Self checkout

Nancy Young said:

Levelwave© said:

Nancy Young said:

Here's my question. I understand you scan your stuff
and then put money (or, I assume, a debit
card/whatever) and away you go. How exactly do they
know you scanned everything? What's the technology?
Because you know people would be taking the five finger
discount left and right if that was possible.

Your grocery bags are atop a digital scale. If the weight
changes and you haven't scanned anything then you'll get
a friendly little reminder to "please remove the last
item placed in bag"...

Yep. It's my guess there are two scales. You take something
out of one bag and put it in the other bag. If the pre-
scanned bag lightens up a notch, and the post scanned bag
doesn't detect an equal heavy-down notch, and there isn't
some sorta scan in between, sump'ns rotten in checkmark. Or
maybe it's just a pre-scan scale and any up-notch must be
matched by a corresponding scan. I notice the pre-scan scale
knows when it's empty and starts asking for money.

I suppose one could scan a can of tuna for a like-weight can
of caviar (or whatever) or some other nefarious scheme.
Maybe that's why they aren't open without a live check
droid. You know we'll start hearing about large auto-
checkout counter scams just as soon as the dirtbag
contingent gets the range.

nb

Nancy Young said:

Levelwave© said:

Nancy Young said:

Here's my question. I understand you scan your stuff and
then put money (or, I assume, a debit card/whatever) and
away you go. How exactly do they know you scanned
everything? What's the technology? Because you know
people would be taking the five finger discount left and
right if that was possible.

Your grocery bags are atop a digital scale. If the weight
changes and you haven't scanned anything then you'll get a
friendly little reminder to "please remove the last item
placed in bag"...

AH! Okay, that makes perfect sense. I knew there was some
safeguard in effect, I just didn't know what it would be.

Quoted message said:

I'm sure some people are taking advantage of this "honor
system" but I'd assume that the cost of theft per hour is
much less than the employee salaries needed to run each
checkout...

We've had them 'round here for a while now... honestly
they annoy the hell out of me. At the times I need them
(late at night when I'm just dropping by for a few items)
the darned things are closed...

Never say never, but I don't see using them on a
regular basis.

nancy

I used one of those self-checkouts last weekend, and it
sucked. I had, maybe 15 items, including a case of Fresca, a
12-pack of diet cola, a 27 pound box of cat litter
absorbant, and a packet of garden seeds.

"Please place the item in the bag." WTF? the item won't
fit in a bag.

"PLEASE PLACE THE ITEM IN THE BAG" so I put the item on the
floor, and eventually it let me scan the next item.

Same thing happened 2 or 3 times. I think it let me pass on
the 12-pack of soda, but not the 24-pack. It yelled at me
even after I put the packet of seeds in the bag, because it
was too light to register on the scale.

-Bob

Levelwave© said:

Is it just me or do most Walmart clerks appear run-down,
angry or "zombie" like?

All the above!

Actually, Walmart employees act like they got hired
yesterday, are going to quit tomorrow, and had a lobotomy
in between!

Oh wait ...that's what you ssid. 😉

nb

in article [email hidden], Nancy Young at
[email hidden] wrote on 3/26/04 8:38 PM:

Quoted message said:

My point exactly, do I get a discount for doing their job?
What's next, I have to stock the shelves? Hey, it's fine
if you like that kind of thing, I'm not particularly
interested in it or I'd work there.

nancy

Yeah, I remember posting here that I would never check out
my own groceries unless I got a little 1% or 2% discount.
Well! I have been known to self checkout more often than
not. It's just faster. It does stick in my craw though.

"Levelwave©" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

PaulaGarlic said:

I prefer to do my own quickly and leave rather than make
chit-chat with

the clerk...I

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

usually end up with a clerk that's a zombie or who gives
me an odd look

over

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

something I bought...

Is it just me or do most Walmart clerks appear run-down,
angry or "zombie" like?

No, it isn't just you!! There is only one Walmart that I go
to that isn't that way, and it's an old fashioned Walmart
instead of a superstore.

(Nancy=A0Young) Yup, I knew the day would come. I saw them
farting around with a couple of the checkout counters, I
thought (naively), wonder what's wrong with them, the store
is only a few years old. Duh. So, they're here, doubt I'll
use them unless the lines are out of control. Here's my
question. I understand you scan your stuff and then put
money (or, I assume, a debit card/whatever) and away you go.
How exactly do they know you scanned everything? What's the
technology? Because you know people would be taking the five
finger discount left and right if that was possible. Just
curious. nancy (and, no, wouldn't try to steal) -----------------------------------------------------------
------RESPONE: Only one grocery store in our area has these,
I haven't used it yet but it would seem to come in handy
ONLY if am rushed. My b/f swears by those self check outs
using it every chance he does the grocery shopping. Me on
the other hand am your worst nitemare if you get caught
behind me in line. If I know the cashiers at K-mart love to
shoot the breeze with current events or gossip, Hubby has to
drag me by the arm to leave if he's in a hurry or go sit
down till am finished.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Yup, I knew the day would come. I saw them farting around
with a couple of the checkout counters, I thought
(naively), wonder what's wrong with them, the store is
only a few years old. Duh.

So, they're here, doubt I'll use them unless the lines are
out of control.

Here's my question. I understand you scan your stuff and
then put money (or, I assume, a debit card/whatever) and
away you go. How exactly do they know you scanned
everything? What's the technology? Because you know people
would be taking the five finger discount left and right if
that was possible.

Just curious. nancy (and, no, wouldn't try to steal)

Ok, right now the machine itself is only capable of counting
the items scanned against the items sent down the belt. If a
miscount occurs it lights a beacon at the register.

This doesn't necessarily mean you can't scan a cheaper item
when it comes to produce where you have to pick by picture.
Or you could scan a cheaper item twice then send it down
with the item you don't want to pay full price for.

The system has obvious flaws to me, I've built POS systems
and know them inside out. But for the most part, people
are honest.

They do post one cashier nearby the self-scan registers to
'assist' customers.

[email hidden] wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

There's only one grocery store in my area that has self-
checkout cash registers. The Kmart down the road used to
have them too, but that Kmart was shut down. Both stores
have/had a human being watching all the self-checkout
registers. I think there are also closed circuit TV
cameras watching those registers. The self-checkout
registers pose no more of an opportunity for shop lifting
than the front door of the grocery store has always posed.

Does your supermarket post uniformed security guards at each
entrance, and one in the meat department? Ours started that
in 2000. It's a bit strange to go to Safeway and see these
guys standing around, but apparently meat theft is
approaching $1 million/year just in our city alone, so it's
probably a saving in the long run.

We don't have self-checkouts yet.

wd39

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

That's how it was when Acme was really Acme. Horrible. I
rarely left the store less than irritated, every shopping
trip was a new adventure. The clerks would actually stop
checking out your groceries, lean back and have long
conversations with each other. Oh, wonder why they'd
forget your coupons. Out of control.

It's not a problem any more. Apparently Albertsons brought
in real managers.

It's not too much of a problem in my local Shaw's as yet. If
it does get to be a problem in a store I'm not above saying
"Excuse me, I thought you were being paid to ring up the
customers sales, not chat with your co-worker."

They get all flustered when you call them on it. I actually
had a store manager come up to me and thank me for breaking
two of his cashiers of the habit of chatting with each
other while they should be ringing the customers orders. I
told him if he were a good manager, I wouldn't have had to
what I did.

My favorite cashiers are the ones who don't know the
difference between things like zucchini and cucumber, the
former being more expensive than the latter. Every once in
awhile I end up with 5lbs. of cucumbers aka zucchini. Then
there are chestnuts - rang as walnuts. Yippeee!

I look at it this way, the grocery store chains have been
screwing us over for years, every once in awhile payback is
a necessity.

Nancy Young said:

Yup, I knew the day would come. I saw them farting around
with a couple of the checkout counters, I thought
(naively), wonder what's wrong with them, the store is only
a few years old. Duh.

So, they're here, doubt I'll use them unless the lines are
out of control.

Here's my question. I understand you scan your stuff and
then put money (or, I assume, a debit card/whatever) and
away you go. How exactly do they know you scanned
everything? What's the technology? Because you know people
would be taking the five finger discount left and right if
that was possible.

Just curious. nancy (and, no, wouldn't try to steal)

We've had 'em in my area for awhile. The self-checkout lanes
are only for 15 items or less, though (at least at the
Kroger I usually shop at), so I never use them.

There's always a clerk watching all the self-checkout lanes
to make sure no one steals.

[email hidden] wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

There's only one grocery store in my area that has self-
checkout cash registers. The Kmart down the road used to
have them too, but that Kmart was shut down. Both stores
have/had a human being watching all the self-checkout
registers. I think there are also closed circuit TV
cameras watching those registers. The self-checkout
registers pose no more of an opportunity for shop lifting
than the front door of the grocery store has always posed.

This is true. They weigh what you put on the platform to
scan and what goes into the bagging area. So though you
could outsmart it, it would be pretty obvious to the human
on duty overseeing self-checkout. A human is necessary
because many times items just won't scan - or the cash
machine won't take your crumpled bills, etc. At our Home
Depot, the scanning glass is so scratched up (after only a
few months) that you have to really press the barcode down
on it to get anything to register. But it's still much
faster than the long checkout lines.
- Chris
---
sudairy.comsudairy.comOpen ↗

"Nancy Young" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Yup, I knew the day would come. I saw them farting around
with a couple of the checkout counters, I thought
(naively), wonder what's wrong with them, the store is
only a few years old. Duh.

So, they're here, doubt I'll use them unless the lines are
out of control.

Here's my question. I understand you scan your stuff and
then put money (or, I assume, a debit card/whatever) and
away you go. How exactly do they know you scanned
everything? What's the technology? Because you know people
would be taking the five finger discount left and right if
that was possible.

Just curious. nancy (and, no, wouldn't try to steal)

They watch the whole schmear....there's a checkout supv
looking things over.

I like the self check cuz I can bag myself and not get the
'one item per bag' thang going.

It's ok, but when that moron is trying to self check, look
out, you'll want to be in the attended lines. Most of the
checkout problems are caused by the customers, I think.
Anyway, it works pretty nicely; I choose Spanish as the
language, just to scare the straights!

Jack Automat

"Tony P." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

That's how it was when Acme was really Acme. Horrible. I
rarely left the store less than irritated, every
shopping trip was a new adventure. The clerks would
actually stop checking out your groceries, lean back and
have long conversations with each other. Oh, wonder why
they'd forget your coupons. Out of control.

It's not a problem any more. Apparently Albertsons
brought in real managers.

It's not too much of a problem in my local Shaw's as yet.
If it does get to be a problem in a store I'm not above
saying "Excuse me, I thought you were being paid to ring
up the customers sales, not chat with your co-worker."

They get all flustered when you call them on it. I
actually had a store manager come up to me and thank me
for breaking two of his cashiers of the habit of chatting
with each other while they should be ringing the customers
orders. I told him if he were a good manager, I wouldn't
have had to what I did.

My favorite cashiers are the ones who don't know the
difference between things like zucchini and cucumber, the
former being more expensive than the latter. Every once in
awhile I end up with 5lbs. of cucumbers aka zucchini. Then
there are chestnuts - rang as walnuts. Yippeee!

I look at it this way, the grocery store chains have been
screwing us over for years, every once in awhile payback
is a necessity.

Yeah, you welfare queens love the freebies that the rest of
us have to pay for.

Jack Wop

"Julia Altshuler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:HD39c.101851$_w.1315726@attbi_s53...

Quoted message said:

The first few times I used them, I hated them. I'd scanned
a daily newspaper, put it in the bag and kept getting told
to put the item in the bag. I already had.

I've usually found that just ignoring the little "put it in
the bag" voice and keeping on scanning more items works.

However, I find them annoying for another reason. Unless I
take close heed to the order of what gets checked and
bagged, I'm likely to put too much heavy and/or sharp
cornered stuff in one bag. Lost a good bottle of wine that
way. Double bagging (lifting the filled bag off and putting
it inside another), or just fumbling with the bag opening,
really makes it nag annoyingly, though the play-dumb-and-keep-
scanning tactic usually still works. If they were outfitted
like the normal manned checkouts where the stuff was sent
down another belt then you could bag it at the end of that
belt, it would be a much nicer experience.

"Levelwave©" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

PaulaGarlic said:

I prefer to do my own quickly and leave rather than make
chit-chat with

the clerk...I

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

usually end up with a clerk that's a zombie or who gives
me an odd look

over

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

something I bought...

Is it just me or do most Walmart clerks appear run-down,
angry or "zombie" like?

Not just Wal-Mart - lately it seems all clerks are
like that...department stores, supermarkets...except
for the snotty ones in boutiques. The ones in
bookstores seem stoned.

But Wal-Mart is usually the worst.

R'gards,

Paula

I mentioned this thread to Jim last night and asked him what
the theft prevention device was. He said there were hidden
cameras. That makes me hate Price Chopper even more. The
only thing I liked about self checkout was the implied
trust, the idea that some customers preferred doing the
mechanical task themselves and would do a good job of it.
The idea of having to do the job and be watched on a monitor
at the same time, well, that's just sucky. Not that I needed
more excuses to shop elsewhere.

--Lia

Julia Altshuler said:

I mentioned this thread to Jim last night and asked him
what the theft prevention device was. He said there were
hidden cameras. That makes me hate Price Chopper even
more. The only thing I liked about self checkout was the
implied trust, the idea that some customers preferred
doing the mechanical task themselves and would do a good
job of it. The idea of having to do the job and be watched
on a monitor at the same time, well, that's just sucky.
Not that I needed more excuses to shop elsewhere.

Oh, I think it's safe to say you are being watched on camera
in any given place in any store.

nancy

Nancy Young said:

Oh, I think it's safe to say you are being watched on
camera in any given place in any store.

I know that. I'm at a loss to think of a reason why the one
bothers me more than the other. At the checkout, I take it
personally.

--Lia

Nancy Young <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Julia Altshuler said:

I mentioned this thread to Jim last night and asked him
what the theft prevention device was. He said there were
hidden cameras. That makes me hate Price Chopper even
more. The only thing I liked about self checkout was the
implied trust, the idea that some customers preferred
doing the mechanical task themselves and would do a good
job of it. The idea of having to do the job and be
watched on a monitor at the same time, well, that's just
sucky. Not that I needed more excuses to shop elsewhere.

Oh, I think it's safe to say you are being watched on
camera in any given place in any store.

nancy

These days between the ATM cameras and the general purp
security cameras mounted on and in many buildings it is
reasonable to assume you are on camera most anywhere.

--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on
nothing but food and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.

hahabogus said:

Nancy Young <[email hidden]> wrote in

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Oh, I think it's safe to say you are being watched on
camera in any given place in any store.

These days between the ATM cameras and the general purp
security cameras mounted on and in many buildings it is
reasonable to assume you are on camera most anywhere.

Absolutely. I assume the checkouts had surveillance (sp)
cameras long before the advent of self checkout. Money
changing hands? Camera. Okay with me. I imagine they keep an
eye on the cashiers, as well.

nancy