Self Service Checkouts Yay or Nay!

Nobody ever mentions the jobs created by the technology do they?
The software designers, hardware manufacturers, installers, maintenance, back up services , call center staff, warehousing, transportation etc

Waitrose still has plenty of standard tills open and staff on the shop floor to help.

I may be one of the few who quite likes them but then I’m only ever getting a few things. I’m deaf and not having to try and hear what the assistant is saying is a big plus.

I don’t like them. No matter what, something always goes wrong and an assistant needs to help.

PamelaJ but that’s exactly what we do have …both …..so what is there to complain about !!!
We have 3 way traffic in our local supermarket
tills and till assistants
Self service
Scan and go
So choices for everyone
It’s not a competition go where you feel comfortable

Seriously dislike these, as they are yet another example of the gradual removal of the human element, i.e. communication with a living, breathing person, from our everyday lives. I enjoy the occasional banter with checkout staff, and hope that it makes their day more rewarding too. I'm lucky in that I have a support network of family and friends with whom I have regular, face to face contact, but others aren't so fortunate, so all this de-personalised automation affects them so much more. All in the name of profit, and regardless of the impact on society. The way things are going we're all going to end up sitting at home in front of a computer screen, with little or no direct, meaningful engagement with our fellow human beings. I suspect that some unfortunates out there may well already have virtually reached that unenviable, unhealthy status. And then there's A.I....

@ BlueBelle - hear, hear! Some people seem to be implying they do not have a choice, but of course we do. I also don’t think we should close our minds to change.
There is a condition which can affect the “elderly”, it’s called
Hardening of the attitudes

I avoid like the plague!!!!!

I prefer shop and scan it’s quick there’s never a queue and I rarely have problems. My shoppings packed how I like it and I’m not taking stuff from shelf to trolley, trolley to till belt, back to trolley then into bags. If I only have a few bits then self checkout also works for me. Most shops have a choice of checkout so just use which one suits you.

If I've got just a couple of items and the manned tills have queues at them then I might persuade myself to use them otherwise I'll use the others.
I use an electric wheelchair when I'm shopping, unless I'm doing a big or heavy shop, and I find it's a stretch for me to reach the buttons to press from the chair, and any vouchers come from a little gadget above the till so I have to remember to look up to check there is nothing coming out. Some of these tills are not designed with disabled people in mind.

I like them and always use them if I can.

I don't mind self service tills. As, BlueBelle says, we can't stay in a time warp and, especially as we age, we need to make sure we stay abreast of things.

Having said that, Scan and Go worries me as I am sure I will forget to scan and end up shop lifting!

I use them if the manned check outs are busy and I only have a couple of items. But I very often encounter a problem and need assistance eg an item won’t scan and I need an assistant to manually enter a code. I seem to have a knack for choosing the temperamental self service checkout and the trolley with the wonky wheel 😡

I avoid them. I prefer to interact with humans.

Yes! Particularly in Sainsburys for their Smart Shop, reduced and reduced Nectar prices. Zapping everything helps for a quick check put, although do have to get an assistant when wine is involved, or a random spot check is required. I rarely go through a conventional check out these days. Waitrose could do with larger area to load shopping on, too small for a big shop, but I use them for fewer items generally.

I prefer to order my shopping online but on the rare occasion I do venture into a supermarket, I will head for a conventional checkout.
My hearing is OK but I do seem to have difficulty understanding the audio instructions when something inevitably goes wrong.
A few days ago I popped into our local supermarket and was being served by the cashier. I glanced round at the self checkout and saw two young people whe were scanning their goods before I got to the till, both waiting for assistance as something had gone wrong.
I allowed myself a smug moment.😉

I always use scan and go,I know how much I am spending,have debit card in hand,bags ready pked,tap card on screen job done and out.

Apparently they have cut a lot of staff round here but maybe not elsewhere, I don’t know about the UK. What I don’t like is when the people putting your groceries through stop to chat to the one in front of you - holds everyone up and I suppose these machines don’t do that.

Bluebelle precisely. We can stay in our time warp.
I presume people are worried that, like banks, there won’t be humans anywhere to help.
We are trained now to pack our bags and I get very discombobulated when I go to Australia where a lot of stores still do that for you.

This isn’t really relevant to this thread but it does involve a supermarket!
The local supermarket to where we are staying is enormous, stupidly I forgot to get the fruit weighed in the Fruit section, anyway the lady at the checkout found me a basket, MrOops paid for the other shopping and went to the car and I went back to queue to get the fruit weighed.
I put the basket next to the scales where the assistant was standing and waited, she looked at me with her hands on her hips and mimed putting the bagged fruit onto the scales that she was standing in front of, I had to pick up the bag of fruit/veg reach around the large scales put it onto the scales, she then pressed a button and put the label on, I then had to reach around and pick the bag off of the scales and put it into my basket. Then I had to go and queue at the checkout!
Phew!
We are spoilt in the U.K. customer service at its best I think.

BTW, I had about 12 different bags of fruit and veg to be weighed ……

Horses for courses, I suppose. I’ll use them for a few items, but on the whole I prefer a bit of human interaction. I suppose I still get this when using the self serve at our local Sainsburys, but usually on the lines of “Sorry, I don’t know why it’s doing that either”, “No, it’s not you, it’s the system”, “They’ve been doing this all morning” or “I’ll be with you in a minute”. They invariably have just one check out open, and at least two members of staff sorting out the self serve problems. There’s often a man with a screwdriver and a dismantled machine in the mix as well.

I might give scan and go another try. When I’ve used it in the past I’ve spent too long checking that I’ve scanned everything, and just the once - I’m easily distracted.

A small Lidls had no manned checkouts but they discovered that did not work because I always sought help as I am partially sighted. Now they have one manned checkout and frequently young people with no disabilities are in the queue.

I find some assistants think if they get me started I can continue but I cannot see the screen, end of.

My local large Waitrose is down to 3 manned tills but they can open 2 more if desperate and frequently they are used, to get people moving.

I believe M&S is taking the same route with clothes.

Scan and go isn't always as easy as suggested, you do get random checks where they remove items and rescan them, 14 in the case of Sainsbury's. I have also had the entire shop rescanned on several occasions which defeated the aim of a quick shop, maybe I just look shifty.

Self service for me every time.

If I'm only getting one or two items I'll go to the self scanner area. However, for bigger shops I always go to the manned checkouts. I know the staff at our local supermarket and they all say that the automated tills often cause problems and also that there's a huge increase in shoplifting.
I prefer to speak to humans rather than being bleated at by an electronic voice.