# Self Check-out: yea or nay? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 17, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105 "2009-10-17T01:05:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/21 "2009-10-17T04:49:56Z")
Definitely, assuming a reasonable number of items. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/22 "2009-10-17T05:06:59Z")
Self check-out, yay! Love it. I like to pack the bags myself because then it’s easier to unload 'em when I get home. The self-checkouts are supposed to be for under 18 items (or 15, maybe…something like that). Every so often there is somebody there who either can’t read or can’t count. I don’t use them for the big weekly shopping trip, but then I often don’t DO the big weekly shopping trip. The self-check is for things I forgot or things I just decided I want to cook. ---
**Author:** ![Bernard\_Marx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@Bernard\_Marx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bernard_Marx)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/23 "2009-10-17T05:53:34Z")
I use them whenever they’re available (as far as I know they’re not available in any supermarket/grocery stores in Aust yet, but they have them at some department stores.) Does anyone know why the machines are so anal about making sure you put your items in the bagging area before you scan the next one? One of the reasons I self-checkout is the independent, self-sufficient tech-savvy feeling I get when I use it - it kind of ruins it if I’m simply plodding along following some computer’s step-by-step instructions to the letter. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/24 "2009-10-17T05:54:59Z")
It wants to verify the weight item by item to make sure you aren’t sneaking anything past it. Pain in the ass when it’s being finnicky and for whatever reason doesn’t like what you do and halts the whole process. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/25 "2009-10-17T05:56:20Z")
Hate 'em. They put people out of jobs and the stuff I’m buying isn’t any cheaper despite the fact they no longer have to pay a cashier to scan it through. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/26 "2009-10-17T07:01:31Z")
I always get stuck waiting on the moron who rang up his Fritos 17 times, because he can’t figure it out. Then he puts the bag of Fritos down and the machine starts yelling “Unexpected item.” ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/27 "2009-10-17T08:23:29Z")
Nay. Sorry, I’m afraid something will go wrong. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/28 "2009-10-17T08:27:39Z")
I’ve only used the self check-out at IKEA, but I liked it just fine and will continue to do so whenever it looks like it will get me out the door faster. I don’t know if I’d use one at a grocery store, though - that involves a lot more items! ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/29 "2009-10-17T08:29:40Z")
We go shopping daily and use 'em almost exclusively in the one store that has them. There have been occasional glitches but it was pretty easy to get the hang of the system so for the most part - no problem. Love 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/30 "2009-10-17T10:03:00Z")
Before I went to college I worked in a grocery store for a while. I went to college so wouldn’t have to do that kind of work. I wont use 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/31 "2009-10-17T10:46:46Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Hate 'em. They put people out of jobs and the stuff I’m buying isn’t any cheaper despite the fact they no longer have to pay a cashier to scan it through. Both points of which I mention (and at least partly explain why it doesn’t bother me) in my very first reply. 😃 Weird how that happens! Seriously, though, why do you think I’m wrong addressing those two specific points? ( **Chanteuse** makes a further point for me also.) ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/32 "2009-10-17T11:20:29Z")
I’ve tried them a handful of times, and even with a few items, something scans wrong, or the weight is off, or it tells me to put the item in the bag when I already HAVE… So now I avoid them. I’d rather spend my time at the checkout line staring vacantly into the distance while a human being scans and rings up my items. I don’t go to the grocery store to deal with ignorant machines. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/33 "2009-10-17T11:27:19Z")
I won’t use them if I have more items than I can carry by hand - it’s just more hassle than it’s worth. But if I’m just grabbing a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread, it’s usually lots faster to check out myself. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/34 "2009-10-17T11:58:55Z")
I use them. I walk to the grocery store (no car), so I can only buy as much as I can carry home, and I prefer to bag my groceries myself so I can distribute the weight in a way that makes it less awkward/uncomfortable to carry. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/35 "2009-10-17T12:34:08Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Seriously, though, why do you think I’m wrong addressing those two specific points? ( **Chanteuse** makes a further point for me also.) Firstly, supermarkets (at least the two major ones here) make unholy, obscene amounts of money. They really are almost quite literally a licence to print money. And having worked for one of the major supermarket chains here, I can tell you that they have comparatively little interest in looking after their staff. I have no interest in effectively working for them again, for free (by scanning and bagging my own groceries) and helping them make the sort of profits that are usually associated with the GDP of small countries in the process. If they expect me to do the work of their (soon to be ex-) employees, they can pay me- in the form of lower prices or a worthwhile discount (5% at least) on the total. Secondly, _most_ of the people who work in supermarkets are either kids/uni students who need an after school/uni job, or mums whose kids are at school during the days and need some extra income for the family. If their jobs are replaced by self-scanners, where the hell are they supposed to work? The last time this topic came up, there were the usual suspects going on about how buggy whip and whalebone corset manufacturers had to find new jobs at one point, and yes, that’s true, they did. But there were never _that_ many buggy whip and whalebone corset manufacturers in the first place, and there was always unskilled factory work (or, for the comparison impared, work that a supermarket cashier can easily transfer into) available- there were other things they could do. But there isn’t much unskilled factory work these days, and so in the near future there are going to be a fair number of former supermarket cashiers without a job, and nothing for them to do instead. It’s not a good trend, and it’s not something I am prepared to support. The global economy is shaky enough at the moment as it is without multibillion dollar corporations looking for newer and more creative ways to lay off their staff, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/36 "2009-10-17T13:09:50Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I like 'em just fine for a couple of items. I have never used one for an entire cartload of groceries; I don’t think I’d like that much. Maybe I’ll try it someday. [Do. Not. Do. It.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=246650) Relevant quote from my nearly six-year-old OP: [QUOTE=black rabbit] Attn, jackasses, a rule of thumb to bounce off your empty melon: if it can fit in a little shopping basket, or be carried by one person with two arms, you can self scan it. If you need a wheeled cart, get in a regular lane with the rest of the herd. [/quote] ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/37 "2009-10-17T13:37:39Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I have no interest in effectively working for them again, for free (by scanning and bagging my own groceries) As I said in my first post, far as I’m concerned, I’m being “paid” in time: not having to stand in line behind people with cartfuls of groceries, not having to engage in awkward conversation with the cashier, and sometimes scanning stuff faster than the cashier would. > [@](#): > > But there isn’t much unskilled factory work these days, and so in the near future there are going to be a fair number of former supermarket cashiers without a job, and nothing for them to do instead. It’s not a good trend, and it’s not something I am prepared to support. And the point I was making in my first post is that I think the belief that grocery stores will try to go to all-automated is a fantasy, for reasons mentioned by **Chanteuse** , and the fact that there will always be people who shop with small children and/or buy hundreds of dollars worth of groceries at a time. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/38 "2009-10-17T14:15:08Z")
If they’re available, and I’m only getting a few things, I’ll do it gladly. It’s usually much faster than waiting in line. If there is more than about a bagful of groceries, I won’t - because as I’m scanning, the area at the end of the belt is filling up and I’ll have to stop scanning and go down there and bag (our grocery only sometimes has someone helping bag in the self-checkout). The store now has a handheld gadget where you scan and bag in your own bags as you shop. I’ve got to give that a try. You still have to go through a line, but then it’s about a 20 second process to do that. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/39 "2009-10-17T14:26:11Z")
I always use them, but I’m never buying that much stuff. Ours have four served by one line, so even if there’s someone with a full cart and someone clueless, I’m not trapped. The other two scanners keep moving That’s the biggest thing to me. Go through a regular line, and there’s always that danger. Originally, they were 12 items or less, but now they have two sets of four, and neither are 12 items or less. Really, they should be. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105/40 "2009-10-17T14:34:41Z")
I use the self-scan if I’m only buying a few things and don’t require human intervention; i.e., if I’m not buying ice or trash bags. Otherwise, I use a regular lane. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-check-out-yea-or-nay/514105.md?page=3)