I have had the opposite problem where the system refuses to accept payment until you have resolved the problem (normally by calling over the eager staff).
Mine too, and now they have installed barriers so you have to swipe your receipt to get out.
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Of course the system has to register that there is a problem - presumably if it doesn’t register the item at all, and you aren’t paying attention, you have this situation.
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Ironically at the grocery store I worked at all the cameras were on the employees. Each lane had one over the register, one on the front end desk, and one on the self check desk. There were several around the store like both entrance doors, HBC aisle, and wine…but for the most part the concern was employee theft, not customers. Of course this was almost 20 years ago…
I swear Wal-Mart must buy the lowest end third tier processor with the least amount of memory possible to run their self-check systems. A system that is already designed to be slow is almost unusable when it takes +3 seconds to register an item.
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It’s also probably doing product sku/price lookups over the store’s in-house wifi and/or a WAN link to a central server somewhere, because why would corporate put an actual server at each store? those things are expensive!
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Remember these are the folks trying out AI voice assistant for… drive through orders.
They definitely don’t care about customers.
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Came to say the same. I like self-checkout if I have a few simple things with barcodes on them.
But when I’m doing my main grocery shopping and have a load of produce? Ugh, no thanks. Fishing through all those menus to find the right apple variety, arguing with the scale when it says you put something in the bag when you didn’t, etc.
It’s a terrible experience for anything more than a couple of simple items.
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They’re blaming shoplifting but it creates such a hostile environment I decided to stop shopping there entirely. It’s not worth being threatened with lethal force to buy a jug of milk.
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Came here to mention that end of the spectrum as well. Our local grocery store never dropped their grocery pickup after the pandemic “ended” so we still do pickups occasionally for large orders. It’s not perfect but it’s also free and quite convenient.
I do wonder whether it’s a nice change of pace for employees or an irritating hassle to have this added to their responsibilities. I’ve kept my habit of tipping at the grocery store that I developed during the “active” pandemic as well (though I admit, smaller bills than I was dropping) so hopefully I’m covered in case I’m making people’s work-lives worse…
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We’ve been using Whole Food’s pick up service via Prime. It’s awesome! Drive in, park, open hatch, they load groceries, close hatch and off you go! If you are not satisfied with a portion of the order after you get home they will comp it no questions asked.
No lines, no parking hassles, no idle chit chat, none of the usual self check frustrations, no sweat.
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Yeah, we do WF pickups as well. I get a few weird looks standing with my little scooter in the pickup spot, but once I start stuffing things in my backpack, they just kinda back away. The biggest issue I have with it is their bizarre bagging strategy (one whole bag for a single lemon?) but luckily it’s all paper.
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If you are or aren’t paying attention the system will refuse to allow you to scan anything else until you have resolved the situation or, if it is the only item, it will refuse to let you pay. Generally this happens with very light items that don’t always register on the packing area’s scales. In that respect it is almost foolproof, it is mildly annoying but not a huge inconvenience.
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As someone with social anxiety and who not only hates but is baffled by “chit-chat” I LOVE self-check-out.
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I’ve used the McDonald’s kiosks in Canada, the USA, and France (where they originated). In the USA and Canada I found the entire process incredibly slow, made, if anything, slower by the use of kiosks. But the opposite was true in France, in my experience. In fact it was amazing how efficiently they managed to make the whole process of ordering, paying for, and getting food.
Why this is I don’t know. It’s essentially the same kiosk. (And in Europe it’s awfully handy having several language options available to you when you’re ordering.)
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Ooh that is something I might start doing. For those doing it in store rather than pick up - do you tip the bagger, the cashier, or both?
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We’ve tried really hard tipping the people that bring out our curbside groceries but they are adamant about not taking tips, they say they’ll get in trouble. It’s crap, especially when it’s ice cold or raining, that we can’t thank them with cash.
Not sure why the grocery store doesn’t allow it.
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“Portland is proud to partner with Fred Meyer in this crucial initiative,” Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a statement. “We recognize the critical role Fred Meyer plays to our residents, and this partnership exemplifies our joint effort to combat crime, increase safety, and serve the needs of our diverse community.”
i’m still baffled by how a theoretically progressive place like portland elected a mayor who seems hell bent on embracing the police ( and attacking unhoused people ) at every turn.
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I’ve found alcohol vending machines in Japan (few and far between), and they have a driver’s license scanner built-in - it’s just above the banknote slot:
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This. I’ve observed that the scanner is disabled until you place the item on the bagging area scale. This does prevent double scanning but also slows down the process.
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Well, apparently there are situations where self-checkouts don’t properly (or at all) scan items but don’t alert shoppers, so… /shrug
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When I had a car I did not shop at Walmart. I am proud to pay a higher price at the supermarket that employs union workers and I’d rather have them check me out than use self-checkout
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