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As has already been mentioned, postal workers will also steal mail. A few years ago, I sent my property taxes via check in the mail. Somewhere between CA and KY a postal worker opened the envelope, took the check and altered it to a different name and amount. The bank saw what happened after I reported it and took care of it for me.
Now I just walk down the street and pay it in person.
I no longer regret that our retirement country does not have postal service. There are work-arounds for everything, it seems. Last year we paid for our vacation rental by check sent through FedEx. This year, there was a third-party option that we could pay by credit card for a small fee. That worked out really well.
Relieves a lot of clutter by having no mail. Checks are not a thing where we live either. It works out.
Almost all stores I have been to including Walmart and Lowes have people that will help you self checkout. They realize some people are doing it for the first time or may just need help.
"Oh, please, I don't want to walk away and leave all these goods for you to restock.....but that is what we are looking at here. I will not use self checkout, period.".
Oh, and just by the way.....my grocery bills have often been a $300+ checkout.
I think the answer is to determine what type of checkout facilities the store has before you load up your cart. If there are no human cashiers, you walk out quietly and don't waste yours or anyone else's time.
Agreed. We've not been to anywhere that did not have a printed menu, but I can assure you that if we had been expected to read a menu on a phone screen, we'd have left without ordering.
I haven't seen that here in SoCal either (saw it in Portugal during Covid) but would not patronize a place like that. Too hard to read, too awkward, like MQ said.
I no longer regret that our retirement country does not have postal service. There are work-arounds for everything, it seems. Last year we paid for our vacation rental by check sent through FedEx. This year, there was a third-party option that we could pay by credit card for a small fee. That worked out really well.
Relieves a lot of clutter by having no mail. Checks are not a thing where we live either. It works out.
Yes, there are always options these days as opposed to just a few years ago. I just paid my homeowner's insurance for the year with a credit card. The other option was a check or money taken directly from my bank account.
I chose to use my credit card so I could get some points and I'll just pay it in full when I get my statement. There was no extra fee for using the card.
I think the answer is to determine what type of checkout facilities the store has before you load up your cart. If there are no human cashiers, you walk out quietly and don't waste yours or anyone else's time.
If the store I have used for years suddenly decided to get rid of the human cashiers, especially if they don't tell anyone or announce it at the front door, it is really on them, really their fault.
Part of this thing of this century is this insistence that the consumer does the work, more and more, of the business and I am not going for that. Be it doing self check out, doing reconnaissance to see how they do internal affairs, letting my body pay for their feel good atmosphere, or showing up at 0600 to unload their supply trucks (that's the current joke about self check out https://ifunny.co/picture/starting-d...load-0HPHMef5A ).
One advantage of self-checkout is that you can curse and snarl at the machine in a way a nice person would never do to a human.
To the point of the original story that began this thread, I've noticed that sometimes lately one or two of the self-checkout lanes (about four stations to a lane) is closed, and there is a new sign about checking receipts. The machines also seem to be quicker to admonish about "unknown item in bagging area" (wrongly) and calling for assistance with the red light above flashing. I suspect there has been an increase in loss, and they are taking preventive measures.
One advantage of self-checkout is that you can curse and snarl at the machine in a way a nice person would never do to a human......
I would never to that, anyhow. It goes against my angelic nature.
So, seriously, is that part of world now? Machines promoting so people can be, if more, mean and unpleasant? If that's part of the conditioning of living in the 21st century, they can keep it.
But please, don't walk away from a full shopping cart. It may feel good to you, and you may think it sends a message, and you may think they will change their m.o., but when a store ends up with 25+ full shopping carts to deal with at the end of the day, the employees suffer. And NO, corporate is NOT going to "get the message" and put traditional cashiers back on. They're NOT doing it. Period.
I grocery shop for a month at a time. I don’t mind self checkout for a few items but I wouldn’t use it in this situation. Luckily Winco has cashiers and you can only use self checkout if you don’t have more than 15 items. Plus they always have an employee there to help people.
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