Them Self Service Tills in Superstores.

How many folk do these things actually piss off with their constant, impatient chatterings while you are trying to get your stuff paid for?
Soz if this has been covered before.

The only time I use them is if I have only popped in for one or two items. Even then you can get problems if the scanner can't read the bar code.

It's always about the bottom line, never about what the customers want. Look at Ryanair.

i hate them with a passion and always avoid them. i would rather wait and queue up to be served than use them. Just another way of saving money and not actually employing a real person.

Last time I used one it kept questioning my purchase of a tin opener(had to be checked by a member of staff,slowing me down even further).Clearly a man loose in Farnworth with a tin opener would have been a major incident.I'd only used the self service till because all the others were unattended,it being early Saturday morning. When I questioned a manager about this he said they were short staffed. But the bastards had 7 check out girls stood round the self service outlets showing people how to use them! I once tried to get more than 2 packets of paracetamol through and was almost hauled off to security.Avoid them at all costs.

The worst ones I've met are the Morrisons ones. Far too sensitive, and when I asked the checkout helper, she said that it was set deliberately high so that people couldn't put two items down as one, even the samallest of items. Problem is that the bloody system hangs every few purchases.

boltonbonce wrote:Last time I used one it kept questioning my purchase of a tin opener(had to be checked by a member of staff,slowing me down even further).Clearly a man loose in Farnworth with a tin opener would have been a major incident.I'd only used the self service till because all the others were unattended,it being early Saturday morning. When I questioned a manager about this he said they were short staffed. But the bastards had 7 check out girls stood round the self service outlets showing people how to use them! I once tried to get more than 2 packets of paracetamol through and was almost hauled off to security.Avoid them at all costs.

I'm with you on that one, surely it would be so much easier to just have a woman sat on another till than these stupid machines that actually need a member of staff to help you use it 9 times out of 10.

If they worked correctly they would be brilliant but i've not found one yet that does.

They're OK but they always need someone standing by to sort out the continuous problems such as buying spirits. Still better than queuing if you're in a rush though.

I had one item once and waiting in a huge queue at a till and some lady came up to me with an asda stick hand and said 'is that all love, come over here and use the self scanner',

I told her i'd rather sleep with Susan Boyle in a hot sauna than use them things that the devil created.

Do the supermarkets really save money? I always come away with something for free when I use the self service checkout. Last week it was a medium chicken and a bag of walnuts.

Natasha Whittam wrote:Do the supermarkets really save money? I always come away with something for free when I use the self service checkout. Last week it was a medium chicken and a bag of walnuts.

I was going to post a similar comment earlier.

They're great for shoplifting. You just wait 'til the assistant is off helping some old woman scan her Tena Lady down the other end and Bob's your uncle.

I've reduced my weekly shopping bill by about half by using these beauties.

Although, I must admit by your admission, Nat.

Not the fact that you steal stuff because posh folk are well known for their propensity for a bit of the old "five finger discount" - just look at Wynona Ryder, Anthony Worral Thomson and Richard Madeley....

No, not that.....I'm more surprised that you don't get all your stuff flown in by helicopter from Fortnum & Mason.

Edit -Although, I must admit THAT I'M SURPRISED by your admission, Nat.

(There's something weird going on with my keyboard tonight.)

It would be a step too far for me using one of them self checkout machine gadgets, I'd probably set all the alarms off and plunge the store into darkness.just about coping with these computer thingys.

They are good when you have a few items and you can take advantage of them being unmanned - as long a the weight matches up you can be crafty...

Fuck em.

boltonbonce wrote:

That's what always happens to me, but the unexpected item in the bagging area is always the plastic bag. How a bag in the bagging area is unexpected is one of lifes great mysteries.