to think Sainsbury's are really taking the piss?

[BuggerLumpsAnnoyed]

Basically, our local sainsbury's had taken loads of the normal tills out and replace them with a few more God forsaken self service machines. Now, personal feelings of hatred aside, they haven't increased the staff manning them, so, where there were four machines and one member of staff attending to them, there are now 8, and still one memeber of staff.

It really bloody takes the piss IMO. One poor sod, basically doing the job of 8 checkout assistants, as the things never fucking work, while everybody looks pissed off with their stupid light going off.

And if it wasn't bad enough, to get your car parking money back (one of those "you buy a ticket and its refunded in store" ones) you have to physically give it to said poor sod, who refunds you out of their bum bag, no option on the stupid till!

Right. Sorry for the rant. No, it doesn't get more interesting.

Just googled Publix, MadamDS. It's employee owned! An actual socialist supermarket chain in America! Good for them :) It's great to hear it works so well for you, too.

If enough people refuse point blank to use self checkouts then they will eventually give up.

I live in the U.S but we don't have publix here.

Ah, MadamDS, it's like Waitrose in many ways then! That's owned by its employees, too :)

My DM has a bitch fit whenever she has to use one of these. It's hilarious!

My local Asda is hilarious these days. They have about six self services with conveyor belts which never have a queue and then open about two manned tills. Those two manned tills have about six people queuing each

The machines can be a nightmare. I did think I had the whole thing sorted out, and didn't have any problems with them for a few shops. Then they must have recalibrated the scales so I find now that things don't register on the scales or don't weigh what it thinks they should etc. And there's no option to say "ok I won't have that item". I know it's horrible (see thread on treating retail staff badly), but I've just walked away and left my pile of stuff there. I know they have to put it back and it's mean, but I just can't be bothered to hang around until someone eventually comes and sorts it out. Either they want to save money and they trust their customers, or they don't.

I won't queue for self-service. If I am in a queue and there's a choice of both, I wait for a manned till. I generally queue far less in Sainsburys than I do in Waitrose. Waitrose just take staff off the tills when it's quiet so whenever you go in you have to queue.

I actually find them ok when I've only got one or two items and it works. It's really efficient and quick. But it's so touch and go whether it will be quick. I do my main shop online (fabulous service) so generally only go into the shop for the odd extra. And I agree beau that the reason many independents are going out of business is because of the poor service they provide. It's fashionable to knock chains, but i my experience they are usually better.

I do my main shop online, still hate self service and will not use it if i can get away with it

Personally, I think they're the best things to happen to supermarkets. If they're not for you, vote with your feet

You have a choice of shops, presumably.

In my local Tesco metro, using the self service is much quicker than going through a till. It's not difficult.

I wont use them. Ever. Even if i was rushing in for one thing and there was an empty self service machine sat there.

I have used them - if DH is with me he'll sometimes say give it a go but i hate it.

My teen/20s DDs use them. They'll check out the queue at the self services before going to a manned till.

I do my shopping in a bit of a day dream though, very often in no rush. Drifting round idly chatting nonsense with DD4 (2) in the trolly seat. I go to the till in the same state and am happy to let someone else deal with the technology while i just bung my stuff in a bag.

Our local shop has just got rid of self service. Not because of the thousand complaints they got though. Because people were stealing from them.

I have a love/hate relationship with our Tesco's ones. I enjoy using them, they work a lot better than they did when they were first installed, and we rarely need to stand there waiting for staff - except when we're getting alcohol.

The machines do rush me, as I am clumsy (ms) and sometimes find it hard to see the coins in my purse, so pay a bit slowly. When the machine starts chivvying me, I answer it back, which both amuses and annoys me in equal measure.

I do love technology though. I read of all these things back in the 60s/early 70s, and feel like I'm living in Science Fiction Land. It's great

I also never use them on principle. If I want to work there, I'll fill in an application form. Why would I do I some of the store's work for them and still pay the same price for ex stuff? I don't accept the 'profits are down, they have to do something' excuse. These are greedy businesses, that are still making profits, but want to make more for the folk at the very top, so they look for all possible ways to take cuts from what workers and customers get. People have said on here that Aldi and Lidl don't do this and pay decent wages, so what's Tesco's excuse?

Other good reasons not to use them: the annoying announcements, and the speed - they aren't faster in any experience, and even for those of you who find them faster, it'll only be like that while other people use the staffed tills. Once the shops get their way and every till (or nearly every till) is self service, you'll be stuck behind the slowcoaches again like in the old days and you'll have to do all the work too. No thanks!

Tendon they're quicker because there are more of them, plus it's great to not have to talk to anyone. I had no idea some people were so against them.

I'm not sure I'd hold Lidl up as being a great employer, their staff aren't allowed to join a union, even Walmart in the UK allow that.

I think that manned checkouts and most call centres will have disappeared within 10-15 years. Everything will be self-serve/online.

Wh smiths is spot the member of staff. I've only ever used the self serve as no bugger about.

The sad truth is we (the public) want rock bottom prices and this means the big chains aggressively cost-cutting - I.e. Losing staff.

It IS annoying though.

I have to agree with Tendon - I like self-service machines. They are quick. I do not have to engage in inane chatter and can happily keep on working on whatever I am working on in my head. I am aware of the fact that they have a detrimental effect on the number of staff in the shop but on the other hand they also will have created jobs at the development and manufacturing side.

I usually use the self scanning thingys you carry round the shop with you in Tescos and pack my bags as I go, I like them. It did annoy me the other day when I only had a few things so used the self scanning till instead. When one item wouldn't scan I waved to the assistant who came over, she then spoke to me in a way that made me feel put down as I hadn't noticed the "item won't scan" button and it seems I should have known that I am suppose to enter all the numbers under the bar code, good job I don't need reading glasses.

I only have to look at the Sainsbury's uniforms to get the rage.

I'd love to have been in the branding meeting where they discussed the design.

"So, we want to stick with our orange logo - what colour would complement it nicely and bring the uniforms bang up-to-date?"
"How about a nice sunny yellow?"
"Hmm. Too cheery."
"White? Plain and classy."
"No, too minimalist."
"Orange and... bright blue, perhaps?"
"No! I'VE GOT IT! Sludgy maroon! Classic combination. Works perfectly with orange. Done."

I prefer self service checkouts