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How would the person mess it up if you are standing right there while things are being scanned?
Sometimes things will double scan if the cashier isn't quick enough to get it past the scanner. I've also had things double scan 'just because', it seemed. If the cashier is familiar enough with the 'beeps' on the scanner they will catch it. I've also had items beep once but show up twice. I've had a few get through but managed to catch, and void, before the end of the transaction. Neither the scanners or the cashiers are perfect and it's happened to me as a customer as well. It's kind of hard for a customer to pay attention if the cashier is scanning while they are till unloading their items.
I work as a cashier at another well known grocery store chain, and according to Senior staff above the store level, every cashier is supposed to scan 30 items per minute.
The reason for this is to get the customer through the line as quickly as possible.
And to probably lessen the complaints from impatient customers who complain about the long wait time.
Our SPH was 1,000 items per hour. I could do it if I didn't have to bag too. Also I noticed that the people who did have really high SPH were TERRIBLE baggers. In such a hurry they just tossed things in the bags without any thought or organization. I averaged about 850 and that was 'acceptable'. I actually got a lot of compliments from my customers for both speed and bagging.
The only reason I don't use them is because it is so difficult to open up those cheap plastic bags. Especially at WalMart.
Plus cashiers bag for a living. They're a lot better at it than I am.
Anyone notice that WalMart does not have baggers?
Those plastic bags are the bane of a cashiers life and THEY hate them too, believe me. When they come from the factory there are 75 bags in a bunch and they are so compressed it's difficult to get them open.
I think everyone knows that Walmart doesn't have baggers. The cashiers wish they did.
Interesting, the new cashier-less store model. When DH was in college back in the early 1960's, one of the class projects was to design just such a store. The students came up with several different ideas for achieving this - all BEFORE cell phones and the internet.
The only reason I don't use them is because it is so difficult to open up those cheap plastic bags. Especially at WalMart.
All the places around here, the self checkout attendant goes around and opens the bags as customers leave. I bring my own bags, so I always have to flatten the store's bags back up to fit my own bags in the bagging area.
All the places around here, the self checkout attendant goes around and opens the bags as customers leave. I bring my own bags, so I always have to flatten the store's bags back up to fit my own bags in the bagging area.
I always did that too but you can only open the first one so they have to do the rest. Well, you CAN open several but pretty quick they won't stay on the stand. I actually had people want me to stand there and open each one for them.
The bags I use have a collapsible solid bottom so I can just place them in the bagging area and not have to put them over the plastic ones. My mom had that kind though and I put thin cardboard in the bottom of them for her so they worked the same as mine.
I work as a cashier at another well known grocery store chain, and according to Senior staff above the store level, every cashier is supposed to scan 30 items per minute.
The reason for this is to get the customer through the line as quickly as possible.
And to probably lessen the complaints from impatient customers who complain about the long wait time.
I was always programmed to be patient at the checkout line especially if I can see the person ahead of me has a cart full of groceries
I use self-checkout 99% of the time. Otherwise I will be waiting 20 minutes in line behind 3 full carts of groceries.
One of the stores I frequent has two types of self-checkout, one "12 items or less" with small stations and a few other "no item limit" lanes that are designed more like normal lanes (with a belt) if you have a full cart. I will admit, if I have a few items beyond the 12 limit, I will still use that line. I can scan 15 items in less time than many of the people I see who have 5.
I was initially a little resistant to self-checkout (years ago), but now I prefer it. I bag my stuff the way I want it, I don't have to make small talk with a cashier (not all, but many take "how are you" as an invitation to spill their troubles on me like I'm a therapist), and it's easier to catch things that don't ring up as expected.
Re: the scales in the bagging area... my one pet peeve is that they often can't sense the weight of very small items (greeting cards, small cosmetics, etc) and you can only choose "I don't want to bag this item" a few times before an employee has to manually intervene.
I know this has been hammered already, but on not taking your carts back to the corral... you're not saving a job for someone, you're probably making extra work for someone who has 5 other things they are also responsible for. Every business (grocery stores included) is always trying to dump more work on fewer employees. I'd be surprised if there is a job that literally only consists of "getting carts". So the time they spend chasing down the carts is time not spent doing something else in the store (stocking shelves or cleaning) that you will probably be annoyed about when you see it hasn't been taken care of. Don't make their jobs more time consuming than needed.
I use self-checkout 99% of the time. Otherwise I will be waiting 20 minutes in line behind 3 full carts of groceries.
One of the stores I frequent has two types of self-checkout, one "12 items or less" with small stations and a few other "no item limit" lanes that are designed more like normal lanes (with a belt) if you have a full cart. I will admit, if I have a few items beyond the 12 limit, I will still use that line. I can scan 15 items in less time than many of the people I see who have 5.
I was initially a little resistant to self-checkout (years ago), but now I prefer it. I bag my stuff the way I want it, I don't have to make small talk with a cashier (not all, but many take "how are you" as an invitation to spill their troubles on me like I'm a therapist), and it's easier to catch things that don't ring up as expected.
Re: the scales in the bagging area... my one pet peeve is that they often can't sense the weight of very small items (greeting cards, small cosmetics, etc) and you can only choose "I don't want to bag this item" a few times before an employee has to manually intervene.
I know this has been hammered already, but on not taking your carts back to the corral... you're not saving a job for someone, you're probably making extra work for someone who has 5 other things they are also responsible for. Every business (grocery stores included) is always trying to dump more work on fewer employees. I'd be surprised if there is a job that literally only consists of "getting carts". So the time they spend chasing down the carts is time not spent doing something else in the store (stocking shelves or cleaning) that you will probably be annoyed about when you see it hasn't been taken care of. Don't make their jobs more time consuming than needed.
I've never had a cashier try to tell me their "troubles" but I sure got some from my customers. No biggie though. I generally didn't have a lot of time to commiserate with them because I generally had several behind them!
The OLD scanners did indeed have problems with weighing nearly weightless items. I think that's just one of the reasons the newer scanners don't bother with weight in the bagging area anymore. Also, another new feature concerns the age approval items like alcohol. The old scanners would come to a full stop until the attendant came to approve the sale. The new ones don't. You can keep scanning until the end but you can't pay till that sale has been approved. The lights on top of the scanner will turn yellow, letting the attendant know there's an age approval item been scanned, if it takes them a bit to get there the light will turn red but soon as it's approved the light turns green. It takes pressure off of the attendant and eases irritation with the customer if they don't have to fully stop and wait. The attendant WILL get there ASAP though because management keeps an eagle eye on those lights.
Cart pushers never stock the store or clean. Stockers and maintenance take care of those. They do carry outs sometimes though. I agree, there's no reason for customers to make their jobs any harder or take longer than they have to. It's a hard and thankless job and the way people drive, plus all the conditions they work under, I've always thought they deserve hazard pay.
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