# Self-checkouts at stores **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 24, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518 "2009-08-24T17:00:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/1 "2009-08-24T17:00:26Z")
> **[Self-serve store checkouts--a failure?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=299619)** > > There has been debate on SDMB about whether these abominations are in fact abominations. What I’m asking now, however, is whether they’ve been a success in the market. From my observations, A. They are not on the increase in stores. B. Some stores... This zombie thread from 2005 got me thinking about these self-checkout lanes. Many stores around here are dismantling them. I see two problems with them: 1. Old people. I know we have a lot of them in South Florida, but they clog these machines. They try to use them, cannot, and then a cashier has to help them, defeating the whole purpose of the machine. 2. Booze. If you scan booze, a cashier has to come over and verify your age defeating the whole purpose of the machine. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/2 "2009-08-24T17:08:15Z")
Please remove item from bagging area Please remove item from bagging area Please remove item from bagging area Please remove item from bagging area Please remove item from bagging area Please remove item from bagging area Please remove item from bagging area Please remove item from bagging area Please remove item from bagging area Please remove item from bagging area Please remove item from bagging area I like them in theory but something always seems to go wrong, necessitating cashier intervention. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/3 "2009-08-24T17:09:35Z")
Think of them not as completely eliminating a cashier, but as allowing a single cashier to run four express lanes simultaneously. I love the things. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/4 "2009-08-24T17:49:15Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > [Self-serve store checkouts--a failure? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=299619) > > This zombie thread from 2005 got me thinking about these self-checkout lanes. Many stores around here are dismantling them. I see two problems with them: > > 1. Old people. I know we have a lot of them in South Florida, but they clog these machines. They try to use them, cannot, and then a cashier has to help them, defeating the whole purpose of the machine. > > 2. Booze. If you scan booze, a cashier has to come over and verify your age defeating the whole purpose of the machine. > > Thoughts? Only morons try to buy alcohol or cigarettes at these lanes. What part of “self-service” do you not understand? If your purchase is going to require help from the attendant, don’t go to a self-service checkout! Gladly, we are getting more and more of these where I live. They are almost everywhere now. 99% of the time I can be in and out in one minute. They can be good comedy when you see people who have no idea how the magic works. I watched a woman set her half finished pack of cigarettes on the scanner while emptying her purse for change. After the cashier cancelled the ring-up of the cigarettes, she fished out a pack of gum, and promptly set it down on the scanner. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/5 "2009-08-24T17:51:45Z")
As time goes on, I’m hoping that there will be more self-selection by customers for which type of checkout to use. Right now customers select the self-checkouts because it has a shorter line regardless of if they are capable of using them. If they get frustrated by them, they should eventually use the cashier checkout lines. That would leave the self-checkout lanes free for those of us who can actually use the things. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/6 "2009-08-24T17:56:11Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > [Self-serve store checkouts--a failure? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=299619) > > This zombie thread from 2005 got me thinking about these self-checkout lanes. Many stores around here are dismantling them. I see two problems with them: I’m surprised to hear about the dismantling. My local store(Meijer) just added 12 more, I believe, taking out non-self serve ones to make room. I use them all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/7 "2009-08-24T17:57:40Z")
Add to your list people who speak the bare minimum of English. Scanners in my 'hood will speak Spanish, but no other foreign language. Major jam-up ensues. In general, they work really well. The woman who manages the area most of the time is awesome. She can swoop in and help people without making them feel like idiots, and she’s also great at coming up behind me and pushing the right button. Yeah, I’m young, smart, sexy, and good looking, but even I don’t know everything about them. Today I was putting quarters in and they just fell through, rejected. I never, ever, ever pay with cash at those machines, but I was just buying a carton of eggs. I didn’t realize that I had to tell the machine I was going to use cash. Of course, I know I have to tell it I’m going to use a card, but I’d never looked at the other choices before. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/8 "2009-08-24T18:17:35Z")
The most any of our stores have is four and I wish they would at least double them. Now that they’ve added the ‘skip bagging’ and ‘use own bags’ buttons, they’re mostly usable unless one of the formerly mentioned clueless wonders gets to it. One time I went to one with my half dozen items and zipped through only to hear the monitoring cashier say something like, “Finally someone who knows how to use the self service lane!” I kind of got the impression that self service monitoring is the short straw duty. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/9 "2009-08-24T18:18:24Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Only morons try to buy alcohol or cigarettes at these lanes. What part of “self-service” do you not understand? If your purchase is going to require help from the attendant, don’t go to a self-service checkout! Agreed, but that is a problem inherent in the machines. Booze is a legal product sold in the stores that these machines can’t handle. Also, they should let you remove bags after they have been there and initially weighed. You put a bag that you’ve already scanned in your cart and it tells you to return item to the bagging area. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/10 "2009-08-24T18:20:08Z")
I’ve never seen old people attempting to use these machines, which is key. Makes getting the hell out of the store a lot easier for me. Maybe I’m lucky to live in a place where the old people are afraid of technology, and don’t even try. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/11 "2009-08-24T18:31:32Z")
Is 43 old? I refuse to use the damn things. Last thing in the world I want at the grocery store is to learn to use some newfangled computer gadget. Let the gum-smacking teeny-bopper scan my purchases. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/12 "2009-08-24T18:35:27Z")
I’ve never had a problem buyin beer using the self-service lane. It beeps the attendant who then takes about a half-second glance and balding me and hits the OK button on their stand. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/13 "2009-08-24T18:38:54Z")
The Walmart near where I work opened some self-checkout lines, which was very handy. Anything that helps me avoid the checkers there is a definite plus. However, they closed them after a couple of months. Someone said it was because of increased shoplifiting, but I think there may have been labor issues as well. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/14 "2009-08-24T18:44:41Z")
I like them and use them for my quick grocery trips. Or when I want to get 10 pounds of Vine-ripe tomatoes ($3/pound) for the industrial roma price ($0.75/pound) 🙂 But I hate when the store decides that they don’t need to staff a cashier just because they have the self-check thing. I’m the guy who likes to do his big grocery store hit at 11: pm or 5:am to avoid crowds and it’s really not good for anybody to make me do a huge checkout on my own. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/15 "2009-08-24T19:31:13Z")
I use the ones at our local Fresh & Easy all the time. I can swoop in on the way home from work, grab a few items and some flowers for the wife, check myself out and be back on the road before you know it. No lines, no hassles. Scan, swipe card, bag and go. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/16 "2009-08-24T19:35:25Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Only morons try to buy alcohol or cigarettes at these lanes. What part of “self-service” do you not understand? If your purchase is going to require help from the attendant, don’t go to a self-service checkout! > > . If you’re a regular at the store, it takes the attendant all of two seconds to approve your purchase. Now produce OTOH; Grrrr!! Still tho’, I use self check out almost exclusively. I’m still waiting on the RFID technology I was promised. Where in I don’t even have to stop by the self check out. I just push my cart right on out the door and my account gets automatically charged. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/17 "2009-08-24T19:38:05Z")
> [@SHAKES](#): > > I’m still waiting on the RFID technology I was promised. Where in I don’t even have to stop by the self check out. I just push my cart right on out the door and my account gets automatically charged. I’m looking forward to this day. Imagine the fun of slipping small, high-priced items into people’s carts when they aren’t looking, and they don’t discover the fact until they get home. No, there still needs to be a human scanning the purchases somewhere along the line. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/18 "2009-08-24T19:55:14Z")
The places I see with them, they’re all working just fine. I don’t drive, so I tend to do more small trips, and the self-checkout works great for me. > [@silenus](#): > > I’m looking forward to this day. Imagine the fun of slipping small, high-priced items into people’s carts when they aren’t looking, and they don’t discover the fact until they get home. You have ladies’ tampons inside of it and you buy them for yourself? ---
**Author:** ![SomeUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@SomeUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeUserName)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/19 "2009-08-24T20:01:17Z")
I don’t mind them sometimes but the last time I used one it rejected cat food. That was the only thing I bought. I tried three times. Scan and place on the belt. It would start to go through then return and refund the item saying I needed assistance with this item. It was freaking cat food. Items rejecting for no apparent reason and the “bagging area is full” crap that makes me say to hell with it and go through the other checkout. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518/20 "2009-08-24T20:07:44Z")
> [@SHAKES](#): > > If you’re a regular at the store, it takes the attendant all of two seconds to approve your purchase. > > Now produce OTOH; Grrrr!! > > Still tho’, I use self check out almost exclusively. > > I’m still waiting on the RFID technology I was promised. Where in I don’t even have to stop by the self check out. I just push my cart right on out the door and my account gets automatically charged. Where I live, the cigarettes are in a locked plexiglass case that requires someone sith a key to open it. Alcohol purchases have to rung up by someone over 21, and many times the only attendant is too young. Where I shop, the touchscreen has a way of looking up produce by type, but it is slow. They recently installed a nice rolodex type thing that lists everything and it’s code, which you just type in. That is much better. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkouts-at-stores/507518.md?page=2)