There’s going to be a human there anyhow, because online payments will never be at a 100% rate and the human is probably doing other tasks as well. So there’s no additional marginal cost of the human. There is a marginal cost for every credit card transaction because, like every other merchant, the state pays a fee to the credit card processor.
For its utility payments, the city of Mesa started charging extra for card payments – credit or debit, in person or on-line – last month just for that reason. I had been going into the office to use my debit card because it would be declined on-line for some reason* and the office was a mile away in any event. The last time I went in I predicted to the cashier that the policy would be changed back the first time they get knocked over and the bosses figure less cash, more receipts is the better option.
*Not unique to Mesa
Knowing how much an item weighs doesn’t help much if you can’t weigh it.
The self-checkouts at my local Wal-Mart can register a pound or more, but not an ounce or two. Try buying a candy bar or a greeting card. Putting the purchase on the scale does no good because the machine can’t detect it. Bringing a clerk over to solve the problem does little for the efficiency concept.
Buying liquor isn’t a good idea at the self-check stations, either. A clerk is summoned. Why don’t they use the scanner to read your driver’s license and figure out your age? That would actually be more accurate than a clerk’s intuition.
Because the machine can’t tell if you’re using your older sibling/friend/random stranger’s ID.
This claim is nonsense. I remember my mother doing the wash (dry cleaning was expensive and you wouldn’t want your underwear dry cleaned) and it was a pain. Let the mangle washer run for a while, then put the clothes through the mangle one by one, then hang them up on the clothes line, inside in the basement all winter and outside the rest of the year. The automatic washer and dryer are a tremendous improvement on that.
Blister packs of drugs are convenient–for the pharmacist. Users hate them of course.
My last experience was two days ago. I got waved into the self-checkout by the attendant (the manned lanes weren’t crowded but I guess her job is to drum up self-checkout users) and told “It’s so fast and easy!”
It might have been except I committed the sin of wanting to double bag something and lifting it out of the bagging area and putting it back a moment later. A reasonable motion in most circumstances but it sent the machine into a tizzy and I had to wait for the attendant to unlock it. Which took a few minutes as she had two people ahead of me who needed help. So much for fast and easy.
I don’t think you sent it out to be dry cleaned, you sent it out to be washed by some poor person using a washboard and a hand wringer. This is a generation before your mother. My grandmother’s diaries are full of washing drama. The underlying point–that it doesn’t matter how much work something is as long as cheap labor means you pay someone else to do it–is sound, but I rather prefer living in a world where poor women don’t spend 12 hours a day with their hands in boiling water just to make enough to scrape by.
I’ve noticed attendants doing that, but I usually refuse. Perhaps due to the items I have, it’s not fast or easy. One time, the attendant said she would do all the work, so I accepted. She did. The only difference between this self-check line and the clerked lines was…which side of the counter the clerk stood on.
I’d actually think employee embezzlement would be more of a problem than a robbery. I imagine there are still plenty of unbanked people paying cash at the office.
:eek: Do the parents know?:eek:
I love my Samsung pay app and self checkout. Both are, to me, faster and more convenient than the alternative.
Our closest grocery (Jewel) ELIMINATED their self checkouts. No explanation. The Jewel on the other end of town still has them.
Historically, I’ve not been a huge fan of self-checkout, but I miss them now, because the checkout lines in this store are notoriously slow. Drives you crazy to be standing in line 15-20 minutes, while your ice cream is melting, waiting to be allowed to hand over a couple hundred $ to purchase what you selected.
I’ve taken to not bagging anything at the checkout and grabbing some bags as I leave so I can bag more methodically somewhere else.
I worked for Safeway for 12 years and still remember most of the PLU’s (though they hadn’t yet gone to 4-digit codes when I learned them). The store employees are always very impressed that I don’t have to look them up. I’ve even given the PLU’s to the checker in the manned checkout line when I see them go for their cheat sheet.
Tip for people who never worked in a supermarket: most produce these days has a little sticker on it with a number on it. That’s the number you should punch in to the self-checkout thing when ringing up produce and not waste time going through their list.
I see the logic, and you’ve made me feel better about it, though only marginally so because I think their fee exceeds what they are paying the credit card companies.
I think “convenience fee” is a very poor term psychologically speaking. It implies that they are simply taking advantage of the fact that it has been made easier for you by charging you extra. If it is actually a fee to cover the credit card transaction, then they should call it “credit card fee” on the bill. I would have viewed that very differently from the get-go.
My son’s doctor went to an online medical record and bill payment system… for the convenience of the patients, according to them. But when I need access to his record sent to the specialist, I still need to call someone, then fill something out online, then call someone again, then call the specialist, then fill something out with the specialist, then call the primary care physician’s people. When my daughter had a similar issue a few years back, I filled out one paper form and it was taken care of. And don’t even get me started on the hassle of setting up the account so I could even do this stuff.
And I’m no technophobe; I would rather order my pizza online than call someone. I have a degree in Computer Science. But saying that their patient portal is for my convenience is not wholly accurate.
This is kind of what I do. Scan and dump on the platform so the machine is happy. Pay and then bag it as I want it bagged. Seems much faster to me.
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I’ve thought that should be the way self check-out worked anyway. They should open up all the lanes for self check-out, and have a few attended to help the people that want help. During busier times, more cashiers can work the lanes to make them more efficient, but there is no reason for the lane itself to ever be closed.
That’s a really good idea. I’m gonna try that.
Especially since I often ignore the 20 items sign. There’s two lanes open with a line, and 12 self checkouts with 4 people at them. I worked as a cashier for a bit, so I’m actually as fast as they are anyway, and I know all the PLU’s for the stuff that I buy.I can do a 40 item load faster than most people can do a dozen items.
Bagging after the transaction should speed that up even more.
That also means that after you have looked at the sticker a couple/few times, you start to remember the PLU for it for next time. Then there are things that don’t have stickers, and aren’t in the computer, but can still be bought if you happen to know the PLU. (I’m looking at you, Shallots, #4662).
I think that’s rude to the customers behind you.
How on earth do you carry twenty items away from the register without them being in bags?
Also, since when is it difficult to bag the items as you scan them? Presumably being efficient shoppers you scan them in the order necessary to get nicely filled and sorted bags anyway. Heck, half the reason I like self-checkouts is because then I can bag things myself rather than some checkout person who has a different idea of whether the donuts should be under the cans or not.
You can care about people who don’t exist all you want, good luck with that.