U-scan blues

[hawkchick11]

I always take my cart load of stuff through the self check out at WM. 90% of the time, no one is using it or there is one person in front of me, so it beats standing in line. Plus I usually have things sectioned out in my cart how I want it bagged, and it never fails if I try to put things on the belt how I want it bagged, the cashier just throws things in bags randomly.

[Rolling Star]

For some reason, the machines in my local store don't work right. I'll only use U-scan if:
1. I have a few items
2. The lines are really long at the cashier
3. If there is someone with a LOT of items in front of me.
Most of the time, I don't want to deal with it.

[Kogarashi]

Blas, I feel your pain. I've had other WM cashiers bag my things haphazardly before. And, frankly, I think the WM computer training modules on bagging are a little too optimistic. They don't talk much about not squishing bread or putting chemicals with food, but they do tell you how to fit the most stuff in a bag (and show a cashier putting boxed food on the sides, cans on the bottom, and produce or bread on top in the middle). As if every customer is going to have a convenient-to-bag order, as if every customer is comfortable with their grapes going in the same bag as canned goods, and as if every customer is buying the same stuff. I've had orders before that consisted of one bathroom chemical bottle, one loaf of bread, one shirt, and one package of meat. Yeah, bag that, Mr. Computer.

2) If you think you already know more than the machine then perhaps U-scan is not for you. There are some little rules that if you ignore will slow your entire process down.

Ok, now I'm curious. Elaboration?

I do feel like I know more than the U-Scan, but part of that is because I used to be the cashier monitoring the U-Scan, so I know what works and what doesn't. But I get the impression that isn't what you're referring to.

3) If you buy a lot of produce then perhaps U-scan is not for you. Unless there are really good item code stickers on everything, you are probably going to be stuck no knowing what to enter. This is best left to a professional.

The U-Scans at Wal-Mart have a produce lookup screen, which I think is a great idea. Half the time, some of the produce has different stickers that don't have the correct price programmed in on the register system. I'm sorry, I don't want to pay $10/lb. for my oranges, thank you.

4) If you are paying with a gift card, some cash, and a credit card then perhaps U-scan is not for you. Paying with a credit card is Uber fast. Paying with cash that is close to exact (i.e. your bill comes to $18, you pop in a $20) is good and fast. If you have an $42 bill and plan on paying with quarters and dollars that you found on the street….please find a tall building, climb to the top, and do a concrete swan dive.

I don't mind the customers that dump tons of coins into the U-Scans. Frankly, I'd rather they do that than foist all those coins off on some poor, unsuspecting cashier. I just wish my customers would notice that the screen was telling them to scan the barcode on the back of the gift card, after they swiped it. I guess that refers back to number 1, right?

5)I guess this would be a good time to point out that this is an EXPRESS lane. That whole 15 items or less applies here more than anywhere. 20 is not 15. In fact, as much as I like the u-scan, I don’t go there with more than about 10 items, or 2 bags worth of stuff. More than that clogs up the bagging shelf I will discuss later.

At every Wal-Mart I go to, there is at least one U-Scan with a full-lane belt on it, which to me means it's intended for full loads, even if the sign on the light does say "Fast Lane." There's no sign with a number limit, unlike the cashier-manned express lanes (which also say "Express Lane," not "Fast Lane"), and if the belt can hold my whole order, why shouldn't I utilize it? But I'm also cashier-trained, so I know how to scan my items quickly (despite the lag on a U-Scan) and bag properly, and I know everything I need to do on those registers. And I never try to take a full load through one of the U-Scans that only has the short counter for holding merchandise.

4) put the item in the bag. Please note, there is a scale under the shelf where the bags are. -snip-

Wal-Mart's U-Scans stopped weighing items sometime last fall (at least around here), probably due to all the customers who wouldn't put the items in the bags, or the customers who took off the bags too soon, or customers who set their purse on the bagging scale, or customers whose kids climbed all over it, or.... *ahem* I thought that was both a blessing and a curse, since I didn't have to hit the "security" key on the cashier screen every time someone put the item right back in the cart without hitting "skip bagging," but it also made it harder during a rush to get an idea of who might be scamming the U-Scans. ::sigh:: You can never win.

But good list. Sounds like your store could use it.

[FuzzyKitten99]

I love the u-scan things, especially when I only have one or two things, and everyone else has a cart-load. The only problem is, sometimes all the u-scans are being used (with other people waiting) because people bring cart-fulls (these do have signs saying 15 items or less) and I end up going to a cashier anyway, because the people at the other 4 seem to be moving slower than molasses in January.

[Jack7957]

The grocery I use the most has eight self scans, set up in two groups of 4. One group is set up for small orders, only two bag stands. The other is set up for large orders, with four bag stands on a rotating platform, so you can fill a bag, then go on to the next bag stand. There are no signs explaining which checkout to use for what size order though.

[Rubystars]

I hated it when I went over to help a customer type in a code for their produce, and on the side of the screen they have an example picture, a red delicious apple with 4016 on it. She asked: "Is that the code for this?"

I said "No, that's just an example of a sticker on produce."

[mscrybaby]

I love using the U-scan machines. I was told though that WM is planning on getting rid of them because of the theft issues.
I know that my sister has a bad habit of "forgetting" items on the bottom of her cart. That is the word she uses, I say she shoplifts and loves doing it. She only uses the U-scan so that no one is paying attention to her cart.
Sorry off topic there.
I use them because I like to get out of the store quicker, our cashiers have no idea how to bag anything, are rude, hateful and our stores don't have the item count on the scanners. If I have not started checking out and someone comes up with only a few items I tell them to go ahead of me so that they can get out quicker.