As a parent with three small children, this is not accurate. I feel alive and productive when I’m alone and feel like I’m getting my life back together again. Everything is finally getting back in order. It all comes crashing back down after everyone else gets back home.
The scales. I bring my own bags and you have to tare the scale against your bags before you can start scanning and it only works right about ⅓ of the time. So someone has to come set it for me.
If I don’t bring my own bags inside, my only option at self checkout is plastic. Paper bags are offered by cashiers. I like to know my bags can actually be recycled.
Self checkout is constantly populated by old folks who would have had IE jam packed with garbage toolbars 15 years ago. They can’t work self checkout any faster than they could have waited in line.
There is a 25 item limit. I see people with 40+ items in self checkout all the time. It just bogs down what used to be a fast thing.
Finally, the biggest reason I stopped using it is because part of the cost of my groceries is to have a worker to ring me up and another to bag my stuff. By using self checkout, I’m saving the store owner money. I am being the customer and the worker. This is my way of fighting back. If the cost of my groceries is going up, I’m going to make sure that someone else has that little bit of extra job security. If we all stop using self checkout, they have to keep more cashiers on hand. I don’t think I have to explain how more people having more available hours to work is a better societal alternative.
Personally I’m in favor of extreme automation like self checkout. The real issue is that the workers don’t see the return the buisness owners do. Like imagine if we had UBI + good unemployment and then it wouldn’t really be an issue. Walmart would have to compete with people going home
Then when you do move fast (I always do because I’m impatient af) a crowd of employees will gather behind you because they think you’re stealing. No, I’m just stressed that I had to watch all these slow fucks take their sweet ass time scanning their shit.
I don't recall there being a item limit. Which is unfortunate because the people who have boatloads of carts and their carts already loaded. They're the most fucking slowest ever that they even give old people a run for their money. Slowly raising items to scan. Slowly putting them in bags. Slowly paying. Slowly moving the fuck out of the way as they try navigating a heavy cart with all of the junk that they'll barely like as soon as it gets home.
There used to be pretty clear signage about item limits that were ignored anyway, and now they don’t have real cashiers, so the item limits either doesn’t or functionally doesn’t exist.
I don’t think I have to explain how more people having more available hours to work is a better societal alternative.
It’s only better if a human cashier can do the job better. Otherwise, you’re just making humans do money-work as an excuse to give them more hours.
For example, I could do everything at work on a pad with a pencil instead of using a computer. I would certainly have more hours!
The reason why that sounds insane is because everybody recognizes that using a computer is much faster and more efficient, so you should use that instead.
The only problem with the sentiment of “just don’t use it” is that many of these stores have like one manned checkout vs a dozen sel checkouts. Not about to sit in line with the carts full of stuff when I need to grab two things.
I often go to customer service and ask them to check me out. When they point to the self checkout, I tell them I prefer a human.
Never had any issues except one time I was at Lowe’s and the woman just wouldn’t do it. I had to tell her either check me out or agree that whatever I ring up is accurate.
She called a manager over it, who then checked me out.
If you’re at a Walmart a good trick if you’ve only got a handful of items is checking out in electronics, apparel or HBA/cosmetics.
But in huge cities those cashiers are oftentimes missing or bombarded with key duty (where they lock up items that cost like $2) so it’s hit or miss.
(Regarding locking up simple items like deodorant: if it takes 45 minutes for someone to come unlock it and the only way to get someone to come over with a key is by shouting “help” very loudly I’m ordering it on Amazon.)
Yup. Sorry. I to feel that pain. But it is either go to a different store (if one is available), be very careful, or deal with the police and judicial system.
I once had a Walmart employee follow me out of the building and start banging on my window screaming at me they’re calling the cops
Why?
I, while using a cane in one hand and the other occupied by a bag of dog food that was making me regret not waiting for a scooter, didn’t stop to chat with the old woman who was arbitrarily checking people’s receipts.
I told him he’s lucky I’m more level headed than most of my neighbors, because he would have been shot the moment he banged on glass and yelled, but if they want my receipt they can go watch the fucking cameras because I have somewhere to be.
Could I have handled it more calmly and with more understanding? Probably. But if you follow me out into the parking lot and start screaming at me, consider all respect lost, all decency dropped. You get back what you came in with.
Literally, the only reason I even went to Walmart is because the pet store I get the good food from had their registers all crash and wouldn’t start back up.
A loss prevention guy followed my sister to her car after dark once, he thought she took something and wanted to check her receipt. she was sobbing cause she thought she was about to get raped. Loss prevention officers are just idiotic jackasses who aren’t smart enough to do anything else.
Not saying it is right, but shopkeepers can legally detain customers long enough to figure out if a theft happened. They have to have a reason to suspect it, though.
Fuck em anyway, I pay for my shit and unless it’s a real cop who might shoot me if I twitch funny, I ain’t stopping for shit.
If they don’t want to pay for cashiers, they can deal with people stealing shit. Walmart especially is a corp on welfare, they have the most employees receiving food stamps and Medicaid than any other company. I don’t really care if the government subsidized megacorp loses money every year, they aren’t providing worthwhile jobs anyway.
It doesn’t matter what Walmart or anyone except Costco (part of membership contract) and probably Sam’s club (contract again) says. Once you’ve purchased it they have NO legal right to inspect and you have NO legal obligations to stop. That being said I know the folks doing that job are not assholes so I will politely refuse and wish them a nice day.
In DC they they have the same type of legal witness called special police. Once one tried to stop me and I refused saying , “Call the police if you think I stole something” and kept going.
I’m not going to be harassed by employees after I’ve legally purchased profucts.
Please note if you are planning on running a scam or sneaking shit out, don’t draw attention to yourself. One law at a time is the rule.
I just smile and say “no thank you” and keep going. There’s nothing they can do unless they actually think you stole something and they don’t have the manpower to detain everyone who won’t stop for their receipt check.
Note though that doesn’t apply to Sam’s Club or Costco or similar, if you’re a “member” there you agreed to the checks.
They can’t detain you even if they think you have stolen, though (from a store policy perspective). There’s a reason all these stores train employees “observe don’t interfere”.
so long as the shopkeeper has cause to believe that the person detained in fact committed, or attempted to commit, theft
Shop keepers privilege can’t be used as a reason to detain customers for a receipt check. They don’t have “cause” as they did not see the person concealing anything.
That’s true! Receipt checks can get lost! I was replying to “They can’t detain you even if they think you have stolen” though. The “can’t” is a store policy thing, not a law thing.
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