Big Country Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 That's pretty much what it's targeted for. People that check out $200 worth of groceries at the self checkout are smoking crack! My thoughts as well. If i only have a couple items, why would I want to wait in a long line (sure, a do it your self discount would be nice, kind of like the self serve vs. full serve prices back when gas stations actually had full serve.. well some still do, but none near where I have lived in the last many years) If I have a full cart, then yes, a cashier can do it as they can scan while I am still unloading the cart and the pimply faced kid at the end can bag while the cashier is scanning. At home depot, I use the self checkout all the time, since I am usually running in for just a few things... plus my son loves it... except when he decides to climb on the scale thing and really throw it out of whack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMD Posted June 27, 2007 Author Share Posted June 27, 2007 Ah, but that is how they start you out. You get trained (assimilated) with "just a couple of items and I am in a hurry" and next thing you know - BAM - all lines are self-serve with some humorless grocery nazi watching you to make sure you do not steal anything. It's all part of the process to herd help the american sheep public. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 Ah, but that is how they start you out. You get trained (assimilated) with "just a couple of items and I am in a hurry" and next thing you know - BAM - all lines are self-serve with some humorless grocery nazi watching you to make sure you do not steal anything. It's all part of the process to herd help the american sheep public. BINGO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 Ah, but that is how they start you out. You get trained (assimilated) with "just a couple of items and I am in a hurry" and next thing you know - BAM - all lines are self-serve with some humorless grocery nazi watching you to make sure you do not steal anything. It's all part of the process to herd help the american sheep public. so, someone who waits in a line like cows going to slaughter for an $8/hour employee to assist them with a menial task is a Rugged American Individualist, while someone who breezes through and does it themselves is a sheep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildcat2334 Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 so, someone who waits in a line like cows going to slaughter for an $8/hour employee to assist them with a menial task is a Rugged American Individualist, while someone who breezes through and does it themselves is a sheep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMD Posted June 27, 2007 Author Share Posted June 27, 2007 so, someone who waits in a line like cows going to slaughter for an $8/hour employee to assist them with a menial task is a Rugged American Individualist, while someone who breezes through and does it themselves is a sheep. They have you already and you do not even realize it. Try breezing through with an entire cart full of groceries with the infamous barcode that won't scan.... because eventually you will have to because no one took a stand. Why don't you operate a free valet service for the grocery store managers too? Before you check out, can you grab a mop and get that spill on aisle 5? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 Well, I guess now it's clear that DMD and Keggerz are the kind of people who wait until their entire set of purchases have been all bagged up before they take their checkbooks out of their purses and begin to fill the check out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clubfoothead Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 so, someone who waits in a line like cows going to slaughter for an $8/hour employee to assist them with a menial task is a Rugged American Individualist, while someone who breezes through and does it themselves is a sheep. I would suppose one would have to look at why someone is waiting in the line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Holy Roller Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 What a great thread!! In an informal survey I did with people who admitted to being shoplifters the number one cause of them being shoplifters was the self-checkout lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexgaddis Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 Before you check out, can you grab a mop and get that spill on aisle 5? That would be cool! I'd be just like a real grocery store worker! I think you on onto something here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebellab Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 Well, I have read thru this, and I have to try and explain this situation. At my state convention last month we had a speaker by the name of AJ Smith. He was the head of alumni relations at South Dakota State University in Brookings. He wrote this book. It is based on a checker at Walmart by the name of Marty. Marty was retired and had nothing, he never had anything and was proud to live in a double wide. He loved to see people smile. Anyway, Marty was the talk of the town. People from all over the United States knew Marty and called him their friend. He would ring up the order, then take the money and come around to the other side of the counter where the people were standing, have the change in his left hand, and stick out his right hand and shake the person's hand, and then look them in the eye and say, "Thank you for shopping here today we really appreciate it." If there were children there he would give them a peppermint. He often got father's day card from little kids who didn't have fathers. People would send him letters and cards thanking him for making them feel good. When he was in the hospital, word got out and he received get well cards from hundreds of people. Walmart asked him to stop doing it, and he refused. He said it makes me feel good to do this. People would wait in his line while other checkers had no one in their lines that is how much people liked this guy. He had the highest items per hour of the store. It is the best customer service story I have every heard. Smith becomes like a son to this guy and he gives talks on him everyday five days a week to school kids to try and get them to change their life and it is working. It is a wonderful story. Smith starts out his talk to adults with him going to five different gas stations to buy a small pack of gum. He gives them a dollar to see what he gets in return. He said out of the five places he stopped that night, he got 73 cents in change, and two "there you go's" two "here's" and one blank stare. Not one thank you. So really as you guys discuss this self check out or not, I would say that what difference does it make unless you have a Marty. Nobody gives a Sega! anymore. People no longer appreciate the business that is done at a store. There are very few local owners on anything these days, and it is sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 So, the moral of the story is that you want a personal thank you from DMD and WW and until you get that, they are no better than the self checkout DMD despises? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebellab Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 So, the moral of the story is that you want a personal thank you from DMD and WW and until you get that, they are no better than the self checkout DMD despises? Ya, I guess you could say that yes. I haven't paid yet for this coming year so maybe they should get to work on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMD Posted June 28, 2007 Author Share Posted June 28, 2007 Ya, I guess you could say that yes. I haven't paid yet for this coming year so maybe they should get to work on that. ... thank you in advance!... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMD Posted June 28, 2007 Author Share Posted June 28, 2007 So, the moral of the story is that you want a personal thank you from DMD and WW and until you get that, they are no better than the self checkout DMD despises? You... not so much.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 So, the moral of the story is that you want a personal thank you from DMD and WW and until you get that, they are no better than the self checkout DMD despises? hey! yeah, why should i have to "self-serve" my way through the sign-up process online, i'm not on the huddle payroll? they should have to pay some flunky (sarge?) to sit there and answer phones while we all sit on hold and wait to talk to him, because that is what customer service is all about! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 You... not so much.... I heart you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Misfit Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 Here in California (not sure what other areas are affected) the grocery store unions are pushing for another strike. Wonder what they do when all stores go to self checkout only and they realize they can be easily replaced by technology? I have an old friend who's worked at Kroger's for 20+ years (one of the stores threatening a strike in California), and we talked about this a while back, and he said there's no concern at all about that happening, because it will never be more efficient to allow people to check themselves out than to have a cashier do it, so it would actually cost the store money (and sales) to eliminate all the cashiers. In terms of sales per cashbox, the self-checkout lanes are more expensive for the stores to carry than the lanes staffed with cashiers. I'm not in retail, but I guess it has something to do with that all-important sales per square foot measure or whatever it is they use. When you've seen people spend 10 minutes checking out three items -- as I've seen many times -- it makes sense. He said the self-checkout is largely designed to bring people into the store more often. I'd say that's worked well in my case, anyway. If I find I suddenly need eggs and milk, I used to go to a gas station or convenience store and pay the premium to avoid dealing with the large store. Now, with self-checkout, knowing I can get in and out just as fast as a convenience store without the convenience store premium, I go to the big box. Where I used to go to the big box no more than once every week or two, I now go 2-3 times a week. They get more of my business, and I spend less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebellab Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 ... thank you in advance!... Your welcome, and I also will have to say I was only on hold for 15 to 20 seconds (forgot my user name and password) and the gentleman was very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chester Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 I've never seen self checkouts at a grocery store around here. The only stores (that I know of) that have them are Shopko and Kmart. Even Walmart and Menards don't have any. I always use them unless there are zero people in a real person line -but completely understand not wanting to when you're grocery shopping. I agree with many that I'd rather not have to talk to a person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaP'N GRuNGe Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 You... not so much.... DMD is the SoupFantasy Football Nazi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 So, earlier today I went to my local grocery store (which is currently undergoing a major remodeling). As I was pushing my cart to the check-out lanes I thought to myself how much nicer life would be if I had had one of those hand-held scanners with me as I shopped so that I could be done already. But alas, I had no scanner, so I continued to the check-out lanes. When I got there, I saw that they had replaced many of the normal lanes with new self-check-out lanes (and not just for 12 items or less). I thought to myself "great, this will be quick"). And it was quick, right until the first of 8 containers of yogurt that I was buying for my wife wouldn't scan. In fact, none of them would scan. So, it wasn't that big of a deal, I just typed in the barcode from one of the containers and then waited for it to given me an option to select the quantity of containers. But nope, I found no such option. I'll be danged if I was going to type in that barcode 8 times, so I got the attention of the attendant and asked her to tell me how to type in the quantity. She came over and explained that there was no such option. So I stepped back and let her repeatedly try to scan the yogurt until she had to type in the barcode for the remaining 7 containers. I wasn't overly impressed. I was even less impressed when the woman behind me started scanning her purchases and her stuff started coming into the area where I was trying to finish bagging my own groceries. I still think self-checkout is good, but I guess not when you are buying $100 worth of groceries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatman Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 I have an old friend who's worked at Kroger's for 20+ years (one of the stores threatening a strike in California), and we talked about this a while back, and he said there's no concern at all about that happening, because it will never be more efficient to allow people to check themselves out than to have a cashier do it, so it would actually cost the store money (and sales) to eliminate all the cashiers. In terms of sales per cashbox, the self-checkout lanes are more expensive for the stores to carry than the lanes staffed with cashiers. I'm not in retail, but I guess it has something to do with that all-important sales per square foot measure or whatever it is they use. When you've seen people spend 10 minutes checking out three items -- as I've seen many times -- it makes sense. He said the self-checkout is largely designed to bring people into the store more often. I'd say that's worked well in my case, anyway. If I find I suddenly need eggs and milk, I used to go to a gas station or convenience store and pay the premium to avoid dealing with the large store. Now, with self-checkout, knowing I can get in and out just as fast as a convenience store without the convenience store premium, I go to the big box. Where I used to go to the big box no more than once every week or two, I now go 2-3 times a week. They get more of my business, and I spend less. That's all well and good...until we get kick-ass checkout robots. Then all of those people are screwed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pennypacker Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 I never go through the self check-out for the reasons you stated. Why should I do their work for nothing in return. I work in the grocery business and the self check-out lanes are among one of the several things grocery chains are doing to help keep their food items at a lower cost. So your work of bagging your own product helps keep prices from going up even more than they already have. I have seen a few idiots try to go through these with a whole basket full of groceries. One lady must have had a hundred items. I guess she couldn't read 'cause the sign says 15 items or fewer. Some people just don't get they are there as a convenience if you have a few items and don't want to wait in line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REZ Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 I had some errands to do at lunch so ran into a Carl's jr. they had 2 machines that took orders/money. No live person to place an order with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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