Automatic Checkout is a bad idea

[Pagan]

The Wally World by me used to have SCOs. I loved them. There wasn't an item limit on them, so at least that wasn't a problem.

They're gone now. I think the reason might be where they were placed. They were on one end right in front of the entrance, which we think resulted in a lot of walk-offs. If they had been place near the center of the check-out area I don't think there would have been near the problem.

I've encountered a couple of SCOs in Britain. As far as I'm concerned, they are *not* easy to use. Nor are they more efficient (for the customer) than a standard checkout.

I'm very glad they aren't used over here.

Really?

I'm surprised you haven't seen them much, they are all over the place where I live.

I find they are about the same speed as a normal checkout for the customer, but as they take up less space than a normal register it means more checkouts and so less queues.

We didn't have any problem with the ones we used at a Sainsbury in Edinburgh last year. We actually got done and out there faster even though we were still having to really look at our money and figure out which was which.

[Chromatix]

I know they're fairly common in Britain now, but I live in Finland most of the time. The Finnish chains haven't bothered with them - though come to think of it, I wonder how much of that is due to them being co-operative societies, and therefore owned by their customers.

[Andara Bledin]

I find they are about the same speed as a normal checkout for the customer, but as they take up less space than a normal register it means more checkouts and so less queues.

They also take up fewer employees, so stores can afford more of them to be open at once.

^-.-^

[KellyHabersham]

Really?

I'm surprised you haven't seen them much, they are all over the place where I live.

I find they are about the same speed as a normal checkout for the customer, but as they take up less space than a normal register it means more checkouts and so less queues.

It's kind of the opposite at the store where I shop - if you go in the morning, it's usually easy to get in and out. However, at night there's ALWAYS a long line for the SCO machines.

[Geek King]

Really?

I find they are about the same speed as a normal checkout for the customer, [...]

They may be the same speed for a single customer, but I find I can get out faster than waiting in line behind the lady with the full cart who waits until checkout to figure out what she can actually afford. Please leave me my SCOs! I can use them correctly, honestly!

[Darkforge]

I've encountered a couple of SCOs in Britain. As far as I'm concerned, they are *not* easy to use. Nor are they more efficient (for the customer) than a standard checkout.

I'm very glad they aren't used over here.

Really?

I'm surprised you haven't seen them much, they are all over the place where I live.

I find they are about the same speed as a normal checkout for the customer, but as they take up less space than a normal register it means more checkouts and so less queues.

[Chromatix]

I've encountered a couple of SCOs in Britain. As far as I'm concerned, they are *not* easy to use. Nor are they more efficient (for the customer) than a standard checkout.

I'm very glad they aren't used over here.

[DerangedHermit]

If they're doing what I see people do at the wholesale club, they're throwing the items down to the collection area, or throwing them into the bags in the bagging area, messing up the sensors and making the machine (and the SCO attendant) go insane.

Ding ding ding. Which is appropriately the sound my self-scan makes when something isn't placed on the belt.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Throwing stuff? Where do they throw it?

If they're doing what I see people do at the wholesale club, they're throwing the items down to the collection area, or throwing them into the bags in the bagging area, messing up the sensors and making the machine (and the SCO attendant) go insane.

[Peppergirl]

- People throwing stuff. If you throw, you risk a chance of making the machine go crazy. Don't put anything that's not supposed to be there on the belt.

Throwing stuff? Where do they throw it?

[DerangedHermit]

For the most part, I'm kind of neutral about the self checkouts at my store, but there is one thing I just don't understand about mine.

Judging by your post, you work at either the same company that I do or its sister company.

%&$#*#$#@#@~! It's a pain in the ass. Would it be so hard for them to code the Personal Thanks savings so that it shows up? I dread all the MUST BUY X deals with a vengeance.

Another pain is how the A-Z index of fruits and vegetables isn't quite alphabetized. Customers don't realize they can punch in the PLU by the keypad, so they spend 5 minutes looking for a cucumber or a bagel.

Other pet peeves:

- EBT cards. The NYS EBT cards wear out insanely quick and usually have to be punched in. That requires scanning your card to save the order and then recall it at the pay station, as it can't be punched in manually at the self-scan. Then god forbid they made too many mistakes during the order, because you might need the manager's key for an override on voids.

Oh, but even if it works, it's still a pain. If a customer doesn't want something after they put the FS through, but they still have a balance, you can't void the item off at self-scan. You have to reverse the tender, which usually elicits a "Are you sure I'm not being double-charged?", save the order, then void it off at the pay station. One of the worst examples of this recently was a rotisserie chicken I could not void off when I sent it to the pay station. I had to cancel the entire order and one of the CDH's had to rering it.

- Rain checks. Nope, can't be done there. I have to send it to the pay station. Thankfully I know the old-fashioned way of doing it, and can do it regardless of whether they scanned it or not.

- People throwing stuff. If you throw, you risk a chance of making the machine go crazy. Don't put anything that's not supposed to be there on the belt.

[Sedorna]

For the most part, I'm kind of neutral about the self checkouts at my store, but there is one thing I just don't understand about mine.

And that is...greeting cards. When you scan a greeting card at the self-checkout, it's a complete crapshoot as to whether it will tell you, "please place your item on the belt" or "to prevent damage, please carry this item to the bagging area." Seriously, for some cards you put them on the belt, and for others you don't, and there is absolutely no rhyme or reason as to which is which. Same thing with plants. Some plants get put on the belt, and some don't.

Usually the self-scans work fine, but when they don't...hoo boy. I remember the belt stopped recognizing that anything had been put on it halfway through a customer's order. The customer would scan an item, put it on the belt, and the machine would continue to tell her to put it on the belt. I ended up having to scan my card before each and every item she had. Fortunately, she only had a few items, and after she was done, I turned that register off. Well, actually, I tried to close the lane and then reopen it, but it wouldn't reopen.

And other annoyance with the self-scan. Occasionally, we'll have sales like "Get 4 boxes of cereal for $6, must buy 4, otherwise you pay $3 per box (or something like that)" it will take it off, but it won't show it being taken off. I mean, at the regular register, I can press subtotal and it will actually show that they took of X dollars for the cereals, whereas it doesn't show it in the self-scan, so if there's a lot of things you bought, it's rather difficult to tell if it worked. And, I personally have bought just the 4 cereals--all sizes and flavors listed in the ad--and it hasn't always taken everything off like it should, well, it can get somewhat annoying since I can't guarantee the customer that everything's working fine.

Despite my complaining, I rather like self-scan. I get to walk around a bit more than when I'm stuck at a regular register, and usually everything goes ok.

Usually.

[aurelemsrealm]

The only two places I go that use self-checkouts are Wal-Mart and Kroger.

I always have problems operating the self-checkouts at Wal-Mart. I just don't get along with them very well for whatever reason. I only use the self-checkouts there when I have just a small number of items or the other lines seem exceedingly long.

At Kroger, on the other hand, I never seem to have problems operating the self-checkouts. The only time I need assistance is when I buy beer, and that's just to show ID. So, I always use the self-checkouts there.

[Amethyst Hunter]

I don't mean to rag on any demographic, except for the demographic of generally ignorant people who assume they can use the self checkout machines at supermarkets...There should be a sign on the Self Checkout machines indicating that if you have no idea what you're doing, you shouldn't use them.

Oh, I see you've been to my store!

As an employee, I actually LIKE the self-checkouts - mainly because it means I have to deal with people less. Sure, I have to explain the same thing about a million times over and hear the machine's same spiel over and over, and that does get old fast. But by and large, most of the people who use the self-checkouts (at least, in my experience) pretty much know what to do, or can figure it out, and all I have to do is supervise.

Regular register, now, that I definitely don't like. That wears me out real fast.

[Jack]

Those things are so idiot proof that I wished I had my own POS to work while doing it instead of relying on a machine that'll tell me EACH AND EVERY STEP! But people ignore what they have to say too often and then I do the "for shame" eye rub.

Yes, THIS. The damn things are so idiot-proof that, not being an idiot, I hate using them at least because I can't scan at a decent pace. :/