Self-service machines are cropping up everywhere - even in McDonald's!
@asfarasiknow (3340)
Bournemouth, England
October 18, 2016 1:32pm CST
I'm not a fan of self service tills and I tend to avoid them. I find them slow, items don't scan and it's fiddly trying to put the bag in place and then load it, especially if I've already got a lot of other shopping from elsewhere.
Yesterday I had a speaking gig near London and, as usual, I stopped off at the McDonald's at Victoria Station for a breakfast. Not the healthiest start to the day but it's cheap.
Since my last visit they have now installed a number of self-service machines where people can order their meals, pay by card (the only option, despite traders having to pay a commission on card transactions) and take a ticket to hand in at a collection point.
I didn't want to use them and I was paying by cash anyway as I needed change. A manageress was trying to persuade anyone paying by card at the counter to use the machines instead. I got my meal very quickly so I don't think I missed out in any way.
I will usually do anything to avoid using such machines in supermarkets, despite staff often trying to pressurise customers into using them and leaving conventional.checkouts unstaffed for periods. One day I can see myself walking out of a shop because of this and the staff having to put everything back on the shelves. These machines still seem to have long queues and they always need to be staffed anyway because of things going wrong, young customers having to prove ID, etc.
The only time they can be useful to me is if I have built up a lot of small change and I can use this up on a couple of purchases. That's a better deal than the Coinstar machines which charge 10% commission unless you are giving it all to charity.
Do you avoid self service machines? Do you view them (as I do) as yet another decline in good, personal customer service? Or do you prefer them to conventional checkouts?
14 people like this
14 responses
@LadyDuck (502653)
• Italy
19 Oct 16
Here in Switzerland, for the moment, there are no self service tills. When I cross the border for my grocery shop in Italy, the self service tills are the best solution. There is only one "woman" cashier and a long line of elder people who cannot use the self service, so I use it and I have to say it works very well.
3 people like this
@LadyDuck (502653)
• Italy
22 Oct 16
@asfarasiknow May be that the new installed machines work better than the previous generation.
2 people like this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
22 Oct 16
You are obviously more dextrous than I am!
2 people like this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
19 Oct 16
We'll probably have to order meals from robots soon.
2 people like this
@miniam (9151)
• Bern, Switzerland
19 Oct 16
@asfarasiknow
And when it comes to it, you will have no choice but to do so even if you do not aprove
2 people like this
@infatuatedbby (94909)
• United States
18 Oct 16
If lines are long I prefer self check out.
Now restaurants are doing this where you order yourself.yet when you swipe to pay the default tip is 20%....
I am not tipping 20% when I'm ordering food by myself + paying on that machine
2 people like this
@infatuatedbby (94909)
• United States
18 Oct 16
@asfarasiknow Yeah, It's pretty insane. Companies/restaurants want to use technology to cut down on workers yet expect the same tip!
No thanks!
2 people like this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
18 Oct 16
That is incredible! Tips are for giving extra service, not less.
2 people like this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
18 Oct 16
I don't like self service check out but they are the inevitable future. Companies will save enormous amounts of money by ridding themselves of check out employees and order takers.
2 people like this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
18 Oct 16
Years ago it didn't always look good on a CV to have had a series of jobs. Now I think it's almost inevitable. Few jobs are safe.
2 people like this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
18 Oct 16
@asfarasiknow If all jobs are automated then how are we to make money to spend?
2 people like this
@teamfreak16 (43642)
• Denver, Colorado
19 Oct 16
They'll do anything to cut employees hours, won't they!
2 people like this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
19 Oct 16
And it's not as if these places pay generously for the hours they do employ them.
2 people like this
@ms1864 (6882)
• Bangalore, India
19 Oct 16
yes...the companies here are also trying to make everything about machines and digitalization. I don't mind it since i know it's the direction the world is going in and i will have to adapt to it sooner or later...but my parents do find it inconvenient. After 50 years, it is harder for them to learn new ways to do things when they found the old ways better.
2 people like this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
22 Oct 16
It's better if stores can at least have a combination of both.
2 people like this
@zweeb82 (5652)
• Malaysia
24 Oct 16
I still have not encountered that yet in our country, well at least for me. I think nothing beats personal touch. But then again there are some who are just like machines where they just do their designated job and want to get paid and don't smile, don't interact, etc....I think replacing them with machines wouldn't be a bad idea after all, lol!~
1 person likes this
@zweeb82 (5652)
• Malaysia
24 Oct 16
@asfarasiknow So was it that you had to call people up or did they call in? Sounds like a sirvey kind of job?
1 person likes this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
24 Oct 16
@zweeb82 Taking bookings in a computerised taxi office so they called in. I had to ask where they wanted the taxi from, where to, their name, how many people and what time - over and over and over...
1 person likes this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
24 Oct 16
I think repetitive jobs can turn most employees into robotic workers! For years I had a part-time job which mainly involved asking the same 5 questions on the telephone 200- 300 times every shift. Sometimes I would ask someone the same question twice because I had mentally switched off.
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
19 Oct 16
I avoid them as they confuse me and the ultimate aim is to get rid of staff too
2 people like this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
19 Oct 16
I get a real sinking feeling when I see all the checkouts unstaffed and only those things working. It just shows no respect for customers.
1 person likes this
@cherigucchi (15932)
• Philippines
24 Oct 16
We do not have much of that here in our country.
1 person likes this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
26 Oct 16
If staff try and pressure me into using them I always say 'OK, as long as you put every item through for me and pack it as well'. They always seem to find a proper till...
@pgntwo (22405)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
18 Oct 16
The ones in McDonalds are actually a blessing in disguise, reducing the scope for error between what you ask for and what the till operator keys-in...
In supermarkets the self-service tills are best avoided at all costs. As are the self-scan offerings available in some Tesco stores of late, by the looks of them.
1 person likes this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
18 Oct 16
My local Lidl has just gone from 7 checkouts (1 -4 usually staffed) to 3 checkouts (only 1 staffed) and 8 self service! A huge proportion of their customers are students who seem very happy to use the technology but they buy a lot of booze so obviously there's masses of ID proof slowing everything down. Plus the fact that Lidl sells loads of cakes, bread rolls, etc, which customers put in bags and checkout staff usually count.
3 people like this
@pgntwo (22405)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
18 Oct 16
@asfarasiknow Oh the self-service checkout in Lidl might actually create more work for staff, rather than the anticipated "less"... None in Lidl here yet, thankfully. Sounds like one of the freed-up staff could end up checking and putting barcodes on the bags at the bakery section, similar to the "deli" staff in Tesco and similar.
2 people like this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
18 Oct 16
@pgntwo And they have very small teams of staff in Lidl stores anyway.
2 people like this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
29 Oct 16
There is the odd place where I might also make an exception but only if I have very few items to purchase. There is also the problem that these machine don't always recognise 'reduced' stickers or vouchers so staff have to be called over anyway.
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
10 Nov 16
They also slow.you down with questions about method of payment, etc.
1 person likes this
