Shopping Discussion

Boycott self-checkouts . . .

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  • May 25th, 2011 10:38 pm
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Dec 19, 2001
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Fernando Poo
brunes wrote: The problem with checkouts in Canada is not self checkouts or full checkouts, it is that so few stores in Canada emply an EFFICIENT MODEL to get people through the checkouts. Everyone in the store should be in ONE LINE, and at the end of the line be funneled into the first free checkout. This system gets everyone through in the quickest and most efficient way possible But no stores want to do it. The only store that does this around here is 1 Walmart, and I nave never seen it used at any other Walmart in Canada, so I suspect it is some kind of trial or something.

This is the quickest picture I could find on Google at the time.

[IMG]http://train-srv.manipalu.com/wpress/wp ... umb105.jpg[/IMG]

This system is used at the Leamington Walmart for their express lines.
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Mar 21, 2010
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brunes wrote: The problem with checkouts in Canada is not self checkouts or full checkouts, it is that so few stores in Canada emply an EFFICIENT MODEL to get people through the checkouts. Everyone in the store should be in ONE LINE, and at the end of the line be funneled into the first free checkout. This system gets everyone through in the quickest and most efficient way possible But no stores want to do it. The only store that does this around here is 1 Walmart, and I nave never seen it used at any other Walmart in Canada, so I suspect it is some kind of trial or something.

This is the quickest picture I could find on Google at the time.

[IMG]http://train-srv.manipalu.com/wpress/wp ... umb105.jpg[/IMG]

I think they don't do that because it makes the line look longer, even though it isn't. I agree though, one thing I really dislike about grocery stores is how you have to pick a line, which may not necessarily move the fastest, and then you have people holding spots in the line for family members etc. I too would prefer it to be like a bank, where the first person to get there is always the first to be served, rather than playing line roulette.
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Mar 3, 2008
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Calgary
brunes wrote: The problem with checkouts in Canada is not self checkouts or full checkouts, it is that so few stores in Canada emply an EFFICIENT MODEL to get people through the checkouts. Everyone in the store should be in ONE LINE, and at the end of the line be funneled into the first free checkout. This system gets everyone through in the quickest and most efficient way possible But no stores want to do it. The only store that does this around here is 1 Walmart, and I nave never seen it used at any other Walmart in Canada, so I suspect it is some kind of trial or something.

This is the quickest picture I could find on Google at the time.

[IMG]http://train-srv.manipalu.com/wpress/wp ... umb105.jpg[/IMG]

I have actually seen this model used in all of the Walmart's I've been to around here (about 4) and they are faster as compared to the "regular" lines there.
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Oct 23, 2009
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**** wrote:****************

Theft is the main reason why so many things cost more than what they should.

I hate this attitude that “they owe me, so I’m going to screw them”.

If you have a problem with self checkouts, then why shop at that store? Or is theft the motivating factor?

We are quickly becoming a society of me, rather than we, and frankly I find it third world and disgusting.
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Aug 12, 2006
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RandomSanity wrote: I like self-checkouts. Where I shop the self-checkout lines are always much shorter and the cashiers are also much slower so it is much quicker.

I was self-checkouts proponent like 8-10 years before, or when it started. First time used in HD.

But it started pissing me off last few. I just hate them. Seen them discontinued in Walmart.
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I patiently wait in line at IKEA, even when IKEA rep forcing me to use them.
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Dec 11, 2003
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I think the best way speed up check out is for customers to simply alternate purchases of multiple items with OTHER items, that way the system isn't waiting to decide whether it was an accidental scan.

It really does speed things up :)

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May 10, 2009
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I like them when I'm only buying a few things. Which is what I assumed they were there for. So, if you're buying more than 5 items at a self-checkout I can't help but think you're doing it wrong.
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dell wrote: One of the upsides of self checkouts is avoiding the awkwardness of buying rubbers :lol: But if the machine messes up and a teller has to come over to rescan then your busted. :facepalm:

Happened to me once. The cashier looked at me and smiled. :) :) With a smile on my face, I asked her if she wants to help me use it, she said "No thanks, my bf would kill her" I said, your bf doesn't need to know. She laughed and walked back to her station.
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Jan 26, 2011
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gta
I don' t actually mind self check out, but I do mind what it represents. The problem is that self-check out is just an example of the many way companies are making you their free employee. I now have to do things myself that were ordinarily done by companies for you. I self check out at the supermarket and the next you you know the supermarkets expect you to slice your own bread. That is really infuriating. What next? Cut my own meat. Stock my own shelves? Milk my own cows? The downloading on to customers shows up everywhere. The airlines expect you to open your passport to the picture page. Huh? I just paid $1500 for a ticket and they expect me to make life easier for them rather than the other way around? I don't work for any of these people, yet that expect me to do an employees job.

The internet, in particular, has made me an unpaid employee of the airlines, FedEx and virtually every retailer on earth. And if I dare expect personal service, I have to sit on hold on telephone for a half hour just for the luxury. There are even people who will buy things online, like eyeglasses, which absolutely require an actual person to be done correctly.
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sandikosh wrote: Happened to me once. The cashier looked at me and smiled. :) :) With a smile on my face, I asked her if she wants to help me use it, she said "No thanks, my bf would kill her" I said, your bf doesn't need to know. She laughed and walked back to her station.

She wasn't walking, she was running.

And she wasn't going to her station, she was going for the mace.
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Aug 18, 2005
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robson1 wrote: I don' t actually mind self check out, but I do mind what it represents. The problem is that self-check out is just an example of the many way companies are making you their free employee. I now have to do things myself that were ordinarily done by companies for you. I self check out at the supermarket and the next you you know the supermarkets expect you to slice your own bread. That is really infuriating. What next? Cut my own meat. Stock my own shelves? Milk my own cows?
Did you know that, many decades ago, you just brought your shopping list to the grocery store and their stock guys would round up everything and bring it to the front all nicely bagged up for you and everything? No need to even use a shopping cart!

I think it's a double sided sword - I would never see some great new products if I didn't walk around the store. There will always be tiers of grocery stores due to feirce competition, so you could go to the more expensive store if you want more service, or go to the cheaper store if you want the lowest price but the most self-service.

Walking around in the store gives them much more chance to upsell you and get you in on impulse purchases. And of course PC has the bait & switch now where they advertise a great sale and then when you arrive at that part of the store, there's a guy parked right in front of the sale item trying to sign people up for PC MasterCard.

I think this is sort of coming back to bite them now because stores have realised that self-checkouts mean that people don't impulse on all of those racks of magazines, gum, and candy that is right at a 9 year old's eye level along the lines of regular checkouts.
robson1 wrote: The downloading on to customers shows up everywhere. The airlines expect you to open your passport to the picture page. Huh? I just paid $1500 for a ticket and they expect me to make life easier for them rather than the other way around? I don't work for any of these people, yet that expect me to do an employees job.

The internet, in particular, has made me an unpaid employee of the airlines, FedEx and virtually every retailer on earth. And if I dare expect personal service, I have to sit on hold on telephone for a half hour just for the luxury. There are even people who will buy things online, like eyeglasses, which absolutely require an actual person to be done correctly.
I don't mind the part about opening your passport to the right page because this genuinely speeds things up at the check-in, and really, they can't reduce the time it takes for their people to open your passport no matter what they do.

What bugs me is that people are complacent. Right now, the lines for online-checkins are much less than the bulk of people who check in at the airport, so this benefits me. But eventually they will probably do away with this and everyone will be forced to check in online. Why? Because other airlines have already forced this and dropped their prices, and complacent people run like zombies to the lowest price without really thinking about what they are giving up. This is why so many fees for baggage and such are rising - airlines have to do it, otherwise the el-cheapo airlines that force this on you with a cheap up-front price will steal the customers. And who lets this happen? The public in general.
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brunes wrote: The problem with checkouts in Canada is not self checkouts or full checkouts, it is that so few stores in Canada emply an EFFICIENT MODEL to get people through the checkouts. Everyone in the store should be in ONE LINE, and at the end of the line be funneled into the first free checkout. This system gets everyone through in the quickest and most efficient way possible But no stores want to do it. The only store that does this around here is 1 Walmart, and I nave never seen it used at any other Walmart in Canada, so I suspect it is some kind of trial or something.

This is the quickest picture I could find on Google at the time.

[IMG]http://train-srv.manipalu.com/wpress/wp ... umb105.jpg[/IMG]

They do have lines like this for some of the express checkouts (8 items or less) at Walmart in Ontario.

While it is true it is more efficient, there is one major problem in that you'd need a lot of "space" near the front to have a single queue. Plus people won't be happy to see a gigantic spiral queue.
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Hairball wrote: They do have lines like this for some of the express checkouts (8 items or less) at Walmart in Ontario.

While it is true it is more efficient, there is one major problem in that you'd need a lot of "space" near the front to have a single queue. Plus people won't be happy to see a gigantic spiral queue.

Yup, 1 line for like 16 item or less in the walmart in Cambridge, ON here!
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I think self checkouts should be reserved for the "express" line, especially at grocery stores where you need to punch in a code for produce, have to look up the bakery product in their little catalog etc. In my experience, a person with a shopping cart full of groceries will always take longer then going through a regular cashier.
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adblink182 wrote: I think self checkouts should be reserved for the "express" line, especially at grocery stores where you need to punch in a code for produce, have to look up the bakery product in their little catalog etc. In my experience, a person with a shopping cart full of groceries will always take longer then going through a regular cashier.

It's not about whether the person with a shopping cart of groceries takes longer to scan their items than a cashier, because with the system in place the cashier always wins. The benefit is in the person with the shopping cart being able to scan their items quicker than waiting in line for a cashier to do it for them. When I go grocery shopping the self checkout rarely has a line, whereas the cashiers are always 2 people (or more) deep. This is where the self checkout is quicker because the lineup is that much smaller.
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Aug 20, 2005
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I personally don't use self serve checkouts because I don't believe in taking jobs away from people. I didn't have mommy and daddy to pay my bills and I put myself through school working as a cashier. Consequently, I have a greater respect for people who do those jobs than many of you, who think you are better than people who work for a living. My public library introduced self serve checkouts and then cut part time jobs. The self serve checkouts are usually broken and people still have to go to the main desk for help. There are a lot less people now at the main desk.

In many instances, it is much quicker to go through a regular checkout. The self serve usually has lines because people don't know what they are doing or they need assistance because the machine screwed up. Then they need to wait for help. I don't see it as being faster.

Since I know many of you don't care about other peoples jobs, I'm surprised that you are stupid enough to work for free because that is exactly what you are doing. Stores implement self serve checkouts and then cut staff because now they have people working for free. I refuse to do it. When Home Depot opened a new location near me, they put in one manned checkout and the rest self serve. They have no intention of hiring cashiers when they can get the public to work for free. Next they'll want you to stock the shelves. Sorry I wasn't born yesterday and I'm not working for these rich greedy corporations for free.
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Cheap Cat wrote: I personally don't use self serve checkouts because I don't believe in taking jobs away from people. I didn't have mommy and daddy to pay my bills and I put myself through school working as a cashier. Consequently, I have a greater respect for people who do those jobs than many of you, who think you are better than people who work for a living. My public library introduced self serve checkouts and then cut part time jobs. The self serve checkouts are usually broken and people still have to go to the main desk for help. There are a lot less people now at the main desk.

In many instances, it is much quicker to go through a regular checkout. The self serve usually has lines because people don't know what they are doing or they need assistance because the machine screwed up. Then they need to wait for help. I don't see it as being faster.

Since I know many of you don't care about other peoples jobs, I'm surprised that you are stupid enough to work for free because that is exactly what you are doing. Stores implement self serve checkouts and then cut staff because now they have people working for free. I refuse to do it. When Home Depot opened a new location near me, they put in one manned checkout and the rest self serve. They have no intention of hiring cashiers when they can get the public to work for free. Next they'll want you to stock the shelves. Sorry I wasn't born yesterday and I'm not working for these rich greedy corporations for free.
So it is better to create more job and I pay more for everything? Like pay more taxes so that you library hire more part time or even full time unionized workers; Or pay more for grocery because they have to hire more people? You must hate no-frills, you know the shopping cart where you have to insert a coin, and when you return it you get it back...

For me, I like the OPTION of having the self check out, if I am just going to get a few items and I can avoid the lineup why not?

Regarding the library, I am absolutely IN LOVE with the self check out option, it was a pain to have seen 1 of those slow paced public sector, unionized librarians, kept chatting with someone she knows... While all of us waited in line for them to finish that frigging conversation so that I can check out my item! I guess I just had a really bad experience, but if my tax money can be better spent why not?
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Sep 22, 2009
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Self checkout is just another way to pass costs and labour onto consumers. I love how the sheep in this country defend this as some righteous evolution of service
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Oct 23, 2009
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I love how people are down on cashiers for having a bit of a chit chat with their fellow co-worker.

Tell me that none of you have ever answered the phone at work when a customer called and put them on hold for a minute or two, just so that you could finish telling your work buddy about your weekend!

Face it, we have all done it in one form or another, be it at an office, a restaurant, a hospital or anywhere else you work.

We spend more of our day with co-workers than we do with anyone else, so having a friendly chit chat is not the end of the world.

Personally I try to chat up all the cashiers I meet. I figure that for the most part they have to deal with cranky people who are in a rush to get home and watch their reality TV shows, than they are to spend a few seconds of their lives being friendly with a complete stranger.

I like when I go into a familiar store and a cashier sees me that his or her face lights up. They frequently tell me that they are happy to see me, as most of their customers are rude and sullen.

I am not opposed to these self checkouts, because I too am in a rush sometimes and don’t want to hang around……..well that and I like playing with the buttons. :lol:
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theguru wrote: Self checkout is just another way to pass costs and labour onto consumers. I love how the sheep in this country defend this as some righteous evolution of service

If you don't like it, write them a letter about why you're not going to shop at their stores and then shop elsewhere.
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