Thursday 8 January 2015

I am beginning to hate...

Self service checkouts with a passion. I had been looking forward to today, as all being well, DS and FDiL plus grand dogs are coming late tonight, if not, tomorrow morning. We shall then be able to celebrate our delayed Christmas.

I awoke with a blazing headache which normally is quickly brought under control, not this morning. We needed to go for some fresh food and having duly shopped, arrived at said style of till.

On went the bag then every bit of shopping we added called for the assistant! Turns out their own bags are a little too long for the scale bit. Presumably it thought we were shoplifting.

I vented steam by emptying what shopping was in it onto the scales, where it promptly slid off. Now stop it! I know you are laughing!

Steam by now was venting all by itself and DB was getting a tad embarrassed and asked me to calm down, bless him, he knew it was the wrong thing to say as soon as the words left his lips.

I continued to stack the scales picking up the odd thing as it slipped off barely able to keep myself from exploding. Eventually the torture was over but when the robotic voice thanked us for shopping with them I told it to get knotted!

It can't just be me, can it?

29 comments:

  1. I refuse to use the self checkout. If I do all the work, then it should be getting a discount....when I have had to use it I,like you, am always shouting back at it...very frustrating!
    What is it about waking with a headache? I know that if I don't go downstairs and take something, it will get even worse. No rhyme or reason as to why and when they come, but seem to occur for a week or so, and then go away for months...

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  2. Oh thank you, I thought it was just me! I avoid them like the plague, and my hubby is the same, we much prefer to go to a person and keep them in a job.

    Hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your family xx

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  3. I read recently that you can change the language on these stoooopid machines as one particular person has said he used to get wound up with it shouting "bagging area" at him but now they change it to Welsh it just makes them laugh.........I'm going to have a look next time I use one x

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    Replies
    1. Lynda - I don't know what it is either, headache went eventually.
      Karen - thank you.
      Julee - didn't know you could change the language!

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  4. Oh no poor you. You are not alone I have never managed to use one without the light flashing for an assistant. Twiglet talks me into it against my better judgement and we go through it all again. In my experience Morrisons are the worst.
    Twiggy

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  5. We have tried them a few times, and there is always a problem, they really crack me up, I'd rather wait in a long queue.

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  6. I hate them with a vengeance DC. They are quite astute at telling you to move your bag, or put shopping on other side in bag or insert card etc. However - they're not so clever at reminding you that the cash-back you'd just requested needs to be collected from the tray at the bottom.. "Oh no" said the lady when I went back just minutes later and my £30 had disappeared "it doesn't have to remind you" . Reeling was not the word. Never again. My fault I know but the supermarket didn't want to know and I guess this must happen a lot. P x

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    1. Twiggy - I get caught out all the tome, B & Q bossy ones also drive us nuts.
      Simple living - I think avoiding them is the answer.

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  7. Good to see it's not only me who has a problem with these machines, yep my bags are always too big, the amount of time I have to call over the assistant, chuntering to myself or talking to the blasted machine makes me sound to onlookers like a mad woman but eh oh.

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  8. Self-service tills hate me with a passion! It doesn't help though that my kids always end up touching the area where the scanned shopping goes!

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    1. Patricia - we never get money back at them so haven't experienced that, how awful.
      RosiePosie - me too, I just can't help myself answering them back!
      JibberJabberUK - don't have that problem now, that must be really annoying.

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  9. Be reassured it isn't just you. I hate them with a ferocity which isn't quite in proportion! I have dutifully tried to shop with them on a number of occasions, but I can count on two fingers the number of times I have been successful without having to repeatedly wait for assistance. My children and friends all tell me I'm over reacting, but patently I'm not as no level of actual service is provided. It's not even faster!! Give me a human being any day - even the grumpy ones are preferable to a machine!

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    Replies
    1. Mindo - hadn't thought about that, well mentioned.
      Happeninguponhappiness - we much prefer humans as well.

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  10. I usually avoid them like the plague, but having listened to the racist bigot of a till operator this morning I may use them in future. Alternatively, I'll choose one of the lovely Asian till operators rather than the 'white British' one I got this morning.

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  11. This week I went to Ikea with friends , when we got to the checkout as the lines were very long they joined the self service queue . I told them that it would all go wrong when it was my turn but they did not believe me , as predicted the machine did not recognise any of the bar codes on my shopping , it would have been much quicker to just join a queue .

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  12. Sorry DC but yes I was smirking at the picture you painted here. But part of it was also due to my own experience with almost everything automated as nothing goes as it should and my full vocal range of Anglo Saxon is to heard booming out turning the air very blue.

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    Replies
    1. Scarlet, I think some people forget that many Asians have been here for several generations so they can't go home as this is their home.
      Chris p, obviously the tills find you so interesting they just can't cope!
      John, knew someone would be smirking, I am surprised the air isn't more blue more often.

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  13. I've got them sussed now but I still find them frustratingly slow. They don't recognise articles under a certain weight. Whenever I buy yeast or sugar free jelly I call the girl over straight away because they're going to cause problems. I always pay in cash and the machine takes an age to deduce what you've paid.

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  14. I`ve learnt to cope with these type of check-outs, but DB refuses to use them when he is out shopping by himself, as something always goes wrong. Then, he feel embarrassed to call for assistance. It can get very frustrating at times when things don`t go your way. I usually only use them when I have just a few items to buy. On bigger shopping trips I still do prefer to have the till girls do the totting up.

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    1. Frugal in Essex, I guess it really struggles with very light things, you can almost hear it thinking.
      Sarina, given the choice, I will always avoid them.

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  15. I will not use them unless of course I get a discount. Just been to Sainsbury's this evening and only 4 manned checkouts open so they are trying to force people to use these self ones. Even my daughter who has worked in retail has problems with them.

    Mind you, I did use one once and put my note I was paying with in what I thought was the right place and I was totally wrong. The assistant had to take the machine apart to get my money for me:)

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  16. Ha...Just like me in Morrisons yesterday. Every bloomin' item. Place item in bagging area....remove item from bagging area...over and over. The worst self service machine experience I have ever had!
    J. x

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  17. I love them I m afraid. I can take my time; ten minutes if need be and check every single price. I dont worry about calling the girl over and there is never a queue behind me. There have been so many mistakes in my receipts (always in their favor, not mine). I still find I am being overcharged on the self-check sometimes; they ring up the old price not the sales price very often. However, just as I was getting really good at them, they seem to be disappearing. Must not be making any money on them.

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    1. Pat, I can imagine it would be very easy to use the wrong slot, especially if feeling frazzled.
      J, why is it that it seems to sense when we are in a hurry before playing up?
      Lizzie, you must be one of the few who love them.

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  18. I won't use them as I take the view that I am taking some one's job :(

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  19. The trick is not to use ANY bags, to simply stack all the shopping the weighing side and then bag up at the end .... although an annoying little voice says "please take your goods" over and over until you have finished if you're not quick enough!!

    I learnt that from my younger son who worked at Sainsbugs for a couple of years at times manning the self service tills, which unsurprising infuriate the staff as much as the customers.

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  20. I hate them as well. Won't use them.

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  21. They've never really caught on here in the US. Most people refuse to use them so many of the stores that put them in are removing them.

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  22. Compostwoman, I would concur with that but DB doesn't mind using them so much.
    Sue, glad they annoy the staff as well:)
    Meanqueen, neither would I.
    Tpals, hope that happens here, then more jobs might become available.

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