U-Scan SCs

[chantal]

I love 'em

I really do love the SCO's that they have around here. Quick, easy, and I don't have to talk to anyone. I do go to regular check-outs for groceries, a friend and I once tried to do a grocery order composed of mainly fruit and veggies on a UScan and it failed horribly. We ended up having to get the cashier every 10 seconds because for the life of us we couldn't tell the difference between the 18 types of apples pictured on the screen. I was probably the talk of the break room "Darn SC couldn't get the machine to work, it's not rocket science!" If I have an order composed of non-UPC-having items, I'll suck it up and go see a cashier. I'll also go to a cashier when I have coupons or something like that.

[skeptic53]

for the life of us we couldn't tell the difference between the 18 types of apples pictured on the screen.

Most of the produce in stores here has a sticker with a 4-digit number on it. The SCO will have an icon for a keypad, I find it's faster to call up the keypad and enter the number instead of trying to find the correct page of pictures of produce and then find the item. Bulk items or pastry items I will note the 4-digit number at the product display, write it on the twist-tie or on the bag, and use that at the SCO instead of trying to figure out it's "bagels, onion" or "onion bagels" in the choose-it-by-picture alphabetical list.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

My company installed SCOs at a few of its stores. I liked using them if I had only a few items and never had any problems with them.

I highly doubt they will ever be put in my store though. We only have 8 checkout lanes and installing them would have to take out at least two of them. But then again, they're going to try and squeeze a walk-in clinic into my store, and I thought they'd never be able to find the room to do that.

[pbmods]

Electronic Emissions are Hazardous to Your Health

(Somewhat Related) I get customers all the time that try to use our kiosk. Now what's really odd is that these normally rational, intelligent, problem-solving individuals suddenly become total morons who can't do anything for themselves.

Why? I'll be completely honest with you; I have no friggin' idea. 99% of the time, the problem is the customer's failure to read the instructions or buttons on the screen.

The same customer that will notice a sign half-hidden behind a store fixture that advertises some obscure discount (but admittedly aren't able to read the expiration date), yet they can't figure out how to find THE ONLY BUTTON ON THE ENTIRE SCREEN!

[Mighty Girl]

I usually try to go to the U Scan line for one simple reason, I don't like how most of the baggers bag my groceries. They either put way too much in a bag, or way too little, or they put my fabric softener sheets in with the deli meat. However, every time I do go to the UScan register- some lady (it's never a man) comes over and starts bagging my groceries. It aggravates the hell out of me. And you should see the look on their face when I ask them not to.

I have seen a lot of the illiterates at those things though, and it's usually pretty funny. This one woman- mid twenties I'm guessing, slid her credit card through, then of course it asks debit or credit, well she completely overlooked that and kept sliding her card through and had a HUGE hissy fit because "it's broken". Idiot.

[SteverinoNY]

AHHH The Dreaded Self Checkout and the Dumb Sh*ts who use it. I am so fed up with the Self Checkouts at my Grocery Store. Being one of the original trainees on that incredibly useless waste of space has made me lose quite a few brain cells to horrific deaths, including being trampled by an angry sex starved bull who just found a field of virgin cows or being backed over by a large tractor trailer with chains on the tires while your body is on fire. If I hear another freaking person ask me why it isnt taking their money when they didn't hit the large PAY NOW button, I am going to scream and beat them severely with the tire iron in my car. These things must have a brain deactivation force field because it seems like I attract all the angry, stinky, dumbasses who couldnt find their own nose (despite the fact that their finger is firmly entrenched in it looking for buried treasure). I absolutely despise our self-checkouts because the bag scale never works right, the scanners break constantly, little kids come play with them because they think they are toys, and people cant figure out how they work (even though it talks you thru it and has large BRIGHT buttons). AHH...I tell my co-workers all the time to just get out of the way if you see my coming in with a bat or large metal object as I am going to smash the self-checkout. I despise them

That being said, I like em because I can manage my way thru it in 30 seconds, even with 10 items. Then again, I am not a lower life form on the level of the common ground slug (apologies to the ground slugs)

[Rubystars]

When I'm stationed at self checkouts, most of the time people are really happy that I bag for them. A lot of people who attend the self checks just stand there until someone needs help.

It's nice to hear lots of thank yous instead of the other feedback that comes from customers.

Anyway, I walked up to bag this woman's groceries, and I was bagging things and the husband walked up and glared at me angrily and shouted "That's my job!"

Whatever... I just told him "ok" and walked away to help other people who appreciated it.

It's also painful to watch people go through the menus with the pictures for produce when all they have to do is type in a simple code.

They have trouble because for example, there are big red delicious apples and small red delicious apples. The big apples are sold by weight, the small ones are 25 cents each. They always choose the big ones from the menu, and when I see it, I let them know and fix it for them.

The thing that bothers me most is that people try to use them to steal.

This one boy had three types of produce in one bag, I think it was lemons and then a couple of items that were sold by weight. I asked him if he rang them separately, and he said no. I looked at the list, and sure enough, he'd just rang the lemons. I told him that the other things weren't free, and he looked kind of scared, like he knew he'd been caught. I rang the other items for him.

Then there was this guy who had a big 5 gallon container of refill water in his basket, and I asked if they payed for the water, and the guy had the nerve to say "I don't need to pay for this, it's a refill!" I told him "Yes, you do need to pay for it, it's not free!" Then I went over and punched in the code for it. I got evil glares from him and his family.