to hate self service tills

[thewooster]

I know they have their uses and sometimes I have used them when desperate but I'm so clumsy and useless with the damn things.

Today I went to Poundland and they have removed the manned tills apart from one and replaced with self service. One grumpy assistant (and I dont blame her for being grumpy) was sorting out the same old problem with customers and I pondered whether to wait in the massive queue at the manned till or go self service.

I opted for self service because I needed to get the bus quickly and oh my god I messed it up by scanning my item twice and then I put my quids in and it wouldn't accept one. Grumpy assistant had to come over twice to help me.

I got really stressed out and it's happened to me in Sainsburys too where I keep putting unexplained items in the bagging area - is it me?

I know self service is the future but can't they keep a few more manned tills for people like me? I suppose it saves money but I actually put some items back on the shelf in WH Smith because of their self service till.

I work in a retail store with 1 Self service till. Obviously it works fine with me as I know their evil ways and it's good if I want to grab something quickly. With customers, it's slow, meaning that people scan their item through again because it doesn't beep or show up on screen,so we have to attend. I hate self service.

But in other retail stores they hate me. I hate it when it asks for assistance, even though everything was scanning through fine!

I agree about the no bag thing, it keeps asking if you want a bag, have you used your own bag and you just want to carry your carton of milk to the car!

And then it asks you again before you pay.

Also agree that it saves money but it is putting people out of jobs. How long before it's all automated with drones whizzing overhead.

God I HATE them!

As a reasonably competent person, I can't understand why I never go through one incident-free, usually with more than one incident per use.

If we have to use these wretched things, stores should give a small discount - say 5%

We have a love hate relationship! I love the fact that I don't have to rush packing because there is someone huffing and puffing behind me, I love that my kids can scan there stuff and feel grown up, I love that I can use up loose change. I hate, there is an unexplained item in the bagging area - no there isn't! "Please place the item in the bagging area" - its in the fucking bagging area! "Please wait for assistance" - great thanks I'll just stand here for 5 minutes looking daft while someone notices me

You think it's bad using them, try being the grumpy assistant that has to work them......

I hate them with a passion. The unexplained item is due to the scales not registering the weight the system thinks should be on it. So it thinks you're tying to scan a cheaper item and get away with paying.

Evil things.

Umm. Yes they have replaced workers and stores are employing less people. What a load of shit telling it doesn't do this.

I like the Tesco ones. The ones at Morrisons are the worst ever.

I agree though, manned tills have their place and should never be replaced.

The problem with them is their implementation in the UK.

In the states where they started the weight tolerances are higher so less issues with unexpected items or items weighing wrongly. Yes, it does mean there is scope for fiddling them by scanning cheaper items but if you get caught, they throw the book at you with no sob story excuses as to why you had to do it.

Here, they know the chances of getting a theft charge against someone for mis scanning is a lot lower and even if they did, chances are it would end up in the papers with a sad faced mother saying won't someone think of the children and they'd get off with it. Hence, the tolerances are almost zero with the resulting problems......

I don't understand why some are so shit and some are so great - ? I've used them in the States and they are great (none of this unexpected item nonsense) but I refuse to use the ones in Morrissons, you get stuck in self-service purgatory and need the staff to come over after scanning each and every item.

Since moving near a Waitrose we do the self-scan during the shop (self-scan and straight in the bag so at the end the only thing to do is scan in your shop, pay and leave) everything else feels backward. John Lewis tend to have a tentative grasp on technology at the best of times but this is one way they've got it exactly right. Who wants to transfer all their stuff from shelf to trolley, from trolley to belt, from belt to bag, etc when you can put it straight in the bag, pay and go?

I do understand the implications for staff are not good; this is often the case with technology.

Cross-post with woolythought. So now I know why some are great and some are shit.

I've walked off from the Lidl ones as they also have no assistant nearby to help when they malfunction.

Don't mind self serve but much prefer the scanner system. Pack shopping a you go, quick scan at the checkout, cards in and off I go - perfect with small people in tow

I like that I don’t have to speak to a human, I do t enjoy the fucking thing having 97 issues with my 2 items ...

I like them actually but they seem to attract even more professional faffing than the tills.

Disclaimer: patience is not one of my virtues.

I like doing my own scanning in Tesco. Self service tills are a good way of getting rid of the spare change in your purse too.

They work mostly fine for me. Sometimes cut cheese or bananas seem to have issues. Some people tell me that as a way of increasing the value of your shop these tills are excellent but I wouldn't advocate this on a public forum

I HATE THEM WITH A PASSION!!!!!!! I always queue for a proper till and ask for another till to be opened if the queue is long.

I like them but I like the self-scan in Tesco even more! Love just putting things in my bag as I go round the shop, scan my doofer at the end, pay and gone. No unloading the trolley, scanning and re-packing, pack as you go round!

Our local Coop has just put 2 of those tills in. Trouble is it's only for cards, who wants to pay for just a paper using a card?

I'm interested in the comment that more self-serve stations does not necessarily result in fewer jobs. I thought that was their purpose? Or have staff been redeployed to other things?

Off topic, but my local supermarket is giving (zero hours) staff fewer shifts, but has just taken on half a dozen sixth formers on lower hourly rates. The older ones aren't happy but are powerless.

YANBU these things would be fabulous if they ever worked.
This x 100

So can I just tip my jar of change in and it will count it, then I can pay the rest on card?

If you don't like the idea of that scrabbler why don't you write them a letter or email? They won't listen to staff but do take customer opinion in to account

I love them. I dont understand the angst at all.

There would have to be a bloody massive queue before I would even consider using one. I think theyre putting a lot of people out of jobs. Yes I know so do many things, but i really think automation is killing off all the working class jobs, and we should avoid adding to it if we can