Should you get a discount if going through a self service machine?

I think this depends on how many machines there are in the shop.

Eventually, like at airports, there will be a lot of these machines, as sometimes I have to line up to get to them at Woolworths.

I do think eventually they could offer a small discount for using these at least in supermarkets, as if they have a bank of say 30 or even 20, they ARE saving manpower as they only ever have one person helping, and we would all get used to knowing how to use them, as I do now.
I rarely need help -only sometimes when I cannot find a fresh fruit item.

by Finy

Yes probably as YOU are doing all the work, scanning and packing

by Fran

No I don't think so, one of the reasons for these machines is so as to cut down on queuing time so they are providing you with a faster service

by AJ

No, but a reference would be nice. Something to put on the C.V.

by Vee

I have never used ( and never will) use a self serve check out.
Firstly and most importantly ( to me) I think it's just the supermarkets trying to employ fewer people and I don't want to help put anyone out of a job.
Secondly I already have a job. If I wanted a job there, I'd apply for one.
Thirdly we all need to practice a bit of patience. It really doesn't kill you to stand in line.

by lynne

I agree, No way the supermarkets aren't getting some sort of kick back from installing these machines. They may not be getting profit at August 2014 but profit certainly will be their goal in the near future. They can only result in loss of jobs, particularly for after school kids and loss of part-time jobs for mothers.
No I don't use them. I can't stand the worrying about lack of jobs for people.

I also agree, are we that impatient that everything has to be so instant? No self serve for me ever as I too am concerned about people and their jobs.

Perfect answer. I agree with you Lynne.

I agree, I also do not use them, am I being paid for doing their job, no, a discount would be nice to compensate. after all i have just spent a long time walking around their very large supermarket to fill my trolley, (wonder how far I walked overall) some things I wanted not on their shelves , which means I then have to trolley my goods to the car and return to the other big supermarket to obtain the goods I want, no I will not use their self serve checkouts.

No because they don't really save the store money. In my experience an awful lot of manpower goes into showing people how to use the machines, no matter how user friendly you make them. Otherwise intelligent people won't read the instructions and get unreasonably angry about not being able to figure it out. Library self checkout machines are even worse because you know the people in there can at least read. I've seen a university professor losing it when the machine wouldn't work because he had his library card the wrong way up despite the image on screen that clearly showed which way it ought to go.

by Jennifer Muirhead

Ah yes! An academic, long on a Degree, very short on common sense!
Knew someone who had THREE Degrees', including one Masters'....dumb as ditchwater when it came to everyday, common sensical things! See this sort of situation repeatedly. Why?

No I don't , they are there for you to get out quickly.
That's it!

by jonaja

No, they get you out more quickly and you avoid all the fake conversation with check out operates!

by Sandy Ludinski

oh, what a wonder point Sandy -I hate all that!

I know it's not the check out operator's fault, they're trained to do all that stuff but it really annoys me! Must be getting old and cranky!

what a grump

to save having to listen to check outs conversation which usually is how are you today etc I do not answer just look blankly at them, They of cause think poor old thing she is deaf, works every time.

I always beat the checkout staff to the point, I always ask them how they are, are they coping with standing in the stiff breeze that blasts through the door every time a customer enters…in winter and on stinking hot days. I always enquire as to whether their manager thought that it would be reasonably cheap to put a screen at the back of them and I ask if they have approached their manager for same. And, I'm usually through the checkout in no time and feeling a little smug about the fact that I may have stirred up a bit of resentment in them toward their manager. If their asking me how I am etc. annoyed me, I would have no trouble at all in approaching the manager (or making him come through the store to me) and asking him if he was insisting on the staff asking questions of me like "how are you" etc., I would let him know that it was annoying me but that I had no intention whatsoever of blaming the poor staff for that irritation and that I blamed him for it, and that the staff have my sympathy in having to obey instruction from him blah blah blah blah.

Never thought about it but good idea - saving costs for the company so why don't customer get part of it back!

by mild7

I think so because someone doesn't have a job because of this machine.

by Shelley Murphy

I AVOID them because it has taken a persons job! There is much theft thru these checkouts and we end up paying for that by the increases in grocery prices. (It is better for people to have jobs so the money goes round.) Seems like the major supermarkets are changing to self checkout but I wait for a real person, I don't being polite to a human.

by brigi

Sorry, error that should read I don't mind being polite to a real person

by brigi

I don't use them at all because someone lost their job because of these machines..Woud you use them if you lost your job or your hours cut?

by uzitg

yes

by donel

Yes there should be a discount. Perhaps part of the GST. Why should I pay for the service tax if I'm not getting served and have to put the groceries in bags myself.

by irenk

Refuse totally to use them, ever!
Prefer to deal with a real person!
Didn't take thiefs long to learn how to rort the system! How many wages' worth of check-out persons' are stolen through these machines?

by donjo

I think you should. You are doing the work . The store does not have to pay an employee, plus their long service, sick pay and holiday leave, not to mention superannuation. We are saving the store lots of money as there are several of these registers per shop, not just one. So the cost of employing several people has been saved. I don't like using the self service registers. I would use them more if I did get a discount. They will be the way of the future I suppose, and the checkout people could be used to stock the shelves or something else. Machines have been doing the jobs of man for a long time and they always will. Nothing we can do to stop change

by Lluxi

Each to their own, but for me....no.

The option of a self check out for me means I can usually beat waiting in the que. Time is money for many of us, and blocking the front end of the store with all of us waiting is not helpful, particularly on busier days.

It is not the stores just dumping staff, but wages are a huge expense, and if they choose to operate the store and not replace every lost employee, well it is their business and their right.

I can't put stock out on shelves, but I certainly can scan a few bags worth, and I do around 70 items every week, on C/O #114 at Coles.

I also get my bags packed MY way, hard and heavy on the bottom, soft and light on the top and in the order I want/need them packed.

It is a bit slower, but I am not an expert, and this is all part of my choice.

This also helps keeping item pricing down with not having extra staff on a checkout, and the expense of maintaining a full sized check out, and the extra floor space made available as self serv' check outs are smaller.

It all adds up, use it if you choose, and take advantage of the choice we have now, which was not available years ago, and does not cost us a cent extra.

Now, how about self loading/driving trolleys?

by Doctor Dave

Yes 1 should get a 5% discount, but I just HATE self serve checkouts, & would rather stand in a queue!

by Miro

No. Just get rid of these self service registers and put staff in their place. I refuse to use them and on the one occasion I had no option to use one because there was not one cashier based register in the store, I approached a staff member and asked her to put my purchases through as I was not going to do it myself. She was only too happy to oblige so maybe I wasn't the only one who objected to using it.

by helga

PS: We shop at Aldi, 99% of the time, & Aldi don't have them, thank heavens! I hate them, & we don't mind queueing for 5 minutes at a time. Also more people use cash at Aldi, because of the 5% surcharge, so 1 gets through the queue a lot quicker.

You're right Miro. I also use Aldi for most of my shopping but there are times I need to use another store. With Aldi I've never been charged the wrong price for items as opposed to Woolworths where practically every week I'd get an item for free due to wrong pricing.