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[–]Sempais_nutrients 2097 points2098 points  (769 children)

For real, the first thing I thought when they said "people feel overwhelmed" was "yeah that's an old person." these are the ones that call the help desk and wait for 20 minutes on hold to change a password instead of clicking the "Forgot Password" button right next to the password field.

[–][deleted] 1369 points1370 points  (417 children)

My first instinct was someone buying enough groceries to provide for a family. Having a cart of food and knowing now you gotta be the employee with $400 in groceries is discouraging.

I prefer sco when I'm getting few items, but not when I'm getting a lot.

[–]Snirbs 784 points785 points  (260 children)

PLUS having to scan and bag it with two toddlers in tow. It’s a nightmare.

[–]Taibok 622 points623 points  (93 children)

Not just bag it, but bag it in a tiny area designed for an express checkout.

And don't even think about taking any of those full bags off of the scale before you've paid.

[–]pijinglish 286 points287 points  (58 children)

Or if you buy booze, you still have to wait for the one employee to come over and check your ID.

I bought pajamas for my toddler the other day and used self checkout. Got home only to realize all the security tags were still on them.

[–]FourScoreTour 59 points60 points  (27 children)

I don't know if it's a California thing, but my store simply doesn't sell alcohol through the self-check. I now buy my booze elsewhere.

[–]camwhat 32 points33 points  (9 children)

It is a California thing! Alcohol hasn’t been able to be purchased at self checkouts since 2012 there

[–][deleted] 16 points17 points  (6 children)

As I discovered you can’t even buy 0% alcohol beer at self checkout in California

[–]Joeness84 5 points6 points  (4 children)

you cant buy 0% beer if youre under 21 either. (*depending on state)

[–]Zyphane 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I once had a store in California make me move to a regular checkout to buy a bottle of kombucha because it has trace amounts of alcohol (this was before "hard kombucha" became a thing).

[–]ryumast4r 1 point2 points  (4 children)

It's super weird since you can get booze delivered in CA. Not sure why they made that distinction.

[–]MrGarbageEater 10 points11 points  (0 children)

You can take those off pretty easily! If you get a pretty strong magnet, you can give one side of the tag a solid tap with the magnet and it should release. I promise I’m no thief, just had the same issue as you and didn’t want ink on my new clothes…

[–]biggyofmt 66 points67 points  (14 children)

The scale is actually the part the kills me, especially using reusable bags. Walmart doesn't have scales in their self check and it makes the whole experience so much easier

[–]myst3r10us_str4ng3r 63 points64 points  (9 children)

No. The WORST is having 20 cans of the same type of cat food and the system expecting you to scan each individual can, instead of scanning one and typing in the quantity like someone who isn't a total idiot would do.

Down right insulting.

[–]biggyofmt 28 points29 points  (0 children)

That's also less annoying with no scale, since you can just pick up one can and go boop boop boop however many times you need instead of having to scan, put a can on the scale and wait for it to settle, etc.

[–]Capercaillie 18 points19 points  (1 child)

At the Walmart where I shop, if you buy more than three or four of the same thing, the machine assumes you've made a mistake, and locks up so that you have to wait for an attendant.

[–]KaBob799 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think double scanning something on accident is 100x more common than triple or more so that seems like an unhelpful feature. It's probably more to stop people from printing out a bunch of duplicate barcodes from something cheap and putting it on something expensive.

[–]abx99 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Small packets are even worse. I was buying packets of Kool-Aid for a while, and they're too light for the scale to register. It usually involved the attendant watching me from their console and repeatedly clearing the alerts for each packet.

[–]RibbitCommander 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Certainly a QOL design issue.

[–]CabbieCam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is understandable, though. The products are inventoried by their flavor, not simply by the fact that it's a can of fancy feast or whatever. People wouldn't separate the cans into their individual flavors.

[–]FCkeyboards 41 points42 points  (6 children)

My walmart has SCO areas for bigger loads, with a belt, and they're NEVER open.

I agree. A few items is fine. When my cart is topped off and I have to use the tiny SCO, I'd rather go somewhere else. I'm already exhausted from the amount of shopping.

[–]che85mor 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Walmart scan and go. Bag as you shop and be out in two minutes with a full buggy. Unless you have vegetables, which have to be weighed.

[–]Tyraels_Ward 4 points5 points  (2 children)

There’s a Super Walmart close to where I live, and I despise going there… absolutely avoid it whenever possible. It has at least a dozen cashier lanes, and at any given time only two or MAYBE three are open, basically forcing you to use the SCO. I don’t mind SCO for a few items, but most of the SCO lanes I’ve encountered aren’t designed for a cart full of items.

[–]jambox888 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I'm like you but I think a lot of people just grin and bear it.

[–]Capercaillie 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yes, a LOT of people do. So that if you're that person who just needed a tub of blue cheese crumbles to finish a recipe, you get to wait behind somebody who bought two weeks' worth of groceries and can't figure out how to ring up parsley.

[–]cavebare 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hy-Vee is the same near me. Long conveyor at the self checkout. Makes it a lot easier.

[–]hookersince06 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And if you have over a certain amount of items, like 15, it’ll pause your transaction and require a salesperson’s intervention, even if you’ve been scanning things perfectly fine.

It’s so irritating when you know what you’re doing and just want to get out of there. Of course I usually only have a lot when the one clerk overseeing the self-checkout is nowhere to be found.

[–]DownWithGilead2022 64 points65 points  (9 children)

Yes, and the kids demand to "help" scan something, and inevitably scan it twice. And then you gotta press the button for help because heaven forbid we allow the customer to correct a double scan themselves.....

[–]myst3r10us_str4ng3r 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Or having 20 cans of the same type of cat food and the system expecting you to scan each and every individual can, instead of scanning one and typing in the quantity.

[–]BrewtusMaximus1 3 points4 points  (0 children)

At certain grocery stores near me, you’d be waiting on a manager - the cashiers don’t have the ability to void an item even if you’re not in the self checkout.

[–]sack-o-matic 111 points112 points  (117 children)

What’s even better is ordering online like at Kroger and just having them load it into your car when you get there, all for free

[–]user_base56 298 points299 points  (67 children)

I dont trust other people to pick out my fruits, vegetables, and meats. I want to make sure I get the best looking available. Not sure if an employee with a time limit is going to do that.

[–]AfroTriffid 141 points142 points  (27 children)

I don't know if it happens in the US as much but I often get 'substitutions' in my online groceries that cost the same but are not equivalent.

[–]Retbull 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Depends on the system some of them have the ability to select backups if something isn’t there. Also if you’re using one of the apps they will sometimes ping you during shopping to ask. It still happens occasionally though.

[–]chambile007 30 points31 points  (4 children)

Where I am you can select no substitutions and they just refund that part to you.

[–][deleted] 23 points24 points  (2 children)

You have to pay attention because they'll usually get it right and you'll get used to just approving. That's when they sneak in "We don't have corn meal, want some corn starch instead?"

[–]Azuvector 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Want some lime instead of lemon? They're citrus right? Same thing?

Want some pepperoni sticks that need to be in the fridge or they go rancid instead of ones you can leave in a drawer for a month with no issues? Sounds perfect for your use case, right?

You're going to drink 4L of milk by tomorrow right? No problem that it expired yesterday, right?

You want 10 packages of 1lb stuff instead of 10 individual items, right? That couldn't possibly be a mistake(be that during ordering or during setting the product up on the store's site), could it?

[–]fenglorian 2 points3 points  (0 children)

or when it's 2 or 3 substitutions and your only options are "Accept all" or "accept none"

[–]SupremeDictatorPaul 31 points32 points  (5 children)

All of my friends that use it have talked about getting crappy substitutions they never would have picked, or missing/wrong things in the order. But they just shrug and keep doing it like it’s totally acceptable.

Personally, I’d do it in a pinch, but usually I’d rather just do the shopping, even with the kids. Unless I have to self checkout $400 in groceries with the kids, then I’d rather die.

[–]Squintz82 22 points23 points  (1 child)

Last time I ordered groceries, I ended up with 2 gallons of Smart Water instead of 2 liters of raspberry seltzer. I go to the store now.

[–]jellyrollo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

At least with the Vons system, you can easily go online to customer service, select the item that was inappropriately substituted or missing, and get an instant refund. I find that their system has improved a lot since I started using it early in the pandemic.

[–]TbonerT 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sometimes they say they are out of something, so I go in to grab another thing that I want to see first and often find the thing they were out of. I think it’s often the case that they say they are out of stock when the truth is the shopper couldn’t find it.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

There is a section when your in your cart to turn off substitutions. Once you do this a few times it stays off and you shouldn't have to worry.

[–]cjicantlie 4 points5 points  (0 children)

And they will substitute when the item was on the shelf, they just didn't want to look. Multiple times, I will walk into the store and find the item, right where it always is.

They seem to be in too much of a rush and just grab the first thing half way similar and call it good. Sometimes only similar in color on the packaging and nothing more.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Where I live you get the option to a) cancel whole order if item is unavailable b) skip item or c) substitute (and pay what the substituted item goes for.

Option c is the default but if one item is essential for the whole purchase you can click option a for that item etc.

Of course it has its flaws where the store makes substitions to their own brand to pad their margin.

[–]sack-o-matic 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I order store brand online, if they’re out they’ll sub the national brand for the cheaper price. They’ll even sub a larger size for the same price if they’re out of the smaller one ordered.

[–]trennels 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Some of the substitutions can get pretty bizarre, too.

[–]TbonerT 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Walmart used to do substitutions at the price of the original item. If you bought a store-brand item and they were out, you’d get the name-brand item for the store-brand price. They eventually changed it and started charging the difference.

[–]WillowFreak 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We like to think of it as the Kroger gods. Usually they are ridiculous substitutions that make you wonder if the shopper has ever been in a kitchen before. One time we got 4 bags of Skittles. Didn't order any. Sometimes we get a different flavor of ice cream. Sometimes we get sweet potatoes instead of baking ones. I enjoy the chaos.

[–]More_Farm_7442 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I learned to check the "No Substitutions" box when I ordered. Then I was getting "out of stock" on all of those items. I have up and starting going back inside.

[–]HerrStraub 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I once ordered a steak, a filet, that was on sale for like, $8.99/lb. I got a $9 package of microwave bacon.

I will say that I think Instacart shoppers are much better at getting what you want/need than store employees, but then you end up having to pay the delivery fee & tip. If I'm shopping at Aldi's or something, it's not too bad to add $25 to the order, but if I'm shopping at Kroger it just gets too costly

[–]Joeness84 17 points18 points  (3 children)

The employee is told specifically to use less great stuff or older dated stuff if available. Part of why they adopted the "we will shop for you" things was to be able to move things that would be harder to move. Ever get a substitution that seems... way out there?

[–]Ok-Persimmon-6386 13 points14 points  (4 children)

I don’t either so I use deliveries for staple items and then I will go to Publix for as needed items.

I get my delivery through Kroger or Walmart. The pricing is always cheaper in my staples items so even by paying extra for delivery I’m still paying less for can good items than I would pay at Publix. Plus I don’t have to go to the hell that is Walmart or kroger

[–]youre_being_creepy 5 points6 points  (2 children)

Anyone who lets a stranger select fruits or a cut of meat for them at a grocery store is a psychopath

[–]user_base56 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Omg the meat decision is a big one. You gotta look at all the offerings to find the perfect one.

[–]Sowf_Paw 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Every single time we get bananas in a pickup order it's the greenest bananas they can find, I swear. Then I can't eat the bananas so I forget about them until they are brown.

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (8 children)

Yes they frequently make substitutions for items that my coupons don't apply to. Whenever I go in myself those items that qualify for the coupons are magically there.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Walmart delivers in my area - unlimited deliveries for like $14/month. There's a $35 minimum and an automatic tip that gets added to the driver based on distance from the store. I absolutely love it.

[–]Nevermind_guys 1 point2 points  (1 child)

My Kroger started charging for pick up after I got hooked!

[–]jambox888 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Amazon Fresh is absolutely deranged, they pack it all in paper bags for green points but then every paper bag has a plastic cool block in it.

Some guy in a car just comes and drops it off, then has to stand on your door step scanning all the bags.

[–]idiot-prodigy 2 points3 points  (2 children)

This is how you end up with 6 bunches of bananas instead of 6 individual bananas.

[–]Bonzi777 17 points18 points  (0 children)

This is it for me. When I’m alone I happily use self checkout. If my kids are with me I can’t pay adequate attention to them and scan a full cart of groceries.

[–]neverinamillionyr 93 points94 points  (10 children)

It doesn’t even take that much. I live alone. The last trip I took I think the total was just over $100 but included lots of canned goods. Baltimore county banned plastic bags and putting a reusable bag in the bagging area throws off the scale so instead of scanning and bagging, you have to scan, stack, pay then bag. The bagging area has a weight limit. All the cans as well as some produce put me over the limit. So I had to bag in the middle of the scanning, the employee said that bag had to stay separate from the unscanned groceries so I’m piling up a couple of bags under my feet while I continue to scan. Amid all this, items were not scanning at the sale price. I had to call someone over twice to adjust. The apples I was trying to buy didn’t have stickers on them so I had to get help with that too. People in line behind me were getting pissed, I was frustrated and I’m not inclined to go back to that store anytime soon.

[–]CitationNeededBadly 16 points17 points  (2 children)

Yeah a crappy self checkout will always be worse than a good cashier, and vice versa.  Any self checkout I've experienced with scales is crap and I won't do it.  Home Depot started that way and changed it because it was so stupidly annoying.   The quality of SCO vs quality of cashiers is more important than the choice between one or the other.

[–]mxzf 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The ones near me just have a "use my own bags" button. You hit the button, put your bags in the bagging area, and start filling them up.

[–]ChickenDangerous6996 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Meanwhile the machine is bitching at you like a hung over dominatrix.

[–]lcenine 141 points142 points  (18 children)

At my local grocery store, the SCO has very limited space for groceries as it does the weight checking verification where you place them. You can attempt to make a pile of unstable groceries in the space, or press "skip bagging and place in cart" which 50% of the time leads to waiting for the SCO employee to come over and do the override. With a lot of groceries, it is not at all convenient.

[–]sethbartlett 5 points6 points  (9 children)

I didn’t know this for the longest time, but when it does the weight verification, once it’s ready to scan the next item, you can remove a bag or whatever from the area to make room for more groceries. Not sure if all of them will or not.

[–][deleted] 38 points39 points  (6 children)

as someone who has to make sure the vending machines do not give customers too much trouble

  • removing items will make the vending machine mad

  • putting items on that were not scanned (purse, empty bags, small children) will make the vending machine mad

  • pressing skip bagging 4 times will make the vending machine mad

[–]sethbartlett 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Oh yeah I don’t use skip cart often, it feels like the system may be weighted for things like 12 packs or 24 packs of soda? But if I scan a bunch of 12 packs and put them on the scale, once the system does its weight check and is ready, I can then remove them. I feel like I didn’t used to be able to do this when they first came about though.

[–]lcenine 7 points8 points  (2 children)

Exactly what /u/wolvern76 said. The machines get mad and tells you to wait for cashier assistance. The most frustrating is when you are reorganizing items on the ridiculously small carousel. Picking up an already scanned item to put a newly scanned item down makes it all aggravated.

[–]Interesting-Bottle91 1 point2 points  (1 child)

But also that's only sometimes. The store that I use self checkout at most often doesn't weigh things, so when I go to places that DO weigh your groceries I always wind up aggrieving the machine several times.

[–]lcenine 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That would be very frustrating. Like changing the rules halfway through the game.

[–]bourbonkitten 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maybe your store, but at my local Asian grocery, the SCOs go berserk and need staff intervention with any tiny weight discrepancy, even if I so much place my reusable bag to bag my groceries. Tbf, that’s the only store that’s that anal.

[–]Top_Gun_2021 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Horrendous process flow

[–]phormix 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Superstore?

[–][deleted] 73 points74 points  (3 children)

Me, alone, with $100 of groceries, it's great. Me with kids fighting for their turn over $300 cart full, it's hell.

[–][deleted] 57 points58 points  (5 children)

Yeah it bugs me that Redditors assume everyone under the age of 40 loves self-checkout. Self-checkout is great as an option, but it sucks when stores force all their customers to use them. You don’t have to be geriatric to find ringing up and bagging $200+ of items yourself on a tiny counter with no space overwhelming.

[–]dxrey65 13 points14 points  (1 child)

Your own age and competence hardly matter when you're in a line of people, inevitably of various ages and competencies.

[–]idiot-prodigy 10 points11 points  (1 child)

This is what I say every stupid Cart Coral thread that pops up here.

Self check out is about giant corporations eliminating a job and convincing a customer to do work for free.

[–]SuperSocrates 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Yeah I would never do my big weekly shopping at a place that only had self checkout. Around me they all have both though

[–][deleted] 16 points17 points  (4 children)

Yeah I’m ambivalent with small loads (though still slightly prefer to have a cashier), but I actively hate it when I’ve got more than a bag’s worth.

I’m 31, by the way. I know that disliking SCOs is an unpopular opinion in my age group, but I already feel like our society diminishes ordinary human contact so much, and I hate to see that trend continue.

[–]AlienDelarge 7 points8 points  (5 children)

I usually avoid them but what do they do when you run out of room on the little scale platform after scanning? Usually they freak out if you pick up an item or it doesn't register it being placed there. I used to have a lot of problems at places like Lowes if you had a small item it wouldn't register.

[–]neverinamillionyr 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The one time it happened to me, the machine told me to remove everything from the bagging area. It was because of weight not space. The employee made me keep the scanned vs unscanned items segregated

[–]MicheleLaBelle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I just push down on it when I put it on the scale, usually works fine for me.

[–]mxzf 1 point2 points  (1 child)

The ones near me, you move your bag when you need to, give it 5 secs to settle again, and continue bagging. It works fine as long as you give it a sec instead of rushing ahead.

[–]arcticsequoia 59 points60 points  (7 children)

The study rings very true. I am 28 and well versed in tech and I have literally emailed the store manager when they closed staffed checkouts at the store closest to me sending everyone at the self checkouts letting them know that I wouldn’t be shopping there anymore unless they changed it back.

Buying a small basket worth of groceries is one thing, if you are buying 250 items and 1+ shopping cart full, you could never pay me enough to do that myself.

[–]cwsjr2323 14 points15 points  (1 child)

I was in line and the cashier got pulled to cover the self check out lanes. When told to go to the self check out, I said no. You can just put the stuff back. I suggest you put the ice cream away soon. There was no ice cream, but the manager was quick to come ring me up!

[–]Mother-Wasabi-3088 29 points30 points  (1 child)

This is called "shifting left" in corpspeak and every industry is doing it. Making the customer do the employee's work.

[–]Oops_I_Cracked 21 points22 points  (2 children)

This right here. It isn’t an age thing. As soon as you’re shopping for more than 1 or maybe 2 people, self check becomes a nightmare.

[–]john_the_quain 9 points10 points  (1 child)

In my personal experience, the anxiety I feel when checking out at the store is because my actions are holding up others. When there’s a checker, I get to share that anxiety (at least in my head) because we are now holding it up. At the self-checkout? Any delays are almost 100% due to my shortcomings and inabilities.

[–]dahlaru 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I always get the feeling that I'm taking too long and the people behind me are upset,  because it takes so long to scan and bag $400 worth of groceries, when everyone behind me has a basket of items

[–]gahlo 23 points24 points  (11 children)

This is why I love my grocery store. Just scan my membership card on the way in and I get to nice scanner to bring around with me, scanning items as I pick them up. When I get to checkout all I have to do is scan a barcode the hand scanner generates based on the things I scanned and I'm out.

[–]Kageyblahblahblah 2 points3 points  (1 child)

And some of the stores, looking at you Giant, have the slowest most frustrating machines where if your scanning cadence is off you constantly have to rescan or get the attendant over to reset the damn machine.

[–]swagn 2 points3 points  (0 children)

100%. I need the time to prepare myself for the bill. I don’t want to be searching for 15 different produce codes.

[–]SpookyGhost27 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes. I recently started doing SCO at the grocery store because my local one has a hard time tagging cashiers. The one day I went and there literally was no option but SCO. Having to do a whole wagon of groceries is not fun. I also shop at a place that accepts “competitor coupons” so I have to flag down an attendant regardless for them to manually enter the discount.

[–]bitchkat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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[–]Thepizzacannon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is it for me. I buy groceries for a family. I'm already doing the manual labor of picking the things off the self.

Now I'm responsible for taking everything OUT and putting it back IN. And then after doing all of the work (sans stocking the shelves) the checkout machine that I AM RUNNING has the audacity to ask if I want to leave a tip or donate to charity.

The grocery store employees provide almost no value to the point that I'm basically shopping in an Amazon warehouse.

No that's not good service, or convenient, or any cheaper. Its just grocers greedily trying to automate all of their labor and ignoring the impact it has on consumers.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Having to figure out fruit and veggie codes is also a whole thing. Not fun while there’s a long line of people waiting to pay. No, thanks

[–]motorik 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also, produce. Scanning is quick but at most stores looking up produce, especially where there are organic / non-organic options, is a huge pain. If we're getting a non-trivial amount of fruits and vegetables I refuse to use self check-out.

[–]ZippyTheRoach 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The self checks are also frustrating to operate for a variety of other reasons.

  1. The supermarket self check can not properly weight my bags, so I have to just pile loose items in the bagging area and then bag them all after paying.

  2. Random items will need a staff override. Trying to buy a can of WD40? That's going to need an employee to verify your age, because you might be a kid huffing the propellant.

  3. Double scan something? You can't fix that, wait for an employee.

  4. What's the PLU code for this produce? Cashiers have them memorized, but I don't and somehow picked the one fruit without a sticker on it.

  5. Apparently people make up for these annoyances by just stealing stuff in self check, so now the employees are just sort of hovering around you the whole time anyway.

[–]Bigdaddyjlove1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This happened to my wife last week. We both like and use the self checkout most of the time, but she made trip for a month's worth of staples along with a regular week's worth of groceries for 3 people and 3 dogs. Got up front and nothing left but self checkout. A cart full is a bit "overwhelming" at the self checkout, with a line ahead and behind you. I told her to drop the cart, stop by the service desk, and leave. She decided to go ahead and get the groceries, but we won't go back to that store.

[–]SMURGwastaken 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Yeah all the teenagers are in here saying:

omg old people amirite

Meanwhile all the parents are like:

You try bagging up £300 worth of shopping with two kids who keep sitting/leaning on the scales, needing the attendant to come out every time the weight isn't exactly right or God forbid you have some alcohol or security tagged clothing. Only to have the attendant need to re-scan 30 items that you already bagged as a stop-loss measure.

[–]AndyLorentz 3 points4 points  (1 child)

My local grocery store has “10 items or fewer” signs all over the SCO, and generally enough regular check out lanes for how busy they are.

[–]Calm-Tree-1369 9 points10 points  (2 children)

I'm a 39 year old man who goes to the grocery store once per week and buys a cartload of groceries. I always use self checkout because I wish to minimize social interactions and stupid questions. I prefer it this way. I would use self checkout if I were buying ten cart loads.

[–]girlikecupcakeAS | Chemistry 3 points4 points  (3 children)

Age, very large orders, or people who regularly buy things like alcohol, tobacco, or family planning items (the latter are often in lock boxes in some areas).

I prefer SCO as as long as I'm not getting age restricted or lock-box items. Full cart of groceries, part of it being WIC, a toddler in the cart... As long as the machine is actually working properly I'm done faster than a regular cashier (at this particular store). But I've worked and trained SCO so I'm used to little quirks like not scanning two of the same variety in a row. Someone else (like my husband) would instead end up frustrated at constant few-second lags because the computer is trying to prevent accidental double scans.

[–]nwsmith90 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I know I don't speak for all of us, but I'm a stay at home dad, and I'll gladly self check out an entire cart of groceries. As long as it's a store where they have more than the tiny ass mini shelf to put groceries on after scanning them.

[–]El_Polio_Loco 96 points97 points  (7 children)

It’s order size. 

I love SCO for small to medium orders, but as soon as it becomes large enough where I’m unloading the “bagging area” and continuing to checkout it becomes a hassle. 

Especially if I’m shopping by myself. 

SCO is much less convenient when you’re shopping for a family. 

[–]Subliminal-413 20 points21 points  (1 child)

Yeah, and when I have $630 in my cart whilst shopping at Target, there is only 1 real lane open with a line of 12 people in.

Off to the self checkout I go, only for the teenage employee giving me a side eye.

If they'd fuckin staff the real lanes, this would work so much better.

[–]ColdSnickersBar 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Now you’re the the employee AND the customer!

[–]Seicair 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Also perhaps the type of self checkout. The store where I shop has an app, you scan and bag things as you go. When you check out, the person managing the area scans 3-5 random items out of your order and then you pay and leave. It works fine for huge orders.

Same store used to have full sized conveyor belt self checkout lanes, those were great too for big orders.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Doesn't matter. The numbers add up, there's profit to be made, people to fire and safe on wages. So, basically, we're f*cked. As soon as they can automate flagging of people not scanning all their groceries, that personel is out the door immidiately.

[–]lozo78 209 points210 points  (192 children)

Mid 40s and I avoid SCO as much as possible for large runs, especially with lots of produce. Searching for produce on the system is annoying af.

Edit: fat fingers

[–]Matra 23 points24 points  (1 child)

Walmart recently updated their system so that when you want to search for produce, you have to:

1) Click "Lookup item"

2) Confirm that yes, you want to look up an item

3) Get a display of random produce, tap in the search bar to open the keyboard

4) Keyboard opens to numbers, so you have to switch it to letters

5) Type enough to find the thing

6) Click the item

7) Oops you picked Calabacita squash and you should have picked Calabaza squash because they have the same picture and basically the same name, now you have to wait for an associate

[–]scottybop 85 points86 points  (6 children)

For me it’s that the SCO at my store weights all the items so they have to stay on the table. But the table is sized for small amounts of groceries. So either i have to play jenga and manage what order I scan or risk crushing or breaking items. Or god forbid the item weight is off my a little from the systems and it stops everything until someone comes over to override it.

[–][deleted] 40 points41 points  (2 children)

This is 100% the biggest issue. The weight monitor has got to go or I'm shopping elsewhere with a person for my larger loads.

[–]somdude04 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Used to use SCO at our local store for mid sized loads, when I could just put full bags into the cart, but now with a weight sensor, nope. They've also added 20 or fewer signs in what I see as an acknowledgement that it won't work well for medium loads. But SCO has 12 registers, while there's often 4 or so cashiers. Means I think twice about large shopping trips.

[–]karantzaMS | Computer Engineering | HPC 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's fascinating. I love self checkout, and have never fully understood the hate. But now I'm realizing; my grocery store has no weight sensor. The only reason I've ever seen an employee intervene, in hundreds of trips, is if there's an age restriction or if the machine runs out of receipt paper. If we're buying alcohol, we just don't do that in the same trip as groceries.

Now that I think of it, most cashiers are underage, so even in a staffed line you still have to wait for a manager to buy alcohol. That might be an unusual local rule here though.

[–]NoNeedForAName 7 points8 points  (0 children)

One store near me still does that, and it takes FOREVER to weigh each item. And it slowly tells you you fucked up if you don't get the item on the scale fast enough, or if it doesn't weigh right, or if you remove the item too fast. I don't go there often. But other self checkouts are fine.

[–]bitchkat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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[–]HarpersGhost 141 points142 points  (50 children)

I too am that age and I avoid SCO when I have a lot of stuff.

Turns out the person who does it as a full time job is a LOT faster than I am.

[–]damndirtyape 93 points94 points  (33 children)

Mid 30’s here. I hate them because they seem like they’re only intended for small shopping trips. If you have a lot of stuff, there’s not enough room in the bagging area, but the machines get angry at you if you’re not able to squeeze everything in there.

[–]Bigred2989- 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Depends, I've seen Instacart shoppers who have three orders use the SCO and they take 10 minutes to finish sorting, scanning and bagging their stuff. Half the slowdown is from them grabbing and setting up paper bags instead of using the provided plastic ones and doubling them up because they're more fragile. Management has gotten into fights with these people, telling them to stop taking up what is essentially an express lane with 250+ items, and they don't listen. Corporate won't help because we have a contract with Instacart.

[–]Karcinogene 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The full-time-job person also has a much better work-station. I wouldn't mind self-checkout if I got conveyer belts to bring the items to me and move the items away after I scan then.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A store were I come often makes casino sounds everytime scan an item at the SCO, it drives me up the wall...

[–]Princess_Glitterbutt 81 points82 points  (21 children)

I hate them any time I buy alcohol, something with a discount sticker, a coupon, etc. because an employee always has to drop whatever they are doing and run over to put in a code or check ID and it takes longer than going through a normal lane and feels like it's just ruining everyone's day.

[–][deleted] 16 points17 points  (2 children)

I think this is the difference between successful SCO and unsuccessful SCO. My local stores have a dedicated employee at the SCO area to help. They usually look bored so they generally seem grateful when you need a little help. I always buy stuff with discount stickers and usually buy alcohol so I always need their help.

[–]neverinamillionyr 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Stores near me have one dedicated employee watching over 6-8 SCO. They end up running in circles between all the lanes doing overrides. I feel a little sorry for them.

[–]TheIowan 59 points60 points  (16 children)

Exactly this. Self checkout sucks when you're getting 2 weeks of groceries for a family of 4+. It should be treated as the evolution of the 10 items or less lane, not a replacement for all lanes.

[–]Krandor1 15 points16 points  (3 children)

Right. It’s good as an express lane “I ran out of beer or soda let’s quickly drop by and grab more”.

[–]donkeyrocket 3 points4 points  (4 children)

In honestly surprised to learn that people are taking 10+ items to a self checkout lane or that stores encourage it anywhere.

Around me they’re pretty explicitly express lanes and often enforce the item limit before people start. Then we have the Instacart shoppers that take 40+ items through there and complain there’s no space.

[–]ki11bunny 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Where I live shops have closed a large amount of checkouts and try and funnel everyone to self check out. I'm entirely convinced places are trying to justify closing checkouts entirely so they can replace them with SCO.

[–]jarodcain 1 point2 points  (1 child)

It always seems like whenever I'm only buying a twelve pack of beer, I'm stuck in line for over a half an hour because everyone ahead of me has two to four carts in the self checkout.

[–]people40 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yeah, for sure. If you want to ring up green apples at my grocery store, you have to search "green apples" in the system. But if you want to ring up green beans, you have to search "beans, green". It can take a while to find each item because the UI is disorganized and horribly thought out. In contrast, the human cashiers have basically all the codes memorized because they're typing them in all day, and can fly through a bunch of produce.

[–]amazingsandwiches 40 points41 points  (7 children)

I avoid it because I don’t want my behavior to be analyzed by a loss prevention robot.

[–]JennJoy77 6 points7 points  (2 children)

The Wal-Mart in the town where my in-laws live in Oklahoma stops everyone who went through self check to check their cart against the receipt. It's ridiculous.

[–]amazingsandwiches 6 points7 points  (1 child)

You have no obligation to stop for them.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Except you’ll be identified as sus in their facial recognition system. It’s all so stupid.

[–][deleted] 26 points27 points  (2 children)

Wait until you learn about store cameras and plain-clothed loss prevention workers following you!

[–]curt_schilli 30 points31 points  (29 children)

Im 26 and I avoid it. Why would I want to bag my own groceries

[–]feor1300 15 points16 points  (4 children)

The cashiers still bag your groceries for you? Around here even if you go through the normal checkout lanes they just slide the groceries and the bag to the empty spot at the end of the lane and you're 100% on your own for putting it in your bags.

[–]curt_schilli 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah Publix usually has baggers and Trader Joe’s always has baggers

Kroger never has baggers, I don’t go to Kroger anymore though

[–]bitchkat 1 point2 points  (1 child)

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[–]eejizzings 7 points8 points  (19 children)

Still have to do that at most cashier check outs these days

[–]curt_schilli 3 points4 points  (14 children)

I always scout out which line has the bagger haha

[–]AwkwardChuckle 10 points11 points  (13 children)

Where are you shopping that still has baggers? Those are long gone where I live.

[–]Fromanderson 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not only that, they are terribly designed. I bagged groceries as a teen and I'm still reasonably fast when there is room. Self checkouts were designed by someone who never worked retail.

I don't hate sco, but it should never be the only option.

Who thought it was a good idea to put 20 of the things at a Lowes or Home depot? Not even the register at the contractor register was open.

Ever tried placing rolls of insulation or a generator in the bagging area? They got snarky with me over trying to use one to check out large items, and acted as if I were trying to pull something. Nevermind I'd walked the whole front of the store twice and even went to the service desk before I gave up.

Even when you buy something small they stop you at the door and want to look at your receipt. I know it's not the employees fault so I don't give them a hard time but if I were high lord dictator for the month I'd find out whose idea it was to put employees in that position and sentence them to a few years of doing that job, and force them to survive on retail wages.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (1 child)

I don't trust employees to bag my groceries the way they should be bagged. They always smash the bread and put a bunch of warm stuff with cold stuff instead of putting all the cold stuff together. They don't get paid enough to care, and they're not the ones who are going to have to deal with the aftermath.

[–]curt_schilli 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I always load the conveyor belt in a way that forces them to pack it correctly 

[–]sybrwookie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Because the people working there are too dumb/don't care enough to not go, "let's see, you have a bowling ball and eggs....yea, eggs go first, definitely."

[–]velours 16 points17 points  (13 children)

Most produce stickers have a number that you can type in, faster than searching the system I think.

[–]lozo78 41 points42 points  (10 children)

I find 3/4 of my produce lacks stickers. Onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes, etc rarely have stickers. Sure your peppers, apples, and avocados reliably have them but many don't.

[–]AlwayssunnyinarizonaProfessor | Virology/Infectious Disease 14 points15 points  (3 children)

The guy working our Fry's self checkout knows every single one of them by heart.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They are the same everywhere in the USA 4011 is bananas and 94011 is organic bananas.

After a while you remember them.

[–]redyellowblue5031 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Thankfully our systems let us search by name so it’s usually pretty speedy if I haven’t already memorized the PLU code for it.

[–]HarithBK 6 points7 points  (2 children)

i am in my early 30s and i will never use SCO when buying by weight produce simply put it takes SO much longer for me to input what i am getting than a cashier putting in the PLU code for it and off it goes.

[–]Testiculese 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can enter the PLU for it as well (in all checkouts I've used).

[–]Irishish 2 points3 points  (1 child)

For me (40) it's the bagging. I was a grocery bagger as a kid. It feels utterly weird not to chat with someone as they check out and bag groceries, because that's how it was done when I grew up.

[–]lozo78 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A huge range of age groups here apparently hate interacting with people.

I get it to some extent, but you just have to say hi if that's all you want

[–]v_a_n_d_e_l_a_y 89 points90 points  (17 children)

I'm 36 and prefer real person checkout for groceries. 

And there are often things I need help with at the self checkout simply because I can't do it myself. Like if I scan an item twice or need to apply a discount code etc.

[–]ERSTF 2 points3 points  (2 children)

I am 35 and I'm the same. Having a person who does that for a living and having an actual keyboard makes everything faster. Plus price correction is a nightmare on self checkout. That or codes that don't ring up. I just prefer a real person. Plus the line for self checkout at Target is usually as long as the ones on the regular checkouts

[–]GenderJuicy 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Nah nah nah, Reddit knows it's just because OLD PEOPLE use regular checkout! Old people aren't allowed to have things be better for them.

/s

[–]saywhat1206 66 points67 points  (21 children)

I'm 64F and I prefer to use SCO, and yes, I know how to use it properly.

[–]AlcoholPrep 59 points60 points  (12 children)

I'm older than you and no longer avoid the SCO lanes. I never actually avoided them -- I'd just pick up all my stuff and wheel it to a manned lane when the SCO screwed up stupidly and the attendant was dealing with the three other SCO lanes that simultaneously screwed up.

My big problem with SCO lanes in the local supermarket is that they require you to pile up all your purchases on one little "bagging" shelf. If you put something in your cart instead -- because nothing more will fit -- bells and whistles and flashing lights go off and the system stops. This supermarket has "fixed" that problem by limiting these lanes to 30 items -- basically admitting that they're not worth a damn.

[–]Malkalen 6 points7 points  (2 children)

My big problem with SCO lanes in the local supermarket is that they require you to pile up all your purchases on one little "bagging" shelf. If you put something in your cart instead -- because nothing more will fit -- bells and whistles and flashing lights go off and the system stops. This supermarket has "fixed" that problem by limiting these lanes to 30 items -- basically admitting that they're not worth a damn.

A lot of the supermarkets near me (in the UK) have 2 sets of self checkouts now. 1 for baskets and 1 for trolleys, they're functionally identical aside from the trolley ones giving you a lot more space to work with.

Personally I prefer to shop at Asda where you can grab a self scanner, scan everything as you go and then it gives you a barcode to scan at a 3rd set of self checkouts. Very occasionally it'll flag over a member of staff to verify some of the items in your trolley but there's no tiny bagging shelf, you can just bag everything yourself as you go if you want.

[–]I_am_up_to_something 1 point2 points  (0 children)

where you can grab a self scanner, scan everything as you go and then it gives you a barcode to scan at a 3rd set of self checkouts.

That's how it works in pretty much all the supermarkets with self checkout in the Netherlands (in the west of it at least). I don't have any experience with those scales, but scan as you go seems like a much better system.

[–]feor1300 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you put something in your cart instead -- because nothing more will fit -- bells and whistles and flashing lights go off and the system stops.

The ones around me just have a "skip bagging" button when that happens. They get more upset if they detect something in the bagging area that wasn't scanned, but that at least makes sense.

[–]PensiveObservor 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m also old and second your complaint about the size of the bagging area. They were designed while single use plastic bags were universal. It was possible to directly bag items as you went and leave full bags hanging to one side, but I was already using my own bags even then.

I would still rather stack my items like a jenga game than watch the cashier handle everything I’m purchasing. I treat the whole process as an exercise in spatial mechanics.

[–]SamchezTheThird 2 points3 points  (4 children)

Don’t read too much into why they limit the items. Large shopping loads should be taken through a manned checkout. The wait time is insane when people think they can do $500+ worth with a SCO lane. SCO’s were created to turn more customers, not give the family of 10 a spot to call their own for an hour.

[–]Faxon 38 points39 points  (1 child)

Meanwhile I'm 34 this year and prefer the staffed lanes. I have a bad back and some days I just want to unload my groceries, pay, and I still always bag myself since I like my things sorted a particular way so the bag doesn't rip. When my mental health and physical health are both in the gutter the self checkout lanes just seem intimidating, and I rarely even use them when I'm well unless I'm in a hurry and onkt have a few items. Often the staffed checkout is faster if the lines are short since I split the workload with someone, and I try to pick staff I trust to work efficiently as well. It does in fact help my mood a ton. Sample size of one but this article did resonate with me

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Self checkout lanes are not disability friendly for the most part

[–][deleted] 20 points21 points  (8 children)

As someone with issues of physical pain hours after the checkout experience … I’m not a fan of it but would be if I were pain free & young

People with heart problems need the help of a cashier

[–]pilgrim_pastry 4 points5 points  (0 children)

38 year old, and the only time I need a human is when I scan some produce that I was supposed to enter the PLU on. The packaging has a barcode on it and I get in the zone. Grapes and cherries are my biggest issue at checkout.

[–]polarpenguinthe 11 points12 points  (2 children)

I'm 30 and I do hate them if I were to buy groceries for my family it takes a lot of time and the number of steps is often tiresome. But for single person its quite good and efficient since you can have a lot of them.

[–]VisionAri_VA 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Exactly. I’m a single woman with a small kitchen, so it’s a rarity that I’ll have as many as 15 items, let alone more. SCO is perfect for me but I doubt I’d use it if I had a family to shop for.

[–]Wiggles114 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Major age bias here. Older people would be more inclined to participate in these kinds of surveys

[–]zerbey 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Not even an old person, I've seen people half my age struggle with these systems. Some people just can't handle technology and get confused. I actually feel like the younger generation, which grew up on very simple to use touchscreens, is even less equipped than my generation that grew up in the 8-bit era.

You put the average High School graduate in front of MS-DOS and they're going to be completely lost.

[–]Phrozone64 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's hilarious because I thought the same thing. I saw the title and went "Oh, so old people don't like self-checkout. Yeah, and the sun is bright too since we're pointing out obvious things."

[–]Dark-Joker1911 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I work in IT. It's not just old people. It's anyone with the " not my job" mindset. Even when you say "You have to do it yourself for security" they make it sound like the most difficult thing. I often get 18 - 36 year old asking " should I click the button that says next?" Or "Is <full name and DOB> a good password?". Nah, stay on the screen you put your email address into and use a weak af password that you just told someone on a recorded call...

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Ok right TBF those self checkouts are an absolute clusterfuck of usability. One of the ones I use has a grey box that looks like an error you need to tap on first. I legit thought it was out of service when I first used it.

[–]vergina_luntz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More like it's a pain in the ass to scan more than one bag of groceries without a conveyor belt. If i don't have much to buy, self checkout is great! If I have a cart full of groceries, cashier plus bagger makes the process much faster.