Booths is getting rid of their self service checkouts.

I think we'll get there, 2420.

2420
I thought I was ahead of the game suggesting pay and chat tills, but look at this photo.

I laughed reading further down

Except for Viennese elderly people in supermarket lines. You take 30 secs too long and they are ready bonk you with their walking sticks.

Forgot the photo.

Those of us who are busy , busy, busy and have lots of interaction with others don’t always understand that others may welcome human contact.
My DH gave up his very stressful job a few years before he could get his pension so went to work as a baker in our new local Tesco. People used to come in for a chat and he had some very interesting conversations with customers.

My niece took on a job at Sainsbury’s whilst she was in college and found that people loved to talk to her. She is a lovely girl, very jolly and chatty.
Slow shopping sounds like it might suit quite a few people.

M&S could make a real feature of it. Old fashioned customer service.

I went to a shop the other day, and they pretended (I am sure) that all the real tills were out of order, and I had to use self-check. I told the assistant I didn't want to, and she said 'oh don't worry Madam, I shall help you' in such a condescinding manner. I told her I knew exactly what to do, but didn't work for WH Smith, and left my shopping basket and walked out.

Mollygo

North-west -Lancashire and Cumbria. I love a B&M shop too. They sell long Soreen loaves for £1.39, instead if £1.75 at Booths😁

Lancashire, Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Cheshire.

And the posh bit of West Yorkshire. Not mine.

I like self service and scan and bag whilst shopping, works well.

Don’t you consider that you behaved rather rudely Fleurpepper? If you knew what to do why didn’t you do it?

No, I was not rude at all. Calm and polite. Why didn't I? I said it, I do not work for the shop, and I want to protect jobs. I went to the shop knowing there were 'real tills' - but was being forced to use self scan. Why should I?

Why shouldn’t you, along with everyone else? And you left your basket of goods for the ‘servants’ to replace on the shelves. Your flounce won’t save any jobs but you succeeded in making the job of one assistant worse.

I was very polite- I went into a shop with 'normal' tills - and felt they were closed on purpose, to force people to use self-scan against their wishes. I was pleasant, and explained to the assistant (who is paid a decent wage, so no servant) why I didn't want to use self-scan, as I am not employed. I only had 5 items, so no big deal for the employee. I did ask her to tell management why I left and left quietly, wishing her a good day.

As a customer, as long as I am polite, I don't have to work for them for free- and collude with the loss of jobs. Booth have reversed their policy on self-check, BECAUSE many customers made it clear they are not in favour and do not want to use them.

Same as totaly un-neccesary packaging, goods that are wrongly labelled as British but have travelled all over the world- businesses do get the message if enough of us do refuse to comply and explain why, politely.

Nothing you have said changes my view of your behaviour. I don’t go into a shop with the expectation of being waited on. Our expectations and the courtesy with which we treat shop assistants (probably paid minimum wage, which is far from decent) are very different.

So you believe that a shop can dictate what we buy and how we buy it. We as customers can have a real and direct effect on shop policy- as long as we are polite. No, I don't expect to be 'waited on' at all.

This very thread is a real indication that we, as customers, can influence policy. As said, be it on packaging, provenance, and many other things, including tills. If the shop in question had posted on the door or in the Press, etc, that they no longer have wo/manned tills, I would not have gone in to shop. I was forced into making a (polite) stand. My choice. the Booth return to 'normal' tills show how customer reaction can change things. If I want to buy British, for instance, and the only goods there are from abroad- I have the right to choose not to buy, and say why.

Politely and with courtesy. If the staff are on minimum wage, I cannot be held responsible either.

Leaving your basket of goods and walking out is not, in my book, polite. Politeness would have been replacing the items yourself.

Well, we will have to agree to disagree. Why should I replace the items myself? It is not my job. They chose to close all tills and force me to self-check- their choice. And mine. Last post on this matter.

Again, this very thread shows clearly that customers' reaction DOES INFLUENCE BUSINESS POLICY, providing we politely make our choices and wishes clear. If a chain of stores wants to get rid of wo/manned tills- then be clear and open about it, and I will choose not to shop there. Simple.

Fleurpepper

Politely and with courtesy. If the staff are on minimum wage, I cannot be held responsible either.

Yes I get one misery guts most days that has some gripe or other, quite often it’s because the elderly customer in front is slow packing, it’s part of the job we all get it.

Wages are not the best, but I get 20% off everything plus a good choice of short dated or damaged stock, probably worth £3 an hour extra

I doubt the person who decided to close all the tills - and you have no more idea of the reason than I do - was the one who had to go round the shop replacing the items you left behind. Such an aversion to using a self-checkout, which by your own admission you know how to use, and assistance was offered, is strange indeed. And your behaviour discourteous.

Well you wouldn’t get it from me Katie.

Callistemon21

I've never seen a Booths supermarket.
Nor heard of them before this thread.

I thought at first it was a typo for Boots

Same here.
Good on ‘em anyway, am sick and tired of having to do the whole lot myself after already schlepping around the store.
Wasn’t long since the check out staff offered to help pack, now we’re expected to do everything.Will it make products cheaper? Don’t hold your breath.

Our village supermarket has, like the big S’s in town, many long term staff members. I use the self service for a few items but the tills for a shop. I have friendly chats with several long term staff members, the first shop I did after mr I died, involved hugs from two staff members who’d asked why I was doing “the big shop - where us he?”.
It’s all about people, relationships, positive communication. We lose so much if we do everything digitally.

And - I’d never throw a strop if only self service was available. One solitary staff member is usually running between tills ‘incorrect item in packing area’ says the automated voice.

Germanshepherdsmum

Leaving your basket of goods and walking out is not, in my book, polite. Politeness would have been replacing the items yourself.

Well it wasn’t polite to leave them, but when I’ve been a shop assistant (and I have done that), sometimes it’s better to be rid of awkward customers, than expect them to replace goods, (besides it provides something to comment about for a while).