Self Check Out

[nicegirl]

Who here runs them? I work at the big orange buliding supply place. I ran them for the first time tonight. Sweet baby Jeeebus! Do a special breed of cranky, stupid and rude come through there?

[crazylegs]

Some self check out tills are designed purely as torture devices.

The ones at <supermarket 1> are well laid out, have easy to use software and aren't a problem to use where as <supermarket 2> are poorly laid out, the software is shot to hell and are a pig to use.

Thing is I've done my time on tills at <The Chemists> and know all the little bits about barcodes etc but the tills at #2 are absolutely horrific.

[Javarod]

Nope, i don't work retail, but i do use them when i shop, i'm an ex-WalMart cashier that was notorious for being wickedly fast, so i prefer them. Speaking of WalMart, i noticed when i was at the Christown Spectrum store that they've gotten rid of them.

[Stormraven]

Where I am, the only stores that have SCO are the Lucky (Formerly Albertson's, before that, Lucky) stores. I use them at Lucky, unless I'm buying produce - everything else works well.

[KellyHabersham]

The SCO at the Kroeger store where I shop would be great if people weren't able to buy produce, alcohol, or large amounts of groceries on them.

[mharbourgirl]

Hee hee... I got to use a self-check at Home Depot a few weeks ago, for the first time in my life. First ones I've ever seen around here. And it was so freakin' simple I'm amazed that people have so much trouble with them. I honestly wish there were some at my regular grocery stores, because watching SOME cashiers (I'm looking at you, Atlantic Superstore!) ring up my groceries is like watching molasses flowing down a snowbank. Seriously, the only thing I miss about working retail was using the cash register. I liked it. I get the awful itch to just shove them out of the way and do it myself. But I'm a good girl, I keep my mouth shut and just put my groceries back in my cart.

But just using the one at Home Depot for my 4 items allowed me to witness a number of people who apparently couldn't read, judging by the whining and fumbling that was going on.

[clod75]

I just learned how to monitor them... the customers can't quite get the hang of em, unfortunately. We've had ours for the past month. These ones are pretty finicky, and it doesn't help if customers don't read the screen or listen to the prompts, or *and this really cheezes me off* leave the stuff on the bagging platform!

How many times can I say "Please don't let your child climb there, that's a scale too and it will halt your order" and "Please put ALL the groceries you scanned on the platform, it's a scale and if you don't it will halt your order" and "Please take off your purse (bag, foot, arm- whatever you are resting against the bag holders) it's a scale as well, and it will halt your order, otherwise"

OMFG over and over. Leave the fucking bagging area ALOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!

[drunkenwildmage]

Speaking of WalMart, i noticed when i was at the Christown Spectrum store that they've gotten rid of them.

Not the only place. The wal-marts around here as gotten rid of them over the last year or so also... not sure why..

The local Costco just put one in. Every try to scan a years supple of paper towels through a u-scan?

[clod75]

Every try to scan a years supple of paper towels through a u-scan?

isn't there a thing on the touch screen for Large Items? then the attendant can come and ring it all in at once? Pretty handy.

[Kiwi]

i used them a couple of times in england,

i got stuck behind a guy once who just could not get the hang of scanning

he turned to apologuised and I joked that a cashiers job is harder than it looks isnt it hahaha

he got the most cut butt face expression and spouted on about how its not his fault the store set up a faulty scanning system....

my order went through just fine... but then Ive worked as a cashier...

but ohhhhhhhhhhh no it couldnt possibly be mister SC no no no it has to always be someone elses problem!

[Javarod]

Not the only place. The wal-marts around here as gotten rid of them over the last year or so also... not sure why..

The local Costco just put one in. Every try to scan a years supple of paper towels through a u-scan?

Well, i know that store in particular was having problems with them, wouldn't take cash, wouldn't take debit, wouldn't take credit cards (various combinations), when they would actually work. I can't think of any WalMart where they're better than mostly working, and i know when they installed them at Tatum & Bell, we were one of the first stores, and it was ostensibly a test, though very quickly they rolled them out to all the stores.

[Lyra]

The wal-marts around here as gotten rid of them over the last year or so also... not sure why..

Among other things, the high amount of shrink that is linked to the stupid things would be the most glaring reason.

When it gets busy, you'd be amazed at how much a scammer *coughthiefcough* can haul out of there while looking as if they "paid" for it.

I was in line at one once and saw the person ahead of me with two boxed sets of silverware. She scanned one, put it on top of the machine, and put the other set in her bag. The pricier one. I couldn't believe I'd just seen it, and got out of line and reported it, but by then she'd already sailed out the door. It wasn't even that busy at the time. Just imagine what a good scammer can get away with when it's actually busy.

When you turn up the security on the machines, customers complain. So they turn the security down to make it more customer friendly, and crap grows legs and walks out the door even faster.

Usually one cashier is responsible for overseeing 2-4 registers at the same time, and it's fairly easy for them to get distracted by helping other folks, and that's if they are doing their job, and not just standing at the podium pushing buttons with a bored/annoyed expression on their faces.

On top of that, the things are WAAAY over worked for what they were intended, so of course there are going to be glitches with the programming, etc. The signs CLEARLY say "express" on them, but customers routinely check out a months supply of groceries for a family of six at them because they think they're faster than any "stupid slow cashier".

Bet me, asshole.

I'd run rings around you in a check-off between a regular register and a self check, and I was always a backup cashier. There's no way you can match the 6-7 HUNDRED items per hour of a professional cashier by checking your stuff yourself on a self check. The security on the machine prevents that.

Add all of the above to the fact that people refuse to READ simple directions, and you have a recipe for epic failure on the "efficiency" of the self checks.

In theory, it's a great idea, but in practice? It actually sucks. A lot.

[clod75]

"Professional Cashier"

Ooh I like the sound of that

[nicegirl]

I just learned how to monitor them... the customers can't quite get the hang of em, unfortunately. We've had ours for the past month. These ones are pretty finicky, and it doesn't help if customers don't read the screen or listen to the prompts, or *and this really cheezes me off* leave the stuff on the bagging platform!

How many times can I say "Please don't let your child climb there, that's a scale too and it will halt your order" and "Please put ALL the groceries you scanned on the platform, it's a scale and if you don't it will halt your order" and "Please take off your purse (bag, foot, arm- whatever you are resting against the bag holders) it's a scale as well, and it will halt your order, otherwise"

OMFG over and over. Leave the fucking bagging area ALOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!

this is EXACTLY why i posted this. they just keep moving shit around on the scale platform and it forces me to log in and clear it!BAH!

[SG15Z]

Oh sweet jeebus I hate running SCO. It's like SCO attracts the special kind of stupid. The other day one of the EFTPOS machines on one of the robots wouldn't accept EBT or Debit. However Credit/giftcards and all other forms of tender worked. Why I haven't the foggiest. So we put up a sign. Do people read it? NO!! They slide their card and then turn to me and ask why it's not working. Um hello sign!!! Then I have to suspend the order and take them to another register, pull it up and complete. Gosh people read the damn signs!!!