Dear Supermarkets.

[TattyOne]

You are heading towards almost exclusively self-checkout now.
The lady checking receipts at the exit was stopping
everyone.
I didn't choose to participate in that nonsense, I had already
filled my cart
emptied my cart
scanned the items
refilled my cart
and so I just skipped the exit line and left.
I heard her saying "umm - Excuse me " as I kept walking and raised the receipt above my head, leaving the store.
You can either trust me to do self-checkout, or you can put your cashiers back in place like it used to be.
I'm not interested in proving that I did your job for you.
• If you want me to be a cashier with no training then that's vour problem not mine.
• Keep employing young people and give them job opportunities.
YOU DON'T PAY ME TO SCAN MY OWN SHOPPING.
YOU DON'T GIVE ME STAFF DISCOUNT FOR WORKING FOR YOU.
Signed ....All of us
These are jobs that are needed to have for young and old
………………………
Copied and pasted, because I agree 100%.
SPREAD IT AROUND!!!

Me too! I cannot be arsed to fill my trolley then empty it onto the conveyor belt then repack it.
Don't need meaningless conversation with someone who isn't interested.

Oh Yawn !
Don't like it then order online and get it delivered.
That gives 2 people jobs - the person who goes around the supermarket and picks your shopping for you and the person who delivers.
I can't believe there are people who really get so wound up about self-service checkouts. They've been around for years now, generally aren't complicated and are usually quicker.

Normally I'd like self check out as I don't really want to make small talk when I'm rushing home, however I'm fed up of several items needing someone to come over to authorise, seems to just be because my own bag isn't what the till expects! Then it repeatedly needs someone to authorise what I've scanned. Not had the receipt checking yet, but that would make me go elsewhere to be honest, it's too much faff. Also if I need cash back I need to go to a till that's manned, although some (or all?) Tesco don't seem to offer cash back anymore anyway, apparently since Covid, which is real pain if the ATM outside isn't working either.

Or even 3, if they haven't delivered what you wanted and you have to take a trip to the shop anyway.

@Precipice I use Iceland for my food shop. They are rarely out of stock of anything I order and have only ever had a couple of replacement/incorrect items that didn't really make a difference (thick cut bread instead of medium, cherry Pepsi Max instead of the normal).
They are brilliant.

Another who 'lurrrves' it here
I use scan and go. Open app on my phone, bags open in my trolley ready, zap and pack as I go, keep track of how much it's all costing on the way around. App has my nectar prices on it so I can see offers as I go too. To the till, never a queue, pay and I'm straight out the door with no receipt checking. Occasionally (maybe once every couple of months) I get an alert and an assistant has to scan a random 10 items from my bags but that doesn't take long or bother me at all. I'll continue to use it as long as it's available!

If Facebook existed when shops started being self service I wonder if there'd be people posting crap like "You don't pay me to pick my own goods, hire staff to do it that's why I write a list, stop giving us trolleys and listen to what the customer wants"

I would also like to know, because I cannot believe these self-service tills were originally brought in (and are still going) for any other reason than to save money. It is bloody expensive paying someone even if that employee is on NMW - N.I, pension, sick leave, benefits, and the more employees you have the more people you need in H.R and in payroll. Yes, some people have been hired or redeployed to work in the online picking and delivering, but only a small minority of supermarket customers do online shopping, anyway.

Self checkouts are if you’re in a hurry and don’t want to interact. Manned checkouts are also great, especially if it’s one of the few occasions someone gets human interactions.
I must admit I did have a little rant in Primark about having to scan my receipt. 1st time using it and just expected to leave. Met with a barrier and had already shoved said receipt at the bottom of my bag. Queue me getting flustered and berating the barrier for not telling me this beforehand. Luckily a nice chap bleeped me out 🤦‍♀️ I did apologise profusely; to him and the barrier

I work in retail. I find it quite sad that the value of interaction has been lost. When you have a customer base made up quite significantly of the elderly, its not always about the item/product you are selling. Its about having the routine of getting out the house. Its about seeing people when your family is all grown up and probably moved away. I have many customers who like to chat, just to see somebody other than their husband/wife who they care for. You could easily be the only human they see and speak to that day. I know that's not our job really but everyone knows in retail your never just a cashier.

Self serve should obviously be there for anyone who wants not but not instead of checkouts. And yes its definitely not accessible to far to many people. Is their money/custom no longer good enough?

Prices are not low!

Well done you, making life harder for the people actually working in the shops. That’s really showing the CEO’s what for! 👏🏻

There are self scanners I. Harrods food hall

I posted that the person was a dick, the last time anyone posted that, a few weeks ago. I'll do it again.

Short staffed because there is a high staff turnover unfortunately. We're nearly always advertising for staff. People think its an easy job, quite relaxing and not difficult. It is actually very strenuous, very busy, you're constantly being asked to do other things as well as whatever you're working on, there are massive amounts of stock to organise, we're always on a back foot. We're always short of night staff, pickers and drivers for the online deliveries. It's low paid and you get treated like shit by customers. We had 9 checkouts, we now have 6, which is fine. They're never all in use at one time as there isn't the demand. If it does become more busy, we pop over to open more. Self service has not impacted staff jobs. There are thousands of tasks to do in a supermarket and we can barely get many of them done as it is.

I shop at Lidl. Our local store doesn't have any self service tills. As I only shop once a week there's no way I'd be putting my trolley-full through a self service till anyway. Long may it continue! NB if there's a customer queueing behind me with only a few items I always let them go ahead of me.
On the rare occasions I go into the other supermarkets for a couple of things I do use self service but there are no receipt checks and there are always other checkouts open and employees milling around chatting to each other

Dear Supermarkets,

I loathe loyalty card schemes. And BOGOFs. Vouchers are horrible. I want to walk into supermarket & find goods I like at competitive prices. I want this experience to be reliable. That is how you could get my loyalty. I don't want to have to dig out coupons (probably expired or forgotten until I get back home) or loyalty cards or shop around. I shop on bike so buying in bulk doesn't work for me & BOGOFs have no appeal, I can't take home huge heavy amounts. If I see a BOGOF or "Special price for Nectar card holders!" sign, my 1st thought is not to buy THAT item because I don't have the Nectar card & I'm obviously paying too much if I get it without the card don't buy multiples at once. I wonder where I could find a supermarket that charges good prices instead. Reliably. On virtually everything in the shop.

Why is it too much to ask that you just charge a competitive price for decent quality items? Why do you try to make us customers play games?

I've shopped in Sainsburys, Asda, Lidl & Morrison this last week. They're all pants.

Have only tried this in one branch of Waitrose, twice. Used the scan as you shop thing but then had to go through a checkout with person on it in order to get out of the store, because I had a voucher. Made it pointless so didn't bother again.

Any ideas what was going on?

My local Sainsbury’s has added the barrier and receipt scanner recently. I wish someone would try and explain the point.
It’s such a busy store and the scanner so unreliable most people just go through with the person in front or just push through, beep beep never mind, bye. What purpose can it be serving?

It’s not manned and they have just closed a load more tills adding more self scanning ones.

@Thighdentitycrisis It’s probably to deter shoplifters.

They tried self check out at ours when it opened a few years ago.
They got rid if it within a few months 😁😁 Too much stuff ‘disappearing’ apparently 😂😂

Which also means one thing. Theft will only increase. And it’s the honest customers who will pay for it… whilst profits will stay unaffected.

I work in a supermarket and all they are interested in now is the dot.com side. Its where they make the most money.They couldn't give a stuff about manned checkouts and the like. Not interested. They are only looking forward and not back , manned checkouts are a thing of the past.
Self service is a major headache, security wise and only a temporary measure until they can roll it all out online and click and collect. It will never go back. Slowly they are removing certain areas and not replacing them. Our bakery will be next thing to go, also clothing.

They definitely are self scanning. Two operatives and the rest self scanners.

Excellent post @Whatwouldscullydo I agree. For all the fans of self serve, there are people who struggle to use it for various reasons. I’m ND and hate them. Walked past our local Poundland today and realised they now have eight self serve checkouts and no manned tills at all. That’s shocking. There’ll be some who won’t go in because they can’t manage. It’s very sad.

I love this ... I usually use my local M&S when I need to grab something quickly. It's nearest the entrance of the shopping centre.

But the queues are always nuts. And not enough tills open.

Scan & Go is amazing. And I love the feeling of doing something 'wrong', having scanned, paid & walked out without going near a till!