Has anyone else noticed how deathly quiet and depressing . . .

[trythisforsize]

supermarkets become when they change over to self service tills?

My aldi used to be really lively and chatty but 2 weeks ago they installed 10 self service checkouts and only one normal checkout left. . Now it's like a morgue. I hate going there. I stopped going to a local sainsbury's due to this.
Shopping in silence makes me feel depressed, self conscious and generally crap.

I'm going to shop elsewhere where it's mainly proper checkouts.

The way shopping has gone is sad isn't it?

Then you’ll go home and text your friends rather than wasting your time talking to them.

I've not noticed it myself. I use self service ones to give space for those who cannot use them to use the staffed tills.

They’ve done the same at our local Sainsbury’s. I hate it! It’s so hard to put a big shop through self service. I’m so sad for all the lovely checkout ladies who will have probably lost their jobs now. They loved a chat and they all worked really hard through the pandemic while we stayed at home. Nice that they were rewarded by the big shops!

The staff at my local Sainsbury's hate the self service tills.

If you’re shopping alone isn’t it normally done in silence apart from asking where the ketchup is and a brief hi to the cashier?

They won’t get rid of all normal tills altogether will they? I hate doing it yourself

They had a self scan at out LIdl when it first opened. They had to stop due to the amount of items ‘disappearing’….
If Aldi had self scanning things, I might go there. I hate how pressured you are at the till.

The supermarket is sensory hell for me but scan as you shop (used during the Saturday morning Quiet Hour) makes a huge difference. It's not just the chit-chat at the manned tills that I dislike, it's the panic of getting everything on to the belt, then back into the trolley and then the checkout person sits there blinking at me while I'm juggling the last few bits of shopping, my purse, my club card, the receipt. Then the person behind me in the queue starts shoving their trolley into my leg no matter how quickly I'm going.

The thought of it is enough to bring me out in hives...

@user1471518104 Adding self service points does not mean sacking staff. It means redeploying them into other, sometimes more productive work.

I don't use self service points because I worried about this, Aldi doesn't deliver so no pickers, what other more productive work do all the check out staff do when the store goes mainly to self service ?

I’ve started to use smaller shops as my son is hearing impaired and struggles with the noise of supermarkets. I’ve discovered our local butcher and love the customer service. Never noticed customer service anywhere unless it was rude but they are just lovely people. They are really respectful and know he struggles. They bend down to talk to him and speak clearly. I’m trying to avoid supermarkets completely now, horrible places.

If you’re shopping alone isn’t it normally done in silence apart from asking where the ketchup is and a brief hi to the cashier?

I like to sing Kumbaya as I pootle around with my trolley, rather lifts the spirits and people tend to move along, rather than spending forever checking the dates on stuff, everything freezes I tell you, everything !

other campfire songs are available

@Dymaxion I see Aldi staff coming on and off tills to get stuff on the shelves. Seems like a good use of staff.
I don’t think shops are quieter but that’s because I can’t shop anywhere in town without seeing about 5 people I know. It’s like a social event going up the high street.

Where is this quiet supermarket? Sounds like utopia to me. I find supermarkets are a noisy sensory headache inducing place.
People, technology beeping, music playing, staff announcements, customer announcements.
I would love a bit of peace and quiet once in a while.

I don’t normally like self checkouts (the machines never work), but in this case it might tempt me to try Aldi again. I’ve always found their checkouts to be so stressful, and far from a pleasant social interaction.
I have been told off in the past when my trolley was the wrong way around at the end of the till. Then they test your reflexes by throwing items at you faster than you can catch them. Heaven forbid if you don’t know the rules and try to pack your food in bags there and then! Maybe the machines will actually let customers take their time.

Maybe the machines will actually let customers take their time.

Or one of those productive staff members will be tasked with chucking all your shopping in a trolley and moving you to the packing counter ?

It doesn't worry me as I hey everything delivered so only pop in for something if I've forgotten it!

Nothing worse than having to do the lot yourself, that why I go to Waitrose, at least there is some service there

Pretty sure the checkout staff can chat and scan at the same time. You can also pack into bags or into the trolley whilst you chat.

I don't know if it's quieter because they're not exactly restful places but it does feel a bit dystopian. You know how like in blade runner everything looks alienating and devoid of human care and oversight. That's what self service is like especially in co op for some reason - they can't seem to keep the area tidy and properly maintained. Our local one there's bits and crumbs in all the edges, plus stuff that people have taken out of their baskets and left lying around, the card machines fall off the holders and you can't put them back on properly, mostly the price doesn't match the shelf ticket and all the time there's a screen with your own fluorescent -lit self on telling you you're being filmed. It's where hope goes to die. It's an unexpected item in the bagging area stamping on a human face forever.

For many lonely people, particularly the elderly, it may be the only social contact they have all day. It’s really sad.

Our boots has gone all self service and it is a bit weird feeling. That said there's no more massive queues

I like to sing Kumbaya as I pootle around with my trolley, rather lifts the spirits and people tend to move along

Good lord

Our Asda is like that where you have to keep waving your hand in the air. At our Tesco a woman stands in front of a computer and sorts you out without you needing to say anything

At least you can get free carrier bags though with the self service because you don't need to ask for them.

I recently started wondering if it’s a new competitive sport on MN to get in there first with a right arsey reply. I think I might be on to something! 🤔