Self Serve Checkouts

[Acacia 0]

I'm not sure how common these are elsewhere but I had my first self serve check out experience a few days ago.It kind of looks like a checkout but with no checkout chicks Anyhoo it was really fun to start with... open the bag scan a few items and then pick up the full bag to hear a voice "item has been removed from checkout, please put it back before continuing" so you put it back and scan some stuff.So here I have $100 worth of stuff to fit on a little rack, I got one back removed but it would not let me remove any others... it was soo frustrating hearing that woman's voice a million times! Then I happened to buy a knife so I had to get that checked to make sure I was old enough to buy.Finally I have stacked everything up in this little space and have to pay with credit card... so then that needs to get approved too.In theory this is a great system and i'm sure it would have been if I didn't have a whole heap of items and paid another way... there needs to be a warning about the ammount of products you can have.

[Hamtaro 0]

I don't buy very much, but I sorta like those kind of checkout lines. They can get frustrating, however, especially with their bugg item bagging thing (as you've mentioned). However, as a whole, I enjoy using them, and I actually find them to be quicker than checkout lines where a cashier has to do it for you. I've also never sen many problems with having many items used on them. Still, if you have no idea how to use them at all, they can be even more frustrating.I remember when they were first put into some of our stores around here...(about 2 years ago). They were much more buggy, and messed up a whole lot more. It's still being developed, but at least it's been drastically improved over the years. In fact, I know see them in all the new stores (especially Wal-Mart). Anyway, perhaps in a year or two the software on them will be greatly improved and not so hard to bag an item with.

[LiberacionShard 0]

lol this sounds like fun, here in canada i havent heard of there being any around or even heard of them lol, but yeah this could be a way to cut costs of an employee or whatever, those dam robots haha

[Acacia 0]

In theory they're a great idea... if I only had a few items I'm sure there wouldn't have been a problem.There needs to be something implemented for people with a lot more shopping.

[Mich 0]

I'm not sure how common these are elsewhere but I had my first self serve check out experience a few days ago.

It kind of looks like a checkout but with no checkout chicks Anyhoo it was really fun to start with... open the bag scan a few items and then pick up the full bag to hear a voice "item has been removed from checkout, please put it back before continuing" so you put it back and scan some stuff.

 

So here I have $100 worth of stuff to fit on a little rack, I got one back removed but it would not let me remove any others... it was soo frustrating hearing that woman's voice a million times!

Then I happened to buy a knife so I had to get that checked to make sure I was old enough to buy.

 

Finally I have stacked everything up in this little space and have to pay with credit card... so then that needs to get approved too.

 

In theory this is a great system and i'm sure it would have been if I didn't have a whole heap of items and paid another way... there needs to be a warning about the ammount of products you can have.

225816[/snapback]

Well we had them at our K-mart for a while, but they took them out. Were more trouble than they were worth. I guess the customers were not handy enough to use them correctly.

[DogEater008 0]

at where i live (united states) the slef serve checkout thing had been there for years. Fred meyer and kmart and stuff have them. I just don' t see why people would use it... unless they're buying something that is embrassessing.. and wants no one to know... but other than that.. i couldn't think of a reason why customers should use it. I use it sometime.. i guess it was fun the first time using it.. .but i would much preferr someone doing the checking out for me... that is what they are paid to do.. so might as well do it...oh. .and one interesting fact that i learned from it... did you know the self serve checkout machine is acutally running on window 98 or something like that. i remembered this one time at fred meyer, a techncian was fixing one of the machine.. and i saw the desktop of the screen.. .and it looked like window 98 or some old similar version... aahaha.. yeah.. i did find that interesting.. .not sure a bout you guys htough =P

[Acacia 0]

I think it could be faster dogeater.Especially if you only have a few things it could be easier... but not if you're paying with credit That really sucks!Maybe i'm just a loser with no co-ordination lol but if they made it something like the trolley/basket was put onto a weight or I don't know something bigger! And WIN98 is pretty funny... shows how advanced the system is hehe

[terminal2k 0]

I thought they were funny the first time I saw them, but after using one I think they can be incredibly useful, i wouldn't want to do a large amount of shopping with one of those, but it makes a good alternative to "express" checkouts. They are much easier when you are paying with cash as signatures from credit cards must be confirmed by a person. I think we'll see a lot more things like this in the future, with products tagged with RFID chips or something similar so you don't need to scan anything.

[Goofy 0]

Helpful tew da maxx IMO. I first actualled USED a self check-out during a nice visit to WalMart with my parents. It was smooth over all. There was one item (I forget what it was) that made the thing go crazy and make us have to wait for a frikin worker to come. Worst..15 minutes...ever! Lawl @ having to verify able knife buying age .

[Acacia 0]

Thats what happened to me Goofy... I had to get so many things checked. It was getting really annoying. Lucky for me it was quiet and didn't take long to get done.If I ever use it again I'll remember only to buy a few things

[wariorpk 0]

I really hate those self serve things at stores. They take forever to use, they always think you did not put an item in the bag, you always need to contact the person who is there to look over all of them because of some type of problem. They are just pointless considering you could get your items scanned in half the time if you just go through a normal line.

[catfish 0]

It's a nice concept, but half the time you wind up needing a person there anyway becasue the thing wants to be a pain in the **bottom** =\

[Togi 0]

Wheee.. I guess you just need to plan ahead of time. But normally when I go to Wal*Mart (or someplace with a selfcheckout) I'm just getting a couple simple things, and this makes it a lot easier. They let us use a credit card here without being checked, and I'm pretty sure I could buy a knife, too.. maybe no one cares in Missouri. XD;From the other end of it.. I'm a checker sometimes, at work, and the idea of us installing self-check machines in our store would be scary. Many of our customers can hardly figure out how to scan their own credit card, even if I do the rest of the checkout for them.I guess it's like Mich said... people just aren't 'smart' enough for this technology. That or they can't read, because if it says, "Debit, Credit, EBT Food" and they hit EBT and slide their debit card because, "I saw food, so I pushed that one ^^".... then jeeze XD;

[FLaKes 0]

I bet youll never see something like that here in Mexico. It depends a whole lot on the peoples culture. I bet it would be very fun to have those, but many jobs would be replaced which I dont think would be very good since many people depend from a job like that to help out their families, and they probably a little training, no need for high level education for a job like that.

[s2city 0]

Yes, I too just recently had my first encounter with a Self-Checkout machine at my local Wal-Mart... it was very interesting. I had bought a chicken tenders dinner and didn't feel like going through a regular checkout with only this one item. I figured, why not? So I got behind this guy that seemed to not have many items... but boy was I ever wrong. I first realized that I'd made a terrible mistake deciding to use the Self-Checkout whenever I heard a repeated "beep... beep... beep." I thought to myself, what could this guy possibly be buying to have needed so many? I glanced over his shoulder and there he was scanning what appeared to be a lifelong supply of Kool-Aid packets. Finally the guy finished and I was able to get on with my purchase. I stepped up and pressed English... or atleast I thought I did. Needless to say I was rather surprised when the voice coming from the machine began speaking in Spanish. Long story short, I navigated my way through that only to end up noticing the Deli clerk had lovingly placed the barcode on the top of my chicken tenders dinner... which coincidentally contained mashed potatos w/ gravy; seeing as how I couldn't turn the box over, I had to peel of the barcode sticker to scan it. Finally I thought, it's almost over. So I gave the machine my 5 dollar bill and was dispensed my change... most of it anyway. I had 2 dollars in change that I never received, apparently the Kool-Aid guy had used a 50 to purchase his limitless supply of Kool-Aid packets and had eaten up what change there was left. Oye!