To wonder why people hate the self check outs at supermarkets

[Mumto123monkeys]

It’s driving me a bit mad....people moaning.
I don’t get what’s wrong with them, I’ve heard ‘why would I use them, I don’t work hear’. But surely it shortens the que...

Also ‘I like to speak to people, not a machine’ ok....it’s not difficult to strike up a convo in most places...
and loads of others! Personally, I can’t see the issue! I use both, I prefer self serve-scan as you shop too, if it’s available! It’s much quicker, and the kids love it so helps keep them happy!
I know they can be glitchy, but some shops have got them really good!

I always pay on my Apple Watch anyway.

And then head home on your Back to the Future style hoverboard

I don't mind them. The poundland one near me had ones with a dracula voice last October that surprised me and made my kids laugh.

All the things I've read about loss of jobs with self-service say it's less lost jobs and more those staff are now put on other jobs that were previously already understaffed. Maybe more regulations on staffing are needed, but I think understaffing was already an issue and that this isn't changing it. Much like reports on robots being trialled in some US hospitals to help nurses do tasks - they're stretching what is already understaffed area for certain tasks.

I do hate the ones in the post office though unless I'm just buying an item which is pretty rare. There is too much on the screen and I always screw up when using it for posting things.

www.ziprecruiter.com/blog/automation-is-not-killing-retail-jobs/

Every one I use always has an issue and if buying wine it takes Tonja for the assistant to come and approve it. Weight is always dodgy somehow.

Still prefer them though

The checkout assistants at my local big supermarket told me that they now have less staff because nearly all the tills are self service.

@Ukelou, so are retailers training employees in these “excellent people skills” and how are they using them?

The tech just isn’t quite there and they malfunction too often.

They are too low and using them
Makes my back hurt.

I think they’re good if you only have a few bits if you’re just nipping in, it gets complicated with things like age restricted items or if the scale doesn’t work. I also like that you can chuck your pennies in them, I feel embarrassed counting them out at a till.

Half the time the queues for self checkout are massive anyway.

I was in a huge Tesco the other day. Only had one staffed til and exactly half the self checkouts were out of order. Then a customer had an Un-priced item...,

Because they dont work, take longer as i ave to ask for help.

“The checkout assistants at my local big supermarket told me that they now have less staff because nearly all the tills are self service.”

Surely that’s the whole point?

I wonder how many women have lost work? Till staff are overwhelmingly female.

My local small Asda only has self checkouts now so I rarely shop there.

Thankfully my local small Co op only has manned tills.

I loathe self scan checkouts.

Interesting the person who ridiculed those of us who hate self scan by saying people hated supermarkets when they first came in and complained about the trolleys.
My guess is you are younger and are saying what you have been told/read. I remember supermarkets coming in. Most people loved them as there was so much more choice. But yes there was lots of complaining about trolleys as they were totally rubbish then. It was common to struggle to steer them. I have never had a trolley for decades that performed as poorly as the ones back then. People complaining were not resistant to new technology, the technology was just rubbish. And it is the same with scan checkouts.

@ukelou that article you have linked to does not actually provide any statistical proof that self checkout is not reducing numbers of jobs. It just makes vague claims that are not substantiated at all. Frankly I think it is rubbish. It is clear to anyone that the reason for self check outs is to reduce staff numbers.

I find the idea that supermarkets would do anything purely to help the customer, if it didn’t positively impact their bottom line, absolutely ludicrous.

I find the idea that supermarkets would do anything purely to help the customer, if it didn’t positively impact their bottom line, absolutely ludicrous.

Helping the customer includes providing choice, i.e. the choice to be able to use self-checkouts. It may actually increase their trade. Near work, I have a choice of a Spar (manned tills) or a Co-Op (manned and self serve). Having got thoroughly fed up of waiting behind a Gladys or Hilda in Spar who decides to do her weekly full shop during the peak lunchtime trade then recounts all the lengthy boring detail of her cat's grooming habits as the queue gets longer behind her, I now usually go to the Co Op where I can be in and out in a couple of minutes.

I remember supermarkets coming in too & there was absolutely no backlash, people where I lived were over the moon to have more choice & more workable opening hours. The trolleys were really awful big heavy clunky things with poor steering though, especially for the elderly & anyone with back trouble, so no surprises that people complained about those

@Kazzyhoward, what was my dog, Gladys, doing in Spar? There isn’t one within miles of where we live. I don’t understand why she didn’t just pop into Tesco.

And lets be honest, self scan checkouts are hardly cutting edge technology. I find the idea that all but a very few people would be resistant to these because they are new technology, pretty laughable. People are resistant because they are crap technology. If you want people to welcome the new technology that saves you money, there has to be a pay off for customers.

The introduction of places with all self scan does make me worried for disabled people. Surely these places have to provide someone who is disabled and can not manage these checkouts?

@jennymanara Did you mean my post about the documentary I saw about supermarkets? I wasn’t ridiculing anyone, I just thought it was an interesting comparison that’s all.

Yes I’m a very young 52.

And the documentary showed interviews with people at the time saying they didn’t like the new supermarkets - I’m sure lots did like them, but the documentary showed some didn’t.

Everytime i’ve used one i’ve had an issue. I have no patience for technology at the best of times. Quicker using a proper till manned by an actual human.

@puppymonkey No it wasn't your post.
Some people did not like the supermarkets as they worried about the destruction of local independents. This is still the case in many smaller places. But the reality is many people quickly abandoned shopping in local independents and moved to supermarkets.

Bloody loathe them. Whatever I do with my bag causes a problem. Then I have to wait for bloody assistance. It's a bag in the bagging area you fuckup. I'll go to a person thanks.

@TheRedBarrows yes it is the point but earlier in the post someone was saying the introduction of self service tills hadn't led to job losses because the staff removed from the tills had been employed elsewhere in the shops. I've never believed that which was why I asked the staff in my local supermarket.