Supermarkets & large stores

I hate it. Some of the supermarkets now have far fewer manned tills. So often can't avoid self service. I don't mind too much when the shop is quiet. But really resent having to queue in the trolley self service. I'm very tolerant of people who are elderly/disabled etc and are slow. But some people are so slow and drive me mad. I've seen couples intermittently putting items through and stopping to chat. Some people have bags but put their items through and straight onto the shelf, pay, and then load their shopping from the shelf into the bags in the trolley. I appreciate perhaps folks don't feel they should have to rush, but I always try to be as efficient as possible as I'm very aware of those queuing. Also, I have several of the supermarket hessian type bags and one of the supermarket tills won't accept weight of any of them, so I always have to call the assistant before I even start! Rant over.

Our local Morrisons has two full sized normal looking tills which are actually self service so are ideal if you have a trolley. However I think that I'm much slower at scanning than the normal till people and if anything goes wrong you have to wait for ages.
I prefer to go self service if I don't have many items though, just cross my fingers that everything works OK.
My husband doesn't shop much and always forgets to put his own bags on first, meaning that he can only pack when he's finished, which makes him very slow.

M0nica

rafichagran I attributed to you, something written by notagran, my apologies.

No problem, there should be something for everyone, and the staff to do the job and help the customers.
I can see from this thread that everyone has different requirements.

I’m glad they have both manned tills but I do like self service and self scan. It puts a stop to waiting for the endless conversations between customers and staff whilst I’m queueing.
I didn’t know Lidl ever did self service. The Lidl near us always opens another till when either there are 4-5 people queueing or when I or others have done a huge food shop and the conveyor belt is full. Something for other stores to take note of!
What bugs me is when you’ve either self scanned or used a self service till, they wait till you’re about to pay before telling you they want to check your shopping. I suppose it’s necessary for some.

rafichagran I attributed to you, something written by notagran, my apologies.

MOnica I agree with you. Between coping with very arthritic hands and macular degeneration I much prefer to have an assistant scan my supermarket shopping.

I had my basket in place on the shelf and the person in front had almost had all their shopping put through in M &S today when an assistant said you can use self check out if you want.I was about to pick up my basket and go then thought Heck no I'm staying put.Why would that be quicker?I do use it for a few items but not a full basket.

Another here who hasn’t set foot in a supermarket for years. Press the ‘usuals’ choice on my laptop, add any extras and there is my shopping on the doorstep when I want it.
I do use the independent butcher and fishmonger, both deliver. They know what I like.
Life is changing, we will adapt. One day when robots are doing absolutely everything we’ll all be paid from a central fund to enjoy our leisure while they pour the wine and massage our feet.

M0nica

rafichagran You do not have dyspraxia and ADHD.

No, I do not have either of those. I am just posting my preference.
Other people are free to do what suits them.

Our Sainsbury’s is exactly the same : one till open with a long queue and a bank of self- serve tills with a crowd of staff gossiping! On a couple of occasions I have gone over and asked if another till could be opened and they have obliged. It shouldn’t be up to me!
Interestingly Lidl have got rid of their self service tills as customers didn’t like them.

Apologies if my comment upset you Monica and anyone else.
It’s great that there is a multitude of ways these days to part us all from our money to suit all our needs!

I’m sure I could very easily forget scan an item. I don’t shop in supermarkets - home deliveries and small local shops only.

....and I hate people who say they are baffled by people who do have a problem. There are all kinds of reasons why people have problems with doing and not doing and one should always remember this.

The above are my reasons.

rafichagran You do not have dyspraxia and ADHD.

NotAGran55

I must admit to being a bit baffled why people think that they would forget to scan an item?
I hold the item I have selected in my left hand, scanner in my right hand, ping and place the item straight into the bag in the trolley.

I do that. I have had several checks come up when I have scanned, and I have never missed scanning anything.

I must admit to being a bit baffled why people think that they would forget to scan an item?
I hold the item I have selected in my left hand, scanner in my right hand, ping and place the item straight into the bag in the trolley.

Elegran, that sound like a good idea.
I have a delivery once a fortnight but shop twice a week at Al di for bits and bobs, as it is just a few minutes walk. Fortunately they have not yet introduced self-service or self-scan as I have no wish to use them. I would probably forget to scan something. I have tried to use self-service and every time, there has been a problem and by the time a member of staff has sorted it, it is no quicker. The other day I was in the Co-op where there is a choice and practically everyone chose to queue for a proper till. We were all saying we preferred this, and we did not want people to lose their jobs.

When I used to do scan-as-you-shop, I'd put each item into the front end of the trolley (there was a section there for fragile things) until I had several things there, then paused and transferred them all into the main part, scanning each as I lifted it. Then I resumed my shopping and putting things into the front section until it was time to pause and scan again. That way I knew that I had scanned everything. I also knew how much I had spent so far, and could stop if it was becoming too much.

Rafichagran only if you can be confident that you will scan everything. I could never have that confidence.

I scan and shop and it is much quicker.

I prefer self-serve tills, I am not quite sure why but I think it is because I hate queueing and self service tills are generally empty. There is certainly a dearth of shop assistants in all stores now,

I have supermarket deliveries from Waitrose, deliveries from other specialist suppliers and I buy from the local Co-op when in the High Street. If I visit Waitrose I find the till queue pretty short. I only use the scan machines at B&Q where there is always an assistant standing by.

I like to go shopping myself. I like to see the variety and sometimes fancy a change after spotting something different so online shopping is not for me.

Noticed that most self scan machines are marked “card only” and I want to use cash. As for walking around scanning as you shop I would be constantly worried that I hadn’t put something in the trolley that I had forgotten to scan. In which case I would spend more time re-examining and worrying than just shopping.

I was an early convert to home deliveries and can’t imagine changing now. I use Tesco and Morrisons week and week about and find them both entirely reliable - much improved from the early days when produce was frequently almost out of date and deliveries were hit and miss. Once in a while, if I am feeling flush, I’ll use Ocado for M&S. I really do hate the time, effort and stress imposed by supermarkets and I am far too impatient to queue these days. On the rare occasion when I am forced to shop in person I head for the local Co-op and their self checkout, just because it’s quicker, but have managed to avoid that so far this year.