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Comment by stephen_g | Hacker News Reader

I've noticed at supermarkets here that of the dozens of times those 'you haven't scanned something' warnings have come up, only one time the item hadn't actually scanned when I thought it had. Every other time has been a false positive for me. They're pretty dodgy, the workers always seem pretty frustrated with it as they go around clearing them for people (sometimes a handful of people waiting, falsely accused by the machines)...

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All of the places around here that had first-gen units with a scale on the packing side (to make sure you actually scanned eg a banana and not a two pound block of cheese, yet were constantly wrong) have replaced them with newer versions that don't have scales or any other way that I can see to validate that what you scanned is what you put into your bag.

I'm not sure where I would find the data to back this up, but since it seems like an across-the-board change I imagine the labor savings have proven to outweigh (heh) the inventory shrinkage.

To me, the Uniqlo system where everything has an RFID tag and the machine just automatically scans the contents of your basket is the platonic ideal but I know that comes with issues of its own in different retail contexts.

The horrible scale system of self-checkouts brought my anxiety to a fever pitch. Any slight adjustment to the bag or moving anything around would literally set off an alarm for "assistance." Still gives me low-key ptsd even though I know they don't use them anymore.

Still here at Kroger which consistently calls for assistance.

And then there’s fucking Costco where after the system calling over a rep after I scanned something. apparently I am only to use the scanning gun for things that are staying in the cart, when I bagged it it called them over.

We still have them in the UK. As you say, any attempt to adjust your packing sets the alarm off so I find it's quickest to place everything directly onto the scales and only pack once I've paid.

At my local grocery store, if the item doesn't end up on the scale in about three seconds, the machine locks up and requires an attendant to unlock it. Makes bagging as you go nigh impossible. Infuriating.

The worst part for me is when they prevent you from scanning the same item twice.

Yes, I want 2 boxes of cereal.

I just find it easier to go to a cashier.

There's a smaller grocery store here where the self checkouts actually advertise that you can scan two things before putting them away (and you can!). It really should be standard.

We should all go to the cashier anyway. I’m not a store employee and I don’t do their work. Besides, if the cashier fucks up it isn’t my problem.

I've watched too many cashiers put their fingers in their nose right before someone came to their line. I'd rather skip out on their gross fingers.

Yeah, use the touchscreen instead.

You should mention that to the store manager, wtf

I always go to a cashier. Every damn time the self checkout is open, there are two or three employees standing around doing nothing while one runs around fixing all the errors and does all the ID checks. If those people has just been in a regular checkout area, all those customers waiting at self checkout would have been out of the store already. Self checkout is a fucking joke 90% of the time.

Or the ones that prevent you from scanning item2 until you bag item1.

Wastes a lot of time for those of us working with >=2 hands.

Thank god Aldi’s just let you scan and go about your day.

you have to put the item on the scale before it lets yo uscan the next item. So you can scan the same item twice if you scan it once, put the other item on the scale, and scan the item again.

My go-to grocery store does not use a scale in the bagging area. You don't even have to bag anything, you can just scan items and put them back in your cart, which is what I normally do. There is one employee standing there monitoring 7 or 8 self-checkouts, but they've never confronted me about allegedly not scanning something, and I've never heard them confronting anyone else.

Another nearby mega-chain still uses the scales and makes you bag every item before you can scan anything else. I don't ever shop there, almost entirely for that reason alone. I would definitely never knowingly shop at a store that was scanning my face and storing it in a database.

Not necessarily. In my case I will often buy a few bunches of bananas, which don't all fit on the scanner’s scale at once. If I try to weigh them once bunch at a time, I will get a “too many scans of this item” alert and a staff member will have to come unlock the machine for me (and they'll usually scold me for not weighing all of my bananas, which can't all fit on the scale, at once).

Fun fact: the self checkout attendant usually has a button on a portable device that can remotely unlock your session.

They aren't allowed to use it and instead are required to physically walk up, move the customer out of the way, and push the same button on your screen.

I think CostCo's self-checkouts are best designed/staffed. Other than not accepting cash, they are my favorite (even though still verify scanning of each item, verified by bag-area weighing).

WalMart has two popular designs within my city (not sure if one is just un-updated, yet¿) — their type which accepts half dollars is my favorite cash design.

I have seen designs which don't weigh each item, allowing simultaneous scanning... that also call an attendant to verify if it thinks you snuck an item by (then plays a loop/clip of its alleged violation).

Personally, I have a family member that works as attendant to a dozen self-checkouts... and it seems like it would make more corporate sense to have more human checkers and only allow cash with them.

This is an important observation as you now have a mechanism to obtain free things from the megacorp of your choosing.

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