POLL: Do you like Self-Check?

[David M. Bueker]

Bob, you have answered your own question (if you asked one). And that is at the pump, there is a reduced price for those who pump their own gas. And in the grocery store, a gallon of milk cost the same for the self help line and the line with an attendant.

I don't know about a gallon of milk (I buy mine direct from the farm), but at my usual store if you use the personal scanners (that you carry around the store with you) then you get instant discounts on things you are actually buying that are not otherwise available.

About the only issue I have ever had with the self-check/self-scan was when I was randomly selected for an audit (they do 2 or 3 a day) & I did not have enough items. They are supposed to validate 10 items from your cart, but I just bought 5 or 6 things & nobody could figure out how to close out the audit & let me go. It was actually pretty comical.

I don't know about a gallon of milk (I buy mine direct from the farm), but at my usual store if you use the personal scanners (that you carry around the store with you) then you get instant discounts on things you are actually buying that are not otherwise available.

Question, David: is the store giving a discount for using the personal scanner, or is it giving the discount you would otherwise get at checkout (for example, a special two for one offer available to anyone that day)?

I haven't seen the personal scanners here but they sound like a nice enhancement of the shopping experience if the reality of using them is anything like what I'm imagining them to be. Can you bag as you shop, for example?

Love your story -- technology has amusing little glitches of its own, just as human check out folks do.

Customers too, for that matter.

[David M. Bueker]

Question, David: is the store giving a discount for using the personal scanner, or is it giving the discount you would otherwise get at checkout (for example, a special two for one offer available to anyone that day)?

You get both - the generally available discounts, plus little extras for using the self-scan devices. Today I saved 25 cents each off some lettuce and some Diet Dr. Pepper I was buying where there was no actual sale going on for either item.

[Jenise]

I'm blessed that the stores don't charge for the fun of doing so.

You and me both, Bob. True story: when I was a little kid, and I mean really young, I was fascinated with machines. Typewriters, sewing machines, telephones--anything with levers but especially push buttons. I also liked money. Therefore my dream toy, the one I saved and saved and saved to buy for myself, was a Tom Thumb Cash Register. A week or two after I got it, mom was away all afternoon somewhere and the babysitter made the mistake of taking a long nap which meant I had the kitchen to myself. So I emptied the cupboards (mom was a hoarder so the canned goods opportunity was pretty extensive), and anything with a price on it got moved to the cashier's lane I improvised out of the kitchen table and rung up on my machine. Oh the mess mom came home to! But it was thrilling, and somewhere in me is a tiny spark of that same thrill when I self-check my own groceries. I don't just don't mind it, I actually like it.

Great story, Jenise -- we share that joy at some level. Somehow I get a sense I've made a certain order out of chaos that I never get from a checkout person.

And, I realized that as part of the quality control opportunity I mentioned earlier, I'm much more likely to replace an item that has a flaw when I'm checking out myself. Somehow, I'm intimidated by high school and college kids who are young enough to be my grandkids, and take the stuff home -- cussing myself for being such a dope.

I don't know about a gallon of milk (I buy mine direct from the farm), but at my usual store if you use the personal scanners (that you carry around the store with you) then you get instant discounts on things you are actually buying that are not otherwise available.

David, I have never seen these portable scanners in a store here in Lexington, so the self check lines/stands are at the same location in the store as the attended check out lines. There is NO difference in price for using either, neither more or less. Sale items and non-sale items are the same at either check out. As, Bob asked, do I use the self pump or the attended pump line when I fill my vehicle with gasoline, and I will say that today there are darn few attended gasoline store/stations if any at all (I am only saying as to what I find here in Lexington, not somewhere else) However going back some years there was at one time a self serve line of pumps and a full service (as it was called) line, and the self serve was always a few cents per gallon cheaper than the full service. At the full service the attendant would fill the gas tank, check and top up the oil if needed, and usually top up the windshield washer tank as well. So comparing the gasoline line to the supermarket checkout is not a good comparison. (not that you did of course)

Bob, I think the two checkout lines are a good comparison. It sounds like folks prefer to pump their own gas because they save a nickle or so a gallon.

People were opposed to the grocery checkout lines because they cost jobs. The same thing must have happened when people started pumping their own gas, right -- less gas jockeys. I'm suggesting that saving jobs isn't a real factor for those that don't like self checkout.

We get this argument from time to time in New Jersey when the Legislature discussing permitting self service in gas stations -- a major argument against is that there will be less jobs, and that is a significant voting block. In other states, consumers get to choose, and choose the nickle over jobs for other people.

Best, Bob

There are no self-check lines at any of the grocery stores around here, but I have used in NC and GA, and would use if available around here. I do use the self-check lines at Home Depot ( I mostly shop at local hardware, but they're closed Sundays) as long as I don't have items that aren't barcoded. It is irritating to be behind someone at line there who has things like cut molding.

I'm a believer in trying for full employment, but it makes no sense to me to "preserve jobs" if there is a more efficient way to do this. I'm really happy with the EZPass system rather than lining up for toll booths. I'm sorry for toll takers who lost jobs, but more efficiency in the economy should lead to more good paying jobs in the long run.

[David M. Bueker]

EZPass=the only reason I am still willing to visit anyone who has a toll booth between me and them.