Supermarkets & large stores

I just take my debit card in my pocket, on the rare occasions I go to the M&S food hall, leave my handbag in the boot of the car Gin

I used the self scan in M&S yesterday. I had two full bags of previously purchased items, a walking stick and a handbag. Where do you put such items whist scanning? One item I saw was damaged so had to wait for the helper to go and get a replacement, meanwhile causing a H&S hazard with shopping bags and stick strewn over the limited floor space between the banks of scanning machines.

M0nica

I shop at times when there are fewer people in the shops and have my choice of self-scan or till

Could one of those who only self scan explain how they manage when they have a full trolley and need three large shopping bag to contain the shopping, plus separating out the food for the food bank ?

Self scan is fine when you only want a couple of items, but I only shop once a week, so have a lot of items in my trolley.

I do a big shop once a week (and until recently used to combine it with my inlaws' shopping too). I just put all the different bags into my trolley, pick up an item, scan it and put it into the relevant bag. Nothing complicated about that at all.

I order online but it is mainly for heavy or awkward items which I would have a problem with at the supermarket. I usually order at least a dozen cartons of long life semi-skimmed milk and they are heavy and awkward.

I cannot use a self-scanner because I am partially sighted.

A small local Lidl opened and only uses self scanners but they have had to have a manned till also because of folk like me. The self-scanning queue is usually horrendously long.

Who wants to stand in line waiting to be checked out while ice cream is melting into nothingness. As for home delivery - it’s a blessing for those that are I infirmed or have an emergency. Otherwise having groceries delivered is just being lazy and contribute to overall higher prices.

What is it with all these judgemental comments on other people's shopping preferences on this topic?
It really shouldn't need pointing out that people have groceries delivered for a variety of reasons. And I'm sure they're as valid as your reasons for not wanting to take advantage of this option.

I may be wrong but I’ve always believed that prices include a percentage based upon anticipated theft. If self-service is synonymous with an increase in the amount of pilfering in shops, it hardly seems fair that those who pay have to part with even more for their goods.

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.

Bingo! You managed to include 2 of social media's favourite put-downs in one paragraph.

I shop at times when there are fewer people in the shops and have my choice of self-scan or till

Could one of those who only self scan explain how they manage when they have a full trolley and need three large shopping bag to contain the shopping, plus separating out the food for the food bank ?

Self scan is fine when you only want a couple of items, but I only shop once a week, so have a lot of items in my trolley.

Siope

We don’t have baggers in the UK. I’ve always wondered why American supermarkets keep those roles, when they could save a shedload by scrapping them.

Supermarkets in the US don’t really have the conveyor belt set-up that we have in the UK. Places like Trader Joes just basically have a shelf onto which you load your goods! A bagger put them into your bags and off you go. It’s very quick to shop there and there rarely seems to be a queue.

I popped into the nearest Sainsbury’s today for butter and fruit juice and . . . there were 3 manned tills open!
Shame I’d self scanned, because one was empty and the other two didn’t have a queue. Of course when I do want a manned till, that never happens.

Certainly I get fed up with staff 'managing' the queue and asking if they could help. I always say, 'Yes please. Could you just go and open another till'. To be fair they usually do but I shouldn't have to ask.
BTW I've never seen staff at a check out 'dropping' any type of food.

I do our big supermarket shop online nearly all of the time - have done for many years - and I’m not infirm or lazy (oh, go on then, maybe just a bit ). It’s just so convenient and saves so much time. And yes, I do think it’s better for the environment. Fourteen of us are going on a family holiday together soon, so having all our shopping delivered to the door on day 1 will be a boon. I just need to check what we ordered last year for the same holiday and tweak it a bit - basically fewer sausages and more booze should do it.

But I nipped into Sainsbury’s today while I was in town and only one till was open, with a long queue of people with very full trolleys. I only bought a few bits so was fine with self-service, but I did feel sorry for the shoppers being held up and I think the member of staff standing around supervising us would have been better employed opening a till and helping them out.

I don’t like baggers who mishandle my food and pay no attention to bruising my produce I

This is exactly why I prefer self checkouts! Gradually over the years it seems to me that fresh produce handling has got worse and worse, by the stackers of the shelves, by the checkout staff (even at my local greengrocer shop), and by customers too. I used to complain about one man in the fresh produce aisle literally throwing produce onto shelves, but so many do this or bang it on to shelves that I've given up. I reckon it is a big cause of food waste. This week I saw a lad putting out lettuces, and as he did it he pressed them down firmly, presumably to fit more in!

I see a lot of customers throwing or dropping produce into their trolleys and baskets, and it seems to have become the norm to drop them slightly at manned tills after scanning them. I get so stressed seeing this that I always prefer to scan my own and place them carefully into my bag or box.

In the 'old days', I'm sure that staff handling fruit and veg were trained to take care of it. There used to be a lovely man in my local greengrocer who did handle it carefully, but he isn't there any more. I don't think it is a conscious thing but has become a habit, and when I find potatoes and onions full of bruises, it upsets me as much as bruised apples and carrots! I expect people think I'm a batty old bag because I spend a while picking up bananas to see the beginnings of blackening on the back where they have been bumped during loading, transporting, unloading and stacked on the shelves.

Having spent time and effort selecting the least bruised, I don't want to see all my efforts ruined by the manned-till-drop!

Grocery deliveries are also a blessing to those who have no car. To get our shopping home we face a walk to the bus carrying several full bags which have to be heaved aboard, and a struggle to find a bus pass with one encumbered hand. At the other end of the bus journey, we could have a 10-15 minute walk uphill to take it all from bus to doorstep, followed by another one-handed search for the front-door key. A wheeled shopping trolley helps a bit, but is very heavy to lift onto the bus.

Not everyone owns a car (maybe they do in the USA, where legs will soon be an optional extra) and those who do own one, or previously did, may now feel they don't wish to drive it for one reason or another. This is probably not due to infirmity but to economy, environmental considerations, or just to common sense.

We have our groceries delivered, although personally I prefer going food shopping myself since I find it easier to keep the cost down - especially when I’m walking back with the bags!

“Infirm” is a bit of an offensive term - I haven’t heard that in donkey’s years! We get deliveries because my wife is disabled - nothing infirm about her, thank you very much.

Oh, and I am neither infirm nor lazy. I have my shopping delivered because my nearest supermarket is a c1 hour round trip away and I have better things to do with my time and my petrol.

We don’t have baggers in the UK. I’ve always wondered why American supermarkets keep those roles, when they could save a shedload by scrapping them.

I love to grocery shop. I’m always interested in new products, sale items and fresh produce that I can pick out.

Self scan is here to stay. Some people like it, others loathe it. It’s not going anywhere as stores can keep prices lower by not having to employ as many checkers. I approve of lower pricing!

I don’t like baggers who mishandle my food and pay no attention to bruising my produce, crushing my chips/pretzels and mixing my meat products with household cleaners. (Clearly - they are not trained properly!) I bag my goods so I know exactly what’s in each bag.

Who wants to stand in line waiting to be checked out while ice cream is melting into nothingness. As for home delivery - it’s a blessing for those that are I infirmed or have an emergency. Otherwise having groceries delivered is just being lazy and contribute to overall higher prices.
Cheers!
USA Gundy

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.

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 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!!

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.

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.

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?

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