I became embroiled in a discussion on Facebook on the subject of supermarket checkouts and started to write a reply which went on rather longer than I intended which prompted me to use it for this, however I have to wonder if this is a wise decision as this is nearly as dangerous a subject to write about as Brexit.
I shall though risk putting my head above the parapet by stating, they are not for me, I don’t work for the supermarket and by doing self checkout I am putting someone out of a job who we then have to pay unemployment benefit to whilst complaining that they are too lazy to get a job, a job that no longer exists.
The supermarket is saving a fortune by not paying staff to do the job but I don’t notice they have put the prices down to benefit the customers but have put them up to increase their profit margins, although if the supermarket was going to pay me to do the job of checkout assistant by way of a decent discount on my goods, I would consider doing it myself.
During the discussion it was suggested that checkouts are obsolete and I need to catch up with the times, but if we apply this to all service industries, are we to book our car in for a service and then do the work ourselves, or book a plumber and do likewise, I think not.
Eventually, all businesses will try to follow this model as it increases their profit margins but since this scheme has been introduced the incidence of shop lifting has vastly increased, yet again causing prices to increase for the consumer, so inevitably we end up with an inferior service at considerably more cost.
I know some of the younger people say they like to do it themselves as it’s quicker but I frequently see people queueing to do so and they can only swipe the goods at the same speed as a checkout assistant when they finally get to check themselves out, this argument only works when there is no queue and you only have a few items to checkout not a full trolley with a weekly or monthly shop.
All of us who use the supermarkets are paying for a service, we are paying for all the staff who are in some way working to serve us the customer, including the checkout assistants it is priced into the cost of our goods and as long as that service remains I will make use of it for all of the reasons stated.
Obviously, this is quite an emotive subject so I am expecting to be inundated with comments, no doubt telling me I am an old fuddy-duddy but I’m hoping there may be a few out there who think like me on this subject, or if this doesn’t spark your interest you can wait for my next post on the topic, Amazon deliveries, saving the planet, or the curse of the green activists!
The Diary of a Country Bumpkin 
It started in Switzerland about 2-3 years ago. I have mobility problems, due to MS, but I can still move independently with my walker in the store., however scanning and organising my shopping on my own does not come into the question – too complicated, and even without my problems, I prefer the assistance of the staff. In our local store it is divided, you can do it yourself or buy at the cash desk. I always buy my goods at the cash desk. I know the assistants, they know me, and I enjoy the social contact daily. I live alone during the day, my son comes home in the evening and Mr. Swiss is in a senior home. I enjoy the limited verfsion of life as it is, and do not need the extra stress of do-it-yourself.
Very well said, I have to say they drive me mad and I try to avoid using them wherever possible but if you get to the supermarket late there is no option to use the infuriating things.
Oh Joe, you old fuddy-duddy you! Actually, I do use self-checkout whenever possible. That way, I don’t have to be squashed in between the hoipolloi, or engage in banter with the staff. However, I have read that some stores are now taking out the self-checkouts as they have increased theft so much. I may have to start mixing again!
The similar thing happened to me in the bank where the teller said I could have used the machine to pay some money in and I pointed out to her that I didn’t want to put anyone out of a job and she replied that it would never happen to her. Over time they greatly reduced the staff at the branch and in the end finally shut it, I often wonder if the teller remembered our conversation, as you can tell, I did!
We don’t have any banks left in our town. No Post Office either. We do, however, have a banking hub run by The Post Office. There are no Post Office facilities, and a single representative of five different banks take turns to staff the facility.
Most of the time we don’t need a branch except if you wish to pay some actual cash in as we do banking on line, the time you need them is when you have a problem and you need a human being to sort it out. Now I think about it I need a supermarket checkout person more than I need a bank manager which is quite odd when you think back to the old days when a bank manager was a very important person with some standing in the community who could help arranging a business bank account, or a savings account, or a mortgage, or an overdraft, how times change. Now in my mind, someone to checkout my purchases in a supermarket has much more importance than the bank manger!
As a young man, I once met with my bank manager to ask for a car loan. He advised me that I could not afford the one I wanted. Later that day he phoned me up to say he’d found the perfect car for me and arranged for me to meet up with the seller.
Many years ago we had a family business and you would go to the bank to pay in the takings and if the manager was behind the counter he would always give a cheery wave and say, ‘hello Mr Wells,’ but I haven’t seen a bank manager for years. We did open a business account for my wife some 16 or so years ago but I’m sure it wasn’t the manager who dealt with us. It’s a sign you’re getting older when policemen and bank employees seem to be 15 year old spotty school children.
I am with you. I hate those things and refuse to use them. I would rather stand in a line and wait to be served by a human being than use a machine to check out. I’m not a technophobe. I dislike them on principle for much the same reasons you listed. Apart from that I enjoy the interaction with the checkout operator who can probably check my goods faster than I can do it anyway.
Agreed, you’ve got it exactly right.
Anyone remember when gas stations had attendants who pumped gas for you?
Yes, when I first started driving it was still this way, you were not allowed to touch the pump to do it yourself and my father brought us up to tip the pump attendant, I think normally it was 6 old pence or perhaps a shilling which was (12 pence) which may not sound much now but you could get a pint of beer then for 1s/9d (21 pence), so if everyone tipped him during the day he could have a decent drink at the pub in the evening!