# Why don't more people use tech that reduce wait times? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 17, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387 "2009-04-17T05:43:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [April 19, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/61 "2009-04-19T00:53:04Z")
> [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](#): > > The other fallacy you have going on here is that the replacement of cashiers with less expensive technology is not saving the consumer money. Yes, grocery prices are on a general upward trend. Yes, the owners of the stores act to maximize their profits. But money is invested in the grocery business based on the returns it can earn there. If it can’t earn competitive returns, there will be fewer grocery stores and that will result in higher prices. The supermarket business in Australia is different to the supermarket business in the US, as I explained earlier. And there are some extremely selfish, uncaring people in this thread, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![tetranz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@tetranz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tetranz)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/62 "2009-04-19T01:38:43Z")
I use the supermarket self checkouts all the time these days but I can understand people avoiding them. I know what to avoid so as to not need assistance. My store doesn’t usually have anyone watching them so at one of the four self checkouts there is nearly always someone standing around awkwardly trying to get someone’s attention. One issue I’ve found is that they don’t really have a good way to cope with reusable bags. I can’t put my bag in the bagging area because its weight triggers an alarm. I can put it on the floor and put items directly into it but I’ve discovered that I can only hit the “Skip bagging” button about five times before an alarm is triggered requiring a staff member. The only way is to put the items unbagged onto the bagging area and then, after paying, put them in my own bag. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/63 "2009-04-19T01:53:31Z")
> [@tetranz](#): > > …The only way is to put the items unbagged onto the bagging area and then, after paying, put them in my own bag. That’s actually a pretty good tip! I wonder if our local self-checkouts would be mollified that way. Think I’ll try it. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/64 "2009-04-19T02:41:03Z")
> [@tetranz](#): > > One issue I’ve found is that they don’t really have a good way to cope with reusable bags. I can’t put my bag in the bagging area because its weight triggers an alarm. I can put it on the floor and put items directly into it but I’ve discovered that I can only hit the “Skip bagging” button about five times before an alarm is triggered requiring a staff member. The only way is to put the items unbagged onto the bagging area and then, after paying, put them in my own bag. I’ve complained about this in the past. Apparently the Harris Teeters I shop at has gotten complaints about this, because morning the clerk monitoring the self-checkout did something from his station that cut off the “please remove the last item from your bag and scan it again” announcement almost immediately after I put the bag in the bagging area. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/65 "2009-04-19T02:59:22Z")
Is mine the only grocery store that has forestalled this problem by having a button to begin the transaction that says “Place your greenbox or bags on the weighing scale!” all cheerful-like? It works nicely. I hit the button, put my backpack or bags or pack animal on the scale, the machine recalibrates, and I go on with my three-item purchase or whatever. It works nicely, so the technology is definitely out there. ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2009, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/66 "2009-04-19T07:03:43Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > And there are some extremely selfish, uncaring people in this thread, IMO. :rolleyes: If choosing self checkout makes one selfish and uncaring, then millions of us in the US are heartless bastards. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2009, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/67 "2009-04-19T09:33:06Z")
> [@atomicbadgerrace](#): > > :rolleyes: If choosing self checkout makes one selfish and uncaring, then millions of us in the US are heartless bastards. It’s not the choosing the self-service checkout that makes people selfish and uncaring, IMHO- it’s trying to take the moral high ground for doing so that does. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2009, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/68 "2009-04-19T11:14:46Z")
> [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](#): > > And if they did, would anyone really object? Let’s say there was some type of RFID in the cart that just charged it to your credit card (or some type of prepaid account) and you could walk right out the door with no line or scanning at all? Would anyone really bemoan that? Yes, because I would then have absolutely no way to check that the scanned price was the correct price. Or don’t you realize that such errors are common? Aren’t you paying attention when they scan your items? > [@](#): > > If I am going to pay someone to do work of no value, I might as well pay taxes to give them welfare benefits. Then at least they get the free time to raise their kids or learn a new skill. Except welfare in this country is _shit_, and even when you’re out of work it’s damn hard to even get it. In most of the country being on welfare means grinding poverty whereas cashier jobs usually pay more than minimum wage. Fact is, most of the time I’m not in a tearing hurry. When I travel I allow extra time. Years ago I decided I’d rather take longer and be less stressed so as much as possible that’s what I do. I’d also much rather interact face-to-face with another human being than with a machine. Especially these last 18 months or so when I’ve been without work for long periods of time it is far too easy to be isolated from others. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2009, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/69 "2009-04-19T11:22:31Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > 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. So glad your system works The one installed around here suddenly started overcharging people for their tolls. Various other problems ensued, with one lady winding up with a $50,000 bill (it did eventually get straightened out). Surprise! After the news broke suddenly the cash-only lanes were overloaded. Can you blame them? Also, not all of us use tollways on a regular basis. I use our tollways maybe once every 2-3 years. _For me_ it’s less bother just to allow time to go through the cash lanes than to buy some piece of junk that will sit in my vehicle with no purpose for years at a time. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2009, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/70 "2009-04-19T11:26:08Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > And is there a reason, besides your own personal involvement, that the cashier’s job is somehow more worthy of protection than the job of someone who works in manufacturing the self-checkout equipment? Cause the gals (and a few guys) working the check out lines in my neighborhood are my neighbors and people I know and I will see them suffer if they lose their jobs. I don’t know the guys building the self-checkout equipment, the factory isn’t near here. Sorry, but I do care more about my immediate neighbors than somebody across the country or (more likely these days) in a third-world factory, and for damn sure I don’t care if the owners of the stores get richer or not if their means of doing so is to deprive people of their livelihoods. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2009, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/71 "2009-04-19T11:33:23Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > For everyone who thinks I should use the cashier instead of the automated machine, do you still buy regular film and get it developed or do you use digital cameras? Actually, until my local stores stopped carrying regular film I was using both. I was taking pictures in situations where the camera might get damaged and while I was willing to risk a disposable I didn’t want to risk my expensive digital. > [@](#): > > You don’t pay at the gas pump with your credit or debit car instead of going into the gas station, right? Nope, I don’t use plastic at the gas station. I go inside, hand the attendant a $10 or a $20, and go put gas in my vehicle. I _used to_ use plastic, until I started getting double charged and overcharged and had to take time out of my busy day to get that sorted out. I used to fill first then pay until the stations started wanting “collateral” - insisting on holding onto my card or my license until I came back to pay. No way. I pay cash up front, they set the machine so I can’t put more than that in the engine, and everybody is happy. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2009, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/72 "2009-04-19T11:55:57Z")
> [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](#): > > We don’t need that anymore, so people can do other things. Cashiers would be wise to look into things that they can do that humanity will actually need done, like care for the elderly, teach school, do lab tech work. Most “care for the elderly” is done by family, for free. That which isn’t is either done by “aides” making minimum wage (and frequently held to less than full time hours so benefits like health insurance need not be offered them) or require a nursing degree. Despite the shortage of nurses, there is also a shortage of slots in nursing schools - so much easier to import them from third world countries than to educate people already here, I suppose. Teach school? The ability of teachers to actually TEACH these days has been hamstrung. Not to mention every day running the risk of being accused of assault or molestation for so much as touching a child with a fingertip. Lab tech work? Sure, I’d love to - but I seem to be short the tuition money to take the classes I need. See, when you put masses of people out of work and tell them “find a new job” there is, at least in this country, no mechanism to retrain them. They’re on their own for financing such education, and let me tell you, the money runs out quick when you’re unemployed. They you get the humilation of being treated as a second class (or worse) person everywhere you go because you aren’t drawing paycheck, you’re one of those money-sucking welfare cases (nevermind it’s practically impossible for an able-bodied adult to get welfare these days, especially if you don’t have kids) > [@](#): > > The other fallacy you have going on here is that the replacement of cashiers with less expensive technology is not saving the consumer money. Yes, grocery prices are on a general upward trend. Yes, the owners of the stores act to maximize their profits. But money is invested in the grocery business based on the returns it can earn there. If it can’t earn competitive returns, there will be fewer grocery stores and that will result in higher prices. Yes, the owners want to maximize THEIR profits. One way to do that is to cut their costs by reducing staff without reducing OUR costs by reducing prices. I’m paying just as much, meanwhile, my neighbors are out of work. Yeah, good trade-off. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/73 "2009-04-19T12:59:24Z")
I remember when Wal-Mart installed self-checkouts during their remodeling of two supercenters in Las Cruces. For a few months, they would be reliably open and working (say 80% up) and I was happy to use them when I only had a few things. Similarly, I would use them when available (under the same conditions) at other places like Albertson’s (a grocery store) or Weis (another grocery store, in PA, and the self-checkouts are still the best version I’ve seen) or even Lowe’s. However, my experience with these things tells me that 90% of the people trying to use one really should not and that it goes to 99% with Wal-Mart. Then, apparently, there was a change at the top and the things were never open. It didn’t matter if I was there on a Saturday afternoon or a Wednesday evening or 1 AM Sunday morning. No dice. As far as I know, they have not been open for more than two years. ( **Dag** , any chance you could confirm this?) So while I would love to be able to run my half-dozen items of things I could only find at Wal-Mart through and be out of that hellhole, I’m stuck behind the person with a cart full of things demanding a price check on every single item (I have horrible line-picking skills.) Now that I’ve moved to New York, I can’t even find a Wal-Mart in the area that has one. (Trying to figure out how a two-level Wal-Mart Supercenter manages to have fewer items than a normal supercenter in Las Cruces, NM or in the middle of nowhere south of Altoona, PA is another thread.) However, I’m convinced that if I ever do find one, all the self-checkouts will be closed all the time. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/74 "2009-04-19T13:28:38Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > The supermarket business in Australia is different to the supermarket business in the US, as I explained earlier. > > And there are some extremely selfish, uncaring people in this thread, IMO. And incompentent: Imagine having difficulty swiping a case of soda on a grocery scanner! Imagine the inabillity to actually read the receipt printed out at the gas pump before driving off! IMO, of course. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/75 "2009-04-19T13:30:57Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > And incompentent: Imagine having difficulty swiping a case of soda on a grocery scanner! Imagine the inabillity to actually read the receipt printed out at the gas pump before driving off! > > IMO, of course. In my experience, the receipt printers on petrol pumps never seem to work, so yeah, it’s not that people aren’t reading them, it’s that they aren’t getting a receipt in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/76 "2009-04-19T13:51:20Z")
Then you walk in and ask the clerk (who is stll there, regardless of who is paying how at the pump, because they have to cover the store) for a receipt. The fact is, using the card reader at the pump doesn’t affect the number of jobs at that gas station because the clerk will still have to man the register at the store. So that excuse (“I’m saving their jobs!”) doesn’t wash. All using the card reader does is reduce their workload and saves you time. Which are both positives, imho. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/77 "2009-04-19T14:18:16Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > It’s not the choosing the self-service checkout that makes people selfish and uncaring, IMHO- it’s trying to take the moral high ground for doing so that does. It’s a grocery store checkout line. “Morality” doesn’t factor into it. Unless you’re talking about shooting the clerk to get your groceries for free. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/78 "2009-04-19T15:57:29Z")
At least in urban areas, it could be herd mentality: you get in the long line _because_ your time is valuable, not in spite of it. Ie: if there wasn’t a good reason for all those people to be in that line, it wouldn’t _be_ a long line. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2009, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/79 "2009-04-19T16:12:21Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > At least in urban areas, it could be herd mentality: you get in the long line _because_ your time is valuable, not in spite of it. Ie: if there wasn’t a good reason for all those people to be in that line, it wouldn’t _be_ a long line. What? Why would anyone think that way when evaluating _grocery store lines_? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387/80 "2009-04-19T16:19:14Z")
I’m thinking more public transit here. But! I have Hypothesis G for the grocery: _avoid the_ shortest\* line.\* It has had the most people leave it because it is unusually slow or stopped entirely due to unreliable equipment, merchandise without SKUs/tags, shabby recluses paying in wheat pennies, etc etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-people-use-tech-that-reduce-wait-times/493387.md?page=5)