Self service checkouts!! Are they stupid?

[yaleguy3]

Am I the only person who thinks these dumbass devices should never have been invented?

Every time I use one I have to wait for a staff member to come and fiddle with the damm thing because:-

1 - When I put something in the bag I get told there is some item not recognized - unexpected item? Not to me it wasn't I chose it!
2 - It tells me to bag the item when I already have.
3 - If you do a full trolley not everything will fit on the shelf and as soon as you take a bag off out spits the dummy again
4 - If you buy alcohol the machine goes on strike again
5- There are not enough bags on the rack
6 - The bag racks were designed to be immpossible to use

I could go on and on - not to mention that you wont be told when you have missed a multibuy savings offer etc.

Which market research idiots or focus group thought there was any other use for these dumbass robots other than one only available for people buying a couple of things to dodge the queues of full trolleys IF the things work in the first place.

 

[Alarm]

1, That happens at the checkouts too.
2, Your missing the collection scanner.
3, It is not meant for a trolley full.
4, To avoid under-age drinking.
5, Check first.
6, Not for the average person.

If it says you need 3 buy 3.

They were designed for small amounts, not a weekly shop.

 

[conny]

The idea of them is for people with a small number of items, not full trolleys, as you appear to have discovered. They 'spit their dummy out' when alcohol is passed over the scanner to prevent minors buying it. This also applies to other items the store may class as 'restricted' such as glue, cutlery etc. You also have to leave the items on the shelf as it is actually weighing each item and comparing it to the barcode of the item. One way round this is to open the bag as it is hanging on the hooks and put a heavy item in first. This will ensure it makes contact with the shelf, as you add other items they too will come into contact with the shelf and your transaction should then be less fraught. There should always be a member of staff on hand to reset/pass restricted items through quickly.

 

[yaleguy3]

Ref your answer to point 3

If they were meant for small amounts then why has a local sainsburys gone from 12 checkouts to 2 checkouts and 14 self service checkouts?

Did they assume only 12% of shoppers ever fill more than one bag?



Number 2 occurs when the weight the item registers in the bag (scales) doesn't equal the figure in the database.

Why would it tell you to bag an item if it hadn't recognise something had first been scanned?

Point 6 - you say the bag racks are easy to use?

They could be but I have always found as the shopping goes in the bag it always ends up leaning one way or another and sometimes pulling a handle off the bar with the resultant tipping of contents as you try and balance your shopping so it both stays in the bag and registers its weight.


Re the alcohol - obviously thats why the machines stop but that means if you want alcohol you have to queue at one of the two remaining std checkouts and so you will waste time no matter which way you go.

 

[Alarm]

RE:2
Try it, you will be surprised.

As for swapping tills out, no idea.

 

[conny]

Local ASDAhas a policy that if you are buying large amounts of alcohol you can ask at customer services for a member of staff to be readily available to assist you at the check out. Saw a guy the other day with a trolley overflowing with Smarties Easter Eggs approaching the self serve tills. Behind him came 3 members of staff with a trolley each, also loaded to the gills with other types of eggs. Each person passed one of their eggs through the scanner and a 4th member of staff did the resetting of the quantity for each brand of egg. He bought a total of 500 eggs! And flew through the checkout because of his foresight in asking for assistance..

 

[yaleguy3]

Ah but he didn't go through a self service till did he? He went through a normal checkout.

also you have been rumbled you voted NO because you are following company policy..

 

[Alarm]

Saying that if I have a couple of bottles of wine I get the attention of the assistant as I queue. Always works.

 

[conny]

Ah but he didn't go through a self service till did he? He went through a normal checkout.

also you have been rumbled you voted NO because you are following company policy..

No, he used a self-service check out. I think they are a great idea, though what you mean about 'following company policy' has me stumped.

 

[yaleguy3]

Which is fine providing the one person managing all the tills hasn't had to assist someone else.

 

[yaleguy3]

Ah but he didn't go through a self service till did he? He went through a normal checkout.

also you have been rumbled you voted NO because you are following company policy..

No, he used a self-service check out. I think they are a great idea, though what you mean about 'following company policy' has me stumped.

But how is it 'self service' if four members of staff had to help?

Can a member of public use the self service tills in that way - ie scan one item and then enter a quantity?
If they can't then they are by definition not self service just slightly more akward standard checkouts without a conveyor and an akward bagging area.

Sorry you metioned Policy in relation to your local Asda it made it look as if you worked there

 

[joinerjohn]

Yep, you could write a comedy sketch around these infernal machines........

Chap walks up with a basket of shopping to the self service checkout, places basket on end . Machine says "Press Start or Scan first item to start."
Chap scans first item,,,,, Bleep, bleep. "Item not recognised,,,,, Please wait for an assistant.,,,,,,
Assistant arrives,, waves a barcode at the machine and tells the customer to carry on......

Chap scans next item,,, (a four pack of Lager),,,, Bleep,,, bleep. "Please wait for an assistant,,, Age verification needed."........
Assistant arrives ,, waves barcode at machine again and tells the customer to carry on.....

Customer scans next item,,, but fumbles putting it into the bag... Machine says "Skip Bagging?" .. Chap presses "Skip Bagging button on screen, then places item in bag...
Machine bleeps 4 times then says " Unexpected item in bagging area,,, Please wait for an assistant.........
Assistant arrives ,,, (looks at customer with disdain) Waves barcode at machine and tells the customer to carry on...........

Customer scans next item,,,,, A small paring knife picked up from the kitchenware section...... Machine throws a hissy fit,,, bleeping many times ,,, "Please wait for an assistant,,, Age verification needed.".....
Assistant comes running up for aisle 3 where he's been mopping up a broken bottle of tomato ketchup,,,,. "What now/" he demands..... Customer just shrugs his shoulders,,,,
Assistant waves the barcode again (slightly more animated this time) and tells the customer to carry on...

Customer scans final item,,, An electric toaster and kettle combo from the electrical aisle.

Machine says "Please bag item and wait for an assistant,, Warranty needed.".......

Assistant eventually arrives (muttering under his breath loudly about the imbeciles who come shopping here and how he wishes he'd taken that job at Argos instead)

Assistant looks at the offending items,,, walks off, returning 5 minutes later with a special paper wallet containing the warranty for electrical items. Notices this is the last item and smiles....... (thinks this is the last time I have to come to this one customer).....

Machine now says "Please select payment type.",,,,,,,,,,,, Customer selects cash.....
Looks in wallet and picks out 2 x twenty pound notes. Places first twenty pound note in the machine. Machine accepts twenty pounds,, "Please insert more funds."



Customer inserts second twenty pound note into the machine,,, machine spits out the note,, customer re-inserts note,,, machine spits it out, ad nauseum...
Eventually machine has had enough.... "PLEASE WAIT FOR AN ASSISTANT." as loudly as it can.......
Eventually the assistant arrives again, ... Customer explains that the twenty pound note keeps coming back out. ..... Assistant wrenches the offending note out of the customers hand and holds it up to the light (checking if it's real) Turns out it is real, but the damn machine is playing up. ,,,,, Assistant wanders off to another operator till to exchange the twenty pound note,,, returns with a nice crisp new one, inserts it into the machine (which now accepts the note. "There you are Sir, Have a nice Day."

Machine tells customer to take his change from below the nachine and "Take your shopping from the packing area."...


Just as the customer picks up the shopping and walks away,,,,, The machine pipes up... "Thanks for shopping at Asda,/Tesco/Waitrose/Marks and Sparks (delete as necessary) ,,, and thanks for using the FAST LANE."

 

[conny]

You misunderstand. This guy went to customer services and explained what he wanted to buy and asked for assistance. 3 members of staff helped him load the trolleys and pushed them through the self service check outs with him. A fourth member of staff reset the tills as each different brand of egg was scanned. The 2 members of staff looking after the self service area were not involved and just carried on helping other members of the public. Because this guy had the foresight to enquire at customer services it was a fast transaction. Imagine standing behind him in the manned checkouts while the till operator checked each trolley!
By the way, your comment about company policy makes me wonder if you think I work for ASDA or another supermarket. I don't.
I am a time served electrical fitter working for a multi national company, currently in the role of Site Contract Manager at a very well known food production company.

 

[yaleguy3]

AhI see Conny - but he still needed one other member of staff to put the items through the checkout therefore not strictly 'self service'

 

[Corgigrouch]

They are one of the worst things invented and I actively refuse to use them... There is invariably a need for a "Helpful" to assist and they are no quicker than a human checkout... I have been directed to a self serve checkout by a member of staff who was managing people flow, I politely suggested that it would be more helpful if she was to sit behind a till and help to reduce the queues. When she refused and continued to try to shepherd me to the self serve, I plonked my basket on an empty till and walked out of the store

I object to supermarkets trying to educate me to help them maximise profits. Fortunately I tend to buy most stuff in proper shops and only use supermarkets for stuff that are hard to find elsewhere.