Reading a thread about the Post Office in the Pit reminded me of an incident when I went to a local post office to mail an envelope. To my surprise, it was particularly busy that afternoon; the line was twelve to fifteen people deep, stretching out into the PO box area. So I went right to the automated post machine, which only one person was using. I was able to get proper postage on my large envelope and buy stamps. Even as I used it, only two people lined up behind me to use it. “Definitely the way to go,” the woman behind me remarked.
That reminded me of the time I got to the airport to go home on a particularly cold and snowy day. I had checked in over the Web, so I got into the Web check-in line to check my suitcase and confirm my boarding pass. It was (probably literally) 1/10th the size of the non-Web check-in line.
Why don’t more people take advantage of things like this? More and more hotels have Internet access through rooms or offer their own connected computers; some even have airline branded kiosks right in the lobby. And, of course, home 'Net connections are practically ubiquitous these days (probably not in ALL homes, but certainly in most that can afford commercial air travel). So why, in my experience, are the regular lines still so long and the lines that take advantage of technology so short?
(Unrelated PS: I suppose line behavior isn’t always rational; I remember a time at Denver International when a friend and I were catching separate flights. There, the security line runs from a balcony into a “pit” that you can enter from one of two opposite sides that meet in the security area in the center. On our left, the line was completely full, going halfway up the stairs. On our right… almost empty. Guess which line we took.)
I was wondering about this earlier while I was at the grocery store picking up a few things. There were lines of people at the cashier-run registers and nobody using the six available self scan machines.
I can understand it for the elderly, people who have difficulty with dexterity, or people who have a LOT of stuff. While I was scanning my stuff I heard the cashier closest to me telling someone in line that the automated checkouts were open and the man said “I pay enough for groceries, I expect customer service.”
He was in that line when I walked up to scan my products and hadn’t even gotten up to his turn when I was walking out. Customer service is nice, but being on your way faster is nicer IMHO.
I think so. They’re afraid of making a mistake or not being able to complete whatever transaction to their satisfaction; so they feel the need to have a CSR do it for them.
On the airport thing, I always do the web check-in when I’m leaving town, but when I’m catching my return flight I have to go through the standard check-in because tracking down and paying for a computer with a printer to print out a boarding pass while on vacation is too much of a hassle.
As far as self check-outs, I think people are scared of them. I always use them, but hubby won’t. He’s set in his ways and thinks they are a pain in the ass to use. I have no clue why he thinks that; whenever I try to tell him they’re easier he rolls his eyes.
Personally, I’d rather wait a few extra minutes and thus ensure someone gets to keep their job.
Don’t think the store’s head office isn’t looking at the numbers of people using self-scan machines and working out how many millions of dollars a year they can save by increasing self-service checkouts and laying off register staff.
If you’ve only got something like 3 items and you absolutely, positively have to be somewhere else, then maybe I can understand using the self-service checkout once in a blue moon.
But remember: You don’t get a discount on the groceries for doing this and you are also indirectly putting people out of work, so just keep that in mind the next time you’re debating whether to use the self-service lane or whether to take advantage of the extra few minutes the full-service one will take to read a trashy magazine instead.
Do you know what happens when you get older? You don’t pick up new stuff like you did when younger. In fact you start having trouble with stuff you’ve used many times. Your attention span shortens and you lose track of the step your on. I’ve watched ma mess up her debit card every time she’s used it. It takes minutes to get it accepted, and that’s just the swipe and pin part of a transaction. Personally I like to interact with the person too. That way I’ve actually interacted with a person that day.
Enjoy your short lines and stop complaining since you should breeze through the mechanized impersonal things you like to use.
Locally almost nobody uses the self check outs at Walmart, and nobody cares that Walmart might save money. We want personal service.
Yep. Either of those reasons would do it for me. If they are gonna save money because I do some of the work, I’d damn well better see some of that money in my pocket. I also don’t want to see the markets going to all self-checkout. There’s times when I need some assistance getting stuff out to my car, and there’s times when I have problems lifting stuff because of arthritis. Not every shopper is an able-bodied young adult.
In the supermarket I go to, if I used the self checkout, I’d just have to ring for assistance anyway to get a staff member to put through the non-scanable fresh bakery goods, etc.
Nor should it. The only way we advance as an economy is to find new and more efficient ways to accomplish existing jobs. 25 years ago, you didn’t have widespread UPC scanning, the cashier had to type in the cost of the product after reading the little label the stock boy put on the package. Today, with the scanners, the stock boys don’t have to spend as much time pricing products, and the cashiers can process items faster. That means fewer stock boys and fewer cashiers, yet somehow I don’t think the loss of these minimum wage jobs was the cause of our current economic woe.
Hijack aside, my favorite one of these is the EZ-Pass system we have in the north east for paying tolls. 90% of the time, I breeze past all the folks waiting at the cash only lanes wondering why they seemingly want to wait at a toll booth, and often they have to pay MORE to wait on line and pay cash.
I think the OP is backwards. The real question is “why do lines still take so long when so many people are using tech that reduces wait times?” The answer is that companies that use automated tech to reduce wait times also reduce the customer service staff enough so that the wait time for the remaining non-tech-using people is around what it was before the improvement.
I believe a lot of the self-service technology is poorly designed and hard to use. (With the exception of banking machines, which have been around longer and are really quite well designed now.)
People feel stupid if they can’t figure out how to use it and people don’t like to look stupid in public. The technology has a ‘version 1.0’ feel to it. It works, but they haven’t really addressed making it easy and intuitive.
Think about how often you find a sign taped to the machine that is essentially a work-around for a usability mistake.
While I respect your decision to take advantage of cashiers, I’m not sure I agree that you don’t get a discount. Yes, those who use a cashier and those who use self-serve pay the same prices, but the more people that use self-serve, the lower the costs to retailers and the lower the prices they can charge.
More self-service = lower prices over the long-term.
That said, it seems like stores are missing an opportunity by not giving, say, 1% off of bills for people who use self-serve.
The thing is, the stock ninjas (as we used to call ourselves) still have a reason to exist- taking the stock from the pallets out the back and putting it onto the shelves on the floor so customers can purchase it. The introduction of barcodes (well before my time) didn’t affect that one iota- it just meant the stockfillers had more time to focus on actually getting the stock out onto the floor and less time having to worry if every tin of baked beans had a price tag on it.
If supermarkets switch over to self-serve checkouts- and don’t think they won’t, eventually- what will the current check-out staff do? Two or three of them will get to keep their jobs as “Register Supervisors” and maybe as additional help on the weekend, but realistically what’s going to happen is that ALL the check-out staff will lose their jobs and the stockfillers will be trained to work on the registers for Pension Day or when it’s really busy.
And will your groceries get any cheaper? Not bloody likely. So, you’ll have groceries that aren’t cheaper than they are now, you’ll have lots of people put out of work, and you’ll still be stuck at the (self-serve) registers for ages because the twit in front of you can’t get the tuna to scan.
You might not bemoan the loss of those “minimum wage jobs”, but having actually worked in a supermarket, I can tell you a large percentage- over half, in some cases- of those register staff are actually mothers with kids and mature aged women, and they work in the supermarket 15 hours a week or whatever to bring in some extra money to pay for things like school uniforms, nappies, shoes, and so on. It’s not all teenage girls working to get money for makeup, alcohol, and clothes, and even when it is, the current global economy needs all the spending it can get.
When those “minimum wage” jobs vanish from the economy, nobody wins. This isn’t about being a Luddite scared that the mechanised loom will put all the textile workers out of a job, it’s about acknowledging that the new technology will allow supermarkets to make even more money whilst paying less in wages and employing fewer people, ultimately benefitting no-one except themselves and their shareholders. And we’ve all seen how well that strategy has worked out.
Look, if you want to be Captain Free Market, that’s fine. But don’t come whinging to us in 30 years time when you’re still stuck behind idiots at the check-out, there’s no-one to help you carry your groceries to your car because they all got laid off and replaced with “self-service” terminals, AND your groceries still aren’t any cheaper than they used to be, despite the fact there’s almost no staff in the store.
You’re kidding, right? There’s no way that’s going to happen. The supermarkets- here, at least- will (and do) simply pocket the difference with a cheery wave and a “Thanks for coming!” on your way out.
1% is way too much. That would be most of their profit.
Although the store saves money on self-serve, I don’t think the per customer savings are big enough to support giving a discount. It’s probably only pennies an order.
I don’t like having to get things to scan right, or bagging my own groceries and worrying about whether I’ve put heavy stuff on top of something like bread. I’d rather have someone else deal with those issues for me, even if that means I’m in line a little longer.
I don’t use the self-scan machines, because every time I have used it, without exception, I triggered something that would cause a long delay. I’d have to wait a few minutes for someone to arrive and override or reset the particular part of the transaction. Buying beer, something that absolutely wold not scan nor be recognized with manual UPC entry, a frequent customer card that would automatically trigger the “wait for a cashier” prompt for some reason … it was ALWAYS something.
I’m not elderly. I run a Web server, own an iPhone and three computers, and am otherwise technically savvy.
Same thing here; I have a heavy canvas bag that I use for groceries, and I always have to wait for someone to override the machine’s insistence that I scan the bag before putting it on the counter. :rolleye:
And for some reason I have to give my coupons to a clerk to be processed; at the regular registers the clerk just runs them over the scanner like my groceries.
I don’t know, but I’m glad they don’t. My last trip to the grocery store was more like a tired comedy bit than an actual human experience. There was an old man in front of me who whipped out a checkbook to pay for his lentils and cabbage for Chrissakes. Checks at the grocery store? Nobody does that in real life, do they? I left and went to the self check out line. When I was in my car pulling off, I’m sure he was still there cleaning off his glasses and trying to figure out who to make the check payable to.
In pre-9/11 airports, I would show up 35 minutes before take off, zip into self check-out, walk through security, and by the time I was at my gate, boarding had begun 10 minutes ago. This was before they believed I was going to use my hand lotion and sandals to blow up the plane. I still utilize self check in, but it’s substantially slower now that you have to check in everything. My hub once used a six-pack of beer as a carry-on. Can’t do that anymore.
