I am an avid U-Scan user. Brad loves to go through the checkout lanes so he can interact (translate --mess with ) the clerks but I'd much rather do the self serve thing.
I like being in control of how things go in the bags and it gives me another look at what I might have missed. It's fast and easy to use. Our Kroger has both express (15 items or less) and the full cart carousel kind. I buy a LOT of produce so I know the codes and ours has a feature that just lets you type in the name of the produce if you need to. Everything gets bagged correctly, I just swipe my card and boom I'm gone.
I was thrilled when they put in the U-Scan machines. I'd had enough of being ignored as my thoughtfully sorted items were checked through and piled into a mess, the carefully picked produce dumped in with the cans, the bread scrunched in the middle, the ice cream stuck in with the hot deli chicken. Sigh.
And this was all the while listening to the endless drama of who stole whose boyfriend and who was being screwed over at work and when was break and who was 'zoomin' who .... blah blah blah.
So I revel in being able to use the U-Scan in peace--that is until someone displays outright rudeness or stupidity or both and gums up the works. After my last bout with the rudeness this Sunday I thought I'd run down some U-Scan etiquette.
- If you don't know how to use it please don't try to learn when the store is full and lines are long.
- If you have small children it is NOT CUTE when you allow them to essentially play with the scanning when the store is full and the lines are long. Seriously people, this is incredibly rude.
- If it says 15 items or less then don't get in that line unless you have 15 items or less! This is particularly annoying with U-Scan because the stations for the express are not set up to handle much.
- Allow the person using the U-Scan to FINISH before you step up and try to use it. It will not work for you until I've gotten my bags off of the carousel. ( This one goes out to the rude woman who tried this when I was checking out Sunday).
- Do NOT use a check. If you absolutely must--please do your bookkeeping once you have cleared the lanes.
- Have your shopper's card/coupons ready .
- Remember that the attendant is taking care of as many as six scanners at a time. They are not your 'personal shopper'.
This is definitely not a definitive list. What would you suggest to help others learn to make the U-Scan experience better for us all?
15 comments:
Oooh - I love the self checkout, too! I like all of your suggestions, only most of them apply to the regular lanes as well. The predominant theme would be:
Dear People -
You are not the only person on Earth. Please be courteous, and if you can't, stay at home.
Thanks.
Sincerely, Courteous Shoppers
I don't like the U-scan since my local Publix only has four, the attendant has to okay every transaction, and he or she always seems to need to wander off when I'm finished, but I do have a couple of Taco Bell suggestions.
1) If there is a long line with only one cashier and you don't know what you want, let somebody else go rather than say "I'm not sure what I want" and stand there blocking the line.
2) Before beginning your order, decide on ALL the items you want instead of saying "Taco, burrito, and...let's see. Hmmm. What else do I want?"
3) If you're that retarded, just stay home and kill yourself to the betterment of society.
As much as I'd love to use it, thank goddess we don't have that in my Publix; I would impale someone with an underripe banana. We have far too many people with cranial-rectal inversions around these parts to mess with that.
I use these all the time in Home Depot, though. The biggest problem I have there is with the stupid machines, not the customers. Mostly because they can't be bothered to anything themselves.
I only use the UScan for the most part. Like you, I want my groceries bagged properly and I can get in and out much quicker.
All of your rules are P-E-R-F-E-C-T...
Aside from my utter lack of understanding as to who still writes cheques in public (have you hard of debit cards, people??? You DO know that cheques go through electronically and clear just as quickly as debits nowadays, right?) ... I would like to add: WRITE YOUR BLOODY CHEQUE WHILE YOU ARE WAITING. The name of the store, the date, and your signature are not going to change while you are in the queue!!!!
I have Me Scanned
I like to talk to the folks, I go to the line with the prettiest girl. I have used this method all 3 times I have ever been in a check out line.
Trader Joe's does not have these, but I have some experience with them, and I'd have to say you hit the high points. Great list; too bad you're preaching to the choir here, TB.
What drives me nuts about the Kroger U-Scan is that they're so danged slow. It pains me to see that the Wal-Mart self-scan stations are better. I hate it when Wal-Mart does something better than anyone else. Grrr...
U-Scan is evil. EVIL, I say!
It's a conspiracy. It takes longer to use than a service checkout. It DOES. Turnbaby has even admitted as much to me.
If you don't like the way that the order is being bagged, call them on it.
And I have found that if you engage the cashier in conversation, they won't talk to anyone else.
The bottom line for me is that U-Scan is just one more way to stick it to us. The store is saving money because they can hire fewer employees. Are they passing that savings on to you? NO!
If, by using the U-Scan, you could take 5-8 percent off your grocery bill, then I could see some value in it. But otherwise, U-Scan is a sucker bet.
heavens! you mean i'm not the only one to organize groceries by category on the conveyor? large items first, then heavy canned/dry goods, refrigerables in a group followed by frozen items, produce, and then "highly squishables"?
yes. there is a hyphen in 'anal-retentive'...
fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck no. NO, i say. i will not do the job of two fucking employees (cashier and bagger) so the store can save money. the length of the lines make no difference, i will wait to have an actual store employee stay employed. doin my part for the economy, dammit.
ya know, i gotta pump my own fucking gas at these crazy prices because folks like you didn't want to keep a guy employed to check my oil and wash my window while my gasoline pumped. had to pump your own gas. grrrrrrrrrrrr!
great...hell might have frozen over because it seems i sorta agree with brad...
*gigglesnort* I just think the world would be a much nicer place if we were all given a good dose of common sense!
Oh, how I love me a UScan! I use Kroger's and Walmart's all the time! I tried Lowe's this week but ran into lots of issues with my debit card...it woudln't scan mine nor my huband's. WTF?
I'd say you can boil it all down to common courtesy.
If I was King, I would decree that all grocery stores install tracks for the carts to run in so shoppers can't park them in the middle of the dang lane while they decide which of the 20 brands of peanut butter to purchase.
Post a Comment