Had to scan my own shopping today on a normal till

[Legoandloldolls]

In Wilko today. I was asked I wanted to pay by card and was directed to a normal till. They had blocked the belt off so i there was a upturned storage box to balance your basket on but only about 5 inches of the top of the conveyor belt. I had bought a mop and bucket and various other things so I scanned it on the floor. It was my choice to scan it on the floor as I just didnt want the faff of balancing it all on the minuscule make shift storage box. Then had to use the till screen and walk to end of the till to pay.

I know it's a first world issue but I hate self serve even when it's set up properly. Scanning my stuff at a proper till felt very depressing. I think it's just grim that some shops are so tight they wont even employ staff to run a till.

It's another depressing experience during the pandemic on the high street. If they had the full belt to use maybe it wouldnt have been so bad. I felt like I was being a CF wanting to shop in there. Mind you there was no where else to buy a mop, but if there was a choice I wouldn't rush back

It's really not hard to self scan. I did so in Wilko today with zero difficulty. Anyone able bodied and sighted finding self-scan a nightmare is being a touch precious.

Shops are evolving. That's what they do. Was there uproar when supermarkets started trading and you had to select your own items rather than asking the shopkeeper to get it for you? Probably. But everyone eventually did it and the world didn't end.

Self scan is just sensible during Covid; it saves unneccesary human contact. Sanitise your hands afterwards and all is well.

We have this in Wilko, I don't mind self-scanning as the assistant is hovering nearby and very helpful but it's awkward as they still have a plastic barrier so hard to move your things down the conveyor (not that it's a conveyor belt, that would help).

I don't mind self scanning, but not at all content with Wilko where you have to use a hand-scanner that will have been touched by dozens of people, no sign of any anti-bac or wipes etc. At least with supermarkets etc., they have fixed scanners so you only touch your own picked items.

Yanbu. Our local wilko have started this since COVID. The worst part is the fact they’ve left up the Perspex screen installed to protect the staff and turned off the conveyor belt. So you have to reach around the screen and chuck your stuff to the end to pack it.

Lazy and not customer friendly. I used to get essentials from there every time I was in the city but have stopped bothering now.

Our Wilkos have always been cheap as fuck when it comes to staff. Never enough on even before covid, so I avoid going there when there's an alternative.

Our local petrol station (esso) makes you self scan non petrol items and they do the petrol bit themselves. I managed to fry their hand held scanner 🥺 so won’t be buying anything other than fuel from them in the future. I have form for frying electrical equipment.

@DisgruntledSnowman

It's really not hard to self scan. I did so in Wilko today with zero difficulty. Anyone able bodied and sighted finding self-scan a nightmare is being a touch precious.

Shops are evolving. That's what they do. Was there uproar when supermarkets started trading and you had to select your own items rather than asking the shopkeeper to get it for you? Probably. But everyone eventually did it and the world didn't end.

Self scan is just sensible during Covid; it saves unneccesary human contact. Sanitise your hands afterwards and all is well.

The issue isn't self-scanning, it's having to use a normal till which isn't set up for the purpose when you have to do all this ridiculous moving back and forth, balancing your goods, and manoeuvring round screens.

Frankly I haven't come across this yet as have only done the self service in Morrisons. If it happens to me I shall dump all my basket/trolley and leave. Stuff that for a game of soldiers!
Shops take enough money from us so damned well employ sufficient staff to serve us.
In fact give employment to those who are losing theirs jobs now.
I really feel for those mums with kids in tow and the elderly.

The Wilko self service in our town is cobbled together and shite too.

I made the mistake of using it once. Never again.

I had to do it Matalan the other day. I have never worked in a shop, so don't know how to take the security tags off clothes and I couldn't find the price tag either. Had to call the assistant over a few times for help.
It would be ok if it was just a temporary measure to keep shop staff safe, but there will be an obvious cost saving in labour if it works, so sadly it will likely mean more job losses, when shops don't revert back to manned tills.

I encountered this months ago in Wilko when they first reopened, the assistant called me down and asked if I was paying by card and would I like to use self service.

Me "Yes, okay where is it?"
Assistant "Here, at this till"
Me "You mean actually use your till?"
Assistant " Yes, I'll tell you what to do"
Me "Isn't it quicker if I put my items on the belt and you scan them rather than having to lift them up and down in my basket?"
Assistant "Yes, you're absolutely right. In fact I think it's ridiculous too. You know what I'm going to do just that, I don't care if they see me and send me home. They haven't thought this through"

She was great. You can tell this has been devised by someone who's never worked on the shop floor.

Weirdly years ago, Wilko were one of the first to have self service machines before any of the big supermarkets but removed them as so much stuff was being stolen.

I had to do this in Wilkos and I agree it's really fiddly and annoying with the screen and everything being in totally the wrong place! It was such a faff to put stuff in bags then go back up to pay and so on, I really disliked it. I really want to support high street shops but it's like they're trying to make it as horrible as possible, even given the restrictions they don't have to actively make it shit for people.

My local wilkos has been like this since the start of the pandemic. I think theyve reduced the staff to try to reduce contact with customers. It's a strange experience using their normal till system than an actual self service station like in Tescos for example.

It must be a thing for Wilko, I saw the same the other day. I don't have an issue with self service but this wasn't really set up properly for it, it seemed weird and there was an older lady having trouble so needed assistance anyway, so didn't seem to reduce contact or time.

I’ve had that too at Wilko and it’s not well set up so it still involves a staff member coming over to sort it all out.

Matalan treat you like a biohazard and won’t go near the customers now unless it’s to issue great lists of what you may not do.

The scanners at Asda are ok in theory but I’ve rarely had a time when it hasn’t got stuck or announced I’ve been selected some random check..so once again you’re waiting about trying to attract someone’s attention.

I generally hate self service but in my Wilko there are members of staff supervising the self service tills. The first time I used it I was like a div and at the end I told the member of staff she could have done it quicker. I've used it a few times and I don't care if I'm slow but it beats standing in a queue when on my lunch break.

I had this in Wilko today, I found it terrifying I almost had a panic attack

This sort of thing just sends me online.

Same. And, sadly, lining Jeff Bezos' pockets even more, although I do try to avoid Amazon as much as I can.

The way shops handle covid is affecting my buying decisions now and in the future. My local aldi put up signs about social distancing and that was it, no enforcing anything, no screens to protect staff etc even at the height of the first wave. So much though I love aldi products, they have simply lost my custom for good. My local Wilko too, because their management of risk was also awful.

I really do worry that all of these 'it's for covid' set ups will stay around now, destroying any semblance of customer service, which can be so vital in making shopping accessible for people with additional needs, people who just need a friendly or familiar face once a day, not to mention the impact on the job market.

I was also going to complain about Matalan - our Wilko still has staff. They literally just twirled the screen around and expect you to know how to navigate scanning in your Matalan card, using vouchers, removing tags and paying all on software designed for staff. I used to work at PC World and there is no way customers could have used theirs with all the menus!

Our Wilkos does this. It's really easy to do and means I can get out quicker. They have someone on the door counting people in and out and managing the queue, a really good set up. If they had Scan as You Shop it would be even better.

Big Asda near me has got rid of 80% of checkouts. Now 30 self check outs are maned by two staff.

The staff told me to take a jacket of and that it had to go into isolation. I told them they were being idiots, me trying on a coat isn’t going to spread corona.

So far corona has:

Shut the changing rooms
Reduced check out staff
Encouraged people to scan their own shopping.

Will lead to a reduction in staff for all supermarkets - congrats staff workers.

This happened to me at wilkos recently and although I was a bit surprised at the time it was such a non-event I completely forgot it even happened and you've Just reminded me that it did. Didnt even occur to me that l it was because the shop were being tight. i just assumed they were getting us through the tills in the most socially distance friendly way possible to prevent a queue or bottleneck?

My Wilko started doing that in the summer. As you say, it’s not a proper self service till.

Ours have done this for ages ........they then like to hover round like we're thieves.

So I don't go in Wilko anymore. 💁🏻‍♀️