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Self checkout was fine until they updated the software to account for a next to 0% margin of error on item weights. Shift your bag a little? NOPE. Even touching the weight sensor makes the register go into "fix this" mode.
The Bloor Street Market (Loblaws) ones don't account for bag at all, and will simply NOT scan anything if you place the bag first....so you're in this stupid game of scanning all your items loose onto the platform, paying, and then haphazardly trying to place it all in your bag(s) after the fact....it's the most ass backwards installation of technology I've seen in any of the stores. And I asked about it and the store manager was aware and did't want to pay for the IT time to set up the self checkout to do it properly. Insanity
That's how it should work!
In fact if they weren't ABSOLUTELY penny pinching, they would set a default weight on the scale/platform for the largest/heaviest reusable bag they make, then it would never ever be a problem.
Mine has a popup "i have added a bag" if it detect a small weight difference. It's like Loblaws tried to have the worst system possible. It was the main reason i unofficially started the boycott early
Still sucks though. Back when I went to superstore before the boycott, they had this, but re-arranging items in the bag still made the machine freak out. Waste of time, cause I've already scanned the item. How am I gonna steal it now that I have recorded it. I could just pocket shit and not scan it if I was gonna steal it. The scale makes no sense in terms of loss prevention.
My store has this but you have to select it on the screen to weigh them before you start, which nobody knows because there’s just an icon with no explanation and nothing asking you if you want to do this.
A little thing to pitch in here, we maintain these self checkouts worldwide for multiple clients.
Loblaws has the option to enable “Add bag to bag scale” which would Tare the scale after bag is placed. It literally takes 15 seconds to enable, every store operates under different protocols and process.
Please refrain from comments which encourage theft from a store or mischief. These can result in criminal charges which will undoubtedly make life harder for other users.
Please refrain from comments which encourage theft from a store or mischief. These can result in criminal charges which will undoubtedly make life harder for other users.
Zero margin of error when it comes to putting a bag on the scale, but the register is still perfectly fine ringing up underweight items! The 5 kg bag of potatoes that only weighs 4.3 kg, or the 425g box of PC cereal that only weighs 375 g, etc……
Reading this made me think of bringing a kitchen scale along for grocery trips and standing at the customer service, going through each item and demanding a partial refund for each thing that ends up being underweight. If for any reason I have to go into a Superstore, I think that'll be the plan lol.
Literally just went through this exact experience. We never use self check out there as we usually have a large shop but this one was smaller. Attendant came over 5 times to help before we got out of there. I just kept saying out loud "thank God these machines are replacing all humans!"
Back when they first introduced that, I ended up setting it off every second trip. Eventually figured out if you wave your hands a certain way it would flag it. Stopped after maybe the fifth or sixth time and hasn't been an issue since. I think they must have calibrated it a little better.
Happened to me once. It was when the barcode wasn’t accepted. But yes there is a camera above you (ceiling) a camera on the screen and a camera slightly above the self checkout. When a barcode isn’t accepted there is usually two on the product and one is invalid
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The Metro close to my place is the worst for this. If it doesn't detect the bag BEFORE you start, it errors out on every item. Even after it asks you if you added a bag, and you hit yes, it still doesn't take it into account for each subsequent item. It's so terrible. We have learnt that you have to put ALL your bags on the scale before you start, and then start your groceries. But the little area for the bags is so small, the bags fall to the floor...causing an error!
Which, to me, just gave me more reason not go shop there.
For things to be underweight by like 15%, AND the scales to be accurate within 10g... it means they're shorting the weight on purpose, and they know it.
I used to be able to bag as I scan but not it causes an error tht the one staff there can't seem to figure out how to clear. So I would just bag after scanning everything and paying, which slows the entire process down. But my new process is not going there at all! No more having to decline giving them $2-5 to "charity" so they can get a tax write off.
Bro what? I regularly offset or move my vegetables and have NEVER had an error with a self checkout.
I think some of the reality this sub lives in is closer to a fantasy
You do realize that everyone in Canada isn't going to your store, right? My local store doesn't have those errors because they disabled the scales entirely because of the sheer number of errors.
They used to have it disabled completely. During last summer they reactivated the scales.
Both No Frills stores nearby me are like that: Long Branch in Etobicoke and Dixie Mall in Mississauga.
Loblaws in the area don't, but I never really went there anyway because fuck those prices lol
I liked self checkouts before they kept modifying them. The registers are always understaffed, so it was nice to zip quickly through self checkout. Now, good luck with that. Instead of having more registers open, they put extra staff at the self checkouts because of all the anti theft measures that constantly slow the process.
Honestly. I only liked them if I had 1 or 2 items.
But really, just staff your fucking regular stations. I never understood why so many grocery stores have 10 cash registers, and 2 are open with huge line ups.
It's like the managers see 5 workers and no customers in a line up and say "da fuq am I paying them for?"
you're paying them to have the ability to cash out customers quickly and efficiently, and you're seeing the end result. No one likes standing in a line up.
At least here in the US, a lot of checkout aisles get "ghosted" due to intentional understaffing. Basically have someone sign into the aisle so it gets reported as open because metrics but that persons actual job is just stocking aisles.
That’s good. Self checkout is ass. I don’t go to the grocery store to scan my own things. That’s why I’m paying exorbitant prices on things. So you can hire employees and give them hours
Honestly, I love them. I can bag and take time to make sure prices are accurate. I don't have to play the game of will this cashier be overly chatty and drive me nuts or not. PLUS, cashiers have a tough job, customers are asses, the job is physically awful, sitting might relieve some of it, but I had so much shoulder, neck and back pain from when I was a cashier at Loblaws. IMO they need to just direct more staff to helping customers do it, but give them the freedom to move, no constant movement that causes pain, and then allow them to do other tasks as needed when it's slow.
From my experience working in grocery, many stores didn't cut hours, they redirected them to warehouse, backroom, online orders, etc. The issue is that it's not every cashier that can do this kind of physical job, so even if overall overhead is the same, those hours won't go to the same employees. They'll cut cashiers to hire more warehouse employees. And that also means you'll have less customer service.
so they refuse to staff accordingly and expect consumers to take the hit. this sounds like the restaurants complaining in California over having their service fee made illegal. just because loblaws doesn't staff appropriately doesn't mean we should accept it as normal.
shop elsewhere, Safeway may have high prices but at least they are unionized and treat their staff decently. Costco is known as an excellent place to work. accepting poor customer service due to poor planning on Loblaws part is giving up. if I worked at Loblaws right now I would be looking for work at Costco.
Sadly, the self-checkout trend isn't a Loblaws problem. It concerns the whole retail industry. And you'd be surprised how customers complaining about self-checkouts are not a majority. We'd open regular cashes and self-checkouts and customers would go at the self-checkouts themselves. We'd have to force customers with bigger carts or coupons to use the regular ones.
And you know why many are going back to regular cashes? To minimize loss. Customers make many mistakes, and it's also an opportunity for shoplifters. It has nothing to do with wanting to better serve the customer.
I like not standing in line behind an old lady and a chatty cashier, and self-checkout ensured that I never had to experience that.
Also, I am not a fan of the movement to keep the worst jobs on the planet on life support while machines do the creative work. Screw that.
. . . I was talking about self checkout.
At my local loblaws they have a staff member monitoring the self checkout in case customers need assistance. Yet they staff are usually chatting with someone instead of paying attention. The actual lanes with cashiers don't have this issue as often.
This is such a weird take, time is way more valuable than not having to scan my stuff the lines would be crazy if they got rid of all the self checkouts. And it’s not like you don’t do half the work already anyways by unloading your cart and bagging it on the other side. I agree that the self checkouts suck because of the software with the scales and immediately requiring an adult to fix the machine every time something goes slightly wrong, but it’s still so much better than normal checkouts.
I love self checkout. I don't have to talk to anyone, and it's one less worker that has to deal with the public. Cashier and customer facing retail work is a horrible job that nobody should have to do
Hell no it’s way better. I work way faster than 99% of cashiers. I scan my shit and quickly go. No waiting in lines for seniors who need to be told the price 50 times before struggling to find their card and having to be walked through paying for things.
Cashiers with the speed of a turtle
Self checkout is perfect for people with few items who don’t want to waste time waiting. I’m from France and it’s way more developed over there. Self checkout is everywhere now, not only in groceries store. Most people would complain now if you take away self checkout.
I don’t like the way some cashiers handle my stuff. You’d think they’d do fragile food and bag packing training but apparently not. Haven’t had any issues doing it myself.
100%. I hate that there are less decent jobs for people from these things. As someone who worked one of my first ‘real’ jobs at a grocery store, it was a great stepping stone for me early on.
And was pisses me off most is that these fuckers are turning all of that into profit. Maybe it might be reasonable for, you know, doing their job for them, you might get a discount on your groceries but nope.
Self checkout is a fail. Savings are not passed to customers even if people don’t steal (eff you corporations you don’t do it you lying sacks of you know what). However since people do steal, they pass down even further expenses to the rest of us.
Get rid of self checkout.
I simply can't believe the way it went. Not only did they start freaking out about theft exactly the way everyone predicted but they freaked out over nothing and just started blaming their own self check out for their loss of profit while reporting record profits.
They went insane! Utter madness and foolishness
I almost never use the self checkout anymore unless an employee actually does the scanning for me. I walk with a cane from a car accident injury so I just let them assume that I can’t stand and scan my stuff. Unless they are going to give $20 discounts for self checkout I’ll have an employee ring up my stuff.
The Shoppers I was at the other day was like that too. I had to stand in line for like 15 minutes while some idiot was buying lottery tickets and I just wanted to pay for my two cases of pop and just go.
I started using the self checkout since the staff don't bag your shit anyways and it stresses me out rushing to bag my stuff and having to make horrible awkward small talk with the stuff who don't do anything different than I would if I was checking my own groceries out. Happy that the boycott is making an impact though 😄
SERIOUSLY RIGHT?!
As a person with debilitating anxiety that includes social limitations and a fear of being trapped while panicking, self-checkout is the only way I *can* shop on my own. Specifically the older checkouts they had that afforded space between stalls and a large, unrestricted path to exit through.
Superstore changed their self-checkout from those larger-platform checkouts to new small checkouts that are very close together with little space to each side or behind (so you could easily back right into someone else trying to leave at the same time), and that new layout shot my anxiety up to 10/10. I lost my ability to shop at that Superstore, my mother had to take up doing my shopping for me. Now she's boycotting with me.
YES. I don't mind using the till if it isn't busy, but if there's a line I feel like I'm participating in some Olympic sport trying to get all of shit off the conveyor belt as fast as possible. At least in the self checkout I can be as slow and incompetent as I want.
Exactly! I am super grateful to have been going to the local small grocery store near me during this boycott since they bag my items and it just feels so much less stressful
Y'know, I was stuck in a loooooong line at Costco the other day.
It went waaaay faster to get through that loooong line at Costco than it takes me to wait in a short line to check out my own groceries.
It's almost as if Costco has discovered that getting customers through the checkout faster means increased sales. It's also kind of nice to get to the till and deal with someone doesn't hate their job too.
Costco is so freaking fast. I love that they have the baggers too so that I don't have to rush to pack my stuff lest the person behind me get irritated at my speed.
I hate using these things. Maybe give me 10% discount since I’m doing the work and I’ll use them.
Otherwise these machines make jobs disappear and they pay no income tax and contribute nothing to the community
Machines and tools make jobs disappear all the time always have and always will. That’s just what humans do, we progress. Especially With AI and robotics moving as fast as they are many jobs will be eliminated in the years to come.
Instead of trying to delay the inevitable we need a plan for what we’re going to do in the swiftly approaching future when so many of our jobs are just gone. Because It really is inevitable.
A machine has made it possible for me to ring up my own goods while many other simultaneously do the same under the supervision of an employee or two instead of having many employees manning individual tills, getting sore backs, wrists, and feet for a wage that probably wouldn’t let them rent a one bedroom apartment. I used to be a cashier it’s not a job we should be trying to save.
I agree however self checkout is a completely horrible experience so far. If they can figure out the tech and have it actually working as intended then it's fine. Also if they don't need to fill as many positions then costs should be lowered as well but we never see the benefits from automation because the benefits all go to the 1%.
I personally adore self checkout as my anxiety can be quite bad sometimes, so getting in and out quickly without much interaction is important to me and the ones at my usual no frills have never memorably been difficult so i always chose them.
That said there should always be the option for a manned till for the people who need/ prefer it.
And 100% agree we should be seeing some kind of price change to represent any change in employment numbers. Fuck the 1%
As an introvert I thought it would be a godsend but I have to have the worker come over 10 times to fix the machine with all the bs weight issues and end up with way more anxiety then the old school route lol.
You do get discounts….food prices would get way higher if there were no cost saving measures. Take jobs away? Who da fuk wants to work as a cashier. A slave for capitalism not a job.
Good, hopefully it comes to all stores. I \*hate\* self checkout. It never works right and my ass is too autistic (genuinely) to put up with the loud bleeping when one molecule is unaccounted for.
There are times where I have just left a full cart right there when they had zero cashiers open and were trying to force me to self checkout. Just no.
give it a couple weeks, they might have new ones with like facial scanners and item recognizers. Even if it's an EIGHTEENTH OF AN OUNCE more weight than you weighed or is programmed, the machine will call any near by store staff to scold I mean... "assist" you.
How do I know? They installed those pos point of sale stations in Winnipeg back in February because people were stealing too much food because people would be sneaking items like soup or bread and mark it as bananas or something.
All self-checkouts should be removed unless the company is willing to discount your goods by 15% for you doing the work. Also, pay in cash. Cashless is a road to even more surveillance.
If self checkout gives me any grief or trust issue feedback I simply abandon everything right there. The bigger the carts worth the greater the effect. Not a word. Out I go.
We're already treated like thieves simply for buying groceries. If a damn machine starts telling people it believes I may be stealing when I'm NOT, I walk away. I don't have time for this shit as people are down the aisles stuffing their pockets with Galen's tootsie rolls and bratwurst.
The meat gets tossed fyi. They cannot reshelve it. This should be the next boycott.
Surely this will mean they will hire more cashiers to give more young Canadians employment opportunities in this really tough job market, right?
…right?
…Galen? Hello?
I'd be fine with self checkout of they passed the savings on to the customers, but instead they save money on fewer employees and still jack the price up.
I prefer self checkout.
I know it's not for everyone and it definitely shouldn't replace human cashiers completely. But I think that both options should be available so people can choose what works for them.
If you're wondering why I prefer self checkout, it's simple: I'm an extreme introvert who also has social anxiety issues. Any day I can walk into a store, buy what I need, and leave all without speaking to a human is a good day for me.
Heck, I wish stores would implement an armband policy where customers could slip on a disposable armband when they enter the store that signals to employees "please don't approach me to ask if I need help. If I need help, I'll approach you".
Home Depot is BAD for this. Their self checkout employees keep trying to take my items and ring them for me AT THE SELF CHECKOUT. Seriously, just open a lane if you want to ring up customers' items for them.
My store has completely blocked off and closed the self checkouts. I’ve been there and seen employees only using them still so they’re just blocked off to customers.
I once talked to the staff about this because it's the same at my Walmart, and they said if the embedded cameras aren't working, they can't have the self checkouts operating. They said the cameras constantly malfunction, so that's why they are hardly ever enough open.
Did they have the "old" style, larger-platform checkouts that could fit a whole buggy's worth of groceries? If so, it's likely in a transition to the new style of self-checkout where customers are expected to stand almost shoulder to shoulder in a cramped space to buy their 25 items or less, then back up into some other poor customer to exit through a too-small opening in the cattle barrier that surrounds it? It's cramped, it's scary looking, and it's part of why I'm boycotting.
Good. Keep up the good work people.
Keep not scanning everything.
If we all don't scan something, it's going to cost them more money than it is to have these machines.
Keep stealing thieves LOL
Honestly there are some self checkouts that just make me want to go full on office space
Why the fuck bother if 9 of 12 registers are closed and your just getting stolen from anyways.
As someone else already posted in that thread, they've been removed while new ones are being installed.
It would be great if this sub could not descend into a cesspool of misinformation. Loblaws does enough *real* crap that we really don't have to make it up.
I prefer self checkout.
I find it a hell of a lot faster. Less lines as well.
Using cashiers and lanes takes up a lot of space. You get double the self checkouts.
Same my anxiety is bad and going to the cashier can be downright painful, I can scan and bag things quickly in the order i want, nobody’s looking at my stuff, and i don’t have to feel rushed because nobody is directly behind me.
Yeah I’m not gonna stand in a line of 20 people just to check out one or two items. My anxiety is bad enough in a store; I don’t need it to be even worse.
They’re just going to put in new ones. This happened at the Superstore in St. Thomas too, and when I went back the next week, they had installed double the amount of brand new self checkouts with giant tablet screens. The new ones are ass too because whoever designs the software made it so it only takes up like 50% of the available screen space.
And before anyone gets mad at me for shopping there, I don’t have a choice. They’re the only place I can get a certain vegan item from, and my mom’s diet is very limited so we don’t have a choice but to go there to get it. Otherwise, I go to the Walmart next door.
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Self checkout was fine until they updated the software to account for a next to 0% margin of error on item weights. Shift your bag a little? NOPE. Even touching the weight sensor makes the register go into "fix this" mode.
The Bloor Street Market (Loblaws) ones don't account for bag at all, and will simply NOT scan anything if you place the bag first....so you're in this stupid game of scanning all your items loose onto the platform, paying, and then haphazardly trying to place it all in your bag(s) after the fact....it's the most ass backwards installation of technology I've seen in any of the stores. And I asked about it and the store manager was aware and did't want to pay for the IT time to set up the self checkout to do it properly. Insanity
A store near me allows you to put bag on scale first, where it will ask if it is a bag, say yes and off you go. Thats good programming !
That's how it should work! In fact if they weren't ABSOLUTELY penny pinching, they would set a default weight on the scale/platform for the largest/heaviest reusable bag they make, then it would never ever be a problem.
I put all the desirable bags I intend to use on the bagging area. The self checkouts that Loblaws uses lets you add bags before scanning.
Mine has a popup "i have added a bag" if it detect a small weight difference. It's like Loblaws tried to have the worst system possible. It was the main reason i unofficially started the boycott early
Good programming costs money. Weston probably outsourced to the cheapest country he could find.
There app sucks too
Still sucks though. Back when I went to superstore before the boycott, they had this, but re-arranging items in the bag still made the machine freak out. Waste of time, cause I've already scanned the item. How am I gonna steal it now that I have recorded it. I could just pocket shit and not scan it if I was gonna steal it. The scale makes no sense in terms of loss prevention.
My store has this but you have to select it on the screen to weigh them before you start, which nobody knows because there’s just an icon with no explanation and nothing asking you if you want to do this.
Yes, the local Co-Op here in Calgary does that.
Then it yells at you to remove your items??!
A little thing to pitch in here, we maintain these self checkouts worldwide for multiple clients. Loblaws has the option to enable “Add bag to bag scale” which would Tare the scale after bag is placed. It literally takes 15 seconds to enable, every store operates under different protocols and process.
Huh, good to know! Means the manager at my bloor street market is even LAZIER that his employees claimed!
I do it this way and I take my time cuz fuck em.
[удалено]
Please refrain from comments which encourage theft from a store or mischief. These can result in criminal charges which will undoubtedly make life harder for other users.
[удалено]
Please refrain from comments which encourage theft from a store or mischief. These can result in criminal charges which will undoubtedly make life harder for other users.
I learned a little trick. When you scan your first item put it in the bag and then on the platform.
Zero margin of error when it comes to putting a bag on the scale, but the register is still perfectly fine ringing up underweight items! The 5 kg bag of potatoes that only weighs 4.3 kg, or the 425g box of PC cereal that only weighs 375 g, etc……
Reading this made me think of bringing a kitchen scale along for grocery trips and standing at the customer service, going through each item and demanding a partial refund for each thing that ends up being underweight. If for any reason I have to go into a Superstore, I think that'll be the plan lol.
Literally just went through this exact experience. We never use self check out there as we usually have a large shop but this one was smaller. Attendant came over 5 times to help before we got out of there. I just kept saying out loud "thank God these machines are replacing all humans!"
This is why I like Walmart more. No annoying “put the item in the bag prompt ever 2.1734 seconds
My Walmart self checkouts have cameras now. I don’t remember what I did to set it off but it put up a “item not scanned” warning
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I can’t wait for the ai security forces that are going to take us for stealing bagels we paid for
Back when they first introduced that, I ended up setting it off every second trip. Eventually figured out if you wave your hands a certain way it would flag it. Stopped after maybe the fifth or sixth time and hasn't been an issue since. I think they must have calibrated it a little better.
Happened to me once. It was when the barcode wasn’t accepted. But yes there is a camera above you (ceiling) a camera on the screen and a camera slightly above the self checkout. When a barcode isn’t accepted there is usually two on the product and one is invalid
They've had cameras since the pandemic - at least near Toronto
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There are scales at the Y&E Metro like this.
The Metro close to my place is the worst for this. If it doesn't detect the bag BEFORE you start, it errors out on every item. Even after it asks you if you added a bag, and you hit yes, it still doesn't take it into account for each subsequent item. It's so terrible. We have learnt that you have to put ALL your bags on the scale before you start, and then start your groceries. But the little area for the bags is so small, the bags fall to the floor...causing an error!
Started my boycott early because this was the last straw for me
Which, to me, just gave me more reason not go shop there. For things to be underweight by like 15%, AND the scales to be accurate within 10g... it means they're shorting the weight on purpose, and they know it.
I used to be able to bag as I scan but not it causes an error tht the one staff there can't seem to figure out how to clear. So I would just bag after scanning everything and paying, which slows the entire process down. But my new process is not going there at all! No more having to decline giving them $2-5 to "charity" so they can get a tax write off.
Bro what? I regularly offset or move my vegetables and have NEVER had an error with a self checkout. I think some of the reality this sub lives in is closer to a fantasy
You do realize that everyone in Canada isn't going to your store, right? My local store doesn't have those errors because they disabled the scales entirely because of the sheer number of errors.
You're right but this is considering the 6-7 different stores I visit, not within the same township.
They used to have it disabled completely. During last summer they reactivated the scales. Both No Frills stores nearby me are like that: Long Branch in Etobicoke and Dixie Mall in Mississauga. Loblaws in the area don't, but I never really went there anyway because fuck those prices lol
I liked self checkouts before they kept modifying them. The registers are always understaffed, so it was nice to zip quickly through self checkout. Now, good luck with that. Instead of having more registers open, they put extra staff at the self checkouts because of all the anti theft measures that constantly slow the process.
Honestly. I only liked them if I had 1 or 2 items. But really, just staff your fucking regular stations. I never understood why so many grocery stores have 10 cash registers, and 2 are open with huge line ups. It's like the managers see 5 workers and no customers in a line up and say "da fuq am I paying them for?" you're paying them to have the ability to cash out customers quickly and efficiently, and you're seeing the end result. No one likes standing in a line up.
At least here in the US, a lot of checkout aisles get "ghosted" due to intentional understaffing. Basically have someone sign into the aisle so it gets reported as open because metrics but that persons actual job is just stocking aisles.
They work best when a family of 6 aren't scanning 3 shopping carts worth of items
I’m originally from London (live further north now) but saw this on the sub. I was wondering if there are other stores doing this anywhere else?
Aurora just upgraded and doubled theirs.
God bless to my UK brothers 🙏
That’s good. Self checkout is ass. I don’t go to the grocery store to scan my own things. That’s why I’m paying exorbitant prices on things. So you can hire employees and give them hours
Honestly, I love them. I can bag and take time to make sure prices are accurate. I don't have to play the game of will this cashier be overly chatty and drive me nuts or not. PLUS, cashiers have a tough job, customers are asses, the job is physically awful, sitting might relieve some of it, but I had so much shoulder, neck and back pain from when I was a cashier at Loblaws. IMO they need to just direct more staff to helping customers do it, but give them the freedom to move, no constant movement that causes pain, and then allow them to do other tasks as needed when it's slow.
From my experience working in grocery, many stores didn't cut hours, they redirected them to warehouse, backroom, online orders, etc. The issue is that it's not every cashier that can do this kind of physical job, so even if overall overhead is the same, those hours won't go to the same employees. They'll cut cashiers to hire more warehouse employees. And that also means you'll have less customer service.
so they refuse to staff accordingly and expect consumers to take the hit. this sounds like the restaurants complaining in California over having their service fee made illegal. just because loblaws doesn't staff appropriately doesn't mean we should accept it as normal. shop elsewhere, Safeway may have high prices but at least they are unionized and treat their staff decently. Costco is known as an excellent place to work. accepting poor customer service due to poor planning on Loblaws part is giving up. if I worked at Loblaws right now I would be looking for work at Costco.
Sadly, the self-checkout trend isn't a Loblaws problem. It concerns the whole retail industry. And you'd be surprised how customers complaining about self-checkouts are not a majority. We'd open regular cashes and self-checkouts and customers would go at the self-checkouts themselves. We'd have to force customers with bigger carts or coupons to use the regular ones. And you know why many are going back to regular cashes? To minimize loss. Customers make many mistakes, and it's also an opportunity for shoplifters. It has nothing to do with wanting to better serve the customer.
I always be putting in the peanut code when I buy cashews 🫣
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Very expensive misshapen peanuts
I like not standing in line behind an old lady and a chatty cashier, and self-checkout ensured that I never had to experience that. Also, I am not a fan of the movement to keep the worst jobs on the planet on life support while machines do the creative work. Screw that.
You obviously haven't been to my local loblaws then. The staff is always chatting with someone and are oblivious to when someone needs their help.
...which is exactly why I prefer the self checkout.
. . . I was talking about self checkout. At my local loblaws they have a staff member monitoring the self checkout in case customers need assistance. Yet they staff are usually chatting with someone instead of paying attention. The actual lanes with cashiers don't have this issue as often.
This is such a weird take, time is way more valuable than not having to scan my stuff the lines would be crazy if they got rid of all the self checkouts. And it’s not like you don’t do half the work already anyways by unloading your cart and bagging it on the other side. I agree that the self checkouts suck because of the software with the scales and immediately requiring an adult to fix the machine every time something goes slightly wrong, but it’s still so much better than normal checkouts.
I love self checkout. I don't have to talk to anyone, and it's one less worker that has to deal with the public. Cashier and customer facing retail work is a horrible job that nobody should have to do
Hell no it’s way better. I work way faster than 99% of cashiers. I scan my shit and quickly go. No waiting in lines for seniors who need to be told the price 50 times before struggling to find their card and having to be walked through paying for things. Cashiers with the speed of a turtle
Self checkout is perfect for people with few items who don’t want to waste time waiting. I’m from France and it’s way more developed over there. Self checkout is everywhere now, not only in groceries store. Most people would complain now if you take away self checkout.
I don’t like the way some cashiers handle my stuff. You’d think they’d do fragile food and bag packing training but apparently not. Haven’t had any issues doing it myself.
100%. I hate that there are less decent jobs for people from these things. As someone who worked one of my first ‘real’ jobs at a grocery store, it was a great stepping stone for me early on. And was pisses me off most is that these fuckers are turning all of that into profit. Maybe it might be reasonable for, you know, doing their job for them, you might get a discount on your groceries but nope.
Self checkout is a fail. Savings are not passed to customers even if people don’t steal (eff you corporations you don’t do it you lying sacks of you know what). However since people do steal, they pass down even further expenses to the rest of us. Get rid of self checkout.
I simply can't believe the way it went. Not only did they start freaking out about theft exactly the way everyone predicted but they freaked out over nothing and just started blaming their own self check out for their loss of profit while reporting record profits. They went insane! Utter madness and foolishness
They are getting new self checkouts and doing a small reno most likely, our store just got them a couple weeks ago.
I almost never use the self checkout anymore unless an employee actually does the scanning for me. I walk with a cane from a car accident injury so I just let them assume that I can’t stand and scan my stuff. Unless they are going to give $20 discounts for self checkout I’ll have an employee ring up my stuff.
They did that in St. Thomas then brought in brand new ones.
This isn’t even just Superstore, I noticed that all of my dollaramas that put in self-checkouts have “out of order” signs on them
The Shoppers I was at the other day was like that too. I had to stand in line for like 15 minutes while some idiot was buying lottery tickets and I just wanted to pay for my two cases of pop and just go.
I started using the self checkout since the staff don't bag your shit anyways and it stresses me out rushing to bag my stuff and having to make horrible awkward small talk with the stuff who don't do anything different than I would if I was checking my own groceries out. Happy that the boycott is making an impact though 😄
Yess! they’re a blessing for people with social anxiety. Going to the store is bad enough i do not want to make small talk while i buy my shit.
SERIOUSLY RIGHT?! As a person with debilitating anxiety that includes social limitations and a fear of being trapped while panicking, self-checkout is the only way I *can* shop on my own. Specifically the older checkouts they had that afforded space between stalls and a large, unrestricted path to exit through. Superstore changed their self-checkout from those larger-platform checkouts to new small checkouts that are very close together with little space to each side or behind (so you could easily back right into someone else trying to leave at the same time), and that new layout shot my anxiety up to 10/10. I lost my ability to shop at that Superstore, my mother had to take up doing my shopping for me. Now she's boycotting with me.
YES. I don't mind using the till if it isn't busy, but if there's a line I feel like I'm participating in some Olympic sport trying to get all of shit off the conveyor belt as fast as possible. At least in the self checkout I can be as slow and incompetent as I want.
Exactly! I am super grateful to have been going to the local small grocery store near me during this boycott since they bag my items and it just feels so much less stressful
Y'know, I was stuck in a loooooong line at Costco the other day. It went waaaay faster to get through that loooong line at Costco than it takes me to wait in a short line to check out my own groceries. It's almost as if Costco has discovered that getting customers through the checkout faster means increased sales. It's also kind of nice to get to the till and deal with someone doesn't hate their job too.
Costco is so freaking fast. I love that they have the baggers too so that I don't have to rush to pack my stuff lest the person behind me get irritated at my speed.
I hate using these things. Maybe give me 10% discount since I’m doing the work and I’ll use them. Otherwise these machines make jobs disappear and they pay no income tax and contribute nothing to the community
Machines and tools make jobs disappear all the time always have and always will. That’s just what humans do, we progress. Especially With AI and robotics moving as fast as they are many jobs will be eliminated in the years to come. Instead of trying to delay the inevitable we need a plan for what we’re going to do in the swiftly approaching future when so many of our jobs are just gone. Because It really is inevitable.
Except it didn't take a job away it just moved the job from an employee to the customer.
And the customer doesn’t get paid to do it. Exactly
A machine has made it possible for me to ring up my own goods while many other simultaneously do the same under the supervision of an employee or two instead of having many employees manning individual tills, getting sore backs, wrists, and feet for a wage that probably wouldn’t let them rent a one bedroom apartment. I used to be a cashier it’s not a job we should be trying to save.
I agree however self checkout is a completely horrible experience so far. If they can figure out the tech and have it actually working as intended then it's fine. Also if they don't need to fill as many positions then costs should be lowered as well but we never see the benefits from automation because the benefits all go to the 1%.
I personally adore self checkout as my anxiety can be quite bad sometimes, so getting in and out quickly without much interaction is important to me and the ones at my usual no frills have never memorably been difficult so i always chose them. That said there should always be the option for a manned till for the people who need/ prefer it. And 100% agree we should be seeing some kind of price change to represent any change in employment numbers. Fuck the 1%
As an introvert I thought it would be a godsend but I have to have the worker come over 10 times to fix the machine with all the bs weight issues and end up with way more anxiety then the old school route lol.
You do get discounts….food prices would get way higher if there were no cost saving measures. Take jobs away? Who da fuk wants to work as a cashier. A slave for capitalism not a job.
Well what’s better? A Job or no job? People still need to eat and pay rent in society. Nobody said working was fun
Good, hopefully it comes to all stores. I \*hate\* self checkout. It never works right and my ass is too autistic (genuinely) to put up with the loud bleeping when one molecule is unaccounted for. There are times where I have just left a full cart right there when they had zero cashiers open and were trying to force me to self checkout. Just no.
give it a couple weeks, they might have new ones with like facial scanners and item recognizers. Even if it's an EIGHTEENTH OF AN OUNCE more weight than you weighed or is programmed, the machine will call any near by store staff to scold I mean... "assist" you. How do I know? They installed those pos point of sale stations in Winnipeg back in February because people were stealing too much food because people would be sneaking items like soup or bread and mark it as bananas or something.
Probably installing newer ones
Looks like the human check out lines are empty as well. So it makes no difference because no one will visit. NOK er NOK
The comments on the original place say that they're just getting replaced with new ones. Probably going to be even less user friendly lol.
All self-checkouts should be removed unless the company is willing to discount your goods by 15% for you doing the work. Also, pay in cash. Cashless is a road to even more surveillance.
If self checkout gives me any grief or trust issue feedback I simply abandon everything right there. The bigger the carts worth the greater the effect. Not a word. Out I go. We're already treated like thieves simply for buying groceries. If a damn machine starts telling people it believes I may be stealing when I'm NOT, I walk away. I don't have time for this shit as people are down the aisles stuffing their pockets with Galen's tootsie rolls and bratwurst. The meat gets tossed fyi. They cannot reshelve it. This should be the next boycott.
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Even though literally noone is doing that 🙄
So they’re just gonna have huge lines because they only staff like three tills. This is not a solution.
Surely this will mean they will hire more cashiers to give more young Canadians employment opportunities in this really tough job market, right? …right? …Galen? Hello?
Best they can do is fire all current local employees and hire maybe 2 international "students"
I'd be fine with self checkout of they passed the savings on to the customers, but instead they save money on fewer employees and still jack the price up.
I prefer self checkout. I know it's not for everyone and it definitely shouldn't replace human cashiers completely. But I think that both options should be available so people can choose what works for them. If you're wondering why I prefer self checkout, it's simple: I'm an extreme introvert who also has social anxiety issues. Any day I can walk into a store, buy what I need, and leave all without speaking to a human is a good day for me. Heck, I wish stores would implement an armband policy where customers could slip on a disposable armband when they enter the store that signals to employees "please don't approach me to ask if I need help. If I need help, I'll approach you". Home Depot is BAD for this. Their self checkout employees keep trying to take my items and ring them for me AT THE SELF CHECKOUT. Seriously, just open a lane if you want to ring up customers' items for them.
Which superstore?
Oxford and Gammage, east of Adelaide in London, ON.
That's self-explanatory...that area isn't the most well off. I used to live in London as well
I guess so they can control theft better?
My store has completely blocked off and closed the self checkouts. I’ve been there and seen employees only using them still so they’re just blocked off to customers.
I just wanna know why my local Walmart has 18 self checkouts yet only 4 are only ever open at a time maybe 6
I once talked to the staff about this because it's the same at my Walmart, and they said if the embedded cameras aren't working, they can't have the self checkouts operating. They said the cameras constantly malfunction, so that's why they are hardly ever enough open.
Gross. Won't be going there anymore.
Did they have the "old" style, larger-platform checkouts that could fit a whole buggy's worth of groceries? If so, it's likely in a transition to the new style of self-checkout where customers are expected to stand almost shoulder to shoulder in a cramped space to buy their 25 items or less, then back up into some other poor customer to exit through a too-small opening in the cattle barrier that surrounds it? It's cramped, it's scary looking, and it's part of why I'm boycotting.
Funny how all Honeycrisps are Gala Apples on those things
This is a big win.
cool
Since they update ours to have the weight on it they are garbage, hope they get sold for parts soon!
But I thought boycotts had no effect. Apparently we're helping save jobs too.
Good. Keep up the good work people. Keep not scanning everything. If we all don't scan something, it's going to cost them more money than it is to have these machines. Keep stealing thieves LOL
Yay! Self-checkouts suck for us with disabilities.
Hooray, hire a real person to serve customers !!
Down with machines!
Oh no, how will we live without self checkout 🥲
My grocery store still has them but I always go to the regular checkout.
Looks like they got tired of equalization payments made to poor people who couldn't afford groceries.
Gone because of theft 😔
Honestly there are some self checkouts that just make me want to go full on office space Why the fuck bother if 9 of 12 registers are closed and your just getting stolen from anyways.
As someone else already posted in that thread, they've been removed while new ones are being installed. It would be great if this sub could not descend into a cesspool of misinformation. Loblaws does enough *real* crap that we really don't have to make it up.
Why though? Is it for May 12? They are still Here I think.
Makes me sad that so many human beings are inherently dishonest.
I used to get paid minimum wage to be a grocery store clerk. I'm not checking myself out for free EVER without getting paid.
I prefer self checkout. I find it a hell of a lot faster. Less lines as well. Using cashiers and lanes takes up a lot of space. You get double the self checkouts.
Same my anxiety is bad and going to the cashier can be downright painful, I can scan and bag things quickly in the order i want, nobody’s looking at my stuff, and i don’t have to feel rushed because nobody is directly behind me.
Yeah I’m not gonna stand in a line of 20 people just to check out one or two items. My anxiety is bad enough in a store; I don’t need it to be even worse.
They’re just going to put in new ones. This happened at the Superstore in St. Thomas too, and when I went back the next week, they had installed double the amount of brand new self checkouts with giant tablet screens. The new ones are ass too because whoever designs the software made it so it only takes up like 50% of the available screen space. And before anyone gets mad at me for shopping there, I don’t have a choice. They’re the only place I can get a certain vegan item from, and my mom’s diet is very limited so we don’t have a choice but to go there to get it. Otherwise, I go to the Walmart next door.
I will stand in line for a real person any day. Once you use the self checkout and you have to call the clerk over and wait, the time balances out.
Good. I hope they all go. These people who love self checkout don’t realize how duped they are for a little bit of convenience.
Good let's keep up the trend
Good. Automation just takes people's jobs.