Why the resistance to self-checkout machines?

What is "our side of the political aisle?" Half of DL reads like Stormfront these days. There is no "our" on DL.

Also, the clue you seem to be missing is that self-checkouts eliminate jobs and make the consumer perform free labor for the benefit of the corporation. Literally everyone loses, except corporate CEOs.

How is this hard to understand?

They don't want to participate in people losing their jobs, they are sick and tired of having to do manual labor, or if they're like me, they always screw something up and stand there like a dolt while the manager fixes it.

Basics don't like change.

I was in the grocery store yesterday with my uncle. And I was walking towards the self check out area, and he was walking to get in line. I said, you don't like self check out and he said no!

So I went and got in line with him.

We're both Democrats.

UNEXPECTED ITEM IN BAGGING AREA!

I really like the self checkouts at Costco & the grocery store. They help keep the lines shorter. Plus, there’s no interaction, so less risk of covid exposure, & they do have employees there to supervise, I don’t think it’s eliminating jobs.

R2 BINGO!!!!

Something always goes wrong, and you have to stand there waiting for the employee whose working the self check out area to come fix it.

I hate that shit.

R1 When a mostly gay site increasingly sounds like 'Stormfront', maybe the SJWs should take the hint.

I always have liquor in my cart and someone HAS to come check my ID, so I'm still keeping someone employed.

I like self checkout or any other automation until the slow and stupid start using them and take forever. I appreciate Costcos stance when someone with too much stuff pulls into self checkout they divert them to the regular lines. I also like Sams Club Scan n Go.

We need to pull a lot of jobs sent overseas over the past 40 years back. This is for the protection of our economy and safety. That is where these people can have more useful employment.

I don't fucking work there so why should I have to check myself out?

I got flagged at Costco when I was buying cough syrup (among other things), i didn’t realize it was a controlled substance!!

I don’t find self check out particularly convenient, especially when you have a lot of stuff. Something invariably goes wrong

[quote]Why the resistance to self-checkout machines?

likely, OP, because it is HARD anti-labor. what are YOUR plans on employing those low-skilled workers?

also, as mentioned, they suck - you always need to get an actually employee to help figure out what the machine doesn't like your bag in the bagging area.

I don't like it when I have a lot of stuff, but I don't mind it when I have a small amount. It can be quicker than waiting for the regular cash. You get used to it and it becomes easier/faster.

this is a bit shrill, but DL loves old bitches. but, OP, happy conveniences today can have unintended consequences

Do you really want germy cashiers touching every single item of yours with their grubby, dirty hands and fingers?

We introverts love self checkout.

R9, there is probably at least one AA meeting near you. You may want to check it out.

I've been using self checkout for the last decade at least, whenever possible. LOVE it. The only time I choose the cashier line is if I'm buying alcohol which can't be done at self checkout in CA.

Because nothing says fun like standing behind someone doimg 3 weeks worth of shopping while you want to ring up a pack of gum.

I don't like them because I'm always afraid I'm doing something wrong. Plus I just don't like the awkward way some of them are configured.

I exclusively use the self-checkout. I don't want to get stuck in a lane behind some old lady paying with a check, some sow buying $400 worth of groceries for her brood, or one of those coupon hobbyists.

I love self checkout and I'm a hard core liberal Democrat.

Hard core Dem here too , and I use self-checkout when it's appropriate,

If I wanted to work as a check out girl....

I hate when it's busy and there's a long line for the self check out, and everyone is standing around just staring at you, while you're checking out.

I hate that. I have really bad social anxiety and that doesn't help at all.

This lifelong Democrat LOVES self-checkout.

The nicer BJs near my job has a system where you can scan each item on your phone as you shop so no waiting in a checkout line. I haven't tried it yet, but will be happy to if it works properly. The BJs near my home which attracts a more rough and tumble crowd does not offer it.

I’d rather have it like Amazon stores. You check in at the start of up ur shopping experience, stick what you want in your bags. walk out and have your Amazon account be billed.

Im a bi liberal democrat person of color wiccan and I love the self checkout.

R16 is exactly right. I won't use the self checkout - i won't do work for free that they could be paying someone else to do to make things easier for me..

This is getting ridiculous now.

I love them. Service is slow and shitty now and I just want to get in and out.

I, at 66 yrs old, always got flagged as the self checkout for buying Nicorette gum...it was such a pain in the ass, I stopped using the SC

[quote] I'm searching for answers on why they fear them so much.

You are ridiculously stupid. No one fears them

Less interaction with people = win.

[quote]UNEXPECTED ITEM IN BAGGING AREA!

I can't even count the number of times a trick has said that to me.

I don’t want their fucking video camera in my face videoing me having to do free labor for the store. it’s TOO MUCH. Obnoxious. Bad enough you have to it for bags. Don’t want to see the store worker standing doing nothing with their fucking arms crossed. Watching it texting. If they come near they yammer at you how YOU fucked up. Fuck. THEM.

* bad enough you have to pay firbags. * watching or texting

Kroeger (Ralph’s) grocery and WalMart are NOTORIOUS for scanning incorrect prices. Self checkout lets me see errors on scan versus product price sign. Love self checkout.

Oh Jesus Christ. You get my point

-I am r39 and r40

My grocery store's self checkouts don't have enough room for a full cart, so the area is always crowded, plus it screws up at least once during the checkout process and the one person they have staffing the area is always busy with another checkout kiosk because it's screwed up, too.

When they had these little scanners you carried with you to scan each item as you put it in your cart, those were fine. You could sack as you go and avoid the checkout aisle altogether. They took those away years ago.

[quote]We introverts love self checkout.

holy fuck! that isn't introversion but social anxiety which is different. My cashier doesn't even talk to me, what the fuck could you be so disturbed by?

I am delighted that so many of you hate the self check out lines, it means I can walk right up and find an open one while you are standing in line waiting for a minimum wage person with an attitude and a cough to get to you and I am on my way home while you are still standing in the line. Bravo.

Op, do not assume that I or any other individual who posts on DL is on your side especially since I do not know what side you’re on! Am I to assume you’re referring to politics???

Democrats??

Rather than deal with incompetent and snippy clerks, I prefer "Courteous Self-Service."

I never have a problem at self checkouts and it’s always much faster than waiting on line and dealing with a cashier.

The greatest perk, and this can’t be overstated, is that you don’t have to chat or interact with anyone. I can pop in and pop out without any human interaction and it’s wonderful.

R8, it sounds like Stormfront because of trolls like you. The vast majority of gay people are Dems. Because gays are smarter than straights. And liberals are smarter than Tucker Carlson wannabes who sneer at "SJWs"

I have used the self check out four times in my life and had problems four times in my life. It would be great if they worked.

WHo has 111111'always something go wrong," idiots?

What better way to stock up on Fleet and Imodium?

I prefer self-checkout except when I have a lot of items that need to be looked up and weighed (broccoli, asparagus). The cashier can look up the items quicker and I'm faster at bagging.

[quote]the slow and stupid start using them and take forever

It's amazing how slow (and self-absorbed) some people are. There's a long line behind you! Move it, toots!

The home Depot near my house tried to make it self checkout only.That didnt last very long. I like the idea of them,but wont use one because Im not helping a billion dollar corporation make even more money off me. Hire cashiers you cheap fucks!

The video camera pointing at your face for facial recognition is creepy.

The machines nearly always say “Please wait until managers comes to check.”

They now have the overseer checker approve alcohol via an app and they don't physically check depending on age.

Because I don't work for the grocery store, that's why. Even when I'm checking out with a cashier, I'm now expected to help bag my items. Nope. I remember when places like Food For Less popped up and it was all about "our prices are lower because you bag your own groceries!" That was a fair trade. But prices are just going up and now I'm expected to work?

Fuck that shit.

I'm amazed you kook-a-doodles even have the internet.

Idk why. I love them. But long supermarket lines are a huge pet peeve of mine.

I prefer to use self service checkouts. But then I’m an unsociable fuck and avoid interaction with strangers where possible.

I prefer to use self-checkout or to do my own bagging because I bag to save time when I get home. I bag according to where the groceries are going to land at home.

[quote] Because I don't work for the grocery store, that's why.

You do realize that when people use to go to the store, you went to a counter told the clerk what you wanted and they got it off the shelf for you, don't you?

It depends on the set-up/store. Some self check-out systems are so finicky and slow and error-prone, I don't even bother. Besides, I don't like to see people replaced by these things.

R64,you do realize that we have far, far more choice today than we did in your youth, and you'd have to have 500 clerks following you around to pick between the 46 kinds of canned beans on the shelf for you, don't you?

I like self-checkout because I don't want strangers fondling my personal items.

but using your reasoning R66, you are working for the store when you select your own items off the self. If you are so concerned about people being replace you could use one of those services that do your shopping for you like Shipt but instead you want do your own shopping which is fine, some people actually like the convenience of self check outs, no one is forced to use them.

Here in the UK I sometimes use self-checkout, don't have any problem with it.

But I rarely go to a supermarket now, home delivery is very cheap and efficient. I had one item not sent on today's £120 ( $160) Tesco delivery and I didn't really need it.

As a liberal, I know that I am better than most others in society, so I deserve to be catered to. It’s that simple, deplorable.

"But long supermarket lines are a huge pet peeve of mine."

The reason they are long now is because bag people are few and far between. The lines have progressively gotten longer over time precisely because grocery stores eliminated the people bagging your items as you checked out. So instead of hiring more bag people, the stores expect that you and I will take on that type of labor...for free. And ever since they started charging for bags, the clerks who do bag your stuff have no fucking idea what they are doing. I can't tell you how many times I've been at a store and the clerk just shoves as much as they can into a single bag. I'm always like, "Dude, I will pay another fucking 10 cents. Just stop overfilling the bags." Bagging groceries used to be somewhat of a skill.

Resistance to (or acceptance of) self-checkout probably has more to do with age or just temperament than politics. I suppose a lefty might be more likely to couch it in terms of protecting jobs and a conservative in terms of not wanting to do someone else's job.

Anyway, self checkout is fine if it's only a few items. But the bagging area's never very large, so a cartful of groceries really is better in a regular line with a human cashier. The chances for someone to screw up at self checkout (or technical malfunction) also increase exponentially with more items.

I like them when I run in for one or two things. I use a cashier if I'm buying more. They should be a convenience, not a replacement.

I bet these old heads wrote a check at the self checkout!

We are all about self service.

Self checkout is fine if you don’t have a ton of groceries. My favorite grocery store (a part of Krogers) has for years now hired special needs people to bag groceries, so that’s one more reason to avoid the regular lines. Many of them are nice, but my local store has several that make checking out awkward.

One shouts HELLO as you stand a foot away from him. Then he announces it’s time to go home and walks away in the middle of bagging your order.

Another woman who seems to have speech issues grunts impatiently at customers. She put a bag of heavy items in the front basket. I smiled and moved them to the main cart because I like lighter items in that area. She grunted loudly and grabbed them and returned them to the front basket. I again moved them and explained why. She shrieked loudly and reached for the bag again. The checker finally said “now Betty, let him do it the way he wants.” She manically finished bagging, throwing 50 pounds of items in each plastic bag, all the whole scowling.

Others grab each item, pick it up and stare at it for a few seconds and then put each item in its own plastic bag….except for bananas and pears. Those go in the same bags as heavy canned items, preferably at the bottom.

Self checkout, thank you.

I never use them. Half the time they fuck up and someone has to come and type codes in.

Proof that the singularity is a ways away.

If I only have one or two items I may use self check out but even then sometimes I don't. I like to be a nice customer in an attempt to offset the assholes that cashiers see all day. I am genuinely nice and tell them I hope they have a nice day. Make eye contact, smile. make sure they know someone remembers that they are human and appreciates them.

I prefer humans. I don't want machines to takeover...I know it's already happening but I don't support it.

[quote] You do realize that when people use to go to the store, you went to a counter told the clerk what you wanted and they got it off the shelf for you, don't you?

That’s the way it should be. Full service. Workers are so lazy now a days.

How does a machine process manufacturer coupons, process the store coupons you've added to your reward card or perform any other function where a human being is preferred? Machines always make mistakes.

I have great rapport with the workers in all the local stores I frequent, I'd rather deal with a human than a machine, that includes my local Rite Aid, Bravo, Costco and the two local supermarkets.

How about the fact that these already super rich companies self-checkout machines are putting yet more people out of work?

Lastly, why the hell should I do any work at a store?! Who is paying me?

Did people feel the same way when gas stations stopped being full service? They don't let you pump your own gas in Oregon, and at first I thought it was odd, but you do get used to it.

Wonder if eventually they'll go the same way that banks have gone and start charging the equivalent of teller fees to use a cashier?

One of my favorite stories about the self-checkout was on the Graham Norton show. I don't remember who the actor was, but he was British and was shopping in a posh store in London, which had just installed self-checkout machines. He was checking out when he heard the unmistakable voice of Ian McKellan booming, " It IS in the bag."

I use the self checkout if I have just a few items. But I hate that my store has a second monitor above the SC screen that shows the view from a camera positioned directly overhead. I know it’s meant to discourage shoplifters, but all I can see is my damn bald spot.

I hate self-checkout in the U.S. Not in principal (where I'm of mixed opinion), but I'm practice where even a couple full bags of groceries too often results in having to wait for some petulant looking yet always silent in their scolding clerk who acts like he would rather be somewhere else. Well who the fuck would not?

There's always some odd item that isn't in the inventory, some scoldy recording bossing you about wondering why you didn't place the 12-pack of paper towels in the shopping bag, stupid shit that a member of staff can size up and adjust for in a split second but which ducks everything up waiting on the man to come override your order and correct the problem.

In European cities people almost never buy 16 large shopping bags full of stuff at a time. They are accustomed to quick grocery shopping several times a week, buying, a bag or two of things at a time at a shop within easy walking distance. Stores keep a careful watch to keep cash registers manned, and to get people quickly past the last step of shopping and out of the door before it turns into an unpleasant ordeal. The cashiers are fast and efficient. The major self-service step might be putting your bread through a slicing machine, or (rarely) having to weigh and label some of the produce you buy (usually cashier's or people in the produce department do it for you and no one ever has to ask "What's this? What do you do with it? How do you spell 'Asparasgus'? etc.

Manned check-out is quick and efficient in Europe. Have your shit ready because they will be through totaling it up well before you're ready to pay -- because the one they they don't usually do is bag your groceries.

[quote]You do realize that when people use to go to the store, you went to a counter told the clerk what you wanted and they got it off the shelf for you, don't you?

Yes, I've heard of that, but not all of us were born in 1840. I'm 67, have never experienced that in the US, and can usually go through the self-check much faster than the lazy ass cashier stuck on slow can get me through the manned check-out. I also never use cash, never use checks, and embrace new technology.

I worked with a woman who loved self checkout, because she could buy organic produce and ring it up as conventional.

Unfortunately, my local grocery store has nothing but self checkouts now. They open up one cashier lane and that's it. Sorry, but I'm not standing behind someone with a cart full of items, if I only have ten things. I just end up using the self checkout.

I prefer them because I care about my groceries not getting crushed and destroyed or thrown around. Most people bagging groceries pack everything like shit and aren't even watching what they're doing

Where do you people live where there are nothing but surly grocery store clerks? I'm in the Phlly area, home of the surliest people on the planet but the store clerks are uniformly pleasant, at least.

[quote] Wonder if eventually they'll go the same way that banks have gone and start charging the equivalent of teller fees to use a cashier?

That’s another thing I hate, the self service ATMs replacing the human tellers. I would much rather go to a human bank teller to get my money. They can count it out in front of me to make sure it’s right and can give me ones and coins.

I much prefer them. I hate when checkout staff try to make polite small talk, it's awkward.

I prefer scanning and bagging my own stuff.

[quote]I prefer to use self-checkout or to do my own bagging because I bag to save time when I get home. I bag according to where the groceries are going to land at home.

I can’t believe R63 was the first one to say this, I also bag things a certain way.

One summer I worked as a cashier at a grocery store, I had to go thru several days of training at their corporate headquarters followed by in-store orientation before going live on a register but when I did I was a bagging dynamo. As a result they put me on the express line and scheduled me for the busiest times of the day and/or week. A few years later as an adult I noticed that not all stores take bagging seriously, some cashiers are even oblivious to common sense things like not bagging chemicals with food and not putting eggs and bread in the bottom of a bag.

Home Depot is all self checkout, have any other chains made the full switch?

It's mostly old people who don't like them.

The people complaining about how 'something always goes wrong / unexpected item' - they're not bright enough to have worked out how to use the machines properly. I use them most days and 'something goes wrong' pretty rarely.

I do agree that the liquor thing is super annoying, I always have a bottle of wine in my shopping and have to have someone come over to ID me.

Maybe don’t buy liquor then, you drunk.

Home depot is not all self check out.

I like self checkout if I only have one or two items. There's usually no line and it's much more efficient.

But agree that there is no way I would self checkout a weeks worth of groceries.

That is why I love Trader Joes - their checkout people are super efficient, friendly and often hot.

Are there really stores that have completely jettisoned human cashiers? I've occasionally seen a grocery store with only self-checkout open, but it's usually late at night.

[quote] Half of DL reads like Stormfront these days. There is no "our" on DL.

Don’t let one sad, angry shut-in — DefatTurd — create an impression that there’s a substantial body of rightwing shitheads on DL. There’s not.

[quote]Home depot is not all self check out.

I guess it depends on where you are

[quote]Are there really stores that have completely jettisoned human cashiers?

Stores are testing it out, R99.

A lot of Home Depot stores are self-checkout only.

[quote] I've occasionally seen a grocery store with only self-checkout open, but it's usually late at night.

Usually late at night they close the self checkout and force you to use a cashier.

[quote] Don’t let one sad, angry shut-in — DefatTurd — create an impression that there’s a substantial body of rightwing shitheads on DL. There’s not.

That’s not what she’s referring to. She’s referring to all the anti-trans posts and how DL doesn’t like pronouns.

I love self checkout. It's so easy to "accidentally" not pay for items, and I always buy organic but I enter the much cheaper non-organic version. I've saved over $2000 this year so far.

Good God, some of you are wanting to live in1962. Self check-out is terrific, as are ATMS, and both of these aren't even new anymore.

"Walmart looks to remove all cashiers from stores"

WOW, what a 'surprise'!! 🙄 🙄

Of course Walmart would be doing this, the Waltons always seem to need MORE billions!

I used to think I was saving jobs, but now, clerks are so terrible, I do it myself. Clerks at supermarkets THROW items into the bags. When cans got dented and clamshells of strawberries and blueberries opened because of their carelessness, that was it. I don’t care if they lose their jobs or if the business closes.

I don't like them because businesses use them as an excuse to eliminate employees such as cashiers.

I won’t even bag my own groceries, and I love watching my eldergay husband instructing the bagger on doing it PROPERLY.

I self checkout because no one else has checked me out for years.

I usually like self checkout better except one time when I was buying some Drano. Lights and sirens started flashing and a guy came looking for my ID. Apparently some people use it to make drugs, everyone was looking at me.

I like self checkout, and never even think twice about using it. Some of you are so damn weird.

[quote] They can count it out in front of me to make sure it’s right and can give me ones and coins.

R92 I’ve been using ATMs since I was in college in the 70s and never once got a wrong amount on either a withdrawal or deposit. And seriously…who uses coins? Do you leave a shiny nickel as a tip at Denny’s?

R96 may you sit on a ww1 rocket and spin. Old people are a helluva lot smarter than you.

R95 that would be r95 rocketboy

[quote] Why the resistance to self-checkout machines?

The nellie caftan 🔥 flappers hiss at any innovation past the UPC bar code.

How pathetic that the word "caftan" is now a slur.

Some of you losers really need to expand your vocabulary.

I love the delusion that you’re ‘saving jobs’ by not using them lol. Those aren’t the types of jobs that need protection, they’re not good jobs for people to be doing. So low paid and menial. The laziness dressed up as social consideration is so cynical. Just say you’re lazy, and that your particular brand of laziness requires people to work at jobs that are not good jobs in order to indulge you.

R120, cashier jobs are well paying and a hell of a lot safer and better than a large portion of the jobs out there. Get out of your snobby little bubble and visits the real world sometime.

Some people are not qualified for other work. Some people need an additional part time job. Some people work retail while in college. Also, fuck off.

R121 cashier jobs are not well paid lol.

R122 touched a nerve I see. You’re clearly one of the ones I mentioned. You don’t have much imagination, there will always be jobs for people that need additional part time work, but these kind of jobs don’t need protections or kind of valiant “oh I stand with workers” bullshit excuse attached to it. By saying you need a cashier you’re taking part in a system that requires people that need money and would not do this job otherwise (as you so handily described) in order to give you a sense of comfort. Enjoy the guilt next time x

No, I just don't go through life needing to look down on people who are doing honest work to earn money. But, you do whatever makes you feel better about your little self.

R124 I’ve worked in a supermarket, I’ve been a waiter, done countless odd jobs through my time. I don’t look down on people that work these jobs. I understand that these jobs are not appropriate for people because I’ve done these jobs.

I think in your little “aw the cute cashier is so nice and I protect his job” is by degrees more superior in attitude and patronizing.

I think they’re scared. I know people who work retail and they tell me it won’t take away jobs. They still need people to supervise and help people with them.

R126 I read a article a few years back and their statistics show that retail businesses eliminate approximately 4 cashiers for every 1 employee they keep or hire to oversee the self-checkout machines.

I feel guilty for liking it so much but I never go to the checker anymore. I don't even shop at Sprouts because I find having to stand in line so annoying.

I like getting the cashier's name on my receipt. It feels so masturbatory when it reads Your cashier was...Self.

The self checkout line in my local stores is always shorter or there is no line at all so I ho for it. It’s easier. But I refuse to use ATMs unless the bank is closed.

The 'jobs' thing is bullshit and something Luddites say. If the Luddites had won, we'd still be having hundreds of thousands of people wasting their time laboriously hand stitching clothes and doing all the other things machinery takes the timewasting drudgery out of. Maybe you also hate washing machines cuz that took jobs away from washerwomen?

[quote]It's mostly old people who don't like them.

[quote]The people complaining about how 'something always goes wrong / unexpected item' - they're not bright enough to have worked out how to use the machines properly. I use them most days and 'something goes wrong' pretty rarely.

Thanks, R95, but I think I'm just about bright enough to master "Pease scan item before placing in bag," without befuddlement or a stroke.

A handful of items is usually without incident, even if I have a talent for finding the new imported item that got placed on the shelves without its codes being added to the inventory. The bigger problem is 20 cans of fat food that I scan then place into two separate bags, or two cases of bottled water that I scan and then place into a cart because the "out" weighing/bagging scale is the size of a bento box.

But the real problem is that I know what good, fast service at a grocery store. Also, I don't need to seek professional counseling if a store clerk should look at my face for a half-second, or offers a pleasantry, or gets too chatty. Any person who can leave the house without feeling pain inside can handle these things with ease.

I go to one or another fully cashiered grocery store every day. It's fast as fuck and efficient and pleasant, whether I buy one green pepper I'm missing or a cart full of groceries. It takes seconds or maybe as long as two minutes if there's someone in front of me and I buy many things. And a lot pleasanter than hearing "Please scan item before placing in bag" for as many times as I have items.

I'm glad to live in a place where we have only decent and efficient cashiers, not a gradual replacement of surly workers being pushed out in favor of surly voiced weight-based inventory control monitors and pay stations.

Speaking for myself, I like people to have jobs. It's why I refuse to go paperless--I like the post office. But companies like Amazon are getting more and more ruthless about trying to trick people into going paperless, so it might end up happening.

R133 Yes, it will eventually happen. Most things will go paperless whether you like it or not. Same thing with self-scan. It's here to stay and will be rolled out in more and more shops. All of your crying and whining isn't going to stop change. Throughout history it's always been old people who don't like change but change has still happened.

The self checkouts in my location do have employees assigned to the area. They help you if you are disputing the price, check your ID for liquor, etc.

I was reluctant to use self-checkouts, but now I have no issues with it. It does take time to get the hang of things. E.g., at my regular store, it's better to just scan everything and place it on the landing area, i.e., don't try to bag as you go. I think the landing area scale gets wonky when you try to bag as you go.

I'd rather use self checkout, and enjoy bagging my groceries just so.

Yeah, I prefer to bag my own stuff, too. Cold stuff goes in one bag. Etc.

They don't work if you are disabled, esp like if you are blind or in a wheelchair.

No way this is the future.

yes, at my local CVS, there is only one cashier. They make everyone use self checkout and there are usually 1 or 2 employee there to make sure there are no issues. So you have to get in line to use the self check out but it's not fast because more than half the time, there are issues and the employee has to help out and fix the transaction. like their coupon didn't scan or whatever...

Self checkout machines at drug stores and supermarkets are the new express lanes. They're not for someone with a full cart (but they never say this) and alcohol cant be purchased at self checkout either. But it allows much more rapid checkout for someone with 1-10 items than if they used to wait in line. I remember the days when you'd need milk or a frozen pizza and end up standing in a line for 15 mins. Those days are gone.

Apps are also a godsend when it comes to fast food and starbucks. Same amount of employees but there's no time consuming direct interaction with customers to take the orders. The rate of accuracy is so much higher when you do it yourself. If I want a tall coffee with extra soy and 2 splendas, the app gets it done far more efficiently than me saying it to a person who needs to repeat it, then tell me the total, then wait for me to pay or fuck around with my phone to get the app open and then get the scanner to work. At my starbucks, you'll now see 5 people waiting at the pickup counter and 1-2 in line. I usually put in my order at home and its ready by the time i drive over, park and I'm out of there.

With mcdonalds, they're cleaner than they've ever been. Drive throughs are faster than ever because you can just say your order number (the app gives you a choice of picking up in restaurant, drive through, or having someone bring it to your car). I usually do drive through, you get a number, say it into the speaker and they say your name and you don't even stop at the cashier window. I remember spending 30 mins waiting at mcdonalds during lunch sometimes with cars around the building. i live in a city where app usage is high. And in order to get people on the apps, they give great deals. Large fries are $1 on the app, $4.59 if you order at the drive through.

I started really using self-checkout because they don't train people how to beg groceries anymore. With the exception of trader Joe's, I don't see cashiers able to evenly distribute the weight and keep chemicals away from food etc . I walk a half a mile to the grocery store so this is important to me.

I don't mind self-checkout a bit, but I do resent packing my groceries when a cashier just pushes the groceries down even though if I'm not waiting for them. Worse yet, I'm bagging groceries and they've already started to ring up the next customer.

Not a great workforce, but also clearly not much training.

When I want get a few items without paying for it, I go through self checkout.

I like self-checkout but my grocery store has someone manning the 4 machines to give out bags. California. You also can't buy alcohol on them. They're not perfect.. they don't eliminate the need for human workers. I could see being suspicious they're ripe for theft even with the annoying bagging area commands but I guess they're assumed to be working out.

But how do you make small talk to a machine? I know all my cashier and talk to them for hours, showing them pics of my vacations or my grandbabies. Would I be able to do that at a self checkout? No siree Bob.

I remember how much it sucked to go grocery shopping or pick up lunch/dinner on a work break or after a long work day. The lines were ridiculous from 5-7pm. And starbucks/McDonalds lines in the morning could be so bad, you'd just leave. At a fast casual restaurant, it could take 10-15 minutes standing in line just for them to take your order. Then you'd wait another 10-15 mins while they prepared the order.

For people with flexible schedules (the elderly, self employed) they already tend to avoid these places at rush hour. But for people who just did an 8 hour work day and a 30 minute commute, the ability to pop into a supermarket, grab dinner and be out of there in 5 minutes is a great advancement.

Oh no, r145. White haired grannys still go on Friday afternoon because they have been doing it for years.

[quote][R121] cashier jobs are not well paid lol.

Costco starts workers at $20, which isn't bad for anyone with little to no work experience.

Self-employed person here. Old / retired people shop in the mornings on weekdays. Younger people shop in the evenings. Except, I was at Whole Foods the other night and noticed a lot of older people in there.

Where I live the grannys will wait for Friday.

afternoon

[quote] Except, I was at Whole Foods the other night and noticed a lot of older people in there.

Whole Foods tend to attract a lot olds. I was there past closing time and there was this couple in front of me with a whole cart hogging up the line. They had to be at least 40. I just wanted to get in and out as fast as possible, not go online for hours wasting my time.

[quote]I’ve worked in a supermarket, I’ve been a waiter, done countless odd jobs through my time. I don’t look down on people that work these jobs. I understand that these jobs are not appropriate for people because I’ve done these jobs.

Did you read what you wrote? You sound like a moron. What a silly response.

Many service jobs cannot be replaced by automation or robots, aids, waiters and so many other jobs, such as home aides, to name a few. Should those jobs be eliminated because they are "not appropriate"? Well, someone has to do them. This is why an education is extremely important. Then again, not all people are college material, not everyone can be doctor, work in finance or tech. These people need to get training to do something that pays well, such plumbing and electrical work.

Many low paying thankless jobs cannot be replaced by automation. Especially now with the elderly living to sometimes over 100. My late neighbor lived to 102. He wasn't even bed bound, he didn't need that kind of help. But you might, who is gonna wash your bed bound ass and change your adult diaper when you can no longer walk?

People like you make me sick.

My local Kroger will typically have two staffed checkouts (out of 12 possible) with long lines so everyone channels into the checkout stations, which also have long lines because every third person has no idea how to use self checkout.

Self-service/checkout is wonderful! Haven't stood in a checkout line in years, due to endless lines and their being slow as snails because the checkout person scans a few items, looks at their smartphone, scans a few more items, looks at their smartphone. Or engages in a lengthy, vivacious conversation about the virtues of the various brands of toilet paper. Service? No, it isn't, and nothing I want to support/pay for.

Self-service allows me to get in/out, quickly, efficiently with the few items I have. Any problems are quickly solved by the store's self-service assistant. I so prefer self-service that I've walked out of larger stores that don't have it.

the CVS voice lady is way too loud and aggressive. it’s really irritating. feels like going through a tsa screening.

[quote]The bigger problem is 20 cans of fat food that I scan then place into two separate bags

Fat whore despairs!

R152 I specifically meant non-necessary supermarket jobs calm yourself down please x no need to get so worked up.

Save a job, and they Never accept my reusable bags without a hassle

[quote]I use them most days

[quote]I always have a bottle of wine in my shopping

I like how crabby r95 buys a bottle of wine "most days" but was calling everyone else an old crank.

I always use self check out unless I have too much to handle in the small space or lots of security tagged items that need extra validation by the attendant. It’s annoying to have the red light come on constantly. I’m amazed how many people will stand ages in the regular cashier queue with justa couple items when the self check outs are empty. I think it’s usually about change anxiety more than being some kind of philosophical Luddite.

I always use the self-checkout unless there's a hot, young, male cashier I want to flirt with.

First World five finger discount (moral dilemma?).. I’m all for it!

[quote]for a minimum wage person with an attitude and a cough to get to you and I am on my way home while you are still standing in the line

they wear masks in my part of the world, do you live in one of those pestilent cesspools in the south?

Cashiers in big box, department and grocery stores can be excruciatingly slow.

Stated by others but I think it's great as an OPTION.

My favorite supermarket was a place that always had a lot of staffed register open, but also always had at least a few self checkout lanes, including one or two for larger orders.

I do also like ordering my meal on a screen when/if I am at a fast food place. McD's does this well, and it makes the customization aspect much easier (and less filled with errors).

But yes, full service options are good, too.

The best way to do it is like Sam’s club. Scan it on your phone as you put it in your cart and pay the total online. This bypasses everything.

R134 Things will go paperless and mannerless, apparently.

I'm a hardcore Democrat and I prefer self checkout lines whenever they're available. Often times they're faster than even the so called "express" lanes. The only place that seems to get it right with regards to fast cashiers is Aldi. They don't fuck around and try to chit chat with every customer, and you bag your own shit. Aldi also pays their cashiers more.

For those complaining about cashiers losing their jobs, curbside pickup is now being widely adopted by many stores - they can do that instead.

They rarely work right, to the point where waiting in line is more expeditious. Plus I'm about saving the jobs, despite what others might say. I tried three times, and that was it for me.

In the UK retailers have difficulty recruiting enough staff, despite paying well above minimum wage (they also get pensions and a generous vacation allowance).

Without self-checkout the lines (queues) would be miles long.

The supermarkets now make you do their work for them. Find the items, check out, bag your own groceries, etc.

I can do it faster than the cashiers, I love self check out.

R171 Hahaha, exactly.

I don't know what's happening with the U.K. They're completely falling apart, even worse than the U.S.

In my area if you try to self check out alcohol, a message pops up that they need to check your ID so I have to call for help. I hate that!

The problem is that self-checkout works if you have a basket. But if you have a cart there is no room for it.

If there are two or three people with carts, you cannot pass through it.

And even with this, the casheirs lines are sometimes shorter.

They only have flimsy plastic bags at self checkout. I have to double and sometimes triple bag heavy items and forget about large stuff. Plus I’m not good at bagging groceries, I’m too impatient and just through everything in the bag haphazardly.

Trader Joe’s baggers are the best!

R173 The UK problem is baby boomers retiring and not enough young people to replace them.

Without the EU immigration we previously had hospitality, retail and other shit jobs just don't get filled.

I only use self checkout if it's available. I hate dealing with cashiers who pretty much all hate their jobs, and it shows.

1. There's almost never any line, so it's faster 2. I'm an introvert and it allows me to avoid human interaction, including witty banter and small talk 3. I hate watching them desperately try to fit three bags worth of groceries into one bag like their life depends on using less bags. I can use as many as I'd like! 4. It doesn't exactly feel like MORE work...and I'm pretty quick at it.

I'd also like to say: technology has been taking away jobs for hundreds of years. Why is it self-checkouts where people seem to draw the line? Why is THAT the mountain they are willing to die on? I mean, do you refuse to use google maps because it takes jobs away from the paper map companies? Do you still go into a travel agency instead of booking your flight online? And so on and so on.....

Better question would be 'Why the resistance to bagging your own groceries?'

Outside of the US everyone manages perfectly well without complaining.

[quote]I mean, do you refuse to use google maps because it takes jobs away from the paper map companies? Do you still go into a travel agency instead of booking your flight online? And so on and so on.....

This being Datalounge, the answer would be "yes."

The technophobia of the old queens here never ceases to amaze me. My elderly uncles who live in the suburbs all have Smartphones, do self check-out and all the other modern things without even thinking about it. It's like the DL eldergays live in caves or something.

I embrace technology where it makes my life better. But I won't check and bag my 90 items in flimsy plastic bags while waiting for them to find a 21 year old to card me, just so the Walton family can make three more cents. That's not technophobia; it's refusing to be a sucker.

You can take better quality shopping bags to the store with you.

Another thing that is normal in Europe but resisted in the US.

R181, please climb in my toilet so you can eat the elderly shit as it flows out of my elderly ass. I want you to get it while it's fresh. Before I have the chance to flush.

You fucking numbskull. I've been using self-checkout, and ATMs since they came out; smartphones a little later. I don't live in a fucking cave, you prissy, judgmental male vagina.

Mmmm, fresh shit for r181. You deserve it. You need it.

Geez fellas get with the program. Use it or you lose it, nature will take away your arms and your brains soon. It’s not hard to scan a few items. The rest of the world seems to manage doing it quite well. I’ve been scanning at stores for over 10 years no problems. What are you…a bunch of fairies? 🧚🏻‍♀️

Fuck them, they are increasing prices of products in all categories....and they want us to bag the shit too? They want my money, they better learn to serve me better. I ain't using self check out.

If I am getting just a couple of things I will use it but not with produce, which takes too long to look up. And no way am I scanning and bagging a full cart full of stuff.

They're afraid of losing an arm Rose!

The average human doesn't like seeing themselves rendered obsolete while spending the hard earned duckets they've earned being overworked and underpaid for today's cost of living.

R187 In the UK (and Europe) we can weigh our produce and print a barcode on the aisle?

Has this remarkable leap in technology not reached the US yet?

What are these complaints about plastic bags? You don't bring your own re-usable bags? The only time I get plastic bags is if I forget to bring my fabric re-usable bags. And to you geezers who say it's "nasty" to re-use a bag, there's this thing called [bold]LAUNDRY

R189 No, it hasn't.

To the people who refuse to use self-checkout because it somehow puts a checker out of work....do you only shop at stores where they have manual registers where someone has to go around and put price stickers on every item, and the checker has to punch in the price manually into the register? Or are bar codes and scanners ok because that change to the way the world works happened more than a certain number of years ago?

I thought about this thread while i was checking out of a chain supermarket on Sunday afternoon. The parking lot was very crowded and I had about 4 items. 5 of the 6 self checkout machines were working, one employee was supervising, and I waited for less than 2 minutes before i checked myself out.

if the market is using fewer employees to run the register, they might be having more people clean, more people stocking shelves, returning carts, etc. it's not always representative of cost cutting.

“I’ve noticed a lot of people on our side of the political aisle.”

Bro, please don’t speak for everyone here. I’m actually a Log Cabin Republican member since 2003. I sincerely doubt you’re referring to that “side.”

I just returned from shopping at 2 drugstores. The first one had self checkout which I used and was done in a few minutes. The 2nd drugstore did not have self checkout. I got in line behind 3 other shoppers. One cashier was checking in a customer who seemed to be doing her entire Christmas shopping. The line continued to grow and eventually another cashier appeared and slowly made his way to the checkout. I had to wait in line for around 15 minutes where if they had self checkout I could have been out of there in 5 minutes. I don't like seeing people lose jobs but sometimes you just want to get your business done fast and get home and eat your bag of chips.

R194 Imagine being a Log Cabin Repulican. That's the saddest fucking thing I've ever heard. Like being a pro-global-warming polar bear. What do you like best about the Republicans, dipshit? Insurrections at the Capitol? Covid death? No taxes at all for the wealthiest?

Our Home Depot is all self-checkout, but I refuse to do it. Instead, I take my items to the customer service desk, where they cheerfully ring my purchases up. Either they do it or I go to Lowe's or Menards.

I think a hybrid model works fine for me. Offer both traditional cashier lines, expand the express checkout lines, and offer self checkouts.

Some of us don't drive, and rely on ride sharing services or public transportation to get around. Certain people like to peruse and take their good old sweet time checking out, and there are others that seriously need to just get in and get out asap. It's infuriating.

Time is money too. I'm not getting paid to stand around endlessly in lines because certain cashiers and customers are lethargic and could care less.

🤣Oh the burn R189🔥

"This is great! With these scanners, we won't have to have so many cashiers! With the money we save, we can hire more people to clean and return carts!"

Does R193 really believe this?

The resistance is that we know were are cutting the store's costs without any benefit to us. Prices are not lowered. We are just providing free labor.

It is also why we resist to providing our own bags.

Now if there was a discount when you scanned your own groceries or used your own bags, I think there would be less resistance.

Self-checkouts are firmly established. Some people don't like them, some people do, plenty don't care one way or the other. Those who like them or don't care include many people from "our side of the aisle." OP is just a troll. Idiotic post by OP.

Eldergays are resistant to any kind of change.

A lot of painfully introverted people on Data Lounge (what a surprise) would rather scan and bag their groceries AND hose down the seafood department than have to risk an awkward moment of human proximity.

I've never been to a store that has less staff because of self-checkout.

They are redeployed within the store stocking shelves etc and providing a better customer experience.

I am from the UK though where we have lots of laws protecting employees, terminating anyone's employment without reason is incredibly expensive for the store here.

r193 Im not even sure I totally believe it and thought about this while writing it. Still, i am a HUGE fan of apps that allow fast food purchases. I believe it makes the drive throughs faster and the interior of the stores much cleaner.

I used to wait in some stupidly long lines at starbucks. 10-15 mins to put an order in sometimes. And those lines don't occur only when you have the time. The other day I looked and there were indeed 5 people working behind the counter, which is all that fits. They were all preparing orders instead of 2 working registers. There was only 1 or 2 people in line. My order was done and ready for me to pick up when I arrived--and I had only purchased it on the app 5 mins earlier. Sometimes, I'll be stuck in a line at starbucks and just use the app to make my purchase. But at this point, i just use the app.

Funny thing in the UK is that we're way past self-checkout.

Collecting your pre-ordered groceries in the store car park is free, home delivery costs less than $2 if you are able to wait 24 hrs.

This is an argument we had over 15 years ago.

In America we have grocery stores where your order is rung up as you put your groceries in the cart and as you leave the store the money is automatically deducted from an app on your phone as you leave the store, but don't tell the eldergays that because their heads will explode.

R208 - I don’t know what fantasy world you live in, but I live in a top ten city and there’s nothing like you described.

^^Amazon Fresh, dear.

R208 Yeah, we've had that for years in the UK.

Not as easy as home delivery/pickup for very little extra though.

I'm really lazy now 😴

R205, how do you know how many people the stores you go to are employing? Can you share numbers?

R205, self-checkouts have been firmly established? They only started during the lockdown. Most grocery stores did not have them until the last six months or so. And I am in Miami which is a fairly are city. Do they even have them in smaller areas?

Self checkouts are everywhere. JFC do you people ever get out of your caves? As others have said, the UK and Europe have had them for YEARS now. They're an accepted part of everyday life and for most people not even noteworthy anymore.

R212 R213

I know most of the staff at my local (very large megastore) Tesco personally and have done for over 30 years (they live locally and it's only one mile away).

We've had self-checkout since 2004, so it's coming up for it's 18th birthday next year.

You must have missed the bit where I mentioned that my primary home is in the UK and not Toad Suck Arkansas.

If you REALLY want to get the eldergays riled up, talk about how nobody uses cash anymore.

R216 Don't go there, I needed cash today to pay the window cleaner and couldn't remember my fucking PIN number. I hadn't drawn any out in over a year, it's all contactless.

He should have a new card machine by the next time it's due in a fortnight.

So this Tesco is a large megastore, but you know most of the staff personally?

That is like what? 60 people? 100 people? 150 people?

And for the record, Miami is not in Arkansas. Clearly, North American geography is not a strong suit of the British school system.

r217 just reminded me that I can't remember my fucking PIN number either. I haven't had to use an ATM in quite a while.

R218 I think it's about 250, I went to school with half of them. Others have been neighbors, or friends of friends.

Bet my US geography is better than your European.

So do all your friends work at the megastore? Or is that just your 250 closest friends?

Do you know anyone who does not work at Tescos?

oh STFU r221

R219 I remembered that I had mine not very cleverly hidden as a contact on my phone.

R221 No they don't all work there and I have lots more friends and acquaintances.

I also have over 100 family members.

Maybe if you weren't such a sour cunt and a sore loser (questioning my knowledge of geography, really? ) you might have the same?

R213 what planet are you living on that self checkout didn't exist until the pandemic started in 2020?? I've been using them since at least 2008. I'm in LA County. In 2011 people were screaming that plastic bags were banned and they had to bring re-usable bags to bag their own stuff at self checkout.

JFC no one uses plastic bags anymore, where do you all live? Pull yourselves together, self scan, scan your debt card and pack your groceries in your own bags. It’s not f*cling hard and it ain’t rocket science either.

R226 and all the other ignorant fools: Self-checkout may be convenient at times, but it IS indeed taking a job away from a human being.

Your job just might be next. Not this year or next year...but in five-ten years?

[quote]In America we have grocery stores where your order is rung up as you put your groceries in the cart and as you leave the store the money is automatically deducted from an app on your phone as you leave the store, but don't tell the eldergays that because their heads will explode.

That's much more civilized than expecting someone with a cart (not a basket) full of groceries to balance the contents on a space smaller than the typical American waistline and move them to the equally small bagging area and then to bags and then back to a cart. I would consider that, certainly, if I were regularly doing big American shopping trips.

Curbside pickup is a nice Covid precaution, but it's best for people who know exactly what they want, whose shopping list isn't adjusted on the spot by a display of especially nice looking tomatoes or figs, or a newly offered product line , or other purchases of the moment. I shop by a mix of plan and opportunity, and I'm not much a fan of drive-through anything.

Grocery stores where I live will deliver within the neighborhood for free if your purchase meets a low minimum or if the small stores know you as a regular client. But I live within a block of a medium and a large grocery, two small grocers, and lots of bakeries and specialty and prepared food shops. Everyone shops multiple times a week, buys a bag or two of groceries, and does it again a couple days later. It's not more than 15 minutes from leaving to returning home, and no self-checkout, never more than one person in front of you in line, no mindless chit-chat, and no stares from cashiers making introverts hurt inside. You do have to bag your own groceries. Efficiency is different things depending on where you are and how you live.

[quote]do you refuse to use google maps because it takes jobs away from the paper map companies? Do you still go into a travel agency instead of booking your flight online?

These aren't very good examples because the companies that printed maps were either cartography companies, which still exist and have just changed their methods, or publishing companies who also published books. Online booking agencies have employees, too.

But when you use the self checkout, there's only one (maybe) employee there while the customers do the work that 4-5 other people used to do, and this wasn't a job that simply transferred to another kind of work like the examples you gave.

It's not a huge problem for me personally but I also don't think the people who are concerned about it are wrong.

I want someone else to scan my groceries.

R213, I live in NE Ohio and we've had self checkouts at places like Wal-Mart, Giant Eagle, and Target since the mid 2000's. Lowes did have some self checkouts for a while, but did away with them.

I've mentioned this before on a similar thread, but our Target self check out is totally half assed though if you try and pay with cash. An employee has to come over and manually accept your money and get your change from a drawer underneath the register.

R226, actually early on during the lockdown, some stores in my area - namely grocery stores, were requesting you to not bring reusable bags for the time being. Not sure what that was all about.

Target's self check out lines are always longer than full-service lines, but they push them so aggressively.

R225, here in Florida (that is the name of the planet Miami is in) the supermarkets like Publix and Winn-Dixie did not have self scanning until the lockdown.

Home Depot had it earlier, but it was not used less.

If drug stores like Walgreens and CVS ever started using them, it might win back the customers they lose standing in the long long checkout lines. And they would not have to restock the product left by people giving up on the line.

The cashiers around here call customers "bossman", "boss", "bud" etc. and make chit chat with certain customers instead of moving the line along.

And according to some eldergays on here I'm suppose to care whether these types lose their jobs?

Most cashiers here in Texas are common trash, but the cashiers at Trader Joe’s are interesting, educated adults, and most are quite pleasant to chitchat with.

I hate self checkout for some of the same reasons I hate “Our menu has changed. Please listen to all the options before making a selection. . .” phone service.

A: it’s an oxymoron;

B: it puts people out of work; and,

C: the offending company typically increases income inequality by claiming productivity gains (i.e. their “customers” are now working for them - for free) and the company then rewards top management with stock options financed from suckering the public into donating labor + the salary costs saved from fired employees.

Go with the flow R237 instead of fighting everything. You'll be much happier.

My guess is that Publix (which has 53 percent of the market in Florida) did this because they have profit sharing and stock giveaways for employees. They were the first supermarket to start self-scanning last year and my guess is that the reason they were so motivated was the desire to cut back on that part of compensation.

And they so dominate the market that once they introduced self-scanning the other stores followed suit.

They had self-checkout at Home Depot and Target for years now.

The eldergays saying this started with the pandemic need to get out more.

I bought 6 collapsible shopping bags with fold down hard bottoms several years ago just like these, for $6 each. One of the best things I've ever bought. I rarely need more than 4 of them to do my weekly shopping. I can fit 10 normal grocery store bags of groceries in those 4 boxes.

I do a much better job of packing my groceries than the checkers do, and that's another reason I never use manned checkout lines.

My grocery store has 4 self service checkout machines that are just like the regular ones with cashiers, conveyor belt and all. 2 at either side of the store next to the self service corrals. Those lines are for self checkers who have large amounts of items.

My mother doesn't like them because she's 80.

It depends on what's in my basket. Like..if I'm buying water and they don't have one of those hand scanners, I ain't lifting that shit, so I'll go to a checkout line. Other than that, I find them kinda fun actually. I remember a neighbor had a toy cash register with a scanner attached. It had lights and shit. It was really fun. I HATE that camera they have attached them tho. 10 lbs indeed.

I'm 68 years old and I'm constantly amazed at the number of people my age and older who still insist on writing checks at the checkout line. And what's worse, more often than not, especially with the old women, they won't even look for their checkbook until the checker has finished and tells them how much their order is. They they fumble through their purse looking for the checkbook and then take 10 minutes to get the damn check written. The idea of getting the checkbook out immediately and filling everything in on the check except the total while the checker is ringing everything up is something they can not even conceive.

This is yet another reason I refuse to use manned checkouts if self service is available.

And don't forget the ones who get in the "10 items or less" line with 20+ items R244.

The local megachain won't eject them from the line if they do this. That's against store policy.

I agree R6. I am an ultra liberal and I prefer self check out too for all the reasons you mentioned, plus the checkers screw up all the time... either deliberately or accidentally. I have consistently caught them scanning items twice. Plus self checkout has shorter lines. I know what I want and I know where it is. I want to be in and out as fast as possible with as little interaction with people as possible.

I'm not sure the loss of jobs is a valid argument. Ideally they should lower prices and pay their employees more when they have self-checkout, but of course we know the corporations pocket the difference. However, most stores I frequent have BOTH clerks assisted checkouts and self-checkout. I don't think they would hire additional people in the absence of self-checkout. They'd just make you wait longer, which I hate.

A lot of anti-social people on this thread

Where I shop, r245, the signs say "10 items or [italic]fewer[/italic]." And the number changed to 20 during the pandemic (they just crossed out the "10" and magic markered in the "20").

I love self-checkout. I've been using it since the moment it was available—sometime around 2001? 2003?

I remember how bad checkout "service" had become. A few years after everyone had a cell phone (pre smartphone), the clerk who was checking me out at my local Safeway responded "I conversatin'" when I asked her a question. She actually was talking on her cellphone while doing her job, and she did NOT want a customer disturbing her while she was talking to someone about a date she had been on. How DARE I?

She didn't have the job very long, and I was usually able to get in my usual person's line, so no further problem. Then I moved to another city in 2000, and when self-checkout became available there, I was first in line. I've always hated it when they slather their hands and then touch my groceries.

I usually don't buy a week's groceries at a time, though that changed during covid. Now I try to get as much as I can in two of my own shopping bags (now that stores are no longer afraid of covid encootilation).

Politically, I'm more moderate than liberal, now that the definition of liberal has changed. I have never voted Republican in my life, and I vote in all elections. I don't really see the connection, in any case.

My grocery store did a massive renovation of their store over a year ago while the store still operated. They originally had 10 manned checkout lines and a 4 self service lines. They reduced their manned lines to 5 and installed 2 huge self service corrals at either end of the store with 8 self service machines in each corral as well as 2 (big order) self service lines next to the corrals. Each corral has 1 employees overseeing the activity.

The only problem I've seen so far is for the last few months (until this week) none of the self service lines would accept cash and were only accepting credit cards. This was due to the nationwide shortage of coins in circulation since so many people had resorted to on line ordering. When I bought groceries on Monday they finally had the self service aisles accepting cash, and they were being used considerably more than when they were credit card only. The change issue had gotten so bad they were actually rounding up at the manned checkout lines when they gave change back. If you were owed $4.93 in change they'd give you $5.00.

I love self checkout, particularly when I only have a few items. I always manage to stand in line behind some Chatty Cathy who has to tell the cashier their life story, or who has to dig to the bottom of their purse for change. I want in and out without chatter… just like I like my sex.

Honestly, I'm lazy. I work all day and the last thing I want to do is weigh produce and bag groceries at the end of the day. If I'm buying a few items, I'll use the self checkout. Otherwise, I use the cashier lane.

[QUOTE] Where I shop, [R245], the signs say "10 items or fewer." And the number changed to 20 during the pandemic (they just crossed out the "10" and magic markered in the "20").

Well that's great, little one, but it says 1"0 items or less" here. And it's still 10, not 20 here. So you must live somewhere else.

R244 In the UK we haven't been able to pay by check (cheque) since 2008, but hardly anyone did even before that.

How do you all feel about self-serve gas stations?

R196 ESAD

I use self checkout a lot but I cringe when the person in front of my starts gingerly inserting paper money into the machine! They should be credit/debit only!

R254 the DLEGs die a little inside every time they use those, because someone lost their job pumping gas. Except New Jersey.

[quote] Also, the clue you seem to be missing is that self-checkouts eliminate jobs

Yes.

[quote] and make the consumer perform free labor for the benefit of the corporation.

Oh boy. This may be technically true, but cmon. One of the reasons I prefer self-checkout lines is that I have always felt extremely awkward standing by idly and watching as store clerks bag groceries, and I think it is astonishingly rude to ignore that person by looking at or talking on a phone while they are standing immediately in front of me and performing a service, which is what people tend to do. I go to Trader Joe's a lot and I almost always end up asking the clerk if I can help them bag groceries because I just stand by idly and watch as they do it and I feel all at once like I am wasting my time, guilty about feeling like I am wasting my time, guilty about not helping the person, impatient, rude if I don't offer to help and sometimes I feel rude after offering to help based on the person's reaction.

The setup is awkward, and I have never felt like scanning items and dropping them into bags is laborious even if it technically involves movement.

You could also make the case based on this logic that shopping itself is taking away labor that another person could be paid to do since it certainly involves more effort (moving groceries from shelf to cart! Walking!!) than checking out does.

R254, I don't mind self service gas stations at all.

[quote]I'm 68 years old and I'm constantly amazed at the number of people my age and older who still insist on writing checks at the checkout line.

I'm about 20 years younger than you and I wrote checks at my grocery store for a long time, until about 10 years ago, mostly because the store would place a hold of $200 AND place the charge on my card, which took forever to process. I didn't have the money at the time to not be able to access $200 once or twice a week for several days at a time.

What I would do is sign a check before I even went in and then use their automatic check writer, where they put the check into the register and it filled it out for you. It was really quick, but people would still pitch little mini hissy fits when they saw the checkbook. More than once they would get kind of sour and confused looks on their faces when it didn't take 5 minutes to finish the transaction.

Well R260 it really was kind of pitiful of you to be writing checks at the grocery store. Up to 10 years ago, no less! What kind of looks did you expect to get Granny when you pulled out that book?

[quote]I've mentioned this before on a similar thread, but our Target self check out is totally half assed though if you try and pay with cash.

So don't fucking pay with cash. It's the 21st Century, gramps.

When you open a checking account at a bank, they give you a debit card as well. There's no need to write out a check in the checkout line when you could just swipe your card. Also, it gets deducted from your account immediately instead of waiting for a store to cash your check.

[quote] How do you all feel about self-serve gas stations?

I haven't seen a gas station with attendants who pumped the gas for you in years. You really don't have much choice but to pump your own gas these days, at least in the US.

[quote] I am an ultra liberal...I want to be in and out as fast as possible with as little interaction with people as possible.

Typical cold-ass liberal.

[quote] I haven't seen a gas station with attendants who pumped the gas for you in years. You really don't have much choice but to pump your own gas these days, at least in the US.

Yes, but one wonders how this change would have been perceived had DL been around.

[Quote]Typical cold-ass liberal.

R265 Are you off your meds? The GOP are the ones that are coldly protecting the 1% as they punish the poor and working class.

Pick up a history book! LOL

And since when is being efficient somehow cold? 🤷🏽‍♂️ You seem a little Coo Coo for Cocoa Puffs!

[quote]I haven't seen a gas station with attendants who pumped the gas for you in years. You really don't have much choice but to pump your own gas these days, at least in the US.

You haven't been in Oregon or New Jersey then. It's illegal to pump your own gas there.

The cashiers in NYC aren't chatty or nosy. They are fast and efficient. The only time I like to use self check out line is when I have a lot of coins and want to get rid of them. Those machines are good for that.

The old people I see in NYC all know how to use the credit or debit card. I have not seen anyone write a check in a decade.

I love self checkout. In the time it takes me to empty all the items my cart onto a conveyor belt I could’ve checked them out & thrown them in the bag.

Something I don’t like: I went to a lab to drop off specimens yesterday & today. There is a reception desk, but no receptionist. You check in from your phone in the parking lot or on the screen in the waiting room. Then you sit with a bunch of other people and wait. And wait. Only one person works there.

Yesterday I had a helluva time trying to explain to the worker that I was giving the first of 3 specimens.

She said “there’s only one order in the computer.”

I said “Read it. It’s an order for 3 specimens. That how you order induced sputum. It’s sputum x 3. You only need one doctor’s order for 3 specimens..”

This led to her asking me “how can I take 3 specimens over 3 days with only one order? I need an order for every specimen.”

I said, “What the hell did you do before electronic orders? Doctors wrote “sputum x 3” on a prescription pad. One piece of paper. I know because that’s how we ordered labs before computers. Did you rip the prescription into three pieces? Can you ask someone more senior?

Of course, there was nobody more senior.

Today I had to go through the whole rigamarole again with a different worker in the lab. She quizzed me for 20 minutes, basically asking me “what the hell should I do?” over & over.

I’ll go in tomorrow and go through it again with someone else. No doubt the workers are per diem employees who work one day a week each.

Life isn’t being made easier by computers, electronic orders and only one person working in an office. It’s worse. People are sick and frustrated by how nothing works anymore because of all the cost saving going on. I miss office workers behind desks and a staff of at least 2 other people.

I don’t miss loading my purchases on a conveyor belt so someone else can do something I’m perfectly capable of doing.

I was reminiscing with my husband the other day about when we had delis all over the place. Hot day, you’re thirsty. You pull in to a deli, get out of the car, get a cold soda and slap 2 quarters on the counter on your way out the door. Over & done with in 45 seconds. It’s like a dream now. It’s hard to believe how easy it was.

R244, blimey…people still writing checks where you are. My country doesn’t even have checks anymore. I feel your pain from afar.

r234 All the drug stores I've been to on both coasts have self checkout.

R273, come to Miami. Either the lines are long or there is no one at the register so someone has to stop stocking a shelf and come over.

I have a rule that if I waited more than five minutes to check out, I just leave my stuff and leave.

I leave a lot of stuff at drugstores and no go as little as possible.

R269, same my experience.

The actual check out time takes a longer with self scanning. So if there is a line at the scanners you still can get out faster with a casheir.

I'm constantly on edge about being the latest victim of an incel shooting spree ESPECIALLY at smaller businesses. I don't want a conversation. You don't even have to look at me. Ring my shit up so I can go.

[quote] blimey…people still writing checks where you are

My primary home is in a large city, but I'm currently at a summer house I own 200+ miles away, way out in the middle of nowhere. I never see anyone writing checks back home. But many of the old codgers around here have never caught up with the rest of the world.

I never use them or self check in at airports. It always takes longer for me and I'm of the school that I need not underwrite corporate labor costs.

R276 should never leave her house. Instacart was made for people like her.

I always screw up the self-checkout, needing a person to come and help me. I know...don't say it. I don't bother and just stand in line. Besides, I feel like I'm helping an actual person keep their job.

I no longer go to the market, (I leave a list of items for the housekeeper and she shops) but when I did I always wrote a cheque. I mistrusted strangers knowing my credit card numbers. Knowing my transactions took a few more minutes, I always shopped at low traffic times (like very early in the morning) and there were mostly seniors there that had nowhere to be and didn’t mind. I was never one of the assholes who pulled out my checkbook at 5:30pm on a weekday when everyone is in a hurry.

Oh, and I will most certainly never use a “self checkout” line. It sounds like a device for peasants.

^^Christ, what a fucking faggot.

I look at people standing in line pretending to read magazines, looking at their watches and sighing as the woman at the front of the line apologizes AGAIN to the line growing behind her that she needs a third price check and think about what chumps these people are for not carrying their lazy frustrated asses over to the self-check out!

They could have saved my life partially, but here in Baden-Württemberg (South Germany) (I live in a small town, provincial) the automation of services is even much more underdeveloped than in the rest of the modern world, it's so goddamn tiring. And people are so goddamn mean here, most other people have no idea. Aspergers is actually pretty big in Germany, partially because many people got and get children here also at a late age, sociophobia I guess also relatively big in Baden-Württemberg. We had a self-checkout in a supermarket I was a couple years ago, but it wasn't close, and you had to go to the cashier afterwards, so he checked it, which didn't help me much, as the organizers should know.

Signature release authorisation doesn't work in my region, they can't follow here any written requests, except for with DHL you always have to expect Neighbor delivery here, which is not acceptable for me, ; nothing online works here as well, you have to use bigger companies, and often American ones, for nearly everything online. The buying I do myself is mainly done by sending the stuff to parcel machines, where I have to pick it up, and they aren't close, 1-3 miles, and Germany isn't as car-ized as the US. Signature release authorisation isn't possible for people who live in appartments in Germany with its main package delivery service, DHL, and few childless people live even in row houses here in Germany. Use self-checkouts, they are very essential for people with asperger, sociophobia, many queers, childless singles et al; if they make more money in the US and other parts of the world, hopefully finally more of the automation of services and self checkout (without having to go to the cashier afterwards) will happen here in South Germany.

There is visible minority, and I'd say there is something like visible poverty, I developed it a couple of years ago, and it's terrible. The strong shortening of the social safety net and constitutional state and overall retreat of state also here in Germany in the last 30 years has made escape and moving much harder; escape (in less mean, intolerant, rural and hateful areas) is a privilege; I cannot afford it. It was very difficult and investing to finish your university studies in Baden-Württemberg until the advent of the bachelor a couple years ago, esp. for someone not upper or upper middle class. 13 years of school and 1 year for most males civil service or military, except for many males of privilege, before it as well.

R285 WTF? You took 3 paragraphs to say nothing. What is your point?

leave them alone.

are you fit?

pick of uncut dick?

I was at a supermarket today where the man ahead of me in line was paying his $68.86 total with $1 bills, which he carefully counted and handed to the clerk, who then carefully counted them. He was not elderly but looked like a laborer (spoke Spanish to the clerk, who was Asian but spoke Spanish that sounded pretty good to me) -- so maybe he doesn't have credit or debit cards and uses cash instead. I would have preferred to avoid the wait by going to a self-checkout machine but this store doesn't have them -- I've been told that stores in "bad neighborhoods" don't install them due to shoplifting, which could be the case here.

Gee, I wonder why people would get upset just because markets have skyrocketed their prices while shedding good jobs.

[quote]Oh, and I will most certainly never use a “self checkout” line. It sounds like a device for peasants.

you already buy your own groceries, loser.

R288 First, Racist much? Why was it necessary to add that the Spanish speaker was in a criminal neighborhood? Check yourself. Second, shoplifting is not gonna stop a store from adding self checkout for several reasons. a. Most people don't steal. It would be overkill to pay extra employees around the clock just to catch an occasional theft. b. The cameras in the self checkout area as well as that one employee watching everyone like a hawk deters a lot of theft. c. The price of items in a grocery store is so minuscule that it doesn't justify a full staff. d. Because of a sympathy factor food theft, a supermarket would likely cut you a break quicker than other retail arenas. e. In every business, some theft has to be factored in as a part of the cost of doing business. That is not going to be substantially reduced by hiring clerks to check everyone out (especially when you take into account that clerks steal too}.

[quote] I was never one of the assholes who pulled out my checkbook

Uh, Your Majesty R281, didn't you mean "chequebook"? Your inner peasant is showing.

R291, the people who've told me that stores in bad neighborhoods don't install self-checkout machines have been employees of the stores without the machines -- several stores, several chains. I've also noticed that stores near the 2 universities in my area don't have self-checkout machines -- those neighborhoods are far from "bad", so I assume the merchants don't trust the students.

As for the apparent laborer speaking Spanish, that's the primary language for most of them in my area. And they live in the neighborhoods they do because they're poor, since they're not paid much. Not everyone in Silicon Valley is a high tech nerd.

I buy lots of produce do self check is a problem.

R294, do the self checkout registers in your store not have scales at each register? if they don't then I can see how produce sold by weight would be a problem.

I buy a lot of produce as well. So far I don't think I've seen a self service checkout machine that doesn't have an attached scale.

[quote]A: it’s an oxymoron;

No it isn't.

So many lazy assholes on this thread.

Really type "bana.." and "bananas" pop right up.

Not that complicated.

And most produce items have stickers on them, which show the code number for the item -- so just punch that in and you don't have to search for the item by name.

The produce thing seems strange?

90% of fruit and vegetables in the UK are packaged with a barcode, usually at a much lower price than the 'loose' alternative (organic is almost the same price as intensively farmed here).

If you really want to choose your own you can weigh and print the barcode on the aisle, there are lots of printing scales available.

At Christmas they price 2lb bags of carrots and other produce at 19p (25c), but often they give vegetables away free. They aren't short dated, It's just become a tradition.

I was about to get in the express lane at a Bay Area Safeway today when the cashier closed it and pointed me to the self-checkout area. I got in a regular line instead (I wasn’t in a rush, don’t mind it if the cashier talks to me, I pay with cash and, since the pandemic, I always bag my own groceries). I had maybe 10 minutes to wait and a clear view of the self-checkout area. The cashier who’d pointed me to the self-checkout machines had to help nearly every customer there, so something’s wrong somewhere. I won’t use them, but I wish they’d leave one cashiered express lane open.

sure...cash dude...

R300 Sorry haven't you got that a bit 'Arse about face?'

Most people pay by card since the pandemic.

Almost nobody in the World outside of the USA needs assistance on self-checkout, other than the occasional authorization on beer, spirits and wine.

Are you imbeciles?

R302, we buy more than a baguette, booze, and cigarettes, maybe?

I can have 20+ items and seem to manage, cigarettes are sold behind a counter due to age restrictions.

On home delivery I can order beer, hard spirits , cigarettes and wine without question..

I ADORE self-checkouts but those bitches at the 3rd and 3rd Whole Foods just changed it to "green carts" only tonight!! So I had to wait on one of only 3 open lines. My only ch consolation was I had a hot bearded Latino husbear as my checkout guy.

R302, fuck you cunt!

There are lots of disabled people in the USA, they are blind and deaf and elderly. They need someone to bag their shit. Isn't it enough that we are burning a hole in our pocket for 8 dollar eggs and 7 dollar milk and other shit, you want us to do your work for you?! No! you fucking bag my shit.

[quote]we buy more than a baguette, booze, and cigarettes, maybe?

Which is why you're all so fucking fat.

I was in Sweden pre-pandemic and even the ancient old people were paying with their Smartphones.

omg today I was at McDonalds to buy a round of coffee for my friends and the total came to 6.80. The cashier, who was being trained in by a manger standing next to her was a young woman. I gave this dumb cunt $7.00. She looked at me and said it's 6.80. I gave the cunt a 5 dollar bill and 2 singles. She thought I gave her 3 singles. Can you believe they hired some cunt who can't even count a few dollars? The manager next to her said nothing.

I couldn't believe how low the fucking standard is. I guess they are desperate for staff.

They have self check out stations at Mcdonalds

I'm sorry but paying by smart phones isn't a great idea sometimes. The NYC subway system loves to screw the public, those paying with their phones got charged twice each time they used it.

R306 girl calm down the other poster clearly wasn’t talking about people with disabilities 🙄

R305, what's a "green cart"?

R232, all stores here told customers not to bring their own bags in because they were afraid COVID germs might be on them.

R306 My Mother is 82 and partially sighted (blind in one eye and about 40% in the other), she enjoys shopping alone and always use self-checkout. if she has a problem the supervisor helps her as they would with any other customer. She uses her contactless card to pay.

Deaf people can use it without any problems (might even be easier), the only person discriminating against the disabled and elderly is you.

R312 - That’s a sweet story, but I hope she shops at low volume times.

OP, what the fuck are you smoking??!!

Elder-fag thread.

It's a lot of virtue signaling imo. The first time I visited NYC, and it was for work, a vendor took me out to dinner at Smith & Wollensky's. I had no idea what "bathroom attendants" were at the time. When I tried to wash my hands I couldn't find a soap dispenser. Then out of the corner of my eye, some guy squirts the soap in my hand and I notice a tip basket near the sink. I mean, come on, seriously? That's like saying I only shit and piss at restaurants that have bathroom attendants just so to keep them employed.

R308, that's a big scam where I live at places like McDonald's or other fast food joints. Instead of ringing up a combo meal, the cashiers will ring each item in it up separately to charge you more. If you're in a hurry and/or ordering for multiple people it's easy to miss - I'd drive away thinking, damn that seemed higher than it should have been. But when I finally called one particular location out on that, the fucking manager not only didn't refund my card like she said she was and ring it in at the correct amount, she charged me *twice*, the incorrect amount again AND the correct amount. I looked it up on my phone while I was there, and confronted her about it again, and all she did was play dumb. There was no way in hell I was giving her my card again but it was beyond obvious the cashier and the manager were deliberately doing this.

R311, it is the small cart you pull, not the wagon you push.

Thanks, R318. The "green cart" must be peculiar to Whole Foods -- I don't shop there and have never seen such a thing.

Vons/Safeway has them.

What is the purpose of a "green cart"? My Whole Foods doesn't have them, and I can't imagine why I'd want to pull a grocery cart instead of pushing it.

R320, I shop at several Safeway stores in the SF Bay area and have never seen a "green cart". And I join R321 in wondering what its purpose is? And why is it called that -- is it painted green?

They are smaller than your average cart and is actually black color.

R323, so the black ones are smaller than average? Seems counterintuitive...

I always need someone to come over and help because we are supposed to bring our own bags or pay 5¢ for a paper bag (that rips almost immediately). So we bring our own bags. But the self checkout machines don’t recognize our bags and start screaming at us to REMOVE ITEM FROM BAGGING AREA!

I’m like JESUS CHRIST THEY PASSED THE ANTI-PLASTIC BAG BILL 5 YEARS AGO! GET WITH THE TIMES!

‘tis a clusterfuck!

I hate those low pull-behind carts as I’m always afraid I’m going to trip on one.

Why would anyone want a pull-behind cart? I've never seen one, and I hope I never do.