Self Scan at grocery stores

[Reenk Roink]

You should have to pass a test to use them... :furious3::furious3::furious3::furious3::furious3::furious3::furious3::furious3:

[Centurion1]

for competent people who know how to use them they are a total godsend..... but it only takes one imbecile or tech tard

[johnhughthom]

I usually, uh accidentaly, fail to scan an item properly. I've gotten away with it every time. Usually something small, I just do it to amuse myself.

[PanzerJaeger]

They took them out of all the WalMart locations here due to 'customer confusion'. :dizzy2:

[a completely inoffensive name]

Depends on how they program the machine. I swear this one self check out machine literally had me follow its steps in order for it to process it correctly, then when I grabbed a plastic bag before step 13 insert items into plastic bag the thing short circuited. But even still, it is isn't rocket science. Scan the barcode, put in your credit card and get the heck out.

I don't know about you guys, but I swear there are those that dont realize that the scanner is scanning the barcode and doesn't just "know" you have a box of twinkies because you are waving the front of the box around the scanner.

[B-Wing]

I think the biggest issue with some is the need to weigh the item after scanning. My mom never could get the hang of that.

[Hooahguy]

Nonsense. If you do all your shopping early, like at 8:00, you dont have to wait in line for them. Plus they cut down on social interaction. :beam:

[Centurion1]

not all of them actually.

[Major Robert Dump]

The good ole days was when you could feed the things any coupons you had, regardless of whether you were actually buying those items. This was a nightmare when I was a supercenter manager

And fairly soon they will be able to just "Scan the cart." Chips are small enough to go into bar codes and cheap enough to produce en masse that there is no noticable difference in food costs if you can buy in bulk. Wal Mart is already testing them. Cashier is not a very good career choice at the moment if you are looking for longevity

[Hosakawa Tito]

Perhaps if they paid me for saving them labor costs I'd use them. I'm usually out of the store before 9am so lines aren't a problem for me. What's next, unloading the trucks & stocking their shelves. Besides, what are all you highschool & college grads going to do for jobs?

[Major Robert Dump]

High School kids don't work anymore, that is child abuse, didn't ya hear?

As far as the shelf stocking thing in exchange for a doscount, you are onto something.

[gaelic cowboy]

there a brilliant invention especially if you only wanted say a loaf and two litre of milk, in and out nice and quick

[Reenk Roink]

When you buy ONE pack of Ben and Jerry's Mud Pie to pass through the hottest day of the heat wave, quickly before rush hour starts, during the freaking art fair which congests things more, and some lady has decided to finally take care of her personal hygiene and buy a bunch of toiletries (including one bottle of KY Jelly rofl), but although every item she has is of a similar size and shape, she cannot help but trying every wrong possible combination of scanning positions EVERY SINGLE TIME. :wall:

I swear, I rarely use them anyway because I usually shop once/twice a week and buy everything I need then, but whenever I go I always get stuck behind some real-life troll...

[A Nerd]

I am one of those shoppers that shop not during peak hours. The express lane and even the lanes that one would enter with alot of groceries are usually unoccupied or have just one person in them. Besides, all the stores I have been to that supply self check out lines always have a store associate standing there to help you out if you should have a problem. I am afraid to use them though, old fashioned shopping is where it's at as far as I am concerned.

I worked in a supermarket deli once. I didn't like it. Lasted all of a week or so. Would have prefered the bakery.

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

Some of them are poorly designed anyhow but still, some people.... :laugh4:

[Ice]

This thread amuses me. I couldn't scan the tiny barcode on ground meat tonight. I could tell the people in line were getting angry.

[Gregoshi]

This thread amuses me. I couldn't scan the tiny barcode on ground meat tonight. I could tell the people in line were getting angry.
Meat packaging is a regular problem. The moisture can mess the bar code or sometimes the label is scrunched up.

[classical_hero]

They are very frustrating to use and I am not an idiot. So often I scan the item and put it in the bag and yet it tells me that I have not put it in the bag, and then when that happens you have to hae someone come and help you with the problem. They are hardly time savers.

[Reenk Roink]

There are definitely items that are tough to scan. I always have a problem with certain candy packages. But sooner or later you should get the trick. Or ask for assistance, this helps a lot (does this make me less of a man?).

But I'm talking about people who seriously do not learn from their experiences whatsoever on these things, and this seems to be correlated with those who go over the 12-15 item limit.

[Hooahguy]

They are very frustrating to use and I am not an idiot. So often I scan the item and put it in the bag and yet it tells me that I have not put it in the bag, and then when that happens you have to hae someone come and help you with the problem. They are hardly time savers.
I have that problem too sometimes. Im pretty sure the bagging area has some sort of scale that weighs everything you put in to make sure everything is there or something.

[Louis VI the Fat]

I've got some questions:

- What supermarkets have these self-scanning things? Any in the South?
- If you forget to pay something, is there an alarm that goes off? Alarm for cheap goods also, or just expensive high-risk goods?
- If you leg it, will you make it to the door before security does?


Cheers.

[Hooahguy]

I've got some questions:

- What supermarkets have these self-scanning things? Any in the South?
- If you forget to pay something, is there an alarm that goes off? Alarm for cheap goods also, or just expensive high-risk goods?
- If you leg it, will you make it to the door before security does?


Cheers.
Pretty much any major supermarket chain. Down here, both Kroger and Publix have them.
Yes the alarm goes off.
In my local kroger its about ten feet to the door. In the local Publix its fifty feet. So you probably could in Kroger, but not Publix.
No idea about the other supermarket chains.

[johnhughthom]

Here in Belfast we have segregated scanners. The left hand side is for the prods, a band walks in front of you as you come toward it and there is an arcade game beside it where you can stop Catholic children walking to school. The right hand side is for Catholics, and it doesn't actually scan until you spend 5 minutes complaining about centuries of oppression. The middle aisle is for foreigners and takes you to a taxi rank so you can head to the airport.

[Strike For The South]

Self scanners will be gone in 10 years. Much more trouble than they are worth

/grocery nerd


- What supermarkets have these self-scanning things? Any in the South?


Most larger chains do, and they are nationwide


- If you forget to pay something, is there an alarm that goes off? Alarm for cheap goods also, or just expensive high-risk goods?

There is a centeral computer with an employee there which shows him/her all the information. The employee has all of the self scans in front of there person to combat theft


- If you leg it, will you make it to the door before security does?



Depends on the layout. Most likely not as any store worth a damn has its doors right behind the checkout.

[Major Robert Dump]

Yes, they have scales. The weight of total bagged items has to match the weight of scanned stuff. It tells you when to remove a bag.

Albertsons/homeland is getting rid of them, they say to promote more customer-employee interaction, but we all know the real reason is because people cannot figure them out and they are easy to abuse. Basically, if you have any items that require weighing like produce or requires an ID like booze, the whole process becomes a time sink. People who go through those things to buy beer and produce are holding the rest of us up.

[naut]

Self-scanning = Unexpected item in loading zone = *RAGE*

[TheLastDays]

None of the stores in our country have them, I'd like to experience these things firsthand. It always amuses me to see people who try to figure out devices like this :thumbsup:

[Major Robert Dump]

Here in Belfast we have segregated scanners. The left hand side is for the prods, a band walks in front of you as you come toward it and there is an arcade game beside it where you can stop Catholic children walking to school. The right hand side is for Catholics, and it doesn't actually scan until you spend 5 minutes complaining about centuries of oppression. The middle aisle is for foreigners and takes you to a taxi rank so you can head to the airport.

thank you for this, BTW

[drone]

The ones at my nearest grocery store work pretty well. You scan the item and place it on a conveyor belt, the belt moves the item through a scale, then to the bagging area. The usual problems are (as always) produce and booze. And sometimes idiots put round things on the belt wrong and it just rolls and rolls and never gets to the scale. Always good for a laugh. A few years back Home Depot put in some self-checkout aisles. The first system was a disaster, the scales never worked right. They quickly jettisoned those and got a better system in place. If you don't have anything weird they work pretty well, but if you are buying things like loose hardware, lumber, and garden wares just head for the manned aisles.

Which is the main issue. If you are just getting some milk, eggs, and bread, head for the self-scan. If you are purchasing the ingredients for the entire Feast of San Gennaro, get the pro to check out your stuff.

[Reenk Roink]

From what I've seen, the customers at home improvement shops like Lowe's are much more intelligent about what they bring to the self scan items. I was bracing myself for some guy to try and scan a commode or dishwasher, but they keep it to spray paint and do it quickly.

[Ibrahim]

for competent people who know how to use them they are a total godsend..... but it only takes one imbecile or tech tard

an accurate description, respectively, of me, and most people I have seen in the Houston-Metro area who gave it a whirl: family included. personally, I've made it an art to scan items as quickly as possible, and as cleanly as possible. unfortunately it seems the people among whom I'm "vacationing", have made it as much an art to waste 10-15 minutes of my life screwing up the scanning of a frozen vegetable bag. or messing up the payment process (my mom does that every time).

If you are wondering why I don't interfere, it is simply because my mom just doesn't appreciate it.

[Vladimir]

Meat packaging is a regular problem. The moisture can mess the bar code or sometimes the label is scrunched up.

You know, it's just, if it was ANYTHING other than meat packing. I mean...