A major Australian retailer is limiting self-service checkouts

[sleemanj]

There is still the nonsense of when you take advantage of a multi-buy (4 for 3 etc) where you can't simply scan one item and say x4, you have to scan the same item four times, and there's a delay of several seconds before the scanner switches on to allow you to rescan

Can't say I've ever noticed a delay of a few seconds, as soon as the scanned item hits the bag from being lobbed on it's way past the scanner, it's ready to go for the next.

We also have self checkouts in at least one department type store (clothing, housewares, toys, sports, office supplies etc....), KMart, they have basically entirely self-service checkouts, maybe one supervising checkout counter open. They also have the checkouts in the middle of the store not at the doors, which I always find weird, but anyway, I guess the advantages of drawing people though the store outweigh the potential for stock losses.

[Cerebus]

I think whoever designed these systems isn't human.

Of course not, they're management!

[eugenenine]

Ours at Kroger, Meijer, and Giant Eagle all have scales.
The trick with speed is after you have scanned one item and are putting it in the bag is to start grabbing the next item with your other hand so you can scan as soon as the weight is done on the prior item.
I can go faster than a lot of cashiers.

But surely having arrived at a checkout of some form it is better to stand there and let someone else do the work than to get on the corporate plan and do everything to make their business more efficient as a result of your labours.

I'd much rather occupy myself with watching for scanning errors.

I can understand at busy time why people might choose the self service, or if they only have one or two items, but I seriously question the worth of doing many items yourself. The gains need to be made in the waiting.

My experience with self service checkouts usually runs like "Don't you have and express checkout open?!". And if they haven't quickly arrived at offering to scan things for me I will resort to asking them to do it.

The problem with someone else scanning as in the normal lane is they tend to just toss everything in the bag then you get home and a can of soup has smashed your bananas, your koolaid packets are stuck to the ice cream container, etc.  One cashier dropped my customer card down in the scanner so I had to scan and make a copy of my wife's.  We find it easier to go to the self checkout rather than shoo the bagger away.  Or listen to the cashier complain how they are only getting $13 an hour and only get two breaks and a lunch, etc.  Maybe I'm just anti social, I'd rather talk to the self checkout screen than a person.

[rdl]

I shop at Kroger and almost always use self-service. I like being able to bag stuff exactly the way I want it. I don't like having to make multiple trips carrying stuff up the steps into the apartment, so I rarely need more than the standard 4 bags their set up has. I have the PLUs memorized for the fresh food I buy frequently. The only real problems I have are waiting on legal age acknowledgement for beer and light-weight items that don't register on the weigh scales.

[eugenenine]

Not like it happens every time but you go to the store say once a week after every few months they loose or squash something after a few years its just easier to do it yourself.

[Halcyon]

The problem with someone else scanning as in the normal lane is they tend to just toss everything in the bag then you get home and a can of soup has smashed your bananas, your koolaid packets are stuck to the ice cream container, etc.  One cashier dropped my customer card down in the scanner so I had to scan and make a copy of my wife's.  We find it easier to go to the self checkout rather than shoo the bagger away.  Or listen to the cashier complain how they are only getting $13 an hour and only get two breaks and a lunch, etc.  Maybe I'm just anti social, I'd rather talk to the self checkout screen than a person.

It is drifting off-topic but I find the staff I deal with do a perfectly acceptable job, without complaints. That's never happened to me in my memory. I wouldn't make too much of a single clumsy incident like dropping a card.

I just always request bread goes in a separate bag because I dislike squashed bread.

I have to agree. I tend to find checkout staff are pretty attentive about what goes into what bag (splitting up cold/frozen items; putting fragile items like bread or eggs in their own individual bag). I dare say it's part of their "training" because it seems to be pretty uniform across Sydney and Canberra. I'm only guessing? I've never worked in retail so I can't speak from experience.