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Self service supermarket checkout.

(61 Posts)
kittylester Tue 18-Feb-14 10:56:51

I try not to use them on principle but suspect that supermarkets plan manning the tills so that one is tempted by the self-serve ones which they can then say are being used a lot.

We also have those self-scanning ones in Tesco. I hate those with a vengeance as I'm convinced I am conditioned, after 44 years of blinking shopping, to just sling stuff straight in the trolley and then I will be caught trying to shoplift. blush

shysal Tue 18-Feb-14 10:52:50

The new checkouts being installed seem to have conveyor belts, so don't quite know how they are going to work. Maybe they will make it easier to handle a large shop. I shall give them a try before making my complaint, don't know when they will be in operation.
I like to be behind another customer when emptying my trolley, giving me time to sort the goods into which cupboard/fridge they are to go in, then I can bag accordingly.

glammanana Tue 18-Feb-14 10:50:12

Shopping is stressful enough without self service tills they drive me mad,I have used them once in Morrisons and ended up with an assistant to help so what is the point ? What will happen in the 24hr supermarkets will they go all self service as well as ? reducing the staff to just a few people ? hmm

tiggypiro Tue 18-Feb-14 10:47:07

I agree totally Gally. I hate them with a vengence and any supermarket which forces me to use them will lose my custom. I would rather queue than use them and judging by the number of times I have noticed people in a queue being asked if they would like to use one, so do lots of others. Occasionally an assistant has done it for me (I have to be REALLY desperate!) and even that seems to take longer.

henetha Tue 18-Feb-14 10:39:39

I always use the self-service tills when I only have a few items. I find them easy and convenient, - but I do worry that staff might lose their jobs because of them, so make a point of NOT using the self service ones if I have more than a few items.
I did once have a big argument with a self-service till in Asda. It kept telling me that there was an 'unauthorised item in bagging area'. I found myself shouting back at it very loudly, much to the amusement of people around me.

Gally Tue 18-Feb-14 10:30:52

I loathe the self service tills; it always takes 2x as long so I prefer to queue at a manned one. There is always a problem with a price or weight and the machine is constantly telling me off for doing this or not doing that (yes, I too shout back at them and use very naughty words blush) and I have to have assistance most times. If they have staff helping at the self service tills why on earth can't they man the ordinary tills - it would be so much quicker. The very unhappy staff at our local Asda were encouraging us all to fill in complaint forms as there are to be redundancies.

Lona Tue 18-Feb-14 10:23:35

I use the diy tills quite often, and I don't mind them for a few items.

However, if you are holding a handbag and a shopping bag, you need another arm/hand unless you put the bags on the floor!

I do shout at the till when IT makes a stupid mistake blush

Galen Tue 18-Feb-14 10:08:45

They see me coming and go on strike! I always have to call for help.

MrsSB Tue 18-Feb-14 10:05:37

I do use the diy tills when I only have a few items, but to do away with manned tills before 9am is not a good idea. It is nigh on impossible to put a trolley full of groceries through the diy till, so this would mean basket only shopping before 9am. I very often get to Tesco (nearest supermarket) between 7.30 and 8am to do my main shop as it's nice and quiet at that time, and I'm an early riser anyway, so a similar move by Tesco would definitely not suit me, nor, I suspect, many others. I do think that customer service counts for very little generally these days, customers are like buses to the main supermarkets, miss out on one, there'll be another along in a minute!

sunseeker Tue 18-Feb-14 10:03:58

I do use these (Sainsburys) when I have just a few things or if I am feeling grumpy - Sainsburys staff must be trained to ask the same questions, how are you today, what have you got planned - and I don't like to tell them that I feel like crap and plan to go home and eat a whole tub of ice cream!!

I do find it quicker to use the self service till and so far have had few problems.

shysal Tue 18-Feb-14 09:52:47

This morning I did my weekly shop at the local Asda, my nearest supermarket. They are in the process of converting half the checkouts to make more self service. Apparently there will be no manned ones before 9am. I hate those things, and they hate me! On the few occasions I tried I was asked to call a staff member for no apparent reason, except when GD was leaning on the bagging platform and they thought I had unpaid-for goods! The staff are up in arms as their hours will be cut. Does customer service count for nothing? I shall complain if I have problems. They also did away with the 'basket only' till ages ago.
Do you use these do-it-yourself facilities and what do you think of them? I have to say they scare and annoy me!