Self Checkout: loathe or like?

[Red Badger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by badatmath Love!!! I am faster then the average disinterested employee and also I don't have to try to make conversation.

+1.

I don't need a date. DW and I are still a pair.

I don't need a new friend, I've got a dog.

For social interaction, I'll go to the soup kitchen.

signed, Grumbles (ask the kids).

[HI Bill]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mystang52 I'm a bit of a germophobe so I would avoid using a hand scanner. Otherwise, I prefer self checkout.

+1. I like Sam's Club's app. Use your phone, not the scanner. Easy, fast, no lines!

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HNL Bill +1. I like Sam's Club's app. Use your phone, not the scanner. Easy, fast, no lines!

I like Sam's Club cordless scanner at the self check out. You don't even have to take stuff out of the cart. Just point and click. At other self check kiosks, it is often required to remove every item from your cart, heft it onto the scanner and then move it onto yet another area (I think they weigh the items to be certain you actually scanned them.)

So, at Sam's I prefer self check out. At most grocery stores, I avoid them. As always, YMMV.

[Ronstar]

I use self checkout whenever I can. I find it faster than going through a cashier line.

[RunningBum]

Self checkout most of the time. Usually I can get right on one rather than wait in line, though if there's no line I'll often use a cashier.

The main reason is that I like to bag my own stuff. I go to Kroger, tell them to use all 4 bags, and the bagger makes it his mission to cram everything in one or two. I ask him not too, and he says he's putting all the refrigerator stuff together. Do you refrigerate bananas?

As for the annoying voice thing on the scanner, I almost always turn the volume off. Or I talk back to it, rudely.

One thing I hate is that I can only put one of my bags on the scanner at a time, or it'll flag the weight and make someone come over and clear it. Usually I get around it by putting a heavy item with the bag in the bagging area, but it's stupid.

[samclem]

I like it, a lot.
1) When I have a few things, it is generally faster to DIY than to wait for an available cashier.

2) When I have a lot of things I go to the cashier, but the self-check still helps me because other shoppers are using it, not ahead of me in the cashier's lane.


The next thing coming (and already present in some places) is "scan as you go". The items get scanned by you before you drop them in the cart, there's no "event" at all when you are done, just stroll it out to your car. I am NOT looking forward to this. The already congested aisles will be clogged with people trying to get the **** thing to accept their items, etc. I do not think it will be an improvement, except for the market's bottom line.

[samclem]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazz4cash My store also has the handheld scanners that you can scan as you load items into your cart. It’s pretty slick but it crashes sometimes and my cart was audited twice. Humiliating experience.

I would get my money back and leave my cart right there. It wouldn't have to happen often before they'd be pretty darn choosy about who they accused of stealing. "Audit"--right.

[DrRoy]

We use which ever is faster, but that is usually the self check.

[almosttime]

I loathe self checkout. The price of checking-out is built into the merchandise price. I feel as if I’m doing their work; and should receive a discount.

[jfn111]

I always use the self checkout at Sam's Club. Everything they sell has a bar code. I hate the ones at the grocery store where I have to go through the menu to look up produce. The cashiers are quicker than I am.

[Amethyst]

We belonged to Sam's for a while. I liked their self-checkout system (scanner) much better than BJ's (drag item across - was constantly erroring out). Also, at Sam's, there were many more "self" lines than open cashier lines. However, we were chided by a Sam's associate for going through the self-checkout with a loaded cart ' "Next time you have that many items, we'd prefer you go to the cashier." She didn't say what we were doing wrong, so I assume it was that we were taking too long. There were no signs saying "Please use the cashier line if you have a full cart."

With BJs, we order all non-perishables the night before, the prepaid cart is waiting for us, and all we pick off the shelves are the milk, meat, and produce.

[pb4uski]

I prefer self-checkout. My favorite is BJ's where you just scan all the items in your basket with a hand-held scanner. Easy peasy.

One thing I learned was to hold alcohol or any purchases that might require id to last because it holds up the whole process (at least it does at Walmart).

[Alan]

I prefer self checkout for small purchases and in fact the 2 supermarkets in our town that do have self checkout are for those with baskets only. No trolleys allowed.

[Kwirk]

If there's an open lane with a cashier I'll go there. Otherwise I'll take whatever option looks fastest, recognizing that I'm not as fast as a cashier.

I hate when the bags are difficult to open. There seems to be a technique that I have yet to master.

[pb4uski]

Trolleys.... sounding very Brit there Alan!

[audreyh1]

We’ve bagged our own stuff for a very long time - at least 2 decades. Even in regular checkout DH would do the bagging as we brought our own bags, and the first decade baggers would be clueless. So, yes, self checkout is nice in that we do our own bagging.

We almost never go to checkout with a full cart.

[Aerides]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan I prefer self checkout for small purchases and in fact the 2 supermarkets in our town that do have self checkout are for those with baskets only. No trolleys allowed.

to confuse things further, some americans call the trolleys "baskets" instead of carts.

[RunningBum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pb4uski I prefer self-checkout. My favorite is BJ's where you just scan all the items in your basket with a hand-held scanner. Easy peasy. One thing I learned was to hold alcohol or any purchases that might require id to last because it holds up the whole process (at least it does at Walmart).

It's going to hold up the process whether you do it first, in the middle, or last, right? I try to scan it when I see the employee isn't occupied and can help me right away.

I do like the handheld scanners because I can pack my bags as I shop, including putting stuff in my small soft sided cooler right away for my 1/2 hour or longer drive home.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 We’ve bagged our own stuff for a very long time - at least 2 decades. Even in regular checkout DH would do the bagging as we brought our own bags, and the first decade baggers would be clueless. So, yes, self checkout is nice in that we do our own bagging. We almost never go to checkout with a full cart.

+1, more like 10 years for us. We take paper bags occasionally (to use as kitchen waste can liners), never plastic bags, and bag our own with the bags we bring 90% of the time whether we have a few items or a full cart, and whether self checkout or cashier lane. It’s so easy.

[EastWest Gal]

I've been bagging my own stuff in my reusable bags ever since the store I use has handheld scanners. I like scanning as I go, it allows me to see how much I'm spending. I only have to handle each item once, and I bag the items by location once I get home-produce, meat, freezer, etc. It's far quicker. And plastic bags are really bad for the environment in many ways.

I also use a phone app shopping list which I have organized by aisle number which also saves time, and my Apple wallet to scan by frequent shopper card and to pay. I don't have to pull out my wallet or key ring or anything like that.

Last, someone commented on the cleanliness of the store scanners. Compared to what? The shopping cart handle which has been touched and gnawed on by young children? Money? Most stores have sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer-use them if you're concerned. I do.