Stupid self checkout lanes
 

Today's rant: Self checkout lanes that are popping up everywhere... Dropped the mutant off at school this morning, and had to get some grocery shopping done. The kiddo gets to school for 7:00, and I left right from the drop-off lane and went to Kroger, about a 5 minute drive. Really close. get to Kroger, do all my grocery shopping, get up front, and there are no checkout registers open! At least, not any lanes with an actual PERSON to do the checking out. Nope, that early, in Kroger's infinite wisdom, they decided it made more sense to only have the stupid self-checkout lanes open. If I only had one or two things, I don't think I would mind so much. But I have an entire weeks worth of groceries, plus a couple bottles of wine! That means that when I scan the bottle of wine, the lane shuts down until someone comes over to make sure I'm old enough to be purchasing wine... (I'm 21 with 22 years of experience) Now, I'm nearly through scanning my items, and there's a belt there on the side that moves everything you've had to scan yourself off to end of the little island so you can conveniently bag it. The problem is that it never shuts off. Which means everything I've scanned is now a jumbled up pile at the end of the self checkout lane. Good thing I didn't get any eggs or bread! There are countless industry studies that show these self checkout lanes are universally hated by consumers! So why do companies continue to install them? Simple; it's because one person can oversee multiple lanes of people checking themselves out. I don't go to a store, to spend my money, to do an employee's job. If they offered some sort of discount, I could see some very small modicum of value in self checkout. But there's no discount, no benefit to me as the consumer, nothing. Just the knowledge that a company is perfectly willing to trade my enjoyment and loyalty shopping there for what ultimately winds up to be a miniscule change to the profit margins... The rant is over, but the frustration remains...

Its even simpler than that... stores cant find enough bodies to fill positions.... not that its easier for 1 person to oversee 4-6 registers instead of one, they dont have the manpower because the current generation has been groomed (by whatever you see fit to insert here) to be lazy ignorant entitled @^!*#*$%@s......

Also a valid point...

I would have left the cart at the front and walked out. One or two things is fine, but a week's worth? not a chance.

I really wish I could have, but we really needed the groceries (and after this morning, the wine, too!), so I was kind of stuck...

I have done that.

Interesting rant. I guess I’m in the minority.

I much prefer to go through self check out. It’s way faster than waiting in line. If you know how to scan quick.

What I can’t stand is standing behind several people watching some lazy check out person slowly go through the groceries. And then the person wants to do coupons. Or forget something in an aisle and you are standing there waiting forever. Or they have to get a price check. It’s so ridiculous.

With self check out, I’m in and out.

in support of self checkout lanes
 

How many times have you watched in shock while the flunky high school dropout crushes your bread, or fails to recognize the simple fact that cold things should be in the same bag, grabs the bags of chips like they are made of rubber, stuffs cans of food on top of the eggs like they are rocks? More importantly, how often is the price DIFFERENT than what you saw on the shelf, and if you are dealing with a human, you have to stop them (if you notice it!). These are just a few examples of "human intervention" in procuring groceries.

And I always bring lots of bags (nice science city cloth bags from my son's LEGO days, and employer events). Some cashiers roll there eyes when someone that actually cares about the massive proliferation of plastic bags on the planet DARES to try to make a teeny weeny reversal of that problem. What, I can't double plastic bag your rice and beans!? And I can't stand the pressure to QUICKLY load the scrolling food ramp for them (I can see the foot thumping!!)

I LOVE the availability of the self checkout. I take my time, watch prices post, carefully bag the expensive food I am buying with all of the frozen stuff in one bag... PHEEWWW! I am in charge. I even get to see the weight of bananas, or number of avocados posting accurately. wow.

If there is a problem with a price being wrong, or I need approval for a bottle of bourbon, I am happy to let the official run their high authority card with mistake override, and make it happen. Now THAT is customer service :tup: I smile and thank them with pleasure, and casually stroll out of the supermarket, no rush.

I see people standing in line waiting for that wonderful experience of having other people abuse your food and slam them into a ridiculous number of plastic bags. I casually watch them while I methodically take care of it all myself with no pressure, and thoroughly in control.

I do both. Seldom any line at self checkout, and I usually have like 15 items. Other times I stand in line and let them do the work.

Couple items? I'll use them. Cart full? Not a chance.
Even with just a few items though, I'm not getting paid Union Scale to do their job like they are when theyre checking my groceries. That really frosts me while I'm checking out.

My rule of thumb is to not get too upset about things that are not life-threatening.

I haven't been inside a grocery store in at least 2 years, instead I order online and either get groceries delivered or pick them up at the curb. Saves time, energy, and frustration.

I normally use self checkout, but I don't buy a cart full of groceries.

While this does save lots of time in the checkout line, the local store here makes all kinds of weird substitutions... order zero sugar Italian sweet cream coffee creamer (my wife) and get full sugar hazelnut creamer or green peppers instead of avocados. Never get good produce and the bread is always squashed worse than the checkers do because its the first isle out of the back room where the pickers stay and the bread goes on the bottom of the basket.

Thumper, if it works for you, I'm very happy to hear how pleased you are with the arrangement. My frustration stems from not having a choice in how I pay for my groceries. I'm not against self checkout by itself as an option for a store's customers. I'm 100% against not being given a choice at all. I don't use the kiosks at a fast food restaurant either (although to be fair, I haven't eaten fast food in over two years), I would much rather have a human interaction. I can be just as polite to the person working a nine-to-five checking out items as I can be to the person who is overseeing multiple aisles of self checkout.

Exactly my point. If I have a single item, and the lines for full service checkout are backed up, it's easier for me to just grit my teeth and run through the self checkout. I hate it, but standing in line for just one item inconveniences other shoppers, and that's just not fair to them. Like I said earlier, I don't go to an establishment to spend my money to do the job of their employees.

Consider the store's side of this.

It's hard to find employees because Gen Z doesn't want to work.
Self-service lanes also helps cut the store's operating costs--which helps them keep prices lower than they would have been if they used a lot more checkout people.

As far as early-morning self service only, that's the calculus they make as far as shopper volume. I'm sure if you had a load of groceries and asked nicely for assistance (esp. for visually or physically impaired people), they would be happy to oblige.

But hey, if you want to raise your blood pressure with being outraged over trivialities, go for it.

You got that right. Our local restaurants can't even properly man a full staff. We get the menu's and sit at the table. When we decide what we want, we have to stand in line at the bar to order. Fortunately, they also sell adult beverages at said bar. "Incentive".

Our world draastically changed when COVID-19 swept the planet. Now online ordering and pickup or delivery is a thing. My older son is picking groceries at a big grocery store chain. He tells me that the delivery services (door dash, uber eats) periodically take the food and don't deliver it ! No really, and there are surveillance cameras at the pickup zone, so we are not talking about the brightest bulbs in the chandelier.

In his case, they have to clear substitutions with the client, which often holds up the process (response time). My son is pretty careful about packaging and selection, but there is only so much he can do. Stuff sits around, some orders have to be reshelved (can't reshelve deli packaged things like meat-shows up in the break room fridge). The groceries go into grey plastic totes on rolling carts, and they have a special freezer in the back with the frozen stuff held temporarily and separately. He has learned to avoid eye contact because customers are always asking where the mayonnaise is, or are there any more fritos in the back (the ones that are on sale, and probably ran out!), etc! Then there are the customers that say that they are nearly run over by one of the kids pushing the rolling rack! Or they DO get hit!

My guess is that the reason that you sometimes are forced to go through the self service line is that the grocer can't find enough employees these days.

Everyone thinks they should be paid $20 per hour since they have a high school diploma, or not even that. And they believe that they should be able to afford to have children and raise a family on minimum wage. That has NEVER been the case, going back to the 50s!

Comedian Woody Alan said that half of success is just showing up. Genius. My wife works nights in a lab at a hospital, and people are always calling in sick. There is a dearth of nurses and medical lab techs, and it is seriously impacting health care in the US (no where near as badly as the insurance industry though!). The amazing thing is that if you are honest, and actually show up, you can be kind of dumb, but you will be the one that gets the promotion!!

Grocery store managers are looking for us dumb guys that actually show up. We are like gold! Not me, but my son keeps getting offered extra shifts... but only up to 39 hours. Full time employees get health insurance, and that is COSTLY.

Ah, you have discovered my life plan for success.....