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

thatguy1

moneysavingkitten wrote: »

This is my best tip, it particularly applies to Sainsbury's, but has happened to me in Tesco's and elsewhere too.

If I am buying special offer items, especially multibuys, I will put them all through the self service checkout, then press 'Finish and Pay'. When you do this you would expect the checkout to take all the multibuy discounts off BUT IT RARELY EVER TAKES THE MULTIBUY DISCOUNT OFF THE FIRST TIME.

To get the discount to actually come off, you need to press 'Finish and Pay' then 'Back' then 'Finish and Pay' A SECOND TIME TO GET THE DISCOUNT TO COME OFF. If you press back a second time you will often see a second round of discount has now come off.

This angers me so much on occasion I have been right down the entire self service que and showed this to other customers, who think I'm a flipping nutter till and extra £3 odd comes off their bill.

In my opinion it's bloody robbery and they think they can get away with it, because they think you won't check because you put the items through yourself.

It's not robbing you, if you select your payment type it also deducts the discount. There is no robbery about it!

trebordp

If placing light items on the scales, either bang them down or touch the scale with your hand to register the item and avoid the dreded "place item in bagging area" bark, and dont remove any bags from the scales until finished or else. Oh and with the B&Q self service scanner dont bother its cheaper in Wickes:0)

Delphinum

Not a tip, just a moan really, but they need somewhere to put your handbag! Seriously, I can't put it in the basket bit - the basket is there, can't put it on the scanning bit - I need to scan there and can't put it in the bag part or there's an unidentified item in the bagging area! I'm always scared someone's going to steal my bag as I'm concentrating on my shopping if I put it on the floor. :?

Dawnf1

I use the ones in the little Sainsbury at the end of my street almost every day, and often use the ones in various other tescos around here, and I love them! The queue is always shorter and faster, and I'd say I only need assistance about 10% of the time, and when I do, I almost always get it immediately.
Occasionally, something goes wrong, and I have to wait, but that happens at a normal till as well.
On the whole, I avoid manned tills now. In the local waitrose, which doesn't have any self service, I always have to wait a while to be served!

As others have said about the bags - the trick when using your own bag is to put your first item down (after scanning) already in the bag. I've done this with various sizes of cotton/string bags, and it never causes any problem. I usually do it with something heavyish, like a tin or carton of soup.

DigForVictory

I hadn't realised you could adjust the volume. I must try that.

ASDA SS tills come in 2 dropzone sizes, small & large. if I really only have a handbasket, I use a small till: otherwise I go for the bigger surface area. Also, they usually have enough support staff to unglitch things.

Sainsburys machines work OK for me (I don't use them often & have noted the back option to reinforce 3 for 2s).

Morrisons - well, the less said the better, mostly as I can't spell profanities terribly well. They also understaff the area. If you can't say anything nice say nothing? Behold my silence.

Tip to make it work better? Take a toddler! They LOVE it - so much fun, they get to play assistant, the machine plays blindly with them as they tenderly scan the tenth tin of beans (ahem, I do love multibuying on promotion) and I pack things as I want them & load the trolley so I can steer it. Small face peers up reproachfully when it's time to pay & I'm using a card, but beams if I hand them the small change I've been distorting my coat pocket with. :j

Further tip: I chat back to the machine. Politely, for the most part. Depening on company it can be in BBC English, or somewhat laboured French. Mostly as I'm trying to ease vocab into my teenager's brain & he likes his food. So, "ici le pain, et maintenant voila les baked beans, oh, haricots, donnez moi les bouteilles du lait s'il vous plait" etc. On really good days, said teen desperately tells me to be quiet, swiftly does all the scanning & packing & hustles me to pay up so he can leave before the onset of Death by Embarassment.

Hm. My tips involve Using Someone Else too, but still not staff.

Jnelhams

I only use the ones that take all your change in one go. Why are the bags super-glued together???

I have just walked away and left the shopping mid-session in the past when the damn thing has started it's tyranny of announcements and there has been no help to hand. Doesn't win me any friends, but the stores need to fix these wretched things if they are going to be of any use.

KME91

My tip is if you have alcohol or age related items, scan them first, and then scan everything else you have, you don't have to wait until the alcohol is authorised to scan everything else you have, and by the time you've finished the assistant should have noticed you and come to authorise your purchase. In theory anyway.

Maat

Some great tips from people on here. Also it's good to know I'm not the only one who talks back to these dratted machines. I tend to tell the Sainsburys one it's a 'bossy cow' for telling me to take my shopping. At least the madness is shared.

My tip is to make sure there's someone monitoring the SS checkouts. My local Asda never had anyone there to help and, even if there were staff nearby, they completely ignored the SS customers. I complained about it. I got a lovely response and there's always someone dedicated to helping people now. It's always worth putting the word in for what you want.

aintshesweet

My tip is don't use them :P
I just want to have a moan about the machines. I hate them!
I have lost my rag (properly) a couple of times with Tescos SS. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't necessary. They should have just served me, properly, on a proper till.
Also, am I the only person who prefers to put their handbag down to pack my bags?? Surely not. I want to scream at the machines when they tell me my handbag is an "unexpected item".

The_Chef_2

I find that if i have any age restricted or tagged items it is better in Tesco to put them through first, this then gives the spotty oik on the SS till time to nitice the yellow/red light on the top and come to you before you have finished scanning everything and then have to wait 5 minutes