quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:
Meanwhile, the other long queues at the non-self-service checkouts have paid, left, gone home, had dinner and are about to go to bed.

---

Oh, you mean non-self serve is an option where you live? I shop at the most understaffed Safeway in the world. First thing you learn: grab a basket while you are in the parking lot, because no one has collected them in ages. Do your shopping, and hope that you don't need deli or meat counter service. And then get ready to do self-service for your entire weeks' worth of food, because there will be no one on the check out stands, or the person running the one line is running around getting someone a new carton of milk that isn't leaking or tobacco products (no one on staff to call for help on that project).

I will say that the first place I did lots of self check out had the best attendant in the world assigned to that post. She knew all of the produce codes by heart, and would yell them to you before you spent two seconds clicking through the catalog. They don't get her kind at my new place.
 

---

Posted by aunt jane (# 10139) on :
 
I once got sworn at by a member of supermarket staff when I said I wouldn't use the self service checkout again because it kept "unexpected item in bagging area" me.
I kid you not.
 

---

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
I came THIS close to telling the auto-checkout that it could shove the "unexpected item" up its "bagging area." Not a good thing in a crowd all buying ahead of the storm.

My son was entertained.
 

---

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:

I will say that the first place I did lots of self check out had the best attendant in the world assigned to that post. She knew all of the produce codes by heart, and would yell them to you before you spent two seconds clicking through the catalog. They don't get her kind at my new place.

---

That is beyond awesome.
 

---

Posted by Taliesin (# 14017) on :
 
Our how about the new self scanning as you go round, thing? Looks marvellous, beep your shopping and bag it, pay a total automatically calculated as you leave the store. Lovely. Until the random rescan, which takes place at the smallest desk imaginable. Trying to unpack 6 bags of shopping, the random guilt that convinces anxious people like me that this is the day my son will have put something in the trolley without beeping it properly, and the woman trying to balance it all on the tiny desk drops a 4 pint poly of milk which bursts all over the floor. She finishes bleeping it all but says it doesn't tell her if it's accurate or not, that info goes directly to managers office. I struggle to collect up all bags again and leave behind bag with bread in, which is what I went shopping for in the first place... And don't realise till trying to make sandwiches for 4 people at 7.30 following morning. Grrrrrrrr.
 

---

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :
 
I rarely have that sort of problem. The usual problems are if I've forgotten my bags and need to try to get one of the plastic bags hanging there open, I just can't seem to get the knack (while the operators on the tills pile up a thousand of the things all open and ready to fill even though I've clearly got twice as many "bags for life" than I need). The annoying thing is just how many items need someone to come along and authorise them - it's just 16 iboprofen! If I can't get this stupid bag open soon it'll be 14.
 

---

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
I once put a bottle of ibuprofen in my purse, and the autochecker had a shitfit because I didn't put it on the scale after paying for it. The attendant had to come and administer a sedative.
 

---

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :
 
Remember, everybody, these are made by the same people who will be designing your self-driving cars.

"Unexpected item in the front bumper area. Help is on the way."
 

---

Posted by anoesis (# 14189) on :
 
I have heard loads of complaints of exactly this sort from, well, just about anyone who has ever used one of these things. Luckily they have not wholly overtaken checkouts operated by real, actual, people here yet.

I don't use them because I see them as taking away jobs from checkout operators - there have to be some jobs left in society for people who are just never going to be an IT professional or a graphic designer or a PR consultant or whatever. They're paid little enough already, and with the 'self-checkout' system it's usually one attendant to four or six 'tills'. I hope they [the machines] continue to be as useless, time-consuming, and frustrating to customers as they are currently. If supermarkets notice that people are more interested in standing in line to interact with a person, rather than having the opportunity to wrestle thanklessly with a machine right now, maybe they'll give up on them...
 

---

Posted by Zacchaeus (# 14454) on :
 
I hate the automatic check in at the doctors and hospitals too – they terrify me I always press the wrong button.

Last time I had an appointment, I got a severe telling off from the receptionist for not using the automated one. – I didn’t know it was compulsory.

 

---

Posted by Adeodatus (# 4992) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by aunt jane:
I once got sworn at by a member of supermarket staff when I said I wouldn't use the self service checkout again because it kept "unexpected item in bagging area" me.
I kid you not.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by basso:
You people get clerks/assistants at your self-checkout lines?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by basso:
You people get clerks/assistants at your self-checkout lines?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by lilBuddha:
I frequent a DIY where the self-check has a permanent attendant. I still laugh at this.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by ken:
Too many. I'd use them if there were fewer assistants about. As it is they assume I don't know what I'm doing and interfere patronisingly before I get half a chance to check out.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by ken:
Too many. I'd use them if there were fewer assistants about. As it is they assume I don't know what I'm doing and interfere patronisingly before I get half a chance to check out.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:


Somehow, they seem to have an unerring ability to put canned vegetables and bananas in the same bag.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:
... they seem to have an unerring ability to put canned vegetables and bananas in the same bag.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:


Somehow, they seem to have an unerring ability to put canned vegetables and bananas in the same bag.

---

I thought that they taught you not to do things like that when you got the bagger job.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:

Somehow, they seem to have an unerring ability to put canned vegetables and bananas in the same bag.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
I guess it depends on what kind of bag you got, but won't the cans themselves be bouncing around? and thus banging the bananas?

The bananas ideally belong gently placed between two packages of toilet paper.Or a bag full of marshmallows.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Huia:
I tried to use one at a local supermarket but I couldn't hear rhe voice and the assistant was rude.

I hate supermakets.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by orfeo:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
I guess it depends on what kind of bag you got, but won't the cans themselves be bouncing around? and thus banging the bananas?

The bananas ideally belong gently placed between two packages of toilet paper.Or a bag full of marshmallows.

---

We're weird in this country. We keep the thick skins on the bananas until we're ready to eat them.

Although, now that I think of it, I'm paying a lot more money for the weight of those damn inedible skins.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
I came THIS close to telling the auto-checkout that it could shove the "unexpected item" up its "bagging area."

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by orfeo:
Honestly, now I've got visions of deranged shopping assistants who aren't placing items in bags, but are dropping them from great heights or using violent downwards force, leaving squashed bananas in their wake.

---

Now you are just fucking with me. Continuing this stupid banana tangent for your own sick amusement. One does not need to apply a sledgehammer to banana to make a deep bruise. The edge of a can will work just fine to leave a gooshy spot.

quote:

---

Originally posted by M.:
Last Remembrance Day, Macarius and I were in a supermarket at 11 am. All through the 2 mins silence, there came the plaintive cry of 'unexpected item in bagging area'.

Don't these machines have any respect?

M.

---

(oh forgive me.)



[ 14. March 2014, 07:16: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
 

---

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
And depressingly, some of the machines bellow at you. If you try turning the volume down, it looks as if you're interfering with the machine and attracts unwanted attention.

I'm glad to say that the "let me pack your shoppping for you" thing is mostly non-existent or on request only here. It does get done sometimes for charity by Boy Scouts or Sea Cadets, but I tend to pack my own instead. The bananas need to go in last, on top of everything, otherwise the tins are likely to break the skin and mashed banana gets everywhere. But if you put them into a plastic fruit bag first, it usually limits the damage.
 

---

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:
The bananas need to go in last, on top of everything, otherwise the tins are likely to break the skin and mashed banana gets everywhere.

---

SEE, orfeo?

quote:

---

But if you put them into a plastic fruit bag first, it usually limits the damage.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:
The bananas need to go in last, on top of everything, otherwise the tins are likely to break the skin and mashed banana gets everywhere.

---

SEE, orfeo?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:
The plastic fruit bags are about 0.000000001" thick. But at least they keep the mashed banana in one place.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Adeodatus:
(Has anybody noticed, by the way, that this thread is an absolute gift for Famous Last Posts?)

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by deano:
I don't like interaction with poor people.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by deano:
But I always end up going to the local Tesco's anyway...
The only problem I have is with something realy lightweight, such as a greeting card.

---

quote:

---

quote:
Originally posted by M.:
Last Remembrance Day, Macarius and I were in a supermarket at 11 am. All through the 2 mins silence, there came the plaintive cry of 'unexpected item in bagging area'.

Don't these machines have any respect?

M.
[Snigger]

(oh forgive me.)

[Killing me] [Killing me] [Killing me] [Killing me]

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
deano, if you don't like interaction with poor people why do you go to Tesco? Isn't Waitrose more your scene? Sheesh, if you aren't wearing a Barbour jacket you don't get in!

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:

quote:

---

Originally posted by deano:
I don't like interaction with poor people.

---

Either did Dives, and look how he ended up. Signed, Lazarus.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Firenze:
Bunch of carnies from the garage and that's the wedding anniversary taken care of.

---

That must mean something different in the UK than it does here - I doubt a bunch of these folks would do much for most people's anniversaries...


[edited for coding cock-up]

[ 14. March 2014, 12:22: Message edited by: jbohn ]
 

---

Posted by ken (# 2460) on :
 
I'm British and I have no idea what a "carny from the garage" is.
 

---

Posted by daronmedway (# 3012) on :
 
If Google could translate from supermarket jargon to plain English:

"Unexpected item in bagging area" = "this customer is trying to steal something by not scanning it"

Whereas in reality it means, "let's risk a bit of shrinkage (but not too much) because we want to replace working class people with computers".
 

---

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :
 
It's particularly stupid, because surely anyone who was going to steal an item would be smart enough not to put it in the bagging area. If I wanted to steal something from a grocery store, I'd pick a high cost items like nutella or something and pack them into a purse or backpack without scanning them. It wouldn't be much more suspicious than I usually am since I usually put the things in my backpack after I buy and bag them.
 

---

Posted by daronmedway (# 3012) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by ken:
I'm British and I have no idea what a "carny from the garage" is.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gwai:
It's particularly stupid, because surely anyone who was going to steal an item would be smart enough not to put it in the bagging area. If I wanted to steal something from a grocery store, I'd pick a high cost items like nutella or something and pack them into a purse or backpack without scanning them. It wouldn't be much more suspicious than I usually am since I usually put the things in my backpack after I buy and bag them.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by ken:
I'm British and I have no idea what a "carny from the garage" is.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by daronmedway:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gwai:
It's particularly stupid, because surely anyone who was going to steal an item would be smart enough not to put it in the bagging area. If I wanted to steal something from a grocery store, I'd pick a high cost items like nutella or something and pack them into a purse or backpack without scanning them. It wouldn't be much more suspicious than I usually am since I usually put the things in my backpack after I buy and bag them.

---

Is this just the first in a series of posts on shoplifting tips, tricks and techniques, Gwai?

---

Looking to learn?
 

---

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gwai:
It's particularly stupid, because surely anyone who was going to steal an item would be smart enough not to put it in the bagging area. If I wanted to steal something from a grocery store, I'd pick a high cost items like nutella or something and pack them into a purse or backpack without scanning them. It wouldn't be much more suspicious than I usually am since I usually put the things in my backpack after I buy and bag them.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jade Constable:

quote:

---

Originally posted by ken:
I'm British and I have no idea what a "carny from the garage" is.

---

It took me a moment, but carnies = carnations.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by daronmedway:
If Google could translate from supermarket jargon to plain English:

"Unexpected item in bagging area" = "this customer is trying to steal something by not scanning it"

Whereas in reality it means, "let's risk a bit of shrinkage (but not too much) because we want to replace working class people with computers".

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Doc Tor:

quote:

---

Originally posted by daronmedway:
If Google could translate from supermarket jargon to plain English:

"Unexpected item in bagging area" = "this customer is trying to steal something by not scanning it"

Whereas in reality it means, "let's risk a bit of shrinkage (but not too much) because we want to replace working class people with computers".

---

There was a news item a couple of weeks ago, saying that a very sizeable minority of self-scanners have given up trying to rectify the mistakes of the machine and just go home with the unpaid-for goods.

A slightly smaller minority actively use self-scanning to lower their grocery bill.

The big supermarkets, while not getting completely hosed on this, are taking a relatively big hit. I suppose they feel that their margins are such that it's worth it (for them).

---

Precisely. What they loose on shrinkage they save by not paying a human being a decent living wage. It's a simple equation, if what people get away with stealing works out to be less than what it costs to pay Doris and Dave, then screw Doris and Dave.
 

---

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I go to Waitrose, and I use the self scanner, because it gives me a running total and saves me lining up at the only till that does fewer than 6 items where the queue is about ten long, or the others where the trolleys are stuffed full. I still interact with a salesperson because I have a newspaper voucher, being a subscriber, and the scanner cannot cope with scanning the bar code on it.
Now and again I have a random rescan, but I don't have much on it. (I think if I did, I would get another trolley. Out of one into the other.) It is irritating when everything has been neatly packed in boxes according to a plan.

[ 14. March 2014, 16:19: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 

---

Posted by Matt Black (# 2210) on :
 
My particular bugbear is the bags - I find them well-nigh impossible to prise open as the two sides seem to be bonded at the molecular level, so find myself struggling to open the bag whilst "place item you have just scanned into the bagging area" is nagging me on continuous loop.
 

---

Posted by daronmedway (# 3012) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by ken:
I'm British and I have no idea what a "carny from the garage" is.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by orfeo:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:
The bananas need to go in last, on top of everything, otherwise the tins are likely to break the skin and mashed banana gets everywhere.

---

SEE, orfeo?

---

...I guess I have to concede that you were absolutely right, and I was being flip in a way that probably comes around to making me look kind of thick about the basic laws of physics in regards to produce. Thank you for giving me the benefit of your wisdom.

---

How gracious of you! No thanks necessary, just pay it forward.


 

---

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Matt Black:
My particular bugbear is the bags - I find them well-nigh impossible to prise open as the two sides seem to be bonded at the molecular level, so find myself struggling to open the bag whilst "place item you have just scanned into the bagging area" is nagging me on continuous loop.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:
though being stuck on a checkout scanning barcodes for the next 6 hours wouldn't be my idea of a nice day.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:
though being stuck on a checkout scanning barcodes for the next 6 hours wouldn't be my idea of a nice day.

---

A job ideally suited to a non-boreable machine.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Matt Black:
My particular bugbear is the bags - I find them well-nigh impossible to prise open as the two sides seem to be bonded at the molecular level, so find myself struggling to open the bag whilst "place item you have just scanned into the bagging area" is nagging me on continuous loop.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:
The human checkout persons usually greet you with a cheery "'Ello, orright?" which is fine. It can be a bit disconcerting getting "How's your day been?" as I'm sure they probably don't really want to know, but I'm getting used to the "Enjoy the rest of your day" on parting, to which I always reply affably, "And you too", though being stuck on a checkout scanning barcodes for the next 6 hours wouldn't be my idea of a nice day.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by daronmedway:
When I'm buying our Sunday evening bottle of Rioja I like the use the self-scanner. This is because the machine always says, "Approval needed" and I get to insist on speaking to the in-house Sommelier.

---

Do you check with your Boss first? I am not sure he would approve of you shopping on Sunday.
 

---

Posted by Patdys (# 9397) on :
 
In the absence of the wonderful Comet,
Can i just channel...

'You bunch of pathetic losers. In my world, we only scan for bears cos we want to kill and eat those fuckers before they kill and eat us first. And hrumph, an unexpected item in the bagging area. Pissweak*. We have expected items in the body-bagging areas.'

*Yes, I know- Australian, not Alaskan or Prehistoric or whatever the hell it is.

And dear Comet, , I understand that you will make me pay for this one day soon.
 

---

Posted by PeteC (# 10422) on :
 
I must say that the only time I've ever used a self scanner was in SW England. There was a cheery old gent who volunteered to help me. When it came time to pay, I just showed him a handful of change and feigned ignorance. Other than that, I think those machines can go to Hades. Only see them locally in Canada in the big box stores where they also have human beings. If my grocer installed them that would be the last time I darkened his doorstep.
 

---

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Patdys:
In the absence of the wonderful Comet,
Can i just channel...

'You bunch of pathetic losers. In my world, we only scan for bears cos we want to kill and eat those fuckers before they kill and eat us first. And hrumph, an unexpected item in the bagging area. Pissweak*. We have expected items in the body-bagging areas.'

*Yes, I know- Australian, not Alaskan or Prehistoric or whatever the hell it is.

And dear Comet, , I understand that you will make me pay for this one day soon.

---

Somewhere, a redhead has dropped her prayer beads and clenched her fists, not knowing why.


(UNLESS SHE'S PEEKING, OF COURSE! )
 

---

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Patdys:
And dear Comet, , I understand that you will make me pay for this one day soon.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
How gracious of you! No thanks necessary, just pay it forward.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
Checkout people here seem to be trained to ask "did you find everything you needed today?" Not that they have a way of recording it if you didn't, so I don't know why they bother telling them to ask you; false sense of being cared for, I guess.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
Checkout people here seem to be trained to ask "did you find everything you needed today?" Not that they have a way of recording it if you didn't, so I don't know why they bother telling them to ask you; false sense of being cared for, I guess.

---

I've always assumed they ask so that they can tell you that the widgets or whatever are in aisle sixteen. In better times, they'd send the bagger to aisle sixteen to get the widgets for you.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Good God, dude, you make Ebenezer Scrooge look like a hippie. Fuck you, being a bagger is demeaning. Fuck you, Get the Boy Scouts to lower themselves. I bet the average Boy Scout could kick your ass bloody, but he won't because helping some old lady with her bags is a much more noble, honorable thing to do.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
Checkout people here seem to be trained to ask "did you find everything you needed today?" Not that they have a way of recording it if you didn't, so I don't know why they bother telling them to ask you; false sense of being cared for, I guess.

---

I've always assumed they ask so that they can tell you that the widgets or whatever are in aisle sixteen. In better times, they'd send the bagger to aisle sixteen to get the widgets for you.

---

In my country town, an assistant is called from (presumeably on high) to fetch items e.g. where a bag of flour is leaking, and must be replaced. But DM probably has them heading for the tall timber rather than approach... they not being loaded for clerics.

 

---

Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
I've always assumed they ask so that they can tell you that the widgets or whatever are in aisle sixteen. In better times, they'd send the bagger to aisle sixteen to get the widgets for you.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Good God, dude, you make Ebenezer Scrooge look like a hippie. Fuck you, being a bagger is demeaning. Fuck you, Get the Boy Scouts to lower themselves. I bet the average Boy Scout could kick your ass bloody, but he won't because helping some old lady with her bags is a much more noble, honorable thing to do.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:
Checkout assistants who bag everything are a nuisance - it slows the system down

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:
Checkout assistants who bag everything are a nuisance

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by mousethief:

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:
Checkout assistants who bag everything are a nuisance - it slows the system down

---

What do you want them to do, leave it on the counter so you can carry out the unbagged items in your arms?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:
Checkout assistants who bag everything are a nuisance

---

Why don't you just politely thank them for their offer of help, but please don't worry about packing anything for you?

(That way you won't get your bananas smashed.)

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by mousethief:

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:
Checkout assistants who bag everything are a nuisance - it slows the system down

---

What do you want them to do, leave it on the counter so you can carry out the unbagged items in your arms?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by daronmedway:
leo, are you really saying that the boy scouts are a "paramilitary organisation"?

---

Please don't get him started, otherwise before we know it he'll be listing al the apparently anti Semitic hymns in the English Hymnal
 

---

Posted by jacobsen (# 14998) on :
 
I have heard that the predecessors of the Brownies were called Rosebuds.
 

---

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by daronmedway:
leo, are you really saying that the boy scouts are a "paramilitary organisation"?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Spike:

quote:

---

Originally posted by daronmedway:
leo, are you really saying that the boy scouts are a "paramilitary organisation"?

---

Please don't get him started, otherwise before we know it he'll be listing al the apparently anti Semitic hymns in the English Hymnal

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by jacobsen:
I have heard that the predecessors of the Brownies were called Rosebuds.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:

quote:

---

Originally posted by daronmedway:
leo, are you really saying that the boy scouts are a "paramilitary organisation"?

---

Yes.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by PeteC:

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:

quote:

---

Originally posted by daronmedway:
leo, are you really saying that the boy scouts are a "paramilitary organisation"?

---

Yes.

---

You really ARE a bitter, ignorant sod, aren't you?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by mousethief:

quote:

---

Originally posted by PeteC:

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:

quote:

---

Originally posted by daronmedway:
leo, are you really saying that the boy scouts are a "paramilitary organisation"?

---

Yes.

---

You really ARE a bitter, ignorant sod, aren't you?

---

Hey, now! He likes Muslims.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Doublethink:
To be fair to leo, Baden-Powell was specifically interested in generating military scouts - though they developed some distance from the original concept.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by orfeo:

Oh wait, this is leo's mind we're delving into. Silly me.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Anglican't:
Leo's next post will be his 20,000th. I'm really looking forward to something profound that will encapsulate his world-view.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Anglican't:
Leo's next post will be his 20,000th. I'm really looking forward to something profound that will encapsulate his world-view.

---

Well, in Heaven he has already bitched about people enjoying their church coffee hours. I think that says volumes.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Anglican't:
But presumably this process started when supermarkets were created? You used to stand at a shop counter and ask the clerk behind it for the items you wanted. Now you have to find the items themselves.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
That was leo's 20,000th post! What a gift to us all.

---

quote:

---

You used to stand at a shop counter and ask the clerk behind it for the items you wanted.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by lilBuddha:
You hear this rubbish from those who spin in clockwise circles, but what would happen if everyone made the most of education and opportunity?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by basso:
Since the right wing has started ranting about GSA, I consider it an obligation to buy as many cookies as I can during the season.
If I gain five pounds this Lent (why do they always sell cookies during Lent, anyway?) it'll be the Tea Party's fault.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by deano:
Any kind of simple, repeatable manual process is game for automation.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by lilBuddha:
You hear this rubbish from those who spin in clockwise circles, but what would happen if everyone made the most of education and opportunity?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by basso:
Since the right wing has started ranting about GSA,

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by mousethief:
real cashiers can far better work machines they have been professionally trained to work than hapless and harried customers.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Zacchaeus:
I always try to pick a checkout with a middle aged lady – then I know that there is a fighting chance she will pack a bag properly. She has spent half a lifetime doing it.

---

And there is a good chance they'll call you "baby" or "honey", too.
 

---

Posted by Leorning Cniht (# 17564) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by mousethief:
I can see the logic of having us find our own items, inasmuch as the old Dry Good store model can't serve the number of people that a supermarket does, and our population centers have grown such that it's no longer a viable model.

[..snip..]

If the checkout lines are too long and make the self-check seem like a time-saving option, that rather supports my argument than the oppositions -- we need more employees, not fewer, at the grocery store.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Spike:
There seems to be a pond difference here. I don't remember ever seeing baggers in UK supermarkets

---

quote:

---

...people like to squeeze their own melons.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by daronmedway:
My kids are those cub-scouts. At Christmas they did three consecutive six hour days and youngest is only eight. Tesco paid me for them by bank transfer to an offshore account. I've been sworn to secrecy because child labour is illegal here in the UK apparently....Oh. Oops.

---

Ok, here's a suggestion: gather your kids and tell them, "I just wrote the wittiest, most impressive thing on Ship of Fools, about Cub Scouts bagging for tips at supermarkets. here, listen to this:
'I mean, why demean an adult when you get children to do the very most menial of tasks?'
Isn't that a scream?"

But before you do, stop and consider-- they probably already have learned a great deal about ropes, knots and knives.

Child labour laws, my foot.
 

---

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Spike:
There seems to be a pond difference here. I don't remember ever seeing baggers in UK supermarkets

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by mousethief:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Spike:
There seems to be a pond difference here. I don't remember ever seeing baggers in UK supermarkets

---

I was thinking it went the other way.

But at our supermarket, the cashier puts the grox directly into bags after scanning them, setting aside squishy stuff to make sure it goes on the bottom of the next bag (just kidding) (usually). The groceries never get anywhere near where I can grab them until the cashier sets a full bag in the cart/trolley. I can't really see how it's a lot less efficient than throwing them onto a counter behind her (it's usually her) where I can grab them and bag them. Might add a whole 20 seconds to the whole experience, maybe even 40.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Spike:
There seems to be a pond difference here. I don't remember ever seeing baggers in UK supermarkets

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
Paying someone to bag my shopping for me? Sure, and while we're at it why not pay someone to wipe my ass after I'm done shitting?

---

quote:

---

But that's where you've got to have a system. Make sure all the hard-packaged and heavy items go on the conveyor first, then slowly work up to the lighter, more breakable groceries. Dairy goes on second to last (lighter items first, milk last), and finally the meat, which gets its own bag.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by North East Quine:
We are asked if we would like help with bagging every single time we go to Tesco, even if we've only bought a carton of milk and a newspaper. I've never heard anyone say yes, they would like help.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by North East Quine:
We have the charity baggers fairly regularly. A bagging session can net several hundred pounds for whichever school trip etc it's for, much of it from people paying the baggers not to bag!

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by North East Quine:
I do have a system - everything which will be unpacked into the cupboards on the south side of my kitchen into one bag, everything which will be unpacked into the cupboards on the east side into another bag, stuff for the fridge into another bag, stuff for the kitchen freezer into another bag, stuff for the freezer in the garage into another bag, stuff destined for the shower-room upstairs gets its own bag....

Unfortunately this splendid system - so efficient when I get home - isn't intuitively obvious to bag-packers.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by deano:
Why do you suppose we keep our paramilitary stormtroopers inside supermarkets? It's so when the proletariat workers rise up against the self-scanning bourgoisie, the scouts will suddenly pull out their hidden Heckler and Koch MP10's and swiftly put down the revolution before it even begins.

Hah! Even now we are one step ahead of you. You will work until we tell you to stop, then you will DIE!!!!

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Drifting Star:
The cashier looked at me as though I'd answered in Serbo Croat, and absolutely nothing happened.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:

quote:

---

Originally posted by daronmedway:
leo, are you really saying that the boy scouts are a "paramilitary organisation"?

---

Yes.

---

Yeah, right, cos my eldest son really enjoys kneecapping and murdering people on his Tuesday evenings out.

Fuck you and the horse you rode in on, you ignorant tosser.
 

---

Posted by Boogie (# 13538) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:

quote:

---

Originally posted by daronmedway:
leo, are you really saying that the boy scouts are a "paramilitary organisation"?

---

Yes.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Matt Black:

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:

quote:

---

Originally posted by daronmedway:
leo, are you really saying that the boy scouts are a "paramilitary organisation"?

---

Yes.

---

Yeah, right, cos my eldest son really enjoys kneecapping and murdering people on his Tuesday evenings out.

Fuck you and the horse you rode in on, you ignorant tosser.

---

What Matt said. Go pound sand, leo.

Signed,
A Proud Eagle Scout
 

---

Posted by Doc Tor (# 9748) on :
 
I've always referred to the Guides and Scouts as the paramilitaries.

Didn't stop my kids from joining. I'm even the treasurer for Miss Tor's Guide unit.

They have uniforms, they parade, they salute... it's a soft form of paramilitarism, but Scouts certainly served as an adjunct to the military in WWII. Knickers untwisted, please.
 

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Posted by Matt Black (# 2210) on :
 
Thank you but no. Children in uniform are most certainly not paramilitaries. That would render all my children such as they all wear school uniform. Like I said, when they start carrying weapons and perpetrating assassinations (or when the Real IRA start helping to pack bags in Tescos), then you and Leo might have a point. Until then, STFU with your offensive bullshit 'comparison' (we used to get called the Hitler Youth if that 'helps' you to understand my anger a bit more.)

[ 17. March 2014, 15:10: Message edited by: Matt Black ]
 

---

Posted by Doc Tor (# 9748) on :
 
Yeah, spare me the Daily Mail version of the world and try looking up 'paramilitary' in a dictionary some time. You also might want to take a look at a few history books where Scouts manned fire watch stations and plane spotter patrols as part of the war effort.

Hands up who's had to routinely bounce the suspension on their car to check for tilt-switch bombs?

*puts hand up*
*looks around*

Back in your box, boyo.

[ 17. March 2014, 16:06: Message edited by: Doc Tor ]
 

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Posted by Matt Black (# 2210) on :
 
That might have been then, this is now, when 'paramilitary' = thugs in balaclavas who dole out punishment beatings in Northern Ireland or who surround Ukrainian army barracks with menaces and Kalashnikovs.

Not back in my box that easily...
 

---

Posted by Pyx_e (# 57) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:

quote:

---

Originally posted by daronmedway:
leo, are you really saying that the boy scouts are a "paramilitary organisation"?

---

Yes.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Matt Black:
That might have been then, this is now, when 'paramilitary' = thugs in balaclavas who dole out punishment beatings in Northern Ireland or who surround Ukrainian army barracks with menaces and Kalashnikovs.

Not back in my box that easily...

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Doc Tor:
I've always referred to the Guides and Scouts as the paramilitaries.

Didn't stop my kids from joining. I'm even the treasurer for Miss Tor's Guide unit.

They have uniforms, they parade, they salute... it's a soft form of paramilitarism, but Scouts certainly served as an adjunct to the military in WWII. Knickers untwisted, please.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Doc Tor:
Yeah, spare me the Daily Mail version of the world and try looking up 'paramilitary' in a dictionary some time. You also might want to take a look at a few history books where Scouts manned fire watch stations and plane spotter patrols as part of the war effort.

Hands up who's had to routinely bounce the suspension on their car to check for tilt-switch bombs?

*puts hand up*
*looks around*

Back in your box, boyo.

---

Debating by dictionary is so fourth form DocTor, you should know that.

For further information just about everyone played their part in the war effort, uniformed or not. Boy Scouts were also "runners", used when lines of communication were cut. Even pacifists were involved, in first aid, fire fighting and the amazingly dangerous work of getting people out of bombed buildings.
 

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Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Spike:
The St John Ambulance Brigade Cadets have uniforms, drills and salutes. They even have ranks like Corporal and Sergeant but I don't think they could be described as paramilitary

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariston:
*sigh* I swore I wouldn't get involved in this tangent, swore up and down on a stack of Bibles—so much for that…

---

quote:

---

Royal Mail's own regiment, the Post Office Rifles

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Matt Black:
The only people with whom I'm upset and angry are those who use the same term to describe my kids as that used to describe Northern Irish terrorists.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
Debating by dictionary is so fourth form DocTor, you should know that.

---

quote:

---

For further information just about everyone played their part in the war effort, uniformed or not. Boy Scouts were also "runners", used when lines of communication were cut. Even pacifists were involved, in first aid, fire fighting and the amazingly dangerous work of getting people out of bombed buildings.

---

quote:

---

there were 53,000 Scouts trained to undertake over hundred and seventy National War Service jobs by the end of 1940

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by L'organist:
posted by Anglican't

quote:

---

You used to stand at a shop counter and ask the clerk behind it for the items you wanted.

---

Or you were fortunate to have either a Home & Colonial or International Stores branch. They had order forms (yellow IMMC) which listed all sorts of staples and you filled in what you wanted, how much, etc. Turn-round time was 24 hours: if you got the form in by closing on a Thursday, the order arrived on Friday afternoon - ours came via a boy on a bike with a massive basket on the front.

You settled the bill the next time you were in the shop, or you had an account that they sent out once a month.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariston:
*sigh* I swore I wouldn't get involved in this tangent, swore up and down on a stack of Bibles—so much for that…

---

Yep. Leo, I saw this today and thought of you.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Doc Tor:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Matt Black:
The only people with whom I'm upset and angry are those who use the same term to describe my kids as that used to describe Northern Irish terrorists.

---

Since I don't call the IRA, UVF et al paramilitaries (I prefer 'murdering thugs'), I guess I'm in the clear.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Oh bugger it.
One, it upset you initially because Leo said it.
Two, because he might have meant it that way does not mean anyone else here does.
Three,
Uniforms? Check
Learn to obey? Check
Chain of command? Check
Swear oaths of allegiance? Check
This is not saying the scouts are used now in such a militaristic fashion, but as it has been pointed out, they have been. And that is why Baden Powell set them up.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by orfeo:

quote:

---

Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Oh bugger it.
One, it upset you initially because Leo said it.
Two, because he might have meant it that way does not mean anyone else here does.
Three,
Uniforms? Check
Learn to obey? Check
Chain of command? Check
Swear oaths of allegiance? Check
This is not saying the scouts are used now in such a militaristic fashion, but as it has been pointed out, they have been. And that is why Baden Powell set them up.

---

And I'm with Matt. Have you seen a school lately? Your checklist works fine with some of them, too.

---

quote:

---

there were 53,000 Scouts trained to undertake over hundred and seventy National War Service jobs by the end of 1940

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Doc Tor:
Hands up who's had to routinely bounce the suspension on their car to check for tilt-switch bombs?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Anglican't:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Doc Tor:
Hands up who's had to routinely bounce the suspension on their car to check for tilt-switch bombs?

---

I've probably fundamentally misunderstood here, so please do clarify: if a bomb is on a tilt switch, wouldn't bouncing the car lead to it going off?

---

quote:

---

Separately, didn't the AA used to wear militaristic uniforms and salute cars bearing the AA badge? Did they stop being a paramilitary organisation when they switched to fluorescent jackets?

---

quote:

---

the reality is usually that everyone's slouching a bit, nobody's uniforms match, the youth in charge really wishes the obnoxious kid in the third row would just shut up already, nobody really cares if anyone else is gay, and everyone's fingering their matches.

---

Were you in my Scout troop?

Certainly we always hoped that, if asked to present themselves neatly and pressed for local or national events, that it did happen. But we settled for clean hands and faces and at least a necker to identify them as Scouts. And we didn't do drill, except if we've been asked to parade. It never took. We look for for willingness to help: community service, first aid training (oops, that means they have to obey orders! )

On my honour, I promise to do my best
To do my duty to God and the Queen
To help other people at all times
And to live in the spirit of the Scout Law

which is:

A scout is kind and cheerful
Considerate and clean
And wise in the use of all resources

None of which is anything that we wouldn't wish for people of all ages.

Paramilitaristic?

[ 18. March 2014, 02:51: Message edited by: PeteC ]
 

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Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :
 
My favourite supermarket has a self service option. They also have baggers who pack better and more efficiently that I can and will chase me out of the shop if I leave my wallet behind

The only things I pack are 2 litre bottles of milk - anything that heavy goes in the backpack, and meat which also goes in the backpack where little claws can't get it if I get sidetracked before I put it away.
New World.
 

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Posted by PeteC (# 10422) on :
 
I should have signed the above (nail my colours to the mast)

PeteC
Cub and Sea Scout 1955-1963
Adult leader (Cubs and Scouts), Group Committee member, Member of the Baden Powell Guild 1984 and continuing
 

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Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 
You were a Sea Scout? Rock on! I was a Sea Scout all through high school. I loved it. Best thing I did during that otherwise dark and dreary four years.
 

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Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Huia:
My favourite supermarket has a self service option. They also have baggers who pack better and more efficiently that I can and will chase me out of the shop if I leave my wallet behind

The only things I pack are 2 litre bottles of milk - anything that heavy goes in the backpack, and meat which also goes in the backpack where little claws can't get it if I get sidetracked before I put it away.
New World.

---

The "Getting Back on Track" Award goes to Huia, Christchurch, NZ
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 


A lonely little post cries in the wilderness.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Huia:
The only things I pack are 2 litre bottles of milk - anything that heavy goes in the backpack, and meat which also goes in the backpack where little claws can't get it if I get sidetracked before I put it away.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by mousethief:
You were a Sea Scout? Rock on! I was a Sea Scout all through high school. I loved it. Best thing I did during that otherwise dark and dreary four years.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Doc Tor:
Hands up who's had to routinely bounce the suspension on their car to check for tilt-switch bombs?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Firenze:
Now, if they could just adapt the ultra-sensitive pressure pads on the wretched automated tills to detect the pawprint of all these hyenas circling Huia's supermarket.

---

Er - do they have hyenas in NZ? (Apart from at the zoo, that is?)
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Hyenas. Wolverines. Feral cats. Whatever. They probably arrived in crates of bananas, escaped and have since taken to breeding in the back storage. Of course, they take the odd shelf-stacker - but they were only there for work 'experience' because they were on benefits. So Ministers aren't that unhappy. Employers feel they keep staff on their toes, and, by and large, they improve throughput at the tills - people pay much more briskly where there's red eyes and a slavering jaw inches from their ankles.
 

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Posted by Tortuf (# 3784) on :
 
How fondly I remember my days as a youth in the Boy Scouts. We would spend our days working as bag boys at the local supermarket; slyly working at making the local populace more and more decadent as the days went on. Soon, we had the women (only women shopped for groceries - no man would ever be caught dead in a grocery store, unless employed there) demanding that we pre peel their grapes for them so they didn't have to do so when they got home. Oh yes, it was a wonderful time.

And, of course, we wore our uniforms. They had to be neatly pressed and sparkling clean. Every single thing had to be exactly in place or our Colonel. . . err, I mean Scoutmaster, would have our hides. When we took breaks we were able to practice our drop and shoot drills in the rifle range out back of the store. Safety was, of course, a prime objective. I cannot remember more than one or two accidental casualties in the years we used that range.

Sadly, now our rifle range has been replaced by a self checkout machine factory.
 

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Posted by Beethoven (# 114) on :
 
(Trying to tie the dual strands of this thread together, but I was never very good at knotting, even as a Guide...)

I occasionally have to call in at the nearby supermarket on the way to Brownies. I have once recently used the self-checkout purely because everyone else there clearly loathed them as much as I do, so there were queues at the real tills and no-one waiting for the Machines of Doom. Since I didn't have anything too light, crumpled, or adult, I made it through unscathed - even paying by cash! That'll never happen again, then!

And thinking back to last night's chaos, if my Brownies are paramilitaristic, the rest of the world is safe from any kind of organised take-over, believe me!
 

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Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Firenze:
Now, if they could just adapt the ultra-sensitive pressure pads on the wretched automated tills to detect the pawprint of all these hyenas circling Huia's supermarket.

---

Er - do they have hyenas in NZ? (Apart from at the zoo, that is?)

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Firenze:
Employers feel they keep staff on their toes, and, by and large, they improve throughput at the tills - people pay much more briskly where there's red eyes and a slavering jaw inches from their ankles.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
I'd like to see a kea or five take on an automatic checkout machine. I'd buy tickets to that.

---

Now THAT is a Youtube video I'd love to see!

 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Yesterday I went merrily round with my little zapper selecting the fortunately few items I was to buy before arriving at the till to find the computer system was down and, after checking the other till, everthing had to be scanned normally. Keeps the staff on their toes. Today, as a consequence, the computer went into a paddy about my attempting to get a zapper, because it hadn't been signed off properly yesterday, and I had to get the thing reregistered. Why do I do this
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
...
Whussa "zapper"?
 

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Posted by Gracious rebel (# 3523) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
...
Whussa "zapper"?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Huia:

I have to travel a couple of hours west to see kea - but its worth it. They're awesome. It's a wonder some haven't been hired to demolish earthquake munted buildings in Christchurch. We did actually have a girnormous bird called Haast's Eagle that could have a carried away all the shopping bags and possibly me too, but it's extinct.

Huia

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gracious rebel:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
...
Whussa "zapper"?

---

Colloquial name for a hand held scanner that some stores now offer. You pick one up as you enter the store, registering it with your store loyalty card so they know who's got it. Then as you collect items off the shelf, you 'zap' them with the scanner, which displays a running total of what you have spent (useful when you are working to a fixed budget, or you have a coupon for '£4 off when you spend £30' so want to just spend enough to get the discount). You can pack the items directly into your own shopping bags in your trolley (that's what we Brits call a shopping cart) which saves time. When you finish shopping, you just have to pay (and scan any coupons you are using). They do random bag checks to make sure you have scanned everything in your bags, but doesn't happen often, its definitely worth using the zapper, it save a lot of time and aggro, and its kinda fun.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:
Also you have to have a loyalty card or you can't use them.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Zacchaeus:
This Brit has only ever used a shopping trolley never a cart....

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by lilBuddha:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Zacchaeus:
This Brit has only ever used a shopping trolley never a cart....

---

They are the same thing. The only difference is at the end of the shopping, one of them is pushed to a queue and the other, a line.

---

Ah, pond wars. How I miss them.
 

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Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
orfeo, there's an optional scale for weighing things sold by weight in the scanning area of the self-service checkout. There's also a scale in the bagging area to check things are scanned before going into the bagging area. And very light things don't always register, like greeting cards.
 

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Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :
 
Re the phrase in the OP title: American self-checkouts do that, too.

I've had minor versions of the various problems mentioned. I can usually reset the "unexpected item" status by lifting whatever is in the bagging area, and putting it back down. (Easier if you put items straight into bags.) But I've occasionally had to summon the attendant (usually one for all 6 or so checkout stations) for assorted problems.

These days, I mostly shop at Trader Joe's.


Good food, few or no icky additives, many of their own brand items, and prices are generally lower than the average supermarket. (Say, Safeway.) No self-checkouts. Lots of friendly human clerks, who are fun to chat with. TJ's can help your budget, while simultaneously improving your health and standard of living. NOTE: TJ's is insanely popular, so it's important to take note of busy and slow times.

Oh, and another option: some supermarkets have home delivery. Cost depends on how much you spend, but there's often a way to get cheaper or free delivery. If you need to stock up on heavy items but don't have a car, it can be a lifesaver.

FWIW. YMMV.

Re keas: I've read that if you park your car in an area where they live, you have to make sure all the windows are completely closed. Otherwise, they'll get in and shred the interior of your car.

 

---

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:
I'm intrigued at the idea of the machine giving you a random item. I have this image of it sprouting robotic arms and reaching down an aisle to see what it'll grab.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by orfeo:
Look, clearly the British have got this whole supermarket shopping business COMPLETELY arsed up:

1. The notion of handheld scanners and attempting to scan while collecting items instead of after finishing the collecting. There is clearly no time saving involved, it just means you spend more time wandering the aisles instead of at the checkout.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gracious rebel:
seems a bit weird though, to go to all the trouble of ordering online, then having to visit the store anyway to get the stuff.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gracious rebel:
seems a bit weird though, to go to all the trouble of ordering online, then having to visit the store anyway to get the stuff.

---

It beats both alternatives:

1) Wait at home for the delivery, which then arrives right at the end of the specified time window (never right at the start, because that would then allow you to use the rest of that time productively), if not some time after

2) Get home to find the "we tried to deliver your item but you weren't in, please collect at your nearest depot" (where, of course, "nearest depot" is 50+ miles away).

The whole reason to shop online is because you can fit the shopping into odd times in a busy day. It's somewhat negated if you then have to suspend your hectic life to sit around for a delivery. Stopping briefly at your local store to pick up a few bags of groceries on the way home from work is much easier, especially if you couple that to filling the tank with a small fortunes worth of petrol.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Golden Key:

These days, I mostly shop at Trader Joe's.


Good food, few or no icky additives, many of their own brand items, and prices are generally lower than the average supermarket. (Say, Safeway.) No self-checkouts. Lots of friendly human clerks, who are fun to chat with. TJ's can help your budget, while simultaneously improving your health and standard of living. NOTE: TJ's is insanely popular, so it's important to take note of busy and slow times.

---

I love Trader Joe's! For all the reasons you gave.

 

---

Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
orfeo, there's an optional scale for weighing things sold by weight in the scanning area of the self-service checkout.

---

quote:

---

There's also a scale in the bagging area to check things are scanned before going into the bagging area. And very light things don't always register, like greeting cards.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gracious rebel:

quote:

---

Originally posted by orfeo:
Look, clearly the British have got this whole supermarket shopping business COMPLETELY arsed up:

1. The notion of handheld scanners and attempting to scan while collecting items instead of after finishing the collecting. There is clearly no time saving involved, it just means you spend more time wandering the aisles instead of at the checkout.

---

I vehemently disagree. There is most definitely a time saving. You only have to move the items ONCE from the shelf straight into your bags.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
Click and collect is available at some tube stations.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
Click and collect is available at some tube stations.

---

And I had always thought they were places for catching trains ...

A Good Idea, actually. What would Bob Crow (RIP) have thought of it? Are the stores replacing he Ticket Offices?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by RuthW:
Also, Trader Joe's is a gift from the gods. But all the money I save on staples like milk and eggs I spend on their imported cheese.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Firenze:
I won't hear a word against grocers at railway stations. When we got off the train the other day - 9 o'clock at night, been travelling 14 hours - the M&S at Waverley was like a wee oasis. We got sufficient for a dinner and breakfast - and an offer of plastic cutlery (since the place is staffed by Actual People).

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quote:

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Originally posted by Firenze:
I won't hear a word against grocers at railway stations. When we got off the train the other day - 9 o'clock at night, been travelling 14 hours - the M&S at Waverley was like a wee oasis.

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quote:

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Originally posted by RuthW:
...every single time I get the message that it doesn't recognize my bags and an assistant has been called.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Ruth W
Assistants in all the local stores say it's not just me; the check-out stands almost never recognize bags people bring in.

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quote:

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Originally posted by RuthW:
The thing that makes me crazy at the self check-out stands is how often they don't recognize reusable bags people bring in. k and eggs I spend on their imported cheese.

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quote:

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Originally posted by ken:
I think I'm far too old and nowhere near middle-middle-class enough to buy food from Marks and Sparks. Its an underwear shop. Too much cognitive dissonance to buy food there.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
This is exactly what makes those "Terminator" type scenarios of machines taking over the world so hilarious. They only get more neurotic the more sentient they get. In 50 years we will have half our services provided by Woody Allen clones.

"Ya see,you pushed 'no bags,' but I think that you really do want bags, but would rather play the martyr than just say so. I wish you would learn to communicate."

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quote:

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Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
I can't remember what the register said said when the cashier scanned the Summer's Eve. It's probably better that way.

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I'll bet it wasn't "The holy time is quiet as a nun breathless with adoration." (Apologies to William Wordsworth.)
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
No, that is what the nozzle would say.
 

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Posted by cliffdweller (# 13338) on :
 
I'm lovin' the turn this thread has taken. Although that may be because I'm heavily into demented Christopher Moore lit lately.
 

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Posted by Vulpior (# 12744) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by orfeo:
The only thing mine asks at the start is whether I'm doing shopping or just taking money out - using the supermarket as a bank... never done that.

Yes, okay, that's weird. But none of this having to tell it whether I'm using my own bag or one of theirs. In fact, if I'm using one of theirs I have to take it from the 'bagging' side so I can swipe the barcode on the bottom (another place where thin free plastic bags are no longer allowed) before using it. My own bag just goes in. No screeching required.

WTF are you doing in these other countries??

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quote:

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Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
No, that is what the nozzle would say.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Firenze:
When we got off the train the other day - 9 o'clock at night, been travelling 14 hours - the M&S at Waverley was like a wee oasis.

---

quote:

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Originally posted by Vulpior:
And now I can tell which half of the duopoly you use. They do banking actually, hence the wanna-be-an-ATM bit; I have a Frequent Flyer point-earning credit card with them. They code the loyalty card info onto the back so one card does two things.

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quote:

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Originally posted by orfeo:
Just wait until they start commenting on your socio-economic status based on your purchases.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Drifting Star:

quote:

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Originally posted by orfeo:
Just wait until they start commenting on your socio-economic status based on your purchases.

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If you use a loyalty card they will already have put you in your socio-economic status box. In fact, if you use a credit or debit card regularly at one chain they may well have done so. And if you have a Tesco loyalty card the majority of the commercial world probably knows all about you, and is making assumptions that are based on which brand of beans you buy.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Anglican't:
Off the top of my head, people at Daewoo sell fridges and motor cars and the folk at Hitachi sell trains and television sets. So I wouldn't say this is so unusual.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by orfeo:

quote:

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Originally posted by Anglican't:
Off the top of my head, people at Daewoo sell fridges and motor cars and the folk at Hitachi sell trains and television sets. So I wouldn't say this is so unusual.

---

I'll give you a clue. Both of those pairs are still in MANUFACTURING.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Drifting Star:
If you use a loyalty card they will already have put you in your socio-economic status box. In fact, if you use a credit or debit card regularly at one chain they may well have done so. And if you have a Tesco loyalty card the majority of the commercial world probably knows all about you, and is making assumptions that are based on which brand of beans you buy.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Firenze:

quote:

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Originally posted by ken:
I think I'm far too old and nowhere near middle-middle-class enough to buy food from Marks and Sparks. Its an underwear shop. Too much cognitive dissonance to buy food there.

---

I'm surprised you haven't come across their Simply Food outlets, which I think is becoming their core business. I was looking for one that carried clothing last time I was in London: the people at Charing Cross directed me to the one in Long Acre - but even there, the food occupied the prime position on the ground floor and the knickers etc were bundled away upstairs.

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quote:

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Originally posted by orfeo:
Yes, but it's all just an even more blatant money & power grab than usual. I don't want a single company trying to run my entire life like that.

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It's the nature of corporations to expand, or rather perhaps not their nature but what market economies force them to do. Supermarkets can build more stores, make their existing stores bigger, offer new ways to try and make shopping easier and less hassle (click and collect, self-serve checkouts etc), loyalty cards. But, at the end of the day there's only so much people will buy. So, expansion means expanding into new markets. So, they put in petrol forecourts, start selling clothing and electrical goods. They all need changes to the stores, or new stores. Financial services is much easier as they don't need to change their stores much at all.

You don't have to play their game. Plenty of banks, credit cards, loans, insurance providers for you to choose from.
 

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Posted by Bishops Finger (# 5430) on :
 
Very occasionally (if visiting family in London), I pop into Marks n'Sparks at St.Pancras Station) to see what they have in the way of ready meals. Their (occasional) microwaveable chish n'phips (£2.99 last time I looked) can't (IMNSHO) be beat......absolutely bl**dy delicious....



Ian J.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:
Same here - I just out everything 'naked' in 'the bagging areas', pay ans then put them into bags afterwards.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:
It's the nature of corporations to expand, or rather perhaps not their nature but what market economies force them to do.

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quote:

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Originally posted by orfeo:

quote:

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Originally posted by Vulpior:
And now I can tell which half of the duopoly you use. They do banking actually, hence the wanna-be-an-ATM bit; I have a Frequent Flyer point-earning credit card with them. They code the loyalty card info onto the back so one card does two things.

---

Don't get me started on the whole 'what else can a powerful supermarket do' business. I think I mentioned on the Ship when I started seeing ads for things like car insurance and, possibly even worse, life insurance. From the supermarket. In what way does ensuring a regular supply of apples equip you to help me deal with a smash repairer? Do grieving widows get a discount at the deli?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Vulpior
Even when I go through the "I've brought my own bag" process, it's heavier than the bagging scales expect, so I need the assistant to clear the message.

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I have never heard of weighing the bags you bring. Around here after you press the button for "I've brought my own bag.", you are instructed to put it in the bagging area.

What difference does it make how much it weighs?

Moo
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
It's how they tell if you are ripping off a greeting card.
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
No joke. I'd just plonked my own bag in the bagging area when I realised I'd left my purse (=UK usage ie the thing you keep money in). I tried lifting it out as I put in the first item, but it spotted Initial Weight of Bag + Scanned Item does not equal Current Weight of Bag + Scanned Item.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
If I'd done that the machine would have thrown a fit and screamed for the assistant. You can only put your own bag on the scales if it's a certain weight - and that has to be very light or empty - if it already has items in it it will have to be verified. I learnt the hard way to remove any folding umbrellas, newspapers, etc before putting it on the scales and it never likes shopping already purchased elsewhere.

I just wonder how this will go. Lots of items sticking on the way down, machines that eat money, out-of-date items eventually coming to the fore, and potential for smash-and-grab, I should think.

Bring back the old-fashioned corner store with a friendly shopkeeper and people who got to chat to each other while waiting to be served.

[ 21. March 2014, 07:16: Message edited by: Ariel ]
 

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Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :
 
Vending machines in Japan provide a much wider range of goods than I'm used to in the UK. Though, I've not noticed any with a wide range of staples like that machine. It doesn't seem to cause problems - cash would be the most common means of payment and rejected notes don't seem to happen, and the machines don't give the wrong item/not give the item.
 

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Posted by Alban (# 9047) on :
 
Eggs they say?
Eggs?
You think stacking bananas below cans is irritating, imagine dropping a pack of eggs into the collecting tray.
Looks like fun.
 

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Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Alban:

You think stacking bananas below cans is irritating, imagine dropping a pack of eggs into the collecting tray.
Looks like fun.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Moo:
You can package eggs so they won't break, even when thrown from a second story. This is a routine assignment for first-year-students at some engineering schools.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Ariel:
Bring back the old-fashioned corner store with a friendly shopkeeper and people who got to chat to each other while waiting to be served.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:


Bring back the old-fashioned corner store with a friendly shopkeeper and people who got to chat to each other while waiting to be served.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:

quote:

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Originally posted by Ariel:


Bring back the old-fashioned corner store with a friendly shopkeeper and people who got to chat to each other while waiting to be served.

---

Bugger that. In, buy, out, quick as possible is my aim.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:

quote:

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Originally posted by Ariel:


Bring back the old-fashioned corner store with a friendly shopkeeper and people who got to chat to each other while waiting to be served.

---

Bugger that. In, buy, out, quick as possible is my aim.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by ken:

quote:

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Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:


Bring back the old-fashioned corner store with a friendly shopkeeper and people who got to chat to each other while waiting to be served.

---

Bugger that. In, buy, out, quick as possible is my aim.

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Corner shops and street markets are quicker than supermarkets. Its one of their great advantages.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:


Bring back the old-fashioned corner store with a friendly shopkeeper and people who got to chat to each other while waiting to be served.

---

Bugger that. In, buy, out, quick as possible is my aim.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:
I'll pass on the chatting waiting to be served bit, though, thanks.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
Would you really call Ronnie Barker (aka Arkwright) a "friendly" shopkeeper? I could think of several other words to describe him ...

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quote:

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Originally posted by basso:
Reminds me of the glory days at the Marina Safeway. (Tales of the City reference - I never had the nerve to shop there on a busy night, but everybody knew about it.)

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Ah, yes. The produce section was a singles' meeting place for straight folks. (One theory was that if the prospective person looked good in *that* lighting, they'd look ok in the morning!). IIRC, there was another store some place else for same-sex folks.
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
A coup;le of supermarkets on Sydney's Lower North Shore had that reputation. Allegedly your availability and preferences were shown by placing bananas (I kid you not) in your shopping trolley and how they were placed. I never needed to try the purchase when I lived nearby.
 

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Posted by ecumaniac (# 376) on :
 
I love the self check machines.

I just pile all the items onto the bagging area, and then pack them into my backpack or whatever after I've paid. I take my merry time and no one seems to care.

It also helps that the first button I press is the one that turns the volume off.

Honestly, I can't remember the last time I went though an attended checkout.


 

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Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
There are two branches of a well-known chain that I use. At one the machines work well and are logical, at the other the (older) machines are much less logical (e.g. in where you put in money and retrieve change).
 

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Posted by Rev per Minute (# 69) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:


Bring back the old-fashioned corner store with a friendly shopkeeper and people who got to chat to each other while waiting to be served.

---

Bugger that. In, buy, out, quick as possible is my aim.

---

Am I the only person who talks to the checkout assistant while scanning and loading the shopping? I always blamed that habit for me picking up a Brummie accent whilst a student in Birmingham...
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Rev per Minute:
Am I the only person who talks to the checkout assistant while scanning and loading the shopping?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:

The trouble with self-service machines is that they depersonalise things.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Boogie:
The problem with all this, of course, is isolation - especially for the elderly.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Boogie:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:

The trouble with self-service machines is that they depersonalise things.

---

The problem with all this, of course, is isolation - especially for the elderly.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Ariston:
Are there places for The Personal Touch and Friendly Shopkeepers™? Yes, sure, at places that offer personal service—you know, not busy supermarkets where I just want to get in, out, and on my way. The villiage idyll of everybody talking to everybody and up to date on everybody else's business, just doesn't work outside the village—and, given the propensity to gossip, maybe not too well in the village.

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quote:

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Originally posted by orfeo:

And then of course I come online and take it all out on you lot.

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Yes. Yes. We had noticed that.

You're 40? I'm 39. Good Lord. We're of an age.

[ 24. March 2014, 06:17: Message edited by: Evensong ]
 

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Posted by Spike (# 36) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Boogie:
The problem with all this, of course, is isolation - especially for the elderly.

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Precisely. For some people the greeting and quip in a supermarket may be the only contact they get during the course of that day.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Spike:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Boogie:
The problem with all this, of course, is isolation - especially for the elderly.

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Precisely. For some people the greeting and quip in a supermarket may be the only contact they get during the course of that day.

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So they then hold up the rest of the queue while telling their life story to the cashier.

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Your turn will come soon, young Spike.

And for the record I never discuss my life with the checkout people.
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
There are some things which should not be said in public.
 

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Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on :
 
I would have thought 'bagging area' was one of them, personally.
 

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Posted by Beethoven (# 114) on :
 
A few days ago I needed to get a couple of items and a handful of greeting cards from the supermarket. As I searched for a real checkout with a real person (when exactly did they turn half of the tills into self-serve suitable for trolley-loads?), the one assistant bravely manning all 12 self-serve tills tried to encourage me to use them. Oh no, I'm not falling for that again! She took some convincing that I wasn't going to leave my queue, but I held out.
 

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Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 
A few weeks ago a clerk urged me to use the self-serve, so that she could show me how easy and efficient it was. It was just as obstreperous with her as it would have been with me, which I found quite amusing.

Around here, when gas/petrol stations started having some pumps self-serve*, they offered a discount if you pumped your own fuel. Perhaps grocery stores should do the same.

(*There are NO full-serve pumps anymore.)
 

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Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by PeteC:
And for the record I never discuss my life with the checkout people.

---

So whose life do you discuss instead?

 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
A few weeks ago a clerk urged me to use the self-serve, so that she could show me how easy and efficient it was. It was just as obstreperous with her as it would have been with me, which I found quite amusing.

Around here, when gas/petrol stations started having some pumps self-serve*, they offered a discount if you pumped your own fuel. Perhaps grocery stores should do the same.

(*There are NO full-serve pumps anymore.)

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by PeteC:

And for the record I never discuss my life with the checkout people.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:

quote:

---

Originally posted by PeteC:
And for the record I never discuss my life with the checkout people.

---

So whose life do you discuss instead?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Firenze:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:

quote:

---

Originally posted by PeteC:
And for the record I never discuss my life with the checkout people.

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So whose life do you discuss instead?

---

That's easy: her three doors down - comings and goings at all hours. Have you seen the number of bottles going out for the bins? And half a pound of streaky, please. Curtains still closed at 10 o'clock. On a Tuesday. Packet of custard creams and a quarter of Mint Imperials. Yes, that's what I heard too, the postie said he didn't know where to look.

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quote:

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And stuff like this is exactly why I'm glad the old, gossipy ways of the past, with a shopkeeper or pharmacist who knew everybody's private business and made sure everybody else knew it too, are over.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Jane R:
Ariston:

quote:

---

And stuff like this is exactly why I'm glad the old, gossipy ways of the past, with a shopkeeper or pharmacist who knew everybody's private business and made sure everybody else knew it too, are over.

---

I hate to burst your bubble, but have you ever heard of Facebook and Twitter?

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quote:

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Originally posted by orfeo:
Last night at the supermarket I had a lovely chat about American cuisine. The guy on the checkout brought up your lack of meat pies and I discussed your lack of lamb.

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Are you thinking of hand-sized pies, pasties and such? There are places where you can get them. But frozen "pot pies" are much more common: chicken, turkey, beef. (No illegal plant substances involved! )

Some people do eat lamb and mutton, but I never developed a taste for those meats.
 

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Posted by Chocoholic (# 4655) on :
 
A girl was having a lovely conversation while, and after finishing using the self service checkout this evening with the girl supervising who I think was her friend. Which was great, unless you were queuing, and just wanted her to pick up her shopping and let someone else use it.

Choccie - purchasing some chocolate!
 

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Posted by ken (# 2460) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jane R:
Ariston:

quote:

---

And stuff like this is exactly why I'm glad the old, gossipy ways of the past, with a shopkeeper or pharmacist who knew everybody's private business and made sure everybody else knew it too, are over.

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I hate to burst your bubble, but have you ever heard of Facebook and Twitter?

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