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?

@BobnLen and why don't you want to use them? Ridiculous

Well, not to be cheeky but Kwik Save closed down nearly 20 years ago.. so I don't think we can assume what happened there and then is standard practice now.

And if that's not the case in a shop, the workers should challenge it.

I absolutely refuse to self scan. I am trying to
protect retail jobs. I don’t think I will be giving my custom to Asda again as my nearest one seems to have removed all staffed checkouts whereas my local Tesco has plenty.

Is this linked to the tip system I wonder?

Refuse? No. I want to be served, by a human, human interaction is important. I value the human, chat about their day, make eye contact, thank them for their service. That's the point of shops, it's called customer care.

She didn’t complain though? The cashier admitted she liked to cash up early

Where I grew up (small market town) a new M&S food hall opened up. It closed after a couple of months, as although the local demographic is its core target (affluent retirees with time to spare to browse the organic salads), it only had self-service checkouts. My parents went once and didn't like it.

I now go to a bigger supermarket that's further from my house, because they always have at least two manned checkouts. I use a smaller Boots where you can pay at the pharmacy counter. I buy from charity shops where possible, using cash. I have a contrary nature and it feels like a small way to rebel.

I also remember back in the day Oxford St being a destination for meeting your mates on a Saturday afternoon to browse Topshop and HMV.

Well, yes I said it was when I was a teenager so I wasn't claiming it was recent.

Is this Barclays? The falsely smiling “guards” wielding iPads is actually rather scary.

it really sad the way its going i cant buy clothes online they never fit sizes all over the place soon i wont have a choice

they didnt even bother with self serve in our h an m just shut it

You’re not wrong. Last time I was in Westfield Stratford in June it also seemed chaotic. I went into M&S, Arket, Cos, Zara and H&M and it all seemed chaotic with most things I wouldn’t want to buy.

The self service checkouts I’ve used in Zara but that’s irritating too as you just think (or I do) why can’t I go to a manned till (yuu can do this too) but they seem to want to put you off the whole shopping experience.

I think these issues are all symptoms rather than the cause. People shop online for various reasons - convenience, more options etc. And now those who shop in fast fashion shops such as H&M are buying the same clothes from places like Shein for a fraction of the cost.

It’s not some big conspiracy, its 100% linked to advancement in technology

Well said! 👏👏👏

The issue of staff having to cash up, clean the coffee machine, clean the kitchen etc before closing time, or not get paid for it is an eternal one, isn't it. I once worked in a supermarket where the alarm would go off if we hadn't all clocked out and left the store within 10 minutes of the store closing (or thereabouts, it's 20 years ago). You can bet the front door was looked at least 10 minutes before then 😬 Earlier than that on the specific days we could expect two particular customers to turn up half hour to 20 minutes before closing time and both strolling around, doing a massive, trolley-piled-high shop, and then still having to get stuff scanned and packed once we were closed.

Can’t believe some of the posts on here. If a service is advertised as being available up to 8pm then it should be available till 8pm, not 7.30pm or 7.45pm. The OP is doing nothing wrong, she is using an advertised service, during its opening hours. It is ridiculous to say to her, to take it up with the company.

“you cannot expect staff to go "over and above"”. The OP is not expecting the member of staff to go “over and above”, she is expecting the member of staff to carry out the service that they are supposed to provide, again in this case (as the member of staff admitted) staying open till 8pm.

This is me.

I very rarely shop in actual shops for anything other than food.

I started shopping online in 2003, when I realised it was:
a) cheaper (because no use of petrol to drive the 40 miles round trip to the nearest High Street shopping centre and no parking fees to pay) and
b) easier to get things in my size (at the time, I was size 8 and shops rarely had things in my size).

I often used to go to the shops (usually M&S or Next) and find something I liked but not in my size, then go home and order it online. I realised that it was a waste of time and money to drive to the shops, so I went fully online.

I have no idea which shops are in my local High Street because I haven't been there for over 20 years.

Maybe. I was in USA for two weeks this summer and even clothing stores had the option for a tip on the payment screen.

I do agree that staff were very helpful and friendly I stil declilned to tip though

Went to M&S and only way to pay is digital unless you want real hassle. I wanted to pay £6 in cash and it took ages! But the machine also messed me about re tags on sandles (bought two pairs) - only saw socks after I had paid and really did not want that hassle again.
Iceland take cash and also have manned tills. Aldi has some manned tills. Tescoes, Sainsburys and Asda have increasingly few manned tills. Not everyone wants to use their card - I prefer my bank to be oblivious to what I spend my money on, if at all possible! - but it is getting increasingly difficult to use cash (people should think carefully about this one, as removing the use of cash is a way towards social control and monitoring people's lifestyle) or to find anyone to help in a shop, whether it's a grocers' or a clothes shop.
But shopping online is only feasible for some things e.g. shoes really don't work online. And there is no-one there to ask for assistance at all!

Surely it is illegal not to pay her past her shift if she is having to cash up.

Thankfully the coffee shop chain my daughter works for pays her for an an hour after closing to do cashing up/clean up tasks. (Half an hour would probably suffice for retail).

I won't use self service tills unless I only have 1-3 small items. They never work right and it takes an age to get your shopping through.

The worst was last week in Selfridges in London though. My daughter wanted to try on a couple of items of clothing and they were security tagged to the rails. We waited over half an hour for an assistant to appear to ask if she could untag them. The only staff were concession staff associated with one brand only) and they couldn't do it and had no idea how to contact someone. We were on the verge of walking out. In the end we found someone with a name badge on who we assumed was sales staff but he turned out to be a cleaner. He was so helpful and radioed his superviser and eventually, after waiting another 10 mins) a sales assistant came.

(On the other hand I get great service in Selfridges in Manchester)

working over time for no pay isn't altruistic, it is wage theft. And if you're earning minimum wage it takes you under the basic legal pay threshold.

If it takes overtime to provide a proper service to customer then you should be paid for it.

How on earth is that entitled? The service is open until 8pm, no doubt to allow people to use it after work. It really annoys me to make an effort to get to a shop at 5pm that says it is open until 5.30pm to find it closed already.

Thank you. Spot 0n.

I think most people can and do use these methods. The issue arises when something goes wrong - an item won't scan, a discount's not removed, a tag won't come off, the price is wrong, something needs to be approved, you'd store card won't scan, a voucher or gift card won't scan.

So much to go wrong, not enough staff to deal with the problems.