# All in on self checkout...now you self checkers are fired! \[Target, Walmart, etc.\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 20, 2024, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089 "2024-03-20T15:19:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/21 "2024-03-20T18:28:01Z")
My local Walmart has self checkout kiosks which are never open. (Worried about shoplifting?) Which I think is a shame because I think it would help clear out the long lines. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/22 "2024-03-20T18:51:59Z")
> [@bump](#): > > can totally believe that there’s a lot of shoplifting facilitated through self-checkout. It would be easy enough to just scan some part of it without a barcode with the gun, and put it in the cart quickly, so that unless someone was watching you and paying attention, it wouldn’t look obvious. Or any number of other little dodges to steal stuff. There are videos online showing people holding a greeting card over the barcode of a TV at Walmart and scanning it with the gun and it looks like a legitimate scan to cameras but the price rings up the greeting card price and not the TV. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/23 "2024-03-20T18:56:48Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > There are videos online showing people holding a greeting card over the barcode of a TV at Walmart and scanning it with the gun and it looks like a legitimate scan to cameras but the price rings up the greeting card price and not the TV. Not to all cameras. The smart cameras can tell the difference between a 72 pack of Red Rose tea @4.99 and a 24 pack @2.99 and set off an alert. Never mind the greeting card and TV difference. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/24 "2024-03-20T19:26:35Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Hasn’t the proliferation of self-checkout increased retail theft? I guess you stopped reading the OP at that point. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/25 "2024-03-20T20:21:07Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > My local Walmart has self checkout kiosks which are never open. (Worried about shoplifting?) Which I think is a shame because I think it would help clear out the long lines. It totally would. My local Wal Mart used to be an absolute slog to get through. Three or four cashiers, customers lined up and down the main aisle waiting to check out. Now they have 20+ self checkout stations and it doesn’t take more than 5 minutes to get from the line to the checkout on a busy day. I’m a huuuuuge fan of self checkout (I mentioned it in the other thread) but I’m also not surprised that stores are experiencing a lot of loss through this system. Us humans are the worst. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/26 "2024-03-20T20:33:26Z")
I thought that’s what the little round mirrors were for. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/27 "2024-03-20T20:35:14Z")
Do the self-checkouts over there have scales built in? In the UK, most of them do - you scan objects onto the scale - so whilst it is technically possible to put through a exactly a kilo of something expensive as exactly a kilo of something cheap, it’s not generally possible to skip the scanning of an item, or scan a can of coke while you actually move a leg of lamb. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/28 "2024-03-20T20:37:37Z")
Those in grocery stores generally do have a scale built into the scanning platform. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/29 "2024-03-20T20:39:37Z")
The scanners in the grocery stores here in Massachusetts have a scale built into the glass-topped platform where items get scanned; so, scan a can over the window, put it in the bag; put a banana bunch on the platform, hit the lookup button, hit the banana button, the readout screen gives the weight and price, then move the bananas to the bag on the bagging platform, which also is a scale so the machine can tell if you’ve put something in your bag you didn’t scan in. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/30 "2024-03-20T20:39:40Z")
Isn’t that just for registering items of produce that are sold by weight? I’m talking about a large area that is a scale - after scanning each item, you add it to the scale and if the weight isn’t what the system is expecting, it halts the process and summons an assistant. Like this - the entire large flat area is a scale: [![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/12/04/13/36445762-9018369-image-a-17_1607087209471.jpg) ](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/12/04/13/36445762-9018369-image-a-17_1607087209471.jpg) (there is also a small scale beneath the screen, for weighing produce) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/31 "2024-03-20T20:45:06Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Isn’t that just for registering items of produce that are sold by weight? I’m talking about a large area that is a scale - after scanning each item, you add it to the scale and if the weight isn’t what the system is expecting, it halts the process and summons an assistant. > Like this - the entire large flat area is a scale: Sorry I misunderstood. Many stores have those output area scales and try to match the accumulating bag weight to what you’ve scanned, and will alert on discrepancies. Many other stores have determined that the incessant nagging of customers and summoning of clerks for false alarms is more trouble then they are worth. In the stores I frequent, those systems seem to be mostly disabled or not even installed. They were universal features of self checkout stations 20 years ago. I’m sure the truth today in 2024 in the USA is there’s a wide varieety of setups. Some have it, some don’t. Some are highly sensitive, others not. etc. As I suggested above, I bet that prevalence and sensitivity of output-side scales has a lot to do with the shrinkage rate at that particular store. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/32 "2024-03-20T20:46:23Z")
The person watching at my local Safeway is there to clear things like if you are old enough to buy alcohol. They are not monitoring any thing esle really. I hate self-checkout because the machine does not recognize produce. So you find a cheap produce item like celery or potatos and just enter that number. Asparagus, 2102, Avacodos, 2102, etc. They are probably loosing their asses expecting people to honestly find and enter the correct number. I am not looking that code up! And if you have a large item, like a box of beer, just leave it in the bottom of the cart, the machine can’t see it and there is no checker watching. The machines rely upon honesty and the weight of whatever you put on the scale. Stupid machines get stupid results. Serves them right for eliminating checkers. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/33 "2024-03-20T21:08:49Z")
The cameras at my store actually can see that there is something on the bottom in many (although not all) circumstances, and they’re working on AI that can recognize produce at least to some extent. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/34 "2024-03-20T21:22:44Z")
It really should be possible for an AI to detect bananas, avocados, etc… Telling the difference between different types of apples might be difficult though. ---
**Author:** ![Kitten\_Mitten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b782af/32.png) [@Kitten\_Mitten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitten_Mitten)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/35 "2024-03-20T21:24:44Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > The employee you’re snarking at did not choose what self-checkout system the store bought, nor did they program the stupid thing. If you were snarking at a manager who might have some actual power, that wouldn’t be so bad, but the low-paid grunt who’s overseeing the self-checkouts really doesn’t deserve to be treated badly for decisions that were made well above their pay grade that they have no ability to do anything about. 💯 I was thinking the same thing but you were more eloquent than I would have been. But question: what does TA stand for? > [@Mangetout](#): > > I’m talking about a large area that is a scale - after scanning each item, you add it to the scale and if the weight isn’t what the system is expecting, it halts the process and summons an assistant. Yes, that’s what Kroger has, although there is a scale under each bag area. As far as produce goes, there are macro buttons for looking up items by name or by picture if the produce doesn’t have a scan tag on it and you don’t know the number code. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/36 "2024-03-20T21:27:17Z")
Yeah, they weren’t going to make this the primary thing till they knew there were automated ways of knowing who was cheating. I worked in the electronics department at WalMart and we had one of the “outlying” registers not only for electronics but everything. Meats, fruits whatever. Then cleaning the counter and looking to sell video games, iPods and TV’s. The one thing that sucked worse was being called up to the front in a shortage to do actual cashier work. Fortunately it’d only be an hour or so. And during that time folks were free to take stuff off the electronics shelves, cut them open in the shoe department and special deal: free. I like self-checkouts. One bank-type-feeder line and the only difficulty is alcohol needs to be approved. I’m in and out in 10 if I only need a bag of things. ---
**Author:** ![NinthAcolyte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ninthacolyte/32/13676_2.png) [@NinthAcolyte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinthAcolyte)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/37 "2024-03-20T21:39:33Z")
“the asshole” - AITA is “am I the asshole?” As in, “Am I the person being the jerk here?” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/38 "2024-03-20T21:41:31Z")
Thank you. I too had no idea what either acronym meant. But did not care enough to ask or to Google. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/39 "2024-03-20T21:44:08Z")
I’ve ranted before about how much I despise being made to be an unpaid cashier and bagger because the store is too damn cheap to hire adequate staff. If self-checkout is being limited or phased out, I’m all for it, but I see no signs of it around here. The supermarket where I shop most often, which is also one of the newest, has the most self-checkout stations. A more upscale market that never had them at all now has a bunch of them, and they’re also one of the worst designed. I used it once when the checkout lanes were pretty busy. The first thing I did was put my reusable bag in the bagging area as I always do in other stores, and the robot spoke to me thusly: “Did you just put something in the bagging area?” and refused to do anything further. I yelled at it thusly: “Yes, I just put my goddam bag there. Didn’t you see me?”. God, I hate those things. When the most obvious, intuitive thing you do upsets the robot, it’s the robot that has the problem, not me. There’s a scene in the movie _Office Space_ where a few disgruntled employees, driven beyond the limits of endurance by a persistently malfunctioning fax machine, take it out to a field and smash the crap out of it with baseball bats. That’s exactly what I’d like to do with self-checkout machines. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089/40 "2024-03-20T21:50:42Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The first thing I did was put my reusable bag in the bagging area as I always do in other stores, and the robot spoke to me thusly: “Did you just put something in the bagging area?” and refused to do anything further. I yelled at it thusly: “Yes, I just put my goddam bag there. Didn’t you see me?” That’s because the first thing you should have done is press the “Own Bag” button. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-on-self-checkout-now-you-self-checkers-are-fired-target-walmart-etc/999089.md?page=3)