4 ms·

What's next? Making me unload the truck and stock the shelves? All while I pay the same or even more than now.

gumby 3y ago
Used to be that you went to the store, stopped at the counter, and asked the clerk to fetch items for you, some still work this way (like bakeries). Yet nobody complains about the shift to having to walk around to fetch and carry their own groceries. It’s just a cultural shift.
- likeclockwork 3y ago
  It's not a cultural shift. This is externally imposed. Shoppers are not installing self checkout machines in stores, the companies are doing so to increase profits. I'm expected to pay the same price for less service and be okay with that.
  - edmundsauto 3y ago
    I like self checkout because the lines are shorter. So I see it as trading some effort for time back. Also, I feel like a jerk just standing there watching someone bag my bags - I would rather scan and bag my food than just stand there flipping through my phone or making small talk with people who are working. Just my perspective - seems like as long as there are both options, everyone can pick what they prefer.
  - saltcured 3y ago
    I used to prefer going to a regular cashier. But early in the pandemic, when all the health advice was about contact-spreading and hand washing, we switched to self-checkout with a cart and doing the bagging back at our car, where we left our own bags. Now, it's become a habit and I realize we prefer not to have the distracted or rushed staff smashing all our groceries into bags in the worst order possible. It's also become almost a towers of hanoi game for me to carefully unload our full cart onto that little weighing platform and then back into the cart. I will defer buying alcohol since it requires regular cashier service here. Early on, I fought the systems and swore at terrible UX, until I found how to pace myself for the machine. It's also a team sport. While I amuse myself with the object packing problem, my wife likes to audit the pricing system. Almost all our calls for support have to do with her principled refusal to accept their errors, which are almost always in the store's favor. It borders on fraud how often the scanned prices do not match what was published in weekly ads or posted on the shelf.
  - gumby 3y ago
    I don't understand what you are saying. Externally imposed? The shop owners are deciding to install self check out just, as shop owner Clarence Saunders decided to do away with clerks in 1916 in order to increase profits. He also expected customers to pay the same price for less service and be okay with that.
  - michaelmrose 3y ago
    Every change that has ever been undertaken in any industry has been externally imposed on the customer by industry including the shift from the merchant fetching goods to the customer doing so. You are expected to gripe about it and keep paying. So long as every major player is doing the same thing it matters little if you gripe about it because your decision is going to be self check at A or self check at B. You could also self check at the company website and have it delivered if you prefer.
- pfannkuchen 3y ago
  That shift happened a long time ago. Probably people did complain at the time?
- mikecoles 3y ago
  Is this the difference between the titles 'cashier' and 'clerk'?

Used to be that you went to the store, stopped at the counter, and asked the clerk to fetch items for you, some still work this way (like bakeries). Yet nobody complains about the shift to having to walk around to fetch and carry their own groceries. It’s just a cultural shift.

likeclockwork 3y ago
It's not a cultural shift. This is externally imposed. Shoppers are not installing self checkout machines in stores, the companies are doing so to increase profits. I'm expected to pay the same price for less service and be okay with that.
- edmundsauto 3y ago
  I like self checkout because the lines are shorter. So I see it as trading some effort for time back. Also, I feel like a jerk just standing there watching someone bag my bags - I would rather scan and bag my food than just stand there flipping through my phone or making small talk with people who are working. Just my perspective - seems like as long as there are both options, everyone can pick what they prefer.
- saltcured 3y ago
  I used to prefer going to a regular cashier. But early in the pandemic, when all the health advice was about contact-spreading and hand washing, we switched to self-checkout with a cart and doing the bagging back at our car, where we left our own bags. Now, it's become a habit and I realize we prefer not to have the distracted or rushed staff smashing all our groceries into bags in the worst order possible. It's also become almost a towers of hanoi game for me to carefully unload our full cart onto that little weighing platform and then back into the cart. I will defer buying alcohol since it requires regular cashier service here. Early on, I fought the systems and swore at terrible UX, until I found how to pace myself for the machine. It's also a team sport. While I amuse myself with the object packing problem, my wife likes to audit the pricing system. Almost all our calls for support have to do with her principled refusal to accept their errors, which are almost always in the store's favor. It borders on fraud how often the scanned prices do not match what was published in weekly ads or posted on the shelf.
- gumby 3y ago
  I don't understand what you are saying. Externally imposed? The shop owners are deciding to install self check out just, as shop owner Clarence Saunders decided to do away with clerks in 1916 in order to increase profits. He also expected customers to pay the same price for less service and be okay with that.
- michaelmrose 3y ago
  Every change that has ever been undertaken in any industry has been externally imposed on the customer by industry including the shift from the merchant fetching goods to the customer doing so. You are expected to gripe about it and keep paying. So long as every major player is doing the same thing it matters little if you gripe about it because your decision is going to be self check at A or self check at B. You could also self check at the company website and have it delivered if you prefer.
pfannkuchen 3y ago
That shift happened a long time ago. Probably people did complain at the time?
mikecoles 3y ago
Is this the difference between the titles 'cashier' and 'clerk'?