How Rude is Using Self-Checkout Machines Twice?
March 19, 2018 11:31 AM Subscribe
I hate to put other people out by disrupting the smooth functioning of shared systems, particularly in ways that come across as selfish/self-absorbed. I'm curious about etiquette surrounding the use of self-service kiosks at places like department stores or groceries; Specifically, is it commonly seen as rude to make two separate transactions in one go?
To clarify, I'm not describing paying for one transaction via two methods (say, card + cash). I'm talking about scanning/weighing a few items, using a card to pay for them, collecting the receipt, and then repeating the entire process again (with a different card). You know, some personal items and then some household items. As someone looking on -- and waiting -- would my starting the second transaction cause your BP to spike? Like, would you be at your normal resting emotional "standing in line" state, but then suddenly moved into significant irritation?
+ Looking for opinions from people who don't get peeved by this sort of stuff, people who worry about this sort of stuff (like me), and of course people who are super-irritated by this sort of stuff.
- Not really looking for advice on how to adjust my own thinking. I know I should probably be less concerned about how other people see me.
To clarify, I'm not describing paying for one transaction via two methods (say, card + cash). I'm talking about scanning/weighing a few items, using a card to pay for them, collecting the receipt, and then repeating the entire process again (with a different card). You know, some personal items and then some household items. As someone looking on -- and waiting -- would my starting the second transaction cause your BP to spike? Like, would you be at your normal resting emotional "standing in line" state, but then suddenly moved into significant irritation?
+ Looking for opinions from people who don't get peeved by this sort of stuff, people who worry about this sort of stuff (like me), and of course people who are super-irritated by this sort of stuff.
- Not really looking for advice on how to adjust my own thinking. I know I should probably be less concerned about how other people see me.
I generally look at how much merchandise a person has to gauge how long I will be waiting, so I doubt I'd be that put out.
posted by advicepig at 11:37 AM on March 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by advicepig at 11:37 AM on March 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
Mark me as some one who'd be irritated. Self-checkout is like the express lane (that's why there is rarely room for more than 2 or 3 bags in the bagging area). It's a drop-in-get-out lane. (And when I buy alcohol, I don't use self-checkout because manager approval etc).
It's rude because the folks behind you don't know you'll be doing that, and they judge line-length as a quick proxy for how long they'll have to wait. The fixed cost/overhead of the checkout is usually more than the time to scan/ring up the items, so when someone does that, it's screwing the people behind them.
I have similar ire at costco when it's two folks using a single membership and want to be rang up separately (or one person, but half the stuff is "for someone else" -- do the math at home, you're wasting my time).
posted by k5.user at 11:37 AM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
It's rude because the folks behind you don't know you'll be doing that, and they judge line-length as a quick proxy for how long they'll have to wait. The fixed cost/overhead of the checkout is usually more than the time to scan/ring up the items, so when someone does that, it's screwing the people behind them.
I have similar ire at costco when it's two folks using a single membership and want to be rang up separately (or one person, but half the stuff is "for someone else" -- do the math at home, you're wasting my time).
posted by k5.user at 11:37 AM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
2 transactions ok. 3+ transactions, not ok
Me: stressed out urban dweller, but also, someone who doesn't care about this stuff
posted by charlielxxv at 11:37 AM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Me: stressed out urban dweller, but also, someone who doesn't care about this stuff
posted by charlielxxv at 11:37 AM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
I don't think I would notice, and if I did I wouldn't care. It wouldn't be any different if you were in line at an employee-operated checkout. It's not like anyone's expecting you to go to the end of the line and start again.
posted by quaking fajita at 11:38 AM on March 19, 2018 [23 favorites]
posted by quaking fajita at 11:38 AM on March 19, 2018 [23 favorites]
I don't get peeved by this at all.
In my mind, the only possible way it's rude is if there's a huge line and there's only one kiosk and you have a ton of stuff and you are actively dawdling (like checking your phone, scanning things super slowly, scratching your posterior, generally not conscious of the line behind you, etc).
posted by mochapickle at 11:38 AM on March 19, 2018 [9 favorites]
In my mind, the only possible way it's rude is if there's a huge line and there's only one kiosk and you have a ton of stuff and you are actively dawdling (like checking your phone, scanning things super slowly, scratching your posterior, generally not conscious of the line behind you, etc).
posted by mochapickle at 11:38 AM on March 19, 2018 [9 favorites]
I’m always looking to optimize at checkout, so I always keep an eye for the fastest line (which may not be the shortest) and the newly opening line.
That said, with self-checkout, I’ve only ever seen it with a shared queue. So I wouldn’t get upset by one person’s slightly longer use - there was never a guarantee that I would be going to that particular register anyway.
Although I don’t consider it rude in any case if someone needs a slightly more time consuming consideration when checking out. It’s not on par with, say, having too many items for the express checkout.
posted by mhz at 11:39 AM on March 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
That said, with self-checkout, I’ve only ever seen it with a shared queue. So I wouldn’t get upset by one person’s slightly longer use - there was never a guarantee that I would be going to that particular register anyway.
Although I don’t consider it rude in any case if someone needs a slightly more time consuming consideration when checking out. It’s not on par with, say, having too many items for the express checkout.
posted by mhz at 11:39 AM on March 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
I worry about this kind of thing all the time, and I wouldn't be at all put out to see someone making a second transaction like this. I'm not even sure I would notice, as I'm usually only paying attention enough to see when someone's ready to move away from the kiosk.
The only thing that usually bothers me about self-service kiosks is people who have way too many items (more than a shopping basket's worth, for standard kiosks - the ones at Mejier, etc. with the conveyor belts are a different kind of hell).
posted by minsies at 11:40 AM on March 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
The only thing that usually bothers me about self-service kiosks is people who have way too many items (more than a shopping basket's worth, for standard kiosks - the ones at Mejier, etc. with the conveyor belts are a different kind of hell).
posted by minsies at 11:40 AM on March 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
It's not really any different than asking the cashier to ring up two transactions for you, is it? Sometimes you need to ring up two transactions. I don't think this is a big deal at all and doesn't take much longer than ringing everything up in one go. I'm sure it will annoy some people but you're not doing anything wrong. It would be crazy for you to have to do one transaction and get back in line to do the other one.
posted by Polychrome at 11:42 AM on March 19, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by Polychrome at 11:42 AM on March 19, 2018 [10 favorites]
I would be annoyed, but I would dismiss that as irrational. I would then blame the inconvenience on the store’s reliance on self checkout rather than having more cashiers, not sure if that is rational or not.
If I were doing this with a line behind me, I’d worry about it for like ten or twenty minutes or until I got distracted.
posted by skewed at 11:43 AM on March 19, 2018 [8 favorites]
If I were doing this with a line behind me, I’d worry about it for like ten or twenty minutes or until I got distracted.
posted by skewed at 11:43 AM on March 19, 2018 [8 favorites]
If you empty your shopping cart and then magically produce another full shopping cart out of your pocket as I start to shuffle forward, I might be a little annoyed. Otherwise I won't care at all.
posted by henuani at 11:44 AM on March 19, 2018 [17 favorites]
posted by henuani at 11:44 AM on March 19, 2018 [17 favorites]
I most likely wouldn't, unless it was the end of a long day and I was grumpy already. Then I may internally be slightly peeved at having the expected sequence of events interrupted, but only to a very mild degree (hitting every red light would irritate me more). And it wouldn't be at you so much as the universe. And then I'd forget about it by the time I scanned my first item.
The exception being if you were at one of the unlimited self checkouts where you scan, pay, bag rather than bag as you go. If you proceeded to scan, pay, bag for your first transaction, then scan, pay, bag your second, I'd be cranky at the inefficiency (although I'd keep it to myself). If you scan, pay for first, then scan, pay second, bag for both I'd be completely indifferent.
posted by ghost phoneme at 11:46 AM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
The exception being if you were at one of the unlimited self checkouts where you scan, pay, bag rather than bag as you go. If you proceeded to scan, pay, bag for your first transaction, then scan, pay, bag your second, I'd be cranky at the inefficiency (although I'd keep it to myself). If you scan, pay for first, then scan, pay second, bag for both I'd be completely indifferent.
posted by ghost phoneme at 11:46 AM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
I’d also be mildly annoyed because I don’t like to wait, but I wouldn’t consider it rude on your part. If you need to do two transactions, it’s going to be annoying no matter what checkout you use. I’d only be really irritated if you were doing four or more. In that case, it would be nice to give the people who get in line behind you a heads up so they can change lines if they want to.
posted by FencingGal at 11:51 AM on March 19, 2018
posted by FencingGal at 11:51 AM on March 19, 2018
You still have the same amount of stuff, so I wouldn't be bothered. (Also, I'd be too busy already being annoyed that my grocery store offers handheld scanners but not every register at the self check out area is equipped for the scanner. It's a shared queue, so I often find myself letting people skip ahead of me in line because I can't use the next available kiosk. What's up with that?)
posted by Ruki at 11:54 AM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Ruki at 11:54 AM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
You're ringing up the same number of items either way ... the extra time it takes to swipe the card twice and grab an extra receipt is really minimal.
The only way I see this might be considered annoying is if you're there at, like, 6:00 on a weeknight and there are 20 people waiting and we all just want to get this done and get home so we can fix dinner and get on with it. In that case, I would use the regular line and warn the person behind me what was going on.
posted by mccxxiii at 11:58 AM on March 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
The only way I see this might be considered annoying is if you're there at, like, 6:00 on a weeknight and there are 20 people waiting and we all just want to get this done and get home so we can fix dinner and get on with it. In that case, I would use the regular line and warn the person behind me what was going on.
posted by mccxxiii at 11:58 AM on March 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
This has happened to me in normal manned lines as well. I find this annoying since my lane selection algorithm is weighed more on number of transactions vs number of items ahead of me and you’ve now killed my math.
That being said the single lane to multiple checkouts in a self checkout world is a more efficient queuing system and should mitigate any annoyance caused.
So it’s slighly annoying but totally within your rights.
posted by bitdamaged at 12:00 PM on March 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
That being said the single lane to multiple checkouts in a self checkout world is a more efficient queuing system and should mitigate any annoyance caused.
So it’s slighly annoying but totally within your rights.
posted by bitdamaged at 12:00 PM on March 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Self-checkout is glitchy enough that I would figure it was something wrong with their system or the menus just tripped you up.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:00 PM on March 19, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:00 PM on March 19, 2018 [13 favorites]
Not at all. I see self-checkouts as places where I am allowed to take my time. No bored cashier, no bagger, and because the self-checkouts I use are amost always at Wal-Mart, there are about ten of them, and when I am slow the line flows right along past me to the next available checkout. I usually do two transactions and am picky about what goes on which transaction. If there were only one self-checkout I would be faster, but with this setup I don't feel I have to worry about it.
posted by Armed Only With Hubris at 12:10 PM on March 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Armed Only With Hubris at 12:10 PM on March 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Not any ruder or less acceptable than when doing this on a checkout line with a human working (which is to say, totally fine UNLESS DONE TO CIRCUMVENT THE LIMITATION ON ITEMS FOR EXPRESS LANES IN WHICH CASE WHO ARE YOU EVEN?)
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 12:11 PM on March 19, 2018 [16 favorites]
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 12:11 PM on March 19, 2018 [16 favorites]
My rule of thumb for self-checkout is that if I can't comfortably carry it in a hand basket, I don't take it through self-checkout. If I'm just picking up some small electronics or a stack of TV dinners, sure, but if I have a whole cart I'll take it to an actual cashier line.
As far as double transactions at self-checkout, I'd only be comfortable doing it if there were no line behind me, and I had less than maybe a dozen small items without coupons across both transactions. But I'm a dedicated off-peak shopper who only buys maybe five or six items at a time anyway, so I can usually get away with taking my time at checkout.
As long as you aren't engaging in some kind of Punch Drunk Love-esque extreme couponing scheme that ties up the line for minutes on end, I'd say you're probably OK.
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:12 PM on March 19, 2018
As far as double transactions at self-checkout, I'd only be comfortable doing it if there were no line behind me, and I had less than maybe a dozen small items without coupons across both transactions. But I'm a dedicated off-peak shopper who only buys maybe five or six items at a time anyway, so I can usually get away with taking my time at checkout.
As long as you aren't engaging in some kind of Punch Drunk Love-esque extreme couponing scheme that ties up the line for minutes on end, I'd say you're probably OK.
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:12 PM on March 19, 2018
I don't estimate line length by people, I do it by how much in their carts/baskets, so whether you're paying once or twice, you've still got all that stuff in your cart. And really no one is noticing how many times you pay, just that you empty your basket and push buttons. You shouldn't feel bad at all.
Now, if express self checkout is 10 items and you have 8 for you and 9 for the other person - that's not cool. Or if you've got a bunch of produce and didn't take any sticker codes, again not cool.
posted by NoraCharles at 12:23 PM on March 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Now, if express self checkout is 10 items and you have 8 for you and 9 for the other person - that's not cool. Or if you've got a bunch of produce and didn't take any sticker codes, again not cool.
posted by NoraCharles at 12:23 PM on March 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Posting to say yea, not a problem in my book unless
A) you're circumventing express lane rules or
B) you are splitting the transaction more than 2, maybe 3, times because then things are going to begin the trek from 'good reason, not odd' to 'social experiment in pissing people off, I mean come on seriously!?'.
posted by RolandOfEld at 12:24 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
A) you're circumventing express lane rules or
B) you are splitting the transaction more than 2, maybe 3, times because then things are going to begin the trek from 'good reason, not odd' to 'social experiment in pissing people off, I mean come on seriously!?'.
posted by RolandOfEld at 12:24 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm generally a person with very little patience who doesn't like when people do things "wrong."
Doing multiple purchases would not bother me. I'd likely notice (because I'd see you taking things off of the scale and putting them into your cart), and initially get annoyed thinking you're one of those idiots who can't remember to not do that as I'd still see unscanned items in your cart / on the staging area. But, once I saw you start paying and re-scanning I'd mentally dismiss it, and mentally apologize for getting mad at you. I'd have at most rolled my eyes; I wouldn't have giveni you stink eye or a glare.
It would bother me if you're getting distracted by your kid/partner, on the phone, or doing anything that seems to say you're lollygagging.
It also bothers me when people take an entire shopping cart of stuff into the self checkout. Due to the lack of cleaning / lack of the non-employee practicing with scanning upc codes, it seems to take about 1.5-2x time to self-scan than it would to go through with an employee doing the scanning. I.E. the gain in self-scanning is for the increased number of ready scanners - there's a per-item time cost.
As someone (many?) above mentioned, I view the self-scan areas as an express area. Obviously, these large carts are viewed as less bad in the self-scan area than in an actually marked express lanes. People over 2 items above the limit (and especially with full 40+ item carts) should simply be banned from the store. Or alternately sent to an in-store "jail" for 30 minutes. Yes, I know that won't happen. As someone else also pointed out, often the self-scan areas either have 1 or 2 lines than feed 4-8 areas, so one machine being taken up for a full cart (or by someone taking an extra ~30 seconds to do the multiple transactions) ultimately isn't the end of the world.
posted by nobeagle at 12:35 PM on March 19, 2018 [5 favorites]
Doing multiple purchases would not bother me. I'd likely notice (because I'd see you taking things off of the scale and putting them into your cart), and initially get annoyed thinking you're one of those idiots who can't remember to not do that as I'd still see unscanned items in your cart / on the staging area. But, once I saw you start paying and re-scanning I'd mentally dismiss it, and mentally apologize for getting mad at you. I'd have at most rolled my eyes; I wouldn't have giveni you stink eye or a glare.
It would bother me if you're getting distracted by your kid/partner, on the phone, or doing anything that seems to say you're lollygagging.
It also bothers me when people take an entire shopping cart of stuff into the self checkout. Due to the lack of cleaning / lack of the non-employee practicing with scanning upc codes, it seems to take about 1.5-2x time to self-scan than it would to go through with an employee doing the scanning. I.E. the gain in self-scanning is for the increased number of ready scanners - there's a per-item time cost.
As someone (many?) above mentioned, I view the self-scan areas as an express area. Obviously, these large carts are viewed as less bad in the self-scan area than in an actually marked express lanes. People over 2 items above the limit (and especially with full 40+ item carts) should simply be banned from the store. Or alternately sent to an in-store "jail" for 30 minutes. Yes, I know that won't happen. As someone else also pointed out, often the self-scan areas either have 1 or 2 lines than feed 4-8 areas, so one machine being taken up for a full cart (or by someone taking an extra ~30 seconds to do the multiple transactions) ultimately isn't the end of the world.
posted by nobeagle at 12:35 PM on March 19, 2018 [5 favorites]
I use the self-checkout to avoid human interaction. As long as you're not increasing my level of human interaction, I really don't care what you do with your turn. (Note: I would count it as an increase if you take so much extra time I decide to move to a cashier lane instead. It doesn't sound like you do, however.)
posted by teremala at 12:40 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by teremala at 12:40 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm generally a person with very little patience who doesn't like when people do things "wrong."
Likewise. And presuming you were basically keeping things going at a decent clip, you'd probably be checking out more quickly than whoever the other people are who are minding children, talking on the phone or otherwise dealing with special stuff that takes a while. Keep it moving. Do your thing. Try to be otherwise low maintenance. You're good.
posted by jessamyn at 12:45 PM on March 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
Likewise. And presuming you were basically keeping things going at a decent clip, you'd probably be checking out more quickly than whoever the other people are who are minding children, talking on the phone or otherwise dealing with special stuff that takes a while. Keep it moving. Do your thing. Try to be otherwise low maintenance. You're good.
posted by jessamyn at 12:45 PM on March 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
Meh. You do what you gotta do. It's no different than the people who pay for one item with a check, or people who have like 10,000 coupons. Sometimes you get people in front of you who are fast, sometimes you get the check writers.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 12:52 PM on March 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by rabbitrabbit at 12:52 PM on March 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks for the great range of responses! Seems like the overall trend is toward "not an issue," so that's reassuring.
Most helpful were the reminders that it wouldn't be a static situation. There are presumably other kiosks constantly coming into play, a reality I hadn't considered when thinking through the problem.
Also interesting is the trivia that there exist self-serve kiosks with conveyors. Thank gawd I didn't even know about those. :-D
posted by credible hulk at 12:59 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Most helpful were the reminders that it wouldn't be a static situation. There are presumably other kiosks constantly coming into play, a reality I hadn't considered when thinking through the problem.
Also interesting is the trivia that there exist self-serve kiosks with conveyors. Thank gawd I didn't even know about those. :-D
posted by credible hulk at 12:59 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Self-checkout is like the express lane
No it isn't. It is to save the company money by paying one person instead of 6-10 to work a half-dozen "registers." Unless there is a sign, there is no limit to what you can purchase at a self-checkout.
If I had two transactions going and saw someone queue up behind me, I might tell them I've got two transactions going as a courtesy, but the added time to swipe your card again is negligible.
posted by headnsouth at 1:01 PM on March 19, 2018 [8 favorites]
No it isn't. It is to save the company money by paying one person instead of 6-10 to work a half-dozen "registers." Unless there is a sign, there is no limit to what you can purchase at a self-checkout.
If I had two transactions going and saw someone queue up behind me, I might tell them I've got two transactions going as a courtesy, but the added time to swipe your card again is negligible.
posted by headnsouth at 1:01 PM on March 19, 2018 [8 favorites]
I'd be more bothered by you taking the time to inform me what you're doing, as I do not care a bit (and also it's weird and would take me a few seconds to figure out why you were talking to me). I tend to avoid self check-out because of their lousy ergonomics, though, so maybe I'm not your target audience.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:08 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:08 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'd be a little irritated (I suspect you and I have a very similar outlook on these issues), but as long as you weren't toodling around, having to call the clerk over for help, etc., it would be relatively minor.
And being concerned about whether you are making courteously efficient use of shared resources is not a bad thing, though of course it can be taken too far.
posted by praemunire at 1:12 PM on March 19, 2018
And being concerned about whether you are making courteously efficient use of shared resources is not a bad thing, though of course it can be taken too far.
posted by praemunire at 1:12 PM on March 19, 2018
I wouldn't be irritated because for years I had to do two transactions as I shopped for my elderly parents while doing my own shopping. (Usually not at a self-checkout, but I don't see the difference.) I would always feel a little anxious that the next person behind me would get impatient. But that was mitigated by reminding myself of the fact that doing two transactions added maybe 45 seconds to the total time, and I was shopping for my elderly parents so they could have food in their house, so I guess anyone behind me would just have to be patient.
In other words, I would assume you have a good reason to do what you're doing. Also, if I am paying that much attention to what you are buying and how you are paying, then the problem is with me, not you.
posted by The Deej at 1:20 PM on March 19, 2018 [12 favorites]
In other words, I would assume you have a good reason to do what you're doing. Also, if I am paying that much attention to what you are buying and how you are paying, then the problem is with me, not you.
posted by The Deej at 1:20 PM on March 19, 2018 [12 favorites]
I'm generally a person with very little patience who doesn't like when people do things "wrong."
Ah, a kindred spirit. FWIW I wouldn't be bothered by this, if I even noticed. In addition to all the already-mentioned reasons upthread, I've witnessed enough various hangups at the self-checkout -- the people who forgot to put the weight tag on their produce, the ones who can't find the barcode, those buying alcohol, repeated attempts to scan discounted items that can't be discounted at the self-checkout, erroneously placing something in the bagging area that throws off the scale and freaks the machine out, the meticulous baggers, and those special souls who just can't quite seem to get the hang of the new system -- that I always expect it to take slightly longer than I might anticipate, based on the queue length. I personally value the self-checkout more for my ability to keep my headphones on/not interact with other humans/not have to think about a cashier judging my food purchases.
posted by myotahapea at 1:24 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Ah, a kindred spirit. FWIW I wouldn't be bothered by this, if I even noticed. In addition to all the already-mentioned reasons upthread, I've witnessed enough various hangups at the self-checkout -- the people who forgot to put the weight tag on their produce, the ones who can't find the barcode, those buying alcohol, repeated attempts to scan discounted items that can't be discounted at the self-checkout, erroneously placing something in the bagging area that throws off the scale and freaks the machine out, the meticulous baggers, and those special souls who just can't quite seem to get the hang of the new system -- that I always expect it to take slightly longer than I might anticipate, based on the queue length. I personally value the self-checkout more for my ability to keep my headphones on/not interact with other humans/not have to think about a cashier judging my food purchases.
posted by myotahapea at 1:24 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
As a frequent self-checkout user, it wouldn't bother me at all. The amount of time taken for an extra card-swiping transaction is pretty tiny, and irrelevant compared to the time taken by having to have an attendant come over because they need to check ID, the scale had some sort of malfunction, a weird vegetable isn't actually in their system yet, etc. Plus, self-checkouts are usually one shared line feeding into half a dozen checkout stands, so it's not like anyone's stuck having picked the wrong line.
I do much of my grocery shopping by bike, which often involves a bit more care tetris-ing things into my backpack or panniers, and which I prefer to do myself rather than a bagger in the cashier line who's not used to packing for the limitations of my bike. That means that I usually take more time bagging my things up after checking out, but I figure that it's much better to do that at the self checkout, where people can then just use a different kiosk, rather than at the end of a cashier line, where people would be stuck in the single line behind me.
I'm somewhat surprised at the people who view the self-checkout kiosks as some sort of express lane, with a strict but unstated limit on items. None of the grocery stores I've shopped at regularly have had any express or item-limit related signage around the self checkouts, and some of them have space for 3 or 4 bags of groceries in the bagging area.
posted by JiBB at 1:28 PM on March 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
I do much of my grocery shopping by bike, which often involves a bit more care tetris-ing things into my backpack or panniers, and which I prefer to do myself rather than a bagger in the cashier line who's not used to packing for the limitations of my bike. That means that I usually take more time bagging my things up after checking out, but I figure that it's much better to do that at the self checkout, where people can then just use a different kiosk, rather than at the end of a cashier line, where people would be stuck in the single line behind me.
I'm somewhat surprised at the people who view the self-checkout kiosks as some sort of express lane, with a strict but unstated limit on items. None of the grocery stores I've shopped at regularly have had any express or item-limit related signage around the self checkouts, and some of them have space for 3 or 4 bags of groceries in the bagging area.
posted by JiBB at 1:28 PM on March 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
If all the check-outs (both self check out and cashier) had long lines and I had a grumpy kid with me and if I noticed, I’d be mildly annoyed. I might not notice though, especially if there were a bunch of self check out kiosks with one lane leading to all of them. And I’d be annoyed in the same way I would be if someone had an item with a missing bar code that took extra time to ring up - I’d recognize that no one was doing anything wrong, but still be irritated at the extra wait time.
If the lines were relatively short I wouldn’t care. I’d definitely prefer to be behind someone who was efficient doing two transactions than someone slow and confused doing one!
posted by insectosaurus at 1:29 PM on March 19, 2018
If the lines were relatively short I wouldn’t care. I’d definitely prefer to be behind someone who was efficient doing two transactions than someone slow and confused doing one!
posted by insectosaurus at 1:29 PM on March 19, 2018
No, because my wrath at the self-service is purely reserved for being hectored by the machine itself: "Unexpected item in bagging area! Unexpected item in bagging area! Unexpected item in bagging area!"
posted by Lilypod at 1:36 PM on March 19, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by Lilypod at 1:36 PM on March 19, 2018 [10 favorites]
It takes under a minute to pay at the self checkout, if you know what you're doing. Under 30 seconds, even. I do it all the time, if I need separate receipts for whatever reason. It has never occurred to me that this might be rude, and I am the sort of person who is very easily exasperated by lines. It's no more rude than asking for two separate tabs at the regular checkout, it's just a thing people need to do sometimes.
Do try to pay attention when paying though. A guy in front of me the other day kept trying to put his cash into the machine and was getting more and more frustrated as bill after bill would not go in. Turned out he was still on the "Do you have any coupons?" screen. Don't be that guy.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 1:40 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Do try to pay attention when paying though. A guy in front of me the other day kept trying to put his cash into the machine and was getting more and more frustrated as bill after bill would not go in. Turned out he was still on the "Do you have any coupons?" screen. Don't be that guy.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 1:40 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also I have been in a position more than once where I didn't have enough in my checking account to cover a purchase so had to use my debit then switch over to a credit card to cover the rest, which is especially depressing if you are doing something like buying groceries or necessary toiletries. So it might be helpful to empathize in order to lessen your frustration. I once cried in the grocery store bc I had been given a visa gift card for my birthday and went to use it for food only to discover the store didn't accept visa gift cards and then to save face tried to use my credit card which got declined, so I had to walk out without groceries. It was a sad day.
posted by greta simone at 2:12 PM on March 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by greta simone at 2:12 PM on March 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
Almost every self-checkout I see has multiple registers with one line. In that case, no one should get peeved with someone who takes a long time because there are other registers and the load balancing mostly takes care of itself. The biggest issue is that you need to remove your first set of stuff from the "bagging area" before trying to start your second transaction. I never blame the user when the self-checkout fails because it is a very opaque system.
posted by soelo at 2:25 PM on March 19, 2018
posted by soelo at 2:25 PM on March 19, 2018
I don’t know where the idea that self-checkout is supposed to be like an express lane comes from. I’ve never heard it before. Agree with headnsouth that it’s about saving the store money or, as I think of it, putting cashiers out of work.
posted by FencingGal at 3:19 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by FencingGal at 3:19 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
This is a typical need amongst teachers, for example, who need to buy supplies for a lab for reimbursement, but cannot ring up personal items on the same transaction. It's faster in self-checkout than with a cashier. I would not get mad if I saw someone doing this because I would assume they were being required by their job to do it.
posted by thelastpolarbear at 3:46 PM on March 19, 2018
posted by thelastpolarbear at 3:46 PM on March 19, 2018
I'm generally a person with very little patience who doesn't like when people do things "wrong."
My people.
Honestly, I get more irritated in the regular checkout, because I'm generally faster than the cashiers (with absolutely no shade to them -- I wouldn't rush myself in their position for lots of reasons). As long as you act calm and assured, I'll pick up on that. And I'm also generally so happy to not have to deal with humans, I'll put up with a lot more in the self-checkout lane.
if anyone is familiar with checking out at Lidl, I can keep up with their cashiers and always got my bagging done by the time I had to pay. i am well-trained. and appreciate efficiency.
posted by kalimac at 3:56 PM on March 19, 2018
My people.
Honestly, I get more irritated in the regular checkout, because I'm generally faster than the cashiers (with absolutely no shade to them -- I wouldn't rush myself in their position for lots of reasons). As long as you act calm and assured, I'll pick up on that. And I'm also generally so happy to not have to deal with humans, I'll put up with a lot more in the self-checkout lane.
if anyone is familiar with checking out at Lidl, I can keep up with their cashiers and always got my bagging done by the time I had to pay. i am well-trained. and appreciate efficiency.
posted by kalimac at 3:56 PM on March 19, 2018
I disagree with those asserting that self checkout is equivalent to express lanes, unless they are clearly marked as such in certain stores. In my area there are stores with *only* self checkout lanes, and no signs indicating anything about an item limit or express-ness.
IMHO, any frustration with waiting in line to checkout should be directed at the executives of the store. They are the ones who divert money away from keeping checkout lanes open and into their bonus checks. Every time a shopper gets angry with another shopper rather than the store owner, the rich folk have won a victory.
Also IMHO, the most frustrating thing about self checkout kiosks is the artificial limit on scanning speed. I used to be a cashier, and could scan a half dozen items in the time it takes a self checkout to register my second item.
posted by mrgoldenbrown at 4:43 PM on March 19, 2018 [5 favorites]
IMHO, any frustration with waiting in line to checkout should be directed at the executives of the store. They are the ones who divert money away from keeping checkout lanes open and into their bonus checks. Every time a shopper gets angry with another shopper rather than the store owner, the rich folk have won a victory.
Also IMHO, the most frustrating thing about self checkout kiosks is the artificial limit on scanning speed. I used to be a cashier, and could scan a half dozen items in the time it takes a self checkout to register my second item.
posted by mrgoldenbrown at 4:43 PM on March 19, 2018 [5 favorites]
Self-checkout is like the express lane
No, in general this is not true. But in my grocery store, there are both express self-checkout lanes and regular self-checkout lanes.
I would not be upset to see someone making multiple transactions at a regular self-checkout lane, or even at an express one, unless it was to get around the item limit.
posted by Dolley at 5:13 PM on March 19, 2018
No, in general this is not true. But in my grocery store, there are both express self-checkout lanes and regular self-checkout lanes.
I would not be upset to see someone making multiple transactions at a regular self-checkout lane, or even at an express one, unless it was to get around the item limit.
posted by Dolley at 5:13 PM on March 19, 2018
I am someone who gets irritated at slow checkouts and I think it is fine. Mainly because there's a single queue and so some other self checkout is going to become available anyway within a few seconds, but also because it's not like you're doing it for fun. As long as you're not dawdling, do what you need to do.
posted by wnissen at 5:19 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by wnissen at 5:19 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
I may get annoyed, but that’s my issue, not yours. You could do the same thing at a regular checkout, and people do it a lot. Especially if you need a separate receipt for work purchases. Thems the breaks. We should chill.
posted by greermahoney at 5:36 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by greermahoney at 5:36 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
I doubt I'd notice. There are far, far worse annoyances every single time I go to the store. This wouldn't be a blip on my radar.
posted by AFABulous at 9:35 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by AFABulous at 9:35 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Who even pays that much attention to other people's transactions???
posted by Jacqueline at 6:19 AM on March 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Jacqueline at 6:19 AM on March 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Self-checkout is like the express lane (that's why there is rarely room for more than 2 or 3 bags in the bagging area)
Count me with those who think the above is extremely off-base. The decision to use self-checkout has *nothing* to do with how much you're buying. Use the express lane if you want an express lane.
Also, with regard to your specific case, the sentence below exactly describes my feelings, although I'd add "momentarily" before "annoyed.":
I would be annoyed, but I would dismiss that as irrational.
Don't worry about folks (like me occasionally) who have momentary impatient reactions to ordinary life events.
posted by mediareport at 7:07 AM on March 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Count me with those who think the above is extremely off-base. The decision to use self-checkout has *nothing* to do with how much you're buying. Use the express lane if you want an express lane.
Also, with regard to your specific case, the sentence below exactly describes my feelings, although I'd add "momentarily" before "annoyed.":
I would be annoyed, but I would dismiss that as irrational.
Don't worry about folks (like me occasionally) who have momentary impatient reactions to ordinary life events.
posted by mediareport at 7:07 AM on March 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
I would have ten seconds or so of the same mild annoyance I have when someone pulls out a giant wad of coupons in the self checkout. Sort of “ugh, this is going to take longer than I thought.” And then I shrug and get over myself because I am not the Empress of Grocery Store Rules, and also I don’t know your life so I should assume that if you’re doing something slightly out of the ordinary there’s a reason that it makes sense for you, and then I put it out of mind and get on with my day. No harm done.
posted by Stacey at 7:59 AM on March 20, 2018
posted by Stacey at 7:59 AM on March 20, 2018
I have totally done this. You are the customer. You were in line and it is now your turn to use the machine (or interact with the cashier). You can make multiple transactions.
I also try to own my annoyance at waiting in lines and not blame the people ahead of me for hand writing out their check and not having proper id for it or needing a price check on every item because they are certain this thing was on sale or having forty coupons, half of which are expired or wanting to exchange the box of cereal with the slight dent for a pristine box. Waiting in lines is pretty much a fact of modern life and the self checkout does not change that.
posted by carrioncomfort at 8:34 AM on March 20, 2018
I also try to own my annoyance at waiting in lines and not blame the people ahead of me for hand writing out their check and not having proper id for it or needing a price check on every item because they are certain this thing was on sale or having forty coupons, half of which are expired or wanting to exchange the box of cereal with the slight dent for a pristine box. Waiting in lines is pretty much a fact of modern life and the self checkout does not change that.
posted by carrioncomfort at 8:34 AM on March 20, 2018
"I have similar ire at costco when it's two folks using a single membership and want to be rang up separately..."
Do this all the time, the Costco cashier can simply add a dividing line on the receipt separating two batches of items (arranged sequentially on the conveyor, of course). Takes no more than a second or two and you end up with a very accurate receipt to settle up.
As far as I know, Costco doesn't even allow two people to use one membership.
posted by bz at 11:24 AM on March 20, 2018
Do this all the time, the Costco cashier can simply add a dividing line on the receipt separating two batches of items (arranged sequentially on the conveyor, of course). Takes no more than a second or two and you end up with a very accurate receipt to settle up.
As far as I know, Costco doesn't even allow two people to use one membership.
posted by bz at 11:24 AM on March 20, 2018
As far as I know, Costco doesn't even allow two people to use one membership.
Married couples can definitely use the same membership.
posted by soelo at 12:30 PM on March 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Married couples can definitely use the same membership.
posted by soelo at 12:30 PM on March 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
I should have been clearer: Costco won't allow anyone not named on the membership to pay at checkout, even with cash. For example, I will take my father shopping at Costco and when it comes time to checkout using my membership, they will not allow him to pay.
posted by bz at 2:25 PM on March 20, 2018
posted by bz at 2:25 PM on March 20, 2018
Would anyone even pay that much attention? I think the only time I ever kicked a fuss was when someone was clearly stocking up on 3 month's worth of pantry goods and went through the 15-item checkout aisle. I was extremely vocal and annoyed and wanted to let both the cashier and the customer know that they made a really, really bad decision.
Otherwise, I would not even pay attention, since I'll probably be looking to see the next avaliable one.
posted by yueliang at 8:17 PM on March 20, 2018
Otherwise, I would not even pay attention, since I'll probably be looking to see the next avaliable one.
posted by yueliang at 8:17 PM on March 20, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kapers at 11:37 AM on March 19, 2018 [21 favorites]