Mmm, self checkout. Yum!

[Kat]

Warning: This is unintentionally kinda lengthy. o_O

SO I've been a cashier for a good month now (with previous experience) and Wallyworld decides to send me onto self-checkout unsupervised (I'd been on it two or three times with other, Self-Check trained cashiers, but I was still nervous about being on my own.)

My VERY FIRST CUSTOMER EVER steals a pillow. In my three days of self-checkery, I have never had anyone steal something. Or at least, I've never had the kind of stealing where they just don't pay and walk away. (Ringing up potatoes as doughnuts is different.) He distracts me, asking if I had a bigger bag for a pillow. I said no, they have them at the regular checkouts though. He thanked me, and as he did so a new customer walked over and started to check. I glance over to make sure they're not ringing one thing, bagging three, and he walks off. I look over at his robot and it's asking "Do you want to continue with your purchase?" I call out "Sir, sir!" To tell him 'his payment hasn't gone through' even though we both know he didn't try, but he ignores me and leaves. SOOO I call over my CSM, who just so happens to be an outhire that interviewed on the same day I did.

CSM: What do you need?
Me: A customer just stole a pillow, I'm not sure what to I should do.
CSM: -Rolls her eyes- Well you can't do anything about it now.
Me: (A bit annoyed by her rude response) ...Well, what is the procedure? Should I write something up?
CSM: -Sighs in exasperation- Just cancel it and watch the next customers.

Since then, self-check hasn't been so bad. I'm not afraid of approaching customers who conveniently forgot to ring 4 kegs of beer and asking "Was that supposed to be a separate purchase, or do you want me to do an age approval for you now?" so the CSMs like to put me there. It's a little boring (so most cashiers hate it), but I can walk around a little, so I deal. WELL, today I got a royal B. And not just one of the people who are like cursing and swearing at the machine (I actually have to fight not to laugh as a grown man curses out a machine because he has to push "OK" or "Skip Bagging" every few items), this lady was intense.

Well, she's the only one there so it's easy for me to watch her. I'm standing at the counter pressing "45" over and over again because it's wanting my approval for her to skip bagging. She bought a lot of milk and soda and after so many skipped items, the robot wants me to approve every time a new item is skipped. Her son is standing behind her, loading items out of the cart onto the belt and telling her "just wait a second," in a very quiet voice.

She gets out her fabric and the machine tells her it's an unknown item. That's because there are two bar codes -- one for what kind of fabric it is, and one for how long that fabric is. She says "oh, what the fuck?!" and I walk over. She didn't say anything to me, I just said "Oh, let me get that for you." I sign into the cashier keyboard, ring it up, and then close it. She just sighs and keeps going. I hurry back to the counter because she put the fabric in a bag and it's about to beep about an unrecognized item.

The rest of her NINETY-SEVEN ITEM transaction goes by (fairly) smoothly. There are a couple of miffs and I explain, "These were designed with five items or less in mind. After that the machines get a little bit slow. So you're just going a little faster than the machine," which usually satisfies customers because you're reassuring them they're doing nothing wrong. She just shakes her head and keeps going. Finally, she gets to the end and rings up some beer. Well she's some 40-year-old skinny, short, blonde woman. Her son is a 6-ft brown-haired beefcake.

Here's how the conversation went.

SC: Sucky old lady
B: Suck old lady's son
Me: !

SC: -Sees me walking over- I just want to pay!!!
Me: You scanned some alcohol, so I just have to see his idea.
SC: What the hell is this? How dare you, he is my son!
B: -Taking out his ID-
SC: He's 22 but that's not the point! How can you people ask that, he's my son!!
Me: I'm sorry ma'am, but I have to card everybody that looks under forty, and
SC: He's my son!
Me: -Attempting to calm her down by being nice- I'm sorry ma'am, you just didn't look old enough to have a 22-year-old son.
SC: You should not be harrassing us like this
Me: -I take B's ID--he is 22 and it's not expired or peeling (LOL more stories about THAT later)- Alright, let me just let this machine know you're all legal.
SC: This is absolutely ridiculous!
Me: -I finish doing this and walk back to the station as they pay. As they walk by B looks apologetic, so I throw in...- Have a nice night.
SC: Oh shut up!

And they leave. That poor boy. T_T

[GingerBiscuit]

under forty? Whoa. Remind me not to move to where you are...

But the econd woman was a bitch. We only use the express automated when we've got a couple items and are in a hurry and if we go too fast for it we expect it to go a little.. odd. It's just a machine. You can't blame a machine for how it's programmed...

[clod75]

OMG.... self scans are coming to our store soon... yay. NOT.

but I have to laugh at your cheekiness at the end only to be met with the ever grouchy "Oh shut up"

[mattm04]

We have a log for "walk offs." Currently it is paper based. The self scan person swipes their card and prints a receipt of the transaction where it is placed in folder and the date/time, description, etc are noted. We are supposed to get a new system where they can just hit a button and it will flag the transaction along whit automatically notifying LP to check the tapes. Supposedly it will also let LP restrict certain people from using the self-scans based on their store card number.

We caught and had arrested one a few months ago. The guy stole formula and meat, then sat outside with the stolen goods and waited for his getaway, the bus.

[nomorecarts]

wally world doesn't allow hourlies to do anything other than what you did about the pillows. I've been there over a year, and saw a cart pusher chase a shoplifter and the support manager said that he wasn't in trouble this time, but don't do it again, you don't know if they have a weapon, and if you touch them that's assault and a lawsuit because you're not trained, if anyone ever tries to punish you for doing what you did your district manager wants to know

I was also on self check today, and I'm 100% sure there was a certain amount of theft through my self check today, why? we have 4 terminals I was monitoring, 3 are broken(and they are less than 90 days old) meaning only one was functioning, so I had to ring people up at my register too, so I didn't pay much attention unless I had to approve a large quantity of items(one dipshit kept putting her hand on the scale)


if corporate doesn't like it they can get rid of the scorecard, or at least take broken self checks off of it, but when I've got lines 8 deep at a self check with only 1 operating, i'm going to do anything I can to get that line down

PS today was my first time on self checks for a full day too. I've been on them for a couple 15s(one turned into 45 because of a special task) and i've been on them from 7-9 AM twice, but first full day there

[Kat]

under forty? Whoa. Remind me not to move to where you are...

But the econd woman was a bitch. We only use the express automated when we've got a couple items and are in a hurry and if we go too fast for it we expect it to go a little.. odd. It's just a machine. You can't blame a machine for how it's programmed...

Yeah, WalMart changed it in... March? Most customers hate it, and give us poor cashiers shit for it. The "OMG UR RLY CHEKIN ME YAAAAH " customer is really rare unfortunately.

OMG.... self scans are coming to our store soon... yay. NOT.

but I have to laugh at your cheekiness at the end only to be met with the ever grouchy "Oh shut up"

I wasn't even being rude, which I sometimes do to SCs. xD Kill them with my kindness~~

wally world doesn't allow hourlies to do anything other than what you did about the pillows. I've been there over a year, and saw a cart pusher chase a shoplifter and the support manager said that he wasn't in trouble this time, but don't do it again, you don't know if they have a weapon, and if you touch them that's assault and a lawsuit because you're not trained, if anyone ever tries to punish you for doing what you did your district manager wants to know

I was also on self check today, and I'm 100% sure there was a certain amount of theft through my self check today, why? we have 4 terminals I was monitoring, 3 are broken(and they are less than 90 days old) meaning only one was functioning, so I had to ring people up at my register too, so I didn't pay much attention unless I had to approve a large quantity of items(one dipshit kept putting her hand on the scale)


if corporate doesn't like it they can get rid of the scorecard, or at least take broken self checks off of it, but when I've got lines 8 deep at a self check with only 1 operating, i'm going to do anything I can to get that line down

PS today was my first time on self checks for a full day too. I've been on them for a couple 15s(one turned into 45 because of a special task) and i've been on them from 7-9 AM twice, but first full day there

Well I can't leave the area so I didn't plan on running him down or anything. I was just going to politely inform him that whatever payment method he attempted didn't go through. (AKA don't steal -- I'm watching you!) but he ignored me. So I assumed there was some sort of procedure to follow. Apparently THERES NOTHING I CAN DO ABOUT IT, so WHY WOULD A NEW HIRE WASTE A CSMs TIME WITH A STUPID QUESTION LIKE THAT?!

Lately they've been giving me self-check B, which unlike self-check A fluctuates. A has a steady flow of people, B has nobody and then everybody. Lines 5 people long when all 4 machines are functioning. This is because they don't limit the items to 20 or less, which they really should. Fortunately, most of my CSMs are cool with me refusing to ring up a purchase because "I have to watch all the machines to make sure they're doing what they're supposed to do, but you're welcome to use one yourself."

All I do is suspend transactions for retards who want to pay with CHEQUES or people who think they can do WIC themselves.

[blas]

I have done my mondo shopping and used the self checkouts at Wal-Mart before (but alas, my local Wal-Mart doesn't have self scan and with gas prices, it's not practical to drive 10 miles out of the way, even if saving gas by only driving 2 gives me a bigger headache).

But then again, I was a cashier at a grocery store, a clothing store, and a gas station. I know where every barcode on everything is, pretty much. And I'm fast. If I have someone with me, I scan and they bag. But I can also do both if I'm alone and still be quite fast.

The carding thing...that's just being sucky on their part. It's just NOT smart to have underaged people with you if you are buying age restricted items (save for if you have a baby or child under the age of like 12 because it's pretty safe to assume those smokes or beer aren't for your kid....but after that age, some parents really don't care and do buy for their kids). It's just not a good idea if you have teen kids with you or young adults....you can't always tell by appearance. And it's the farking LAW anyway.....yet people have such sticks up their asses and are so full of themselves thinking "How dare they card me!" that it makes my head hurt.

[BaristaTrav]

Warning:

SC: -Sees me walking over- I just want to pay!!!
Me: You scanned some alcohol, so I just have to see his idea.
SC: What the hell is this? How dare you, he is my son!
B: -Taking out his ID-
SC: He's 22 but that's not the point! How can you people ask that, he's my son!!
Me: I'm sorry ma'am, but I have to card everybody that looks under forty, and
SC: He's my son!
Me: -Attempting to calm her down by being nice- I'm sorry ma'am, you just didn't look old enough to have a 22-year-old son.
SC: You should not be harrassing us like this
Me: -I take B's ID--he is 22 and it's not expired or peeling (LOL more stories about THAT later)- Alright, let me just let this machine know you're all legal.
SC: This is absolutely ridiculous!
Me: -I finish doing this and walk back to the station as they pay. As they walk by B looks apologetic, so I throw in...- Have a nice night.
SC: Oh shut up!

And they leave. That poor boy. T_T

Wow.. who crapped in that bitch's cornflakes? You could have rolled with that though.. been like "Oh you're right, my mistake... you do look at least 60.. he could even be your grandson.. sorry for the trouble."

[chainedbarista]

ah, the joys of u scan...i love them and yet hate them at the same time.

40 is old? thanks (i just turned 40 and don't consider myself old)...

as for the id thing, i feel that if you aren't smart enough to understand why a given policy exists (alchol and tobacoo product sales), then you shouldn't be using said product, period.

[bloodrose]

I hate self-scanners for many reasons:

1. Socialism - The democratic socialist in me hates seeing competent people out of work.
2. Humanity - the stores with self-checkout have so fewer check lines open, you just have to use the self-checkout line - and then, you miss human interaction. People forget how to be polite when all they see are machines.
3. Ineptitude - People who can't use the machines slowing everyone down. It's easy. There are instructions _every_ time you use the darn things.
4. Carding - a bunch of the stores don't have someone at the desk to card me - so no alchohol purchase in stores with self-checkout.
5. They're dirty. Really they usually are. ick.

As to the ID checking thing, some of us just plain don't know everyone has to be checked. I was surprised when I went shopping with my BF at BevMo (i'm 28, he's 38) and while he was paying I was asked for ID. I was all like "um, i'm not buying it" and the checker informed me it was the rule. He let us get by but said next time I forget my wallet at home, I should wait in the car. Urgh.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I hate self-scanners for many reasons:

1. Socialism - The democratic socialist in me hates seeing competent people out of work.

At my store, we installed the self-checkout lines at the end of the summer, when we were losing a bunch of our workforce back to school anyway, so we didn't really "lose" anyone we weren't already "losing."

2. Humanity - the stores with self-checkout have so fewer check lines open, you just have to use the self-checkout line - and then, you miss human interaction. People forget how to be polite when all they see are machines.

Ah, yes, but the majority of rude people are going to be rude in any case, not just because they lost human interaction somewhere along the way.

3. Ineptitude - People who can't use the machines slowing everyone down. It's easy. There are instructions _every_ time you use the darn things.

There are some people who are just technologically inept, even WITH instructions. My mother's one of them.

4. Carding - a bunch of the stores don't have someone at the desk to card me - so no alchohol purchase in stores with self-checkout.

I don't know how it works at most stores, but the self-checks at our store are programmed to flag ANYTHING that has an age restriction on it. (Cigarettes or beer -- our system isn't set up to demand an age check on M-rated games or R-rated movies.) So even if Junior swipes Mommy's membership card and tries to buy himself some booze, he can't, 'cuz our self-check attendant will catch him.

Plenty of older people get frustrated because they can't complete their purchase until someone comes over to verify they're old enough to buy their wine or whatever.

5. They're dirty. Really they usually are. ick.

...yeah, that much is true.

[bigpedaler]

I'm closer to 50 than 49 now, but it tickles me to get carded...and it DOES happen! The local Walgreens cards everyone for cigs & such, and CVS sells liquor, so they card, too. It's something for me to chuckle about.

[nomorecarts]

But then again, I was a cashier at a grocery store, a clothing store, and a gas station. I know where every barcode on everything is, pretty much. And I'm fast. If I have someone with me, I scan and they bag. But I can also do both if I'm alone and still be quite fast.

I want self checks that are possible to go fast on. they had me on the old self check which one of the registers won't connect to the approval terminal(luckily that's the ONE register that my operator barcode works for) so every time someone fucks up the scale I had to go over there, the volume control on one was broken, so it didn't beep when items were scanned, one you have to hold the barcode over the scanner for 1-3 seconds, and the other was too broken to even open

At my store, we installed the self-checkout lines at the end of the summer, when we were losing a bunch of our workforce back to school anyway, so we didn't really "lose" anyone we weren't already "losing."

at my store we can't find people, we have the high school students, and we even import help from europe during the summer, then in the winter we have laid off construction workers, and we're still over 100 people short(those are positions that management admits we need) so no one is out a job

[Boggles]

I dont like the self scan checkouts for the simple reason of why should i do the work?

I can use them and have never had a problem wth them but I always think: well, the supermarket has factored into their prices the cost of someone working the checkout and so on so why should I be expected to do their job functions. If they gave a discount for using them it would be a different matter.

Daft reason I know but hey ho!

[Anakah]

We card if they look under thirty but you know its better safe than sorry because its your ass on the line. That lady needed a serious chill pill. I hope that kid doesn't live with his mom or he should get the hell out asap!