More SCO fun

[Dreamstalker]

More tales from SCO. I don't mind the new system, save for one thing: the scanner is so sensitive that it will always attempt to scan the tiny PLU 'barcode' stickers on produce (as well as any other loyalty cards/etc that come within range). Which are not meant to be scanned, so the SCO throws a fit, I have to go over every 30 seconds and reset it. ASM tells me there is no way to reprogram that...I think there is (go by general size/shape of barcode), but not having access to the systems themselves I'm not positive. A shift lead says it's intentional as a way to make sure someone's always at SCO ...right, while you're fixing one false positive--and getting complained at--someone else is walking out with a pack of steak. One set of eyes, four kiosks. No amount of technology is going to make that doable...well, there is some tech developed by a local company to do just that, but I doubt manglement will want to spend the money.

Denied a serial couponer the other day. She will come in, always use SCO and always have a fistful of coupons for things she didn't buy. Overrides are tied to my name now when I use the card (yes, I have my own and so does everyone who does SCO), so someone is trying to track stuff. Finally.

SC: You use coupon! I have coupon! [yes you have coupon, but it's not for anything you're buying]
Me: You didn't buy this. (the coupon was $3 off a battery-powered toothbrush and she was buying jam, tea, and tinfoil)
Rinse, repeat about three times.
SC: I do before! You use coupon now!
Me: Sorry, new policy. You can't use coupons for stuff you didn't buy.
SC: Use coupon! I have!
Me: No. New policy.
SC: Use coupon!
Me: NYET.
That she understands, and shuts up. Customer behind her is trying not to laugh.

The one correct item (but wrong size) she did buy, the coupon's expiration date is magically missing (I think the dates should be printed right near or under the coupon amount so they can't be 'accidentally' cut off). I didn't put it through but told her to pay and go to the desk; they can deny her.

-----------------------------------------------------------

More fun with tags...specifically, the sale tags we've been getting that are from last month. This is how I found out they were being put up.

SC calls me over; she has two boxes of fruit snacks. Gets right in my face "These should be two for four! Two dollar each! The damn machine's not ringing up right! Change it!"
Me: "I can't change a price without verifying. I'll be right back."
SC: "Change it!"
I quickly go down the aisle and pretend to check; as expected, the fruit snacks are not on sale (and the sale tag is dated 2/27). I rip the bad tags down and go back.
Me: "That's the correct price. They are not on sale."
SC: "#$%^@!"
Me: "Okay, we're done. You need to pay now and leave."
SC: "The price is wrong!"
Me: "If you think there's an error, go to the desk. We're done here. There are children in line and you do not swear at me." I save the order, take her items over to the desk and quickly explain what's going on. I didn't see what happened next, but SM got involved; if SC did try to complain it never got to me.

[DerangedHermit]

The one correct item (but wrong size) she did buy, the coupon's expiration date is magically missing (I think the dates should be printed right near or under the coupon amount so they can't be 'accidentally' cut off). I didn't put it through but told her to pay and go to the desk; they can deny her.

Databar coupons (the ones with a distorted line of in the middle of the barcode) have the expiration coded into the barcode, and this company was barely smart enough to at least make sure their own coupons are valid only for the dates that you can use it.

[Kittish]

More tales from SCO. I don't mind the new system, save for one thing: the scanner is so sensitive that it will always attempt to scan the tiny PLU 'barcode' stickers on produce. Which are not meant to be scanned, so the SCO throws a fit, I have to go over every 30 seconds and reset it. ASM tells me there is no way to reprogram that...I think there is (go by general size/shape of barcode)

I know there are SCO scanner systems that have no trouble at all with the small barcode stickers on produce, the local grocery store that I buy most of my fresh produce at has SCOs, and I use them. I like them. The scanners there don't even hiccup at scanning those, and for me it's easier than trying to make out the PLU number most of the time, and faster than doing an item lookup.

[Seshat]

If you're writing the program, you can 'teach' it that there are multiple types of barcodes, and give it some means of identifying each type.

If, however, the company that asked for the program didn't ask for that ability, the programmers won't necessarily know to add it. Or if they do, they'll offer the ability and tell the company how much more it will cost to get it.

If the program doesn't have the ability to deal with PLU barcodes, then the people entering barcode/item/amount information won't be able to add it: it has to be written into the program.

IOW: if your program can't do it, blame corporate.

[Dreamstalker]

Oh, I do blame Corp for everything that goes wrong (or 'improvements' that screw things up) around this place. If the peons come up with an idea to make something easier it's quietly ignored and then later down the line surprise! Something is implemented that seems oddly similar to what was suggested...but changed just enough (and often those changes break it in strange and interesting ways) that they think nobody will know. After I found out one of my ideas was ripped off and ASM got the initial credit, I keep my ideas to myself...or if I am explaining them where a mangler can overhear, leave out a critical part.

The new SCOs lack a few useful customer-prompting bits that the old ones had, such as actually acknowledging if a card is scanned "Your card has been accepted". The new ones don't do that, so another thorn in my side is getting called over with "My card didn't go through!". Same with S-it orders (there's a delay that leads some people to think it didn't work, and it doesn't say "Your order is being retrieved"). I know that can be done.

Another issue I have with all the new systems is that coupons can't go in until the very end. With SCO, there's a prompt to scan coupons; if someone doesn't have any coupons, they complain. And if they do have coupons and try to scan them like normal, they complain when they aren't taken. With the regular registers, some coupons can be scanned as part of an order, some have to wait until the end. And the message when a coupon is denied is very cryptic; if there are multiple coupons, it's not easy to figure out which one didn't go through.

Kittish, how does scanning a produce barcode work? It still has to be weighed...does it just identify the item to skip a step?

[Jay 2K Winger]

Kittish, how does scanning a produce barcode work? It still has to be weighed...does it just identify the item to skip a step?

I don't know how it works where you live, Dreamstalker, but at least in my experience in Northern Virginia, not all produce is priced by weight. Some produce is priced per unit.

[Dreamstalker]

We have some produce that's per piece (colored bell peppers other than green, citrus, herb bunches, garlic, lettuce, etc); the majority is by weight IIRC. Some per-piece items weigh so little individually that it's easy to put 10 in a bag and ring it through as 1. The old systems defaulted to a quantity of 1 for garlic and bell peppers and would not detect the weight discrepancy; I have yet to find out if that trick would still work. I know it does for herb bunches.

[Kittish]

Kittish, how does scanning a produce barcode work? It still has to be weighed...does it just identify the item to skip a step?

Depends on the item. Some items are per piece, you scan those, are prompted to set the items on the scanner/scale and enter how many you have (in that order). The by weight produce only prompts you to set the item on the scale after you scan the barcode.

[Dreamstalker]

That would make things so much easier; we'd still need the lookup if someone grabbed something that didn't have a sticker, but in general it seems like a good idea. I've had a few calls for assistance where the customer had no idea how to navigate the produce lookup. We do have scales in Produce that will weigh stuff and print a scannable barcode, but it doesn't get used as often as it should--that also presents problems if multiple items are in one bag (or no bag at all--the belt sensor expects a compact single mass passing the beam for each item entered).

It's those pointless calls for help that stop an attendant from keeping an eye on more important things like walkouts (I have to keep an extra-close eye on any customers using the scan guns now, too many of them think they can just scan the end barcode and stroll out, even more prevalent now that we don't have the audio prompting).