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Self checkouts

estebanrey said:
I think it's called "up stealing".

As I understand it the check outs security is based on weight but it doesn't know the difference between a a cheap cut of 10lb steak and an expensive cut of 10lb steak so what's stopping people just swapping bar-codes?
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The hope that the people working on them are checking what's coming through on their main terminal is the same as what youre bagging
 
I tend to use them on my Monday morning weekly lunch shop. Don't have much choice as there's limited attended counters. They do my head in tbh.. This morning i got "Please check this is the right price".. I dunno, you tell me !!!!@@
 
Feek said:
Nah, no argument. Till goes beep 15 times because it's scanned 15 things and then it goes into 'checkout' mode.
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Its a bit like the "Mother and Child" bays. I note that more recently they have gone over to stating "Mother and Child (Under 12)"

Shopping with my 80 Year old Mum is now slightly more of a chore! :D
 
I always avoid the teenagers/students on the checkout as they fling the stuff down at you like there's a race to finish. The best operators are older women; they take their time and slow down if you're struggling to pack, they like a nice bit of a chat and you can always make them smile by being friendly & polite.
 
I had an epic rant on here a few years ago about self-service tills, containing an awful lot of starred-out words :D

I've mellowed towards them a bit, in that I will use them if (as is usual in our Tescos) all the manned tills are either stacked out or closed, but I still consider them an aberration. Very rarely do I use one and not have to call the supervisor over for something or other, so I consider the technology not fit for purpose. Normally, I wouldn't be so Luddite - I love seeing technology being used to its potential, but to quote Russell Crowe in Gladiator: "This is not it ... THIS IS NOT IT!"

I do have a slightly vested interest in that my old Mum works on a till in Tescos, so I find it a little bit offensive that these ******* machines are denying someone a job.
 
How can people have so many issues, what are you doing. It's very rare you have to get anyone over, unless its ge restricted, then you take that into account when choosing a till.
 
I've never understood why so many people get frustrated whilst shopping. I mean you'd have to be a right retard to let it all get to you. I shop with ease every time whether the assistants are useful or not. I guess some shoppers like to be whiners don't they?
 
I wouldn't mind the self service tills that much, except for the fact that the tesco's near to me, has recently decided to do away with the handy coin hopper, and replace it with a 'slot', thus preventing you from just throwing in a handful of change and letting the machine sort it..
 
I used to work at an Allday's back in my youth. Packing bags was a bit of an ambiguous thing as some supervisors didn't care but the manager wanted you to do it. But back then duties were a little bit less formalised and you were expected to do pretty much anything.

To be frank I would do it just to get shot of the customer as some just dragged the whole thing out if you didn't do it for them. Even had a half drunk throw a wobbly at me and a super over it.
 
I'll tell you the one thing I absolutely HATE about supermarket checkouts, is when they have the local scouts/cubs/guides or whatever the local "youth" organisation is standing at all the checkouts bagging everyone's shopping up for them whether they like it or not. They are experts at stuffing bags haphazardly and inefficiently, and not to mention SLOWLY. And to top it all they expect you to pay them when they rattle their bucket of loose change at you afterwards. One thing is for sure, they would all suck at Tetris.
 
There's one Tesco in Oxford where they've done something genius - they have LOADS of self-checkouts, but to queue up to them you have to go through a little railed channel, that just so happens to have a turn that you can't get a trolley through. God bless them.

Trolley? -> manned checkout
Lots of booze and other age restricted stuff? - > manned checkout
Games/DVDs that need the case removing/disc fetching? -> manned checkout
500 coupons you've kept folded up in your wallet for 3 months and blatantly won't scan right, special offer reduced items with no special offer sticker, a card where the pin/chip doesn't work but you still want to use it, plus you're planning at the last second to 'remember' something and go back for it, leaving everyone waiting? -> firing squad

I also become mildly annoyed if you go in the 'express' checkout lane and someone has more than the maximum number of items and then seems surprised when everything's packed and sorted and they need to open a cavernous handbag and sort through it, rootle out a wallet and find their cash/card to pay for it. If you don't want to rush, don't go through the 'express' lane.
 
iviv said:
It is think 25. You are 25. Therefore the operator did their job?
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Think 25 is for alcohol, I thought paracetamol was 16 however I just had a look and according to NHS choices "There are no legal age restrictions for buying over-the-counter (OTC) medicines"

5UB said:
People ask for their ID now so they do not lose their jobs. - So they would rather be safe than sorry, and if someone asks for your ID it is a compliment is it not? :)
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If its alcohol i take it as a compliment no problems! But paracetamol?
 
The check out staff are unlikely to just ask you because they want too. I'm sure they have been told to do it and it is company policy. You might be shocked at the silly little things one might do because of common sense that could land you in trouble.

Say someone has a load of shopping and answered they wanted bags when you asked. You still have to only bring them out in small amounts and you have to 'open' each bag.

At least that is what I've picked up from chats with my cousin who is a team leader (think that is the title) about these types of things.
 
Wildgoose123 said:
Think 25 is for alcohol, I thought paracetamol was 16 however I just had a look and according to NHS choices "There are no legal age restrictions for buying over-the-counter (OTC) medicines"

If its alcohol i take it as a compliment no problems! But paracetamol?
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I appreciate your annoyance, but shop assistants get a lot of conflicting information! When I was being briefly trained for working on tills, I watched an instructional video saying that you had to be >12 to buy paracetamol. At the same time I was given a sheet with information that said you had to be >16 so its unclear.

It may be something that the company chooses, for example I went to Sainsburys to buy a red bull before and I was using on of those self checkouts and I unexpectedly needed authorisation on the red bull. I had to wait for an age just for them to confirm I was >12. In the shop that I work at, (as far as I am aware) we have no such restriction.

On the tills that I work on, if I scan an age restricted product, I have to confirm that they look old enough; this comes up for anything age related and the screen looks identical regardless if it is for paracetamol or alcohol etc. The person serving you may of been on auto-pilot and ID'd you for the paracetamol it without thinking.

I quite often don't enjoy serving people that look <25, I feel rude asking for ID but there is a lot of pressure on us to ID all the time. Trading standards or whoever it is send people into stores to try and catch you out. Failing to ask for ID leaves you £80 out of pocket and getting disciplinary action too. My friend didn't ID someone who was older than 18 yet younger than 25 and got told off by trading standards for it.
 
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My local asda has gone full self service :S
It's not exactly a small store either and all the self service tills all have tiny areas where you put your shopping slightly bigger than a piece of A4 paper

You cant even put a full basket on there god knows what you're supposed to do if you go round with a trolley..

I was actually going to buy a bottle of rum or vodka but seeing the big plastic anti-thief device attached to the bottle and knowing it was all self service just put me right off... sure I could have got the woman over seeing about 13 self service tills to take the tag of but why do shops set them self up to be awkward? It seemed easier just to nip in the off license on the way back home...
I've seen people want ciggies in there and the staff have told them to scan and pay for all their shopping then come back and ask again at the point they are ready to leave.

It's like these people put no thought into what they are doing especially the a4 sized weighing area of each till.
 
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