AIBU to think that self service tills are horrible

[uglyflowers]

In my area there used to be lots of individual shops and a sense of community. Then they built a massive Tesco which put all the little shops out of business. But local jobs were promised instead. Then those staff members’ hours were cut so many were part time and had their living boosted by benefits. And now they are being replaced by machines. Near me they are trialling two completely self service supermarkets. So eventually all the poor bloody ‘key workers’ who risked their health during Covid and who pay income tax etc will be replaced with machines.
And what about shops as community hubs? Can’t be the local library for that since they closed ours down. So those people who are a bit lonely won’t even get their two minutes of chat.
Additionally I don’t WANT to scan my big shops. I like someone doing it. They get paid to do it. I don’t.
I think everyone should boycott them. They won’t use them if we refuse to.

@Blossomtoes

Anyone saying they want fewer self-service tills and more humans need to be prepared to pay higher prices. That's capitalism

On the contrary. Prices didn’t go down when they introduced self service tills.

That’s not how it works. Ever heard of inflation? Prices not going up is the same as prices going down.

@IamnotSethRogan

It's really not. Those staff can be deployed elsewhere in the store doing everything else.

I'm sorry but if you'll believe that, you'll believe anything

The same could be said about you. The staff absolutely are deployed elsewhere, just not where you can necessarily see them in your store. Just like the extra space from removing manned checkouts is really deployed for stocking more items. Who do you think is working in the tech sector creating this kit, engineering it, maintaining it, looking at machine learning algorithms to make sure that theft is managed etc etc etc. Look beyond the 4 walls and see where else that layout resource is redeployed.

I love self serve. Self scan is the best. Morrison’s self serve rolls are awful. I have anxiety and it is a blessing .

Profit margins are actually quite slim in food retail because consumers demand cheap food. Wages are always going to be the biggest overhead so staff are the first to go

Anyone saying they want fewer self-service tills and more humans need to be prepared to pay higher prices. That's capitalism

That might be the case in the UK, but where I live food isn't cheap, and supermarket owners do fairly well for themselves.

I shop at two different supermarkets, one has plenty of checkout staff (and even separate packers!) the other minimal - there's no difference in overall pricing, other than specials on that day.

It depends where u look.
On the careers page it will specify which position and hrs. This is to help with the fact that some positions are unsuitable for under 18’s.
So, you can just be on checkouts. Some other roles ( though) will expect you to help on checkouts when the queue gets above one person waiting!
I help checkouts / but l am in customer services. All of us are trained in the front end department! The staff that run the self serve are checkout staff anyway.
@Sparklingbrook :)

I’ll have a look at some point maybe. It might depend on the supermarket. As I say where friends work they don’t recruit just for people to sit on tills all day.

@withlotsoflove

I often use a tesco metro in London. They have a til with a human and about 8 self service tils....but the poor cashier has to not only serve at the actual til but also deal with all the many "issues" on the self service one.

@Yuckyfinger

I often use a tesco metro in London. They have a til with a human and about 8 self service tils....but the poor cashier has to not only serve at the actual til but also deal with all the many "issues" on the self service one.

That doesn’t surprise me one bit!

Just a reminder that if you don’t like self service tills please don’t take it out on the shop staff. I recently just left a retail job where I had to encourage people to use self service tills and the amount of abuse I’d get from customers who didn’t want to use them was unreal. Some days I’d be holding back tears while people shouted at me for just trying to do my job. Trust me, most staff would probably prefer to serve you on a normal till as well!

I absolutely love them! I much prefer to be in control and they're easy to use. And it’s always shorter queues at the self-service checkout.

The staff absolutely are deployed elsewhere, just not where you can necessarily see them in your store. Just like the extra space from removing manned checkouts is really deployed for stocking more items. Who do you think is working in the tech sector creating this kit, engineering it, maintaining it, looking at machine learning algorithms to make sure that theft is managed

That is very different - what people are saying is that the customer facing staff are being removed. And interestingly they are generally female, and tech staff are generally male. I would also imagine the tech staff are outsourced and don't work for the shops themselves - some of the machines are the same, eg Sainsburys/Boots/WH Smith, whereas Waitrose and M&S seem to use different ones.

And the tech staff devising these machines need to do some shopping and try them out themselves.

@withlotsoflove

There are still jobs available for just checkouts. However if you stubbornly refuse to use self serve / the “ till trained staff” from other departments will have to leave their job & serve you. This is exceptionally unfair on their department & and on the individual also - as they will get behind on working their own aisle / department.

It isn't unfair. If someone is waiting to be served, they should be served. Filling the shelves or chatting to your mates can wait.#

When I worked in a customer-facing role we were always told that if anyone was waiting to be served we stopped what we were doing and served them as a priority. That should be the case across the board.

It is annoying if shelves are not restocked as fast as people would like, but nobody should be waiting to be served if someone is available.

And nobody should be compelled to use a self-serve till.

I absolutely love them! I much prefer to be in control and they're easy to use. And it’s always shorter queues at the self-service checkout.

This! When I go to Wilko’s there is usually a long queue and barely any trying to use the self-serve. I go straight to it and I’m out of there within two minutes vs waiting however long it takes for the 3+ people with various items searching for cards and what not in front of me and with a twitchy toddler it’s wonderful.

If someone is waiting to be served, they should be served. Filling the shelves or chatting to your mates can wait.#

Ok, chatting to your mates is obviously ridiculous but can I ask why serving the customer is more important than placing stock? No stock leads to no customers so I would consider these to be equally important parts of a job.

I love them but I don’t use them because I’d rather have someone in a job than be able to buy my emergency ice cream, chocolate and wine without facing another human being (and having to add a salad bag for balance).

Love them. Always do shop and scan at Sainsbury's.

@igelkott2021 Filling the shelves can wait

No it can't. Shoppers would soon be complaining (and they do) when shelves are empty. Having stock on the shelves is just as important as having someone on the till. In fact, moreso, because it would take the staff even more time if they have to keep nipping off into the back to find stock items that people ask them for which aren't on the shelves. Just look at the current situation in supermarkets where shelves are empty because staff are isolating. In our local village Co Op, there was a couple of days last week when the crisp stand was literally completely empty. The boxes of crisps were in the back, but they had no staff to actually put them out! If more customers used the self service tills, the counter staff would have had more time to do shelf stacking.

@sst1234

So basically you are complaining about automation, not self service tolls per se. I guess luddites have been around for a long time, that nothing new. Change happens, get over it. When card arrives and horse and cart coachman went out of business, I’m sure some people felt the same then.

I'd suggest doing some reading about the Luddites before casually tossing it about as an insult.

Change happens, get over it Not much use to the Luddites - no dole at the time, no affordable regular transport to travel to a different job. They and their families faced starvation - they were not just thick idiots opposed to change. Not all all progress is good for everyone (or even the majority) - as in the case of the weaving frames, it enabled the enrichment of a few capitalists at the expense of the larger population of poorly paid workers.

@igelkott2021
It certainly is unfair for those on grocery to get behind on their own work / to support checkouts because Mr * is too stubborn to learn how to use them!
Queuing for one item - crazy!
Plus - l deal with the customers when they can’t find something. I know we have it in - but it hasn’t been worked!
Why? Because those colleagues are stuck on tills. So it’s very important to have products available for our customers- it’s why they’ve come in. Surely?

[quote Badbadbunny]**@igelkott2021* Filling the shelves can wait*

No it can't. Shoppers would soon be complaining (and they do) when shelves are empty. Having stock on the shelves is just as important as having someone on the till. In fact, moreso, because it would take the staff even more time if they have to keep nipping off into the back to find stock items that people ask them for which aren't on the shelves. Just look at the current situation in supermarkets where shelves are empty because staff are isolating. In our local village Co Op, there was a couple of days last week when the crisp stand was literally completely empty. The boxes of crisps were in the back, but they had no staff to actually put them out! If more customers used the self service tills, the counter staff would have had more time to do shelf stacking.[/quote]
Exactly!

@sst1234

So basically you are complaining about automation, not self service tolls per se. I guess luddites have been around for a long time, that nothing new. Change happens, get over it. When card arrives and horse and cart coachman went out of business, I’m sure some people felt the same then.

No, I’m complaining about shit, clunky technology. They malfunction constantly, they’re as far away from intuitive as you can get and they’re using customers to trouble shoot the design. I’m far from a Luddite but tech should make life easier and smoother not more difficult.

Your point about inflation is incorrect. At the time these abominations were introduced inflation was at historic lows.

I love self-service tills, I always choose to use them!

@igelkott2021

The staff absolutely are deployed elsewhere, just not where you can necessarily see them in your store. Just like the extra space from removing manned checkouts is really deployed for stocking more items. Who do you think is working in the tech sector creating this kit, engineering it, maintaining it, looking at machine learning algorithms to make sure that theft is managed

That is very different - what people are saying is that the customer facing staff are being removed. And interestingly they are generally female, and tech staff are generally male. I would also imagine the tech staff are outsourced and don't work for the shops themselves - some of the machines are the same, eg Sainsburys/Boots/WH Smith, whereas Waitrose and M&S seem to use different ones.

And the tech staff devising these machines need to do some shopping and try them out themselves.

It’s called change. It happens. Has done since the dawn of time, and will continue to do so. Checkouts cannot be retained as an exception.

I hate them and refuse to use them and will walk out of the shop without buying anything if there's no option of a staffed human checkout. However I have started using small independent grocery stores and have found some of the prices not too bad and that I actually spend a lot less as am not lured by supermarket promotions etc. In the future I can see my shopping habits changing if supermarkets don't offer choice of a manned till. Will abandon the large soulless supermarkets and use small independent shops and markets and leave the supermarkets for the shoplifters who take advantage of self service.

I love self service tills, and my choice of local convenience store is the one which has them, rather than the one which doesn't (both similar size, both smaller franchise chains, one a One-Stop, the other a Spar). Far quicker to use the self service tills, rather than be forced to wait in a queue behind people wanting to chat or taking forever to find their purse, or deciding they want something else and wandering back to the shelves whilst holding everyone up.

Yes, they're hard to use at first, sometimes clunky, but when you get experience in using them, where to put unscanned/scanned items, how to press buttons for weight of fruit/veg, when to present cards, etc., it gets easier and easier the more you use them.

In the store with them, the staff are actually out doing useful things on the shop floor, like stacking shelves, and are more accessible to ask questions rather than being stood behind a counter waiting for Aunt Ethel to find her purse!