To wonder about self checkout etiquette?

[Magentaplasticglasses]

I was at the self checkout in Sainsbury's local earlier. I scanned and paid for my shop, and I started packing it into a carrier bag.

I heard a noise next to me, turned around and a woman had put her shopping in my ( now empty) basket and started scanning her shopping before I'd even had chance to finish packing. She glanced at me but didn't say anything to me and didn't seem annoyed or hostile.

The self checkout consists of a shelf for a basket the scanning screen and a surface for scanned shopping. It's not a multi user unit.

The shop wasn't busy, the other self check out was available, and both were card only. There also wasn't a big queue for the manned tills. There was 2 members of staff and 2-3 people.

I didn't say anything to the woman because I was just so baffled that she was there. Surely etiquette is to wait for the first person to have taken their basket and left before you start loading up your items and scanning, and the alternate option is to use the other available self checkout?!

I'm not annoyed or anything, I just found it odd!

YABU - The woman was following the proper etiquette of supermarket self checkouts

YANBU - The woman's behaviour was odd and she should have used the other self checkout

The screen doesn't clear for the next shopper until all packages are removed from the bagging area (unless it was one of those very basic ones that don't weigh the shopping - not many of those around though) so I don't see how she could even do that! Very odd

Surely you pack as you go? It’s set up so that you put your bag on and scan everything straight into it, then pay, pick up your bag and leave.

If I was lugging a heavy basket of shopping and I saw you’d finished paying then I probably would put my basket down on the assumption that you were about to walk away.

Until you've cleared your shopping nobody can do anything as it doesn't work, it's a scale

Yep, she was being weird.

That'd not always the case in the Local stores - there's no scales at my nearest Sainsbury Local's self checkout.

I never pack as you go at self service, most machines can't cope with the bag on the scales, either it has to be "approved" by the staff which takes time when no one is free or if it doesn't need approval the bag still seems to mess up the scales and will get "item not packed" which also needs staff to sort.

For speed I pack into bag after I've paid.

But the other womans approach was weird.

It depends on how much you're buying/ what bag you're using though. If I've got dedicated bags for a decent amount of shopping, yes pack as I go. If I've got a couple of items I'm going to carry home in e.g. my laptop bag I'm not going to faff around trying to get the machine to accept the weight of my laptop bag, I'll put the items straight onto the packing scale and pack them into my bag after paying.

The scale is under the belt that's how self scan works to stop people scanning a tv as a banana

That might be the case where you shop.

There's no scale at my local Sainsbury Local self checkout.

1, how would you know you can't see it and 2, how does a self scan machine work without weighing what you scan to check your not stealing

That's impossible. You carnt start scanning untill the previous customer removes their shopping

It's easy to tell. All it takes is a bit of basic observation. For example, I can scan two things in a row without setting one down...

It's the same at my Sainsbury's Local too, no separate bagging area, no belt, no scale. Being a 'Local', they don't sell TVs...

The scale never recognises my empty shopping bag (presumably because it's a dense-ish cloth), so I can't pack as I go without fannying about getting a member of staff to authorise it first. The woman's behaviour was weird and aggressive, and YANBU, OP.

Unless it's made idiot proof I still manage to get confused as to which side to put my basket before scanning 😬.

Do you refuse to use cash machines to withdraw cash, pay in, check balances, etc?

Do you refuse to use self service petrol pumps?

I'm surprised you even use supermarkets where you have to pick your own food from the shelves. Wouldn't you prefer an old fashioned "open all hours" shop where the shopkeeper gets everything from shelves behind the counter and puts it in your basket for you?

Do you refuse to book holidays/flights etc online and insist on going into travel agents instead for them to book for you?

Our Sainsburys local also doesn’t have a scale in the ‘packing area’, very easy to tell as you don’t need to put the item down, kids lean on it etc with no issues. Assume they’ve made the calculation that the items they sell vs space cost time etc is worth the risk someone might scan a banana instead of a cake 🤷‍♀️

(I also pack once I’ve paid, the self service tills with the scales are just a faff if you try to get them to weigh bags most of the time)

That’s happened to me too. Also at Sainsbury’s, but a couple of years ago. If iirc I was still collecting my change and hadn’t even begun to sort my shopping and suddenly realised a woman was standing next to me and trying to scan her shopping. Unfortunately, I was too shocked to say anything. I’m not the tallest of people, but definitely not invisible!

Thank you @Biscuitsandpizza and @SilverPuffin for confirming that I'm not a total idiot! It's a common mumsnet trope, that just because someone else hasn't experienced something, it can't possibly be true.

I know this is not really the point of the thread, but if you have a Nectar card op, wouldn't you prefer to use Smartshop, so that you scan and load your bags as you go and then you could avoid the self service checkout but just pay at the Smartshop pay point?

To answer your original question though, the person after you should have waited for you to leave the area. She may have had a heavy basket, but she still needs to wait her turn and not rush you!

Do they do that in Sainsbury Local? I think I've only ever seen that in bigger stores.

This. Most “local” ones don’t seem to have scales anymore. Tbh you should pack as you go rather than pack at the end as it holds up others.

Ah, I missed that bit of detail No not smaller branches and yes, I was talking about the larger one in the retail park.

Our small one doesn't even have self checkout! Even so, I think the person behind needs to wait or go to another available checkout.