Self checkout

Bubbablue said:

[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.

No, but our Albertson's is a block away from the high school
and a favorite place for lots of the kids to grab lunch.
They require that backpacks be left at the door and ther is
a county sheriff (it's just over the line into an
unincorporated county) on duty from ~10AM-2PM. I gather that
cigarettes were a big theft item as well as beer. It makes
me queasy to see how many of them line up at the Starbuck's
counter in the store. If it weren't for soda and coffee,
some teens wouldn't eat a thing. Eeeeuuuuwww.

gloria p

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

Quoted message said:

"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!

The customer is 90% of the problem in checkout lines.
For stores that use reward cards I just hand over my
card automatically. Meanwhile, busy bee mom with
eighteen kids in tow has to fish the thing from the
bottom of her nappy bag, delaying the checkout process
from 30 seconds to two minutes.

Then of course there are the price checkers. They watch the
display like a hawk - the problem is at Shaw's the registers
back out the card discounts AFTER the order is sub-totalled.
This causes no end of amusement.

How about the ones who count out change, even though the
CoinStar machine is < 100 ft. away. Or the ones who have to
fish out exact change, or give the cashier two or three
extra pennies so they can get whole bills back.

But the worst is the Luddites out there who have a debit or
credit card. I waited over ten minutes while a guy tried to
run his credit card through the POS self-serve terminal. He
couldn't figure out how to orient the card in the reader,
nor could he get the speed right for the read to even
synchronize. Finally the cashier leaned over, swiped the
card, tapped the right buttons and had him sign the receipt.

I have to fault Shaw's for one thing though. My debit card
can run as a debit transaction where I pay a .35 fee, or as
a credit transaction where the POS fee doesn't get invoked.
The user interface on those machines is horrible. To run a
debit as a credit transaction you have to swipe the card,
when the PIN entry comes up hit cancel, then select pay as
credit. Stupid way to do things.

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

Quoted message said:

"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.

It's opportunistic prey. And I'm not a welfare queen
you jackass. Last time I looked, my erection set had
three parts.

Can I help it that minimum wage staff isn't always the
brightest? Employers get what they pay for when the cheap
out on the pay scale.

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

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.

Yes that's a safe assessment. Next time you go into a
supermarket or any store, look up. Video surveillance has
become the replacement for the $25K security guard who can't
be everywhere at once.

(Nancy Young wrote🙂

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)

My (86year old!) mother loves those things for some reason.
It's like a toy to her - I'm not sure why. She does
her produce shopping at a big discount grocer who
recently installed them (FoodMaxx, I think). For some
reason, this store doesn't put those annoying
stickers all over their produce, so every item has to
be checked by the live cashier anyway, and it takes
her just forever to get through the line. Add to that
the every-other-item hiccup that seems to happen with
those machines, and her excursion through the check-
out is actually much longer than if she would just go
to a live cashier.

--
Donna A pessimist believes all women are bad. An optimist
hopes they are.

On 26 Mar 2004 20:20:45 -0800, [email hidden] (Bubbablue)

Quoted message said:

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.

A lot of the meat has RFID tags under the price/barcode.
When it's rung up, the tag is disabled VIA software.
Anything not rung up sets off the door pylons.

Some stores even weave tags into the absorbent paper between
the meat and the styrofoam.

-sw

On Sat, 27 Mar 2004 01:45:45 GMT, notbob <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

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.

All the stores I've been to only have a post-scan scale.
It's kinda hard to weigh a shopping cart.

-sw

Steve Wertz said:

notbob said:

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.

All the stores I've been to only have a post-scan scale.
It's kinda hard to weigh a shopping cart.

Oh - The scanner itself is a scale as well, for weighed
produce and such.

-sw

Jack Schidt® said:

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

There's also a camera built into the machine pointed down at
the scanner/scale. The images appear on a 4-way screen up at
the podium. The screens are touch screens for clearing
certain errors and approving purchases (booze). This keeps
them looking at the monitors constantly.

Quoted message said:

It's ok, but when that moron is trying to self check, look
out, you'll want to be in the attended lines.

I don't like the fact that some people cerate a separate
line for each checkstand. I always get behind a moron -
never fails.

If I'm the only one waiting, I stand between the 4 registers
making it clear that I'm getting the next available station
rather than waiting for a particular one.

-sw

Tony P. said:

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

Quoted message said:

The customer is 90% of the problem in checkout lines. For
stores that use reward cards I just hand over my card
automatically. Meanwhile, busy bee mom with eighteen kids
in tow has to fish the thing from the bottom of her nappy
bag, delaying the checkout process from 30 seconds to two
minutes.

Then of course there are the price checkers. They watch
the display like a hawk - the problem is at Shaw's the
registers back out the card discounts AFTER the order is
sub-totalled. This causes no end of amusement.

How about the ones who count out change, even though the
CoinStar machine is < 100 ft. away. Or the ones who have
to fish out exact change, or give the cashier two or three
extra pennies so they can get whole bills back.

Uh ... well ... I do that. Does it count that I bag and
have my moola and my card right handy? I don't take up
anyone's time.

nancy

(Naomi Darvell) said:

. I had high hopes for the machines, but they need to work
the bugs out.

Naomi D.

i'm against anything that adds mechanical voices for
everyone to listen to.

your pal, ned

I kind of like the self-checkout idea, myself. I'm typically
only getting a few items anyway, and I find it a lot faster
to check myself out.

The supermarket I typically go to has just installed an
interesting thing: a kiosk full of little scanner guns you
carry around in the cart with you. You scan your items as
you pick them up, and the thing keeps a running total for
you. Then when it's time to check out, you just hand the
scanner gun to the cashier, and s/he takes your money. No
idea how well it'll work in practice.

--
Mark Shaw contact info at homepage -->
panix.com~mshawOpen ↗
========================================================================

"It looks great at night. In the day, it winces like a
hungover vampire." -James Lileks, on Las Vegas

hahabogus said:

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.

and for this reason, you should almost constantly
expose yourself.

your pal, blake

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

Quoted message 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.

Also...there is usually one cashier to monitor every 4 or so
self checkout stations. He/she watches and assists
customers. At the sotre I use to use in WA state, it was the
supervising cashier who had the self checkout.

I prefered using them...at least I knew my bread wasn't
going to be squished by canned goods!

Sandi

blake murphy said:

On 26 Mar 2004 23:40:12 GMT, [email hidden] (Naomi

Darvell) said:

. I had high hopes for the machines, but they need to
work the bugs out.

Naomi D.

i'm against anything that adds mechanical voices for
everyone to listen to.

your pal, ned

The ones we use locally don't have mechanical voices at all.
The only noise is the occasional warning beep.

Bubbablue said:

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.

No. I shop at about three different supermarkets in the
Cherry Hill, NJ area where I live. None of those has any
security guards as far as I can tell. I sometimes shop at a
Superfresh in Center City, Philadelphia where I usually see
a security guard watching at the exit, but I don't recall
seeing any other security guards elsewhere in that store.

Steve Wertz said:

Jack Schidt®' jack- said:

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

There's also a camera built into the machine pointed down
at the scanner/scale. The images appear on a 4-way screen
up at the podium. The screens are touch screens for
clearing certain errors and approving purchases (booze).
This keeps them looking at the monitors constantly.

Quoted message said:

It's ok, but when that moron is trying to self check, look
out, you'll want to be in the attended lines.

I don't like the fact that some people cerate a separate
line for each checkstand. I always get behind a moron -
never fails.

If I'm the only one waiting, I stand between the 4
registers making it clear that I'm getting the next
available station rather than waiting for a particular one.

-sw

That never happens where I shop. There is a line for
each register, and that's normal. People don't try to
jump around.

(Mark Shaw) said:

I kind of like the self-checkout idea, myself. I'm
typically only getting a few items anyway, and I find it a
lot faster to check myself out.

The supermarket I typically go to has just installed an
interesting thing: a kiosk full of little scanner guns you
carry around in the cart with you. You scan your items as
you pick them up, and the thing keeps a running total for
you. Then when it's time to check out, you just hand the
scanner gun to the cashier, and s/he takes your money. No
idea how well it'll work in practice.

That's a GREAT temptation for people to have a few unscanned
things in their cart. . . . .

Nancy Young 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

HILARIOUS story! K-Mart is one of our customers as a
liability claims TPA. So this woman slips and falls down in
an aisle at K-Mart but she was alone in the aisle. Thinking
they wouldn't believe her, she got up and walked to an aisle
where there were people and fell down again! It was all
caught on camera. Stupid woman.

Jill

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

Quoted message said:

On 28 Mar 2004 02:33:04 -0500, [email hidden] (Mark

Shaw) said:

I kind of like the self-checkout idea, myself. I'm
typically only getting a few items anyway, and I find it
a lot faster to check myself out.

The supermarket I typically go to has just installed an
interesting thing: a kiosk full of little scanner guns
you carry around in the cart with you. You scan your
items as you pick them up, and the thing keeps a running
total for you. Then when it's time to check out, you just
hand the scanner gun to the cashier, and s/he takes your
money. No idea how well it'll work in practice.

That's a GREAT temptation for people to have a few
unscanned things in their cart. . . . .

Unless of course there's a surreptitious camera mounted on
the carriages that watches everything you put in. Oh, and
the portable scanners can be wirelessly networked too.