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I always gamble and scan any alcohol or age restricted items first. About half of the time, it throws an alert and flashes but lets me continue scanning, it jus
by d1sxeyes 3y ago
I always gamble and scan any alcohol or age restricted items first. About half of the time, it throws an alert and flashes but lets me continue scanning, it just won’t let me complete and pay until someone has come over and approved.
For some reason though, some idiot designer who never actually thought about how these would be used in reality, decided to make it so that the other half of the time it immediately stops all scanning until someone comes to fix it.
In the first case, basically I waste no time. In the second, I lose however long it takes for the cashier to come.
- jon889 3y agoWhy don't you just scan the alcohol last then?
- kevincox 3y agoBecause you still need to wait for the attendant to come. But you have no chance of scanning other items in parallel. (Assuming you don't know if this store will block scanning) It is always optimal to scan these first. You have two cases: Blocking: scan 1 + wait for attendant + scan rest Non-blocking: scan 1 + max(wait for attendant, scan rest) However if you scan these items last the wait is always the same: scan rest + scan 1 + wait for attendant This is never shorter than either of the previous two. It is equivalent to the blocking case and almost always longer than the non-blocking case.
- throw1234651234 3y ago^ This post is just in case you forgot you were on hacker news.
- d1sxeyes 3y agoI agree it's a beautifully crafted response, and have nothing to add, it's exactly what my point was.
- pcthrowaway 3y agoIf you scan the alcohol first, you can then move over to another checkout and proceed with the rest of your items if you need to wait for assistance for the alcohol
- d1sxeyes 3y agoThanks for the tip—never tried it, but it sounds solid!