeway removed EIGHT self-check stands and replaced them with TWO Express checkouts - and they're not always both staffed! Craziness. I won't go back there unless I'm desperate.

 

Anne

[MEmama]

I've never used one. They seem so cumbersome; I don't think I've ever watched someone use one with ease. And they always have a cashier there to help anyway, so what's the point?

 

Lines don't generally bother me, though.

[regentrude]

And they always have a cashier there to help anyway, so what's the point?

 

For the store: one cashier can handle 4-8 self checkout stations.

 

For the customer: quicker. Lines may not bother you, but they bother many others.

[redsquirrel]

I almost never use self checkout.  I find them annoying and frequently buggy.  And I don't like the idea of people losing their jobs to those machines.

 

Now, maybe if I got a discount on my groceries due to the store saving money for not paying a cashier I might find them more useful.  But, paying for the honor of doing it myself?  Nah. I already bring my own bags. I have no interest in having to also be my own cashier.

[Chelle in MO]

Yeah, I know.  Like, "I KNOW I HAVE TO INSERT MY CREDIT CARD!!!!!"  

 

At the bottom of the screen, look for the little bullhorn icon and turn it downnnnnnnn.  :0)

 

You are my new favorite person!  Thank you!!!  Now I will always think of you when at the self-checkout--haha!   :laugh:

 

 

 

Aldi checkout is OK because they don't bag, just throw everything in the cart, and I get to do my own packing.

 

 

The operative word is bolded above.   ;)

[Kassia]

It definitely depends on the store.  Our Walmart self-checkout works great and goes smoothly.  Our Giant Eagle self-checkout is awful and makes me angry.  I end up using it a lot so I can avoid the line for a cashier, but it never works well and is so frustrating and annoying to use.  

[regentrude]

The operative word is bolded above.   ;)

 

you are right, they do throw - but never delicate items. They are always careful about setting soft fruit etc on the kid seat. Never had anything squished.

[SparklyUnicorn]

There's no trash pickup where I live (in the country), trash is burned.

I won't buy trash bags since I would literally be setting my money on fire. We use Wal-Mart bags as trash can liners. I love that they give me 5000 bags, even though it's so incredibly wasteful. Its very helpful to us 😀

 

Oh I do use the bags.  I use them for the cat box, the bathroom garbage, other garbage....I definitely use them.  But Walmart...geesh they even put the milk in the bag.  Drives me bonkers.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I almost never use self checkout.  I find them annoying and frequently buggy.  And I don't like the idea of people losing their jobs to those machines.

 

Now, maybe if I got a discount on my groceries due to the store saving money for not paying a cashier I might find them more useful.  But, paying for the honor of doing it myself?  Nah. I already bring my own bags. I have no interest in having to also be my own cashier.

 

I do hate buggy.  Sometimes they have to come over for every other item to fix this or that thing.  Then it's like why did I bother with this thing.

[Chelle in MO]

you are right, they do throw - but never delicate items. They are always careful about setting soft fruit etc on the kid seat. Never had anything squished.

 

I'll admit to being a bit picky...I've never had anything really squished, but it bugs me the way they toss in things like Clancy's Baked Chips.  :glare:  But not enough to stop saving money.   :thumbup1:

[SparklyUnicorn]

What's that about?  It seems like Walmart employees were told to bag each item individually.  If they're only going to put one item in each bag, it sort of defeats the purpose of the bag in the first place. 

 

I'm not a greenie but I've converted to reusable bags because you can put sooo many things in them without the bag falling over or the handle breaking.  It makes unloading the car so much more efficient. 

 

Yes I have thought more than once that they have been specifically told to bag every single item separately.  It makes me crazy.  And the way they have their bagging situation set up, they make it difficult to bring and use your own bags so I don't bring my own bags when I go there.  Elsewhere yes, but not there. 

 

My number one complaint with reusable bags is not being able to wash them without them falling apart.  That bugs me severely.  I know some people say it doesn't matter.  It matters to me.  I think it's gross to keep reusing these bags on stuff, some of which can't be washed all that thoroughly as it is (produce for example).

[Pawz4me]

Dp

Edited November 16, 2016 by Pawz4me

My local grocery store just got new automatic checkout machines that accepts change very quickly.  I love the fact that I can dump a handful of coins (including pennies!) into the machine, and it counts it all up quickly.  I'm trying to use credit cards less, but accumulating loose change is annoying, and this is a good way to get rid of it.

[Pawz4me]

I don't particularly care for them. I do almost all of my big grocery shopping early in the morning and usually there are no lines for cashiers. If I'm shopping later in the day (a rare occurrence) and have just a few items I sometimes do self checkout. They really aren't in all that many stores around here. The Walmarts have them and a few grocery stores, but I don't think I've ever seen a self checkout in a Target in this area.

Edited November 16, 2016 by Pawz4me

[Arcadia]

We love self checkouts. My local Safeway is 24/7 and has 6 self checkout counters. The self checkout line clears the lunch crowd fasts. Target has 3 to 4 self checkouts and we use them.

 

I've been using ATMs and automated postage machine since I was a kid as I am just not into small talk while transacting. I also use the library self checkout once they install the machines.

[regentrude]

My number one complaint with reusable bags is not being able to wash them without them falling apart.  That bugs me severely.  I know some people say it doesn't matter.  It matters to me.  I think it's gross to keep reusing these bags on stuff, some of which can't be washed all that thoroughly as it is (produce for example).

 

You need different bags. I have two kinds, one is a plasticky fabric that can be wiped, the other are cotton and can go in the washing machine. Neither fall apart. Back home, free plastic bags for groceries do not exist; the cotton bags last for a decade and more.

[HS Mom in NC]

Yes I have thought more than once that they have been specifically told to bag every single item separately.  It makes me crazy.  And the way they have their bagging situation set up, they make it difficult to bring and use your own bags so I don't bring my own bags when I go there.  Elsewhere yes, but not there. 

 

My number one complaint with reusable bags is not being able to wash them without them falling apart.  That bugs me severely.  I know some people say it doesn't matter.  It matters to me.  I think it's gross to keep reusing these bags on stuff, some of which can't be washed all that thoroughly as it is (produce for example).

 

I just spray the cleanser I use on my counters on the inside of the bags and wipe them out with a clean, damp dishcloth.