Waitrose self service

Meant
(Can you tell I used to teach? Teachers get cross much more than we get angry!)

Not many people use the self service tills where I shop.
There seems to be an unwritten rule, that we are all aware that if we use them regularly, then more local staff will lose their jobs.

I don't do that Waitrose scanner thing. Too scary. But I like self scan tills. It's like playing shops. I used a Morrison one today. It was the best so far.

I cannot use the self-service scanners without cocking things up! The ladies at Sainsburys see me heading for them and flee.
Why do supermarkets appear to have a number of checkout but rarely more than two or three open? Grrrrh.....

Good for you ga. I despise the things. A machine shouting orders at me is a stress I can do without too. Fortunately our local Waitrose doesn't have them......yet!

If I am in a hurry or just feeling downright unsociable then I use the self service tills.

There are some days when the inevitable question of how am I and what am I planning to do with the rest of the day would just irritate me! I don't think the assistant would be pleased if I snapped that I felt like crap and was planning on going home and eating a whole tub of ice cream!!

In my local Waitrose the self-service tills are ONLY for those of us using the scanners, but I shall simply hand my scanner in to a checkout operator in future.

I hesitate to say this , but aren"t serve service for younger people?

No Nonu whatever makes you think that? Don't you think some of us "silver surfers" aren't up to it?

I always use the "zapper" gun at Waitrose and there is always a very nice and helpful assistant at hand in case Ineed help.

Nonu - I live in a town noted for the number of retired people who live here.

Nonu what on earth do you mean?

Wish the self service flipping were, then I'd get through the checkout quicker!

A friend of mine regularly uses the scanner thing as she shops in Waitrose and she also uses a JL Partnership credit card to pay. Having used the scanner as she goes around the store she was happy with this method until one day the scanner refused to accept her credit card - not registered the scanner said. An assistant came to help but could not get the credit card accepted and she promptly summoned a manager for help. A quick phone call and all was sorted within a few minutes. The manager then apologised for the embarrassment caused and asked my friend to go to the wine department and chose any bottle of bubbly she liked to make up for the inconvenience!

I love the zapper for shopping in waitrose and in our shop (Okehampton, Devon) there is a manned till specially for the zappers, as well as two self service machines. Personally, I like being able to pack my bags as I go, none of that that heaving it all onto the conveyor, then trying to pack it at speed as the checkout person tries to win the race. There are never queues at the zapper desk, unlike the normal checkouts, so our shopping experience is definitely faster with fne zapper.

My mother, at 87, happily uses the zapper. Age is no barrier to learning new skills.

i don't really approve of them. My DC all worked on checkouts to supplement their income during their student days and I know several mums with young children who'd be at a loss to find any other work.

B&Q frequently now only have the self service tills open, so I've had no choice but to join the other oldies doing their best to exasperate the poor chap in charge of the four tills. It's good fun!

What's a zapper? Haven't got them at our local Sainsburys.

I haven't used a zapper yet. I do look at them now and again and think, one day I will give it a go, now however, just on principal if nothing else, I will make a beeline for one on my next visit.

Just want to say at this point, I helped DD solve a problem she was having with her iPhone today...... 1-0 for Mum, YES!

I use the zapper when I go food shopping with 4 year old GS. I choose the stuff and he reads the bar code with the zapper. It makes for a very trouble free trip. At the Tesco (Boo Hiss) where they have these, there are dedicated tills at the end, where they have lovely young people doing spot checks to make sure everything has been zappd. I remarked to one that if I was cheating then it would be more likely with a bottle of gin than the cat food she was checking. Don't think she saw the joke

I even once used the self scan in a Sainsbury's in Tottenham Court Road recently and again, a helpful assistant was there to guide me through it despite it being the lunch time rush. Who says us olddears aren't up to it? What did you mean, Nonu???

NfKDumpling it's a hand held bar code reader. Great for occupying small children and keeping an eye on how much you are spending. Not so great for keeping people in employment though.

MrsJamJam I has no idea you lived so near to me!

Did you think about coming to the North Devon meet we had a while ago in Bideford?

The zapper is used whilst going around the shop to read the bar codes, but still had to be handed in at a checkout so that an actual person served me. I have no problem with this. It's taking away that person that bothers me. I can now scan my zapper and pay at the self-serve till without any interaction with staff. It isn't difficult, but will ultimately result in fewer employees.

I'll use either scanner or self-service till, it makes the whole shopping experience so much quicker , I know its probably going to lead to fewer staff but stores are going to introduce this whether I use it or not and honestly its so much less of a faff to pack my shopping as I go and then scan the whole lot in one go and pay... I love it.

I too use the scanner and self-service tills as it is quicker I don't have to go through the 'now how are you today' routine that they say to every customer.

I do get ratty though when a voice says 'there is an unexpected item in the bagging area'. I respond with 'No there bl**dy isn't' at which point an assistant comes and sorts it out.

It gives me great pleasure to use self-service when all the assistant tills have queues.