They are good if you only have one or two items which dont require assistance. I would never use one if I had about 5 or more items as it takes far too long for the dam thing to work, as others have said you can only do one thing at a time; scan, place item, wait about an hour for it to notice it in the 'bagging area' and then repeat!
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Self service tills at supermarkets
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I noticed my Tesco (which I had to use today to get some tuna steaks) has changed its sign regarding this. It used to say that they would open a real till if you wanted one open. That part has now disappeared from the notices. I'm not sure if you can now get a real checkout, but I strongly believe that, whilst self-service tills are useful, there should always be manned tills open and available for customers to use.
And if Tesco can't man at least one till through the night, they should be asking themselves whether they should actually be a 24 hour store.
PS: I hope that line about Tesco being Britain's best supermarket is a joke. I've made constant complaints to my local Tesco extra because of lack of availability of basic products (lemons, limes and pork all spring to mind); the freshness of their fresh food (the mince seems to start rotting within a few hours of buying it; despite having a week left on the use-by date the staff had the cheek to tell me to put it in the freezer), the cleanliness of their store and the attitude/professionalism of the staff.
gordonthemoron
Established Member
The funniest self service checkouts are at IKEA in munich, germans generally have no idea how to do self scanning
Just been to Asda and bought 3 items at the self service till, one of which was a packet of crisps that was too light for the weighing plate. had to get the assistant to sort it out, which means that everyone around thought that I was just the sort of bozo I've been railing against on here. Grrrr!
gordonthemoron
Established Member
there was some drunk guy at ASDA west bridgford a week last saturday, he'd scan something, put it in the bag then take it out and scan it again. I presume he was overcharged
Sam Bentley
Member
Deadly serious
They seem to have the best mix of quality and value
I'm sure the attitude of the staff is in direct repsonse to the attitude of the customer
System I experienced in a French Cash n Carry type store seemed quite good. All the items had a small unique identifier chip in the packaging or on a sticker. You just wheeled your trolley load of items through an airport security type thing and everything was immediately scanned.
No need to unload your trolley - you could bag and box as you shopped.
Not sure on the security measures to prevent pilfering though.
No need to unload your trolley - you could bag and box as you shopped.
Not sure on the security measures to prevent pilfering though.
as a regular user of tesco at night, the attendant will help you scan using a self service if required,
the reason they are 24hrs is convenience to people like myself who work irregular hours finishing at midnight, i'll go shopping after work, and its nice and empty, traditionally the staff at night were stock replenishment, and they've decided to allow customers in at this point as it means convenience to some people. and has little affect on their replenishment work
Quality? Nope. Value? Nope. I no longer shop in Tesco, unless I need to (as I did today for one item). A lot of their products are poor, a lot of the food is not as fresh as it seems, as I've said the staff in my local branch are often downright rude, and that's when they actually pay attention to you at all.
And my food bill has gone down by £20 a week since I stopped shopping there. And you're no longer tied in by clubcard - a scheme which made the ID cards look rather tame by comparison.
I agree, I don't like Tesco and always shop in Sainsburys which I find cheaper or the same price on the products I often buy (eg. my Sainsburys has a permanent offer of 2 bags of oranges for £2, whereas Tesco charge £3), and also better quality. Plus the queues are shorter and the staff are more pleasant.
It's a nice idea. But I'll tell you straight away that it does not work. The problem with 24 hour stores is that the basic cleaning does not seem to be done to a high enough standard. It's the same in Tesco is it is in Asda. I've had a look at the back of some shelves in my local Tesco, and it really puts me off. It was never like that before 24 hour opening. I think having the place open for business means that this does suffer.
And I stand by what I say about tills. At all times there should be at least one normal till open; obviously open more with increased demand. It seems that Tesco have not only axed all normal tills at night, they've also won't open one up (as I've said above, their signs regarding this have changed).
As convenient as it may be, they're doing it by sacrificing the basics.
Ivo
Established Member
I have to say that I find it difficult to see what is so good about Tesco. If they were the cheapest they would win the Grocer 33 thing every year. Last I checked, ASDA haven't been beaten at all this millennium! (As of literally Saturday, which I was unaware of until now, they have won for 13 years in a row.) If Tesco quality was the best, their produce would taste better than ASDA (opinionated, I know). The only real criticism I have of ASDA is that some product sizes are smaller than rival products. Smartprice chips, for instance, come in 5lb bags - Tesco Economy chips come in 8lb bags.
Speaking of food bills, my last one was £9.50 - and that was over two weeks ago! Mind you, I have to offset that by traipsing to Bedminster - by bus at that, changing twice - every time...
I have had some dodgy experiences with ASDA, to be fair; however, as the following example shows, most end well. We had just had a home delivery arrive, and I was about to be a "pig" and scoff the entire Swiss Roll in one go. Then I realised that the Best Before date was two months earlier! So, after insisting on doing so to my mother, I called Customer Services and had the product refunded, and gained my mother a voucher in the process... and still ate the entire Swiss Roll! Very nice too!
Strangely enough, we have just returned from our local Tesco, where Mrs G went to the cash machine. We decided to pop in and get some crisps, as we are down to only 2 packets of Tomato Ketchup, and 2 of Beef.
There was plenty of lager and cider on sale but none of the crisps we like!
Overall, I agree with those who say that Tesco is poor value, has stale food and is not as clean as it could be. We buy our meat, fruit, veg, cheese and bread from the local market now. Luckily I am able to get there most days as I am not tied to office hours any more. The main convenience of supermarkets used to be their longer opening hours, since the market is only open 9-5 and most of the good stuff is gone by 1pm!
There was plenty of lager and cider on sale but none of the crisps we like!
Overall, I agree with those who say that Tesco is poor value, has stale food and is not as clean as it could be. We buy our meat, fruit, veg, cheese and bread from the local market now. Luckily I am able to get there most days as I am not tied to office hours any more. The main convenience of supermarkets used to be their longer opening hours, since the market is only open 9-5 and most of the good stuff is gone by 1pm!
If I can, and have the time to do so, I would get all my meat, fruit and veg at the market. Most of the stuff is just as good, if not better.
No-one has mentioned the discount stores. I quite like Netto, most of the branded stuff is very well priced. Also they have Robert Wiseman milkshakes as well, which are very good.
No-one has mentioned the discount stores. I quite like Netto, most of the branded stuff is very well priced. Also they have Robert Wiseman milkshakes as well, which are very good.
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Has anyone got a demo of the Waitrose System?
Info about the Safeway scheme: http://www.ralphallen.org/year 8/images/safeway.pdf
I remember using this ages ago and loved it!
I remember using this ages ago and loved it!
gordonthemoron
Established Member
The Safeway & Waitrose self scan systems are largely identical
Snapper
Established Member
It's fantastic to see the way people fall over themselves to do the supermarkets jobs for them. I hate these things with a passion. I'd much rather wait a few extra minutes and help keep a human being in a job.
like LIdl and aldi where we unload the pallets for them
MCR247
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West Bridgford, Nottingham? I'd have loved to have seen that!
Apparently it was dropped because of theft, either intentional or otherwise. Even with checks, people were known to be omitting some items. I believe that a lot of this is any more than people simply forgetting to scan an item or two when they go to put it in their trolley. But there were undoubtedly others who would use that excuse to get away with paying only a fraction of their overall cost.
Then there's issues with the purchase of alcohol; not everyone sees an attendant, so a 16 year old could easily purchase alcohol through this system. I'm pretty sure that's why Safeway used their "ABC" card as an age verifier , but as with credit cards, fraudulent use would have rampant.
Then there's the issues with rescanning mentioned in the above link. People expected to just pay and be on their way. They do not expect to have to go through a normal checkout again. At least without this scheme, everyone already knows what to expect.
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This is an interesting point. I will once again refer to Morrisons. There were no staff losses on the introduction of these machines in Morrisons supermarkets. Instead, the two "real" tills were replaced by four "self-scan" machines, with one operator required for the four machines. The displaced operator simply uses another till, . But in reality, the introduction saw two express tills close (leaving one open; and a second available if necessary), four new selfscan tills (to supplement the express tills) and an additional "normal" till open up. This is a net gain of three checkouts with no staff losses, and has helped cut queues for people who only want a handful of items. And, of course, there's an extra operator on the normal tills, which helps that as well.
This is an example of them being placed sensibly. And I'd imagine/hope that other supermarkets use a similar model. Sadly, I think my local Tesco has reduced till staff (probably be redeploying them in the store and not hiring replacements).
I wish more people would have problems with self service tills. It would mean I wouldn't have to queue for one. Never have any problems with them.
To comment on a few points raised:
Yes they will accept coupons for a product you have not bought, just the same as a normal checkout will, and yes, the store will receive the face value plus a handling fee back. But it is down to the store whether they will accept the coupons or not, and what value coupon will pause the transaction whilst waiting for approval.
They are VERY expensive to install and have to service contracts for. Yes, they will eventually save money in wages, but not for many many years (we are talking 10+ years). Even then it is debatable. Some Tescos local to me have started replacing them with a new model already (coin drop opposed to coin slot, different locations for notes in/out and receipt). The idea is to help with queue perception and this they excel in.
The 'next thing' will be tags as described in Calais.
To comment on a few points raised:
Yes they will accept coupons for a product you have not bought, just the same as a normal checkout will, and yes, the store will receive the face value plus a handling fee back. But it is down to the store whether they will accept the coupons or not, and what value coupon will pause the transaction whilst waiting for approval.
They are VERY expensive to install and have to service contracts for. Yes, they will eventually save money in wages, but not for many many years (we are talking 10+ years). Even then it is debatable. Some Tescos local to me have started replacing them with a new model already (coin drop opposed to coin slot, different locations for notes in/out and receipt). The idea is to help with queue perception and this they excel in.
The 'next thing' will be tags as described in Calais.
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