Why several big-box stores have ditched their self-checkouts | CBC News

Technology@lemmy.world – 105 points – 12 months ago

Why several big-box stores have ditched their self-checkouts | CBC News::undefined

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There’s no way to send feedback, or to log a fault with the machine, so the store operators have to deal with every single exception manually, over and over, instead of getting the thing fixed.

“Place your bags in bagging area” (ok, done)
“Unexpected item in bagging area” (How can it be unexpected, you just told me to put my bags there. Operator logs in and clears fault)
(remove bags) “item removed from bagging area” (so you want me to put my bags there, but you don’t, but you do. Operator logs in and clears fault)
“We couldn’t scan the last item” (yes you could, it’s on the screen there. But if I take it back and scan it again, I get “item removed” and then it won’t scan it again. Operator logs in and clears fault)
“unexpected item in bagging area (again)”. (So I successfully scanned the thing, but you didn’t expect me to put it in the bagging area? Where should it put it instead? Operator logged in and clears fault)
“have you forgotten to scan something?” (No, that’s my walking stick and the extra bags I brought that I didn’t actually need after all. Operator logs in and clears fault)

Does anyone actually test these things before installing them at the stores? Does anyone review the faults to see how to improve the scanning and item recognition? Are you really creating a better customer experience by having half a dozen customers holding up the line while waiting for the operator to come and clear a fault?

Huh. In my area, all of those features went away years ago. Self check-out is so easy it's possible to shoplift without realizing it.
I just assumed the world collectively ditched all those annoying features.

The truth is they largely dont care. It's easier for them to have an overactivity cautious robot that's dog gone triple checks that you aren't robbing them as long as they can close all normal lanes but one. They dont care that it's a 10x worse job than cashiering the normal register, or that you're annoyed to shop there. In most cases, your choice of stores is either limited, or the other ones are doing the same damn thing.

All that said, i have seen self checkout done well and sanely. Instead of jamming tiny stations next to each other to fit 10 in what used to be 2 normal lanes, it was more like 10 in 4 old lanes. Each station was huge, with plenty of room to set things. It had actually calibrated sensors that let you put bags down first, and get this, the clerk was able to remotely clear errors from a nearby station that wasent crowding anyone.

The above was in an overpriced, boutique store so i dont expect it to ever become the norm, but ill be damned if it wasent actually nice to use.

I stopped shopping at Cub specifically because the self-checkout registers were just like the ones described above. The cashier lanes weren’t any better because I still had to do all the work except scanning anyway.

Cub is the most convenient location for me by about 5 miles, but I refuse to go there because the service is so very bad.

The self check at my local Cub is awful, the paranoid self check is so frustrating, especially because I bring my own bags and it never works right. And it's so expensive compared to every other grocery store in the area.

I want to like Cub because they're the only union grocery store that's convenient, but allegedly they allow lower management in the union and that's caused problems, and the rumor I've heard is that the company that owns Cub is intentionally running it into the ground in order to kill the union. But given how shitty all retail has become, I'm not sure how true that rumor is.

I'd add one more- I set my purse down on the scan area (the only flat surface) to get my credit card out and get the "unable to scan item, please try again". I try to set it with the bags and get the "unexpected item in bagging area, please remove from bagging area". If I dont want to hold it while scanning and bagging I end up having to keep switching purse between shoulders or set it on the floor (which feels insecure).

They had to know that women carry purses and don't always have a cart to set them down in, but they gave us nowhere to set them while scanning or bagging things and it just creates a mess.