To think this is why the high street is failing?

[MiamiWindMachine]

I’m off on holiday in a couple of days, so thought I’d go up to the big shopping centre for a couple of last minute things.

In the massive H&M, all the tills bar one had been converted to self-service. The ones on the floor I was on were ALL closed. I went down to the lower floor and there was a huge queue, because no one could work out the machines. There was a step to remove security tags, and people couldn’t work out whether this was only for those plastic tags or if there was some flag on the barcodes for lower value items. Someone else was trying to process a return via these tills. When a member of staff eventually appeared, she confirmed returns could only be processed at a manned till. The customer pointed out that there were no manned tills. The staff member had no idea who to ask about it, then disappeared to find someone, so the queue was getting even longer.

I was on the way out about 15 minutes before closing time and went past M&S. I thought “I wonder if the Bureau de Change is still open” and went to check. The woman saw me approach and had a pained look on her face, saying “Arrgghh, I’ve just cashed uuuppp!” I was a bit taken aback, but said “Oh well, never mind. What time do you close, for future reference?” She then reluctantly admitted that she was supposed to be open until 8, but said “But I do start cashing up at around 7.30”. I was about to ask why when she started saying, “It’s fine; I’ll do it, I’ll do it”, like she was doing me a massive favour. I tried to pay on Revolut and she said “We can’t take those cards!”, as if it was somehow obvious. I asked about Apple Pay and she said, “No, it has to be a proper bank card or credit card”. I therefore went to pay with my credit card and she said, “You do know we have to charge a fee for these, don’t you?” I said I didn’t have a choice given she’d rejected two other payment methods.

I then went down to foods to grab a ready meal and some wine. I went to a manned till as I had alcohol and the girl said, “Oh, could you go to the self-service? It’s just that I’m closing this one”. I asked about the alcohol and she said, “I can approve that from here; it’s just that it’s easier for me”.

I feel like we’re constantly told in the media “Use it or lose it” re: the high street; how sad it would be if we lost the personal touch. From what I could see yesterday, one store has done everything possible to eliminate personal interaction, while in the other, the staff are more bothered about their convenience than the customers’. Is it any wonder that people would rather click a couple of buttons to get something delivered?

You are being unreasonable about having to use debit or credit cards to buy currency. It is because of government legislation around money laundering, nothing to do with the store.

Similar experiences. Go to an m&s, only self checkout available, left with security tags on clothing so returned when I could to ask them to remove.

Boots, bought some makeup, no one to help you take security tags off so have to find somewhere quiet to sit in JL to try to tear the impossible things off to stop every security machine going nuts for the rest of the day whilst I attempt to find a single piece of clothing that isn’t expensive polyester and foul to boot. Shops are full of literal rags (Zara, wtf even are those paper clothes)

Doing all shopping online from now on. Can’t be bothered with it anymore.

Why shouldn’t you have to pay for parking? Do you think you’d ever actually find a space if it was free?

Then stores will have a disability case brought against them.

It was really not that long ago - about 20 years - that it was easy to find free parking. You really only had to pay for parking in central London, and if you wanted to park right next to high streets and large venues. We used to never pay for parking. Parked 5 minutes away and walked. Not possible these days.

Yes, in the same way that we no longer have people walking in front of cars with red flags, or people delivering coal to homes, or people lighting gas lights in the street. Things change. Lots of jobs have disappeared over the past couple of centuries, lots of new jobs have appeared. There weren't many web designers in 1850! In another 50 years there'll probably be no shop staff serving customers, they may even be no shops as we know them.

Car ownership has gone through the roof in the last few decades. If parking were free the supply would never meet the demand.

I don't mind paying some for parking, but its annoying its just stupid prices now, you want to go out and get something - its so much cheaper and easier to do online shopping

So all the people who work part time in shops because it suits their needs from should retrain as web designers? Or just be unemployed? Rather than having people doing a job the public are actually asking for people to do jobs in?

Of course you could back a couple of decades in most places, before councils put double yellow lines everywhere, pedestrianised all the streets, put in loads of street furniture, traffic calming islands, bus lanes, residents permit parking schemes, etc. Councils have caused the congestion, caused the "need" for expensive car parks for revenue generation.

When I walk around our local city, there are loads of "empty" roads within easy distance of the central shopping area where parking isn't allowed, mostly empty resident parking streets, or double yellows for no obvious reason, etc., also several "access only" roads where cars aren't allowed which are wide enough easily for on street parking, but purposely kept empty for the odd bus or lorry.

I am not arguing against it. I am explaining why people complain about a lack of free parking. Although in my City parking prices are so high that a lot of parking spaces are always empty. They see that as a win as if people are using public transport. In reality they are simply not coming into the City any more.

That Poster was me. Firstly, I was clearly being flippant in response to the “ I’m alright Jack, get with the 21st century” posts.
I wfh sometimes myself, and am lucky enough to have a large family and several friends. Not everyone is so lucky.
If we are to make allowances for anxiety or introversion as reasons to not want open the front door, then it should be easy to understand that some people do actually want to see humans in real life.
Maybe take things a tiny bit less literally! It’s just a discussion.

You were taking the piss of people, being nasty.

I don't have an issue with people wanting to go to shops or wfh or not answering their door or shopping online. You were the one taking the piss of a certain group, which others picked up on too. Now trying to back pedal. 🙄

You could say the same of miners, shipbuilders, red flag bearers, coal men, etc. It's called change and it's been happening at pace for a couple of centuries.

I'm sure that some people enjoyed being street gas lamp lighters back in the day, but they lost their jobs when electric street lighting was introduced!

You can't hold back progress because of luddites who don't want change.

That's interesting. I must be alot older than you because that wasn't a thing when I was younger, until I reached 18 and could prove my credit score. I had a debit card for a year until I could get a credit card from the same bank. I've just checked my childrens building society online, to see if my children could have a debit card. It stated that children cannot have one linked to their account. I think it's different here.

I used to work on an industrial estate with limited parking on site (ie not big enough car parks) and no road parking and no transport links - it was a NIGHTMARE!! so stressful

I want to buy clothes in person. Quality of fabrics and sizes are too variable to order online. But every time I try they have hardly any sizes and just tell you to order online. The in person shopping experience has deteriorated so much.

"Flippant" comments that looked exactly like you were taking the piss out of people who don't like opening their door.

Maybe try remembering that through text you cannot convey the intended tone, and so "flippant" can come across as "nasty" very easily.

And also decide whether you think flippant remarks about people's lives are actually appropriate.

It is also why mega garden centres selling lots of things unrelated to gardens have exploded over the last decade. At my nearest one you can buy food, clothes, toys, etc. It is more like a small department store. But they keep a lot of sizes in stock and customer service is very good. I bought some chinos purely because I could try them in first.

One of the large towns near me has free parking for two hours on a Saturday, probably to encourage people to shop there a bit.

And that's the reason some areas of the country are now struggling for employment. Because the jobs that replaced things like miners are based in the city, not where the miners were.

The same thing will happen to retail workers. They won't be able to get to the jobs that replaced them, if they even manage to retrain to do them, because they'll all be based in London offices and not where they live.

£24!!

Where the hell was that?

No I can do it you are right. I just don't want to. I don't want to load all my shopping, then cannot all through still on my own while the fucking thing feels at least I haven't put my item in the bagging area quite quickly enough, or because it decides it doesn't weigh the right amount. Then call someone over 4:5 times to correct or authorise things. Plus I have come to the realisation that it's actually quite nice to interact with someone and having no interaction after the shopping experience. I absolutely refuse to use the scan as you go along after basically being accused of stealing because one item hadn't scanned when they did a check. Never again, he was so rude. If the supermarkets want you to their work for them and take I the extra profit from employing fewer staff, they need to expect and swallow a few customer scanning errors.

Similarly, I do all my shopping online as it's easier (and I'm disabled) and often cheaper, but I don't enjoy it, it's a chore. I used to love a day out shopping. But it's very hard to get yourself back into the habit especially when the experience is nowhere near as good as it used to be.

What companies do you use? I’m done with supermarkets, the food is always rotten and obscenely expensive.

I can do it, I know how to do it, I just don't want to.

So unless there's no other option, or I'm truly desperate, the shops with manned tills or online retailers will get my money.

I self checked out a trolley load for the first time the other day and tbh it was less stressful because I could do it at my own pace. Checkout operators always seem to be trying to break some sort of speed record. There is the odd one who will match their scanning speed to your packing speed but they are few and far between.