Eternia

[rant]
Anyone else have this experience? I am in Wal-Mart. I have about 7 items in my cart. Fastest way to check out? Self check out i think. Not to mention I look around and every register has a huge line. Then I go to self check out and all of them are filled up with ppl that have their buggies filled to the brim and have their kids trying to scan things and everything is going wrong. Ahhh but one self checkout line has just a lady and her parents with a few items. I get behind them. I swear I was there 10 minutes while she tried to figure out how to do everything and slide in a million one dollar bills. They had no clue what to do at the damn thing, and ended up stealing two plants. It would get caught on the belt, say "credit dollar amount" and roll it back and she puts it in the cart. I am sure these innocent(?) sealings happen all the time. Then after all this she complains about how stupid self check out is and how it doesn't work. The person behind me and I roll eyes. Then I check out in about 1 minute. This is why I usually only go to Wal-Mart around midnight on the weekends! No annoying people in my way! Why oh why did I go at peak Joe Six Pack times?

And why must I check out electronic items in that area? I had blank video tapes and the lady was like you have to check those out here. I just kept walking. Ha!
[/rant]

Sorry for the rant.

dvd-fanman

Our local Wal*Mart doesn't have the self-service checkouts yet. Our local KMart does and so does a local Supermarket. I must say, I don't know why but I am addicted to them. Something "fun" about being able to ring out your own things.

Now I know you're all going to think I'm crazy.

cubanx

Try scanning a Sunday Paper for real self-scanning fun.

calhoun07

Hmmm...I have yet to experience this "fun." But if it's anything like the fun I had when I had my first job working a cash register, I think I can pass. Unless the stores offere greater discounts because they don't have to pay Joe Six Pack's daughter to run the register for me.

renaldow

I think the problem is more with the customers than the process. I don't shop at Walmart because of their customer base to begin with, so I don't know if ours has the self check out or not.

2 grocery chains have it though, and it works fairly well and moves fast, even if you're doing bulk items.

chanster

Self-checkout sucks. I know how to do it, but it is the old lady in front of you who holds up everybody. I only do it if there is no one in line (and I am talking about at my grocery store)

Abob Teff

I guess I'm an idiot because these things befuddle me. But then I don't care to take the time to learn how to use it. Until they offer me a discount for not having to pay a cashier, I refuse to bother with them.

Darren Garrison

I was at K-Mart today and they had one employee doing nothing but begging shoppers to try the self-checkout. It seems that people are ignoring them. I'm highly technology literate, but I think that they are a stupid idea and always choose waiting in line for a live clerk than use one of the self-checks (which are usually empty).

They're a dumb idea that will fail.

Darren Garrison

Gee, I'm SO sure that all of those filty commoners feel utterly dispondant at not being graced with your upper-class presence.

dvd-fanman

Well one KMart near me I guess is not planning on them failing. I was at the second closest store to my home one morning in January and the only registers they had open were the self-service checkout registers. They refused to open any "real-person" checkouts until later in the afternoon. They said it cuts labor costs and works when people call out from work.

I think we're going to see more of these in the future as they are cheaper to operate, and require less supervision. You could probably get away with 3 to 4 people supervising 20 registers and that costs a heck of a lot less than staffing all 20 of those registers with live people.

handle

I refuse to use a self check out because they are aimed at putting people out of work. That's all they do.

I mean can you imagine the OUTRAGE that would happen if you had CEO-bot come to market? Or teacher-robot?

*I* am boycotting the self checkout until I see evidence they make it better for the CONSUMER and not just the company.

Easy

Self checkout pisses me off. First there were bar codes. They may be great for stores but they suck for consumers. They get their database straight and perform inventory on our time while we wait in line (price check please!). Yeah, that's progress - for them. Now they want me to check myself out? Hell, they already use and abuse my time (price check please!). Now they actually expect me to work for them? OK fine. Then I expect to be paid. What do I get for using the self checkout? 20% off? 30% off? Just curious - never used one.

tderosa98

Self-checkout has it's ups and downs. I've used them at both the local supermarket and K-Mart.

It's great if you don't want to wait online, because they usually are not being used in my case. Unfortunately, because people are idiots, when they use the self-checkout it ends up taking longer than it would have to wait for a live cashier.

The only downside I've noticed is that when I'm making a late night supermarket run and there's only one live cashier available (who is usually not at the register), it would be nice to have the self-checkout registers on. Alas, they usually don't, because they want to have someone there to make sure you're not stealing anything.

But all in all, I'm glad most people aren't using them--that means those of us that do can get out quicker! Unfortunately, if they're not used for too long, that'll be the end of that idea.

RDYoung

I don't know about that. Personally, I like the self checkout. I scan my stuff, put it in the bag, swipe my debit card and I'm done. We have usually one express line, with the slowest checker available manning it, and there is usually a 15 minute wait anytime I go to the store. I've used the self checkout thing, and haven't had one problem yet.

I wouldn't use it for big orders, but for 5-12 items, it works for me.

p.s. We don't have one in our wal-mart yet, but we need one. I'd never go to a checker again.

Groucho

I'm picturing all the people in Walmart "below deck" doing an Irish jig, while renaldow is shopping at Pottery Barn wearing a monocle and top hat.

Back on topic: when I first heard about self check-out, I thought it was a pretty stupid idea, but it actually works pretty well. I must admit, however, that I'm one of the inept people described in the first post. For some reason, my instinct is to scan an item with my left hand, move it to the right hand, scan the next item, and put the item in my right hand in the bag. The system doesn't like this and starts beeping at me with the message "PUT ITEM IN BAG" flashes on the screen. So I try to put the item in the bag, but the message still flashes. So I pull it out and put it back in. The message is still flashing. So I push on the item to make it heavier. By this point, the little girl they pay to monitor the self check-out area is yelling at me. "Put the item in the bag, sir!"

Also, it drives my wife nuts because I'm a gadget nut, so I want to try out every facet of the machine. This means we pay a different way each time.

Abob Teff

"Put the item down and kick it away sir. Do it NOW! Now lie down on the floor and roll around so that we don't have to pay somebody to sweep up after you filthy customers."

Just curious (since I refuse to use these anymore), how could you write a check at one of these? Unless they used something like Wallyworld's automatic check-filler-outer-thingy-mo-do-bob.

Personally, I find it ironic. "Here, you are too incompetent to run a register, so sit here and baby-sit 5 of these idiots." Truely the blind leading the blind.

dvd-fanman

They don't accept checks. You'd need to go to a live person to do that. With most people now having check/debit cards though, many places in the future might try to eliminate people from writing checks.

ChiTownAbs, Inc

I tried self checkout at a Cub Foods back in January, and it didn't work too well. I think it only works when you have a small number of items.

calhoun07

So what do you do if you can't scan something, need a price check, or how does the store monitor shrinkage? What's to stop somebody from scanning one item, skipping another, scanning one, skipping one and so on?

ChrisHicks

I use the U-Scan checkouts any time I can. In my area the cashiers are so slow me food expires before the lines do.: The only problem I see with the U-Scan is theft. I constantly see people not scanning items and the machines not catching them. I was at a local K-Mart when I watched a guy scan a DVD over the security pad to disarm the sticker but then he just held onto it and bagged after he paid for everything else.

calhoun07

Oh, so you are saying we get paid for using it! Cool!

dvd-fanman

The system at my KMart does not allow you to put unscanned merchandise anywhere near the bags. If you do it says, "Please remove unpurchased merchandise from the bagging area." If you scan something and put something else in the bag, it says, "Scanned item does not match item bagged." If you scan something and don't put it into a bag right away, it says, "Please put scanned item into shopping bag."

If it has to prompt you more than like 5 times it locks the system until someone can come over and then login and look at the purchase history and see what's going on. The cameras also show on screen what the store is seeing and recording as you purchase your items.