Self service tills at supermarkets

[4SRKT]

I was in Morrisons in Bradford yesterday afternoon and it was very busy. The queues at the self service bit were much longer than usual, and each one was being used by a puzzled looking goon who was clearly struggling with the principle of doing it themselves. The poor chap supervising this area was the busiest operator in the store.

Being a checkout operator is not generally held by society to be a particularly challenging job, so if these people can't manage to scan a few items quickly and get out of the shop, how do they cope with the rest of their day-to-day lives. If the self service tills are to have their intended benefit, these people should queue up at the normal tills with the rest of the technophobes.

Some sort of minimum IQ requirement, rather like the '10 items of less' notice on certain tills would be an idea here. Who's going to get behind this suggestion?

 

[mumrar]

although there isn't an intelligence limit on them, you do have to be wary what you buy. Booze, films and glue and tablets all flag up age advisory and require assistance. It isn't rocket science, but peoples reaction to unfamiliarity is normally confusion. I was behind a bloke the other day who was shouting at it, because he WAS putting his item in the bagging area. For the record, he wasn't, he was putting it back in the basket on the shelf. They are great things if you're in a rush, but people are generally tempted to try the new technology, so it makes things fun sometimes. The idea of an IQ limit is funny, as it would hold up the tills far more to conduct a test, than let them get on with it.

 

[Dreadnought]

I was in Morrisons in Bradford yesterday afternoon and it was very busy. The queues at the self service bit were much longer than usual, and each one was being used by a puzzled looking goon who was clearly struggling with the principle of doing it themselves. The poor chap supervising this area was the busiest operator in the store.

Being a checkout operator is not generally held by society to be a particularly challenging job, so if these people can't manage to scan a few items quickly and get out of the shop, how do they cope with the rest of their day-to-day lives. If the self service tills are to have their intended benefit, these people should queue up at the normal tills with the rest of the technophobes.

Some sort of minimum IQ requirement, rather like the '10 items of less' notice on certain tills would be an idea here. Who's going to get behind this suggestion?

The problem with self service tills is they can be very temperamental and no matter what you do continually ask for supervisor assistance. Examples are that they don't like you not putting items in to a bag even if you don't want one and if you move the bag to fill another one it doesn't like that either :roll:.

As an example I tried to use one in Tesco the other week and because I had my own bags it kept asking for the supervisor. Sort of defeats the logic of it being self service and their "green bag" policy! After it did this a few times I actually reloaded the trolley and then went to a manned checkout as it was less hassle for me!

 

[4SRKT]

At Asda it can't detect the weight of a single packet of crisps, so thinks you haven't put it in the 'bagging area'.

I agree with the view that these things are [tempera]mental, and that phrases such as 'unexpected item in bagging area' can't mean much to most people. Did they not trial these things before they let them loose on the public?

 

[Mojo]

I think the problem with self service checkouts is the technology and not the people using them. Here is my typical experience:

1. Arrive at checkout, place reusable bag in area and click start
2. "Unexpected item in bagging area..."
3. Click "using your own bag"
4. "Please wait for an assistant to verify your bags"

And of course I've had plenty of items that it says I have not bagged where I have, or where it says I've put in an item that has not been scanned.

 

[MrC]

TBH the Waitrose self-check method wins hands down. The steps are:-

• arrive at store
• swipe credit card through reader
• take bar-code reader from rack when prompted to do so
• shop, scanning items as you go and place in trolley (reader gives you running total of spend and tells you about special items etc)
• when finished go to quick checkout till
• scan the special end-of-shop barcode
• put credit card in till and pay
• leave shop
  
  It's amazingly simple and quick and I've not seen anyone have any major problems with it. There's a few conditions, eg must use a John Lewis card and occasionally items have to be rescanned (security measure) but, overall, it works really well.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

 

[theblackwatch]

I think the problem with self service checkouts is the technology and not the people using them. Here is my typical experience:

1. Arrive at checkout, place reusable bag in area and click start
2. "Unexpected item in bagging area..."
3. Click "using your own bag"
4. "Please wait for an assistant to verify your bags"

And of course I've had plenty of items that it says I have not bagged where I have, or where it says I've put in an item that has not been scanned.

More things:

1. You cant 'multi task' with them, using both hands, putting one item in the bag as you are scanning the next. 'Computer says no', it insists on you completing one task before starting the next, slowing the whole thing down.

2. You appear to have to be 18 to buy Lemsips! 'Please wait for the assistant to verify your age'. Now, when I was under 18 and if my mum was ill, she would have sent me out to get some medicine for her!

3. Your shopping takes up more than one bag. Till throws a wobbly when you take the first one off and replace it with another.

Verdict: Only any good when your have 5 or 6 simple items.

 

[4SRKT]

If I want to use my own bag (or no bag if I've only got a couple of small items), I just dump the items on the weighing plate, and then put them in the bag afterwards. However, it's just easier to use a new bag each time.

 

[Retropractor]

The majority of customers tend to ignore the two S/S tills in my local Tescos Express. I can usually walk straight up to one. I always use my own bag, and just pile the stuff up in the bagging area, until I have paid, then pack it.

 

[First class]

Not sure whether anyone else has noticed, but on the self service tills in Tescos, any coupon gives a discount no matter what you buy.

Example: you have a voucher for a £2 discount for Fairy washing up liquid. You only buy a Chicago Town Pizza for £2.50. You scan the discount, put it in the slot and your final balance is 50p! You can use loads of vouchers for one purchase!

I suppose Tesco still gets the £2 back of the company who supplied the vouchers!

 

[Ivo]

Another one that gets me:

<Search through wallet for exact change to make things easier for future reference> "Do you wish to continue?" I wanted to buy two bottles of Fanta for heaven's sake! The Sainsbury's ones are downright useless. And you'd think that someone could be a little inventive and have their own operator voice.

 

[Greenback]

I think there are a lot of similarities between self service check outs and railway TVM's!

Both are OK for quick, simple transactions. Both are not particularly user friendly if you are not familiar with them. Both can be annoying and display irritating messages.

I'm just glad that the supermarkets have not seen these thigns as a way to get rid of checkout staff! If it had been FCC they would have taken all staff out of the store, and deployed a mobile RPI squad in the car park to randomly check a few people's shopping, issuing them with a fixed penalty for any irregularity!

 

[Kernowfem]

Designed purely and simply for one reason: To make the supermarket visit just that bit more stressfull!!

I absolutely detest super markets and when ever possible i'll avoid them like the plague, unfortunately saturday i couldnt leave it to the hubby so gritted my teeth and off i went.

It took me two hours....a good twenty minutes to get a parking spot. Another ten sat waiting for the lady in the car next to me to strap her kids in a car seat and then get her elderly mum in, before i could open my door and get out. Then i had to wait for a trolley. After running an assault course of adults who stopped mid isle to natter to people they knew, getting rammed by motorised scooters and kids who were allowed to push the trolleys around, almost flattening several kids who were running loose with my trolley and almost breaking my neck on spilt tomato juice i finaly made it to the check out, upon which there was a queue as long as totley tunnel.

Dont get me wrong, its not like im a compulsive moaner, nor am i a miserable git...i just suffer from supermarket rage....Im sure the places bring out the worst in people. As of now i'll do my shopping online...saves on bruised ankles an raised blood pressure

 

[richw]

and if you buy CDs on these self service your guaranteed to set the alarms off as you leave the store, unless you know the trick to deactivate the security sticker!

overall there ok, but i tend to do my shopping late at night after i finish work, (i work 4pm-midnight 5 days a week) when most of the idiots who cant cope with self service are tucked up in bed, and Tesco only have self service open at that time of night as well,

 

[Aictos]

TBH the Waitrose self-check method wins hands down. The steps are:-

• arrive at store
• swipe credit card through reader
• take bar-code reader from rack when prompted to do so
• shop, scanning items as you go and place in trolley (reader gives you running total of spend and tells you about special items etc)
• when finished go to quick checkout till
• scan the special end-of-shop barcode
• put credit card in till and pay
• leave shop
  
  It's amazingly simple and quick and I've not seen anyone have any major problems with it. There's a few conditions, eg must use a John Lewis card and occasionally items have to be rescanned (security measure) but, overall, it works really well.
  

Before Safeway got took over by the evil that is Morrisons, they had introduced the idea years ago.

I say evil because I would recommend First as a employer over Morrisons any day however good or bad First actually are!

 

[142094]

If you think of most stores that have these in, they have taken at least 2 normal tills out to put the automatic ones in. It might save on staff costs but if people get fed up of them quickly and no-one uses them, then that investment has been wasted.

Few points I have seen:

Tesco in York managed to run out of normal sized bags, so everything had to be put into the one designed for a sandwich and drink etc. So I ended up with about 10 of these

The scales don't like Refresher bars. Not good when they are on 11 for 10 in Morrisons

Very hard to find the correct price for a fruit scone. Much easier to say it is a 15p jam donut, and no-one notices

You sometimes get the person with a full trolley trying to scan all their items and taking 3 times as long to do anything.

 

[4SRKT]

You sometimes get the person with a full trolley trying to scan all their items and taking 3 times as long to do anything.

This is one of those situations where a violent rampage becomes justifiable IMHO.

 

[Mojo]

A Tesco (medium sized; not Express but not Extra) near me has a self service checkout with a full conveyer belt and which is designed to deal with a full trolleyload shop rather than a basket. I once used it and it took longer to scan, pack and pay (even with three of us shopping together) than it actually took to shop.

 

[GB]

Self service tills? I guess the next step will be to off load the items direct from the delivery lorry ourselfs?:roll:

Personly I prefer the normal checkouts. Its easier for me the shopper and it keeps staff in a job.

Our local Sainsburys (normal size at about 32 isles) now has about 10 of these self service checkouts but what is worse they only ever now have about 5 of the remaining 12 or so normal checkouts open...I no longer shop there:roll:

 

[Retropractor]

and if you buy CDs on these self service your guaranteed to set the alarms off as you leave the store, unless you know the trick to deactivate the security sticker!

Apologies for slight deviation here. But mentioning security tags. Twice recently, I have bought something in PC World. On both occasions, my next stop was W H Smiths. Both times, I set the security alarms off, as I walked into the store. But nothing happened, when I walked out again.

 

[anthony263]

I have only ever used the self service checkouts at my local tesco in Bridgend once and that was once while i had to wait for the first train to Swansea that stopped at PYLE after i i had travelled on the 22:45 train from London and didnt fancy paying £15 for a taxi. I did have problem using it but that might have been because i wasn't used to using them and i was half asleep

 

[Geezertronic]

They have them at my local B&Q which is great (in a sarcastic way) because there are four of them and they usually limit the number of staff on tills because they are there. Which means everyone is bloody queueing for the tills since a lot of the stuff at B&Q is too small for the Self Service checkouts anyway!!

 

[me123]

They are very good and they do actually work quite well for people buying only one or two small things. I know at Morrisons, where I work, the four self service checkouts replaced two express tills and it has actually improved queueing at that side of the store. By replacing the two tills with four, you double capacity. And as those four only need one operator, you can open another till elsewhere. When they work, they do so exceptionally well. The biggest problems we had in Morrisons was the machines refusing to take the new World Heritage Series banknotes, but this should now be fixed.

I don't use them, because I'm a till operator and I find the technology frustratingly slow compared to what I'm used to.

Morrisons have a sensible idea for using them. There's been no staff losses, as we've closed two express tills and opened another normal till plus the four self-service checkouts. My local Tesco (which I only use very rarely because they're the most awful company in the UK) now has closed 12 tills to make way for 12 self service checkouts. There's also no more express tills (for 10 items or less/baskets only), which means that people who want a normal checkout have to wait for ages. The store is a nightmare, and I've heard that there's been staff reduction on the tills in that particular store (although no compulsory redundancies at least). Our Tesco (like Mojo's above) also had the full sized ones. They were much worse than the newer basket ones for unexpected items on the belt. Thankfully, they ripped them out a while back.

B&Q's are the worst. The store isn't suited to them. I once went in, and each self service till had an individual operator, which seems to completely miss the point. Apparently they have pretty big targets for these machines in B&Q, though.

They are a good idea. They need to improve the technology with those stupid security scales, improve the banknote detectors and use them sensibly (no more than 4-6 in each store), but they are actually pretty efficient ways of processing large numbers of customers buying only a few items.

 

[transportphoto]

A Tesco (medium sized; not Express but not Extra) near me has a self service checkout with a full conveyer belt and which is designed to deal with a full trolleyload shop rather than a basket. I once used it and it took longer to scan, pack and pay (even with three of us shopping together) than it actually took to shop.

WoW - you still have the conveyer belts?!

Our local Tesco Extra (2955 to name names to those know it all's - no I am not a know it all; a relative works there! )

We had these removed and replaced with normal (bagging area) ones, so now I go and annoy the staff with a trolley full as there are no item number restrictions!

BTW - We used to have two belted ones and two normal ones - we now have 6 normal ones!

 

[Sam Bentley]

At my local Tesco (Britain's best supermarket by far), which is open 24 hours a day, if you shop late in the evening, you have no option other than using the self service tills. All the rest are closed and the majority of the staff are on self stacking duties.

I think a lot of the objections are just people's natural resistance to change.

We've had self service cash dispensers in banks for nearly 40 years now and lots of filling stations are offering a pay at pump option. There are also the self service ticket machines at railway stations.

These are all pretty useful.

 

[Ivo]

That shouldn't be the case... Back home the ASDA is open 24 hours a day, and the staff are only too happy to open a till. "Happy to Help" indeed! I haven't as yet run into anyone I know working there overnight, but I hve run into many people I know working there at other times...

The ASDA self-service machines seem to be quite reliable. The Sainsbury's ones in Bath, though... don't.

 

[4SRKT]

I think a lot of the objections are just people's natural resistance to change.

We've had self service cash dispensers in banks for nearly 40 years now and lots of filling stations are offering a pay at pump option. There are also the self service ticket machines at railway stations.

These are all pretty useful.

I have no objections to the things themselves, as I can use them fine. Big problem is dopey people using them and defeating the object for those of us who want to speed through and be off.

Ironically, the reverse seems to be true at self-service petrol pumps. These are genuinely easy to use, but in my experience the majority of people still go into the kiosk (which has presumably had its staffing level reduced to justify the cost of the self-service pumps), and you still have to wait for some hapless, halfwitted goon in a cardigan who takes ages to fill up and then starts fumbling around in the car for his wallet before strolling casually over to the kiosk, stopping en route to read the headlines on every newspaper in the stand. Grrrr!

<gets gun>

 

[Retropractor]

Slight deviation. On the subject of supermarkets. My ex brother in law, lived in Wiltshire for a while. Can't even remember which town.
But which store they went to, depended entirely on the local filter traffic lights.
If the green filter light was straight ahead. They went to Tescos. If the filter was right turn. They went to Sainsbury's. I don't suppose they were the only ones. And I wonder if the supermarkets realised, how much of a lottery, their patronage was.

 

[142094]

Ironically, the reverse seems to be true at self-service petrol pumps. These are genuinely easy to use, but in my experience the majority of people still go into the kiosk (which has presumably had its staffing level reduced to justify the cost of the self-service pumps), and you still have to wait for some hapless, halfwitted goon in a cardigan who takes ages to fill up and then starts fumbling around in the car for his wallet before strolling casually over to the kiosk, stopping en route to read the headlines on every newspaper in the stand. Grrrr!

That is probably one of my biggest annoyances. People who have been waititng in a queue for a good while (at shops, car parks, petrol stations, queues for buses, everything under the sun), who have had ample time to get out their money, yet still faff about looking for spare change at the bottom of a very large bag or pocket and hold everyone else up. Arghh!!

 

[4SRKT]

That is probably one of my biggest annoyances. People who have been waititng in a queue for a good while (at shops, car parks, petrol stations, queues for buses, everything under the sun), who have had ample time to get out their money, yet still faff about looking for spare change at the bottom of a very large bag or pocket and hold everyone else up. Arghh!!

I was recently at the Morrisons petrol station at Cribbs Causeway at Bristol, and half of the pumps were out of use due to resurfacing work. ALL of the remaining pumps had self service on them, and the queues of cars were as much as 6 deep. Despite this, in the 10 minutes I was waiting to fill up, I saw NOBODY use this facility, instead everyone trooped into the kiosk like sheep. Not only this, but nobody pulled his car forward before going to pay, which would have allowed the next car in a couple of minutes earlier and greatly improved the flow.

Are most people just idiots? Sometimes it's hard to come to any other conclusion.