When people are upset over self checkouts; does it upset you?

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Indigo Blue said:

So I wonder how easy it is to cheat at the self checkouts and go unnoticed. Like, ringing up your organic produce as conventional, or picking an expensive produce such as one organic red bell pepper and ringing it as something much less expensive. I don’t mean like what Quill did. I mean with intent to be dishonest and getting away with larger amounts of money involved. I’m not usually a self checkout user, unless it’s just something very straightforward. So, how easy is that? How do the workers oversee or catch this?  
 

If the machine no longer screams at you for not putting your item down in the bagging area, doesn’t this make it easy for people to steal stuff? To what extent, if any, is this a problem? How is it mitigated?

I’ve always wondered this.

I think some cheating would be pretty easy to get away with. I also think it’s easy to make a mistake that is in the store’s favor. For ex., dh and I were getting groceries while on vacation and were using self checkout. I accidentally scanned a bag of chips twice. I didn’t really want to go through some rigamarole to have one removed so dh just got another bag of chips. If I had been by myself I wouldn’t have done even that, because I wouldn’t leave my groceries to go get another chip bag. 
 

This may be a naive thing to say but I think *most* people are honest *most* of the time. Like, I don’t think it’s very likely that some same guy keeps buying a lot of organic produce but keeps ringing them as non-organic. Most people will not think it’s worth the risk of creating a discernable pattern at a store they shop often. Most people will not find it worth the risk. <<<my non-scientific, totally instinctive answer. 

[pinball]

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/16/business-food/wegmans-scan-and-go-app-shoplifting/index.html

In 2019, Wegmans, the cult-favorite northeastern grocery chain, rolled out a new mobile app that allowed customers to scan, bag and pay for groceries while they shopped and then skip the checkout line altogether.

The app, Wegmans SCAN, promised customers a quicker checkout and also let them see a running total of their purchases as they shopped. 

This week, the grocer announced that it is ending the app because of ¡¡¡rampant shoplifting!!!.

 

[marbel]

I'd imagine that peoples' mistakes and potential dishonesty (organic vs conventional produce) entered into the calculations regarding installing self-check or not. Shoplifting is and has been a huge problem for stores long before self-check. (According to a former Walmart front-end supervisor I know, theft by employee is a pretty big problem too.) 

And as Quill noted, mistakes can happen in favor of stores. I've found that sale items (bonus buy, whatever the store calls it) sometimes don't ring up at one large regional chain. If I catch it in a cashier line, I'll have it corrected. If it's in self-check? I'm more likely to let it go rather than stand in the customer service line to get the difference refunded - though I have done that in the past when it was more than a couple of dollars. (Of course even in a cashier line I'd probably miss it, as I'd have a big order and wouldn't have memorized the price of every item.) 

[Selkie]

4 hours ago, Indigo Blue said:

So I wonder how easy it is to cheat at the self checkouts and go unnoticed. Like, ringing up your organic produce as conventional, or picking an expensive produce such as one organic red bell pepper and ringing it as something much less expensive. I don’t mean like what Quill did. I mean with intent to be dishonest and getting away with larger amounts of money involved. I’m not usually a self checkout user, unless it’s just something very straightforward. So, how easy is that? How do the workers oversee or catch this?  
 

If the machine no longer screams at you for not putting your item down in the bagging area, doesn’t this make it easy for people to steal stuff? To what extent, if any, is this a problem? How is it mitigated?

I’ve always wondered this.

At the stores here, almost all produce has tags with bar codes now, so it is scanned just like other groceries (instead of the customer having to type in the name).

Also, for your example of someone trying to get away with not paying/paying less than they should for an item - the cameras have gotten pretty sophisticated about catching that kind of activity. As soon as any kind of suspicious movement is detected, the whole thing comes to a stop and the overhead light goes on and an employee comes over to review the camera footage and make sure there were no shenanigans. 

[pinball]

2 minutes ago, Selkie said:

At the stores here, almost all produce has tags with bar codes now, so it is scanned just like other groceries (instead of the customer having to type in the name).

Also, for your example of someone trying to get away with not paying/paying less than they should for an item - the cameras have gotten pretty sophisticated about catching that kind of activity. As soon as any kind of suspicious movement is detected, the whole thing comes to a stop and the overhead light goes on and an employee comes over to review the camera footage and make sure there were no shenanigans. 

It looks something like this:

[Indigo Blue]

And I’d be like

[Indigo Blue]

I think I would like that app. Too bad it didn’t work very well. 

[Indigo Blue]

12 minutes ago, Selkie said:

At the stores here, almost all produce has tags with bar codes now, so it is scanned just like other groceries (instead of the customer having to type in the name).

We seem to have some stores that do that but others don’t. Being able to scan them makes more sense. I think.

[stephanier.1765]

20 hours ago, Indigo Blue said:

We seem to have some stores that do that but others don’t. Being able to scan them makes more sense. I think.

It's the only reason why I like grocery shopping at Walmart over Target. Scanning produce really does speed up the process.

[Annie G]

https://scoop.upworthy.com/dutch-supermarket-introduces-a-unique-slow-checkout-lane-to-help-fight-loneliness

A Dutch chain has introduced ‘slow lanes’ to help combat loneliness in seniors. What a lovely idea.    I like that my Publix has self checkout, regular ones, and an express lane. Something for everyone. 

[TechWife]

On 1/9/2023 at 11:04 AM, Indigo Blue said:

So I wonder how easy it is to cheat at the self checkouts and go unnoticed. Like, ringing up your organic produce as conventional, or picking an expensive produce such as one organic red bell pepper and ringing it as something much less expensive. I don’t mean like what Quill did. I mean with intent to be dishonest and getting away with larger amounts of money involved. I’m not usually a self checkout user, unless it’s just something very straightforward. So, how easy is that? How do the workers oversee or catch this?  
 

If the machine no longer screams at you for not putting your item down in the bagging area, doesn’t this make it easy for people to steal stuff? To what extent, if any, is this a problem? How is it mitigated?

I’ve always wondered this.

 

On 1/9/2023 at 11:30 AM, Farrar said:

I like them when they're not oversensitive. They made a new rule at my grocery where they have to watch the video of what you're doing every single time. Once my video had to be watched FIVE TIMES in a row because the item was something heavy (I think it was a thing of soda the kids were buying?) and didn't fit all the way on the little scale so it could never get the weight. It was so frustrating. And also like, come on, do you really think I'm stealing at this point. If I was stealing, why would I ring it up in the first place?!?

Anyway, now I go to the checkout people, even if it takes longer sometimes. Because at least there's a clear order of events and wait time.

I have always wondered what the purpose of the scale is - maybe it’s supposed to detect if you put something in your bag that you didn’t ring up? If that’s the case, why does it care if you ring something up and don’t put it in a bag? 

[Lady Florida.]

On 1/9/2023 at 1:56 PM, pinball said:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/16/business-food/wegmans-scan-and-go-app-shoplifting/index.html

In 2019, Wegmans, the cult-favorite northeastern grocery chain, rolled out a new mobile app that allowed customers to scan, bag and pay for groceries while they shopped and then skip the checkout line altogether.

The app, Wegmans SCAN, promised customers a quicker checkout and also let them see a running total of their purchases as they shopped. 

This week, the grocer announced that it is ending the app because of ¡¡¡rampant shoplifting!!!.

 

I use scan and go at Sams and love it but I could see how it would be a problem at a grocery store. At a warehouse store like Sams the items are large and someone checks your basket on the way out (they do that anyway and do it at other warehouse stores like Costco and BJ's). At a grocery store there can be many small items and it would take too much time/too many employees to check people's bags on the way out.

Edited January 10, 2023 by Lady Florida.

[Annie G]

7 minutes ago, TechWife said:

 

I have always wondered what the purpose of the scale is - maybe it’s supposed to detect if you put something in your bag that you didn’t ring up? If that’s the case, why does it care if you ring something up and don’t put it in a bag? 

Walmart has a big problem with people cheating by putting a cheaper item’s barcode over the one on the expensive item they’re buying. So the camera sees someone scanning an item, and it looks legit. But the scale is a backup- the scanned item has a weight assigned to it- a pack of ramen should weigh a couple of ounces, where a case of soda weighs pounds.  So they want to use the scale to help detect fraud. 

[Pawz4me]

20 minutes ago, Annie G said:

Walmart has a big problem with people cheating by putting a cheaper item’s barcode over the one on the expensive item they’re buying. So the camera sees someone scanning an item, and it looks legit. But the scale is a backup- the scanned item has a weight assigned to it- a pack of ramen should weigh a couple of ounces, where a case of soda weighs pounds.  So they want to use the scale to help detect fraud. 

Walmart self checkouts here don't have scales under where the items are bagged. There is, of course, a scale on the scanner/register for weighing produce.

[Annie G]

16 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

Walmart self checkouts here don't have scales under where the items are bagged. There is, of course, a scale on the scanner/register for weighing produce.

That’s interesting! I wonder if it’s regional. My info came from when we were checking out at a Walmart in Florida and it kept saying to put our item in the bagging area. An employee came over and finished doing it for us and said it was to verify what we scanned matched what was bagged. But that was years ago, before the new checkouts that have video cameras built in to each checkout.  say hi! You’re on camera! 

[Jean in Newcastle]

2 minutes ago, Annie G said:

That’s interesting! I wonder if it’s regional. My info came from when we were checking out at a Walmart in Florida and it kept saying to put our item in the bagging area. An employee came over and finished doing it for us and said it was to verify what we scanned matched what was bagged. But that was years ago, before the new checkouts that have video cameras built in to each checkout.  say hi! You’re on camera! 

I don't shop at Walmart, but while our local grocery store has the scales they no longer have the "put your item in the bagging area" notification.  Which is a relief for me, actually, because our state now requires that you provide your own bag (or buy a bag from the store) and my cloth bags were always slipping off the scale and triggering it.  I think that it was such a common problem that they disabled that part of the self checkout system.  Or perhaps a video camera has no longer made it necessary. 

[stephanier.1765]

1 hour ago, Pawz4me said:

Walmart self checkouts here don't have scales under where the items are bagged. There is, of course, a scale on the scanner/register for weighing produce.

Ours did a total redo of their self checkouts last year and now no longer have scales under bagged items. Thank goodness! Now I can leave soda, cat food, litter, and other heavy items in my cart and just use the "gun" to scan them.

[Pawz4me]

1 hour ago, Annie G said:

That’s interesting! I wonder if it’s regional. My info came from when we were checking out at a Walmart in Florida and it kept saying to put our item in the bagging area. An employee came over and finished doing it for us and said it was to verify what we scanned matched what was bagged. But that was years ago, before the new checkouts that have video cameras built in to each checkout.  say hi! You’re on camera! 

 

41 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

Ours did a total redo of their self checkouts last year and now no longer have scales under bagged items. Thank goodness! Now I can leave soda, cat food, litter, and other heavy items in my cart and just use the "gun" to scan them.

Walmart fails on lots of areas, but their self checkout is really pretty awesome. It never "yells" at me. I use the gun for so many things and leave them right in the cart, too.