self service

been to BANQ closeing down sale,10%off plus over 60s 10% off,bought a load of paint,,,anyways,i stopped off at tescos for a few things,feeling brave i went to the self service thinggy,,jeez,,i was for ever calling the assistant over,got bollocked for moveing me bag,barcodes werent reconised etc.......asked nice lady to do it for me lol,,,,
so how do you folks get on with that system?me,next time its the checkouts

Re: self service

Time you got a spell-checker doc !!!

Take a look here

Re: self service

ok,rite

Re: self service

Ah the old self service check-outs ! Yes, lessons to be learned here. There is a knack, but really it is just understanding how the system works.

The key thing to realise is that BOTH sides of the machine are weighing scales and the system is constantly weighing.

What you MUST not do is continually faff with things on either side. Timing is crucial.

So for instance. Let's say you put your basket down on one side, press the START button on screen and scan your first item.

Then you go to the other side and start faffing with the carrier bags, pulling one off the pile, opening it up etc. AT this stage you've already tripped up the system. By faffing about the weighing scale on that side is constantly bobbing up and down and the system can't verify that the weight of the item from the basket side, is the same as the weight of the item on the bag side. So the alarm goes off.

With all this understood the technique should be thus:

Before you start, place your basket on one side and ready ALL the bags you are going to need on the other side and make sure they are open and ready.

Then begin.

Take and item from the basket, scan it, and immediately place it in an open bag on the other side. Do NOT faff with the item in that bag trying to move it or pack it into a certain position, just dump it in there and leave it be. You HAVE to let the system get the weight of that item as soon as it can.
Only then move onto the next item.

If you bear this in mind the process will be much quicker and smoother.

I think many people have an expectation that these check-outs will work at the same speed as the staffed checkouts but of course they don't. They trust the staff on their tills. They don't trust customers on self-checkouts so everything is weighed and that weighing process is what slows everything down.

That said once you get the knack you can whizz through the items pretty quickly imo, but you can't pack them as neatly in the bag as you would normally do.

Re: self service

Have you swiped your ****** card?
Change is dispensed below
Please take your card
Please take your receipt
Please remove your items
Thank you for using self service


The machine nags you to take your change and receipt, then nags you to take your items. I end up shouting at it 'I can only do one thing at a time!'

I know there is a knack, and I get my payment ready first, before scanning. But if I have a lot of stuff, and need to stack it in my trolley that's when they start the nagging.

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They're a pain in the whotsit. i don't use them any more

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Same here

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Actually, on the rare occasions I use them [just a few items] I rather enjoy them, TBH.
Sort of pitting your wits against them with their vagaries.

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I wont use them as they are keeping someone out of a job, and its usually those that need the job most of all.

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Nom-totally agree with you.