Spill the beans...on your self-service checkout tips (beep)

geordie_joe

phillo365 wrote: »

But the question asked is " have you used your own bag" and as I am not using anyone else's the answer must be yes.

Then again, as you are not using your own bag the answer must be no.

geordie_joe

Uplink wrote: »

If I could, I'd try to get them out of that job and into something a lot more fun

But you can't, and neither can I, so the next best thing is to help keep them in the job they have. Because being in work is more fun then being out of work.

Uplink wrote: »

- unless they consider blipping bar codes off a conveyor belt fun that is

Some people do, I know quite a few. Then again, I live in a small country town where the people are all very nice. Most shop assistants actually like their work, and their customers, and their customers like them.

Uplink wrote: »

Channelling the Doctor here: Humans can do so much more! They can be so brilliant!

Yes, but many don't want to be brilliant. Most just want to go to work and go home again. If they enjoy the work then so much the better.

It's a good job too, because if everyone thought like you we wouldn't be able to buy anything, get our bins emptied, streets cleaned etc.

Tulien

I work in a shop that uses self service checkouts so thought I would share some tips of my own! I'm sorry if we ask you to use these tills when you are already in a queue elsewhere but we get in trouble with management if we dont . Ask the assistant to put your shooping through for you, we are more than happy to have something to do!

If you do decide to do it yourself it is better just to use them for a few items that are not age restricted or on clearance.

Make sure you know which side is the bagging area. This may sound simple but it's amazing how many people get checkout rage because the till is telling them to bag their item and they think they already have!

Don't press skip bagging and then put your item in the bag.

If you get stuck either follow what it is telling you on the screen or ask the assistant for help.

Pikey777

Do You Know The Principle Reason For The Introduction Of Self-Service Checkouts? They Have Been Introduced Primarily With The Mid-Term Range Target Of Reducing The Number Of Employees Required At The Traditional Checkout Tills. This Is A Fact. I Have Been Informed Of This First Hand By An Anonymous Friend And Manager Of A Prominent UK Supermarket Outlet.
Therefore, If You Wish To Combat This Extremely Underhand Tactic Of Laying Off Existing Staff At All Supermarkets Where Self-Service Checkouts Have Been Introduced, Please Please Always Request The Assistance Of A Member Of Staff Assigned To Help Customers In Order a) To Demonstrate Your Support Of The Retention Of People's Jobs & b) To Rid Ourselves Of These Incompetent Machines For Good. By Requesting Assistance From Supermarket Staff (Whether We Need Any Assistance Or Not!) Is A Powerful Illustration That We Will Not Succumb To These Despicable Managerial Tactics And That We Need Human Beings To Be There For Us When We Check Out...Not Some Preposterous Device! Many Thanks!

Cloudane

Self-service survival summarised:

- Keep calm
- Take your time
- Follow the instructions

It's when you start panicking and trying to do things too fast because there's someone behind you or it's yelling at you to place the item in the bagging area, or you did something out of order and ended up in a bit of a flap, that it all goes wrong.

Martin's opening tip about separating the bags first (before you press start) is probably the single biggest thing you can do to help that process though - this way you won't get into the "trying to separate a bag and it's shouting at me to place the item in the bagging area" scenario (which then causes that chain reaction of rushing and panicking and making more mistakes)


One more tip
Don't forget some of them e.g. Tesco Express ones have the notes dispenser tucked away below the scanner out of sight. It does tell you that "Notes are dispensed below the scanner!" but at this point you've probably tuned it out, so: don't forget the notes part of your change! Avoid the person behind you making a £5+ profit :P

spidersandsprinkles

I don't mind them! I'm pretty quick on them although I've never worked on a checkout. Maybe its because I do what someone else suggested before, rather than spending ages looking for the barcode, just wiggle it about it seems to be quicker than turning it over in your hands looking than instead of in front of the scanner.

Also, if (like me) you like top chuck all your pennies in, you'll find a a far few will just come straight back out. I normally give them a little rub on the metal surface on the top and the machine accepts them. Not sure why, works with vending machines too.

Middy

No-one has lost their jobs at my store due to the self scans. If colleagues leave, they will get replaced eventually. In the meantime, some colleagues' hours are changed.

thriftymanc

Just my 2p on the whole "self service tills are bad as they take staff's jobs" thing going on here... in my experience it was exactly the opposite. I worked in a smallish branch of a chain. We didn't have self service tills when I started there not long after it opened. As the shop got more established and busier, we employed a couple of extra staff to take into account the extra customers. As the shop got busier still, we ended up installing a few self service tills to cope with demand - not to replace anyone's jobs. And as there were more tills available, we ended up getting even busier, especially as we were located close to a lot of offices where the workers knew they could get in and get served quickly on their breaks etc, so we had to employ another few staff to look after the self service tills and cope with the extra replenishment. The self service tills just helped with the flow of customers, made us more efficient and increased the amount of work that needed doing in the branch, along with the profits, meaning we could actually afford to take on more staff. Don't always assume that every till you see has taken a person's job, it's probably not true.

Middy

thriftymanc wrote: »

Just my 2p on the whole "self service tills are bad as they take staff's jobs" thing going on here... in my experience it was exactly the opposite. I worked in a smallish branch of a chain. We didn't have self service tills when I started there not long after it opened. As the shop got more established and busier, we employed a couple of extra staff to take into account the extra customers. As the shop got busier still, we ended up installing a few self service tills to cope with demand - not to replace anyone's jobs. And as there were more tills available, we ended up getting even busier, especially as we were located close to a lot of offices where the workers knew they could get in and get served quickly on their breaks etc, so we had to employ another few staff to look after the self service tills and cope with the extra replenishment. The self service tills just helped with the flow of customers, made us more efficient and increased the amount of work that needed doing in the branch, along with the profits, meaning we could actually afford to take on more staff. Don't always assume that every till you see has taken a person's job, it's probably not true.

So true

Has there been any headlines in any of the newspapers saying 'Supermarket giant makes thousands redundant due to self scans'? I haven't seen any.

rob897

I use them when i can (and when they do work) purely for quickness.

I do agree though, Morrison's have got to be the worst. They have made the SS's smaller in order to cram more in and this leaves you with no bag space you'll be lucky to get 2 bags filled, and that "please place item in the bag" each time you scan something is soo patronising, Where else am i gonna put it?

A few tips,

- Open the bag up if it isn't already before you start, This allows you to start placing items into the "bagging area" straight away and means you can prevent it from screaming to place item in the bagging area

- To much of peoples disliking, turn up the volume to full pelt (Don't worry it will go back to the default volume when you're done). That way the staff are more likely to notice you if something goes wrong. Ive noticed that some SS's ,mainly sainsbury's have turned the volume down by default.