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You'd think the article was written by a rep from the cashiers union. I have no bad experiences with self-checkout. None. Going to a staffed-only checkout fee

You'd think the article was written by a rep from the cashiers union. I have no bad experiences with self-checkout. None. Going to a staffed-only checkout feels like going back 20 years in time. They take up more space, they can move slower, suddenly customers will kill the speed because they need to look for their coupons, pay with change, or whatever.

elitan 3y ago
same
compiler-guy 3y ago
And because I personally have never seen the problem, it couldn’t possibly exist!
- regular_trash 3y ago
  If the problem is pervasive as made out to be, it stands to reason that a person would have at least one anecdotal experience in favor of the claim.
  - compiler-guy 3y ago
    Which is more likely? 1. The people who say they have had a problem actually have had a problem, and some other people have gotten lucky. 2. The people who say they have had a problem are lying, or deceived.
    - theamk 3y ago
      3. The people who say they have a problem actually had a problem, but they a minority and got unlucky, and then extrapolated their experience to everyone else The article actually ends with "shoppers are likely to find themselves disappointed and frustrated most of the time." - and that is clearly false for me and everyone I know. "rarely" or "occassionaly"? maybe. But not "most of the time".
      - antifa 3y ago
        > but they a minority and got unlucky, and then extrapolated their experience to everyone else Bold of you to assume you're not the minority.
  - handoflixue 3y ago
    Given the massive variation in self checkouts, it's also possible you just live in a region which is on the High Quality end of the bell curve.
- AndrewKemendo 3y ago
  Don’t forget that “cashiers” aren’t a real job anyway, and with self checkout technology it allows someone who was a checker to be inspired to be a software engineer. All they need to do is drop everything to learn one of the most competitive and hardest cross-disciplinary skills and jump into a shrinking market!
- TrackerFF 3y ago
  Not saying that they don't exist, but my experience has been nothing but positive. It must be 8-9 years since we got one locally, and it's been smooth sailing for me. You scan the products. Confirm that you've scanned everything. Want a shopping bag, yes/no? Pay. That's it. The scanners work. Payment work. Getting a receipt works. Maybe I've just been lucky, who knows.
  - nielsbot 3y ago
    Why do you like it better than having a cashier ring you up? Me: I don't have to scan, check I've scanned everything, enter the number of bags, put groceries in those bags. Instead I put my stuff on the belt, I pay and walk out w the groceries--and the cashier is a pro at scanning and bagging, whereas I am not. Plus, it's not like these stores are going to pass along the labor savings to us. They'll just pocket the difference.
    - theamk 3y ago
      ... after waiting in line for 20+ minutes I remember the time before self-scan machines, and the lines were not shorter. Even "10 items or less" registers had huge lines.
      - nielsbot 3y ago
        Fair point--maybe the throughput is higher for self checkout. I still like not having to do the work myself tho.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
xen2xen1 3y ago
Opinions on self checkouts are age tests. The older you are the more likely you are to hate it. You can basically peg someone to 45/50 or older if they complain. I say this and I'm near that age range. On Facebook: I bagged my own groceries! Is someone going to pay me?!?? And yeahz you're 52? Yup, over and over.
- xphos 3y ago
  I disagree being a young 26 year old, I have had dozens of issues with self checkout getting stuck for 5+ minutes at a time over things that don't have bar codes and require hand typing. Or Heaven forbid you don't put the item precisely on the scale bench and it flags you as being 0.1 oz off your checkout basket. They are not hard to clear issues and I could do them myself but only the cashier has the ability to clear those errors and sometimes there is that one customer that is taking the 1 cashier for 8 stalls for like 5 minutes complaining about a coupon. I think dismissing the issues is sure fire way for more issues to come up.
- KineticLensman 3y ago
  > You can basically peg someone to 45/50 or older if they complain. Not me (aged 60, happy with using self-checkouts in general, resigned to the occasional glitches)
Libcat99 3y ago
I use the self check out unless my order is huge and I need more space to pack it. The scan->wait->scan drives me nuts though.
- akvadrako 3y ago
  That weighing thing doesn't exist on good self-checkouts.

elitan 3y ago

same

compiler-guy 3y ago

And because I personally have never seen the problem, it couldn’t possibly exist!

regular_trash 3y ago
If the problem is pervasive as made out to be, it stands to reason that a person would have at least one anecdotal experience in favor of the claim.
- compiler-guy 3y ago
  Which is more likely? 1. The people who say they have had a problem actually have had a problem, and some other people have gotten lucky. 2. The people who say they have had a problem are lying, or deceived.
  - theamk 3y ago
    3. The people who say they have a problem actually had a problem, but they a minority and got unlucky, and then extrapolated their experience to everyone else The article actually ends with "shoppers are likely to find themselves disappointed and frustrated most of the time." - and that is clearly false for me and everyone I know. "rarely" or "occassionaly"? maybe. But not "most of the time".
    - antifa 3y ago
      > but they a minority and got unlucky, and then extrapolated their experience to everyone else Bold of you to assume you're not the minority.
- handoflixue 3y ago
  Given the massive variation in self checkouts, it's also possible you just live in a region which is on the High Quality end of the bell curve.
AndrewKemendo 3y ago
Don’t forget that “cashiers” aren’t a real job anyway, and with self checkout technology it allows someone who was a checker to be inspired to be a software engineer. All they need to do is drop everything to learn one of the most competitive and hardest cross-disciplinary skills and jump into a shrinking market!
TrackerFF 3y ago
Not saying that they don't exist, but my experience has been nothing but positive. It must be 8-9 years since we got one locally, and it's been smooth sailing for me. You scan the products. Confirm that you've scanned everything. Want a shopping bag, yes/no? Pay. That's it. The scanners work. Payment work. Getting a receipt works. Maybe I've just been lucky, who knows.
- nielsbot 3y ago
  Why do you like it better than having a cashier ring you up? Me: I don't have to scan, check I've scanned everything, enter the number of bags, put groceries in those bags. Instead I put my stuff on the belt, I pay and walk out w the groceries--and the cashier is a pro at scanning and bagging, whereas I am not. Plus, it's not like these stores are going to pass along the labor savings to us. They'll just pocket the difference.
  - theamk 3y ago
    ... after waiting in line for 20+ minutes I remember the time before self-scan machines, and the lines were not shorter. Even "10 items or less" registers had huge lines.
    - nielsbot 3y ago
      Fair point--maybe the throughput is higher for self checkout. I still like not having to do the work myself tho.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

xen2xen1 3y ago

Opinions on self checkouts are age tests. The older you are the more likely you are to hate it. You can basically peg someone to 45/50 or older if they complain. I say this and I'm near that age range. On Facebook: I bagged my own groceries! Is someone going to pay me?!?? And yeahz you're 52? Yup, over and over.

xphos 3y ago
I disagree being a young 26 year old, I have had dozens of issues with self checkout getting stuck for 5+ minutes at a time over things that don't have bar codes and require hand typing. Or Heaven forbid you don't put the item precisely on the scale bench and it flags you as being 0.1 oz off your checkout basket. They are not hard to clear issues and I could do them myself but only the cashier has the ability to clear those errors and sometimes there is that one customer that is taking the 1 cashier for 8 stalls for like 5 minutes complaining about a coupon. I think dismissing the issues is sure fire way for more issues to come up.
KineticLensman 3y ago
> You can basically peg someone to 45/50 or older if they complain. Not me (aged 60, happy with using self-checkouts in general, resigned to the occasional glitches)

Libcat99 3y ago

I use the self check out unless my order is huge and I need more space to pack it. The scan->wait->scan drives me nuts though.

akvadrako 3y ago
That weighing thing doesn't exist on good self-checkouts.