# How do you feel about self-checkout now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 10, 2022, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725 "2022-07-10T20:24:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/261 "2022-07-22T21:49:24Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Also, I have a LOT more produce codes memorized than the general public - that’s not down to my machine, that’s me. So I’m going to go a lot faster with those than if you tried to look up each individual code on your own. I don’t have the codes memorized but I write them on the plastic bag so that when I go to check out I don’t have to look the codes up. ---
**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:** [July 22, 2022, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/262 "2022-07-22T22:17:40Z")
That’s a great idea, it would be grand if more people did that. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/263 "2022-07-22T22:27:22Z")
So there are no barcodes on any of your produce? Strange! ---
**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:** [July 22, 2022, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/264 "2022-07-22T22:48:05Z")
There is, but the little stickers don’t always stay on the produce. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/265 "2022-07-22T23:38:20Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > That’s the cool thing, it’s already bagged, so you just take the bags out of the cart, then take them out of the car to the house. How else would you do it? Well, yeah - using the self-scan-while-you-shop, I would bag as I shopped - that’s why the shopping part was so much slower. I’m sure I’d have gotten better at it if I did it more often, but the first couple of tries soured me on the experience. The one time I did find it useful was when I had a very specific budget while shopping for a scouting event. I knew exactly what I’d spent, and could be sure I had not gotten too much. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/266 "2022-07-23T01:49:15Z")
All in all checkout is a PITA now. Please enter your phone number or swipe your loyalty car, Swipe a card, wait, Do you want to contribute a dollar? $4.56 correct? Print or email receipt? No fun at all. ---
**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:** [July 23, 2022, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/267 "2022-07-23T08:48:51Z")
Sooooo glad my store does not require all that bullshit. I mean, sure, we have a loyalty “card” (it’s actually an app) but that’s just one question and no pressure to sign up. We tried the “print or e-mail receipt” option a few years ago but dropped it because it turned into a mess. It’s just “do you have our app?”, “here’s your total”, then “have a nice day”. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/268 "2022-07-23T11:09:00Z")
All in all, self-checkout is no better than having to deal with all the options for checkout with an attendant. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/269 "2022-07-23T14:10:57Z")
Disagree. Self checkout is _MUCH_ better! It is much faster, overall. See above where I noted that you only transfer groceries twice, not four times. Much faster. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/270 "2022-07-23T15:16:16Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Disagree. Self checkout is _MUCH_ better! It is much faster, overall. See above where I noted that you only transfer groceries twice, not four times. Much faster It’s the ‘self’ part that gets me. When a guy rings up my purchase, and says I can leave with the stuff I’d picked out if I hand over a hundred dollars — well, I amiably shrug and _do that,_ is all. And if someone then rushes over to say the cashier should’ve asked me for a hundred _and five,_ then I’ll — shrug again, while (a) I keep on agreeing to whatever sounds reasonable and (b) the guy working the cash register gets berated? “I’m the guy who does his job; you must be the other guy?” But if I’m the guy ringing stuff up, and then paying a hundred dollars before someone advances on me to say that I should’ve paid a hundred and five, then — what? I awkwardly stammer that I did a dumb thing when ringing it up wrong _by mistake_ — to someone who maybe accuses me of slyly playing thief by ringing it up wrong _on purpose?_ Instead of someone else getting berated, _I’m_ getting berated? That doesn’t strike me as better. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/271 "2022-07-23T15:19:54Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I awkwardly stammer that I did a dumb thing when ringing it up wrong _by mistake_ — to someone who maybe accuses me of slyly playing thief by ringing it up wrong _on purpose?_ Instead of someone else getting berated, _I’m_ getting berated? Is that something that has actually happened, or is is only something that you imagine would happen? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/272 "2022-07-23T15:48:05Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Is that something that has actually happened, or is is only something that you imagine would happen Well, “is is only something” I’ve imagined, I suppose: I _imagine_ what it’d look like if I were trying to steal stuff on purpose, and I _imagine_ what it’d look like if I just made an honest mistake — and, sure as I see no reason to think they’d look any different, I see no reason to find out what’d happen next. (If I could imagine up some upside, maybe I’d risk the appearance of impropriety; but I can’t, so I don’t.) ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/273 "2022-07-23T16:02:47Z")
I’ve done lots of self check-out, and never had that happen. In the highly unlikely event that they are actually watching closely enough to notice, and the even more unlikely event that they actually say anything to you, what would happen next would be for them to say, “You missed scanning this item.” You say, “Oh, sorry.” and then you scan it and pay for it. No one is going to “berate” you the way you imagine a cashier is “berated” if they mis-scan an item. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/274 "2022-07-23T16:21:32Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > No one is going to “berate” you the way you imagine a cashier is “berated” if they mis-scan an item. No, the part about cashiers getting “berated” isn’t imaginary; just like I’ve in fact seen them ring stuff up for the wrong amount, I’ve in fact seen them get berated — while I’ve, y’know, shrugged and agreed to what sounded reasonable, while _not_ getting berated in the slightest. Now, you may be right that I might not get berated; but, what, the best-case scenario there is the treatment I’m _already_ getting? And maybe you’re right, but maybe you’re wrong? Again I say: where’s the upside? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/275 "2022-07-23T16:30:51Z")
Your store, in the IL locations I have been to, has a survey that pops up at the end with a generic question such as “Were you greeted by an employee” “Was the store clean” etc. And at some of the self-checkouts, a handwritten sign saying, “Please take our survey”. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/276 "2022-07-23T16:49:12Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > There are rules to bagging that, if followed, yield better results. But no one is trained in bagging anymore it seems. I cut the baggers at my local grocery store some slack, because the store has eliminated single-use bags and requires customers to bring in their own reusable bags or buy them from the store. As a former bagger, it’s a lot tougher to apply the “rules” to a formless, floppy, wadded-up mess of different types of reusable bags. People also insist that they be overfilled so that they don’t end up having to purchase additional bags. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/277 "2022-07-23T17:09:07Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > No, the part about cashiers getting “berated” isn’t imaginary; just like I’ve in fact seen them ring stuff up for the wrong amount, I’ve in fact seen them get berated Ah, so you’ve witnessed abusive employers and shrugged while watching them abuse their employees. Well, you can be comforted in the fact that like most people who abuse those they have power over, they are cowards towards people they don’t. The manager that you witnessed abuse their employee wouldn’t dare treat a customer that way. > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > And maybe you’re right, but maybe you’re wrong? If I’m wrong, then you, unlike the abused employee, can call _their_ boss, and have _them_ berated for treating a customer badly. > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Again I say: where’s the upside? Faster checkout, lower prices, and less shrugging necessary as you witness employees being abused by the management of the stores you choose to shop in. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/278 "2022-07-23T17:11:33Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Your store, in the IL locations I have been to, has a survey that pops up at the end with a generic question such as “Were you greeted by an employee” “Was the store clean” etc. Mine has that, too, and if I don’t answer it, absolutely nothing happens. I walk away with my groceries just fine. > [@D\_Anconia](#): > > And at some of the self-checkouts, a handwritten sign saying, “Please take our survey”. YMMV. Does that actually force you to taking the survey? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/279 "2022-07-23T17:32:34Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Ah, so you’ve witnessed abusive employers and shrugged while watching them abuse their employees. Well, you can be comforted in the fact that like most people who abuse those they have power over, they are cowards towards people they don’t. The manager that you witnessed abuse their employee wouldn’t dare treat a customer that way. You know, you just now went from flatly stating that I _‘imagine a cashier is “berated” if they mis-scan an item’_ to flatly stating that a manager _‘wouldn’t dare treat a customer that way.’_ You don’t take a moment to really dwell on the fact that you got the first claim wrong; you just move right on to assuring me about some new and different claim. Why the heck should I take the second claim more seriously than the first? > [@](#): > > you, unlike the abused employee, can call _their_ boss, and have _them_ berated for treating a customer badly. I can tell _their_ boss that — uh, what I did looked exactly like it would’ve if I had been trying to steal stuff, and that I was then treated accordingly? I see no reason to roll the dice on that. > [@](#): > > Faster checkout, lower prices, and less shrugging necessary as you witness employees being abused by the management of the stores you choose to shop in. Hey, if a cashier agrees to accept pay in exchange for having their boss boss them around on questions involving ringing up transactions for customers, that’s not _my_ call; that’s _their_ call — and they can quit or get fired if the arrangement is unsatisfactory — much like how, when I get asked to pay this or that price in exchange for groceries, it’s my call as to whether to take it or leave it. None of that seems to be abuse; all of it seems to call for a shrug. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/280 "2022-07-23T17:34:25Z")
I didn’t say that it did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725.md?page=15)