Self Checkout or Cashier?

[PaulaSB12]

Do you prefer to use the self checkout in grocery/drug stores if you don't need anything behind the counter or do you usually go to a cashier.

Sometimes I see long lines waiting for the cashiers & no one at the self checkout.

I prefer the cashier for 2 reasons

1 It does put people out of jobs and I prefer not to contribute to that
2 The self service machines are terrible nags you have to get someone to sign in if you use your own bags and if you don't put the item into a bag in about 1 second you get told to do it and heaven help you if you buy booze!!!!!!!!! I don't like getting nagged by a lump of machinery!!!!!!!!

 

[Vexorg]

I almost always use the self-checkout line at the store I go to, unless I have a lot of produce or something like that. I rarely buy more groceries than fit in a basket at one time, and it's just more convenient. The regular checkout lines at the store also have a weird setup where there's no front conveyors on the cashier stands. If you're using a cart this is probably a good thing because you don't have to unload that way, but if you're using a basket it means you have nowhere to put it down until it's your turn in line.

 

[MoniqueU]

I don't shop much but we only have one store that I have been to that has them. One time my mom tried to use it and an elderly gentleman couldn't figure out how to use his atm card. He asked my mom if she knew what his number was. I don't think the thing works very well from the few times I have been in there.

 

[novajeanjellybean]

I usually use the self checkouts unless I have a lot of items.

My only complaint about them is that around here the volume on the speaker is very high. So when it tells you to put a certain item in the bag it is very loud. It will tell you to place your BANANAS in the bag, being very specific to what that item is. If you have private items and the weight thing messes up---you're screwed. Everyone in the vicinity knows what you're buying and that can be very embarassing. Okay rant over.

 

[Breezie]

I love the self checkout. But many a times have I caught myself forgetting to push the pay now button, and furiously shoving money into the slot and wondering why it didn't work. I'm smart.

I usually use the self checkouts unless I have a lot of items.

My only complaint about them is that around here the volume on the speaker is very high. So when it tells you to put a certain item in the bag it is very loud. It will tell you to place your BANANAS in the bag, being very specific to what that item is. If you have private items and the weight thing messes up---you're screwed. Everyone in the vicinity knows what you're buying and that can be very embarassing. Okay rant over.

Oh that is terrifying!

Ours doesn't say what we purchased, but it screams the price. I can only imagine how embarrassing it would be if you were buying unmentionables.

 

[aprilgail2]

Self checkout whenever possible.

I don't view it as doing somebody's job - I view it as freedom from the awkwardness of interrupting the sullen checkout gal's conversation with the bagger.

exactly. The last time I used a cashier he was ringing up my groceries with one hand and had the other one down under the register texting on his cell phone- I wouldrahter just do it all myself!-

.

My grocery store has an easy scan system. Basically as you shop you scan your groceries and bag them. Then at the end you go to the kiosk and it reads your scanner and completes the transaction. It saves me a lot of time and I can bag the items how I want. I also like that the scanner keeps a running total on it, which helps with budgeting. My biggest problem with the kiosk though is coupons. If I have a lot, I take them over to the attendant and let her scan them in.

I LOVE those- I have all my bags set up in the cart and ring up my items as I put them in each bag and they all stay sorted just the way I like them! I have one bag for the basement pantry- one for upstairs closet, one for frisge , one for freezer etc- very easy to put away when I get home! I love the running total too- really helps when I have one of those 10.00 off a 100.00 purchase, at least I can make sure I reach the 100.00 before I get to the register and find out I am 4.00 short LOL.

 

[ophelia]

I do self checkout if I don't have that much stuff, and use the checkout if I have a lot of stuff.

 

[daisax]

It will tell you to place your BANANAS in the bag, being very specific to what that item is. If you have private items and the weight thing messes up---you're screwed. Everyone in the vicinity knows what you're buying and that can be very embarassing.

"Move your... BANANAS! onto the belt." I always laugh at that.

I do have to say, though, that you have me curious -- I can't think of anything embarrassing that one buys by weight.

 

[laurie31]

I hate self-checkout. I hate the way it tells me I haven't bagged the item when I have, and then when I take the item out and put it back in, it tells me I haven't scanned it. Ugh. However, there are usually just a couple of cashier lanes open so sometimes I have no choice. Also, the cashiers can't seem to bag things properly.

I bring my own bags, and they still want to put just a few items in there. My bags will not break like the flimsy plastic ones. One cashier told me it would be too heavy to carry, but *newsflash* sister! I carry ALL the bags in at once, so it doesn't matter if the items are all in one, or spread out in ten, I'm carrying them all at the same time! (I have this thing about multiple trips to the garage - lol. If I buy more than I can carry, I leave the non-perishable stuff in the trunk until I go back to the garage for another reason).

Which brings me to the other pet peeve. I try to put perishables together, so I can take that bag in to be put away immediately. I will group all the cold stuff together, and they will still reach WAY to the back of the belt to put something else in that sack. Drives me nuts.

However, I really hate it when they start interrogating me about my purchases. I don't mind a simple "oh, you must be having a party" if they notice I've bought stuff for DD's birthday, or even "how do you cook that" when I buy spaghetti squash (I have yet to find a cashier to knows what spaghetti squash is - every time I buy it, I get asked). However, the "OMGOSH what are you going to do with THAT?" and "Does you family really eat THAT?" and "Why did you buy so many of THOSE?" comments I could seriously do without. Just ring up the stuff and put it in a bag. Sheeesh!

I will go to self-checkout on purpose to avoid those questions if I have something odd, even if it's not something typically thought of as "embarrassing," because I know I'm going to get the third degree about it.

 

[juligrl]

I almost exclusively use personal shopper at my grocery store (think self checkout only better!) If you've ever used one of those price scanning guns they give you at Target to create a wedding registry, that's what personal shopper is like. You scan and bag as you shop so not only do you have a running total of how much you're spending right in front of you, but you're already bagged when you go to check out so all you have to do is ring it up, pay and leave. Super quick, super easy!
Here was a story on the personal shoppers: http://www.wpxi.com/news/5306932/detail.html

 

[tink_n_pooh]

I prefer the self check out most of the time. Sadly I'm pretty sure I can manage to figure out how to use a machine that I have never seen before in a more efficent manner than the cashiers that have been trained on the equipment at some of the stores around here. And I don't much like the looks they tend to give when someone does decide to come on their line... you mean I have to stop texting and do my job


The stores that have normal cashiers are a different story, but then again they are usually the stores that don't even have the self check outs.

I haven't been to a store with the scan as you go things, that would be great!

 

[S. C.]

Self Checkouts = less jobs.


I only use self checkouts if I have no choice. Sometimes I will shop after work which is 2am, at that time they hardly ever have cashiers.

 

[~disneydiva~]

I always self check out unless I have coupons. I find it easier and quicker.

Me too... I love the self checkout, but I almost always use coupons so I don't use self checkout alot.

 

[monkey68]

Always cashier. Around here, you usually don't get a bagger unless you're elderly, so you're left bagging the groceries, or the cashier is. Even when I had a broken hand and couldn't lift much, I still wound up bagging my own groceries. The best was when I had a case of water in my cart, normally you can leave it in the cart and they use the gun to scan it, or just enter it manually. This cashier was telling me that her gun was broken, would I mind lifting it out of the cart for her because her back hurt. I'm like.... hello? Broken hand here? Cast up to my elbow? How am I supposed to lift it? I had a worker put it into the cart, and my sister was waiting for me in the car.

Anyway, I prefer the cashier. If I'm doing someone else's job, I want that much off my grocery bill. I bag my groceries while they're getting scanned, so I can arrange it how I like it. I don't care about other people touching my stuff because really, what are they touching? The cardboard box or the bag? It's not like I'm not going to wash my fruit before I eat it, I don't eat the cardboard boxes or the plastic wrap that comes on meat, so why do I care who touches it?

 

[monorailsilver]

It depends.

We use the self check out at BJ's.

If I am at one Stop & Shop, I usually use the Cashier but I like to bag my stuff since they over bag it or bag chips with the milk.

But if I use the other Stop & Shop, they just got the scanners so I can go to self check out if there is no line. I scan & bag as I shop & then scan my scanner at the register & pay. Ahhh...

 

[jenn&nelsonrego]

I prefer to use the cashiers. I do not like the idea of taking somebody's job away from them.

 

[Pirate Me]

I prefer self checkout. A lot faster and the lines are always shorter.

 

[novajeanjellybean]

"Move your... BANANAS! onto the belt." I always laugh at that.

I do have to say, though, that you have me curious -- I can't think of anything embarrassing that one buys by weight.

I'm sorry I wasn't clear. The weight thing checks and makes sure that you put the item in the bag. If it doesn't detect a weight change in the bag, it loudly tells you to put that item in the bag, even if it is already in there. Again embarassing if you're buying personal items.

 

[aprilgail2]

Always cashier. Around here, you usually don't get a bagger unless you're elderly, so you're left bagging the groceries, or the cashier is.

We don't have baggers here- the cashier will give you a hand bagging your own if you are going slow and she/he has finished riniging you up but old, young, pregnant- whatever- you are bagging your own.

 

[prncssmel]

Unless we have a lot of groceries, we always use self checkout. Hubby and I both worked as cashiers growing up, and we can check out much faster ourselves than waiting for a cashier.

Plus, I don't want to interrupt the cashier's texting.