I’ve been using them for a long time in the US. None of this is a concern here (in my experience)…
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My small-to-medium size town only has one supermarket - the Co-Op.
There’s four robo-tills, three human-tills (which invariariably have only one yooman between them) and that’s it.
You can’t buy cigs or booze from the robot tills which, in a town with this many troubled people,
means a queue.
Oh well…
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This really turns into a case of my “I legally paid, and there’s evidence” versus “we falsely imprisoned you.” And, I’ll be honest, I love my odds in both criminal and, more importantly, civil court on this one. I’m gonna make WAY more money than it’ll cost to get an attorney.
unless it’s the cops doing the arresting. Harder case to prove, but still viable. And, besides, it’s basically a crap shoot as is, even if i don’t use self-checkout. I could be walking through a store and carrying a toy, and just get shot by them.
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Not if you’re an “influencer” who makes her money thinking up edge cases that might not actually exist! Then it’s, like, a super huge concern, guys! Like and Subscribe!
I’ve been using self-checkouts for years now, because I prefer to handle and bag my own groceries, and I don’t have to hand anything to anyone. It’s especially quick if I have only a couple things to buy, then I don’t even have to bag them. If some clerk wants to try and accuse me of stealing, well, I don’t think it’s gonna work out for them, from a legal standpoint.
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I live in the socialist dystopian hellscape that is Canada. There are rules about who can work where, but it’s fairly common for people 13 and up to get part time jobs if they choose (or must). AFAIK no industrial sites until 18, but that may just be in my province. Also, minimum wage is about $16.50 ish.
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Obligs:
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The savings get passed on to you!
/s
Once I stopped by the local grocery after work. Still in work-mode, I absent-mindedly scanned and bagged my ~$30 of groceries and it was only when I got home I realized I had totally forgotten to pay, and nobody had ever noticed as I casually picked up my bag and went on my way.
Ever the rule-follower, I called the store to report my brain-fart enabled larceny. The nice lady said I could just take care of it next time I came in. Which I kept “forgetting” to do since it was obvious they didn’t care, and I had probably overpaid twice that much over the years due to their mistakes.
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Yeah, of course. Though I did kindof got the impression that he’d act the same with everyone who didn’t suddenly try to fight or make a break for it, so would like to think it’s (good) policy/training.
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Huh, 13 just seems so young. Especially for a customer facing role. In Germany you’re not allowed to work at all under 12 and only 2 hours a day under 15. And if you still go to school you’re allowed to work a maximum of four weeks a year during school breaks.
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… people with cash in their hands hate waiting for three different people who are ahead of them in line to fuck around talking to the manager about why their cards and apps don’t work 
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I almost always use the self-checkout because it’s quicker, and I dislike the faux small-talk the cashier sometimes tries to engage with me. I have a couple of pet peeves related to this:
More and more items (mostly higher priced ones) have a sticker that will set the door alarm off if you leave with it. There are sometimes messages on the screen when I pay that tell me I should take THOSE items to a cashier to have them “disabled” or something. It doesn’t say which items they were (if I haven’t noticed the sticker) so I never do. Door alarm goes off and I just keep walking. It’s not my alarm, my problem, or my fault that the door “thinks” I haven’t paid for something. I have and I don’t care. Never been stopped (although I’m male and white, so there’s that).
WHY on earth do the people who seem to want to use the self-checkout the most also seem to be those predisposed to run into issues with it. I’m looking at you seniors. You’re 75 - why are you shopping on a Saturday in the first place, and also why are you taking a loaded cart through the self-checkout, only to have to have the helper-drone come over and figure out why you’re having trouble every fricking 3 minutes?!?! Technology isn’t your forte - why engage when you don’t have to?
Lastly, I do shop at a Kroger variant (love the “scan area red” PA announcements), and keep wondering what the helper-drones are on. You run into something that won’t scan, or it’s age-restricted, or whatever. The message “Help is on the way” flashes up on your screen. Only the help doesn’t seem aware. There’s no buzz on a device or notification on their screen. They finally got the light on your station to flash, but some of them even seem immune to that and don’t “see” it. Sigh… I know they aren’t paid enough to care, but if you have just one job… Usually I have to wave at them for a while.
/end rant
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I generally do NOT use self-check out, because I’m tired of already underpaid and marginalized people losing even those shitty job opportunities. The more we use a cashier, the more they’ll have to provide them.
I just moved back to Maine, and apparently not only does it work and most stores have far less self-checkouts because Mainers refuse to use them, but they still have baggers here. Wonders!
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Pa-lease
This is the situation here more often than not. I hate it.
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Shop at stores that employ union workers and don’t use self-checkout
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A criminal defense lawyer explains why you should never use self-checkout.
That’s the most American headline I’ve seen today.
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I see a lot of comments questioning whether or not this is even a thing that happens. I have no idea how often it happens, but it does happen. This woman had the police show up at her home with an arrest warrant days after accidentally forgetting to scan a few items in her cart. And some retailers do have a history of very aggressive tactics in pursuing alleged shoplifters. I was skeptical of this lawyers claims at first, too. But I looked into it…and I think she’s got a point.
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I use self-checkouts all the time. I work in IT & generally understand how this kind of tech works. I can scan & bag quickly. If I know I have more items than is reasonable, I always go to a human-powered checkout.
I enjoy the convenience (more so if I’m not really feeling the human interaction), I always scan everything I buy, shoplifting is wrong so it’s not something I ever consider.
I can’t be bothered by the off chance that something might happen on any particular outing to the store; Lots of things “might” happen.
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Why are older people shopping on Saturday? Because they have other things to do durning the week. Older people don’t understand technology? They fucking invented it-this stuff was designed in the 70s, not last week. You have problems with the machine not functioning, but other people shouldn’t? Maybe they don’t want to have to make small talk with a cashier either.
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Where is it legal for A 13 y/o to hold down a job? Other than paperboy (hasn’t been a real job in years) or babysitting (there’s an app for that!).
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