TV Through the U-scan

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

My store doesn't have SCO's yet, but quick question: do jobs get cut because of it/them?

Yeah, sometimes. Depends on the company.

The Grocery Store of Awesome that I shop at has SCOs, but also plenty of cashiers at normal registers.

The other grocery store in town with SCOs doesn't have as much checkout staff, but the staffing level seems the same as it was before their new store was built and their old store didn't have SCOs.

The Walmart supercenter in town has SCOs but I haven't noticed much of a cut in cashiers there either.

The stores in my company that have SCOs probably have about the same front-end staff as my store does, and my store doesn't have SCOs and probably never will, so I don't think I can blame the presence of SCOs for cutting staff there.

[casey13]

We cut staff at my old job when they added self-checkouts. Two cashiers for 4 self-checkouts and 4 u-scans. However, a lot of stores are doing away with self-checkouts and u-scans because of people using them to steal.

[karma_gypsy]

I take it that every self-scanner attendant must run that area differently?

My husband and I were going through the scanners and I am an Oregon resident - shopping in Washington, thus making me tax exempt. My husband went up to ask one attendant (I'm assuming they were doing a shift change) to see what we should do about doing the tax exempt dealy, the one said to ring everything through and do it like a normal transaction and then come up to the podium before we pay so she can take off the tax... So we did that and then encountered a different employee at the podium, who curtly told us that we were suppose to do that *before* we start the transaction.

I'm just thinkin' .... "ah, screw it, we'll go through the register next time ...."

Those self-scanners can be a pain, unless you have a few small items with easy to read/find barcodes ....

[ThirdGenRetail]

Some stores have wands at their SCO, like IKEA and Lowes, so that you can self-scan bigger items.

Wait, Land of the Red Vests and Jimmy J. has wands on the SCO machines? Why don't mine?

I often work SCO at work, which isn't usually so bad. I like to spend my day thinking random thoughts, and I don't get to think on a regular register(I go into cashier autopilot a lot... Going to returns throws me for a loop since it's a whole other spiel to say). What I hate, though... Are the people who bring these huge items to SCO This includes...

- AC units
- Hot water heaters
- Grills - Both assembled and in boxes
- Lawn mowers
- Windows
- Doors
- Cinder blocks/bricks/what have you that has the UPC in a convenient little book
- Huge plants that can't be lifted - And the UPC is, inevitably, always on the pot
- Cabinets - Kitchen, utility room, and bathroom
- Lumber
- And patio furniture

The kicker? Either these items are purchased as the ONLY item, or in any combination of the above list Congratulations, morons, you have just DEFEATED the purpose of SELF checkout by bringing as your only purchase(s) items that I need to scan FOR you anyway!

[EricKei]

My store doesn't have SCO's yet, but quick question: do jobs get cut because of it/them?

I was always under the impression that this was the primary REASON that stores installed SCO's ~_~ So they could have fewer people on payroll...

[mattm04]

I don't know how the self-scans are set up at everyone else's stores, but at the wholesale club, the customer cannot just pull up the keypad on the touch-screen to enter the barcode manually. The self-scan attendant has to scan their authorization into the kiosk and pull it up that way.

I'm guessing it's done that way to prevent someone from manually entering the code for a similar, but cheaper, item and sneaking out without paying full price.

We allow that but I think it only allows produce which often have PLU stickers on them and bakery (muffins, rolls, etc) items.

[Taubin]

So... Is it bad of me to take my beer through the u-scan lanes?

I only ask because I do it all the time. But, I also scan it, and immediately walk to the cashier to show my ID.

[casey13]

Yes and no. Beer through the u-scan can be frustrating because you have to watch the people and make sure that it is in fact the person who carried the beer up there to pay for it. You also need to watch and make sure no one is buying beer for someone else and they aren't taking cash from someone else.

[Jay 2K Winger]

The self-scans at the wholesale club are designed to ALWAYS prompt a cashier or self-scan attendant to come over, scan their authorization card, and confirm/deny the customer's age on alcohol purchases.

I did get this exchange once:

Customer: Why do you have to check my ID?
J2K: It's programmed that way.
Customer: Well, can't you just program my date of birth into the system to skip this step?
J2K: Do you have teenagers in your family, ma'am?
Customer: ...ohhhh.

Because teenagers are SO trustworthy.