The Unlocked Diaries

[Amor de Cosmos]

The shopping rules have changed since last Friday. Last week I brought my own bags and packed my own groceries. Now I can do neither. The checkout person does the packing in plastic bags (back to the last century.) I must stand six feet away from her/him while it's done. I look forward to next week's procedure.

[jwdd27]

There seemed be a lot of essential journeys being made in Huddersfield at 8.00 last night, I don't think they were all takeaway delivery drivers. No police presence though, so I get the impression people are relaxing the lockdown themselves. Today's estimated 20c will test resolve further.

Our store is doing well financially, even with poorly enforced capacity (we counted 120 yesterday, security guards said there were the full 270). All staff to receive a free Easter egg, which more than makes up for all the exposure to a potentially fatal disease.

There was a fellow passenger on the bus home the other night, a young woman in an orange puffa jacket. She stayed on with me until the last stop, and then annoyingly walked my way as well, which meant I had to slow walk 2m behind her. Fortunately we kept the distance up until she unlocked her front door. It was my next door neighbour. Oh, hi.

In my defence, it's a fairly high turnover rental, we do know (and sometimes even talk to) other neighbours who are more longstanding.

[Sporting]

All staff to receive a free Easter egg, which more than makes up for all the exposure to a potentially fatal disease.

.

Quite.

[Sits]

jwdd27 you’re doing a great job, but I doubt the Easter egg is particularly motivating. I had to pop into the supermarket this morning for some basics, and on the whole people seemed to be making an effort. Since I was last there the checkout staff have Perspex shields but they’re only a couple of feet wide, so it’s up to the clients to stand behind them. They’ve marked out red distancing blobs for the checkout queue and these were observed but it was quiet. Not sure how the systems would hold up in a rush.

No bog roll. People are either using an awful lot all of a sudden, or have a lot of space to hoard it.

[Sporting]

I'm sure he was being sarcastic about the egg.

[Sporting]

They’ve marked out red distancing blobs for the checkout queue

I've noticed here recently that people are leaving two lines between them and the next customer.

[hobbes]

One of the best things about Waitrose right now is being able to self scan and pack as you go around and therefore not queue at checkouts.
Makes everyone's lives easier.

[Sits]

I'm sure he was being sarcastic about the egg.

Oh I know I was just sympathising really.

[Sporting]

One of the best things about Waitrose right now is being able to self scan and pack as you go around and therefore not queue at checkouts.
Makes everyone's lives easier.

Yes, I get that and largely agree given present circumstances. There aren't many self-scan stores in Spain so we still have to rely on humans.

That said, I'm not a fan of self-checkouts for three reasons:

1) Whenever I've tried it (in England) I always mess up and need an assistant to help me, thus wiping out the advantage of the self-checkout in the first place.

2) I enjoy talking to people so for me shopping is one more opportunity to do just that. Granted, usually there's no chat beyond basic greetings and the price, but occasionally a short and pleasant conversation is had.

3) More self-scanners = fewer jobs for people who need a job.

[hobbes]

Ah Yeah, the jobs thing is why I said "right now."

As for having a chat while shopping, as anyone who knows me will attest, I'd rather stick a javelin through my own face. Hello, goodbye and thank you is as much as I'll run to. The idea of keeping the person behind me in the queue waiting while a gabble on fills me with horror.

I'm not talking about self scan checkouts by the way. They are a disastrous affront to humanity and never EVER work properly. At waitrose you pick up a hand held scanner at the entrance and scan everything as you go around, packing as you go, then pay at an automated pay point on the way out. It's an awful lot of trust on behalf of the store I guess. And if you buy booze someone does have to come and verify your age.
But otherwise it does mean you're not stuck in a queue while people dawdle their way through packing and paying because they have all the time in the world, while I slowly come to the boil behind them.

[DCI Harry Batt]

Have you ever been checked, using your hand-held thing?

[hobbes]

Nope. I'm sure they do check a certain number, but perhaps right now they're not bothering.

[DCI Harry Batt]

Yeah I imagine not at the moment so much.

I always meant to look into that. But without a car, living where I do, Waitrose isn't an option anyway.

[Furtho]

Nope. I'm sure they do check a certain number, but perhaps right now they're not bothering.

From when I shopped at Waitrose, I think it's supposed to be one in 50 times that you get checked.

[DCI Harry Batt]

There seems actually to be a point for me in the hand-held thing. Rather than the self-scan tills which are an abomination, as hobbes rightly says.

[pebblethefish]

I never normally use self-checkouts, for all three of the reasons Sporting says above. However, in these dangerous times, I've taken the plunge in the interests of my own and other people's health. And you know what? Co-op self-service checkouts actually work! I have been to the shop six times since this started, and not once have I had to wait to be approved for alcohol (they're really on the ball with noticing and pressing the button), not once have I shouted "What do you mean "Unidentified item in the bagging area"??? How can it be "unidentified" when you've clearly written "6 x sausages" on your bloody screen?" Sainsbury's could really profit from taking their self-checkout guy on a trip to Co-op to see how these things should work.

Then I blow all my good intentions by having to go to the counter to buy tobacco.

[Fussbudget]

I never have any problem with self-service checkouts. I think the people who keep going on about how shit they are must have only used them years ago when they still had teething problems, and hated them so much they've avoided them since so they don't realise that most of them now work completely fine.

(Choosing not to use them to protect the cashiers' jobs I can understand, however. That's a different issue)

[jwdd27]

The thing is, we're trying to make a profit, and offer you the lowest possible prices on everything (OK, it's mainly the first thing).

So if we have to employ people to process the shopping, it eats into the profit. Fine, some people like a chat, but it just holds things up and it's not our primary concern, although of course we're dementia friendly for sure.
And you're not keeping people in a job, not really, nowadays it's more taking people away from their primary job (keeping shelves full and shop tidy). The discounters with their all action multipurpose staff are gradually making us do away with the dedicated checkout colleague, stereotypically the older ladies who like a natter but aren't much use to the business elsewhere.

Possibly because I use them every day, I find self-scans always work for me. Follow the instructions on the screen, and remember where you put the shopping is a scale, so don't put anything you haven't scanned on there, and if it's lightweight (paracetamol, herbs), hit "skip bagging".

But the handhelds with card payment are the way forward. Yes people steal, but the plan is that they steal at a rate that is less than it costs to employ security to stop them. Every store has a "shrink" budget, an amount they expect to lose to theft, both from customers and staff, and it is surprisingly high (our store takes £1m a week, and expects to lose between £5k and 10K of that depending on the season. I know the cost of employing people isn't that, but someone, somewhere has done the maths).

The ratio for checking customer scanning is about 1 in 30, but they get around that by putting the stuff they're nicking right at the bottom of the bag. They system just asks our staff to check a set number of items (any items) and they can never be bothered to dig too deep to find something to scan. So they scan the cheap stuff at the top and the customer is good to go.

[Sporting]

I never have any problem with self-service checkouts. I think the people who keep going on about how shit they are must have only used them years ago when they still had teething problems)

Last year in Manchester.

[Sporting]

The thing is, we're trying to make a profit, and offer you the lowest possible prices on everything (OK, it's mainly the first thing).

So if we have to employ people to process the shopping, it eats into the profit. Fine, some people like a chat, but it just holds things up and it's not our primary concern, although of course we're dementia friendly for sure.
.

Fair enough but I'd rather pay a bit more and have me natter! Next up it'll be robots restocking the shelves...

On edit: I don't know the latest stats but in Germany (for example) this technology isn't so commonly used. Some of us still prefer our shopping experiences to be less automatised and more based on human contact.

[hobbes]

I like the sound of the new amazon shop, where you don't even scan stuff. You just whack it in your trolley, the trolley scans it, or some rfid reader somewhere and then you just walk out. No waiting in line, no waiting about. No seething while the person in the queue in front of you takes geological time to pack and pay. Just in and out. Blam.
Waitrose it the next best thing.

[DCI Harry Batt]

I used a Tesco one a couple of weeks back, it was a mess, and I had to get a shop worker to come and do it for me. I do arrive at them with seething hatred and resentment, which I'm told is not necessarily the best approach.

[Sporting]

I like the sound of the new amazon shop, where you don't even scan stuff. You just whack it in your trolley, the trolley scans it, or some rfid reader somewhere and then you just walk out. No waiting in line, no waiting about. No seething while the person in the queue in front of you takes geological time to pack and pay. Just in and out. Blam.
Waitrose it the next best thing.

We come from different universes, lol!

I'd prefer more shop assistants who can help you in everything from showing you where, say, the tinned fish is; or help you decide which microwave is the best etc,

I get annoyed in queues as well but this crisis is reminding me of a long-lost patience I used to have but which sadly crept away. Why the hurry, why the rush?

[Nocturnal Submission]

I much prefer using the automated checkouts, mainly because I can pack my shopping in my own good time. When I go to the staffed checkouts my groceries are scanned and processed so quickly I barely have enough time to get my bags-for-life out. Waitrose's units are fine, mainly because they're not trying to do the weight balance check all the time. The only time they you need human intervention is when you're buying booze or certain medications. My local Tesco's machines are a bit more flaky but are only occasionally infuriatingly bad.

[ursus arctos]

Automated checkouts are pretty much only a thing at certain chain drugstores here.

Supermarket/grocery store space is too precious for the equipment, and the demographics of the clientele (older and more affluent) militates against its adoption.