On Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:14:41 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
had this to say:

In article ,
Bill wrote:
Since B&Q installed the do it yourself checkouts with the
electronic woman shouting at me I've bought nothing there.

They are rubbish, aren't they? Always some broken so they won't give you
the choice of cards or cash. And nowhere to put larger parts.
But usually quicker than queueing at a checkout.

They're a pain when you're buying, for example, a length of chain or
cable which has to be checked off against the photograph album and
the barcode hand-scanned accordingly. When that happens the checkout
attendant seems to disappear for his/her teabreak, so you again have
to queue at a 'normal' checkout.

--
Frank Erskine