Supermarkets & large stores

You’re not alone. Self-serve has its place - if I only have a couple of items and it’s free I’ll use it - but nobody should be forced into it and if I’ve done a “big shop” I’ll queue for an operator, thank you very much. Years ago when the system first came in I was pushed into the self-serve area by a bossy and patronising “colleague” brandishing a massive foam rubber finger on a pole pointing to it. I explained that I was against it because it would lead to job losses, she said she was happy to be getting a bonus for every customer who used it (and what does that tell us?). She’d “show me how easy it was”, patronising mare! Well, she’d all sorts of problems, had to get a colleague over to help while I watched stony-faced, arms crossed, and when I got back to work I found I hadn’t been charged for a box of chocolates. Normally I’d have been straight back to pay, but under the circumstances I decided to take it as my reward for keeping my temper.

Same sort of thing happened to me last week. I think I wrote about it on GN.
With me, it was an As da store. Not one I usually visit.
Admitedly I was the only one with a trolley.
But there was not a single till open. I asked the self scan person to open a till please. She seemed a bit reluctant, but did so.

As regards theft, I was in an M&S store the week previous. A staff member there said that they are losing a lot of stock to theft[I dont know if it was self scan related or not].

I've never felt pressured into using the self serve tills at any of my local supermarkets but if I only have a few items I prefer to use them. If I have things such as booze with security tags that need removing I would always go through a manned till but today just calling in for a newspaper and yoghurts the self serve till hardly slowed me down.

I hate them and avoid them like the plague because I always have a problem when I try to use them.

I don't overly mind using them, but what annoys me is when you need staff help for something, there is invariably no one around, because they're split between 2 or 3 sections.

My tactic is to point out how badly designed the self-service tills are and how unsuitable for large shops, especially if you have several bags to fill. I point out that if they want shoppers to use these tills they need to be designed to suit the size of shop the consumer is doing. If the customer has a large trolley full, they need a machine that you can get the full trolley one side and an empty trolley the other and transfer shopping from one to the other.

It is amazing how many times I can caause problems with the system if forced into using the self-service system when I do not want to.

What it needs is consumers to rise in non-violent protest by trying to make the machines adapt to their convenience, by the time every shopper on every self-service machine has made it necessary for them to have an assistant with them through out the self select process, for a month or two, they might have a re think.

I hope my local supermarket hangs on to manned tills as long as I am able to do my own shopping.

Fiddling about with loyalty cards, credit card, coupons on my phone, plus actually putting my shopping through.

I much prefer a member of staff on a proper till.

I do self-scan and pack my bags as I go. I don’t like queuing.

There are still plenty of staff in these areas and on the tills.

I prefer self scanning as well so I don’t have to stand in a queue watching my bottles of gin and wine trundling by on full display! 😂

I have self scanned for 27 years in Waitrose with a hand held scanner and would never queue at a manned till in supermarket if I could help it.
I can’t be doing with the double handling of everything and listening to all the chit-chat of other shoppers ahead of me in the queue.
I like to be in and out as quickly as possible.
The self scan and Quick Check area is well staffed too, so not doing anyone out of a job.

I have regular supermarket deliveries and also use small local shops. I’m done with shopping in supermarkets.

I haven’t used a cashier for years and years I much prefer it that way
Surely there’s room for both well we have four choices
Cashiers
Basket users
Trolly users
Scanned
All four seem equally busy

Our huge M and S now only has self checkouts for everything, and also for picking up anything you have ordered. There is one member of staff hanging around to sort out queries (about 50% when I was there!) but that is it. I try to avoid shopping there now.

I shop in Lidl and our local one doesn’t have the self scan option. I do use the Waitrose one when popping in for a few items, but it invariably needs the assistant’s help - the machine, not me! 🙄

B9exchange

Our huge M and S now only has self checkouts for everything, and also for picking up anything you have ordered. There is one member of staff hanging around to sort out queries (about 50% when I was there!) but that is it. I try to avoid shopping there now.

Is that an experiment, as my local M&S has as many manned tills as self serve tills still for food, and all manned tills for clothes etc.

I’ll use self serve for less than 10 items, usually manned if it’s more.

I do shop and scan and much prefer it there are always staff around. Its quicker and no queues.

I use the scan as you shop facility in my local supermarkets. Much more convenient, even if (as I frequently do) I buy wine which needs confirming by the staff on duty. There are always plenty of staff helping out with those who are having problems, except maybe in the quietest times. Our local Sainsburys, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons also still have several tills for those wanting to use them and self-scan facilities.

I always use the self-scan, I cannot see the point in unloading onto the till and then packing again.

Another self-scan fan here - scan, pack it into your bags and off you go. Suits me fine. I use that facility in our local Asda and Tesco, although I do also shop at Aldi where they don't have it. I also use local shops as well though.

We take a delivery often. We shop small local and foreign/ethnic markets. We use self scan. I hate shopping, fast is good.

Notagran
27 years ? I don’t remember self scanners that far back.

MerylStreep

Notagran
27 years ? I don’t remember self scanners that far back.

Waitrose trialled them in my local branch, not far from the head office, whilst the system was under development.

PS MerylStreep I’m not Notagran, a different poster 😀

I get a supermarket delivery, use the local butcher and farm shop for most meat and veg.