Self Service Checkouts Yay or Nay!

We've had them for many years now, and in a busy supermarket they are a boon.

The only thing I do not like is that now you can only pay using a visa card or by paypal or the like, and I greatly prefer to withdraw my housekeeping money at the beginning of the month and pay in cash, which we still can do at the manned tills. So this new idea of not using cash defeats the purpose of the self-service till.

nanna8

I don’t think I would put up with having my bag checked. How rude. I would never go there again.

They rarely check the whole shop, just a certain number of random items. Of course if they come across unchecked items they check the whole shop. It’s a bit like saying you’ve declared no food at customs. If you’re found to have one undeclared food item, they check all your baggage.

Mixed feelings. If I've only got couple of things the self service basket tills are nice and quick. But one of our supermarkets now has quite a lot of self service trolley tills, but only a few manned ones. Usually judge which has biggest queue. Don't mind self service ones too much, but I'm driven to distraction by the speed, or lack of it, by some people. I am totally patient with elderly/disabled etc. But recently I was waiting in a queue. I watched one couple in around their 40s with huge trolleyful take each item out of trolley, scan it, then put it on the rubber shelf. They'd stop and have a conversation every few items. Eventually the shelf was so full they were piling things up. Once they had finished they then put bags in trolley and slowly loaded groceries into them. Some will say they are entitled to go at their own speed, but I find myself conscious of people waiting and try to be as efficient as possible. Sometimes 3 staff members standing in area to assist. Can't help thinking an extra manned till would be better. Another disadvantage of self service is that if another manned till opens up there's no chance of getting to it before one of the other manned till queuers jumps to it.

I don’t think I would put up with having my bag checked. How rude. I would never go there again.

I see self service or scan and shop as the way forward.

Businesses need to squeeze out all inefficiencies and excess labour cost to keep prices low. My husband is always looking to cut business costs - I assume everyone else attempts the same.

We don't ride in horse carriages any longer, it's 2023.

I hate them.

Our local supermarkets have very few check out operators these days so many people tend to check their items out themselves. We prefer to use smartscan for our shopping because it's so much quicker and easier and saves loading and unloading at the check out. The only time I'm not keen on it is when they do a random check when I have ice cream or something frozen in the trolley.

Like them …….but should be limited to 10-12 items as folk with shopping trolleys are at pain at self-service tills! Not meant for shopping trolleys the way they’re laid out!

Nay- I am not employed or paid by the supermarket, so why should I do their work for them? And I have friends who work at the tills who need their job.

I like them. We use them in Sainsbury, M&S, Boots, Tesco, Co-op and Waitrose and rarely have any problems. We use Scan & Shop where it's available. The queues usually move quite quickly, where there are any, and if there is a problem someone usually comes to help quite quickly. It is annoying that it flags whenever there is alcohol, but not the end of the world. Also when they want to do a check - Tesco catches us quite often as we don't often shop there. It took a little while to get used to it as they are all slightly different, and we do take care that everything is scanned correctly but overall it saves us time. I can understand that people who have poor eyesight or mobility problems may have issues though.

Definitely nay!

Yes….use them whenever I can for speed, convenience and most of all I can double check the price of each or any item again the price advertised on the shelf - and it’s surprising how often a discrepancy occurs! With staff close by to monitor and respond to customers queries I can get these issues rectified - and to me it’s worth the effort of self checking my groceries.

Never! I’d rather queue until a proper checkout is free and have told a member of staff that I don’t work in the shop when invited to use one.

Weekly shop I self scan and pack as I go. A no brainer.
For a couple of items I use self check out till. A recent visit found all the tills speaking Welsh which gave everyone a giggle and kept the staff busy.

I refuse to use them. It gives companies the right to cut the workforce, I also pay for a service that the companies are withdrawing.

I too have concerns about the loss of jobs due to selfscanning. I realise that things change and it's sometimes difficult to accept that. I do wonder about our dependence on technology and whether or not it will be our downfall at some point in the future.

Yes and no. I don't mind if I have a few things but a definite no for any more than 5 items.

I work in retail now and I have found that older people really prefer someone to talk to.

I hate them due to having to use a Wheelchair.
It’s difficult enough but when you have people behind you tutting and sighing .
M&S & Tesco.
Have had to offer checkout staff for people with disability due complaints to the disability Commission.
Believe me it’s not acceptable being called a Spastic Bitch and that’s in a high end Supermarket .
I wonder how they would feel if they had to live their lives in Wheelchair?

For those of us, who are immunocompromised, self scanning is a godsend. No standing in queues, while someone is breathing or coughing down your neck and muttering impatiently, while you struggle to empty your trolley and pack your bags.
Putting the items straight into my bags, enables me to maintain some independence.

I do however, see the point of it affecting jobs.
The one problem about self scanning is that I often get computer generated random searches of my trolley contents.
The ladies on the self scanning tills know me well!

It would help if every self service checkout in EVERY STORE had a notice “ scanned items this side” and “unscanned items this side “. I always get it wrong!!!

Most supermarkets here still pack your bags for you on the normal checkouts. Not Aldi, though but they are European.

nanna8

Taking jobs off people. Half the time they go wrong so they need someone there but only one person for a dozen of them so 11 people have lost their jobs.

Yes, and in Tescos that one person left has to constantly rush around and deal with the frustrated customers as inevitably something goes wrong. Usually only one or max two tills open after 7pm.

My local supermarket (Waitrose) is right across from retirement flats and I see the staff on the tills are always very polite, helpful and kind .They know some of the residents well and are chatting to them ... it is rewarding for both the staff and the shoppers. I think the few pence more can be worth it. That may be the only human contact that older person has that day.

Couldn't agree with you more. My OH and I always argue when we use them.

yes from me, but i do most shopping online and only buy a few things from shops.

Bit of a love-hate thing here.

I love that I can (usually) get in and out so much quicker, by using them.

But I hate the number of issues the ones at my local Lidl have - from not scanning my Lidl+, to always getting the 'slow' one, or them not accepting 5p's. I also don't like that I can't pay part in cash and part by card, on the odd occasion I need to.

Recently, for a fortnight or so, they were all only accepting card payments, but I only had cash, so they had to open a normal checkout for just me, with only a couple of items...