Sainsbury Self Service Checkouts

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I was in a branch of Sainsburys today, and was wondering if it's possible to hack the software that runs those annoying robots. My suggestion would be to add the question, "Do you want a flake with that luv ?" after "have you swiped your nectar card ?".

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Incidentally, whilst we are on the subject of Sainsburys, my wife received a notification from them to say that whilst they currently issue two Nectar points per one pound spent there, from some time early in 2015, they will be reducing this to only one point per one pound spent. There was a footnote to say that regarding Nectar points, it was only at Sainsburys that this point reduction would apply to.

A sign of the "supermarket wars", perhaps?

 

[starrymarkb]

Dining room? The "staff area" in my place is a table, chairs, microwave, kettle, sink and fridge at the end of a stockroom!

Same here, but at the opposite end of the building from our office. The kitchen next to us is reserved for prestiege clients - we are in a managed office setup and the Landlord's onsite manager thinks we are dirt because we are not lawyers or bankers - officially it's so costs of tea and coffee can be assigned to different kitchens (in reality it comes out of the same bag and is not counted out :roll

 

[AM9]

Like it..

Incidentally, whilst we are on the subject of Sainsburys, my wife received a notification from them to say that whilst they currently issue two Nectar points per one pound spent there, from some time early in 2015, they will be reducing this to only one point per one pound spent. There was a footnote to say that regarding Nectar points, it was only at Sainsburys that this point reduction would apply to.

A sign of the "supermarket wars", perhaps?

Looks like a race to the bottom.

 

[starrymarkb]

Like it..

Incidentally, whilst we are on the subject of Sainsburys, my wife received a notification from them to say that whilst they currently issue two Nectar points per one pound spent there, from some time early in 2015, they will be reducing this to only one point per one pound spent. There was a footnote to say that regarding Nectar points, it was only at Sainsburys that this point reduction would apply to.

A sign of the "supermarket wars", perhaps?

"But good news, you still get 1 point per litre on fuel!" (because they cut that back a few years ago)

Well it'll mean a reduction in Easyjet flights for me then

 

[GatwickDepress]

Same here, but at the opposite end of the building from our office. The kitchen next to us is reserved for prestiege clients - we are in a managed office setup and the Landlord's onsite manager thinks we are dirt because we are not lawyers or bankers - officially it's so costs of tea and coffee can be assigned to different kitchens (in reality it comes out of the same bag and is not counted out :roll

A friend of mine worked at a warehouse where the airy canteen (and fully fitted kitchen!) was sealed off and only opened (but never actually served food) whenever management or VIPs came to visit.

I don't think the break room even came with a kettle; rather one of those hot drink vending machines hospitals have to keep their patient admittance statistics up.

 

[jon0844]

I was in a branch of Sainsburys today, and was wondering if it's possible to hack the software that runs those annoying robots. My suggestion would be to add the question, "Do you want a flake with that luv ?" after "have you swiped your nectar card ?".

I think some a-hole has hacked the ones in WH Smith. You'll get asked if you want to get a paper, followed later by some cheap chocolate, and then if you used a bag (the only valid question, as they charge for them) during your scanning. Most annoying if you're buying just a couple of items.

And at the WH Smith at St Pancras (Eurostar) they didn't have any staff for the ordinary tills. Self checkout or no checkout - lovely! Bet foreigners love being invited to buy things they don't want just as much as we do, especially if English isn't their native language.

 

[Crossover]

Change is a weapon that even the machines seem to have clocked on to - there's aren't many ways you can get back at rude/ignorant customers but giving them a handful of 1/2/5p coins is certainly one! I don't want the bloody things either, I don't sell anything that isn't a multiple of 5p so people who pull out big piles of bronze coins tend to go on the death list as I have to count, remit and even bloody bag 2 and 1p coins seperately.

Oh, we know the disdain of coppers to railway staff - some TOC's have started giving out RTV's with values not ending 0 or 5 and it does cause problems, either because the staff cannot provide change for it or that the staff then winge because they a single 2p coin to bank! This whole thing reminds me I still have one such RTV to use...could be interesting!

I think some a-hole has hacked the ones in WH Smith. You'll get asked if you want to get a paper, followed later by some cheap chocolate, and then if you used a bag (the only valid question, as they charge for them) during your scanning. Most annoying if you're buying just a couple of items.

And at the WH Smith at St Pancras (Eurostar) they didn't have any staff for the ordinary tills. Self checkout or no checkout - lovely! Bet foreigners love being invited to buy things they don't want just as much as we do, especially if English isn't their native language.

To be honest, aside from the attempted upselling, self service can be useful. I visited a Spar in Ljubljana, Slovenia, earlier in the year, which had self service checkouts. They were multi-lingual too, so I put it into English (aside from Slovene, I think they also did French, German and Italian, at least). Slightly amusing thing is that after you scan each item it reads the price out to you, but it is slow, so you can build up a backlog of them if you scan quickly :P

 

[jon0844]

Like it..

Incidentally, whilst we are on the subject of Sainsburys, my wife received a notification from them to say that whilst they currently issue two Nectar points per one pound spent there, from some time early in 2015, they will be reducing this to only one point per one pound spent. There was a footnote to say that regarding Nectar points, it was only at Sainsburys that this point reduction would apply to.

A sign of the "supermarket wars", perhaps?

I got the same email, which actually told me how many points I had (and the value - some £59) and made me realise that all these points I've been collecting actually have some value!

I've never thought Sainsbury's was particularly cheap, but it has been convenient. However, when they do change the Nectar points (halving the value, no points for re-using bags) I think I will consider shopping elsewhere as that 'final nudge' to do something about it.

I am not sure this will save Sainsbury's a lot of money in the long run.

 

[DownSouth]

Change is a weapon that even the machines seem to have clocked on to - there's aren't many ways you can get back at rude/ignorant customers but giving them a handful of 1/2/5p coins is certainly one! I don't want the bloody things either, I don't sell anything that isn't a multiple of 5p so people who pull out big piles of bronze coins tend to go on the death list as I have to count, remit and even bloody bag 2 and 1p coins seperately.

You need your country to copy Australia and New Zealand in stopping the minting of the 1¢, 2¢ and (in NZ only) 5¢ coins now that their purchasing power is negligible. Simply allow shops to round off the total price of the transaction to the nearest 0.05 (Australia) or 0.10 (NZ) if the customer doesn't have some method (e.g. electronic) of paying the exact amount demanded.

You don't even need to declare the small coins to be no longer legal tender, just stop minting them and eventually they will drop out of circulation.

 

[Mojo]

If you don't like the voice then press the mute button! Unfortunately some shops have disabled this function though.

 

[jon0844]

It's not a mute button though, so you have to press multiple times to make it go louder LOUDER and then silent.

Sainsbury's still allows you to do it, but I am not sure about the others.

Personally, self scanning (handheld terminal or smartphone app) is preferable to the nonsense of queuing up to pay AND pack at the end of my shop.

 

[Mojo]

It's not a mute button though, so you have to press multiple times to make it go louder LOUDER and then silent.

Most places I shop at it's already at the loudest (so press once) or second loudest (so press twice). The voice doesn't start until you start scanning or press start anyway.

 

[starrymarkb]

The Worst Checkout Robots I've used were the ones in Monaco. Turns out you have to specified which Loyalty card you have and then scan the receipt again to open the gate to leave the store!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Personally, self scanning (handheld terminal or smartphone app) is preferable to the nonsense of queueing up to pay AND pack at the end of my shop.

Maybe I have not read your posting correctly but who actually does the packing that you allude to above under normal circustances? Is it a very large amount of goods that you have purchased, as when my wife uses the traditional method of checkout shopping at the Sainsburys store in Wilmslow, there is always a young "helper" to pack the goods for her. Mind you, she says that certain till areas are more prone to having these "helpers" than others.

The mind boggles at how this self-service scenario will spread. I can well imagine a dry cleaners, where after you have used the machines, you can then use the steam press...something that has always intrigued me...

 

[jon0844]

When I shop now, I pick up a scanner, scan the item(s) as I pick them up and put them straight in a bag. Or, if I forget to bring the bags in from the car, go out with all the items loose in the trolley and bag them up at the car, while cursing that I forgot the bags in the first place.

It's SO much easier to just go to the checkout and pay, then walk out and transfer the nicely packed bags into the car, than have all the items in your basket/trolley and then have to scan each one, while also packing at the same time. At least at a normal checkout, you pack while someone scans.

I don't think self checkouts are the future. It will be self scanning, or even having RFID tags that means you'll walk through a scanner and have everything read in one single go (and, again, you'll have packed while you shopped).

I've used the self scan facility even for just a few items, and it's great that you get to see a running total and get alerted to special offers - with reminders that you've possibly not yet picked up enough items to get the saving etc.

 

[Kite159]

I used the checkserve checkouts in Co-Op down Swanage on Saturday and they shouted out the price of everything scanned.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

All this posting talk about going to retail outlets for lunchtime food and drink on this thread makes me ask the question..."Does no-one ever take lunch in the director's dining room in these modern times"?

I tried to but they called security to throw me out
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The self-service tills that WH Smith use, they seriously annoy me (or did because I refuse to shop there any more).

Why, because they behave like the staffed checkouts, asking if I would like 'a £1 slab of chocolate' with my purchase instead of simply letting me get on with my life without unwarranted sales promotions thank you very much.

I used the one at Manchester Piccadilly station, on auto-pilot without paying any attention to the screen, and couldn't work out why the darned machine wouldn't finish my transaction - until I looked up at the screen and realised it was waiting for me to tell it that, strangely enough, I didn't want 250g of non-milk fat with absolutely no nutritional value, and if I did I would have picked one off the shelf and scanned it already.

So, great sales technique WH Smith - annoy your customers so that they never shop with you again!

 

[carriageline]

The worst self scans are morrisons. Whenever I use them, I need to call the attendant over a couple of tins as it has a problem with the weight. Other people I know that do weekly shops there, after getting home and looking at their receipts see they have got things for free as the selfscan has thrown a hissy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Baxenden Bank]

The worst self scans are morrisons. Whenever I use them, I need to call the attendant over a couple of tins as it has a problem with the weight. Other people I know that do weekly shops there, after getting home and looking at their receipts see they have got things for free as the selfscan has thrown a hissy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It works both ways. Sometimes you get things for free, sometimes it shows a higher price or doesn't give the multi-buy discount. I suppose the shops have decided it is 'six of one and half a dozen of the other'.

I got a free loaf of bread once from (an unnamed) supermarket because I got stressed in return for the till having a hissy fit at me i.e. "remove the last item from the bagging area". The operator just cleared the machine without checking my bags. The machine was right, the human was wrong , as I had put more loaves through than I had scanned (by accident).

In my experience, the ones at Tesco are very good, Sainsbury's nearly as good, Morrisons (as you say) quite poor and WH Smith aaargghh.

I was surprised to see Booths now have them - and a loyalty card as well.

 

[jon0844]

So, great sales technique WH Smith - annoy your customers so that they never shop with you again!

It's their way of reducing queues! Clever, huh?

I got something at WH Smith 'airside' before going to Brussels on Eurostar last week, and did so only as a last resort.

I've managed to resist buying anything from WH Smith (bar this moment of madness) for over a year, and fully intend to keep on refusing to give them a single penny of my money.

The experience with the self checkout telling me about free newspapers (but obviously only if I bought something else) and cheap chocolate was a nice reminder of why I don't shop there. That and the ridiculous prices, with the high prices seemingly there to sting people on their own, or to make the deals seem better value for money when they're not.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I've managed to resist buying anything from WH Smith (bar this moment of madness) for over a year, and fully intend to keep on refusing to give them a single penny of my money.

Perhaps if a mass boycott of the W H Smith establishments, big enough to hit their turnover, should occur on a nationwide-basis, this would be something to concentrate "management's"' minds on thinking of the reason why they thought it was a good idea in the first place.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Perhaps if a mass boycott of the W H Smith establishments, big enough to hit their turnover, should occur on a nationwide-basis, this would be something to concentrate "management's"' minds on thinking of the reason why they thought it was a good idea in the first place.

I doubt it. They would find something else to blame rather than their own inabilities / poor business decisions. How else would they justify their multi-million salaries and bonuses.

A business never really knows why it has lost customers, as they are no longer there to ask 'where are we going wrong?'. And, if they ask current customers 'what are we doing right / wrong?' they only hear what they want to hear and cast aside comments contrary to their world view. I'm far to cynical, I know.

 

[jon0844]

I stopped buying from Tesco some years back and flying with Ryanair, and both of them are now realising they have to change things. I assume it wasn't just down to me voting with my feet!

Next year, I expect I'll ditch Sainsbury's when they mess about with the nectar points. And I still intend to tell Lloyds Bank to sod off one day...

It's the only power 'we' have over companies that get complacent or downright greedy.

 

[ASharpe]

The self-service tills that WH Smith use, they seriously annoy me (or did because I refuse to shop there any more).

Why, because they behave like the staffed checkouts, asking if I would like 'a £1 slab of chocolate' with my purchase instead of simply letting me get on with my life without unwarranted sales promotions thank you very much.

At least the machine does't give you an extra slip of paper (a voucher?) with your paper. Mine usually ends up on the shop floor because I don't manage to grab hold of it.

There is a WHSmith I use frequently (but I can't remember which station it is in right now) where a member of staff will stand behind the self service machine and scan your items for you and tell you how to pay.

What's wrong with the honesty boxes - just as effective and much easier for the customer.

 

[Busaholic]

Sainsburys are in a panic over the Nectar points reduction. Huge notice just inside the entrance today about '50 to 50,000 extra Nectar points til Sunday if you spend £20.' Can't be bothered to work it out, but wouldn't an extra 50 points just take you back to where you were before assuming you spent £25? The cashier made great play of telling me I had the extra 50 points- probably more chance of winning the lottery than getting 50000.

 

[starrymarkb]

I noticed that. I've also noticed their range seems to be getting smaller so it'll be trip to Tesco for Cranberry Red Bull before getting on the coach tomorrow

 

[jon0844]

Sainsbury's often gives me double or triple Nectar points vouchers when I shop, but in addition to them expiring in about a week, the latest triple points one I got had a minimum spend of £90. Seriously? I've done a £50+ shop and you want me to spend another £90 in seven days? Insane!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Sainsbury's often gives me double or triple Nectar points vouchers when I shop, but in addition to them expiring in about a week, the latest triple points one I got had a minimum spend of £90. Seriously? I've done a £50+ shop and you want me to spend another £90 in seven days? Insane!

I must have missed that one...I thought that internal Sainsbury exhortation that some "bright-spark" displayed in one branch's windows for all to see, was to get the customer to spend an extra 50p per week.

Perhaps we both inhabit similar better Sainsburys quality stores, when Fortnum and Mason are too busy...

 

[Busaholic]

I must have missed that one...I thought that internal Sainsbury exhortation that some "bright-spark" displayed in one branch's windows for all to see, was to get the customer to spend an extra 50p per week.

Perhaps we both inhabit similar better Sainsburys quality stores, when Fortnum and Mason are too busy...

If only we had a Booth's in Cornwall!

 

[bnm]

"I like Sainsbury's. It keeps the scum out of Waitrose." - Stephen Fry.

Sainsbury's has been my supermarket of choice, however I now avoid the self checkouts if at all possible. Yes, they cut costs and keep prices competitive, but I'd much rather pay a little more for my shopping so I don't have to do the work that someone should be paid to do. So I don't have to wait for age restricted products to be allowed. So I don't have to get my glasses out to read and enter a bar code number of an item that won't scan. So I don't have to wait for an incorrect 'unexpected item in bagging area' message to be cleared. So I don't have to wait for security tags to be removed (on one occasion in Sainsbury's I was told to go to the Customer Service desk to get a DVD released from it's plastic security box - I got a staff member to do it). So I don't have to get a banknote changed because the machine won't accept it. So I don't get a pocket full of coins because the self-checkout has insufficient higher denomination change.

Another major bugbear is that, since their introduction, it has apparently become the norm for staffed checkouts to be closed and cashed up before the store closing time. On more than one occasion I have had to resort to requesting a checkout be reopened 10 minutes before store closure so I can pay for my shopping. If a store closes at 10pm, a staffed checkout should be available until that time. Last time this happened, I was told it was self-checkout or nothing. I left about £30 worth of goods and walked out.

I'm now more regularly using the Waitrose near my former regular Sainsbury's branch.