"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

"Calvin Henry-Cotnam" wrote in message

My peeve with the self serve checkouts are the people who think there is
one line per station. Most stores that I have seen have them in pairs or
sometimes fours and I will queue up for the group with the intent of
using
the next one available, and I let anyone coming after me that is my
intent when it is clear they seem to be scoping out one in particular to
wait for.

I was in WalMart yesterday. We got in line at the regular checkout and I
watched to see who was last in line for the self checkout to see what the
time difference was. What I saw was a couple of amateurs taking their
time, chatting, looking over the merchandise and in general taking about
50% longer than the paid clerk. It was a toss up. I beat two of the self
check lines, the other two beat me. One needed assistance and for all I
know, they may still be there. Like most things in like, "it all depends"


The Wal Mart here has a truly stupid thing going on. You know the way some
cash registers make a little beep every time something is scanned, so the
cashier knows it worked? In the store here, they've somehow run that sound
through the PA system over the registers, at rather high volume. Some ******
must've thought it sounded festive or something. It's intensely annoying.

On Sun, 18 Dec 2005 04:46:31 +0000, Edwin Pawlowski wrote:


"Calvin Henry-Cotnam" wrote in message

My peeve with the self serve checkouts are the people who think there is
one line per station. Most stores that I have seen have them in pairs or
sometimes fours and I will queue up for the group with the intent of using
the next one available, and I let anyone coming after me that is my
intent when it is clear they seem to be scoping out one in particular to
wait for.

I was in WalMart yesterday. We got in line at the regular checkout and I
watched to see who was last in line for the self checkout to see what the
time difference was. What I saw was a couple of amateurs taking their time,
chatting, looking over the merchandise and in general taking about 50%
longer than the paid clerk. It was a toss up. I beat two of the self check
lines, the other two beat me. One needed assistance and for all I know,
they may still be there. Like most things in like, "it all depends"

Hint: Check out at the sporting goods counter. There is never a line and
they'll take anything. I tell my wife to buy me a box of ammo and
check out there. ;-)

--
Keith

On Sun, 18 Dec 2005 02:34:59 +0000, lid
(Calvin Henry-Cotnam) wrote:

Edwin Pawlowski ) said...

"Calvin Henry-Cotnam" wrote in message

The time I save is worth more than any discount that they can offer!

If you save time. I tried them twice, two different stores because I
thought I'd save time. In both cases, an item would not scan properly and I
ended up having the clerk watching them fix things up. PITA. Our local K
Mart took them out after 3 months.

My peeve with the self serve checkouts are the people who think there is
one line per station. Most stores that I have seen have them in pairs or
sometimes fours and I will queue up for the group with the intent of using
the next one available, and I let anyone coming after me that is my
intent when it is clear they seem to be scoping out one in particular to
wait for.

One thing that is a Home Depot peeve with these checkouts: never use them
if you have any "bulk" items like screws/fasteners that you bag yourself
and write down the sku number.

Or items that may contain a "security device".

These have to be entered by the clerk, and
slows down the process making it slower than using a regular checkout.

Grocery stores I have seen with self-serve checkouts let you do this
yourself, but as one HD associate put it, "they don't have contractors
entering the code for galvanized when they are purchasing stainless".

The last time I uses a self-checkout, it was for some LED holiday
lights. It worked OK THAT time.

I go to Wal-Mart a lot (there's a store less than a mile from my
house). I usually avoid the self-checkout. There's too many problems
like those "criminal" devices (the ones they always call "inventory
control", but still make it sound like you're being accused of
something) and various unscannable items.
--
7 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what
to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb
contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin

On Sun, 18 Dec 2005 10:49:53 -0500, Keith wrote:

On Sun, 18 Dec 2005 04:46:31 +0000, Edwin Pawlowski wrote:


"Calvin Henry-Cotnam" wrote in message

My peeve with the self serve checkouts are the people who think there is
one line per station. Most stores that I have seen have them in pairs or
sometimes fours and I will queue up for the group with the intent of using
the next one available, and I let anyone coming after me that is my
intent when it is clear they seem to be scoping out one in particular to
wait for.

I was in WalMart yesterday. We got in line at the regular checkout and I
watched to see who was last in line for the self checkout to see what the
time difference was. What I saw was a couple of amateurs taking their time,
chatting, looking over the merchandise and in general taking about 50%
longer than the paid clerk. It was a toss up. I beat two of the self check
lines, the other two beat me. One needed assistance and for all I know,
they may still be there. Like most things in like, "it all depends"

Hint: Check out at the sporting goods counter. There is never a line and
they'll take anything. I tell my wife to buy me a box of ammo and
check out there. ;-)

I don't know about sporting goods, but at the electronics counters at
Wal-Mart they seem more lilely to forget to deactivate the "criminal
assumption" devices.
--
7 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what
to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb
contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin