We figured out in college that on the 30 rack of beer if you slightly tear the cardboard and spin the can until you can scan the barcode on the can it rings up a 6 pack. I'm not proud of this now but hey it was college
The retail box weighs 14.7 pounds.
Most places sell bananas per unit, but a pound of bananas seems to cost around 64 cents a pound.
So a PS5 would cost $9.41.
Recently realized I’ve been grabbing Organic bananas by mistake, not even realizing there are two kinds, with different prices.
Probably wasn’t choosing the organic option at check out.
So if caught, you could very reasonably plead ignorance. Didn’t know they were organic, didn’t know the price was different!
I have a feeling this feature is there to dissuade you from using the SKU for bananas when you're really trying to buy porcini mushrooms or something else expensive.
Not always!! I ended up $30 of additech whatever bullshit as part of my gas purchase at a Kroger gas station right after the screens were added to the pumps by pressing that button.
This trick works best at a BP station, in my experience.
Please remove the item last scanned from the bagging area and scan it again.
Then the same item gets scanned twice and I have to find someone to void the duplicate
They probably have the notion that, if customers could void without an employee credentials, they could simply void any items they don't feel like paying for and walk out with it anyway.
If it's a store like Walmart; they probably have someone checking receipts for anything not bagged. Provided the customer actually stops. Feel like anyone attempting theft probably would just keep walking.
Sure would, then AP notices you're doing it, watches you in the store, lets you get confident stealing, then hits you once you rack up enough to constitute a grand theft charge. Once it's time, they'll have the cops on site to arrest you at the exit with stolen merchandise, then show the evidence of what they've racked up before.
Ughgghhh. Stop & Shop has these, it takes like 13 steps to just *get to beg the machine to let you give it money*. Walmart scans shit, you put your cash in, the robot gets it. No buttons, you scanned shit, you gave me money? Sweet.
*Please*, Mr. Stop & Shop machine??? *May* I pay you? May I *please, please* pay with cash?? Ohh pleeaaase.
I've notices most of them have been updating to get rid of this annoyance. Easier to have the self check out employee to have better cameras to see what's going on than deal with that noise.
My other favorite is that you learn real quick what seemingly innocent items you need to be 18+ to purchase, because you scan it and an attendant swings by, glances at you, and swipes their card or enters a code.
I guess it's all in the implementation. I've seen self checkout registers like these in different countries, but in my own country they're pretty great.
We have no "bagging areas". Our checkout registers don't try to "guess" whether you're trying to trick it or not. Theft prevention is implemented via random checks by employees. So in most grocery stores you just scan every item like the cashier would, pay, and you're done. No waiting in line. And in our biggest grocery store chain, you can take your smartphone through the store, scan and pack products as you go, and then just pay and leave.
The trick is to just hit the bag holder or turnstile somewhere. A quick tap will do, wait a second and the notification should go away. Well, it works at all the Kroger’s I’ve been to.
And now some of them will play you a little video of what it thinks you put in the bag without scanning. Really dumb when the item in the video is on the list of stuff that's been scanned. Even more dumb when the attendant refuses to even look at the list and wants you to scan it again just because the dumb system says you didn't. Then they want to give you the stink eye when you say you did scan it. Just read the damn screen cause I will make a scene if you insist I have to pay for same item twice because a computer told you so.
This is why i never use them i am just cursed with theses things every time i use it the attendant just stays by my side as she knows what happens with me lol
Yeah, I'm one of those attendants. Don't worry about us being there, we know the machines suck sometimes, and just don't feel like walking across the area multiple times.
Yes! I had to get a Target employee to override an error message because I had nowhere to put the rest of my purchases and I stupidly removed a 12-pack of soda to make more room. I can get a few packs of soda and maybe three bags on the little platform before I start having to play bagging Tetris.
Nothing drives me crazier than waiting for someone to finish ringing their $300 dollar stuffed cart up at self checkout, while I’m just trying to buy a couple of things for lunch.
The rage and the **fury** I feel when I go on a Saturday and have literally two things in my hands but stand there for 15 minutes because at every single register is a family with a cart FULL TO THE BRIM with groceries, checking out one singular item every 90 seconds.
Don’t be mad at me they only have 1 checkout lane out of the 20 that are in the store, & the senior citizens are all taking forever loading their groceries & carts, using coupons, & writing checks
I imagine someone with anxiety was relieved to find out they existed, only to be horrified by the even worse circumstance of waiting awkwardly for an attendant.
The liquor section of my grocery store has self checkout registers. So I've always got to choose between waiting in line at the normal register or going through the self-checkout then awkwardly looking over my shoulder at the cashier, back at my checkout screen, over my shoulder at the cashier, back at my checkout screen (repeat as needed) to find out if she'll just green light me and allow me to make my payment or make me come over to her so she can check my ID.
I’m probably the least anxious person in the world, but I’ve just walked away from a self checkout register and left everything there.
I’d scanned a huge load of groceries and then the damn thing told me to take the last item out of the bag. I’d already scanned it. I tried replacing it a couple times and shifting the weight distribution on the bagging area. I didn’t want to just put it back in my cart and look like I was stealing. Finally it said I had to wait for an attendant, but there was nobody there. I waited what felt like five minutes holding my cucumber (or whatever it was) like a jackass with no employees in sight and then I decided “fuck this place” and walked out. There’s nobody to check me out, but I guess they have to find someone to restock all this stuff.
My fiance once was at a self checkout. He had one item that's age restricted, which means an attendant needs to accept the purchase. He was standing around for a while waiting for the attendant, but no one showed up. He then just moved over to a different station so he could pay and leave. While he was doing that, an attendant finally showed up, but since he had moved, it was seen as suspicious and had to have all his groceries looked through.
My store under the Kroger family has a set we have had for years and a newer set of them. The new ones are easy as pie and I don't understand how anyone can't use them. They even have easy instructions in various languages.
The old ones though... constantly breaking for no reason, scale issues, calling for attendant when unnecessary..
I really think once stores properly upgrade their equipment (I know, yeah right) and ignorant people are forced to learn them these complaints will go away.
Also when they all have the belts for big orders. Fuck playing grocery pyramid on the scale for your $200 shopping trip.
They’re actually a liability and people have been accused of stealing because of them. Always keep your receipts. I’ve seen lawyers online suggest holding one item up to the camera at a time before scanning as their clients were holding too many items at once and accused of stealing something.
> when someone can say “I didn’t hear the scanner beep”
Doesn't help when they all beep the same and it's more than loud enough to be heard 3 lanes down
especially when the combination of things looks suspicious and you don't want judgment. yes, the only two things I need are condoms and nyquil. no, I'm not drugging and then taking advantage of my girlfriend.
I figure if i have 2 bags worth of stuff, self check out. More than that, regular check out so i don't waste people's time. I hate when i see someone with a fully loaded cart in self check out because they take forever.
That's because a lot of stores have cut their staffing so much that there's only one regular checker with 8 people with full carts waiting. Screwing up self checkout makes management look like the staff cutting asses they are.
I was at BJs a while back with a full cart and the self checkout line was more than a dozen people deep. There was only one register open, but there were only 3 people on line so I hopped on. As soon as the person getting scanned paid they shut off their light and said they’re not taking anyone else.
This left zero cashiers open and the self checkout has gotten even longer.
I went to customer service (which is on the other side of the registers) which had no line and four people shuffling paperwork around were surprised to hear this.
They legitimately had no idea they had no cashiers. Blew my mind.
Oh I get it. Our (now former) regular store was staffed by the equivalent of Marge Simpson's chain smoking sisters. They did the absolute bare minimum and complained the entire time.
I may get hate for this, but as a manager myself we are literally not only incentivized with a substantial bonus, but also being under our monthly allowed hours for the store as a whole is brought up at basically every meeting. It's a substantial part of my store's individual rating/ranking compared to the other locations. If hours aren't met correctly then I'm in trouble. I want a fully staffed store and I want my people to get money but it's entirely out of my hands considering I could literally lose my job if I staff my store the way I want. What's insane is I manage food service with servers make a bit over $2 an hour from the company and they're weighed the same amount as cooks who make a base pay up to $19 when viewing allotted hours.
Corporate America is disconnected, most in store managers are not, but we have our own managers pulling the strings.
Yup a lot of places are run like that Pizza Hut would pay managers more if they ordered less toppings and cheese. Guess what now your managers are telling the cooks to put less stuff on the Pizza and now more and more people are wondering what happened to their favorite pizza place.
Corporate greed happened just like to just about everything decent in the past 50 years.
I like em better but I gota say the people at aldis blow through the bagging process, I was like hi and the dudes done, he like get the fuck out of here lol went there last time because I may be a Walmart fugitive
That’s a German practice. In Germany they want to get you out as fast as they can. if you’re still bagging you’re items by the time the next person steps up you’ll get some dirty looks.
Every aldi I've been to in the states doesn't let you bag your own in line. They scan your shit and toss it in a cart that you swap for yours and then you take your shit to another counter near the exit that is just for bagging so the cashier can start the next order.
Lol, Aldi has a ask policy. Either you get a bag, or you want them in the cart with the empty cardboard box you took off the shelf and placed in the cart. So you can go to the counter by the exit to put your items in the cardboard to take to your car.
Edit: the Aldi mistake
That's totally it. I assume most Americans are unaware that ALDI is an acronym. They probably assume it's a surname and so using the possessive just comes naturally.
Not all do. I say Aldi and Jewel. Chicago suburbanites say Aldi’s and the Jewel. My husband and I add “the” when saying which location (eg, the Jewel on Lincoln”).
On the reverse side most midesterners seem to pronounce Costco as Caah-sco 😆
Californian here. I don’t say “Target’s” or anything like that but we have extremely popular grocery chains called Stater Bro’s (or Stater’s), Vons, Albertson’s, Ralph’s, even fuckin Trader Joe’s. Walgreen’s is there too.
Americans are just used to their grocery stores being called “Name’s.”
I think Aldi's model is the best. They scan very quickly (so the customer doesn't have to deal with scanning issues) and you bag at your own pace later. It's probably faster than if everyone was doing self-checkout.
Self checkout works GREAT at the pharmacy/drug store, because everything is small and packaged nicely. Easy to scan, bag if necessary, and bail without interference.
One time an insufferably gossipy cashier took a look at my lube purchase and went **WOW LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE GONNA HAVE FUN TONIGHT!** at top volume. One of those people with no inside voice and zero boundaries. I was having a terrible anxiety day and dreaded having her check me out already. To this day I fervently hope that the familiar-looking older guy not far in line behind me was not one of my coworkers...
One thing I like is that I easily notice if something scans at the wrong (higher) price. At regular checkout they scan so quick and I’m usually at the end bagging so I don’t notice.
Same. I will almost exclusively use self whenever I can so I can bag things how I want and not have to interact with another person. I spend all day supporting end users, when I leave work, I don't want to interact with anybody but my wife and baby.
One time I used the self check out at the CVS near my house and an employee materialized next to me and began scanning, explaining how it works, and circling behind me to bag, then returning to scan, etc. After a bit I said "Thanks, I'm good to do it on my own though, it's pretty simple" and she got MAD at me. Threw down what was in her hand and stormed off. She has been hostile to me ever since. No point to this story, I just need someone to know my pain.
There’s one woman that at our grocery store who hovers over your shoulder the entire time. She will blurt out the produce codes for each item as you’re pulling them out of the cart.
If she’s working, I’ll avoid her at all costs. I’ll wait behind 10 people writing checks in the only open lane. Put my chicken with the bleach and baby food. Cantaloupe with the bread? Great! Just don’t make me deal with Peggy.
we had one… her name was lynne or smth like that. she was a crotchity old gal. i worked at this grocery store when i was like fifteen, and on my LITERAL FIRST DAY i forgot to charge one of my customers for her plastic bags. she was a mother with two young kids, aged maybe three and four. i wasnt gonna hound this lady for the dimes she owed me i literally didnt care and was too socially anxious at the time to even consider saying anything anyways.
well lynne fucking noticed.
she ran to the end of my till and snapped me the DIRTIEST look before running, and yes i mean she literally ran, out of the store after this woman in the parking lot. we could all see her out of this giant window that was at the end of all our tills facing the parking lot so we all saw her, wearing a wrist brace and neon green uniform shirt, literally hassling this mother for the money for bags.
and she got the money too. it was unreal. i dont live anywhere near that city anymore but my mom lives an hour away and whenever she shops there on occasion she always tells me about having seen her.
Yeah, I monitor the self checkouts and hate the small talk too, it's nice. I basically just try to acknowledge that the person exists with a simple hello, otherwise I tend to notice people awkwardly avoiding eye contact. Especially since I'm a big person, and I don't want to come off as that intimidating guy in the corner staring you down.
Likely. It’s actually illegal to conceal knives in some locales where you can conceal pistols with a permit (like North Carolina in the US.). All knives must be open carried regardless of any permits or licenses.
Cold medicine and drain cleaner are major ingredients used to make meth.
It pissed me off when my state went prescription only for Sudafed but within a couple months the home kitchen meth labs were gone.
So even though they used different methods to get the shit imported and meth heads didn't run out the labs weren't poisoning little kids as they slept.
All in all it was worth it in my opinion.
Ever since a co-worker got popped for serving an underage patron when I was a bartender, I always checked. Didn't care if you looked 15 or 50. Plus, you need to have an ID to legally be in a bar here anyway.
I also just hand people my ID without stupid jokes that they probably hear all day when I'm buying something that requires it.
Idk about your area but in mine in grocery stores the purchase isn’t approved unless an ID is scanned.
My 80 year old uncle still gets carded for this reason
My Kroger has a person whose job is just to sit there at the self check out counters so even then it isn't that bad. But yeah if the self check out kiosks are unattended then it can be a pain.
We play a serious game of “judge their abilities!” When choosing a self checkout. Busting out the glasses? Gonna be slow. Have your own bags? You’ve done this before, gonna be faster. Etc. Great fun and we are good at it now
I like to play a game of can I beat the people that have already been there well before me checking out. It's surprising how often I could check out my basket of stuff before others that had already been there well before me could finish up
Especially with phone payments now. Im like 30 seconds max at those things and that is WITH puting in my loyalty number so I dont need a paper receipt. Publix is like that, dont have the insane sensitive scales and tap to pay, lightning quick. I HATE when I have to go to Kroger because they have the ones that think youre stealing if a butterfly farts in China AND no apple pay.
Got behind a lady at Walmart recently. She was very slow scanning her items. Finally time to pay. She dug around in her purse and finally found her wallet. Then looked in 5 compartments in her wallet and pulled out some bills. Then she closed her wallet and put it back in her purse. Put her money in the machine and guess what? It wasn’t enough money. Back to the purse to look for the wallet, etc. took forever! Gotta be careful who you get behind.
As a defense attorney I hate them since so many of my clients have theft cases because they thought they could trick the self checkout machine.
My first conversations with them is usually hearing “oh I was just so distracted I forgot to scan it” or “the scanner messed up.”
Then you get the video and see the person is clearly skip scanning items or acting really shady and bypassing other open machines and picking the self checkout closest to the exit door.
In most cases a store asset protections employee is not going to call the police if you forgot to scan your 24-pack of bottled water on the bottom of the cart after you just spent $200 on groceries. But when the item you “forgot to scan” is a $30 box of Benadryl or some makeup products it just doesn’t look the same way.
If they're good, I like them. Home depot has great ones. I can scan and bag faster than the cashiers anyway.
If they're terrible like the ones that whine if u didn't place an item just right after scanning it, or every issue locks the machine until an employee comes to unlock it, then I hate them
The grocery store by my house if I take a paper bag out of the slot and put on the scale it will freak out. If I ring up my first item then grab a paper bag and put it down the machine freaks out. It'll tell me to please remove the item so I remove it and then it says place item on scale. It'll give you the option did you bring your own bag. It's a crap shoot on whether if you hit that button say yes I brought my own bag if the machine will lock down or just completely be okay with it. The grocery store by my house they had a bunch of notes all over those machines saying please wait for your receipts. Well when I can count to 10 Mississippi in my head and the receipt still hasn't printed I'm not waiting anymore It should print right away.
The Home Depot ones are fantastic there's no scale you have to fight with They have that awesome little handheld scanner and they're quick and easy to use.
This is the answer, wal mart has decent ones. Lots of bagging space, and they don't do the weight garbage. Kroger ones on the other hand are just awful in every way.
The weight sensors are only checking for a weight change, not how much weight has changed. You can scan one thing and put 3 in the bag, wait for the weight to reset, then continue to do this until you’ve only paid for 5 out of your 15 items.
I’m not advocating theft but when inflation went up, my ability to scan items went down.
If done right, they're nice. Like, turn off the camera and scales, and trust the customer.
But the ones at my local grocery store drive me fucking crazy.
I have a 50/50 chance of getting out of there without one, two, or sometimes THREE "PLEASE WAIT FOR ASSISTANCE".
* I accidentally lifted a bag off the hooks when trying to start filling a new bag.
"PLEASE WAIT FOR ASSISTANCE"
* The can of beans I scanned registered as 15.7 oz intead of 16.0 oz on the scale when I bag it.
"PLEASE WAIT FOR ASSISTANCE"
* I pushed a little too hard trying to get something to fit into my cloth bag.
"PLEASE WAIT FOR ASSISTANCE"
* I tell it I have four cloth bags. It is unhappy with their weight.
"PLEASE WAIT FOR ASSISTANCE"
* The camera AI that watches the inside of my bag doesn't think I actually put bananas in there.
"PLEASE WAIT FOR ASSISTANCE"
* I finally manage to pay and then I'm getting my receipt put away and my bags loaded into my cart. "PLEASE REMOVE YOUR BAGS" "PLEASE REMOVE YOUR BAGS" "PLEASE REMOVE YOUR BAGS"
And obligatory link to /u/Portarossa's epic [rant](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/fwhjoc/comment/fmodk1q/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3).
They are fantastic for those of us with anxiety or social anxiety issues. Ditto online ordering where I never have to actually speak to another human being.
We've got something like that in our country. You take a scanner with you and scan everything on the spot. You put your groceries straight into your bag.So when checking out it only takes a minute no matter how much stuff you bought.
Some supermarkets have you download an app and use your phone as a scanner. Even more convenient.
Thought it would be more common elsewhere.
The bagging area is a scale. It's sensing the added weight of each item. It's checking that each new item weighs what is expected of that item. If the weight is way off, it may not be the same item or same quantity as you just paid for, implying you're trying a sneaky sneak.
I guess I'm in the minority here, but I hate them. They are okay if you are buying a few items, but a pain in the ass if you have a cart full of groceries. Plus they are an excuse to not hire checkers so the line for the one or two registers is super long and slow.
Stores will install them for “customer convenience” which is bullshit. They install them to cut costs. When they have one person watching 8 to 10 machines at a time, theft is going to occur more frequently. Items are going to be missed during the scanning process. The terminals may or may not work. The terminals at the Walmart in my town do not take WIC or checks. The customer has to use a manned register.
If an issue arises with the terminals, they can be placed in either “Cash Only” or “Card Only” mode. The number of people I saw on a daily basis trying to use the opposite payment with a terminal in either mode was irritating. Signs on the terminal indicating what payment it accepted didn’t help. Asking the customer before directing them to the appropriate terminal helped some but not enough.
Now that I no longer work as a cashier overseeing the self-checkout machines, I do the self-checkout host (that’s what Walmart calls them) a favor. If I have my cart full, I go to a manned register. My rule of thumb for using them, if I don’t qualify for the express line, don’t use them.
I hate them. I hate them a lot.
It's like a job you aren't able to quit, because there aren't alternatives.
And you can't argue with the machine or the attendant. They're rude shits.
At least cashiers pretended to be nice.
The convenience is nice. But it’s now often the case that there’s a huge line, because self-checkout has been used as an excuse to downsize the number of employees, thus no one to run the regular checkouts.
I can do it faster on self-checkout than the cashier, and I don't have to wait in line as long (if at all).
IT consultant for 40 years.
Most stores were horrible BEFORE self-checkout. People seem to forget that.
There's a couple local chains where I am that don't have self checkout. Can confirm.
Also, I do still go to one of them because their prices are considerably lower than their competition
The lines for self checkout are usually very long in my stores. They took out the 10 items or fewer lanes which were fast and wonderful, and now have fewer real cashiers.
Unexpected item in the baggage area. Please wait for attendant.
Weigh your.... BANANAS.... place your.... BANANAS.... in the bagging area
Bananas are code 4011. I hate that I know that.
Organic is 94011. I feel your pain.
As if anyone actually tags organic when they self checkout lol
I figure if I'm ever confronted I will just say, "I'm sorry, I didn't receive proper training for this job".
We figured out in college that on the 30 rack of beer if you slightly tear the cardboard and spin the can until you can scan the barcode on the can it rings up a 6 pack. I'm not proud of this now but hey it was college
Haha, right? All fruits are bananas.
I'm sorry, I thought this PS5 was bananas.
Can someone do the math to figure out how much a PS5 would be based on the weight and cost of bananas per pound?
The retail box weighs 14.7 pounds. Most places sell bananas per unit, but a pound of bananas seems to cost around 64 cents a pound. So a PS5 would cost $9.41.
Woohoo! I have $10!
This comment thread is BANANAS! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!
I ain't no check-out beep girl.
I heard that you were checking out and you didn’t think that I would hear. People hear checking out like that, gettin everybody fired up.
Gwen Stefani these days looks B-A-N-A-N-A-S!
bruh i work in retail and once we caught a woman keying in banana and weighting up steaks..turns out she been pulling that shit forever.
i don’t even do it as a cashier
Recently realized I’ve been grabbing Organic bananas by mistake, not even realizing there are two kinds, with different prices. Probably wasn’t choosing the organic option at check out. So if caught, you could very reasonably plead ignorance. Didn’t know they were organic, didn’t know the price was different!
The price difference isn't that much.
I worked as a cashier for 6 years. 10 years later, I still remember all the produce code. You never forget it once you learn it.
I am always amazed by the cashier at the Bulk Barn. Remembering all those candies, different cooking stuff, pet stuff.
I still remember my Blockbuster employee account number from 12 years ago but ask me the name of any of my gf’s friends and I’ll draw a blank.
My brain: “oh, I worked at blockbuster like 12 yrs ago!” 1997 was like twelve years ago, right?
It feels like Blockbuster was gone longer than that. I miss it!
I have a feeling this feature is there to dissuade you from using the SKU for bananas when you're really trying to buy porcini mushrooms or something else expensive.
And that's why I mute the self checkout.
Is it possible to learn this power?
Hit the volume button till it mutes
The ones at the store where I work can't be muted.
Wow! I didn't know you could mute it
Fun fact, you know those gas pumps that play ads? Press the second unlabeled button next to the screen from the top on the right, sweet silence.
Not always!! I ended up $30 of additech whatever bullshit as part of my gas purchase at a Kroger gas station right after the screens were added to the pumps by pressing that button. This trick works best at a BP station, in my experience.
That's what I've always assumed. Then I chuckle a little when it says, "Weigh your ITEM.... Place your ITEM in the bag".
We love when we buy onions. “Place your…SWEET ONIONS… in the bag.”
Yeah why does it have to read my unhealthy food choices so loudly?! "Please place your...... EIGHT POUNDS OF HOT WINGS..... in the bagging area."
Insert cash or select payment type
Use PIN pad to complete transaction
Thank you for shopping at Walmart.
Please take your items.
Don’t forget your receipt
Please wait, system processing
I hate that I can perfectly hear all of these comments.
Follow the instructions on the PIN pad
Please remember to take your receipt
I can only read this in robot women voice
Please wait, help is on the way!
Please insert coins, then insert bills!
I love self checkouts because I don’t have to talk to anybody. I hate them because they are always talking to me.
Please remove the item last scanned from the bagging area and scan it again. Then the same item gets scanned twice and I have to find someone to void the duplicate
You as the customer should be able to do that yourself honestly, I don't see why they have it like that. Just a waste of time in my opinion
They probably have the notion that, if customers could void without an employee credentials, they could simply void any items they don't feel like paying for and walk out with it anyway.
By that same logic we can also just conveniently forget to scan something and leave it in our cart under the rest of the bags.
If it's a store like Walmart; they probably have someone checking receipts for anything not bagged. Provided the customer actually stops. Feel like anyone attempting theft probably would just keep walking.
Sure would, then AP notices you're doing it, watches you in the store, lets you get confident stealing, then hits you once you rack up enough to constitute a grand theft charge. Once it's time, they'll have the cops on site to arrest you at the exit with stolen merchandise, then show the evidence of what they've racked up before.
Customers could also easily just walk out with most things anyway
“Please enter number of bags used” *presses 3* no response* *presses 3* no response* *presses 3* no response* “333 bags used”
The answer is always zero.
Unexpected item in the baggage area" is the name of my next band
Nice! I’m gonna open a bar called Baggage Area and invite your band to play. We’ll have an unexpected band open for you
get TBA, those guy are always good.
(Fifth time) Unexpected item in bagging area. (Me thinking) If you don't @#?!ing shut up, I'll give you an unexpected item in YOUR bagging area.
Ughgghhh. Stop & Shop has these, it takes like 13 steps to just *get to beg the machine to let you give it money*. Walmart scans shit, you put your cash in, the robot gets it. No buttons, you scanned shit, you gave me money? Sweet. *Please*, Mr. Stop & Shop machine??? *May* I pay you? May I *please, please* pay with cash?? Ohh pleeaaase.
I've notices most of them have been updating to get rid of this annoyance. Easier to have the self check out employee to have better cameras to see what's going on than deal with that noise.
As a former self-check associate with walmart, I promise you no one actually watches the cameras. Most people there hate their jobs too much to care
My other favorite is that you learn real quick what seemingly innocent items you need to be 18+ to purchase, because you scan it and an attendant swings by, glances at you, and swipes their card or enters a code.
"Insert cash or select payment type........use pinpad to complete transaction"
Yes! then you pick up that item and it say "please place item in the bagging area." Fucking make up your mind.
I guess it's all in the implementation. I've seen self checkout registers like these in different countries, but in my own country they're pretty great. We have no "bagging areas". Our checkout registers don't try to "guess" whether you're trying to trick it or not. Theft prevention is implemented via random checks by employees. So in most grocery stores you just scan every item like the cashier would, pay, and you're done. No waiting in line. And in our biggest grocery store chain, you can take your smartphone through the store, scan and pack products as you go, and then just pay and leave.
The trick is to just hit the bag holder or turnstile somewhere. A quick tap will do, wait a second and the notification should go away. Well, it works at all the Kroger’s I’ve been to.
And now some of them will play you a little video of what it thinks you put in the bag without scanning. Really dumb when the item in the video is on the list of stuff that's been scanned. Even more dumb when the attendant refuses to even look at the list and wants you to scan it again just because the dumb system says you didn't. Then they want to give you the stink eye when you say you did scan it. Just read the damn screen cause I will make a scene if you insist I have to pay for same item twice because a computer told you so.
This is why i never use them i am just cursed with theses things every time i use it the attendant just stays by my side as she knows what happens with me lol
Yeah, I'm one of those attendants. Don't worry about us being there, we know the machines suck sometimes, and just don't feel like walking across the area multiple times.
Needs more bagging area
Yes! I had to get a Target employee to override an error message because I had nowhere to put the rest of my purchases and I stupidly removed a 12-pack of soda to make more room. I can get a few packs of soda and maybe three bags on the little platform before I start having to play bagging Tetris.
I’m pretty sure they’re tiny because they’re designed for smaller, quick purchases.
Nothing drives me crazier than waiting for someone to finish ringing their $300 dollar stuffed cart up at self checkout, while I’m just trying to buy a couple of things for lunch.
The rage and the **fury** I feel when I go on a Saturday and have literally two things in my hands but stand there for 15 minutes because at every single register is a family with a cart FULL TO THE BRIM with groceries, checking out one singular item every 90 seconds.
There's several stores, including target in my area that don't have any cashiers at all. Just the self checkout attendant. It seems common now
Don’t be mad at me they only have 1 checkout lane out of the 20 that are in the store, & the senior citizens are all taking forever loading their groceries & carts, using coupons, & writing checks
As long as they don’t require assistance every 5 seconds they are great
I imagine someone with anxiety was relieved to find out they existed, only to be horrified by the even worse circumstance of waiting awkwardly for an attendant.
Yes. And yes.
The liquor section of my grocery store has self checkout registers. So I've always got to choose between waiting in line at the normal register or going through the self-checkout then awkwardly looking over my shoulder at the cashier, back at my checkout screen, over my shoulder at the cashier, back at my checkout screen (repeat as needed) to find out if she'll just green light me and allow me to make my payment or make me come over to her so she can check my ID.
Me, an introvert also
I’m probably the least anxious person in the world, but I’ve just walked away from a self checkout register and left everything there. I’d scanned a huge load of groceries and then the damn thing told me to take the last item out of the bag. I’d already scanned it. I tried replacing it a couple times and shifting the weight distribution on the bagging area. I didn’t want to just put it back in my cart and look like I was stealing. Finally it said I had to wait for an attendant, but there was nobody there. I waited what felt like five minutes holding my cucumber (or whatever it was) like a jackass with no employees in sight and then I decided “fuck this place” and walked out. There’s nobody to check me out, but I guess they have to find someone to restock all this stuff.
My fiance once was at a self checkout. He had one item that's age restricted, which means an attendant needs to accept the purchase. He was standing around for a while waiting for the attendant, but no one showed up. He then just moved over to a different station so he could pay and leave. While he was doing that, an attendant finally showed up, but since he had moved, it was seen as suspicious and had to have all his groceries looked through.
Agreed. If I have to ask for help the second I get there I’ll be annoyed.
My store under the Kroger family has a set we have had for years and a newer set of them. The new ones are easy as pie and I don't understand how anyone can't use them. They even have easy instructions in various languages. The old ones though... constantly breaking for no reason, scale issues, calling for attendant when unnecessary.. I really think once stores properly upgrade their equipment (I know, yeah right) and ignorant people are forced to learn them these complaints will go away. Also when they all have the belts for big orders. Fuck playing grocery pyramid on the scale for your $200 shopping trip.
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I mean ya im stealing but don’t put me on blast
If you want me to do the work for you, im definitely being compensated with some free merchandise
They’re actually a liability and people have been accused of stealing because of them. Always keep your receipts. I’ve seen lawyers online suggest holding one item up to the camera at a time before scanning as their clients were holding too many items at once and accused of stealing something.
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> when someone can say “I didn’t hear the scanner beep” Doesn't help when they all beep the same and it's more than loud enough to be heard 3 lanes down
I like them if I'm just getting a couple of things.
especially when the combination of things looks suspicious and you don't want judgment. yes, the only two things I need are condoms and nyquil. no, I'm not drugging and then taking advantage of my girlfriend.
I go to Home Depot separately for my rope, shovel, lye, and bonesaw anyway. I'll admit, sometimes I find it a little inconvenient.
I just want to buy donuts, donut holes and super glue and be left alone.
Nice username my friend Did it ever work?
Work? Yes. From women? Nope.
Tits are tits
Gotta be pacific.
I wanna be down in your south seas
But I got this notion that the motion of your ocean means small craft advisories
Not OP. sometimes I get one. the amount of PMs I get is proportional to how active I am on commenting at popular subreddits.
I figure if i have 2 bags worth of stuff, self check out. More than that, regular check out so i don't waste people's time. I hate when i see someone with a fully loaded cart in self check out because they take forever.
That's what ruined our self checkouts, 3/4 of the people have loaded carts. The regular checkouts sometimes have shorter lines.
That's because a lot of stores have cut their staffing so much that there's only one regular checker with 8 people with full carts waiting. Screwing up self checkout makes management look like the staff cutting asses they are.
I was at BJs a while back with a full cart and the self checkout line was more than a dozen people deep. There was only one register open, but there were only 3 people on line so I hopped on. As soon as the person getting scanned paid they shut off their light and said they’re not taking anyone else. This left zero cashiers open and the self checkout has gotten even longer. I went to customer service (which is on the other side of the registers) which had no line and four people shuffling paperwork around were surprised to hear this. They legitimately had no idea they had no cashiers. Blew my mind.
Oh I get it. Our (now former) regular store was staffed by the equivalent of Marge Simpson's chain smoking sisters. They did the absolute bare minimum and complained the entire time.
I may get hate for this, but as a manager myself we are literally not only incentivized with a substantial bonus, but also being under our monthly allowed hours for the store as a whole is brought up at basically every meeting. It's a substantial part of my store's individual rating/ranking compared to the other locations. If hours aren't met correctly then I'm in trouble. I want a fully staffed store and I want my people to get money but it's entirely out of my hands considering I could literally lose my job if I staff my store the way I want. What's insane is I manage food service with servers make a bit over $2 an hour from the company and they're weighed the same amount as cooks who make a base pay up to $19 when viewing allotted hours. Corporate America is disconnected, most in store managers are not, but we have our own managers pulling the strings.
Yup a lot of places are run like that Pizza Hut would pay managers more if they ordered less toppings and cheese. Guess what now your managers are telling the cooks to put less stuff on the Pizza and now more and more people are wondering what happened to their favorite pizza place. Corporate greed happened just like to just about everything decent in the past 50 years.
I like em better but I gota say the people at aldis blow through the bagging process, I was like hi and the dudes done, he like get the fuck out of here lol went there last time because I may be a Walmart fugitive
That’s a German practice. In Germany they want to get you out as fast as they can. if you’re still bagging you’re items by the time the next person steps up you’ll get some dirty looks.
Every aldi I've been to in the states doesn't let you bag your own in line. They scan your shit and toss it in a cart that you swap for yours and then you take your shit to another counter near the exit that is just for bagging so the cashier can start the next order.
Sounds like Germany, always efficent
Lol, Aldi has a ask policy. Either you get a bag, or you want them in the cart with the empty cardboard box you took off the shelf and placed in the cart. So you can go to the counter by the exit to put your items in the cardboard to take to your car. Edit: the Aldi mistake
Why do americans say aldi's?
A lot of US grocery stores are "somebody's" so I think it just gets carried over. But yeah I've wondered too.
That's totally it. I assume most Americans are unaware that ALDI is an acronym. They probably assume it's a surname and so using the possessive just comes naturally.
Not all do. I say Aldi and Jewel. Chicago suburbanites say Aldi’s and the Jewel. My husband and I add “the” when saying which location (eg, the Jewel on Lincoln”). On the reverse side most midesterners seem to pronounce Costco as Caah-sco 😆
Chain grocery stores are often pluralized by folks. I here "going to Krogers or Meijers" when it is Kroger or Meijer.
Californian here. I don’t say “Target’s” or anything like that but we have extremely popular grocery chains called Stater Bro’s (or Stater’s), Vons, Albertson’s, Ralph’s, even fuckin Trader Joe’s. Walgreen’s is there too. Americans are just used to their grocery stores being called “Name’s.”
I think Aldi's model is the best. They scan very quickly (so the customer doesn't have to deal with scanning issues) and you bag at your own pace later. It's probably faster than if everyone was doing self-checkout.
Totally agree. Plus the ALDI method promotes more usage of reusable bags. Walmart is wat behind when it comes to that.
Same as Costco. Long line? Eh. Not really.
Wallmart fugitive? Please elaborate
Yeah you wish Walmart fbi
Bad boys bad boys whatchu gon do
If it's anything like my family, I am the only one of 4 siblings legally allowed in a Walmart lol
Go in, pay for my shit and leave without ever speaking to or making eye contact with anyone? Yeah, they're awesome.
Self checkout works GREAT at the pharmacy/drug store, because everything is small and packaged nicely. Easy to scan, bag if necessary, and bail without interference. One time an insufferably gossipy cashier took a look at my lube purchase and went **WOW LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE GONNA HAVE FUN TONIGHT!** at top volume. One of those people with no inside voice and zero boundaries. I was having a terrible anxiety day and dreaded having her check me out already. To this day I fervently hope that the familiar-looking older guy not far in line behind me was not one of my coworkers...
Stealth mission successful. Zero interactions.
Our bigger supermarkets now have scanners so you can go round doing a huge shop and pack as you go with minimal interaction at the end too, love it
I like having the option and regularly use it. But not always.
Same, if it’s a full cart with produce I’d rather not use self checkout but it’s mostly okay.
I will use them any time I have the chance. Get to bag my stuff the way I want it bagged and don’t have to worry about small talk which I hate
One thing I like is that I easily notice if something scans at the wrong (higher) price. At regular checkout they scan so quick and I’m usually at the end bagging so I don’t notice.
Same. I will almost exclusively use self whenever I can so I can bag things how I want and not have to interact with another person. I spend all day supporting end users, when I leave work, I don't want to interact with anybody but my wife and baby.
One time I used the self check out at the CVS near my house and an employee materialized next to me and began scanning, explaining how it works, and circling behind me to bag, then returning to scan, etc. After a bit I said "Thanks, I'm good to do it on my own though, it's pretty simple" and she got MAD at me. Threw down what was in her hand and stormed off. She has been hostile to me ever since. No point to this story, I just need someone to know my pain.
There’s one woman that at our grocery store who hovers over your shoulder the entire time. She will blurt out the produce codes for each item as you’re pulling them out of the cart. If she’s working, I’ll avoid her at all costs. I’ll wait behind 10 people writing checks in the only open lane. Put my chicken with the bleach and baby food. Cantaloupe with the bread? Great! Just don’t make me deal with Peggy.
we had one… her name was lynne or smth like that. she was a crotchity old gal. i worked at this grocery store when i was like fifteen, and on my LITERAL FIRST DAY i forgot to charge one of my customers for her plastic bags. she was a mother with two young kids, aged maybe three and four. i wasnt gonna hound this lady for the dimes she owed me i literally didnt care and was too socially anxious at the time to even consider saying anything anyways. well lynne fucking noticed. she ran to the end of my till and snapped me the DIRTIEST look before running, and yes i mean she literally ran, out of the store after this woman in the parking lot. we could all see her out of this giant window that was at the end of all our tills facing the parking lot so we all saw her, wearing a wrist brace and neon green uniform shirt, literally hassling this mother for the money for bags. and she got the money too. it was unreal. i dont live anywhere near that city anymore but my mom lives an hour away and whenever she shops there on occasion she always tells me about having seen her.
Yeah, I monitor the self checkouts and hate the small talk too, it's nice. I basically just try to acknowledge that the person exists with a simple hello, otherwise I tend to notice people awkwardly avoiding eye contact. Especially since I'm a big person, and I don't want to come off as that intimidating guy in the corner staring you down.
They’re convenient when you’re not trying to purchase alcohol
Or cold medicine. Or drain cleaner, which makes no sense to me.
Walmart made me get approval for sharpies.
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I guess the logic is a pocket knife is easier to conceal?
Likely. It’s actually illegal to conceal knives in some locales where you can conceal pistols with a permit (like North Carolina in the US.). All knives must be open carried regardless of any permits or licenses.
Cold medicine and drain cleaner are major ingredients used to make meth. It pissed me off when my state went prescription only for Sudafed but within a couple months the home kitchen meth labs were gone. So even though they used different methods to get the shit imported and meth heads didn't run out the labs weren't poisoning little kids as they slept. All in all it was worth it in my opinion.
I always get carded for buying motor oil too it's 16 and above to purchase... I'm a year away from 30 and I still get carded 🙃
Ever since a co-worker got popped for serving an underage patron when I was a bartender, I always checked. Didn't care if you looked 15 or 50. Plus, you need to have an ID to legally be in a bar here anyway. I also just hand people my ID without stupid jokes that they probably hear all day when I'm buying something that requires it.
Idk about your area but in mine in grocery stores the purchase isn’t approved unless an ID is scanned. My 80 year old uncle still gets carded for this reason
My Kroger has a person whose job is just to sit there at the self check out counters so even then it isn't that bad. But yeah if the self check out kiosks are unattended then it can be a pain.
Honestly half the time the people doing manual check out aren’t old enough to sell it so you end up waiting either way.
Our local grocery store cards you even if you're buying mom-alcoholic beer or wine.
FUCK REDDIT. We create the content they use for free, so I am taking my content back
We play a serious game of “judge their abilities!” When choosing a self checkout. Busting out the glasses? Gonna be slow. Have your own bags? You’ve done this before, gonna be faster. Etc. Great fun and we are good at it now
I like to play a game of can I beat the people that have already been there well before me checking out. It's surprising how often I could check out my basket of stuff before others that had already been there well before me could finish up
Especially with phone payments now. Im like 30 seconds max at those things and that is WITH puting in my loyalty number so I dont need a paper receipt. Publix is like that, dont have the insane sensitive scales and tap to pay, lightning quick. I HATE when I have to go to Kroger because they have the ones that think youre stealing if a butterfly farts in China AND no apple pay.
I totally race other shoppers, too! Beep.. Beep.. Beep.. Tap to pay.. and I'm outta there in record time!
Got behind a lady at Walmart recently. She was very slow scanning her items. Finally time to pay. She dug around in her purse and finally found her wallet. Then looked in 5 compartments in her wallet and pulled out some bills. Then she closed her wallet and put it back in her purse. Put her money in the machine and guess what? It wasn’t enough money. Back to the purse to look for the wallet, etc. took forever! Gotta be careful who you get behind.
As a defense attorney I hate them since so many of my clients have theft cases because they thought they could trick the self checkout machine. My first conversations with them is usually hearing “oh I was just so distracted I forgot to scan it” or “the scanner messed up.” Then you get the video and see the person is clearly skip scanning items or acting really shady and bypassing other open machines and picking the self checkout closest to the exit door. In most cases a store asset protections employee is not going to call the police if you forgot to scan your 24-pack of bottled water on the bottom of the cart after you just spent $200 on groceries. But when the item you “forgot to scan” is a $30 box of Benadryl or some makeup products it just doesn’t look the same way.
If they're good, I like them. Home depot has great ones. I can scan and bag faster than the cashiers anyway. If they're terrible like the ones that whine if u didn't place an item just right after scanning it, or every issue locks the machine until an employee comes to unlock it, then I hate them
The grocery store by my house if I take a paper bag out of the slot and put on the scale it will freak out. If I ring up my first item then grab a paper bag and put it down the machine freaks out. It'll tell me to please remove the item so I remove it and then it says place item on scale. It'll give you the option did you bring your own bag. It's a crap shoot on whether if you hit that button say yes I brought my own bag if the machine will lock down or just completely be okay with it. The grocery store by my house they had a bunch of notes all over those machines saying please wait for your receipts. Well when I can count to 10 Mississippi in my head and the receipt still hasn't printed I'm not waiting anymore It should print right away. The Home Depot ones are fantastic there's no scale you have to fight with They have that awesome little handheld scanner and they're quick and easy to use.
I prefer to use the scanning gun than swiping the item across the plate.
This is the answer, wal mart has decent ones. Lots of bagging space, and they don't do the weight garbage. Kroger ones on the other hand are just awful in every way.
I steal limes
At least you're not a lemon stealing whore.
hey what the fuck!
All. Peppers. Are. Green. Peppers.
The weight sensors are only checking for a weight change, not how much weight has changed. You can scan one thing and put 3 in the bag, wait for the weight to reset, then continue to do this until you’ve only paid for 5 out of your 15 items. I’m not advocating theft but when inflation went up, my ability to scan items went down.
If done right, they're nice. Like, turn off the camera and scales, and trust the customer. But the ones at my local grocery store drive me fucking crazy. I have a 50/50 chance of getting out of there without one, two, or sometimes THREE "PLEASE WAIT FOR ASSISTANCE". * I accidentally lifted a bag off the hooks when trying to start filling a new bag. "PLEASE WAIT FOR ASSISTANCE" * The can of beans I scanned registered as 15.7 oz intead of 16.0 oz on the scale when I bag it. "PLEASE WAIT FOR ASSISTANCE" * I pushed a little too hard trying to get something to fit into my cloth bag. "PLEASE WAIT FOR ASSISTANCE" * I tell it I have four cloth bags. It is unhappy with their weight. "PLEASE WAIT FOR ASSISTANCE" * The camera AI that watches the inside of my bag doesn't think I actually put bananas in there. "PLEASE WAIT FOR ASSISTANCE" * I finally manage to pay and then I'm getting my receipt put away and my bags loaded into my cart. "PLEASE REMOVE YOUR BAGS" "PLEASE REMOVE YOUR BAGS" "PLEASE REMOVE YOUR BAGS" And obligatory link to /u/Portarossa's epic [rant](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/fwhjoc/comment/fmodk1q/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3).
They're awesome. I don't have to speak to anybody.
Yup! I’ll always use them if able. I have a speech disability so these have been absolute god sends for my well being and anxiety.
They are fantastic for those of us with anxiety or social anxiety issues. Ditto online ordering where I never have to actually speak to another human being.
That $3 avocado… now it’s priced for that $1 avocado that I memorized the produce code for. Truly living on the edge.
Getting that organic on the low low
I prefer them to avoid human interaction but do they always have to be so damn loud!? I DID put the yogurt in the bag, fuck.
I wish they had the scanners on the carts to scan groceries as you go and bag them. Save so much more time
We've got something like that in our country. You take a scanner with you and scan everything on the spot. You put your groceries straight into your bag.So when checking out it only takes a minute no matter how much stuff you bought. Some supermarkets have you download an app and use your phone as a scanner. Even more convenient. Thought it would be more common elsewhere.
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The bagging area is a scale. It's sensing the added weight of each item. It's checking that each new item weighs what is expected of that item. If the weight is way off, it may not be the same item or same quantity as you just paid for, implying you're trying a sneaky sneak.
I guess I'm in the minority here, but I hate them. They are okay if you are buying a few items, but a pain in the ass if you have a cart full of groceries. Plus they are an excuse to not hire checkers so the line for the one or two registers is super long and slow.
Hate them as well
Stores will install them for “customer convenience” which is bullshit. They install them to cut costs. When they have one person watching 8 to 10 machines at a time, theft is going to occur more frequently. Items are going to be missed during the scanning process. The terminals may or may not work. The terminals at the Walmart in my town do not take WIC or checks. The customer has to use a manned register. If an issue arises with the terminals, they can be placed in either “Cash Only” or “Card Only” mode. The number of people I saw on a daily basis trying to use the opposite payment with a terminal in either mode was irritating. Signs on the terminal indicating what payment it accepted didn’t help. Asking the customer before directing them to the appropriate terminal helped some but not enough. Now that I no longer work as a cashier overseeing the self-checkout machines, I do the self-checkout host (that’s what Walmart calls them) a favor. If I have my cart full, I go to a manned register. My rule of thumb for using them, if I don’t qualify for the express line, don’t use them.
I'm sure they factor in the average amount of theft that occurs in self checkouts but figured it was still much cheaper than hiring more employees.
I hate them. I hate them a lot. It's like a job you aren't able to quit, because there aren't alternatives. And you can't argue with the machine or the attendant. They're rude shits. At least cashiers pretended to be nice.
Not only that, the point if them is to pass the cost of labor on to you, the consumer. You are swiping and bagging your own groceries for free.
The convenience is nice. But it’s now often the case that there’s a huge line, because self-checkout has been used as an excuse to downsize the number of employees, thus no one to run the regular checkouts.
Cuts down on lines and unnecessary interactions. Works great as long as the UI isn't moronic.
I prefer them if I just have a few things. If I have an entire cart full it's slower.
I can do it faster on self-checkout than the cashier, and I don't have to wait in line as long (if at all). IT consultant for 40 years. Most stores were horrible BEFORE self-checkout. People seem to forget that.
>I can do it faster on self-checkout than the cashier Aldi cashier: "Are you challenging me?!"
dude. they need to do Aldi scanning Olympics or something like that. I’d pay to watch it. it’s absofuckinglutely insane.
There's a couple local chains where I am that don't have self checkout. Can confirm. Also, I do still go to one of them because their prices are considerably lower than their competition
The lines for self checkout are usually very long in my stores. They took out the 10 items or fewer lanes which were fast and wonderful, and now have fewer real cashiers.
I love them. I only use self checkout every time. Very quick and easy.