Supermarkets & large stores

Before the pandemic I used to go to town at the same time every week by special bus and got to know an assistant in Sainsburys quite well and have a chat whilst at the till. She would help me put my shopping in my shopping trolley.
The same experience in Lidl.

Kathmaggie, my 8 granddaughter said the same , I’ll do it next time’ grandma’😂

I've never done supermarket home delivery. I just wouldn't trust anyone else to choose my shopping for me - talking about fresh/chilled items here. I've been known to rake through every packet of something in the chiller cabinet before I find one I like the look of.

I rarely get them right. Invariably something goes wrong. I have put my bag in the wrong place or something was too light to be recognised or just didn't scan properly. And Heaven help you if you are buying alcohol or medicines or something as sharp as a potato peeler. I will sometimes try if I have only one or two items but I would never risk a full trolley. I have noticed that our local Asda, which is second from where i work, doesn't have any manned checkouts until 8.30 so we don't have the choice. I have also heard that some stores ask to check your receipt as you leave. If they won't check your purchases out for you then they should trust you to do it honestly

Why do people insist on claiming that they're being made to "do the work themselves"? Do you really enjoy standing there like a lemon while some underpaid bugger scans your stuff and gets RSI as a result? Still, I'm quite glad there are so many of you; it means the self-serve tills in my Co-op are always free.

Frankly, I'm stunned at the number of GNs who are prepared to wait in a queue for ages just so they feel they've been properly served and aren't being charged for scanning their own groceries. I must admit to a feeling of smugness as I go up to the scanner at M&S, Sainsburys or wherever, run my stuff through in no time and swan out, waving to the losers in the long queues at the staffed check outs. Come on you lot, get a life, it's not that difficult to do and can save a lot of time.

GrammaH, I like self service, particularly self scan, especially when I’ve bought clothing. Sending clothes along a not particularly cleaned conveyor belt is not a good idea.
Some people can’t cope with it -my mum for one, and some prefer not to.
As long as there are some manned tills available, the more who prefer self scan or self service, the more space there will be at the manned tills. The problems arise when there aren’t any manned tills or where there isn’t the staff to man them.

Ask for a discount on your shopping seeing as you're doing the cashiers job (I know it's not the cashier's fault) but maybe if enough people make a noise, you never know.

I much prefer to self scan. I can’t abide standing there like a lemon waiting for the previous customers to get through.

Self-serve with grandchildren is a circus! I lost count of how many times I said 'Don't TOUCH anything!' And then I tried to buy a bottle of wine.... It's this sort of thing that makes you feel that things have gone too far in the wrong direction.

IMO self-scan is great for a few items, but for a great big shop - no. Too many things can go wrong, it's all too awkward. And I do feel concerned about jobs being lost. It's nice to get proper service and a chat at the checkout (irritating though I find it when I'm stuck in the queue) is the only bit of company some poor souls get.

There should definitely be a choice between self-scan and staffed tills. I avoid self scan because I'm not as sharp as I used to be. I invariably get something wrong at a self-service checkout. My real bete noire is the system in Waitrose for using vouchers which involves phones and apps. It's beyond me and apparently other people too judging by the hold-ups at the tills as people faff around checking their phone and waving it under the scanner for each offer. The Luddite in me screams "bring back paper vouchers". Yours truly, Grumpy Old Woman.

It seems something of a cheek to me that when you buy tagged goods and have to do all the work of checking them out yourself, that, more often than not, some officious assistant comes bustling up to demand you show them an already-put-away till receipt to show you haven’t pinched the item.

If they trust you to do their work, they shouldn’t be be wasting your time or making you look like a potential shoplifter in front of the whole store.

But comments above reveal that the downside of removing staff is a free for all opportunity for theft. Terrible really.

Oh McCavity 2….you made me think. I worked for 20 years for a VERY big supermarket chain. When the self-serve first came into shop , we were told to gather around it while the lady showed us all how to use it! At the time I was carrying a 24 ‘outer’ of soup cans …quite heavy but also a clumsy article to carry. She was beaming at us all , and shouted above the melee
“ this machine can do the job of you six ladies put together”…. so I said, as I dumped my 24 cans of soup on the machine
“ can it, we’ll let’s see it put these on the shelf”….to loud laughter. She was not amused ! I retired soon after!

I absolutely hate self-serve and refuse to use it. My DH on the other hand, loves it.

I don’t use Sainsburys unless I really need to, they are the worse supermarket in my town for self service

Local M&S often has no manned tills during the week or occasionally just one which inevitably has a huge queue. Yesterday 11 people queueing for the manned till and nobody at the self service points and nobody moving to them after being invited by a member of staff. I find there's not enough room at the self service tills, you can't unpack your shopping in the order you want to put it in your bags ie with heavier items at the bottom. Also like the personal touch, sometimes the assistant might be the only person I interact with that day face to face.

Doesn’t make the shopping cheaper does it? Now if they offered a discount for self serve that might make it more acceptable.

I can't remember when I last went to a supermarket - I just get everything delivered, as do most of my neighbours.

The problem is that they are always going wrong and getting you to ask for assistance which is totally annoying when you are in a hurry. Also, I have noticed they do not always give the advertised discounts but keep to the original shelf prices . Then you have to go to all the trouble of getting someone to check! I sometimes ask them why they can’t get Mr. Aldi to manufacture their machines because the check out machines in Aldi don’t go wrong. German efficiency?

Scanning as you shop, with the store’s handset (or app, in Waitrose), and packing it straight into your own bags is so much quicker than unloading everything onto the checkout belt, letting the cashier scan it and you having to load it into the trolley again. You’re only handling your groceries once instead of three times. If you’re only getting a bag of shopping just scan and put them straight into your reusable bag, pay and go.

Obviously if you have bought age-restricted items they have to be authorised, and very occasionally the self-checkout will randomly request a partial or full rescan, it’s still quicker than loading your trolley, unloading onto the checkout, and loading it again.

I must admit to a feeling of smugness as I go up to the scanner at M&S, Sainsburys or wherever, run my stuff through in no time and swan out, waving to the losers in the long queues at the staffed check outs. Come on you lot, get a life

How nice for you. That's all the GNers who've posted about their mobility/sight issues telt then.

I hate self service !! Avoid them if possible. Do like Aldi where the person itn the till is very quick and I pile everything back into my trolly before heading to the packing area where I can pack my purchases with care and that is hassle free. Packing into bags at the till can be stressful!!

Maggiemaybe

^I must admit to a feeling of smugness as I go up to the scanner at M&S, Sainsburys or wherever, run my stuff through in no time and swan out, waving to the losers in the long queues at the staffed check outs. Come on you lot, get a life^

How nice for you. That's all the GNers who've posted about their mobility/sight issues telt then.

It's hard to believe a GNer could write such an unpleasant and unfeeling post. Someone's a loser in life but probably doesn't even know it. Maggiemaybe I'm with you.

I've only recently been back to the supermarket. I'd forgotten how stressful it is! My nearest is huge and it only had one till open so I used the self service with a small trolley. Ended up being in everyone's way, trying to balance the shop in a tiny space, scanning some clothes too . I've had home deliveries for 25 years on and off and it's so much better.