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Original poster

To wonder about self checkout etiquette?

33 replies

Magentaplasticglasses · 26/08/2024 18:20

I was at the self checkout in Sainsbury's local earlier. I scanned and paid for my shop, and I started packing it into a carrier bag.

I heard a noise next to me, turned around and a woman had put her shopping in my ( now empty) basket and started scanning her shopping before I'd even had chance to finish packing. She glanced at me but didn't say anything to me and didn't seem annoyed or hostile.

The self checkout consists of a shelf for a basket the scanning screen and a surface for scanned shopping. It's not a multi user unit.

The shop wasn't busy, the other self check out was available, and both were card only. There also wasn't a big queue for the manned tills. There was 2 members of staff and 2-3 people.

I didn't say anything to the woman because I was just so baffled that she was there. Surely etiquette is to wait for the first person to have taken their basket and left before you start loading up your items and scanning, and the alternate option is to use the other available self checkout?!

I'm not annoyed or anything, I just found it odd!

YABU - The woman was following the proper etiquette of supermarket self checkouts

YANBU - The woman's behaviour was odd and she should have used the other self checkout

OP posts:
EatingHealthy · 26/08/2024 18:44

Ghostgirl77 · 26/08/2024 18:28

Surely you pack as you go? It’s set up so that you put your bag on and scan everything straight into it, then pay, pick up your bag and leave.

If I was lugging a heavy basket of shopping and I saw you’d finished paying then I probably would put my basket down on the assumption that you were about to walk away.

It depends on how much you're buying/ what bag you're using though. If I've got dedicated bags for a decent amount of shopping, yes pack as I go. If I've got a couple of items I'm going to carry home in e.g. my laptop bag I'm not going to faff around trying to get the machine to accept the weight of my laptop bag, I'll put the items straight onto the packing scale and pack them into my bag after paying.

fluffi · 26/08/2024 18:44

Ghostgirl77 · 26/08/2024 18:28

Surely you pack as you go? It’s set up so that you put your bag on and scan everything straight into it, then pay, pick up your bag and leave.

If I was lugging a heavy basket of shopping and I saw you’d finished paying then I probably would put my basket down on the assumption that you were about to walk away.

I never pack as you go at self service, most machines can't cope with the bag on the scales, either it has to be "approved" by the staff which takes time when no one is free or if it doesn't need approval the bag still seems to mess up the scales and will get "item not packed" which also needs staff to sort.

For speed I pack into bag after I've paid.

But the other womans approach was weird.

NeverEnoughPants · 26/08/2024 18:40

Differentstarts · 26/08/2024 18:28

Until you've cleared your shopping nobody can do anything as it doesn't work, it's a scale

That'd not always the case in the Local stores - there's no scales at my nearest Sainsbury Local's self checkout.

xyz111 · 26/08/2024 18:37

Yep, she was being weird.

Differentstarts · 26/08/2024 18:28

Until you've cleared your shopping nobody can do anything as it doesn't work, it's a scale

Ghostgirl77 · 26/08/2024 18:28

Surely you pack as you go? It’s set up so that you put your bag on and scan everything straight into it, then pay, pick up your bag and leave.

If I was lugging a heavy basket of shopping and I saw you’d finished paying then I probably would put my basket down on the assumption that you were about to walk away.

Trebol · 26/08/2024 18:24

This reply has been withdrawn

Withdrawn at the poster's request

Walkacrossthesand · 26/08/2024 18:23

The screen doesn't clear for the next shopper until all packages are removed from the bagging area (unless it was one of those very basic ones that don't weigh the shopping - not many of those around though) so I don't see how she could even do that! Very odd