No self check-out at Costco

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Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I used to support the cashiers by going through their lines instead of the machines, but when I started getting the "Oh it's him again" vibe from them, they lost my support. Now I figure I'm doing them a favor by staying away from them.


That's an interesting observation on your part-one which says little but speaks volumes.
 
Two Costcos by me - one has self serve, the other doesn't. Never go into Costco to buy one thing, it's always frustrating. I only go Saturday mornings when they first open - in and out in 30 minutes with a full cart - I use a shopping list - I don't browse.
 
I used to work at Costco a few years back. Great company! Regarding the self checkouts though... at the time, about half of the Costco stores in the area had them, and half didn't. We were always curious why. One day we heard from upper management that stores that experience very high volume actually put MORE people through the lines if they do NOT have self checkouts. I have no idea why, personally. Maybe it has something to do with large items, or people taking forever to box their own items at the end.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I was there for 40 minutes the other day waiting to buy a single block of cheese. People waiting in line in front of me with their giant Costco carts piled high to the ceiling. You think any of those people would offer to let me go ahead of them? Not in a million years. The most selfish self absorbed people in the world shop at Costco. Over at Winco with their self check out machines, I would've been in and out of there in 5 minutes, but it's $5.98 for two pounds against $4.18 for one pound at Winco.



When I was young we got free blocks of cheese in a brown box with USDA on it. Beat that Costco!
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: Pajamarama
Your Costco doesn't have self-checkout machines? That sucks. Mine does - just used it today.


Seriously?!!? You mean they actually exist in some stores?


We have them here. I exclusively use them and check out quickly every time. My blocks of cheese enjoy the process.
 
My last time through Costco with a basket full of stuff I let a man with a big bottle of booze go ahead of me. At the Costco I frequent I see this kind of courtesy all the time. And I've never waited more than 5-10 minutes to get from the line to the exit unless I stop on the way out for a pizza dinner.
 
our costco has no express lane. they should have one , if u complain they say when its crowded they add more cashiers (nope), I think its a practice to make u think prices are low because they don't hire enough cashiers.

They do have self check out but could use another (there is room) but I don't like self check out.

I don't think they are managed well, example- water hoses only sold at certain times in our warm climate , and at our costco the expanding file folders you can put statements into are only sold at tax time, not at the start of the calendar year (january)
 
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Even if they don't have self checkout lanes, don't they have a quick checkout lane for shoppers that only have a few items?
 
It's a warehouse store. Not a "oh, I'll pop in and buy one thing" store. Fedco used to have painfully long lines, much more painful than Costco. One hour to check out painful, from mid November to the end of the year.
 
The Costco they put up around here doesn't have any self checkout lanes. I had a gift card there (no membership if you have a gift card) and they only had one or two lines open ... even if it was super busy.

People are usually pretty good at Aldi. Except for the one time I was there and got behind two eastern europen women. They ended up spending $350 ... at Aldi. They had one chicken in their cart and discovered they were half off. The second one grabbed another cart and loaded it up with the remaining chickens. Then they fonud some more stuff and brought a 4th cart too.

All while there were people in line.
 
Costco lines in my area move A LOT faster than the same length lines at Sam's. Strange. The self checkout at Costco is cool when there is no one in front of you. One doofus who can't figure out how to use the thing can make it take longer than just standing in the manned check out line. Checking out is not the issue at my Costco. It's all the food sample tables that park themselves at the ends of the aisles. The cart itself blocks half the aisle and the loiterers block the rest of it. I generally find an open spot to park my cart and then go with out it up to the thing I want. I wish they had some smaller carts for those of us who don't plan to feed a family of 15. I had let my membership lapse for a couple of years and recently re-upped. Now I remember why I let it lapse.

I just need to be a bit more disciplined. If I can't go on a weekday I can go Sunday morning before churches let out. It's a lot more pleasant before the food samples are out.
 
I wish Costco carried all the Yancey's Fancy cheeses. I don't stop there for just one item.
 
In years past I used to know when I walked in I was going to walk out with about $50 worth of stuff. That has increased to $100 these days. They do carry a lot of good quality products for good prices. Don't get me wrong. My hang ups are my own and I don't expect anyone else to share them. 8-D
 
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
In years past I used to know when I walked in I was going to walk out with about $50 worth of stuff. That has increased to $100 these days. They do carry a lot of good quality products for good prices. Don't get me wrong. My hang ups are my own and I don't expect anyone else to share them. 8-D


Nothing makes the Costco experience better than 200 people with no shopping agenda wandering the aisles like zombies hoping they can waste an hour and 3 bucks in gas for 30 cents worth of free samples.

The store would certainly be better if they would stop offering samples, or find some way to get these scavenger drones out of the stores.

Checkout lines can be long. With three kids I don't find myself leaving without spending over 100 bucks which makes it acceptable. One block of cheese? Never.
 
Our Costco used to have self checkout lanes, and then removed them. I used them all the time, so I sent the manager a note asking for the reason behind the change. His response was that they were less efficient than normal checkout lanes because there were many people that tried self checkout and got confused/needed help. I dunno. I've never had self checkout issues, but I've seen enough people have them to understand where he's coming from.

At least Costco lines move quickly. It's far preferable to WalMart - where they have 50 checkouts and only staff 2. I've never understood that.
 
Originally Posted By: bepperb

Nothing makes the Costco experience better than 200 people with no shopping agenda wandering the aisles like zombies hoping they can waste an hour and 3 bucks in gas for 30 cents worth of free samples.


This is so true. At peak times, there are lines for the samples in our store. You basically have to throw elbows to even have a chance of getting one. Who has enough time to stand in multiple sample lines for 3-5 minutes? Not me, but evidently these people.
 
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
Costco lines in my area move A LOT faster than the same length lines at Sam's. Strange. The self checkout at Costco is cool when there is no one in front of you. One doofus who can't figure out how to use the thing can make it take longer than just standing in the manned check out line. Checking out is not the issue at my Costco. It's all the food sample tables that park themselves at the ends of the aisles. The cart itself blocks half the aisle and the loiterers block the rest of it. I generally find an open spot to park my cart and then go with out it up to the thing I want. I wish they had some smaller carts for those of us who don't plan to feed a family of 15. I had let my membership lapse for a couple of years and recently re-upped. Now I remember why I let it lapse.

I just need to be a bit more disciplined. If I can't go on a weekday I can go Sunday morning before churches let out. It's a lot more pleasant before the food samples are out.


I definitely think that the self check out systems have improved significantly in the last 5 years. I remember how touchy the initial systems were with trying to weigh the item to make sure you bagged it.

Plus the scanners used for the self check out seem slower, or at least programmed to read with a much longer delay. When I worked at a drug store, I could FLY through a check out.
 
The only problems I've ever had with the self checkout machines is when the machine itself has a problem...I've never had a problem figuring out how to use them...
 
My proposal is to set aside a single area in the store, with a lot of open space in the middle, for samples. I know that the idea is to create an impulse purchase by having the sample right near the product, but I can't be the only one who finds the roadblocks exasperating.

But, this is the experience. If I am bothered enough by it I'll just let the membership lapse again (which I probably will).

On the self checkout topic, I rarely go into the Albertson's near my house. They are overpriced and rarely have more than two checkout lanes open. They removed their self checkouts some time ago and I thought recently to ask why. The cashier simply said, "Losses." I guess it might be the part of town.
 
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