Do you use them?
Do you like them?
Is it a good idea, or is it technology and automation just trying to get rid of more low paying jobs?

I do not use them. I hate them.

The few times I used them I was scared I will be tackled while leaving the store for shoplifting.

I’m not really concerned about job losses or anything. I just wished they used RDIF chips so I could toss my stuff in a bag and walk by and be given a total to pay. And yeah.. I know Amazon is working on something similar.

In my area the self checkouts in (for example) Target tend to be used only if the manned cashiers have long lines, or if the customer has only a few items.

In the supermarkets, however, it’s very telling. One store has very personable cashiers, and the self checks are almost never used. The other one has surly cashiers, and the self check lines are long.

Edit to add: I prefer a pleasant human to a self-check; I prefer the self-check to a surly human.

Really, context is everything.

For just a few items I prefer them. I hate shopping so I look for the quickest way out.

They’re everywhere. I will
use one for small purchases, but there’s often a line waiting for one of the stations to become available. The supermarkets are the worst. I’ve gotten in the habit of shopping between the hours of 2–5 AM.

I live in the Los Angeles area. They have them at Target and CVS, but not at Whole Foods.

I’ll try to use one, if there’s no waiting.

Target, Home Depot, and Walmart have self-checks. So do the grocery stores.

Department stores (Macys, etc.) don’t.

Remember that every self check machine replaced a human employee.

That employee had a soul-crushing, minimum wage job. In reality at least here that employee still has their said crushing job. The lines just are not as long and they still have a person tending the self check machines where it’s mostly people with small items who would have otherwise clogged the regular checkouts.

Yes, they are quite common around here. I use them whenever I can. I always find it faster (I only use them when I’m buying a small amount of stuff, but that’s most of the time for me).

I love them and they are used often where I live.

I also love the small town grocery we have with three checkout lanes. They call for another cashier if there is more than two people waiting in line. They also have someone to carry your groceries to your car. sorry for the double post. it was too late to edit

Love self checkout…

Use it, when possible.

My local supermarket has them and they are more popular than the staffed checkouts. I always use them myself.

This supermarket is also experimenting with “scan as you shop” where you use a handset to read the barcode of each item as you place it in your trolley. It gives you a running total you can pay without taking everything back out of the trolley.

They’re at Walmart and Home Depot here in Tampa. I use them whenever I can. Saves me one more pointless social interaction

@flutherother: One of the supermarkets here has that scan feature. (The one with the surly checkers). It’s a feature I like if I’m doing a big shopping, it saves a lot of time as I pack the bags as I shop.

Every time I try to use one, something goes wrong and I have to wait for a checker to come. Some stores have a checker on standby to help, but not all.

My hub uses his Ipad and scans as he picks up, so no waiting at all.

The grocery stores in my area have mostly given up on self checkout.

Target and Home Depot have self checkout.

I like self checkout. I like the cashiers. I choose whatever looks faster. If their are no lines visit the cashier to say hi.

I’m glad the option is there, especially since WalMart never has any open check out lines.

Generally speaking, going through the clerk check out is faster.

Rick makes me insane when he uses one! He spends several seconds looking for the bar code, when I’ve explained that scans from two different directions, and that all he has to do is put the item, a can, for example, on the scanner and spin it. One time one of my little nieces was watching me scan out and she said, “It’s like you work here you’re so fast!” I HATE SLOW SHIT!!!

“It’s like you work here you’re so fast!”

I’m old enough to remember how fast the best cashiers were before scanners. THAT was cool to watch!

Seen them, rather not use them.

@Call_Me_Jay I remember Mom sorting like items on the belt because they had to hit a key on the register to specify if it was meat, dairy, veggies, whatever.

Why don’t you want to use them @reijinni?

I’m usually in and out way faster through self check….unless there is not one free. It always amazes me just how confusing it is to so many people. I honestly don’t get why.

Me either. The only frustrating thing about it is somehow tripping a warning and then you have to wait for someone to come reset it.

I like them if I’m in a hurry and only have a few things.

My question for the people that love them, do you love them for being faster, or the fact it’s one less human interaction you have to deal with?

It’s faster

Both. Humans are slow and inefficient.

I hate waiting in lines. Everyone who is in front of me is slow and dumb!

@Dutchess_III – that was me standing in front of you Monday at the grocery. I am neither slow nor dumb. How rude!

LOL!! YOU WROTE A CHECK!!! NOBODY WRITES CHECKS ANY MORE!! AND FURTHER, YOU DIDN’T EVEN START FILLING ANY OF THE INFORMATION IN UNTIL THE CASHIER TOLD YOU THE TOTAL. I guess you thought your name, the name of grocery store, the date, and your signature would all change before she was finished checking you out. Humph. >_<.

I will tell you something that got Mrs Squeeky mad as hell they had the cashiers at our Wal-mart filling out credit card applications for customers talk about slowing the line down.
And fucking dumb, what the hell is customer service for??

Reeling them in for Christmas. The cashiers have contact with a LOT more people than customer service does.

True @Dutchess_III but they can direct them to customer service, and they can fill it out, so they can keep the line moving.

If they do that then half of the “yes” answers will turn to “no”

That’s probably a good thing, morally speaking. They’re throwing people who probably can’t afford it into further debt without giving them time to think about it.

As an aside, self-checkouts are good for introverts who do not need or want much inconsequential human interaction.

@Dutchess_III, because I got used to having baggers and cashiers employed.

What question did I ask you @reijinni ? I forget….

@Dutchess_III, why I don’t use them.

Oh, ok.