Beside chain owners, who likes switch to self-checkout?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

By Aurora Hernandez / For the Los Angeles Times

Something incredible happened four years ago. People suddenly realized that my grocery store co-workers and I are essential. It had a lasting effect on me, but some people clearly need a reminder; especially the leaders of the conglomerates that dominate the industry. These bosses have rewarded our essential frontline service during the pandemic by trying to replace us with machines.

California’s grocery workers are on the front line once again as we face the challenge of automation. This time we’re pushing back by supporting California’s Senate Bill 1446, which, among other things, limits the number of self-checkout stations grocery and retail drugstore workers have to oversee at any given time.

The corporate strategy behind self-checkout is clear and heavy-handed: lower labor costs by forcing customers to do the work themselves and pass the increased profit on to Wall Street. Most of my customers at the Food 4 Less in Boyle Heights refuse to make the change.

Instead of learning to navigate the bank of self-checkout machines our store recently installed, they line up deep into the aisles to be helped by a human being. And those are the customers who have time to wait: Every day I see customers give up and walk out the door without buying anything because the line is too long and they are frustrated by the problems they’ve encountered when trying self-checkout.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-beside-chain-owners-who-likes-switch-to-self-checkout/

[Skittles]

1. I don't mind self-checkout for a few items

but I really dislike doing a full basket

[Dulcinea]

47. Same here.

I use self-checkout for a couple of items, but I want a human to check me out for a full grocery load.

[Silent Type]

2. I use them, mainly because I prefer to do it myself and don't want people to have to wait on me.

[Dave Bowman]

3. "helped by a human being."

The same happens when you try to talk to someone when on the phone with customer services/government agencies. Tons of menus so it takes forever to finally talk to a real person.

[Skittles]

4. omg

"listen closely as our service options have changed"

and the music played while you're inevitably on hold..........AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

[Dave Bowman]

19. Lol, yeah, that's torture!

[Intractable]

24. Don't forget, "Your call is important to us."

Twenty years ago, I worked for Nortel Networks, which manufactured machines that provided phone-based computerized voice services.

It became obvious to me that some of our customers (like banks, agencies, big businesses) were using the equipment to hide from their customers while putting up a facade of customer service.

The equipment was also used by telemarketers to efficiently place calls. I read some communications between Nortel and telemarketing companies. They truly believed that they owned your home phone and had the right to call you anytime for any purpose. It was disgusting.

[AllaN01Bear]

43. i finaly turned off my land lines noise makers also turnd down the answering machine voice to 0. peace of mind

i had read where one bank owner got infuriated by all that and had the tek removed . no one was returning his calls

[dickthegrouch]

17. And if you have a thick accent, or don't actually speak English or Spanish

The Interactive Voice Response systems are just impenetrable.
"Sorry you're have trouble, please try again later" (when you can speak clearly).

[Lulu KC]

5. not I n/t

[orthoclad]

6. I absolutely refuse to use self-checkout

Basically, this allows corporations to lay off workers by getting free, uncompensated labor from the customers.

[2naSalit]

8. Same here...

I won't use them.

[orthoclad]

10. Self checkout is scab labor.

[2naSalit]

13. Yup.

My main grocer is employee owned, they don't have any self-check lanes at all. The other grocery store in the county is a mile away and it's an Albertson's. People quit them to go work at the employee owned place.

[orthoclad]

14. I love to support employee-owned businesses.

[2naSalit]

15. Same...

I only go to the other place w a couple times a year, when they have something I need that the employee owned place doesn't carry. Things get strange out here at the end of the supply chain.

[kacekwl]

7. My view is

if I have to check myself out and bag my own items then give me a 10% discount. I won't do it unless I have 1-2 things and all other lanes are busy.

[Dave Bowman]

20. Yeah, that's a good idea.

[House of Roberts]

9. I've used self checkout in Target

when I've had hot fresh chicken tenders and wanted a quick exit with them.

Normally I don't like to use them, because I usually have bulky items like soft drinks to scan.

[duncang]

11. I use them now.

But they took away the under X amount lane away and cut cashiers. I want to use a coupon have to get it confirmed by the person there. Fresh veggies kind of a pain. Leaving something in the cart and scanning needs confirmation. The local store I go to took out a section and added self scan. That wasn’t bad. They still had the under X items line. Then they removed more lines and added a separate self scan. Removed the under X items. If you have a bunch of items then you have to go to a long line because there isn’t enough room to put your items on the scale.

I’d like it back like it was. Or at least not to the extent they have now.

[LisaM]

56. And then it shouts out what you bought.

Put your....TOMATO..in the bag. I don't know why that annoys me, it just does.

[MaryMagdaline]

12. Unwelcome opinion here

I do not like self checkout. I’ve only learned to use it in CVS, and once in Home Depot. I have a fear of failing to register an item and getting arrested for shop lifting. The stress is real.

I used to be very hostile to stores that use self checkout. However, our country is not producing children, and we are shutting borders to immigrants. Certain businesses will have to use automated services, self check out and other means to fill the roles that used to be filled by real humans.

I’m hoping that enough humans hang around to provide healthcare and other essential services. In the meantime, self check out is here to stay.

[hlthe2b]

16. "Whodda thunk" that unpaid customers manning the check-out process once performed by union employees...

might not work out. Geez... some steal? Really? Many more find that their credit cards are cloned as a result of poor observation/oversight of the credit card scanners? Customers and remaining employees are equally unhappy?


Gee, "whodda thunk?" Sounds like such a great idea--Now do AI...

[stopdiggin]

18. I personally prefer the self checkout

Time and convenience writ large, and 200% decrease in headache and frustration.
And really do not have an adequate answer to the charge of 'disenfranchising workers' - other than to point out that I learned long ago (along with everyone else) to pump my own gas, clean my own windshield, check out my own books - look up and dial my own phone numbers - cut my own hair, take my own blood pressure - book my own concert tickets, travel, transit, hotels and accommodations - and the list goes on. Perhaps I should feel guilty about the toll I have taken on my fellow workers with each of these things ... But, nonetheless - made those adjustments - and life goes on.

(Conversely - it's been a good 15 years since I've changed the oil on my car - or attempted anything more complicated than replacing a light bulb, or glancing at the fluid levels ... )

[Karma13612]

25. Well stated

We are in the minority on this opinion, at least in THIS diary.

I love self check out. Takes me very little time because I only use the lines with one person already at the checkout or no person at all.

I was scared initially until I got the hang of it. Now I feel confident and even learned how to use the scanning gun when the item is heavy so I don’t take it out of the cart. And I’m more sure that the right produce is being charged. Some check out staff have trouble with identifying certain veggies. And I can sort and pack my bags the way I want.

Corporations need to be more creative and utilize human beings for better paying and more fulfilling jobs. And, if we didn’t have self check out in my rural area, the staffed checkout lines would be even longer than they are now.

Bring on the flames.

[Dave Bowman]

21. I don't remember using one of these, so I guess that I should get out more.

[Irish_Dem]

22. Krogers where I shop forces you to use self checkout.

They have only one cashier and she is usually "on a break" when I ask where the cashier is.
I don't think they even schedule one cashier some days.

[SheltieLover]

33. Aldi near me forces self check-out as well

It's actually quicker for me because I line bags up & place food directly into them rather than everything being dumped into the cart in a pile, then sorting through it for frozen foods, etc.

All that said, if there were a choice, I would use the employee check out just to support someone's job.

[Irish_Dem]

38. Yes I prefer cashier check out too for the same reason.

Somebody is getting a paycheck.
And it is easier.

Yes I like self checkout because I can bag the groceries the way I want.
And yes it is quicker too.

I just checked out Aldi and was shocked to see some of the items
I buy all the time at Kroger's are half the price.
Shows me how much Kroger's is ripping me off.

[SheltieLover]

39. Yes, Kroger is a rip off

And wal mart is not much cheaper!

Aldi has been very good for me throughout this price gouging mess.

Glad you found it to be a good value.

[Karma13612]

40. Oh wow!

Our Aldi is only cashier check out. Where are you located that they have self/check out?

[SheltieLover]

42. Memphis region

[Karma13612]

50. Cool! Thanks! eom

[SheltieLover]

59. YW!

[FakeNoose]

60. The Aldi's stores here in Pittsburgh don't have self-checkout for the most part

One Aldi's did add a self-checkout but most are smaller stores with only enough space for regular checkout with the cashier-employee. Customers always bag their own orders anyway at Aldi's. That's been their system since Day One.

I love Aldi's and I buy certain items there regularly. But they don't carry everything, and they don't seem to restock as often as the big stores do.

[SheltieLover]

61. I loooove Aldi & buy nearly everything there

Exceptions are pepperoncini peppers, raspberry bismarks, & diet pepsi occasionally, when I can find it. (Not joking.)

My other choices are rip off Kroger or ridiculous Walmart, which is almost as expensive as Kroger.

Thankfully, for the majority of Americans, the 3rd world of Memphis is the exception rather than the norm.

[Dulcinea]

48. I shop at Kroger to get the fuel points.

On Fridays you get 4X the fuel points, so that makes it worthwhile for me. Other than that, I prefer Publix, where they have baggers & decent customer service. Or our local farmers market.

[Irish_Dem]

49. I had not thought about doing that.

I need to check it out.

[DavidDvorkin]

23. I do.

[Self Esteem]

26. If I don't have many items, absolutely.

There's generally little wait and I can be out in a jiffy.

[Karma13612]

27. I love self checkout.

I’m in and out much faster. I know I’ve been charged correctly for produce and I pack my bags a certain way.
It’s been a win win for our area. We are rural and the staffed check outs were super long before they put in SCO because they had trouble getting help. We were told by a manager at the store that they couldn’t find people to cover the registers. Now the store is even busier and we rarely have to wait to check out. And they employ an ARMY of staff to do the “picking” for various pickup and delivery options.
And it’s one less person you are face to face with during flu/contagious illness season.

[Arne]

28. It started with the gas station.

Now you can actually buy a car in a vending machine.

[flying_wahini]

29. I had to check my own cart move and bag it all myself. I had $250 worth of mostly food and bulky items.

No personal checker lines were open. Had to do it all by myself.
I took my sweet time. The line manager knew I wasn’t happy about no other options. I
figure if they want it done fast they can pay someone to do it.
Took all my 10 bags. Had to remove some bags to make room for more.
Took at least 15 minutes. People waiting but they have 25 registers.
After I was all done and rolling out of there she asked me if I needed help to the car.
I fisheyed her and said, “Why???

I feel sorry for her, not her fault but I am NOT GOING BACK.

[viva la]

30. I'm terrible at self checkout

..
Would rather let the professional do the work on a third of the time.

[niyad]

31. I will only use self-check if I have just one or two items, and there are

lines at all the staffed checkouts. I don't get an employee discount, I am not doing an employee's job, and we don't have Aldi's prices, so I am not bagging, either. And I hate being behind a person who has a cartful, and removes the items to the conveyor belt ohhhhh soooooooo slowly, and then bags them the same way.

[niyad]

32. Just an observation: Last year, the wally world near me did a major remodel,

including dozens of self-check stations, with only one or two actual cashiers. This was early November. .By December, three banks of self-checks were cordoned off, and actual cashiers were working. This was right about the time articles were coming out about how "shrinkage" (shoplifting, etc) costs far outweighed the savings in wages.

NSS, we tried to tell you idiots that!

[valleyrogue]

34. I use them. You bet I do.

If there is anything I cannot stand, it is a checker sitting there shooting the shit with customers while people are standing in line to get waited on. I check my items out way faster than a grocery checker.

I will do self-service, thank you. I don't hear people complaining about self-service gas, and yes, the vast majority of drivers still drive gas-powered vehicles.

[Karma13612]

41. Well said

I get thru much faster at the stores with self-check out. And I know my produce has been identified correctly so I have been charged correctly.
Cashier checkouts are slower it seems, and the lines are longer. At 70 years old, my time is too precious to waste it in food store checkout lines staring at trash magazines and high calorie sweets and electronic device charging cords.

[LisaM]

57. I like chatting with cashiers and when I was a cashier

I enjoyed talking with customers. I don't think it slowed me down either way, but a world without human contact is completely dystopian to me. I work from home most of the time and when my partner is out of town, sometimes the only human contact I have in a day is when I shop (and no, I don't slow the lines down, it's just a hello and can I please have double bags because I am walking).

[sinkingfeeling]

35. I refuse to use them and have called for a manager to

explain why I'm walking out the door and leaving $200 of groceries in the cart.
And you know they seem to have an employee to return stuff, but not to run a cash register.

[RockRaven]

36. If I only have a few items, and there are lines everywhere, I prefer the self checkout.

Because at my local stores the self checkout usually has one line/queue which branches to 4-6 stations, whereas all of the regular registers are one line leading to one cashier. If there is a customer who causes a major delay for some damn reason -- and there always are -- you are stuck being delayed until they sort out their malfunction in a normal line, whereas the branching queue allows people to keep moving through the other stations while the bumblefuckery gets sorted.

Of course that isn't a function of self checkout per se, but rather how the queues happen to be structured differently by the stores.

[elleng]

37. It's a decent option, used it today first time in months.

[AllaN01Bear]

44. i feel that i am stealing someones job, so no. if u want me to use self . train me , pay me walmart wage to do so

[betsuni]

45. At one point the small supermarket in my old neighborhood changed to all self-checkout except for one cashier.

First day there were the men in suits from the head office looking pleased with their machines.

But the customers are mostly older, sometimes really old. Staff had to do everything anyway and old people like to pay in exact change which takes time the regular way but with a machine takes even longer to insert all the coins and often eyesight isn't so good, squint to see how many more coins to go. Self-check out lasted two weeks before they gave up and went back to fast and efficient humans (kept one self-checkout).

I just stop going to places without human cashiers because machines don't like me, always some kind of problem and I don't like feeling like Charlie Chaplin in "Modern Times" or something.

[CTyankee]

46. My Stop and Shop hires people with developmental disabilities to help bag my groceries.

I think that's nice and would be very sad if they were not there to bag the items. They are "regulars" and they seem to enjoy the socialization with customers.

[surfered]

51. I use self checkout except when I get produce without a product tag snd don't know the code

I also do a better job of sacking the groceries

[drray23]

52. I prefer self checkout.

It is faster, I do not have to endure dealing with cashiers and baggers chatting about their boyfriends/girlfriends, trying to figure out what kind of vegetable I just bought, wait behind a person struggling with their credit card and the machine, etc.

Does that affect jobs? Probably. On the other hand, it is hard to avoid. Society no longer has lamp lighters, stagecoach drivers, steam engine mechanics, etc. Jobs go and are replaced by different jobs.

I am more concerned about working conditions and wages of existing jobs. For example, how restaurant workers are paid below minimum wage expecting to make the difference in tips or why so many Walmart employees are also on food stamps because they are so poorly paid. Businesses whose profit margin is based on underpaying their employees are despicable. This is the case in the grocery business with small margins. They squeeze their employees and their suppliers all the way down to the farmers who are paid a pittance for their goods compared to what it ends up being on the shelves.

[Thunderbeast]

53. Some stores in Portland are removing self checkout lanes

They claim that too many items go into the bags without being scanned.

Hoodathunk?

[Bristlecone]

54. Only as express

[Jilly_in_VA]

55. Lowe's in our area just went all self checkout

We are not happy about that at all. I'm threatening to take all business to the two Ace stores, even though they're kind of out ogf my way. At least they still have humans working the checkouts!

[doc03]

58. Their own employees use the self checkout.

If they don't care why should I.