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Your fury over self-service tills: The Mail's crusade against automatic checkouts
UKMikey
Posts: 28,728 Forum Member
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3085713/Your-fury-self-service-tills-Mail-s-crusade-against-maddening-automatic-checkouts-REALLY-struck-nerve-readers-vent-frustration-store-bosses-note.html
Now I know I'm probably going to get a lot of flak for this and possibly rightly so. I also hope this isn't one of those recurring thread subjects on DS.
I know that older people are often uncomfortable with technology they haven't grown up with.
I'm aware that some tills frequently malfunction and that different shops have different proportions of s-s tills to regular checkouts so the choice isn't always there especially when the store is busy.
And yes, I'm aware that unscrupulous employers may be using these as an excuse to lay off regular checkout staff.
On the other hand my personal experience is that I often find automated tills less crowded and they rarely malfunction for me in a way that makes it impossible to shop. Living alone I have a smaller basket than the average shopper and like to think that by using these tills I'm cutting down on the queues for those who prefer regular checkouts as well as saving time on my own shop so personally I'd hate to see them done away with altogether.
Lastly, I know it's wrong to chuckle at someone's misfortune but the second response from Wendy Taylor, 62, of Lancing, Sussex entitled "I WAS SO MAD I TIPPED MY TROLLEY OVER" seems so typical of the angry pensioner stereotype. I feel your pain Wendy.
What are your experiences of self-service checkout tills?
Daily Mail wrote:Earlier this month, Jenni Murray wrote in the Mail of her loathing for the self-service checkout machines taking over our supermarkets.
Britain now has 42,000 of the things, yet her tests proved that they're much less efficient and far more stressful than the traditional manned till.
Then, on Saturday, Tom Rawstorne reported on another automated irritant driving Britain to distraction: the computerised banking machine.
They both struck a nerve. Our mailbag overflowed with tales of frustration and annoyance, proving that the automatic till and bank teller really are some of Britain's most hated modern phenomena. Here are some of your stories of frustration with those dreaded robotic supermarket tills...
Now I know I'm probably going to get a lot of flak for this and possibly rightly so. I also hope this isn't one of those recurring thread subjects on DS.
I know that older people are often uncomfortable with technology they haven't grown up with.
I'm aware that some tills frequently malfunction and that different shops have different proportions of s-s tills to regular checkouts so the choice isn't always there especially when the store is busy.
And yes, I'm aware that unscrupulous employers may be using these as an excuse to lay off regular checkout staff.
On the other hand my personal experience is that I often find automated tills less crowded and they rarely malfunction for me in a way that makes it impossible to shop. Living alone I have a smaller basket than the average shopper and like to think that by using these tills I'm cutting down on the queues for those who prefer regular checkouts as well as saving time on my own shop so personally I'd hate to see them done away with altogether.
Lastly, I know it's wrong to chuckle at someone's misfortune but the second response from Wendy Taylor, 62, of Lancing, Sussex entitled "I WAS SO MAD I TIPPED MY TROLLEY OVER" seems so typical of the angry pensioner stereotype. I feel your pain Wendy.
What are your experiences of self-service checkout tills?
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I use them for just a few items and tend not to use them if I know I'm going to purchase age restricted items because I know I'll have to wait for a supervisor/person monitoring the SS tills to come and clear the transaction.
If you're in a hurry they can be very useful.
yes, I agree with you.
The times they have gone wrong, there is always someone floating around nearby and although that causes a bit of irritation, it is nothing compared to the annoyance I feel when the person in front of me on the regular tills takes forever to find the right money or is a very slow packer
This too - I don't have to have the banal forced conversation with a self service till.
The checkout operators are no more interested in how I am than I am with them.
In the early days I'd avoid them as they were constantly breaking down with
"Please place the item in the bagging area."
"I have placed the bloody item in the bagging area."
"An item has been removed from the bagging area."
"Yes I know, I bloody removed it and put it back as you said you couldn't detect it!"
"Please wait for assistance."
Then there are the times I'll scan something, the machine will beep to show it's been read, but nothing comes up. So if you're going on the beep, you'll put the item on the scales and get an "unexpected item in the bagging area" warning.
Or, I'll buy a bag of "must sell today" bananas because they're cheap, and as soon as I put it on the scales I'll get another "unexpected item in the bagging area" warning, because the weight is fractionally different from whoever priced up the bag.
And even if there are no technical problems, you can still be kept waiting by the clueless people using them. Like, you hear 4x "please scan your clubcard" messages in quick succession, then watch as people search for their cash, count it carefully, stare at the screen as they try to figure out what to do, pack the bags at the end instead of going along as they do it...
I still use self-service tills when I can, which says something I guess. But I can also see why people get annoyed.
But it's useful they are there. A shop that may have 1 or 2 people serving, now has 3-4 options of being served.
Although it probably has taken a few jobs.
Same example- shop the other day had 1 serving, 2 self service. That would probably have been 2 serving in the past.
Plus I have found the latter to be useful if there is some confusion about a money off promotion or if I need to race back up the aisle for something I missed whle the assistant is putting the items through.
Imo providing you don't have to queue very long, a staffed till can be just as quick for a large shop because you can be packing while the assistant is scanning the items.
I live in quite a remote rural area and a trip to supermarket civilisation is a major thing for me so I quite like the 'people contact'.
Typical Daily Fail article going off the deep end about something so utterly mundane and infantile in terms of being of any significance - other than to those who 'try' to use self-service, somehow manage to spectacularly fail, forget there are a row of ordinary checkouts (which they prefer) a few steps away.
If only that rag designed for the empty-headed, right wing, jowelly, ill-informed, intentionally stupid bunch of cretinous entities stupid enough to waste a nano-second reading it - bothered to focus their stories on some of the real issues of any significance in society.
That would involve them acknowledging the predicament of those at the bottom of the food chain..not really fitting an endeavour for such a crass piece of up their own arses bunch of sorry excuses for journalists, working for an even sorrier piece of recycled loo roll as The Fail.
At least The Star doesn't take itself too seriously. Marginal compliment admittedly..but still..somehow seems to come off looking almost reputable for those who consult the soles of their shoes to find an IQ.
I work shifts and actually early in the morning and late at night they only operate the self checkouts - in tesco at least (live in North London/work in West London) - no checkouts open at all
First thing I do when I go into a supermarket is check whether there are any tills open.......if not I leave and go to the next one
I'm fortunate living in central London where I probably have 50 supermarkets within a 15 minute walk so I'm never more than a minute of two away from anther one.
I also buy a lot of loose fruit and veg and it's too much hassle weighing one carrot, one onion, one potato, two tomatoes etc
On the odd occasion where I have used them.......eg when I get to the till and someone in front is buying 15 trollies worth of stuff I just hand my basket to the girl and ask her to do it........if there's no one handy I just put my basket down and walk out, move to next shop
I find Tesco, Waitrose and Morrisons always have a till open, Sainsbury and M&S sometmes not
So my assertion stands in other words. If that's the case, and you despise them, and no other option - you either put your principles into action and walk out - or, use them, just so you can then moan about them afterwards.
didn't say I despised them at all!
Just said there isn't always the option to use a manned checkout
But always the option to refuse to use an unmanned one ;-)
i`ve only used those in tesco but it`s a bloody liability, takes several passes to scan and then you do two so you have to take one off, i don`t know if it flags up but every time i get to the till they want to rummage through the trolley checking stuff.
Self service is a fantastic revolution in the retail industry. Luddites should never deter advancement and we'll see the traditional tills continuing to dwindle as time goes by.
And let's be honest, a Venn diagram would show that the average DM reader is of a certain age and a technophobe (and a myriad of other -phobes to boot).