rage against the machine?
I had a conversation with Amy today about the self-check out machines that are popping up in so many supermarkets and chain stores. Amy thinks they're a bad idea because she'd much rather have a person check her groceries out. I told her that I found the self-check out machines annoying when the person in front of me doesn't know how to use it, holds up the line or is buying a lot of items. Otherwise, I found them totally fine and convenient for buying a few items quickly without having to stand in line, to which Amy disagreed. We left the conversation at that, and I attributed our differences to her socialist tendencies and my capitalistic bent ;) But later that afternoon, I stopped by Food Lion on the way home to pick up a jar of peanut butter and some peaches. To check-out, I used the self-check out machine. The peanut butter scanned through with no problems, but peaches caused some trouble because the machine could only weigh it but had no means of identifying the peaches. I was struck at the machine with the help light on, waiting and holding up the line behind me. Finally someone comes to help me, decides I've reached the point on the machine where I need to make two separate purchases for the peanut butter and the peaches and then punches in a number coding for the peaches. I was not impressed. Had I gotten in line and had a clerk (who is trained and knows the produce ID numbers) check my items out it would have been much faster. But this store only had one check out line (which was quite long) and at least four self-check out machines. It's obvious that the store is trying to save money by installing machines, not hiring clerks, having the customers work for themselves. But I wonder how efficient this change actually is, given the lack of problem-solving abilities and situational flexibilities of the machine, not to mention the lack of knowledge/experience on the customer side. Can a machine really replace a well-trained cashier? Also, I noticed that up-scale stores like Whole Foods, Earthfare, and Weaver Street still don't have these machines. Perhaps it's against their philosophies of having good customer service and a quality shopping experience. In short, you get what you paid for. Next time, I will only use the machines for straight-forward bar coded items and take my multifaceted produces to a check-out line.