rage against the machine
Customer (Nina Sunde) - 04/02/2004 10:40 AM
Name: Nina Sunde
Email: ninaville@sbcglobal.net
Address: 320 Riverdale Ct
City/State/Zip: Vacaville, CA 95687
Phone: 707 628-7498
Local Store: 1979 Peabody Rd Vacaville, CA
I thought you might be interested in my experience yesterday using
(what I
hope is) your experimental self-checkout system. Although I had used
it a
couple of times previously for a few items, and found it to be only
mildly
annoying, yesterday I thought to use it for a large order. My register
receipt number is 4/01/04 17:57 7281 93 0078 463.
I sincerely hope you are not planning on using this system instead of
checkers. Not only is the self-checkout really irritating with the
repeated mechanical-voice instructions and mystifying error messages,
it
is very labor intensive for your customer. Having worked a long day,
but
still needing to shop, the last thing I want to do in addition to
walking
the aisles collecting my items is unload and scan each item, load it
into
a bag, load it into a cart, load it into my car (all tasks your
employee
would normally do for me), then go home unload the car, unpack the
sacks
and put everything away. Added to this process are the repeated
errors,
confusion and need for intervention of a real person (in the form of
your
checker who is overseeing the operation). I would say it took me at
least 3 times longer to complete the process of checking out myself
than
it normally would have. In addition, I was exhausted, my mood was
soured
to say the least, and I would have to say overall that I do not have a
pleasant recollection of my shopping experience. The hassle and
frustration of using this had no benefit to me whatsoever.
On the other hand, the benefit to Albertson's is obvious: labor cost.
By
my reckoning, Albertson's owe's me $25 for my labor! (One interesting
note: although I had a large order and obviously could have used some
assitance, because I used the self-checkout, none was offered. I can
only
assume there is some kind of rule or procedure which applies, since
your
employees are usually very helpful and courteous).
In closing I would like to point out that in addition to low prices,
your
customers do require service. There are plenty of cut-corners
operations
where I can trade my time and labor for substantial savings. What I
saved
yesterday was not worth the hassle.
Regards,
Nina Sunde
Name: Nina Sunde
Email: ninaville@sbcglobal.net
Address: 320 Riverdale Ct
City/State/Zip: Vacaville, CA 95687
Phone: 707 628-7498
Local Store: 1979 Peabody Rd Vacaville, CA
I thought you might be interested in my experience yesterday using
(what I
hope is) your experimental self-checkout system. Although I had used
it a
couple of times previously for a few items, and found it to be only
mildly
annoying, yesterday I thought to use it for a large order. My register
receipt number is 4/01/04 17:57 7281 93 0078 463.
I sincerely hope you are not planning on using this system instead of
checkers. Not only is the self-checkout really irritating with the
repeated mechanical-voice instructions and mystifying error messages,
it
is very labor intensive for your customer. Having worked a long day,
but
still needing to shop, the last thing I want to do in addition to
walking
the aisles collecting my items is unload and scan each item, load it
into
a bag, load it into a cart, load it into my car (all tasks your
employee
would normally do for me), then go home unload the car, unpack the
sacks
and put everything away. Added to this process are the repeated
errors,
confusion and need for intervention of a real person (in the form of
your
checker who is overseeing the operation). I would say it took me at
least 3 times longer to complete the process of checking out myself
than
it normally would have. In addition, I was exhausted, my mood was
soured
to say the least, and I would have to say overall that I do not have a
pleasant recollection of my shopping experience. The hassle and
frustration of using this had no benefit to me whatsoever.
On the other hand, the benefit to Albertson's is obvious: labor cost.
By
my reckoning, Albertson's owe's me $25 for my labor! (One interesting
note: although I had a large order and obviously could have used some
assitance, because I used the self-checkout, none was offered. I can
only
assume there is some kind of rule or procedure which applies, since
your
employees are usually very helpful and courteous).
In closing I would like to point out that in addition to low prices,
your
customers do require service. There are plenty of cut-corners
operations
where I can trade my time and labor for substantial savings. What I
saved
yesterday was not worth the hassle.
Regards,
Nina Sunde