Ask Lemmy

No. A byproduct of self checkout has been the downward pressure on the quality and professionalism of cashiers to the point I'd rather do it myself than to subject myself to a level of incompetence that borders on feeble.

Cashier is not a career path many aspire to, but like any job there's a floor. I'm willing to admit maybe it is my area or maybe only the places I frequently, or leaded gasoline poisoning my brain to the point of overblown irrational anger. BUT I long for a courteous, competent experience at any service establishment. I expect a 50/50 chance at a positive experience anywhere I go that interacts with the service sector. Maybe it has always been that way.

But, yeah. DIY as much as possible.

Always self checkout. At least it doesn’t try to make eye contact.

I don't have time to skim the whole thread so I'll just say it. I go to the cashier because I like the conveyor belt.

Generally at most stores, no.

However, I do most of my grocery shopping at Wegmans. When I'm there, unless I'm just picking up a couple things, I use the cashier lanes. While there is some variation in skill level, they tend to be much better than most cashiers in other stores.

Of course i use the cashier. First, because I'm there to shop, not to work. Second, because I support the cashiers job. Third, I simply don't like the robo checkouts.

And no, I'm definitely not "anti technology", like some people wondered. I f-ing develop computer chips and have been into Linux since kernel 0.97, so i'm definitely inside of tech.

No, i just put things in my pocket and leave. Don't see any reason to use the cashier

If I have to go into the store, I'm probably not in a good mood so I use the self checkout.

Still feel bad about snapping at the poor lady who had to ask for my ID for cough medicine while I was sick as a dog...

Edit: I buy my groceries once a week thru the pickup service. I don't have to get out, I don't buy extra stuff. Easy peasy.

I try to use cashier aisles whenever possible. In every type of store. Partly because I want to be contributing in a tiny way to someone being employed, and partly because of bad experiences in the past with self-checkout systems.

Yep. I don’t go to the store to work. Fuck that.

Y’all know this is just yet more transfer of wealth right?

Edit: Allow me to go further. You have heard of trickle down economics? Supporters say if you let billionaires keep more money, they will create jobs and the money trickles back down

Checkouts where you scan your own purchases is the perfect counter example. They charge the same, AND steal your productivity.

Of course I use cashier. I have like 40-50 items when I go grocery shopping and a lot of them have codes. They dont pay me enough to do all that work. Maybe if I have like 3 things and the lines are long I'll go through self checkout but that's the only time

Depends on what I'm getting. Small stuff, maybe 8 items, no produce codes? Self checkout mostly. Alcohol or anything else that requires a cashier step in to approve it? Original recipe.

I worked as a cashier at a grocery store for several years, I generally refuse to self checkout. It seems it as a shifting of responsibility from the store to the shopper to ensure that everything is calculated correctly.

They used to pay and train people to do this, now they’ve decided that their shoppers can do it and if something goes wrong then they get to decide that you were stealing.

https://nypost.com/2024/09/24/us-news/olympian-former-valparaiso-university-softball-coach-meaggan-pettipiece/

I always use a cashier, since that means a normal person gets paid. Self-checkout just makes the rich richer.

I never use the self-checkout unless there's no other option. I feel like I'm contributing to the perception of need for human workers, and if I'm at the store, I'm certainly not in a rush.

Yes. I prefer a cashier. I like it better. I like having an expert do it. I like baggers too. Same with hardware stores. All stores.

Self-checkout, every time, anywhere it's available. It's faster and I don't have to talk to anyone.

Well la dee da, Mr. Moneybags here still buys groceries. 🧐

I use the cashier because I don't work for the store, they do (it's not the best job, but they obviously need it). Corporations would love it if we stocked the shelves and mopped the floors, too. Maybe they could turn the lights out and we could use our phones' flashlights to save on electricity, as well. They could give rewards points for snitching on people who don't scan all their items ("Help keep prices down by joining our Volunteer Loss Prevention Program!").

Yes. Fuck ringing up my own groceries. I am not an employee and I do not labor for the grocery store. If I am forced to ring out my own groceries and do that labor, I will be getting paid via shoplifting an item as I check out.

I never use self checkout. I stopped buying at two retailers who installed self checkout on more than half the lanes.

Self checkout is a job killer, and worse, is making customers do the job of paid employees for free.

I do self checkout because I want to bag my own groceries. I bike with a trailer, and I want to be able to make sure all the crushable items are in one place so I can load them on top.

It depends. If i only have one or two things and there's one open, I'll use the self checkout so I can get out as fast as I can.

If I have a cart full of shit, multiple coupons, loyalty card, there's no way I'm doing all that myself. At that point, I'm stuck for a while no matter what, so I'll wait for someone else to do it; I'm not getting paid, they are.

I generally prefer self-checkout because it's faster, but I will also use cashier if that is faster. I used to absolutely hate the cashiers, because you have to talk to them. But I've gotten better at the mandatory "hello," "how are you?" "have a good day"s as I've gotten older.

Cashier. I like to help people keep their jobs.

I'm in Austria where the usability of self-checkout counters is often terrible, sometimes to the point where there are employees nearby for troubleshooting. I try it sometimes in stores where it's available, but only if I'm not in a hurry.

I do. I got "randomly selected" at the self-checkout for a bag check four times in a row, each time the employee taking everything out of my bag. Got sick of that.

Everyone in this thread: I avoid self checkout like the plague, I don't want to replace employees

My mom: works for a grocery store, never uses the regular checkout if possible

There will always be employees at grocery stores and the scan while walking type of self checkout is more convenient than any other type of checkout.

I'm surprised more people don't know about the huge discounts you can get for using the self checkout, but only at big chain stores. 🏴‍☠️

My preferred is self checkout, unfortunately The self checkout at every grocery store i go to is utter SHIT for a weekly trip. They are fine if you have a few items.

For a big shopping trip, The carts are not setup for it, the checkout area is way to small and the registers arent positioned/configured correctly.

One store has a scan option as you go that is awesome. You scan as you go down the isle and put your stuff on your bags, at the end you scan a bar code on the scanner and pay. Only problem.. it typically crashes halfway through the shopping. It is unusable.

Coincidently, I am at Bethany Beach in Delaware, rented a house for Ocean’s Calling, we went to Giant for stuff and AMAZINGLY the self checkout was excellent.

It was a typical chechout lane with a belt etc thar had a self checkout register.. it worked perfecly.

I typically make smaller purchases more often.

Because of that, my protocol is to use self checkout until the amount/total size of items makes the tiny nooks too cramped for comfort.

I don't typically loathe human interaction enough to take huge measures to avoid it, but I do prefer avoiding when possible.

I can also see it if I was buying a combination/type of items that I don't wanna be judged for. I can't think of a realistic version of that (other than the meme'd stories of a cucumber and pack of condoms or supplies you could bury a body with, etc), but just the thought that someone might judge it is enough for certain people to avoid it.

Only if I have bought a lot of stuff. I've used self checkouts wherever possible for what feels like 15+ years