Self Service Checkouts Yay or Nay!

Getting older and battling with packing and lifting and paying and invariably lots people calling for assistance, a definite Nay. It mayhem at our Sainsbury's there have been so many complaints.

I loathe them. I get very stressed when I go shopping, and these self service tills almost always throw something up at me that I have to summon help to deal with, which is a complete waste of time and a total faff.

Also, having unmanned tills (well, apart from the usually bored and teed off person allocated to watch over the area) is lessening the amount of jobs available to local people who might otherwise have manned the checkouts.

I use both manned check out and self serve depending on the size of my shop.. I gave up using scan and go as I was "randomly" stopped for a rescan so many times it wasted my
time...and was embarrassing and caused me a lot of anxiety in case I had made a mistake.

But when scan and go first came out I was encouraged to use it and given 6 dark green Waitrose packing bags of various sizes and one freezer bag which were of such good quality. Later ones I saw in other trolleys were not as good.
But last week two days running the previous customer, who I didnt see, had not paid for their goods as the machine had not cleared. So goods were shoplifted I assume and I then needed an assistant to reset the machine for me to use. And the assistant didnt seem to record that fact. The camera above the machine would have been able to identify the customer. But maybe in resetting it registered a non payment and the camera shot checked.

I always use smart shop in sainsbury in the larger stores. Otherwise I nearly always use self scan as there is always long queues at the manned checkouts I usually find. I like to be in and out when shopping instore myself.

yes, or no

a resounding NO! from me.. I do NOT like them

Yay! I tend to use the zapper that lets me scan as I shop for the full shop. Works great for me.

Can someone define 'progress' please?

Our local M and S have now installed self service checkouts for all non food items - find it appalling that you have to lie all clean clothing on there with a good chance it can get dirty

I hate them, and refuse to use them. I worked on checkouts many many moons ago, the social side chatting may be someone's only contact of the day. A machine can't say 'how are you today?' Plain and simply money saving, staff sacking. I once, accidently, entered a complete staff free checkout store - obviously a trial, with a 'suit' watching. When I realised there were no checkout staff I put the basket down and went to leave, he was unamused when I explained and left.

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...

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

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

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.

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

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!!!

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!

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?

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Definitely nay!

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.