Self checkouts-honest mistakes?!

[John105]

I once forgot to scan something at BJ’s that was in the bottom of my buggy and they treated me like I was a criminal it felt like they followed me back to the register watched me scan it. Scanned the receipt afterwards and noted customer claims they forgot to scan item. And the lady who checked receipt the first time said don’t let this happen again or we will suspend your membership because we don’t allow stuff like that around here. She informed us it was noted on our membership the date and time and the item so it can be pulled up at anytime and see we tried to not pay for it. I was like it was a freaking mistake lady jeez. Talk about being embarrassed. It was one item out of the 15 items I had.

If it truly was an honest mistake, and it does sound like it, then this is the problem. They treated you like you did it intentionally. That's not good for you, nor them. So, take that function out and have humans handle. This is the issue I think.

I know there can be honest mistakes because as mentioned, I didn't scan a pound of bacon, and I left an entire ham behind. Both mistakes on my part. Your experience reminds me of when a $2 lightbulb was broken, and this woman at Costco was giving me a hard time. I was thinking man people returned burned up fire pit things costing hundreds, and this over a lightbulb? I truly was gonna go Jack Nicholson and her coworker cut her off and said sir I can help you. Talk about having a bad day and taking it out on customers....

 

[fsdork]

When are these stores going to learn they're losing more than they're saving with these self checkouts? The honest customers hate them, the thieves love them. Everyone loses with these stupid things.

I'm not a thief and I love them as I'm faster than most cashiers, and would rather see labor dollars spent on the sales floor filling holes on the shelves and assisting customers. How do you reconcile that?

 

[y_p_w]

Waiting for the armed guards ..

Nothing stops folks now anyways….

Seen it. I mentioned it previously, including one shoplifter who was shot and killed, although it wasn’t specifically over the theft.

 

[PimTac]

Waiting for the armed guards ..

Nothing stops folks now anyways….

The Fred Meyer store closest to me has security roaming the aisles. Not armed but they are easily identifiable with their SWAT vest and non lethal arms.

 

[double vanos]

I’ve had both happen to me. At times where the checkout lines are long and I try to speed things up I’ve missed an item. I’ve also had instances where my scanner didn’t pick up but the beeping from the lane next to me beeped and I thought mine was captured but wasn’t. I’ve also had the scanner hit me twice on an item because I didn’t get the bar code out of range quickly enough. Most of my shopping is at Walmart and they catch it and it’s made right. Never a problem with them. They’re good people and understand.
My sisters take on it is this: I’m unpaid labor and have never received any training on the machine so if I accidentally make a mistake…..
Doesn’t happen enough to rate as a problem but it does happen and I don’t think I’m the only one. No game going on here just mistakes made.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I once forgot to scan something at BJ’s that was in the bottom of my buggy and they treated me like I was a criminal it felt like they followed me back to the register watched me scan it. Scanned the receipt afterwards and noted customer claims they forgot to scan item. And the lady who checked receipt the first time said don’t let this happen again or we will suspend your membership because we don’t allow stuff like that around here. She informed us it was noted on our membership the date and time and the item so it can be pulled up at anytime and see we tried to not pay for it. I was like it was a freaking mistake lady jeez. Talk about being embarrassed. It was one item out of the 15 items I had.

Would have been the last dime they ever got from me.

 

[ATex7239]

Doesn’t mean it will be any better with regular checkout lines… I had to swing by WM the other day (which I hated doing, but I was in a rush) and the cashier didn’t ring up the case of waters. I didn’t notice it until I got to the front door and the lady checking receipts found the mistake. The lady then proceeded to triple check everything in the cart. Half a dozen people walked right by without a second look while I was getting my cart tossed like prison cell shakedown.

 

[Fla]

they still have Nurse Ratchet standing nearby.

LOL!

My local Walmart ALWAYS makes mistakes that favor the store, both in the manned and unmanned check outs. Two weeks ago their automated checkout charged me twice for two different items even though I only ran them through the machine once. The droid at the check out couldn't do anything about it and said that I would have to go to Customer (non)-Service. I went there but they were too busy selling Lottery tickets to actually serve any customers. I left but I took my receipt back the following week and eventually got my money back (assuming that it actually does show up on my CC account). Charging the customers for more items than they actually purchased has been SOP in this WM since it opened. But they have never charged me for fewer items than I actually purchased.

At the manned checkout they over charge for bottled water in particular. I used to by 4 bottles and they charged me for five! But when I buy three bottles but they charged me for four. I figure that their employees can't actually count beyond two and get it right so I finally limited mysef to buying no more than 2 bottles at a time and they don't over charge me.

 

[vavavroom]

 

[vavavroom]

I often see people give themselves a discount by weighing/scanning cheap produce but bagging more expensive items I also have noticed people replacing price labels on meat with discount labels from the scruffy meat section.

 

[KGMtech]

Grocery prices in Canada are very high compared to before Covid. In the last 6 months the local stores are installing chrome gates to prevent wandering outside of the store, and in general a higher level of security. These stores are ripping off the honest Canadians with too high prices and then making you feel like prisoners while you shop.

 

[Aredeeem]

I often see people give themselves a discount by weighing/scanning cheap produce but bagging more expensive items I also have noticed people replacing price labels on meat with discount labels from the scruffy meat section.

Nothing beats the time I watched some old timer in the egg section. Transferring regular eggs out of a carton marked “ regular” and replacing them with jumbo eggs. Took a while but he got it done.

 

[Cujet]

I used the self checkout and it locked up on me. They then provided a video of what I had done wrong. I had one item in each hand! The video program flagged it.

Clearly, I was just trying to save time, and with just a handful of items, it was pretty clear I had scanned everything, but it ended up costing me 10 minutes.

 

[vavavroom]

Nothing beats the time I watched some old timer in the egg section. Transferring regular eggs out of a carton marked “ regular” and replacing them with jumbo eggs. Took a while but he got it done.

What they label as jumbo eggs are small eggs these days. You can't upgrade.

 

[Aredeeem]

When are these stores going to learn they're losing more than they're saving with these self checkouts? The honest customers hate them, the thieves love them. Everyone loses with these stupid things.

I will say that self checkouts encourage enough honest people to shop at a particular market over another. My local Shop-Rite has numerous self check outs, so many that there are no check out lines at all. A real plus if you’re buying just a few items. An older version of the same chain which I pass twice a day going to work has only four self checkouts. I won’t shop there for that reason alone. But honest people still wind up subsidizing the crooks. What else is new?

 

[vavavroom]

One common problem with the self-checkout is that placing an empty bag in the bagging area will flag the bag as "Unexpected item" because a scale in the bagging area detects the bag. You have to scan your first item, ideally a heavier one, and, after scanning the item, you transfer it into the bag while in midair before setting down the bag in the bagging area. From then on you can just fill your bag with the remaining goods. The scale in the bagging area is sensitive enough to detect an empty bag but it can't tell the difference between the bag -plus a pound of cheese.

 

[y_p_w]

Nothing beats the time I watched some old timer in the egg section. Transferring regular eggs out of a carton marked “ regular” and replacing them with jumbo eggs. Took a while but he got it done.

I've seen the really weird ones. Some are technically illegal while others make someone look really cheap. I have seen eggs checked and they've generally been OK if I replaced a broken egg, especially where it's already been done and there's a "donor" carton.

I've heard of people taking strawberries out of prepackaged clamshells and filling them up since there's typically space. But what do you do when they're possibly overripe and some have mildew? I've seen produce employees at independent markets toss bad one and then redistribute. I don't think they typically weight them to make sure they're good.

How about places that sell bananas individually such as Walmarts (without scales) or Trader Joe's. Nothing quite like seeing someone ripping off the big front row ones and leaving the smaller back row ones behind.

 

[y_p_w]

I will say that self checkouts encourage enough honest people to shop at a particular market over another. My local Shop-Rite has numerous self check outs, so many that there are no check out lines at all. A real plus if you’re buying just a few items. An older version of the same chain which I pass twice a day going to work has only four self checkouts. I won’t shop there for that reason alone. But honest people still wind up subsidizing the crooks. What else is new?

I remember a few places that were exclusively self-checkout unless one had a disability. Tesco brought the Fresh & Easy chain to the US, and every location I'd been to was self-checkout. But like a gas station, they would provide employee help to someone who might be blind or otherwise needed help.

 

[Donald]

Years ago I went through a normal Walmart checkout where I had a styrofoam cooler I was buying filled with frozen turkey I was buying. I told the checkout lady the cooler and 25 packages of frozen turkey. I gave her one to scan.

I kind of waited around in the exit area for the person I was shopping with. Finally left the store and store security came up to me and said something like "security, what have you got in the cooler". I told them frozen turkey. It was July very hot. They looked in the cooler and said oh yeah, frozen turkey.

When I got home I realized the checkout lady never rang up the cooler nor did store security notice it was not on the receipt. I did not go back and pay for it however.

I was not a happy Walmart shopper that day.

 

[football]

I
In my younger days I have tested “security” and true they cannot grab a person, only LE can. I have walked right out the door with one shouting at me to halt. Following them back in to a back room is silly but many would.

That’s state by state specific. I worked store security from age 17-20. In Florida it is illegal to resist arrest from a store merchant. A store merchant has full arrest powers to detain a shoplifter. And can use force to detain a shoplifter. Same force a cop can use.

I have been in knock out drag out fights (always won) and got the handcuffs on. The cops came and charged them with resisting arrest and petit theft or grand theft.

Store policies have changed and most stores do not allow aggressive detainments like I used to do 20 plus years ago for obvious liability reasons.

It was a fun as heck job for a young kid that was in the police academy .