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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Had to scan my own shopping today on a normal till

89 replies

Legoandloldolls · 28/10/2020 16:03

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

OP posts:
Bluehasnoclue · 28/10/2020 20:27

A few of our local Wilkos have this so it must be more common than just one store! I also felt weird using the normal till OP!

windturbines · 28/10/2020 20:45

@Georgeoftheinternet

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.

A reduction in staff? I don't think so, most places have hired lots of people over the last 6 months. We can't get enough staff at the minute because we need people to monitor the number of customers entering the store, as well as CA's to work in hygiene control (on top of a normal level of staff working tills and stocking the store). Sales are also booming and extra staff will always be needed to keep up with the extra demand.

You also need to remember that due to the sheer number of people retail workers are surrounded by day to day, they will likely need to self isolate every few months (or even weeks) due to having Covid, Covid symptoms or track and trace. Therefore, leaving the shop with reduced staff levels. Self service helps keep the staff who work there in work for longer (less 1 on 1 contact with customers, so likely less chance of catching Covid), as well as helping protect staff who can't protect themselves due to irresponsible members of the public (people who don't socially distance/wear masks, people who don't self isolate, etc).

I also don't understand why you would try a coat on in store, most places have stopped this for a reason? It's a bit of a nuisance but please do try things on at home. Calling staff members 'idiots' for carrying out protocol for what their line managers have told them to do really isn't on, either. Do you think they honestly enjoy working at the minute? No. So stop being overly entitled and making it worse for them.

Ravenesque · 28/10/2020 21:06

Our Wilko does this and I like it. There's always someone there to help out if you're not sure exactly what you're doing and the person is generally someone I'm happy to chat to so all in all, a pleasant experience.

Georgeoftheinternet · 28/10/2020 22:54

@windturbines I can’t quote for some reason.

“A reduction in staff? I don't think so, most places have hired lots of people over the last 6 months. We can't get enough staff at the minute because we need people to monitor the number of customers entering the store, as well as CA's to work in hygiene control (on top of a normal level of staff working tills and stocking the store). Sales are also booming and extra staff will always be needed to keep up with the extra demand.”
None of that is happening in Manchester. They may have “hired lots of people” when normal staff weren’t working but I’ve shown you that only two or three staff are now required for 25-30 self check out tills.

“You also need to remember that due to the sheer number of people retail workers are surrounded by day to day, they will likely need to self isolate every few months (or even weeks) due to having Covid, Covid symptoms or track and trace. Therefore, leaving the shop with reduced staff levels. Self service helps keep the staff who work there in work for longer (less 1 on 1 contact with customers, so likely less chance of catching Covid), as well as helping protect staff who can't protect themselves due to irresponsible members of the public (people who don't socially distance/wear masks, people who don't self isolate, etc).“ do they? It’s just supermarket workers were breathing the same air as everyone else, without masks and no screens. I don’t see there being a huge outbreak amongst supermarket workers. There are no one tracking and tracing when visiting my large Asda or any other supermarket I’ve been to.

“I also don't understand why you would try a coat on in store, most places have stopped this for a reason? It's a bit of a nuisance but please do try things on at home. Calling staff members 'idiots' for carrying out protocol for what their line managers have told them to do really isn't on, either. Do you think they honestly enjoy working at the minute? No. So stop being overly entitled and making it worse for them.”
I wanted to know which coat fitted before I bought it.... why wouldn’t I try it on? How is an item of clothing any different to the other items in the shelves that everyone has been touching and breathing over?

It is stupid that that coat had to go into isolation for two days and that she had to hang it back on the hanger and thus touch it herself. Brainless. Also she didn’t keep her distance and wasn’t wearing her mask correctly. Lol.

Again I’ve told you they’ve reduced the staff working at the changing room, therefore job loss.

Also it’s a joke the “hand sanitising” and the wiping of the handlebars for the supermarket trolly. People grab it from outside, touch it, that use a spray gun that everyone else has used, give it a quick wipe, use the hand gel, and than continue to touch their phone/keys/face etc.

Hellomoonstar · 28/10/2020 23:59

It is not a covid measure and I hate them. Luckily I haven’t needed to use either shop, thank you for warning of possibly long queues depending which customers are at the till.

Legoandloldolls · 29/10/2020 09:10

It was also really short stocked in certain departments. Is that a common issue? They had no polish at all. One tub of brass polish alone on a shelf.

So generally giving out a closing down vibe. Like I say, if it was a proper self serve till, without a plastic screen and things on the belt to prevent you using it, or a one staff card till for those who cant use self scan, that would be ok.

But this set up gives me the feeling of generally half arsed, cant be arsed, shopping there is a inconvenience to the store vibe.

OP posts:
hennybeans · 29/10/2020 09:15

I had this in our Wilko's. I just found it bizarre and thought it would be hard for anyone with small kids, disabled, elderly to use.

The large B&Q near me is often only self check out, even before covid. The items they sell are often awkwardly shaped, random and not easy to scan. I won't shop there unless I have to.

Even the medium Sainsbury's near me only has self check out on weekday evenings. I often used to do a weekly shop then but twice had to put the whole large trolley through self check out which took ages and was ridiculous. They said a manned till couldn't be opened for me as there was nobody to do it.

I know it's the future, but I don't like it.

AmuckAmuckAmuck · 29/10/2020 09:21

@Legoandloldolls

It was also really short stocked in certain departments. Is that a common issue? They had no polish at all. One tub of brass polish alone on a shelf.

So generally giving out a closing down vibe. Like I say, if it was a proper self serve till, without a plastic screen and things on the belt to prevent you using it, or a one staff card till for those who cant use self scan, that would be ok.

But this set up gives me the feeling of generally half arsed, cant be arsed, shopping there is a inconvenience to the store vibe.

Agree completely. If it was a proper, thought out self scan like Tesco etc with a simple screen then fair enough, but these are actual tills with the seating area screened off, the till screen turned around to the customer.

It's neither one thing or the other. It's not a true self serve because the amount of people that can figure out its actually that when it looks like a standard checkout is small, and then when you've worked that out many need a member of staff anyway to show them how to operate the clunky system thats really aimed at a cashier with training.

It's madness and does feel a bit half arsed.

Babdoc · 29/10/2020 09:25

OP, Wilco is certainly not the only place you could have bought a mop.
There is this thing called the internet - you are on it right now - with hundreds of mops for sale!
Amazon alone has twenty different ones on the first search page. And it will be delivered to you with a digital checkout - no till, self service or otherwise. Grin

AlwaysCheddar · 29/10/2020 09:26

All wilkos do this. Stupid . Excuse to reduce staff.

Johnny1963 · 29/10/2020 09:31

So weird. I went to Wilko recently and was told to self scan at a staffed checkout. The woman on the till sat there watching me scan and then told me how to work the card machine. The elderly customers were really struggling but she said that was the new policy. Bizarre doesn't begin to cover it!

Whoooootaminute · 29/10/2020 09:37

The large B&Q near me is often only self check out, even before covid. The items they sell are often awkwardly shaped, random and not easy to scan. I won't shop there unless I have to.

That's odd as my local B & Q has done away with the self scan. I don't mind as it's a pita trying to manhandle large cumbersome items. You'd think they'd have the same rule in all stores though.

Whoooootaminute · 29/10/2020 09:40

This sounds terrible. I must say I haven't been to Wilkos in ages - going by this info I may never go again.

Shopping in general is a nightmare now - I only go to Morrisons or Aldi (occasionally M & S food), and decorating/DIY shops. I haven't set foot in a clothing shop since Feb?

Why can Wilko not scan your shopping when all the major supermarkets will do so? Makes no sense and surely will take customers much longer to do it.

Legoandloldolls · 29/10/2020 11:46

@Babdoc

OP, Wilco is certainly not the only place you could have bought a mop. There is this thing called the internet - you are on it right now - with hundreds of mops for sale! Amazon alone has twenty different ones on the first search page. And it will be delivered to you with a digital checkout - no till, self service or otherwise. Grin
But it would be insane to buy a £3 mop off Amazon surely? I bought a mop, bucket and some metal scooter things that I couldn't buy in Lidl. It's a really sad town centre of about 5 shops and the rest are closed. I couldn't post a mop to myself for £3.
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