Ageism in the Self-checkout Lane

[Tennesseer]

Ageism in the Self-checkout Lane

It's time to raise awareness about how technology frustrations and lack of human interaction can be detrimental to older adults.

There's a new form of ageism taking root and it appears to be an unintended consequence of both technology and a shrinking labor market. I refer to it as Self-checkout Ageism and it can be witnessed at major grocery store chains, coffee shops, and retailers.

I recently met a friend for breakfast and was surprised to see a note at the counter that said due to staffing shortages, the only option was to order at one of the kiosks. So, I proceeded to scroll through what felt like a dozen screens to order a small black coffee. Then I had to pay, which took several swipes with two different debit cards. It left me feeling a little uneasy as I had no receipt to prove whether I just bought one coffee or a weeks' worth of them.

As I took a seat and waited for my friend, that's when the challenges facing older adults reared its ugly head. I noticed a gentleman walk up to the counter and stand there for a couple minutes before seeing the "no staff" sign. He appeared confused as he moved over to the kiosk and tiny tablet sitting on the counter. Then he realized he didn't have his reading glasses, and started yo-yoing his head back and forth, squinting and then opening his eyes wide to try and navigate the menu. It wasn't long before he gave up and left.

Shortly thereafter, an older couple came in and tried to order on the kiosk as well. It was a slow process that seemed to cause some friction between them. You could hear them exchange comments like "Let me see," "No, go back," "Click right there." As you might expect, there were also several death stares from younger customers.

One complication is the fact that most software and device designers are young twenty-somethings who don't realize that some older adults struggle with vision, hearing and/or manual dexterity. In other words, they get emails and texts they can't always see, audio that may be hard to hear, buttons that are too small to push or screens that work too fast. Furthermore, they miss the personal interaction that a face-to-face encounter provides for them.

However, mainstream research doesn't paint the same picture. Popular studies and polls suggest older Americans are adopting technology at the fastest rates ever.

Studies by Pew Research found that:

Two-thirds of adults 65 and over now use the Internet
The percentage of people age 65+ using at least one social media site grew from 7% in 2010 to 37% in 2018
Smartphone ownership among 65+ adults increased from 18 to 42% from 2013 to 2017
All key aspects to bridging what some people call the digital divide between older and younger adults, but what these numbers fail to provide is the level of digital literacy or efficiency with which these groups use the various forms of technology.

The Challenges of the Self-checkout...

Complete article here: Ageism in the Self-checkout Lane

[jerseygirl]

I’m fine with this but Jerseyguy has macular degeneration and can’t use internet or any screens

[Tennesseer]

I saw it several months back while food shopping.  And I previously mentioned the incident here.

Went to checkout my groceries and saw that none of the checkout counters were open at my local Kroger other than self-checkout.  The food store that day was very under-staffed..

Six self-checkout stations were available while 15 customers were ahead of me with moderately to full carts.  And the line behind me was building fast.  Only one employee was seen and she was trying to help everyone at the self-checkout stations who were having problems with scanning their purchases,

Many in line were seniors like myself.  Unlike me who was used to using the self-check out stations, these other seniors were not let alone having to bag their own groceries.

The seniors and some of the other younger shoppers were having a rough go of it.  When one has a full cart of goods, bagging becomes a problem because there is little room at the stations to do so.  And the scanner stops  because the senior did something wrong and had to wait for that one employee to help clear up the error.

[Tiny]

This isn't an "ageism" example - but perhaps adds to the pile of examples of poorly set up automatic check out processes:

I was a the library to renew my card in person (normal people don't need to do it in person...I think my card is some sort of "grandfathered" in special subset of cards... I use it and keep it out of nostalgia for the distant past. ) The process took quite a while. There weren't many patrons and only one person at the desk helping me. While I waited I watched people come in go to the "self serve" shelves to find the materials they had pre-ordered and then go to the "automatic" check out machine to check out. I watched 3 people use the machine and they seemed to know the "routine" and quickly checked out. A fourth person (20 something?) then approached the machine and started reading it... they attempted unsuccessfully to get their books checked out. After a bunch of tries and the machine "locking them out" they came over to wait behind me in order to have to be checked out the old way.

I chatted with the guy and mentioned that it looked like the book needed to be put down in the V shaped trough (so book was on an angle) with the barcode on the back cover under the red scanner light. He had been holding the book flat above the V trough trying to get the red scanner light to scan the book. And then the once the scan was read the book had to be positioned so the spine was pressed against the bottom of the "V" and run back and forth until the screen said it read whatever was embedded in the spine of the book. As my renewal wasn't moving forward - the guy went back to the machine and started over and used the V shaped trough to align the book/barcode with the scanner light. And it worked. He did the book spine thing successfully too.

From what I could see of the scanner "screen" and instructions - there wasn't a "picture" of how to put the book in the V shape trough... and there wasn't a "picture" or how to run the spine over the "spine reader" part a the bottom of the trough.... Go figure.

Since I witnessed 3 people quickly check out handfuls of materials each - I'm guessing the self check out is quick and easy IF YOU KNOW THE PATH to take --- if you don't know your way thru the screens or the procedure - it's likely you will fail. I know I would fail a couple of times before I started wondering about the V shape trough and how maybe it was there for a reason/purpose. but for the most part - I have never seen a scanner work like that.

I think someone will have a Bazillion Dollar get rich quick business - if they can come up with a way to help these kinds of machines have either a more consistent interface OR if they can make easier to navigate screens (that are consistent from coffee shop, to grocery store, to library checkout. )

I personally HATE the self check out at grocery stores.... the one's I've used show the FULL price not the sale price and show the Total Sale based on those FULL prices. You don't see the sale prices or the actual price you will pay - until you say you are ready to PAY. I HATE that - I don't want to commit to pay based on a Total I have no intention of paying...  I'm NOT paying full price for something I know is on sale.   I'm not sure how difficult it is to remove something once you've scanned it, put it on the bagging scale, and then decide you don't want it...   I'm guessing it's not easy. 

I think self checkouts and such need some sort of easy to follow MAP - so who ever is using it for the first time - has a PATH to follow - thru all the various choices and to know what they might be asked for once they get started....  (That's another thing I HATE -  when I am faced with more clicks or screens or choices than I was expecting...   If I know I'm gonna have to go thru 10 screens - ahead of time  and maybe some hints at what kinds of decisions I will have to make - I'm a much more tolerant.) 

[Deleted]

Feb 22, 2022 15:37:29 GMT -5 Tiny said:

I personally HATE the self check out at grocery stores.... the ones I've used show the FULL price not the sale price and show the Total Sale based on those FULL prices. You don't see the sale prices or the actual price you will pay - until you say you are ready to PAY. I HATE that - I don't want to commit to pay based on a Total I have no intention of paying...  I'm NOT paying full price for something I know is on sale.   I'm not sure how difficult it is to remove something once you've scanned it, put it on the bagging scale, and then decide you don't want it...   I'm guessing it's not easy. 

I think the ones in my area do show the sale price- I'd find that annoying, too, if they didn't.  

In my area you can't remove something if you get an error- you have to wait for someone to scurry over and tell you that your product was "large asparagus", not "small asparagus" or that you needed to search for "green onion", not scallions".  Like HTH was I supposed to know?  They then reset the error.  If putting the item aside and cancelling it was an option I'd do it- just to show how I feel about making the system too hard to use. 

And it's not just older adults who mess up.  My granddaughters love self-checkout but sometimes they get too eager to put something into the cart after it's been scanned and the machine voice tells them to put it back on the platform.

[Lizard Queen]

Feb 22, 2022 15:37:29 GMT -5 Tiny said:

This isn't an "ageism" example - but perhaps adds to the pile of examples of poorly set up automatic check out processes:

I was a the library to renew my card in person (normal people don't need to do it in person...I think my card is some sort of "grandfathered" in special subset of cards... I use it and keep it out of nostalgia for the distant past. ) The process took quite a while. There weren't many patrons and only one person at the desk helping me. While I waited I watched people come in go to the "self serve" shelves to find the materials they had pre-ordered and then go to the "automatic" check out machine to check out. I watched 3 people use the machine and they seemed to know the "routine" and quickly checked out. A fourth person (20 something?) then approached the machine and started reading it... they attempted unsuccessfully to get their books checked out. After a bunch of tries and the machine "locking them out" they came over to wait behind me in order to have to be checked out the old way.

I chatted with the guy and mentioned that it looked like the book needed to be put down in the V shaped trough (so book was on an angle) with the barcode on the back cover under the red scanner light. He had been holding the book flat above the V trough trying to get the red scanner light to scan the book. And then the once the scan was read the book had to be positioned so the spine was pressed against the bottom of the "V" and run back and forth until the screen said it read whatever was embedded in the spine of the book. As my renewal wasn't moving forward - the guy went back to the machine and started over and used the V shaped trough to align the book/barcode with the scanner light. And it worked. He did the book spine thing successfully too.

From what I could see of the scanner "screen" and instructions - there wasn't a "picture" of how to put the book in the V shape trough... and there wasn't a "picture" or how to run the spine over the "spine reader" part a the bottom of the trough.... Go figure.

Since I witnessed 3 people quickly check out handfuls of materials each - I'm guessing the self check out is quick and easy IF YOU KNOW THE PATH to take --- if you don't know your way thru the screens or the procedure - it's likely you will fail. I know I would fail a couple of times before I started wondering about the V shape trough and how maybe it was there for a reason/purpose. but for the most part - I have never seen a scanner work like that.

I think someone will have a Bazillion Dollar get rich quick business - if they can come up with a way to help these kinds of machines have either a more consistent interface OR if they can make easier to navigate screens (that are consistent from coffee shop, to grocery store, to library checkout. )

I personally HATE the self check out at grocery stores.... the one's I've used show the FULL price not the sale price and show the Total Sale based on those FULL prices. You don't see the sale prices or the actual price you will pay - until you say you are ready to PAY. I HATE that - I don't want to commit to pay based on a Total I have no intention of paying...  I'm NOT paying full price for something I know is on sale.   I'm not sure how difficult it is to remove something once you've scanned it, put it on the bagging scale, and then decide you don't want it...   I'm guessing it's not easy. 

I think self checkouts and such need some sort of easy to follow MAP - so who ever is using it for the first time - has a PATH to follow - thru all the various choices and to know what they might be asked for once they get started....  (That's another thing I HATE -  when I am faced with more clicks or screens or choices than I was expecting...   If I know I'm gonna have to go thru 10 screens - ahead of time  and maybe some hints at what kinds of decisions I will have to make - I'm a much more tolerant.) 

Our library has the absolute best self checkout I've ever seen. Very easy large buttons on the screen, scan your card, you can put your books in a stack, (they don't have to be done individually) and it lists all of them, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, it asks if you have more, if not, you want a printed receipt, and you're done.

[Deleted]

Locally we've gone to a touchscreen voting system and it takes forever.  First you have to insert sheets of paper, black arrow on the top and notch corner on the right, inserting the second sheet only when prompted.  Then you mark your selections. Many, many senior voters are requesting a chair because there's 85-95 races depending on where you live and that takes about 20 minutes to do.  Then you take your sheets of paper over to a second station and wait in line to feed your paper sheets through that machine.  I told a poll worker that we're going to have to schedule intermission for bathroom breaks and snacks if our ballots get any longer.  

[jerseygirl]

Soup why do you have so many races for voting? Governor, senate, representative, state senator and reps, city, school board? Surely not all in one year??
Then questions??

[Deleted]

Feb 22, 2022 16:54:07 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Soup why do you have so many races for voting? Governor, senate, representative, state senator and reps, city, school board? Surely not all in one year??
Then questions??

School boards were last year and city council is next year.  State constitutional amendments are in May 2022.  The March 1 primary is governor, lt. governor, attorney general, land commissioner, railroad commissioners, state senate and house, US senate and house and all judges from Supreme Court down to Justices of the Peace, including juvenile, family law and probate.  I live in a huge county with an equally huge judiciary.  Everything really is bigger in Texas 

[NoNamePerson]

Feb 22, 2022 12:16:07 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

I saw it several months back while food shopping.  And I previously mentioned the incident here.

Went to checkout my groceries and saw that none of the checkout counters were open at my local Kroger other than self-checkout.  The food store that day was very under-staffed..

Six self-checkout stations were available while 15 customers were ahead of me with moderately to full carts.  And the line behind me was building fast.  Only one employee was seen and she was trying to help everyone at the self-checkout stations who were having problems with scanning their purchases,

Many in line were seniors like myself.  Unlike me who was used to using the self-check out stations, these other seniors were not let alone having to bag their own groceries.

The seniors and some of the other younger shoppers were having a rough go of it.  When one has a full cart of goods, bagging becomes a problem because there is little room at the stations to do so.  And the scanner stops  because the senior did something wrong and had to wait for that one employee to help clear up the error.

I popped into one of the Neighborhood Wal-Mart stores and had about 10 items and everything was self checkout and lines stacking up. It seems to take longer sometimes using self checkout and not just "elderly" people. I just left my cart and the store and went down the road to another store and got same 10 items that cost me $2.87 more! But I was in and out in less time than it took me to drive there. 

[NoNamePerson]

Feb 22, 2022 16:05:17 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

Feb 22, 2022 15:37:29 GMT -5 Tiny said:

This isn't an "ageism" example - but perhaps adds to the pile of examples of poorly set up automatic check out processes:

I was a the library to renew my card in person (normal people don't need to do it in person...I think my card is some sort of "grandfathered" in special subset of cards... I use it and keep it out of nostalgia for the distant past. ) The process took quite a while. There weren't many patrons and only one person at the desk helping me. While I waited I watched people come in go to the "self serve" shelves to find the materials they had pre-ordered and then go to the "automatic" check out machine to check out. I watched 3 people use the machine and they seemed to know the "routine" and quickly checked out. A fourth person (20 something?) then approached the machine and started reading it... they attempted unsuccessfully to get their books checked out. After a bunch of tries and the machine "locking them out" they came over to wait behind me in order to have to be checked out the old way.

I chatted with the guy and mentioned that it looked like the book needed to be put down in the V shaped trough (so book was on an angle) with the barcode on the back cover under the red scanner light. He had been holding the book flat above the V trough trying to get the red scanner light to scan the book. And then the once the scan was read the book had to be positioned so the spine was pressed against the bottom of the "V" and run back and forth until the screen said it read whatever was embedded in the spine of the book. As my renewal wasn't moving forward - the guy went back to the machine and started over and used the V shaped trough to align the book/barcode with the scanner light. And it worked. He did the book spine thing successfully too.

From what I could see of the scanner "screen" and instructions - there wasn't a "picture" of how to put the book in the V shape trough... and there wasn't a "picture" or how to run the spine over the "spine reader" part a the bottom of the trough.... Go figure.

Since I witnessed 3 people quickly check out handfuls of materials each - I'm guessing the self check out is quick and easy IF YOU KNOW THE PATH to take --- if you don't know your way thru the screens or the procedure - it's likely you will fail. I know I would fail a couple of times before I started wondering about the V shape trough and how maybe it was there for a reason/purpose. but for the most part - I have never seen a scanner work like that.

I think someone will have a Bazillion Dollar get rich quick business - if they can come up with a way to help these kinds of machines have either a more consistent interface OR if they can make easier to navigate screens (that are consistent from coffee shop, to grocery store, to library checkout. )

I personally HATE the self check out at grocery stores.... the one's I've used show the FULL price not the sale price and show the Total Sale based on those FULL prices. You don't see the sale prices or the actual price you will pay - until you say you are ready to PAY. I HATE that - I don't want to commit to pay based on a Total I have no intention of paying...  I'm NOT paying full price for something I know is on sale.   I'm not sure how difficult it is to remove something once you've scanned it, put it on the bagging scale, and then decide you don't want it...   I'm guessing it's not easy. 

I think self checkouts and such need some sort of easy to follow MAP - so who ever is using it for the first time - has a PATH to follow - thru all the various choices and to know what they might be asked for once they get started....  (That's another thing I HATE -  when I am faced with more clicks or screens or choices than I was expecting...   If I know I'm gonna have to go thru 10 screens - ahead of time  and maybe some hints at what kinds of decisions I will have to make - I'm a much more tolerant.) 

Our library has the absolute best self checkout I've ever seen. Very easy large buttons on the screen, scan your card, you can put your books in a stack, (they don't have to be done individually) and it lists all of them, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, it asks if you have more, if not, you want a printed receipt, and you're done.

The branch I go do does too. Minimum of two live humans behind the counter!! One person at desk in main part of library for answering questions. Minimum of two people upstairs in the department that has computers (library and internet access) printing, laminating, and research dept. This is at the branch I go to so can't attest to what goes on at the other branches in the city/count. I usually just put books on hold from home/they call/text and I pick up. But I do like to browse the rows from time to time. I get newsletters that let me know about new arrivals, mysteries and events/classes that take place.

I guess something to be said for hi tech and low tech too. I can deal with hi tech when I have to so no biggie. A friend of mine grandson works at the branch I use so I usually get to pop by his desk and say hi!!  

[Lizard Queen]

Feb 22, 2022 17:16:21 GMT -5 NoNamePerson said:

Feb 22, 2022 16:05:17 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

Our library has the absolute best self checkout I've ever seen. Very easy large buttons on the screen, scan your card, you can put your books in a stack, (they don't have to be done individually) and it lists all of them, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, it asks if you have more, if not, you want a printed receipt, and you're done.

The branch I go do does too. Minimum of two live humans behind the counter!! One person at desk in main part of library for answering questions. Minimum of two people upstairs in the department that has computers (library and internet access) printing, laminating, and research dept. This is at the branch I go to so can't attest to what goes on at the other branches in the city/count. I usually just put books on hold from home/they call/text and I pick up. But I do like to browse the rows from time to time. I get newsletters that let me know about new arrivals, mysteries and events/classes that take place.

I guess something to be said for hi tech and low tech too. I can deal with hi tech when I have to so no biggie. A friend of mine grandson works at the branch I use so I usually get to pop by his desk and say hi!!  

My library also has 2 or 3 people behind the counters to help and check you out if you want. The self scan is actually faster, though.

[jerseygirl]

Feb 22, 2022 17:03:12 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

Feb 22, 2022 16:54:07 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Soup why do you have so many races for voting? Governor, senate, representative, state senator and reps, city, school board? Surely not all in one year??
Then questions??

School boards were last year and city council is next year.  State constitutional amendments are in May 2022.  The March 1 primary is governor, lt. governor, attorney general, land commissioner, railroad commissioners, state senate and house, US senate and house and all judges from Supreme Court down to Justices of the Peace, including juvenile, family law and probate.  I live in a huge county with an equally huge judiciary.  Everything really is bigger in Texas 

Ah! In NJ judges aren’t elected, railroad commissioner isn’t either and we don’t have a land commissioner
Attorney general also not elected but appointed by governor

[Deleted]

Feb 22, 2022 17:36:35 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Feb 22, 2022 17:03:12 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

School boards were last year and city council is next year.  State constitutional amendments are in May 2022.  The March 1 primary is governor, lt. governor, attorney general, land commissioner, railroad commissioners, state senate and house, US senate and house and all judges from Supreme Court down to Justices of the Peace, including juvenile, family law and probate.  I live in a huge county with an equally huge judiciary.  Everything really is bigger in Texas 

Ah! In NJ judges aren’t elected, railroad commissioner isn’t either and we don’t have a land commissioner
Attorney general also not elected but appointed by governor

Election vs appointment is a perennial topic around here but I don't see anything changing.  At least, printing millions of mailers and yard signs every 4 years keeps a lot of printers in business.  For the record, our railroad commissioner has nothing at all to do with railroads-he regulates the oil and gas industry which is very lucrative at election time.  And the incumbent land commissioner regulates fun things like the hemp industry and its licenses which has proven lucrative for him as our hemp production skyrockets.  

[TheOtherMe]

I know neither one of my parents could do self-checkout.  They would not have known how to do it.  My dad was pretty sharp before the dementia set in and he could not have done it.  

I seriously doubt if my 3 living aunts and uncles, all over age 90, could figure it out.

[susana1954]

I remember when gas stations switched to self-serve. 

They will get the hang of it.  And this directly ties to what I was saying in the Inflation thread.  Companies will turn to solutions like this before they pay the kind of raises that people are talking about for unskilled labor.  And cashiers are unskilled labor.  People having trouble with self-checkout are new to it.  Our WM has had it forever, and people just zip through.  

I actually prefer self-checkout.  I hated standing in line while the cashier chatted up the customers to be "friendly."  

[Tennesseer]

Feb 22, 2022 19:50:54 GMT -5 susana1954 said:

I remember when gas stations switched to self-serve. 

They will get the hang of it.  And this directly ties to what I was saying in the Inflation thread.  Companies will turn to solutions like this before they pay the kind of raises that people are talking about for unskilled labor.  And cashiers are unskilled labor.  People having trouble with self-checkout are new to it.  Our WM has had it forever, and people just zip through.  

I actually prefer self-checkout.  I hated standing in line while the cashier chatted up the customers to be "friendly."  

When I worked and lived in New Jersey, my boss, who was originally from the PNW, said the only good thing about living in New Jersey was you didn't have to pump your own gas.  This was around 1991.  Today, one probably has to pump their own gas in New Jersey.

[Sharon]

Feb 22, 2022 20:41:39 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Feb 22, 2022 19:50:54 GMT -5 susana1954 said:

I remember when gas stations switched to self-serve. 

They will get the hang of it.  And this directly ties to what I was saying in the Inflation thread.  Companies will turn to solutions like this before they pay the kind of raises that people are talking about for unskilled labor.  And cashiers are unskilled labor.  People having trouble with self-checkout are new to it.  Our WM has had it forever, and people just zip through.  

I actually prefer self-checkout.  I hated standing in line while the cashier chatted up the customers to be "friendly."  

When I worked and lived in New Jersey, my boss, who was originally from the PNW, said the only good thing about living in New Jersey was you didn't have to pump your own gas.  This was around 1991.  Today, one probably has to pump their own gas in New Jersey.

Actually New Jersey and parts of Oregon are the only places where you aren't allowed to pump your own gas.  A few years ago Oregon started allowing self service in the very rural, eastern part of the state.  It was supposed to be evening hours and overnight but I have been to stations during the day where it is pump your own.  There is a bill in the legislature this year to allow self serve gas in the rest of the state which would leave New Jersey as the only state that doesn't allow self serve.

[Tennesseer]

Feb 22, 2022 20:51:23 GMT -5 Sharon said:

Feb 22, 2022 20:41:39 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

When I worked and lived in New Jersey, my boss, who was originally from the PNW, said the only good thing about living in New Jersey was you didn't have to pump your own gas.  This was around 1991.  Today, one probably has to pump their own gas in New Jersey.

Actually New Jersey and parts of Oregon are the only places where you aren't allowed to pump your own gas.  A few years ago Oregon started allowing self service in the very rural, eastern part of the state.  It was supposed to be evening hours and overnight but I have been to stations during the day where it is pump your own.  There is a bill in the legislature this year to allow self serve gas in the rest of the state which would leave New Jersey as the only state that doesn't allow self serve.

Thanks, Sharon, for the update.

[Deleted]

I can navigate self checkout fairly well, but I HATE it. I hate it enough that I often rant about it, and here’s another rant.

It pisses me off that stores try to tell me it’s a convenience they came up with, just for me.

Don’t try to blow smoke up my ass, Self Checkout is a way to reduce labor costs.

So, if you introduced Self Checkout to benefit ME, reduce your prices in at least a small percentage, in accordance to what you’re saving on labor costs. I mean, you’re trying to force me to work for you if I shop with you, so pay me something!

Our society is all about getting paid, right? So pay ME.

I’ve been a cashier at big chain stores before…..  it pisses me off that stores now expect me to do the exact same things as a consumer, that I used to get paid to do as an employee…… for free now. I’m supposed to work for free now, to shop and spend my money somewhere….. so rich folks can get even richer?! I can’t make it make sense, so……

I think the fuck NOT!

When I’m not really in a hurry, I’ll stand in a short line for a human cashier before I use self checkout. 

My little protests doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but I do them anyway.

[busymom]

I've walked out of fast food places that had no counter help, where you had to try & figure out their ordering system by yourself.  Nope.  If they want my money, they can provide something called service, with actual humans.  Otherwise, I might as well just stay home if I don't want any human interaction.


I don't use self checkout at stores, either. Why should I take away a job from someone?  Do I get a discount for ringing myself up?  Nope.  No deal.

[NoNamePerson]

Feb 22, 2022 20:41:39 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Feb 22, 2022 19:50:54 GMT -5 susana1954 said:

I remember when gas stations switched to self-serve. 

They will get the hang of it.  And this directly ties to what I was saying in the Inflation thread.  Companies will turn to solutions like this before they pay the kind of raises that people are talking about for unskilled labor.  And cashiers are unskilled labor.  People having trouble with self-checkout are new to it.  Our WM has had it forever, and people just zip through.  

I actually prefer self-checkout.  I hated standing in line while the cashier chatted up the customers to be "friendly."  

When I worked and lived in New Jersey, my boss, who was originally from the PNW, said the only good thing about living in New Jersey was you didn't have to pump your own gas.  This was around 1991.  Today, one probably has to pump their own gas in New Jersey

I’ve been pumping my own gas for so long that if approached by human at service I would think I was going to be robbed. 

[Deleted]

Feb 22, 2022 21:25:43 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

So, if you introduced Self Checkout to benefit ME, reduce your prices in at least a small percentage, in accordance to what you’re saving on labor costs. I mean, you’re trying to force me to work for you if I shop with you, so pay me something!
<snip>

When I’m not really in a hurry, I’ll stand in a short line for a human cashier before I use self checkout. 

My little protests don’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but I do them anyway.

I also use the human checkout when possible.  Heck, I'd take a 1% discount to use self-checkout but they don't offer it.  When they first started self-serve gas pumps when I lived in Ohio, they had self-serve and full serve bays and there was a discount of a few cents off for self-serve.  Then full-serve disappeared.    Two days ago while I was pumping gas in a freezing wind I briefly missed NJ.

Eventually the "full-service" option disappears or becomes inconvenient.  My Post Office nearly always has a long line. I have a package to mail today so of course I'll use the self-service machine in the lobby.

[TheOtherMe]

In the town next to mine, there is a full service gas station.  They don't check the oil, but they do clean the windows and will check the tires if asked.  That's where I fill up.  To stay competitive the price is the same as the self service station down the road.  

There are not many of those stations left in Iowa.

At a small town post office, there are no self service machines.  I have never had to wait for more than two people.

[wvugurl26]

I guess I'm odd. I've never really liked small talk with cashiers, etc. I'm always stressed I'll say the wrong thing, something dumb, etc. It just stresses me, it doesn't improve my day. I much prefer to order from an app or online or use the kiosk. Then I know the order has been inputted correctly.

At the grocery stores around here, all the sale prices come off at the end no matter whether you go to a human or self check out.

There's usually a line at the post office here. DH loves the self serve machines to scan in small packages that I've pre paid for. I like to have a receipt that its been accepted especially if it's something I've sold. The line is usually through the lobby to the door.

Time is precious to me. I'd rather not spend it waiting in line.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Someone has to make the self check out machines and sell them.  So while you think you are "taking away" a job from a cashier please keep in mind there are several other people involved whose jobs you may  "taking away" with your protests.

It's always going to be a trade off.  It's not a zero sum game when it comes to jobs.

I'm also starting to seriously question the notion that "well it's all they can do!" when protesting cashier jobs disappearing.  Is it really or have we been trained by corporations to believe that those people aren't worthy/capable of moving on because if they knew it then what is happening right now would have happened a hell of a lot sooner?

The fact that economic data shows jobs are not disappearing, people are moving on/upwards.  The jobs aren't going unfilled because nobody wants to work, it's now they have an opportunity to not work those jobs anymore and they are taking it.

Don't get me wrong I am sure there are people out there who aren't skilled to do more or really enjoy the work or are in a position where those jobs afford them flexibility they need for other things.  I just am starting to not buy the narrative that "everyone" who does it doesn't have a choice because it's all they are capable of doing.  Is it really or have we created a society that prevents people from moving on until a once in a century catastrophe comes along to shake things up?

[Opti]

Feb 23, 2022 9:22:08 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I guess I'm odd. I've never really liked small talk with cashiers, etc. I'm always stressed I'll say the wrong thing, something dumb, etc. It just stresses me, it doesn't improve my day. I much prefer to order from an app or online or use the kiosk. Then I know the order has been inputted correctly.

At the grocery stores around here, all the sale prices come off at the end no matter whether you go to a human or self check out.

There's usually a line at the post office here. DH loves the self serve machines to scan in small packages that I've pre paid for. I like to have a receipt that its been accepted especially if it's something I've sold. The line is usually through the lobby to the door.

Time is precious to me. I'd rather not spend it waiting in line.

I don't like waiting in line either, but generally unless its on the slower side or I picked a twilight time, I am waiting. Whether its self-checkout or a cashier, I will be in line. The tough thing about self-checkout is when things go wrong and there's a line waiting for you to be done. Too often in the grocery store, the shelf will say one price, and the machine another. Also, I think somehow the digital coupon clipping auto deletes some of your selections. One of the items I wanted to buy needed the digital coupon. And it was the last day of the sale. No physical coupon in the flyer to use. Did not come up as $1.99.

Some of the automation just makes more work for me. I could have saved .50 on needed TP but did not know I needed the digi-coupon and that it was not in their savings book in the store. That usually does not happen in Walgreens, but then yet another thing to manage b4 shopping. I've learned to weigh and code produce, scan in stuff like water, but I still have to wait for someone to come by to remove an item completely or send someone out to verify the price. Those two things happen much quicker with a dedicated cashier.

[jerseygirl]

I don’t use the grocery store self check unless I only have a few items and the regular check outs have a line. The cashiers are usually faster than me
But in NJ we still don’t have self service gas stations. Had to self pump a few times when visiting family in California. It’s annoying, but weather is almost always nice there. In NJ you would need to get out of car in rain snow sleet etc. Hence the t shirts - Jersey girls don’t pump gas
I now have a Tesla so still don’t pump gas and it’s unlikely a vote for self service gas stations would pass. We won’t be fooled by ‘the price will go down!’
None of these self service check outs, kiosks etc save the customer money

[Opti]

Feb 22, 2022 21:57:57 GMT -5 NoNamePerson said:

Feb 22, 2022 20:41:39 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

When I worked and lived in New Jersey, my boss, who was originally from the PNW, said the only good thing about living in New Jersey was you didn't have to pump your own gas.  This was around 1991.  Today, one probably has to pump their own gas in New Jersey

I’ve been pumping my own gas for so long that if approached by human at service I would think I was going to be robbed. 

It's weird, but I have lived in NJ a long time.

[Opti]

Feb 22, 2022 21:52:06 GMT -5 busymom said:

I've walked out of fast food places that had no counter help, where you had to try & figure out their ordering system by yourself.  Nope.  If they want my money, they can provide something called service, with actual humans.  Otherwise, I might as well just stay home if I don't want any human interaction.


I don't use self checkout at stores, either. Why should I take away a job from someone?  Do I get a discount for ringing myself up?  Nope.  No deal.

I agree I do not like those kiosks. Probably faster for regulars, but confusing if you go there and this might be the only time this year you are ordering from them. The kiosks also force combinations. If you are like me and need to avoid dairy, it feels better to ask a live human to leave off the cheese, forget the sour cream or what not. The kiosks are set for the average thing, not exceptions. And the two times I needed to use them; I did not get any help stepping through the menu as all the workers were busy.