It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

linz

JIL said:

I use the till with the shortest queue I dont mind if theres a person or if I scan it myself. As long as I dont have to hang around waiting. 

I try to do that but I always ends up watching the other queues go down faster lol

London_1

I don't mind queueing as long as its moving and I always say hello to the till lassie's and they are always kind to me and I usually get a smile back. I never use the self-scan things as I prefer a human being to a machine.

 I don't want a souless voice talking to me, and a machine doesn't smile and say good morning either .but for busy people I guess it helps .

Being elderly and retired I have more time to wait in a queue, and a chat and a smile helps brighten up the day. The pandemic has made social interaction vital for many folk, and its important I think to talk to people.

We all went through the horrors of lockdown and isolation, and one of the best things since, has been the ability to actually talk to friends,neighbours and people who you may never meet again, but a smile and a good morning ,or nice /rotten weather is part and parcel of getting some sort of normal life back again I think 

JackieO xx

Auntycaz

It's not always the cashiers fault, sometimes people start chatting to them whilst they are slowly packing their shopping but before they actually start rummaging through their bag or pockets looking for their card/cash. I hate it when this happens as I have to get the bus to my local shop as I can't walk that far and try to time it so I can catch the same bus back after it has turned round in the town centre. I always have my cash out ready to pay so I can quickly get through the checkout. Staff are friendly but not overly chatty. Just how I like it.

kethry

timehastoldme said:

Aldi staff are great, it's a false equivalence to link my social exhaustion with their politeness.

Tbh I only posted because to offer a different perspective. Supermarkets offering a mix of till types seems positive to me. I'll always self scan given the option, but 95% of the time I'm shopping in Aldi because it's the nicest experience in general and the prices aren't terrifying. 

I think this is something that's really difficult to 'get' if you're not an introvert. I live with an introvert (my husband). He works from home, quite happily, in a small company. He speaks to people via webcam every morning; the same 3 people at max, and *very* occasionally fields phone calls for his job, and he's happiest that way, as it fits his introvertism. However, even he had to admit that he was mentally struggling during lockdown, not speaking to anyone at all in person other than me. It was a lesson for him and in the last year or so he's made efforts to have social interaction via hobbies, in controlled ways, which is easier for him to deal with. He still avoids shops though, and like @t@timehastoldme hates small talk (when he worked in offices, it was the 'did you see corrie/'stenders/the footie last night' talk that was the source of nightmares for him). The few times he has to go into shops, he loves the self-scan options, whether that's at a fixed point or scan as you go. It's really important to understand that not everyone is able to have that small social interaction, let alone wants it, and we shouldn't judge them on this basis.

newlywed

I usually think the self scans in marks and Waitrose are better, the ones that don’t weigh your items and start complaining that the bananas aren’t the weight it is expecting….

but today in waitrose at the self scanners, my item blipped twice, I pressed for assistance…. Looked round and saw 4 abandoned self checkouts with messages on them, three other customers looking for a staff for assistance and no staff member in sight.

so after 5 mins I picked up my basket and joined the checkout for a human to scan it for me.

this was a busy medium size Waitrose in a city centre with 4 conveyer belt checkouts and about 20 self checkouts.

apparently they too are running on minimum staff, according to the staff member.


so self checkouts are fine as long as there is human to override when they go wrong or we double blip by mistake

otb666

We dont shop now at most of the supermarkets as they have all switched to apps where you get reduced prices and resent having to pay more as we dont use mobile phone. We just use Iceland online and aldi click and collect (i  do use our mobile for that one only)

EssexHebridean

Which supermarkets have switched to apps as the only way of getting reduced prices? 

maryb

Waitrose offers weekly coupons but you have to download them onto a smartphone.  And the app doesn’t work on my perfectly usable IPhone 5
Lidl also do money off vouchers through their Lidl plus app every Thursday.  That one does work on an old phone

TheAble

EssexHebridean said:

Which supermarkets have switched to apps as the only way of getting reduced prices? 

For example Sainsbury's do "My Nectar" prices on the app. It's not the only way though mind you, it's just an additional perk.

tooldle

Coop also have an app with coupons.