Retailers in Europe, like Booths supermarkets, and the United States, like Walmart, are pulling back on having self-checkout in light of complaints and shoplifting.
Ha, I once got booted from a Safeway in my early 20’s when I was trying to buy beers and the lady who was supposed to be verifying ID was shooting the shit w her coworker. She clearly saw the thing flashing, but wanted to finish her story. I tried waving at her to no avail. She had a very I’ll get to you in a minute vibe, but she clearly wasn’t talking about work stuff. I had worked at a Lucky previously and they used the same self checkout system system. I knew I just needed to type my bday on their terminal to get it to sell, so I went n did it lol. Hey, self check out amirite? I figured fuck it, I’ll do that part too I guess.
She finally noticed like right before I paid and took my beers and wouldn’t let me pay. I was like here’s my ID, I’ve been waiting like 5 minutes to show you. Manager showed up told me to leave, and never come back, it was a whole thing. Granted, I was 100% being a young , dumb prick, but I was annoyed with the lady not doing her job, and wasting my time. Having been on the other side of that terminal before, knowing how easy it was to do, I was super annoyed that she wasn’t even acknowledging me trying to get her attention. Fun times lol.
In my day it was a sight of your ID alone, and only on the cashier’s discretion. Which is still the norm today at many retailers. I will never use any POS system that requires ID scanning/PII provision as a default.
Self checkout is useful when you only want a few things. Much faster.
If you’re getting a full trolley, you’d need a barcode scanner to take round the shop with you. If you don’t have that, it’s faster to go with a manned checkout.
A grocery store near me has the self-scan as part of the app. It’s pretty good, but honestly it’s not that bad to do a full trip through the self checkout.
Oh dang, I love it. It’s awesome to be able to see what my total cost is as I shop. I definitely buy less when I do it that way, and added bonuses include everything already being bagged the way I like it and not having to talk to people (at least usually). I did it all the time during the pandemic.
Trying to tell the pears and their variants and potatoes and their variants apart is such a pain in the ass without a barcode. Especially since the example pic is usually quite different, and like 10px on a 480p greased up, airgapped touchscreen. I hate self checkout. The only time I use it is when the store is open late at night. Which, I actually do like. Having stores open till 1am or 3am can be extremely handy, especially if you have an office job during the day and do night classes.
I bought beer last time I went through self checkout and of course it called some teenage girl over to check my ID; I’m pushing 60. I just said “No. I’m old enough to be your grandfather.” She was fine with that.
After a few times I memorized where the bread or fruit (w/o barcode) I usually buy is in the menu and am almost equally fast as an employee would be.
So it just took me some time to adjust personally.
I have no sympathy for companies losing money due to theft at self-checkout, it’s a cost saving measure that’s bitten them in the ass.
They also suck for alcohol, or anything that doesn’t have a barcode, as mentioned in the story. I never buy either of those products at self checkout.
That said, I really liked the opportunity to not have to socialize with someone
Ha, I once got booted from a Safeway in my early 20’s when I was trying to buy beers and the lady who was supposed to be verifying ID was shooting the shit w her coworker. She clearly saw the thing flashing, but wanted to finish her story. I tried waving at her to no avail. She had a very I’ll get to you in a minute vibe, but she clearly wasn’t talking about work stuff. I had worked at a Lucky previously and they used the same self checkout system system. I knew I just needed to type my bday on their terminal to get it to sell, so I went n did it lol. Hey, self check out amirite? I figured fuck it, I’ll do that part too I guess.
She finally noticed like right before I paid and took my beers and wouldn’t let me pay. I was like here’s my ID, I’ve been waiting like 5 minutes to show you. Manager showed up told me to leave, and never come back, it was a whole thing. Granted, I was 100% being a young , dumb prick, but I was annoyed with the lady not doing her job, and wasting my time. Having been on the other side of that terminal before, knowing how easy it was to do, I was super annoyed that she wasn’t even acknowledging me trying to get her attention. Fun times lol.
I would have done the same.
EWW
???
It’s probably my inexperience with self-checkout speaking, but I would never enter PII into a corporate terminal for the sake of a six-pack.
Like 70% of the time I buy alcohol from a cashier they scan the barcode on my licence.
Everyone on that hill died years ago, where have you been?
In my day it was a sight of your ID alone, and only on the cashier’s discretion. Which is still the norm today at many retailers. I will never use any POS system that requires ID scanning/PII provision as a default.
Self checkout is useful when you only want a few things. Much faster.
If you’re getting a full trolley, you’d need a barcode scanner to take round the shop with you. If you don’t have that, it’s faster to go with a manned checkout.
A grocery store near me has the self-scan as part of the app. It’s pretty good, but honestly it’s not that bad to do a full trip through the self checkout.
Wegmans tried that at first but failed and removed it. No one wants to scan products with their phone while shopping.
Oh dang, I love it. It’s awesome to be able to see what my total cost is as I shop. I definitely buy less when I do it that way, and added bonuses include everything already being bagged the way I like it and not having to talk to people (at least usually). I did it all the time during the pandemic.
I do. It’s kinda new here in Germany, but I think it’s working pretty well.
I did when Smith’s had it. I found a lot of coupons that way.
The theft is a feature, not a bug in my eyes!
Alcohol isn’t so bad where I’m at, I just scan it first to give the worker some time to scan their badge and let me continue
Interesting! Alcohol doesn’t have a barcode there?
Here it does. But the self checkout lamp will go to red instantly and a clerk has to come to approve your age.
It has a barcode, but most places haven’t figured out the “show ID to a human” flow yet.
Which negates the benefit of self service.
Trying to tell the pears and their variants and potatoes and their variants apart is such a pain in the ass without a barcode. Especially since the example pic is usually quite different, and like 10px on a 480p greased up, airgapped touchscreen. I hate self checkout. The only time I use it is when the store is open late at night. Which, I actually do like. Having stores open till 1am or 3am can be extremely handy, especially if you have an office job during the day and do night classes.
I bought beer last time I went through self checkout and of course it called some teenage girl over to check my ID; I’m pushing 60. I just said “No. I’m old enough to be your grandfather.” She was fine with that.
After a few times I memorized where the bread or fruit (w/o barcode) I usually buy is in the menu and am almost equally fast as an employee would be. So it just took me some time to adjust personally.
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