Question Of The Day, Friday, October 4

[Winchester]

Good morning! And Happy Friday! Another working week bites the dust!

Let's talk about self check-out. Do you check yourself out at stores? Why or why not?

I do, depending on the situation. If it's morning and I'm on my way to work and it's my turn to buy the pretzels, I'll check myself out. It's easier and quicker. If I have a few items, I'll check myself out. If I've got a large order I'll wait in line. (But I always try to pack my own order because I don't want my eggs at the bottom of a bag with cans of cat food on top.)

Self check-out.....yay or nay?

 

[Kat0121]

Yay depending on the store. If they have it, I use it unless I have a lot of stuff. I usually use it at Target and the few times I go to WM which I try not to do. At the WM near me, if you go after a certain hour, you have to use them because there are no cashiers (late night). I use them at Home Depot too.

Our local grocery chain (Publix) does not have self checkouts. Neither does Lowe's for whatever reason.

 

[Tik cat's mum]

Definitely nay for me I just know I'll end up with the flashing red light, Please wait for assistance

 

[Mia6]

Nay

 

[muffy]

I do if I feel that it will be quicker to do it myself.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Only when I have a small amount of items and I'm in a hurry. Otherwise we wait.

When they first came out here it was really frustrating to try with two very curious kids who think getting to scan things is the neatest thing ever. They would be coming around both sides of me to scan things and put them in the bags and I was too afraid we'd either accidentally pay for something twice or accidentally steal it! So generally even when I do; they aren't allowed to help. Or I give them each one item they can; but they have to wait till the end.

Also I don't work for __________. I want them to keep paying real people. When I used to work for a non-profit that helped people with disabilities find work. There are people out there who NEED "simpler" jobs. They NEED them to survive. I especially saw a lot of people who had done manual labor type jobs but injury means they needed something less strenuous. I also saw highly educated people who had suffered things like aneurysms or severe emotional trauma that could no longer do their old jobs because of it. People need to eat and they need a roof over their heads. And in a world where you really can't find a job "just answering phones" anymore; how many people are being pushed further into poverty because our convenience is eliminating their options?

 

[GaryT]

I do at stores that have it. The ones at Price Chopper can be a challenge. It says to wait for attendant almost always for no reason! Lucky they keep an attendant on hand to help things go thru.

 

[Willowy]

I do, usually. I have social anxiety and anything that limits personal contact is fine by me.

My brother is a manager at Walmart and says that the self-checkouts don't affect their staffing rates . He says that all checkers are expected to do other things when it's slow, so this just gives them more time to do those other things. I'm sure it has affected clerks at other stores, though, places where the checkout clerks don't do other things.

 

[sivyaleah]

I prefer not to. Usually they self-check out registers wind up not working and then I'm frustrated and have to wait until a check out person has time to come over and fix the darn thing, which takes longer overall than just getting on line with them in the first place.

 

[susanm9006]

If there is self check and I don’t have a huge number of items I always use self check. It’s just faster most of the time.

 

[GaryT]

I prefer not to. Usually they self-check out registers wind up not working and then I'm frustrated and have to wait until a check out person has time to come over and fix the darn thing, which takes longer overall than just getting on line with them in the first place.

At one store here they pretty much force you into using by shutting down all but 1 or 2 of the old checkout lines.

 

[Kat0121]

I do, usually. I have social anxiety and anything that limits personal contact is fine by me.

My brother is a manager at Walmart and says that the self-checkouts don't affect their staffing rates . He says that all checkers are expected to do other things when it's slow, so this just gives them more time to do those other things. I'm sure it has affected clerks at other stores, though, places where the checkout clerks don't do other things.

It hasn't changed anything at Sam's either. They seem to have more people than ever at the store by me but like at their sister store WM, they handle lots of tasks.

 

[Lari]

I try not to because I want to support the workers and not let them be phased out.

 

[arethas mom]

Definitely not!! I do not work for Walmart, Kroger, etc....

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I've noticed a difference in my Walmart. I used to be there so often that I got familiar with many of the cashiers by sight at least. I don't see as many registers open and I don't see who I used to see up front or around the store. I do see more people doing the grocery pickup orders. And that I do use. Happily. But if I'm in the store myself; I prefer to use a real checkout lane with a cashier.

I thought I'd see some of the cashiers doing the grocery pickups but I haven't seen any of them out there. I will say; the grocery pickup people have been really nice. They are all friendly and helpful; unlike what it was like trying to find help in the store. We had a few people who were great that I always saw stocking and straightening; but it used to be hard to find people.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

Sometimes, but not often. I usually have a lot of coupons or more complicated orders that I know would be easier if I went to someone who actually worked there. Plus I have a discount card through my health insurance that doesn't always scan properly at self-checkouts so that is a big deterrent for me too.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Good morning! And Happy Friday! Another working week bites the dust!

Let's talk about self check-out. Do you check yourself out at stores? Why or why not?

I do, depending on the situation. If it's morning and I'm on my way to work and it's my turn to buy the pretzels, I'll check myself out. It's easier and quicker. If I have a few items, I'll check myself out. If I've got a large order I'll wait in line. (But I always try to pack my own order because I don't want my eggs at the bottom of a bag with cans of cat food on top.)

Self check-out.....yay or nay?

No. I shop online for almost everything except groceries, and fortunately they still have human checkers there.

 

[Sidewinder]

Only if I have few items and there are long lines elsewhere in the store. When I go shopping, I employ the same principle as I did when visiting truck stops in the past: don't get in a big ol' hurry in these places, there's no future in it. I only shop once or twice a week, and I don't like to be rushed as I roam the aisles, since I do plenty of comparison shopping. I save heaps of money by doing this, zeroing in on good deals and bagging what's on sale for a low price. This is especially true in the meat department, I buy value packs of whichever meat is the best deal at that time. Markdowns save cash, and I'll cook that stuff the same day if necessary, LOL. But I digress... once I reach the checkout stand or register, I'm still not in a hurry so I don't mind waiting a few minutes for the line ahead to clear.

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE!!!

 

[Willowy]

Definitely not!! I do not work for Walmart, Kroger, etc....

For me, it's less work to scan things straight from the cart to the bag, rather than putting them on the conveyor belt.

I'm still not in a hurry so I don't mind waiting a few minutes for the line ahead to clear.

Haha, around here people will wait for the self-checkout even if there are open human checkout lanes! Must be the old Plains reticence. . .

 

[verna davies]

Definately nay for me. I havent got the patience. Every time I have done it something goes wrong and I have to wait for assistance. Life's too short.