to hate H&M self service

[Omnium]

Bought 3 things in H&M, and as there was only one till open and a queue, I used the self service machine.

Just went to wear the jumper now- and it's still got the fucking magnetic anti-theft thing clamped on it.

How can I get it off? I really don't want to traipse all the way back into the city centre (2 buses) for them to remove it.

I don't mind straightforward self service but this has pissed me off. Just annoyance, inconvenience and extra expense for the customer- all so the business can make more money.

Any practical ideas on how to remove the device welcome.

I think its fun. You get to see if a job in retail is for you by practicing your till skills on yourself.

You said this ..

If you want to be waited on then learn to queue patiently

Waited on?

As if expecting to be served in a shop is somehow an entitled thing to expect or that wanting a human being to serve you makes you some kind of princess.

But anyway I won't buy clothes in shops if there are self service tills.

I love the Uniqlo ones. Pop your basket on the till and it calculates it all automatically, no need to scan anything.

I wish our H&M had self service. They seem to employ people that have no queue management skills on purpose. Always five deep and someone next to the serving till ineffectually folding items like customers don’t exist. I find it exasperating (& rude). Sorry, does not help the security tag issue!

Similar at Decathlon, you drop it in and it knows what you’re buying.

Same in Zara.
Hate it. I got stopped leaving as I set off the alarm. The item wasn't tagged but apparently I had 'picked it up from the area too quickly' so that the machine hadn't sent the receipt to my phone.
So basically, I was being criticised for doing a job for them for free that they won't pay staff to do. I'll never shop there again as being stopped as if I was some kind of thief was just too stressful for me to ever want to risk it again.

The self service tills have tag removal things on them. You’re supposed to check and do it yourself. That’s part of self service checkout. I think there’s even a screen that comes up to remind you to check,
There are lots of reasons why the checkouts in H&M are annoying but this one is not their fault!

well how would she know? presumably if she'd noticed a tag remover by the checkout she would have used it, so either there wasn't one or she missed it. In either case she can't go back in time and check now,

And, tbh, in either case it's still partly the store's fault, as if they are expecting customers to do all the work they at least need to make it very obvious how to do so! i.e. a prompt on the till when checking out, large signs saying, 'have you checked your item for security tags?' and a scanner that should have gone off when she walked out without having removed it!

I find these a problem in M&S which doesn't seem to have any manned tills at all in the non food. It's an especial issue with the skincare and makeup, they all have the magnetic stickers with no device to deactivate. I just rip them off and stick them to the counter after I have completed the payment now.

intrigued it didn’t go off as you walked out

I like the self service in Uniqlo. You just chuck everything into the open area, the till automatically registers all items and they don't seem to use security tags. Then just pack it all in a bag and the receipt is emailed. Magic!

Cross post with @mynameiscalypso !

Yanbu.
pink our primark has loads of self service. I've never used them.

She chose the self service till and expects to have staff attend to her because she failed to remove tags. Yes that is entitled.

If you want retail service to come with human assistance then don't use the self service tills.

I do vaguely remember seeing some 'equipment' at the self service station but I didn't realise the jumper even had a tag on it (until 2 days later when I went to put it on at home). I bought 3 items, only one had a tag,I didn't notice it, even when folding the jumper up (myself... to put in my own bag....- retailers are really stripping the shopping "experience" back to the bare bones aren't they .)
I'm perfectly capable of using equipment if I know there's a tag- it should be more evident to the customer which items have tags on.

“i didn’t realise”

so not H&M’s fault

if you do self service at a clothing store, you make 100% sure no tag on it as you’re responsible for removal

You're self servicing so you have to be aware yourself of the tags

Hi, I'm back.
I dispute the phrase User Error. I'd say shit system.

well, you would! you have to get two buses back to deal with the aforementioned user error

you didn’t check 100%
and you vaguely were aware of equipment

There was no alert on the self service screen. The store alarm did not go off as I left.

if you use self service at a clothing store

it’s on you to check properly for the tag

i mean… yes they can be discrete but a few seconds of feeling about next op… and you’ll get there!

Thank you for a helpful suggestion. I'll be trawling my DCs toy boxes for that big old U magnet. I knew it would come in handy some day.

there would have been

you just didn’t “realise”
or you were only “vaguely aware” of it!

you tube will come in to its own