A lot of supermarkets in the UK now have unmanned checkouts so you can do it yourself, sounds easy yes? well it's not! I will only use them if all the tills have long lines but when l have had to use them they never work for me smoothly and l'm stood there waiting for the attendant to fix the problem. I prefer a more human touch and it's just as quick if not quicker so l hope l don't see more of those ugly things
I do not have good luck with them either and always need help! There is always something to look up or the line is clogged and the computer keeps talking to me, making me nervous! Take your groceries! Take your groceries! It's unnerving! Give me a chance to put my wallet away, will you?
If I have to pay few items I also used it. I hate waiting so it's more convenient for me. Good thing I never encountered any problem.
I prefer the self checkout if I'm not buying any fruit or vegetables. I enjoy the process. I do agree that the machine can be annoying with the take your groceries prompt. Sometimes I find myself telling the machine to stop being so rude.
They are alright as long as you don't have a lot of items. When they first started appearing in our area they seemed to not work so well. Much like you describe, they required an assistant for almost everything. They seem to be much better now and the only time an assistant is required is if I am purchasing alcohol. I think the only thing that still frustrates me is when it says to place the item in the bag and I already have. Then I retry putting the item in the bag and it still keeps saying "place your item in the bag". After a few re-trys, I get pretty mad at that voice.
Self checkouts are here in the US too. I do not like them at all. I would much prefer to have someone check me out. Then if the price is wrong they can fix it. If something is not scanning correctly they can fix it. Besides, if everyone starts using self checkouts, think of the jobs that will be lost. At some point we need human interaction, not just machines doing everything. For me it represents a large drop in customer service.
I actually love the self checkout now that I have gotten used to it. I love how quick and easy it is to just do everything yourself because here where I live the cashiers tend to multitask and take forever to swipe your credit card and pack everything in the plastic bags.
I haven't seen any self checkout service here in my country yet, probably because it's a 3rd world country. But if ever there will be such a service, then I hope the voice prompt won't be that annoying. It should be "patient" with the customers, giving like a 10 to 15 second interval before bugging you to take your groceries.
I do prefer people as well, but I don't mind using those checkout-yourself machines when there are long lines. Sometimes those machines don't work properly though, I pass the bar code and it's not recognised and I have to call someone to assist me.
I've never tried it myself, but I've been with my friend when she used one a while ago. It looked pretty easy and convenient. I think I would like them if we had any where I live. None of the stores around this area have those. We just get stuck in the line and it'd be great to have another option. It was cool because when we went everyone else was in a line waiting for the cashiers, almost like they didn't care to wait so we were able to walk straight up to it and check out. LOVE & DEALS DH
I also do it, around when i have 5 items or less because it is quick if you know the tricks, but also sometimes it gets stuck, so you have to be patient.
We've got them here in Ireland too. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with them. In theory, I think they're great. I rarely have issues using them. When a problem does occur though, like an item not scanning, it'll take ages as you need to wait for a staff member to arrive. I always compare who's queuing for both the manned tills and the self service ones. You can usually tell by looking at the people whether they will be able to go through quickly or not. Actually, the same people who tend to be slow on the self service ones still take a long time on the normal ones, I think!
My favorite store (Fresh and Easy) was owned by the UK's Tesco. It has self checkouts that work well, accepts coins (so you can clean out your pockets) and then still use a card. I like knowing where things go, so I like to pack too. F and E though has great employees who usually help pack. I love it.
I don't mind the self checkout. But I always bring reusable bags, and the scale doesn't recognize them... so the one worker who is manning all of the self-checkouts has to repeatedly fix that problem. That's annoying! But if I don't have the bags for some reason, it's easier. My kids love to do the scanning for me, so this is nice because they can do it.
Walmart is supposedly testing out a new payment method where customers can scan all their items as they shop around with their cell phones, then pay at a kiosk station - so they don't have to stand there ringing up one item at a time when they are ready to checkout. The only thing they need to get in line for is to make the payment itself. In fact, they may be able to get around that too if they let people pay via their phones. I like the self checkouts personally, with the exception of the ones at Topps' Grocery Stores. Those things were constantly locking up and requiring assistance. I think like 90% of the time they would get stuck for me.
I detest these! They always give trouble, even just with a few items. From not scanning properly to yelling about the specific "proper" way to bag groceries and take them in .5 seconds flat. Just not a fan.
For some reason the ones at Walmart pretty much always mess up on me so I don't even bother to try them anymore. But I've never had an issue with the ones at Kroger. If I don't have a ton of stuff I usually go through the self checkout at Kroger. For some reason there is almost never a line at them either. I don't know if it's because a lot of people don't like to use them or if they're just so easy to use that you can finish checking out really quick before a line starts. But yeah, the ones at Walmart are just a disaster.
I honestly dislike those machines, though if you're buying a can of coke or something like that, you should always use them, it's a lot quicker - and most people really dislike those things, they're as you said slow as heck. I mean, they crash down like there's no tomorrow if you buy more than like... 5 items? They shouldn't replace humans with such things...
Yeah it's def not as easy as it sounds. I don't think there has been one time that I have used these things and it mess up on me so I end up having to wait for someone to help. I rather go to a real cashier than self checkout but if i'm in a rush and there is long lines I have no choice but to deal with these crazy machines.
I recently read on several websites that many persons pay more at checkout than they have to because some of the sale prices on some items, for instance, have not be reset on the scanner so people end up paying for the full price when they are not aware and don't watch the scanner closely. So, I will, of course, learn all that I can to use the scanner that I save money on my grocery bills.
