Self checkouts, Yay or Nay?

[Elphaba09]

Honestly, they affect my anxiety. I get nervous while scanning and the constant commentary from the self-checkout telling me to scan an item or put it in the bag. It makes me feel rushed, causing me to keep looking behind me to see how many people I am holding up. I will absolutely avoid them unless I have only one or two items.

I know it sounds ridiculous, but it takes a lot for me to work up enough courage to leave my home and go to the store without a machine reminding me I suck at ringing things up and how slow I am.

 

[waddle]

As long as it’s a good self checkout I would much rather use it. I don’t run into too many problems with them like I did years ago. It’s almost always faster and I can avoid interacting with other people.

 

[Kat0121]

Self checkout is OK for one or two items.

 

[allmykitties]

I like self checkout for quick "fill in" with no more than 5 items. Although I am quite annoyed that Kroger removed the option to completely mute the computer voice. Weekly shopping needs the full belt of a normal check out.

 

[kashmir64]

As long as it’s a good self checkout I would much rather use it. I don’t run into too many problems with them like I did years ago. It’s almost always faster and I can avoid interacting with other people.

Except when The Overseer is there. You know the one. The one who stands almost on top of you and watches every tiny move you make.
One time while I was ringing up my stuff, the Checkout Overseer comes over. Literally licks her fingers and opened the bag for me...I pulled the bag and set it aside. Then I was having a little trouble finding a bar code, so she walks over, tries to take it from me and says "Here, I'll do it". I went full Karen of her. Fortunately, there are not many places to work in this town so I have friends there. One of whom is a manager. She came over and told The Overseer to leave me alone and let me do my thing.
I understand that people steal...a lot. But you do NOT take things out of my hand unless I tell you to.

 

[denice]

Except when The Overseer is there. You know the one. The one who stands almost on top of you and watches every tiny move you make.
One time while I was ringing up my stuff, the Checkout Overseer comes over. Literally licks her fingers and opened the bag for me...I pulled the bag and set it aside. Then I was having a little trouble finding a bar code, so she walks over, tries to take it from me and says "Here, I'll do it". I went full Karen of her. Fortunately, there are not many places to work in this town so I have friends there. One of whom is a manager. She came over and told The Overseer to leave me alone and let me do my thing.
I understand that people steal...a lot. But you do NOT take things out of my hand unless I tell you to.

Fortunately, I haven't ran into that. They have someone with the self-checkouts but at least when I have been there, they only come over when someone needs help. They also have to do the coupons and verify age for liquor sales. Now at least in this state they just swipe the mag stripe on the driver's license or state I.D. card.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

I use it when I'm at Coles or Woolworths, because I only get a few things there. I don't much like their machines, the pernickety things are always going wrong and saying "Call a staff member". I use the KMart ones because, again, I'm not buying much, and they only have one person on checkout now vs ten self serves, and there's usually a queue. Aldi, where I do most of my shopping, doesn't have self serve, which is fine by me.

 

[heatherwillard0614]

One of our local stores only has self checkout and 1 rarely 2 actual checkout lines.
The self check out is amazing because there is hardly ever a line, even when the store is super busy you might just have to wait for 1 or 2 people..
The self checkouts have a fairly large area for you to put all the bagged groceries (it can hold a whole cart worth of groceries)
My husband and I are very particular with how things are bagged and what things go with what in the bags. So the self checkout lines are a huge convenience.
When they had the small self checkouts the scales would always mess up saying "Please place item in bagging area" and "unexpected item in bagging area" this is when the store only had the small self checkouts years ago. I'm guessing old system. The way it is now is amazing and never have issues with the scales it actually goes by recording and scanning not scales anymore (unless it is produce or something like that)

So I would have to say yay to the self checkout lines. Kind of an inconvenience to go to the 1 actual check out line anymore.

 

[Winchester]

I have mixed feelings about self-checkouts. On one hand, they are handy. OTOH, I hate doing the work of an employee, especially when I don't get invited to the Christmas party! If I'm doing the work, I should be considered an employee. It's that simple.

At Giant, the self-checkouts are so ridiculously small that there's no room if you've a bigger order. I will go there if I have a few things and want to get in and out quickly. But, for the most part, I'll deal with a clerk.

We have a Weis store that has long belts for self-checkouts. You just scan your items, put them on the belt and then, when finished, go down to the other end and bag everything. Often, a clerk will come along and bag as I go. Which makes me wonder why the clerk just can't check me out to begin with.

I abhor the ones who lick their fingers! It's disgusting and I've embarrassed Rick a few times when I've hit the roof. That's one of the main reasons I stopped shopping at WalMart. Period. I was in there and a woman who I swear was on her deathbed was the clerk. Sniffing and snotting with watery eyes. Sneezing and coughing all over the place. And then she licked her finger to open the bag. I read her the riot act, then went to management and asked why the poor woman was even working, as sick as she was. Walked out. Didn't buy anything. Got home, called corporate and sent them an email. WM corporate even called me back and I gave them the WM number and location. They said they'd look into it. Maybe they did. I haven't been inside a WM since. There are other reasons, but that was the final straw.

Happened to me at Giant one time. I grabbed the bag, threw it away, and said, "I will bag my own groceries!" Went to management. What really angered me was that there was a sponge there for her to use. And she didn't use it. The clerk was in training; I asked the clerk supervising her if that's really what they wanted her to do. Seriously? I still bag my groceries. Rick says that when I come inside the store, all the clerks shudder and pray, "Please don't let her come to me!" I'm not that bad. Honest. But I hate finger-licking clerks. Lick your fingers if you're eating fried chicken. ONLY!

 

[heatherwillard0614]

I have mixed feelings about self-checkouts. On one hand, they are handy. OTOH, I hate doing the work of an employee, especially when I don't get invited to the Christmas party! If I'm doing the work, I should be considered an employee. It's that simple.

At Giant, the self-checkouts are so ridiculously small that there's no room if you've a bigger order. I will go there if I have a few things and want to get in and out quickly. But, for the most part, I'll deal with a clerk.

We have a Weis store that has long belts for self-checkouts. You just scan your items, put them on the belt and then, when finished, go down to the other end and bag everything. Often, a clerk will come along and bag as I go. Which makes me wonder why the clerk just can't check me out to begin with.

I abhor the ones who lick their fingers! It's disgusting and I've embarrassed Rick a few times when I've hit the roof. That's one of the main reasons I stopped shopping at WalMart. Period. I was in there and a woman who I swear was on her deathbed was the clerk. Sniffing and snotting with watery eyes. Sneezing and coughing all over the place. And then she licked her finger to open the bag. I read her the riot act, then went to management and asked why the poor woman was even working, as sick as she was. Walked out. Didn't buy anything. Got home, called corporate and sent them an email. WM corporate even called me back and I gave them the WM number and location. They said they'd look into it. Maybe they did. I haven't been inside a WM since. There are other reasons, but that was the final straw.

Happened to me at Giant one time. I grabbed the bag, threw it away, and said, "I will bag my own groceries!" Went to management. What really angered me was that there was a sponge there for her to use. And she didn't use it. The clerk was in training; I asked the clerk supervising her if that's really what they wanted her to do. Seriously? I still bag my groceries. Rick says that when I come inside the store, all the clerks shudder and pray, "Please don't let her come to me!" I'm not that bad. Honest. But I hate finger-licking clerks. Lick your fingers if you're eating fried chicken. ONLY!

That is absolutely disgusting. Where I'm from pretty much every store even most of the gas stations have these little round containers with this pink stuff in it (looking at it kinda would remind you of chapstick or something) and it works well you just rub your finger on it and it effortlessly separates the bags
I would probably just walk out in the middle of the transaction if that happened to me. I feel wouldn't be able to hold my tongue for long so it would be best for me to leave asap..

 

[ReginaldElton]

I am one of those who is of the mind set, "I don't work there." So, no I don't do self check out. I'll stand in line an hour if I have to do so. LOL

 

[Kat0121]

Winchester There are so many reasons why I hate Walmart. I avoid it like the plague. The last time I went in was in July of last year and was because I needed a new router. I went in at 1:00 on a Friday afternoon and they did not have one cashier working. It was all self checkout and the line was so long that it went into the women's clothing section. I ordered what I needed online and they brought it out to the car. Self checkout should not be for customers with carts full of stuff.

I'm not at all surprised that they had an employee working who was sick. They couldn't care less. I had the displeasure of working for them in the late 90's. DD worked for Sam's Club about 5 years ago. Not surprisingly, they are just as bad.

I do the majority of my shopping at Publix. The store I go to doesn't have self checkout. I hope they never add it.

 

[Pywacket21]

I’ll stand in line for as long as it takes for the clerk to check me out. I was in Walmart. One night had exactly one item dude stood there and watched me like I was gonna steal it. I didn’t even put it in a bag grabbed the receipt and left. I run into trouble when I buy produce I just don’t get how to ring it up. I don’t like the self check out at all and like somebody said I’m not invited to the Christmas party I don’t work there.

 

[Winchester]

There's a Weis store now that charges .25 for a shopping cart. If you return the cart properly, they'll refund your quarter. (I think Aldi's does that.) They say it's to prevent carts being stolen or left to sit in parking spaces. It's ridiculous, IMO. Soon there won't be any employees at stores. If I have to check myself out and return my cart to the building instead of putting it in a cart corral, well, you can darn well bet, that store should start paying me to shop there. At that point, I freaking work there!

 

[Kat0121]

There's a Weis store now that charges .25 for a shopping cart. If you return the cart properly, they'll refund your quarter. (I think Aldi's does that.) They say it's to prevent carts being stolen or left to sit in parking spaces. It's ridiculous, IMO. Soon there won't be any employees at stores. If I have to check myself out and return my cart to the building instead of putting it in a cart corral, well, you can darn well bet, that store should start paying me to shop there. At that point, I freaking work there!

I'm pretty sure that you get your quarter back when you return it to the cart corral. At least Aldi's does that.

Aldi's bought out Winn Dixie. They are supposed to be turning some WD into Aldi's. We have one WD here. I hope they switch it over.

 

[Jem]

I use both. When I'm doing a big grocery shop, I use a cashier as I often have coupons and a few clearance items, things that tend to need codes or whatnot entered. If it's a small shop, I'll use self checkout if the lines look busy. Some stores have better self checkouts than others though and I do have a preference, I hate the ones that have scales. They're way too touchy and a pain in the butt, especially when you are using your own bags and want to move them out of the way or you have to rearrange something you already placed in the bag. Then I feel like they think I'm stealing while the machine is yelling at me and I'm juggling my stuff...ugh!

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Except when The Overseer is there. You know the one. The one who stands almost on top of you and watches every tiny move you make.

Theres also the one who looks at you like a nincompoop from her peripheral vision if you need help. I used the self checkout when visiting my family this summer and accidentally rang up 6 half dozen bagels; instead of just half a dozen. And because I'm originally from a state where people aren't friendly unless they know you... Yeah I had to wait a while because those self checkouts were backed up and they had that ONE lady handling everything. Kind of explains her attitude a little. But then there was that long line of people behind me that I'd just waited in myself.

They aren't bad here. But then i've been told people here aren't friendly either; it's just they are more friendly than the people from my home state.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

I usually do order pick ups because I hate going into stores. When I don't do it though, it depends on the situation. In most circumstances I would do the self-checkout, but if I have a lot of items, I will do the regular checkout. If the self-checkout lines are long, I'll do the regular one too, but I won't do the opposite. I'll wait in line in almost all situations if I have a lot of stuff, one because it's a lot of work, and two it takes up a lot of time in what should be a quick thing when it comes to the self-service stuff.

 

[mani]

It's a definite no from me. I prefer the human contact and I'd rather they keep their jobs.

 

[rubysmama]

I'm not a fan of self checkouts. Maybe for one item at some stores, but for even just a few groceries, I prefer letting the cashier ring everything through, with me packing with my own bags. Then quickly tapping my card to pay. Plus I almost always have produce that needs to be weighed, so easier to just let the cashier, that knows the codes, handle it.