S/O. Anyone seeing self checkouts being closed

This is me too. The only thing I dislike is that the self checkouts almost never have paper grocery bags. I hate, hate, HATE the stupid thin plastic shopping bags with a passion. I reuse the paper bags to corral my recycling so it keeps it all together and prevents stuff from blowing out of the can when the trash truck lifts and dumps it. 

I’ve not seen any of the stores I go to close their self checkouts, in fact I’ve been seeing them in places where I hadn’t seen them previously. At the couple Target stores I usually shop at, there is almost never more than a single real cashier open, if that. Of course, I tend to typically shop at off peak hours whenever possible, so I’ll give them that. When I do get a real cashier, they usually pack things in the bags so stupidly that I would rather just do it myself. For example, I don’t want a half gallon jug of dish soap packed in the same bag with my loaf of bread or bag of hamburger buns so the bread smells like soap and ends up smashed. I also don’t want only 1-3 things packed in a bag when I have 50 items, so I end up with 15 of those stupid plastic bags. I suppose at some point I’ll get with the program and start actually remembering to bring my own reusable bags (which I now have a nice collection of thanks to scoring multiple Bags of Crap online at Woot.com). But then I won’t have any paper bags for my recycling, so…

At the grocery store that I infrequently go to, as well as at some of the Targets, they have redesigned the self checkout area so that it’s more like a corral you have to go into. There’s a staff person monitoring the area as people funnel out due to a narrower exit point.

Some of the Michael’s stores I go to now have them, and that’s an improvement over the clueless bored cashiers who don’t ever seem to know how to process a coupon. Hobby Lobby is so technologically backward I don’t think they’ll ever have them. It took them forever just to get the modern chip enabled pads for credit cards.   I don’t go there very often but sometimes it’s the only place that has what I need and I’m stuck. I think HyVee just added some too.

My teeny, weeny Target has almost ALL self-checkout. Usually, the only manned register is customer service. But they did recently rearrange the checkout area, and I’m sure it’s to reduce theft.

Have you seen the bit by comedian Sebastian Maniscalco?  He jokes about not being trained on the self checkout machines and that he went to the store at 3 a.m. and spent a few hours in self training so that he could shop without issues.  Then he goes on to say how he helps out other customers and knows the code numbers for vegetables. It is pretty funny, especially since he is so over-the-top with his movements.

I haven’t seen them at a Costco yet.  I know theft is up over 40% in stores and I find it disgusting.  I saw one where a woman known for stealing was on camera trying to steal a chainsaw!  She first tried to stick the blade down the front of her skinny jeans and when that didn’t work she stuck it down the back and tried to cover the motor portion with her shirt.  A chainsaw!  She had multiple other items in her bag and in various places on her person.  The blatant aggressiveness of these thieves is unbelievable.  Don’t people know there are cameras everywhere?

True story. I worked at an office supply store years ago. The store location I worked in wasn’t in the best area. Before the store was even open a month, they arrested a guy in the parking lot who had come in, cut the cables for three display laptop computers and had stuffed them all down his pants before walking out the front door!

Do you use the app on your phone? You can scan as you add to your cart, then zoom through the lane especially for that. Love it!

WalMart has Scan & Go now too, but you pay a membership. It's totally worth it. You get the ability to Scan & Go, a Paramount Plus subscription, free shipping from WM. com, free delivery (I don't qualify for that due to distance), and right now .20 cents off per gallon of gas from Exxon/Mobile Stations. For a while the cost was half price for the membership, not sure if that is still happening.

But I love putting my grocery totes right in my basket, scanning as I put things in there, then just holding my phone up to the self checkout screen and going. Love it! I get asked "how did you do that" a lot! LOL And I have a digital receipt on my phone, that makes returns so easy.

I always use the Scan and Shop system in Tesco. I love being able to see how much I’m spending as I shop rather than get a surprise at the checkout. It’s also so much quicker as you can scan items as you pick them up rather than doing them all at the end. 

Same here. And the manned register is always this weird lady who is like Kristen Wiig's SNL character - she is so annoying. So I always, always go to self checkout. 

This is how it is at some Michael’s stores too. If you have cash you can’t use the self checkouts so you have to go to a real cashier. Only half the time there isn’t anyone there.

Speaking only for myself, I don’t want to do the scanning at the register. Too many chances for something to go wrong, and you can inadvertently miss something and be “accused” of stealing.

The store is providing less service, expecting me to do the work they used to do. 

Also, if you have physical issues, it can be more difficult. I broke my elbow in 2022, the right one, and I am right-handed. Putting items into the cart one-handed was enough - taking them out to scan and reload them or bag them myself would have been slow and harder for me. This year, I’ve been dealing with some back issues, sometimes quite painful. Unless I can scan them as they go in my cart, like at Sam's, it’s more work and can be painful. If you have any physical limitations, self-checkout can be not so handy or speedy.

Not only do we have at our local Woolworths staff monitoring the check out stations but cameras are being installed to get a check on the that is going on.

It is not the responsibility of some young schoolie who is working a part time job to have to deal with any potential theft but also having video evidence gives the store an advantage.

Some people are finding the cameras intrusive but my opinion is that if you have paid for all in the trolley then there is nothing to be worried about. 

I wanted to quote your post specifically because just yesterday I heard on the radio that in our area some lady was just charged for stealing over a THOUSAND DOLLARS worth of merchandise from Target over five visits by what’s called “skip scanning.” I didn’t know there was a name for it but it’s essentially what I mentioned in the other thread, where people go through the self checkouts and only selectively scan what’s in their cart. I’m so glad they caught her. Thieves infuriate me.