In my experience, self-checkout started with the weight sensors, rather than adding them later. I’ve noticed some stores have a system now without the weight thing, which probably cuts down on confusing and time-consuming error situations, but it makes it seem chaotic. My parents use them in the most fucked up way - leave everything in the cart, scan stuff, bag it, then put it in the cart, and I’m just WHAT? Aren’t they going to accuse you of stealing? Some walmarts aggressively pursue claims of theft from self checkout, like in the case of this lady who was awarded 2.1 million after being accused of stealing, which she said was not true. This article details the story of a lady who said she was arrested after not scanning things by accident, and the article notes “Sixty-two other people were cited and released by police at the same Tucson Walmart between January 2021 and April 2022.”
During the civil trial, which lasted about three weeks, the judge criticized Walmart for the “intentional loss” of the security camera footage, according to court records. The judge, James T. Patterson, said that the court would advise the jury that the videotapes “were destroyed by the defendants with the intent” to deprive the plaintiff of the benefit of seeing them “and that the jury therefore is to presume that the content of the missing videos would be adverse” to the defendants.
Walmart also is starting to use ‘AI’ to detect self checkout theft, which I’m sure will be foolproof and work out great.
And if you’re wondering which item causes the most problems, it’s milk. O’Herlihy explains, “People find it hard to scan milk … Sometimes they get frustrated and they just don’t scan it.”
What?
Anyway, I’m sure they love not paying employees to do this, but it seems like more trouble than it’s worth.
From Tucson here: Walmart in town is pretty sketchy compared to the other places. We had someone light the chemical isle on fire on Christmas Eve that burnt down half the entire store lmao. Walmart sold itself as a low price retailer for so long that only low income people go there and with that there’s theft and then the classism of hiring armed guards during their high crime periods.
Milk is frustrating to scan? I did it yesterday just fine…
The condensation over the barcode/potentially warped shape of the milk often makes it not scan on the first go. Seen it many times haha.
I’m not sure what that’s supposed to mean. People find it difficult to maneuver? Can’t find the bar code? Self checkouts tend to have a hand scanner too, and they could use that.
Can’t wrap my head around this one. I held the gallon up the the scanner, it beeped, and added the price to my total. I can understand if people were intentionally stealing it for any other reason, but to say that the act of scanning it is just too much of a hassle…?
Self checkouts tend to have a hand scanner too
I’m going to guess that this is regional or vendor specific, because I’ve literally never seen a self-checkout with a hand scanner. And if I ever did, I would expect it to transform into a broken, dangling cable within a few months.
Every self checkout I’ve used has a hand scanner. Scanning your own things is so much faster. I fail to understand why people whose job it is to check people out all day are so slow at it.
Then you get the customers that want to have a conversation with the checkout clerk. I’m sure the checkout person doesn’t care that your grandfather has the same name and he was name after his great grandfather who rode the rails across the expanding United States in the 1800s.
I fail to understand why people whose job it is to check people out all day are so slow at it.
It is tiring as hell and they might just be pacing themselves.
Perhaps. I’ve seen many, and they’re wireless. I suppose they might end up missing.
I know Walmart has them, it’s kinda necessary considering the size of some of the products they sell.
We have hand scanners at the local grocery chains HyVee and Dillon’s (owned by Kroger) that are doing just fine. Lowe’s and Home Depot have hand scanners too. They have all sorted out all the ‘unexpected item in baggage area’ and other stuff years ago.
No idea about Walmart, but could see that type of store going cheap on the hardware and having it treated terribly.
It’s fairly new in my area, but it’s great. That and contactless payments (Google and Apple Pay) are nice.
And if you’re wondering which item causes the most problems, it’s milk. O’Herlihy explains, “People find it hard to scan milk … Sometimes they get frustrated and they just don’t scan it.”
Does milk not have a bar code?
If anything, I’d figure it would be produce items that would cause the most drama, but eventually you start to remember those codes. 4011 is bananas. 4799 is for tomatoes. 4065 is green peppers…
I love self-checkout because I bag things exactly like I want and I can get the process completed without having chat with the cashier or Karen out on the bagger for putting just two items in a large paper bag.
I don’t think I’ve ever been stopped or accused of stealing things, but then I usually choose the unit closest to the cashier and I leave all my items in the bagging area until I’m done. That said, I used to be a grocery store cashier, so I understand the process a little better than most, but it’s still easy to make mistakes.
Condensation on milk barcodes causes scanning issues I’ve found
Self checkout scanners are unbearably slow, and if you try to go any faster it’s “unexpected item in bagging area” and wait for the overworked assistant.
I refuse to be bossed around by shitty robots.
Probably because it sweats and the pure white nature might make the laser more reflective? Only thing I can think of.
My costco “self checkout” is really just an employee scanning your things and then you box them. Does move quicker than the standard lanes, though.
I went to Costco, did self checkout and an employee walked up and offered to do it and I was just what? Didn’t really make sense to me.
Same at my Costco. They have 6 or maybe even 9 “self checkouts” and each is manned by an employee who scans everything without removing anything from the cart. Its basically a compact checkout. Recently was in another area and the Costco had true self checkouts with weight sensors messing up and requiring employee overide and all. It was a pain in the ass.
I think it depends. Sometimes they are scanning everything, sometimes they just scan the large items.
I read somewhere that this can mean they think you might steal stuff.
They have the weighing thing, and then also the people who count your items at the door… so it would be hard to do. I think the thought was it’s just more efficient to help if the employees are already standing there.
I think they do it for customers with bulky items that you can’t comfortably scan yourself since Costco self checkouts don’t have wireless barcode scanners like Sams so the employee manning the self checkouts uses their own that basically temporarily connects to whatever terminal the customer they’re scanning for. Very helpful so I don’t have to fuddle with big packs of paper towels or soda to try to scan their barcode on the built-in barcode reader. Kind of an oversight imo Costco… you literally specialize in bulk items lol the poor worker doing self checkout scanning assistance is always running back and forth between customers
At my Costco they have employees at every self check out. Pretty counterintuitive but eh. I treat it like a “10 items or less” sort of thing
If they would let you use the handheld scanner and not remove things from your cart, it would go so much faster. I used to do that at Sam’s a decade ago; dunno if it changed. I still load my cart barcode up on the off chance one of the cool employees is running self checkout because they’ll scan my entire cart in 30s like I wish I could.
I always load the cart barcode up when doing 10-15 item runs at the grocery Costco (a small one that was by my house… groceries and office supplies only). I tried doing that a ‘big Costco’ recently and they were like what? Don’t you want us to bag them? And suggested I put it all on the conveyor.
Jokes on them, I shoplift at the staffed checkout too.
Is this a real tweet?
Because if it is, it’s brilliant!
Sounds like something Collinsville would say for sure.
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Something being a crime and something being immoral are two different things.
It may not be immoral but it is unsafe.
Quite a jump from shoplifting to genocide, which makes for extremely poor rhetoric. You should’ve at least listed every next step, e.g.: shoplifting -> robbery -> armed robbery -> murder -> several other steps -> genocide. Which still looks absurd but like, less.
It was once a crime for black people to sit at the front of a bus in America. Guess that means Rosa Parks is responsible for the Holocaust.
Thank the gods we had you to point it out.
Wow, just wow…
No clue! XD
Is this a real tweet?
Lemmy users really will take the most obvious jokes at face value.
Could’ve been a real tweet, if someone there had the balls to make the joke. Poe’s Law and all
I don’t use self checkouts because I hate trying to get those fucking bags open.
Also give cashiers chairs.
just bring a backpack or some other bag.
That’s a great way to have LP follow you the entire time
If that’s a problem for some reason, they make bags that fold down to nearly nothing and you can stick in a pocket as well.
Also, “Loss Prevention” for anyone else who needs it.
I say, let them waste their time on me!
Cool, new friend too!
I hate self-service checkouts SO MUCH. Especially as my local supermarket has phased out ones that take cash. On the other hand it is cost-effective being able to put artisan cheese through as potatoes.
Yes finally burn them all down let me grab my sledgehammer I’ll help
I love self-checkouts.
I also absolutely hate multi-line setups. There should be one line that feeds into all register. I don’t want to have to gamble on which register won’t get held up by something when I’m on my way out.
Preach
I hate self checkout generally, but if I can get one that just has a hand scanner and doesn’t force you to put everything into the bagging area, it’s about the fastest way to checkout there is
The easiest way to get self checkouts that are awesome and not time consuming is by moving out of the US at this point.
Or go to Sam’s Club… Their self checkout is pretty much the only one that didn’t make me feel like I was a suspected criminal and actually let me check out quickly.
Then they make me feel like a suspected criminal by re-scanning half my basket before I can leave, but I guess you win some and you lose some
I noticed that lol I was just at Sams a few days ago and only bought three items. The guy at the exit not only stared at my receipt for an oddly long time but scanned two of the three items to I guess verify? Is it that hard to read three things lol?
Yeah, I still prefer the overall experience from Costco. More crowded, I’ll only use the regular checkout, but even with long lines they get you out FAST. They also never adopted that stupid hand scanner at the door, because they actually treat their employees decently and trust them enough to be able to visually verify, and oh boy is that a lot faster than Sam’s method.
But Sam’s did nail the self checkout. I’ve not tried the app to scan as you go and pay automatically because I’m not interested in putting an app on my phone for every company I do business with
I agree honestly. People don’t know how to queue at sams lol
Yeah, there are some stores near me that don’t have a hand scanner, but at least don’t make you place items into the “bagged area” one by one. I can scan things and drop them into my bags/cart no problem. I really enjoy that experience.
Those overly negative comments often come from USA. I’ve never had any major problems with self checkout in Europe and I generally go there as it’s faster and you don’t have to race against the cashier. Of course some chains have worse self checkouts, some have better but overall many people like it a lot. Even some older people who are not tech savvy use them.
I’ve never tried them really I just either get help or leave once I realize self checkout is the only option
They’re usually pretty simple. I became attached to them when I was living as a foreigner abroad and didn’t have much language skills. But I could understand the graphical prompts and numbers on a self-checkout machine!
I’m in the US, the general hyperbole against self check here doesn’t come close to matching my experience.
It’s funny how divided a topic this is.
Could just be my area but the machines always fail in some way or another.
Give me 10%off if I am doing the job of an absentee cashier… Always cool seeing many checkouts all decked out in gear with noone there to run them. Ever.
OR, even better, use some decades old tech and spend a penny to put RFID tags on everything so I can just run my cart through and verify the list of stuff and click Yes, No, Maybe.
Somewhat related… is it just me or are liquor stores the best at this? I never even stop moving and I’m out. Then i go next door to the pet store to grab some animal chow and I stand in line for 10mins because just one register of 6 is staffed.
At least we can order everything online for the most part now.
I’ve never had a failure, but one chain near me is a bit annoying with its “place your item in the bagged area” setting… I’d rather just put it in my cart directly, especially when I’m running out of room.
I find it easier to sort my items the way I like and to verify prices immediately, rather than having to watch the cashier and look at the machine, then ask the cashier to stop and remove/question something that scanned wrong…
And I’m surprised at how often I’ve had cashiers punch in the wrong produce code to something that’s more expensive than my item. Have they stopped training cashiers in hopes that they’ll make up for the 4011 phenomenon? They can’t be doing it on purpose, but it’s just weird to me.
It’s always the bagging thing that fails for me. I’m not the smartest person in the world but I can scan an item and place it in the bagging area. It’s kinda out of my hands at that point. Be it calibration or incorrect data sometimes it won’t recognize and after a couple attempts locks and some underpaid person has to come roll their eyes at me and swipe a card to let it go through.
I’ve probably just been unlucky and gave up 10yrs ago on that.
No they don’t train cashiers beyond what button to press. Produce is interesting. It’s been a while (love curbside service) since I’ve been in a grocery store but ours has tags on produce you show to a scale and it weighs it and prints out a sticker with a barcode.
And I just realized how abusable that is. I’m going shopping tomorrow!
Oh what’s the 4011 thing? Doesn’t ring a bell.
And I just realized how abusable that is. I’m going shopping tomorrow!
Oh what’s the 4011 thing? Doesn’t ring a bell.
4011 is bananas, which are one of the cheapest things by weight
I avoid self-checkout as often as possible. In my mind, that’s taking a job away from a physical person, it’s a cost-savings for the retailer, but customers never see any benefit from it. I choose the person checkout everytime as my little bit of solidarity with my fellow humans.
I see massive benefits from being able to get out of the store quickly when I am done instead of getting stuck behind some old person with a ton of coupons to argue about.
It helps that they sorted out the oversensitive weight checking and still staff a couple of lanes when it is busy so people have a choice.
Self checkout is often not the quick option for me. Accidental double scans, coupons, random tests all requiring assistance who is already occupied make waiting behind an old person a more consistent experience.
I live in the UK now, human cashiers are so slow here that even the worst self checkout is leagues better.
I mean absolutely FUCK people who are old and are so annoyingly poor they need to try to save 60¢ on food: get the fuck out of the way, am I right?
you can be annoyed about something someone is doing without making some personal judgement about that someone
if my train is late because the train driver had a heart attack im aware that its not the drivers fault, but im still not going to be thrilled about my luck
Take a chill pill.
Being poor and using coupons is fine. Taking a long time arguing about coupons is not the same thing.
So, you just want the poor to continue being poor…
I’m the opposite. I use self-checkout as often as possible, because it means I have to interact with as few people as possible. I loathe people being forced to ask me how I’m doing, because we both know they don’t care. Or when they ask “Did you find everything?”- does it fucking matter? Either I did, which is why I’m checking out, or I didn’t, in which case it doesn’t fucking matter because thanks to their shitty implementation of JIT their stock has been converted from on-prem inventory to rolling warehouse deliveries every single day. Just let me get what I want and get out.
I have never seen cashiers ask such things. At most they’d ask whether I have the discount card or if I want one of the featured discounted items. Usually I don’t miss anything when wearing headphones.
Same. Perhaps once upon of time, but I haven’t met a cashier with that energy in years.
Which is great because I also don’t like the interaction. My experience lately has been nodding and card flashing - maybe a “Credit” / “Debit”.
Either way the company is getting your money.
But using a real person cost the company more, in theory
Have you considered switching to pickup when you can? pick what you want from the comfort of your home, drive to the store at the designated time, an employee has picked all your goods and it is brought out to you. Same price for you, more labor for the company to pay for.
I really don’t like doing pickup for most trips because I care about the quality and ripeness of my produce and also purposefully select the furthest away expiry dates for certain things I go through slowly, it becomes a lot to ask someone else to do if there are 20 comment lines for these little details, but if I don’t it just results in wasted food and money :/
If you’re just ordering non perishable items that’s fine. Otherwise you might get nearly-expired items, over-ripe produce, etc. It’s all up to the whim of the employee, and they may be having a bad day…
I make sure that I am on very good terms with them. I help them get the groceries into the car and I joke around with them. It helps that I am sincere and they know that.
So far I haven’t noticed that happening. They seem to be pretty good about grabbing decent stuff. That’s at my Walmart and Target at least
Glad to hear it. I know a guy who got a load of nearly expired groceries and vowed to never do it again.
I also avoid it but due to not being good at it. I would hate to be accused of shop lifting due to a mistake. It would be a hassle to straighten out.
A lesson for AI enthusiasts.
No they aren’t they are gonna lean in even harder what a dumbass story. One time fixed cost will always win over paying people in perpetuity
unexpected item in the bagging area. place items in the bagging area. unexpected item in the bagging area.
Is this really something people struggle with? I don’t understand this complaint. I haven’t actually heard that alert in decades.
Edit: thanks to the few of you who have answered. I’m not saying I don’t have any problems with self checkout—the overhead camera always thinks I’m stealing the soft drink or prescription or whatever that I leave in my cart, for instance—but my problem isn’t ever with the scale thing, even though that’s always the joke everyone makes.
Item removed from bagging area.
Even worse, here in Canada at the Sobeys owned stores, you can opt to use your own reusable bag (plastic grocery bags are now outlawed) but if you do they prompt an employee to come check your bags. They never actually check, but if there isn’t an attendant around you just have to wait there until they notice and end the prompt. I waited for 10 minutes the other day because the employee went off for a break or something.
Edit: spelling
I really hate this crap. Pay people to ring up and bag my groceries. Heaven knows you’re charging enough for them that you should be offering me this courtesy.
Different strokes for different folks; I much prefer to quickly check myself out rather than waiting in line for someone to check my stuff out for me while dragging me into small talk and packing my bags in the most illogical way conceivable.
Meanwhile, stores all but stop manning existing checkouts, forcing everyone to line up to check out their own stuff.
Shoutout to Kroger for consistently only having one manned checkout open or two max during the busiest times forcing everyone to the self checkout line unless you want to gamble with how long the folks with the overflowing shopping carts In line at the manned checkout will take
yeeeeah. They’ll have to hire people to work the checkout lanes in that case… which means paying enough to compete with other employers who offer more. Case in point, here it’s like 12/hr here to work in a grocery, vs 16/hr at Amazon. But even if they do this, people will still shoplift. Self checkout didn’t create the problem, it rather treats everyone like a suspect.
The grocery I go to never has more than one staffed checkout lane at any time, typically a very long line of people too old, too stubborn, or with too many items to do it themselves. During the day it’s 8 or 16 self-checkout lanes (minus broke ones), and they close in the evening, so everyone is forced to use the slow staffed checkout.
Back when I was doing a weekly shopping trip on my bike with panniers, I tried self-checkout once when the cashiers were busy. Never again. The tall bags just screwed with the sensors too much. Now I’m maybe a bit more inclined to use it because I moved to a house just a quick walk to the store. It can make sense to just dump all of the items on the weighing platform and put them in my backpack and reusable bags later.
I heard about strategies to print your own barcodes and stick them on merch to get a “discount”. And that was intended to fool cashiers.
Imagine if I don’t have to think about a cashier doing this transaction. $2 steaks for everyone!
You’d need to figure out a similarly weighted item. The majority have a lookup table of “this barcode is this weigh range” which prevents scanning a single almond and putting a TV down.
Interesting. I did not know that.
