Nobody likes self-checkout. Here's why it's everywhere | Hacker News Reader

Nobody likes self-checkout. Here's why it's everywhere

cnn.com

5 pointsbookofjoe11 comments

I genuinely enjoy the convenience of self checkout, if you know how to use one, they seem to be faster

Especially after going to the same store a couple times, you eventually memorize where the buttons are and the quirks of the system

But yeah I fall into the “less items” category most of the time, but even for larger loads I prefer self checkout

Maybe it’s just because it’s interactive, or maybe it’s because I don’t want to talk to a depressed cashier

I like self-checkout, too, the article premise seems flawed.

> Maybe it’s just because it’s interactive, or maybe it’s because I don’t want to talk to a depressed cashier

Prophetic [0].

Personally, I'm indifferent, I will use which ever is fastest, sometimes that means using these machines other times it's going to the cashier because she is able to process faster than waiting in line for the machine. It's just a matter of speed and time for me.

0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaIQj76l_00

I see self-checkout as a useful ADDITION to the cashier operated one.

It's primary purpose? Fast lane for a couple of items purchased.

If I buy a full cart of groceries, detergent, power tools and what else, I'll go to the human operated checkout. Also although not illegal, I think it's grossly morraly offensive and deep ashholeness when people go to self checkout. 100% of the times they'll fuck up something, require assistance and take 5 times as much time as if the experienced cashier would have operated checkout.

But when I storm in the mall and buy me a toothpaste and a can of soda, I use self checkout. Expecting it to be largely available and not all 10 desks blocked by idiots with full carts.

I prefer self-checkout because I pack my own groceries: I _know_ in which bag and in what order I want things packed so I can optimize unpacking when I get home.

Here in SF Bay Area, Safeway has great self-checkout, and Costco recently added them (also great). Target ones though seem to expect you to have 2 or 3 items, because there's _very_ little space on the scale (mostly taken up by the plastic bags that I don't use).

I would prefer them, but for their one massive fail, which seems a feature in most of the shops i experience it in:

I'm reasonably proficient with it, moving at a decent above average pace, but there are moments where optimal packing takes a second or two, and during that momentary delay, without fail the damn machines will tell me that I should scan things... Like I've suddenly had an aneurysm and can't recall what I'm doing in this place! This comes after I've usually done plenty of scanning, enough to prove that I clearly know what I'm doing. Why don't they make them shut up completely in this patronising regard (we're decades past the 90s!) or at the very least make them not tell you when it's clear you've attained scanning mastery level?!

I should work on ignoring non-sentient machines but it's the idiocy of the programmer that nags at me.

It's nearly worth interviewing at Waitrose or Tesco's for...

"Why do you want this job?"

"I am driven by a passion to fix your automated tills, forever, for all mankind!"

Duplicate of: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32036291

I don't use self-checkout on principle: if I am doing the work that checkers do, why don't I get a discount?

Very true! Thanks to lax security and apathetic employees, you can use the self-checkout to get a five-finger discount pretty easily.

Isn't spending less time waiting to pay and leave the store a discount?

This reminds of a joke: A man bought some prunes and is eating them whole, including pits. His friend asked him: "Why don't you throw away the pits?". Man answers: "I paid by weight for the whole thing, for both flesh and pits. I am not going to throw away the things I paid for, that's wasting money"

We pay for value we get and not for the efforts of others, and for most people doing shopping, the value is in the things they buy. So if you buy the same things, you should expect the same price, self-checkout or not.

(Although there is definitely some value in the shopping experience -- a nice clean store will friendly cashiers would be able to charge more. So I can someone having "I am going to the expensive store so I don't want to do manual labor" mindset)

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