Self check-out at the grocery store..a vent

[Shmily1]

I can't imagine thinking that they would expect it to be an express lane when it's clearly not marked. How dare them be in your way in the non-express lane. I go through there all the time with my cart full. I am much faster at scanning than most of the cashiers and most of the people with a few items in the self check out. If they wanted it to be an express area, they would mark it as such.

 

[jen0610]

I use them all the time and use a cart
Some have an item limit and some don't.
The grocery store I use them at has a revolving bag holder with 6 bags on it, so that is a lot of items.

This is me too! Krogers, WalMart, and Meijer all have multipule different set ups of the self scanners. Walmart has one area with 10 self scan stations. 3 of them say 10 items or less. 3 others say NO CASH, credit only. Meijer has 4 stations that are smaller, that all say 10 items or less. But they also have 3 lanes that are much larger. You scan your items then sit them on the croller belt that takes it down to a rather large bagging area. Krogers has the revolving bag holder here plus they have a shelf that will hold 5 or 6 paper bags and depending on how well you can pack a plastic bag it may hold a dozen plastic bags.

I personally love the self scanners. I can scan and bag faster than most cashiers. And when I do it myself, I don't end up with 10 more bags than were needed, because I do know how to correctly bag groceries. It's the lost art of being a sacker from days gone by.

 

[Cindy B]

My Wegmans has self checkout- which I love! They have instituted a 25 item or less in all self checkout lines at the Wegmans- but you know there are people that have 45 things and say things like the 25 boxes of cereal count as ONE because they are all the same

We have a lot of people whose first language is not English that go to this Wegmans. They tend to do the self checkout, but have a challenge -not with the scanning but paying with US dollars and change. (usually change!)

Wegmans has scales in the produce department where you can weigh, print the label and you can scan easily. Don't go to the self checkout when you haven't even done that- it does take forever.

Our self checkouts are so crowded you can't hide with your tampons and other items either!

 

[jrmasm]

I don't know, maybe I'm just looking at this wrong but aren't the self check-outs kind of like "express lanes"? That's where I go when I'm in a hurry at lunchtime, or after work and I only have a couple of things There are 6 in the store near my work, I stopped in there just to get a case of Coke and naturally, all six were being used with maybe 5 other people including myself waiting. 4 of the registers had people that only had a few things but 2 where being used by women that had a whole shopping cart full of stuff I just think it's inconsiderate to hog these registers up with a week's worth of groceries. Not to mention, isn't it a pain to check out all that stuff yourself? The little area that items need to be moved to after being scanned is only about 2 foot OK, vent over

Not unless they're labeled express.

 

[kamik86]

My DH and I use these alot if we aren't getting items that have to be weighed (in stores that don't have the label printers in the produce department) some of them are better then others. Walmarts is annoying as they have an area you MUST put every item, or it complains that you didn't bag it and won't let you move on. Normally DH scans and hands them to me to bag and rearrange. I will sometimes pick up bags as I am done with them and then the weight is off...

BJs is ok that one is NOT express in my opinion and has the same amount of space as all the other aisles. The only problem with hat one is sometimes it wants things on the belt that are too big to be on them. Which then breaks the belt due to too much weight and takes a minute to reset itself.

Stop and shop is my favorite... espeically with the little scanner thing so we dont' have to do it all at the end.

 

[okeydokey]

I can often times get through self check quicker than waiting at a regular register. It never occurred to me that they were only to be used for small orders.

 

[Sadie22]

The self-checkouts have been installed in stores so that the stores can employ fewer checkout clerks. In other words, they're to save the stores money. They are for the use of anyone, not just those who choose not to purchase large amounts at one time.

 

[Bren's Mom]

I often shop at Stop and Shop and our self-service check outs have some for any order and some for 15 items or less.

But I much prefer to do the 'scan as you go' thing...my ds loves to scan and bag the items, and when we get to the register everything is already scanned and already bagged and...voila, out of the grocery quickly!

 

[SC Minnie]

I avoid using self checkouts if at all possible. If the store wants me to ring up by own purchase and bag them they should give me discount. The store is saving money by not hiring cashiers but I don't want to be their cashier for free.

 

[OceanAnnie]

My DH and I use these alot if we aren't getting items that have to be weighed (in stores that don't have the label printers in the produce department) some of them are better then others. Walmarts is annoying as they have an area you MUST put every item, or it complains that you didn't bag it and won't let you move on. Normally DH scans and hands them to me to bag and rearrange. I will sometimes pick up bags as I am done with them and then the weight is off...

BJs is ok that one is NOT express in my opinion and has the same amount of space as all the other aisles. The only problem with hat one is sometimes it wants things on the belt that are too big to be on them. Which then breaks the belt due to too much weight and takes a minute to reset itself.

Stop and shop is my favorite... espeically with the little scanner thing so we dont' have to do it all at the end.

That's another one that isn't labeled "express". BJ's also has many times where there aren't enough cashiers. IMO, the lines would be incredibly long if people didn't use the self-check out because they had more than 15 items.

I've had people get in line behind me at BJ's self check out, when there were open and empty self check out lines all around. I don't like to feel rushed, I point the empty ones out when it happens. People have thanked me for it. Again, I think people see a line and they just get in it. Crazy!

 

[sunshinehighway]

Several stores in my area do not open express lanes when the self check out are open. Most people use them when they only have a few items. Most of the time I hate self check out but without an express lane open its self or stand in line behind carts full of groceries.There are always problems with it. Little kids easily mess up the register because they touch the bagging area and it won't scan if there's extra weight or pressure in the bagging area. Sometimes big items (like whole watermelon) seem to mess it up too. Plus I hate that it asks me a bunch of questions when I'm done. Do you have any coupons? Are there items in the bottom of your cart? Things ring up wrong and it takes forever for someone to come over.

 

[Ginny Favers]

I've never seen self check-out as express, either. Of course, our self-checkout lanes always seem to be empty because they're rather new and people around here don't seem to know how to use them yet.

What I find inconsiderate is when a person with one item gets behind me and my week's worth of groceries in the regular check-out lane, then proceeds to give me nasty looks because they don't know how to use the self check-out.

 

[Aliceacc]

If they aren't designated as express lanes, why would someone think they are? They can be used by anyone for whatever they buy unless designated otherwise.

Not inconsiderate at all.

I agree.

If I want an express lane, I go to a lane marked "12 items or less."

 

[Aliceacc]

Several stores in my area do not open express lanes when the self check out are open..

I would speak to customer service in the store.

Our self check lanes are open 24 hours a day.

 

[auntfrannie]

I avoid using self checkouts if at all possible. If the store wants me to ring up by own purchase and bag them they should give me discount. The store is saving money by not hiring cashiers but I don't want to be their cashier for free.

I HATE, really HATE self checkouts! I agree that if the stores want me to use their painfully slow process then I should get a discount. Something always goes wrong when I use the self checkout and the computer yells at me to put my purchase on the belt or if I am buying two of the same item that I've already scanned that item. And using coupons at a self checkout is always another disaster for me. I now refuse to use the self checkouts at all.

Have I mentioned that I HATE self checkouts???

 

[Nancy]

I avoid using self checkouts if at all possible. If the store wants me to ring up by own purchase and bag them they should give me discount. The store is saving money by not hiring cashiers but I don't want to be their cashier for free.

That is my thought too. if I'm doing all the work then give me a discount on my groceries.


I've used them a few times for less than 10 items and they just annoy me. They are way too slow for me...ex cashier. I hate the whole scan 1 item bag 1 item and then if it doesn't register the light item you put in the bag it holds up everything because you have to lift the item and drop it in again. I do like them in the stores that have them set up like a normal register where you scan the items and send them down the belt but not the ones with the very small bag stand. I would be so frustrated if I took my 200.00 order through them to cash out.



I worked for Wegmans for a long time (17 years) and actually trained the cashiers for 7 of those years. Back when the owner Robert was alive there was a very well known corporate stance that the stores would never get self scanners because it takes away from the personal customer service that the company is known for. Once Robert passed and his son Danny and the daughters took over things changed dramatically. I actually ended up quitting because it just wasn't the same company and was so dissappointed to see they put the self checkouts in. I was totally shocked when they put them in because Robert was so against them...but with Danny and his kids it became more about numbers than people.

 

[Cindy B]

That is my thought too. if I'm doing all the work then give me a discount on my groceries.






I worked for Wegmans for a long time (17 years) and actually trained the cashiers for 7 of those years. Back when the owner Robert was alive there was a very well known corporate stance that the stores would never get self scanners because it takes away from the personal customer service that the company is known for. Once Robert passed and his son Danny and the daughters took over things changed dramatically. I actually ended up quitting because it just wasn't the same company and was so dissappointed to see they put the self checkouts in. I was totally shocked when they put them in because Robert was so against them...but with Danny and his kids it became more about numbers than people.

My local store opened just before Robert died (or he died right after the store opened)- it is a high volume store and I hear you about the emphasis on store volume/revenue versus people. This store has four or six self checkouts. We complain about the parking lot-people have been HIT by cars-and the manager stated we can't do anything. They just remodeled this store and it looks awful- huge ugly green shelving, (looks like BJS now) -jam packed aisles and limited help. Some of the cashiers are texting on the phone and shouting down the aisles to friends. I've taken my business elsewhere-and since it is a high volume store one person doesn't matter. The store was so different when it opened and now it is no different than the Shoprite a mile away

 

[CupcakeKelly]

At the grocery story we used to go to (Price Chopper) they had two sets of self checkout registers. One was express, had a huge sign and only two bags available to fill. The other had no signage, and had the six bags on the rotating wheel so you can do a whole cart. The lines there were always long, so we used the self checkouts every week with our big weekly shopping cart. I did enjoy doing it myself, because it was easier to keep track of the sale items and bag things the way that I like (last week I had a kid put a 2 liter of soda in with my bread! )

Now we go to Wegman's where they always have enough cashiers on hand

 

[Dani784]

Guess I'm the odd one out. I LOVE self check outs! Our Walmart doesn't have them at all and out of forty registers they only ever open about five so the lines are horrendous. Our Meijer does have them though. 10 of them. 6 are the smaller ones with just three bag hooks and four have the conveyor belts with large bagging areas so which one I use depends on how much I'm getting.

I will actually drive farther to our Meijer and pay higher prices over Walmart just so I can use self check out and get done quicker. I'm also usually shopping with four small kids in tow so I hate hate HATE waiting in check out lines full of impulse items and candy to tempt my little ones (and myself).

Yes I realize that self check outs mean less work for people but the way I see it is: Walmart is obviously not employing the people anyway or there would be more than five check outs open so if I move my business elsewhere, I can help employ the two cashiers at Meijer that man the self check outs. Win/win.

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[Fire14]

At my local grocery/one stop I tend to use self scanners because I can scan and bag faster than 90% of cashiers working and I don't have to walk half way into store to checkout . Ours have 4-6 "express" self scans and maybe 4-5 no limit self scans that look more or less like regular line except you do scanning vs cashier. My DH was a grocery cashier for years at Kroger and I can do pretty dang good from my run at Kohls.

I always have issues with walmart and stuff not wanting to scan because scanner glass is so dirty or scratched.