This is my favorite new feature of stores. It makes getting errands and shopping done so easy. I can checkout at my own pace and bag my items as I like. I've heard complaints such as, "why did they put the X on top of the Y, it's smashed/broken!" When you bag it yourself, no problem. Plus, if you have heavy items and live upstairs, you can double bag without needing to ask the checkout person to do extra work. I've actually found I catch store price mistakes more checking out myself, as well. It's not really comfortable to watch the cashier like a hawk when they're ringing your items up.
I love them, when I'm not price-math hint at Walmart that is. I know a lot of people may think they eliminate jobs, but I bet in the long run they actually create jobs. Think about it, you have all the people who make the parts and assemble them, the computer programmers, the repairmen, the people that enter the prices.... I'm sure the list goes on. I should have thought of all that when a woman yelled at me for "putting people out of jobs" when I was using them at Walmart once. Darn smart alecky comments always fail me at the right moment and hit me 15 minutes later.
I like to use them when I am the customer. However, I hated them at my old job. Self-checkouts are to be used by one checking out own products. People would not read the screens. They would not follow prompts. They would not push the HUGE flashing button that read FINISH & PAY! They would set purses and bags on the scale and get angry that scale was off. Duh! They did it wrong. They would put money in the wrong places. They could not scan their credit cards correctly. They would yell at the machines when it was not the machine's fault. They would get mad that I didn't have a scanner for their items. I would have to explain that they are the cashier for themselves at the self-checkouts.
I was excited when these first started appearing in my area, but now I usually skip them. The sensors or scales that weigh your purchases never work correctly. I had this experience just today at Home Depot. I just wanted to buy some glue, but it turned into a real hassle. First, it took several tries to scan the thing. Then, it didn't believe me when I put it into a bag. "Please place your items in the bagging area.... please place your items in the bagging area.... please place your items in the bagging area... please wait for an attendant to assist you." No! I don't need an attendant! I already bagged the item! Oh, and then it wouldn't accept my perfectly good $5 bill. Ridiculous!
I am not a huge fan of self checkouts either. I tend to avoid them. It is a pain to ring up vegetables and difficult to use coupons. It is also frustrating when it doesn't "see" your item in the bagging area. I have gotten to the point that I will only use the self checkout if lines are long and I only have a handful of items(no veggies). I truly prefer being rung up by an actual human being. It is almost as annoying as calling customer service and getting a computer response!
When I have just a few items I LOVE the send checkout lanes. It seems faster then the regular checkout process, but that could be because I am participating in the process rather than just standing there watching. The ones we have in our local stores make you place the items on a special pad after scanning. I'm assuming they calculate the weight of your items as some sort of theft prevention, but this has caused me problems fairly often. If the items are lightweight it will repeatedly say "Please place your item in the bag" until the person in charge of that section comes over to correct it.
Ok, so revised opinion....I *can* love them, when they work properly! Historically I've not been too lucky with them but I just had a really, really positive experience at CVS. No yelling at me to bag things a certain way or re-scan something for the 40th time, no freezing up, in & out...it was a dream .
They usually run pretty smoothly for me. Theyre a major time saver if you have only one item and are in a rush to be in and out.
I think self check out can be handy if the store is busy and you only have a few items. In fact, I've found them just as fast. However, at a grocery store, where you're more likely to have a cart full of things, its a headache. I've done the self check out with groceries before and the only "nice" thing about it was the fact that I could bag y groceries as I saw fit, other than that, it was a time consuming process. I hope this doesn't become the norm, but they've been around the US for quite a few years now and haven't had tons of success, nor have I seen more installed in any store that has been trying them, so fingers crossed!
I use to hate self checkouts but walmart got some new ones and upgraded and now it's a lot easier. Since they upgraded I haven't had any problems with the new self checkouts.
I agree, if it just a few items it is sometimes the quicker route. Although if I had a lot of items I would certainly not be using the checkout myself.
