Last time I was at a Target with only self checkout I went to customer service and had them scan me out.
Comment on Walmart, Costco and other companies rethink self-checkout, some stores removing them
Sarmyth@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months agoThis really is it. I managed a grocery store for years, and the problem these companies have is that the self checkout can replace too many cashiers. Note that it can take the place of 1 or 2, but really, the boon of the self checkout is to really function as the best express lane ever. It should take the heat off your normal cashiers and provide an option best suited for quick purchases under 10 items.
But what ends up happening is schedulers drop their usual front end down from 4 cashiers to 1 and a self checkout host and completely nullify any gains their customers would have gotten from the enhanced service options. People really do like self checkouts but resent the hell out of being forced to use them as a blatant cash grab.
deegeese@sopuli.xyz 6 months ago
Sarmyth@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
It’s a baller move. It probably annoys the person at the customer service counter in the moment, but I respect it.
deegeese@sopuli.xyz 6 months ago
It helped to be polite but firm about it.
“There are no staffed checkout lanes and I hate those robots. Please check me out here.“
mojo@lemm.ee 6 months ago
That’s not being polite, that’s just being an entitled dick head thinking you deserve special treatment.
mean_bean279@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I stopped shopping at a local grocery store because the damn self checkout made you scan everything and place it on the stupid scale. I couldn’t put my own personal bag there as it would upset the whole system. It ended up wasting more of my time. If they want self checkout to be used more they need to understand someone isn’t stealing and paying at the same time. Sure something might get missed on accident, but I’m not scanning $100 in groceries to steal some arbitrary amount.
Also, Home Depot took self checkout to the extreme and it sucks ass for it.
Breezy@lemmy.world 6 months ago
No no no, people definitely steal and pay at the same time. I was guilty or doing so when i was younger and more stupid. Older self checkout wear so easy to scam by tag swapping or only scanning some of my items and not others.
mean_bean279@lemmy.world 6 months ago
You were going to steal in the first place. This doesn’t change anything. Ethically ambiguous people “stealing” by purchasing something at a slightly lower price doesn’t equate to a company therefore making it so I have to use weighted systems. It’s part of the cost of doing business. Odds are good they still broke even after profit margin. Im not going to argue any of that, but it doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t have to put my stuff as I’m scanning on a scale. Either trust me to ring it up correctly or put the proper amount of people on checkout.
Empricorn@feddit.nl 6 months ago
This is so key. If don’t have enough regular lanes (which at times is just 1), the old/slow/large/complex orders are much more likely to go through self-checkout. Now they’re annoyed that they “have” to use the machines, and so is everybody behind them that has to wait for them. Congratulations: you’ve managed to piss off literally everyone!
KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 months ago
Walmart in my area was pretty famous for dropping all cashiers at certain times of the day, and splitting the self checkout “watcher” with customer service. Bit of a clusterfuck but they kept it up for years before 2020 made them shake things up.
Maeve@kbin.social 6 months ago
They schedule what is budgeted by corporate, ime.
AlternateRoute@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
I will put one other mistake in there, is self checkouts with too many prompts. I avoid using self checkout at a few stores because the minimum number of prompts is higher than 3.
Good: scanning starts the process, select done AT MOST asks for how many bags, then payment type, swipe and pay (optional email receipt on pin pad).
Bad: Cant’ start till you tap start, asks for member ship card up front, asks if you want to donate, scan, asks if you want to use your rewards, asks for number of bags, also would you like an email receipt?
Hawke@lemmy.world 6 months ago
You missed incessant “place your item in the bagging area” and failing/requiring “assistance” if you scan too fast.
AlternateRoute@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
Ya and some of them will let you put your own bags in the bagging area in the start so you can fill your bags as you scan, while others do not.
tpyo@lemmy.world 6 months ago
What I find works pretty well is to have the bag ready and put the first item into it and then set it down on the bAgGiNg ArEa together
NightAuthor@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Do you have the overhead camera that tries to detect theft, and vaults your scanning to have an employee come over and review the footage before you can continue scanning? That’s my favorite.
ares35@kbin.social 6 months ago
so glad walmart here turned off the bagging scales. you can just take the wireless 'gun' and shoot everything in your cart and toss 'em into your reusable bags as you go.
residentmarchant@lemmy.world 6 months ago
One cool thing I’ve found is that you can scan your card on the reader at any time.
I walk up to the machine, scan my first item, tap my card, then do the rest of my scanning. When I hit “done”/“pay” it just processes the card and prints a receipt
AlternateRoute@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
That trick likely only works on specific brands of these self checkout terminals.
cmbabul@lemmy.world 6 months ago
It isn’t brand, it’s how the company had them configured to work.
vic_rattlehead@lemmy.world 6 months ago
My favorite kind is where you just get a scanner when you walk into the store. Scan stuff when you put it in your bag, scan the scanner at the end, pay and leave. No futzing about moving stuff from cart to bags or anything like that, and it’s way more convenient to use my own bags because I’m loading them as I go, instead of being rushed at the very end.