They are ok but find them far too slow and too stupid.

I see coles in QLD have gotten rid of the express lanes in favour of running everyone through the self serve checkouts it’s quite funny seeing people with 2 trolley loads of stuff trying to run stuff through these checkouts they simply weren’t made for that at all.

I do like it for the recharge thing, much quicker there though I got one from a Kmart machine and it was saying the recharge hadn’t of gone through on the screen but still pumped out a code anyway.

I still think they should have more people on late at night so you don’t have a line up of 30 people at the self serve checkouts

Just select the apple code from the menu for loose produce instead of the banana code.

Coles and Woolies must be losing thousands of bucks every week if everyone does what I do.

“why they are useful: it saves time, less fuss (usually ahem), more privacy, less BS shatter”

** i think you meant chatter??

But then you go and end your comment with

“if you’re still having trouble then you are fairly slow”

Thats def not coles training!

Yeah, and i agree with ozsoapbox- dont tell your customers that the system is designed to avoid shoplifting! You will just piss them off more!

Silvia Ford: Using these self scanners in any store is helping to put even more people out of work.

Unfortunately Silvia, that’s been the case over the past couple of decades as electronic technology gradually takes over from manual labour. Think ATMs and public transport ticket swipers and parking meters for example.

I guess its something we have to accept as the alleged “advancement” of our society. One of the main issues I have is that all this electronic paraphernalia is manufactured overseas, particularly in Asia, rather than here in Australia — where we could’ve organised a cross-transition of the newly redundant labour force into different industries here.

The nett loss of jobs could’ve been largely minimised.

Using these self scanners in any store is helping to put even more people out of work.How right my dad was.

1. why they are useful: it saves time, less fuss (usually ahem), more privacy, less BS shatter

Not always. My experience was evidence of this.

2. the weights are there FOR ALL ITEMS SCANNED so that a) the system can make sure the barcode matches the item (avoid shoplifting), b) so that if any foreign, unscanned item was packed (i.e. a stolen item), the machine can pick it up (avoid shoplifting)

So pretty much the automated scanners are designed to assume I’m some low life thief out to scam the system? Well that makes me want to use them more now doesn’t it.

if you’re still having trouble then you are fairly slow.

I guess the customer is always right is dead over at Coles (coming from someone who once worked the supermarket circuit).

coles worker: c) for when you want to purchase multiple items with the same barcode or when you are buying fresh produce. think of the scale as a person who checks everything you bag, letting you know that “yep, that was scanned, and yep you can take that with you”

The electronic machine can’t differentiate the PLU of expensive apples versus the PLU of the el-cheapos. Simple.

1. why they are useful: it saves time, less fuss (usually ahem), more privacy, less BS shatter

2. the weights are there FOR ALL ITEMS SCANNED so that a) the system can make sure the barcode matches the item (avoid shoplifting), b) so that if any foreign, unscanned item was packed (i.e. a stolen item), the machine can pick it up (avoid shoplifting) and c) for when you want to purchase mulitple items with the same barcode or when you are buying fresh produce. think of the scale as a person who checks everything you bag, letting you know that “yep, that was scanned, and yep you can take that with you”

3. if you put your handbag on the scales it defeats the purpose, it looks like you shoved a whole lot of stolen items, unscanned, into your shopping bag (the scales have no camera, so it seems as if you put extra items in a bag)BUT you can chose to weigh your handbag prior to your shop on the scales so that they take the inital weight into account (hence the “do you have a shopping bag”—click yes—take 2/5 seconds to weigh—reset to 0g)it was asking you over and over again because you weren’t weighing the bag.

4. paying with cash, or credit sign is very simple.

so when you have ONE bad experience, don’t dismiss it and start bagging it out to everyone. it’s one of those things you get used to. if you’re still having trouble then you are fairly slow. SORRY, peace.

LMFAO: I can buy what I want without judgment from the check out operator..

sounds like someone buys condoms and lube with a bag of carrots

Target have a single line for all shoppers to queue in, and at christmas time, that line could easily be 50+ people long. Big W have thrown in a few self serve checkouts, which are so good, cos i only ever really buy 1 or 2 things from there, same as target, but i avoid target these days.

Even GoLo have hopped on to the band wagon with the single line… to add to it tho, the line is made up of a line of shelves, which have so many impulse items, its ridiculous… smart for the shop, not so much for impulse buyers lol

ozsoapbox: Really, they’ve gotten rid of the express queues altogether now?

It seems to be up to the particular store, and depends on its geographical location, size, and customer demographic.

Anyway, the 12-item “express” checkouts are still being used by shoppers with 25 or 30 items, so nothing much has changed since you left the lucky country.

Really, they’ve gotten rid of the express queues altogether now??

They were still there when I wrote this article, hence my preference to use them. if they’re gone though I guess that’s another matter. Seems the supermarket environment has changed since I left Australia.

ozsoapbox: @ausgeoff

lol, what happens if something goes wrong and one of the staff comes to check your order…

If it were to happen, at my age I can just fall back on the old, elderly Luddite excuse for my confusion.

You know… “Oh dear. All this high-tech gadgetry is so confusing for someone like me. I’m still having trouble using calculators!”

Works seamlessly every time in these sorts of scenarios.

I can buy what I want without judgment from the check out operator..I dont have to make small talk..I dont have to feel like a tight a$$.

I’m about to travel probly 10ks just so I can use the self serve…

…I don’t think it’s got much to do with being gen y. Are you sure you don’t suffer from a social disorder?

@ausgeoff

lol, what happens if something goes wrong and one of the staff comes to check your order…

…RUUUUUUUUUUN?

In fact, I now save big dollars on all my fruit and veggies. All too easy. And something the wunderkinds at Coles et al haven’t (apparently) figured out yet. I hope none of ‘em are reading this LOL.

Simply grab a (loose) kilo of the most expensive apples, or tomatoes, or asparagus or whatever. When the product select prompt scree comes up, simply choose the lowest priced variant of the product on the touch screen.

The computer obviously doesn’t know the difference between Pink Ladies at $4-99 per kg, and Granny Smiths at at $2-99 per kg. Or vine-grown tomatoes at $6-99 per kilo from their el-cheapo cousins at $3-99 per kilo.

There’s a savings of $5 just from one single visit.

Obviously, you can do this with any loose produce: Scan cashews as peanuts and save $17 per kilo!

Bring on more of these money-savers I say.

I can buy what I want without judgment from the check out operator.. I dont have to make small talk with someone I really couldn’t be bothered listening to.. I can be in and out much faster than even the express checkout.. I can use the coin deposit bit where I can dump all the spare coin I have in my wallet and it can be counted faster and more accurate n I dont have to feel like a tight a$$ using coin for my shop..

The only thing I dont like about them its that there isn’t room to do a bigger shop; a conveyor belt would help..

Am about to go to the shops and stumbled across this page while trying to google where the closest coles with self serve checkouts was.. I’m about to travel probly 10ks just so I can use the self serve… introduce more I say!

as a typical gen y, I am embracing these things with open arms… Those who refuse to accept will become fair sad soon as ull be left behind

I refuse to shop anywhere these are installed, anyone who continues to shop in such a place is giving these devices tick of approval.

What about shopping at supermarkets that have them installed, but avoiding their use.

Surely supermarkets are collecting information on the popularity of these machines. Seems a bit heavy handed to avoid shopping at a supermarket altogether just because the choice of either self serve or traditional checkout is made to you.

Regardless of what you post on the Interwebs every time you shop there you are saying “I like this! more please.”

The machine has a small table on the left and on the right a kind of weighting table where they have a bundle of plastic bags hanging off it.

To human, when a can of baked bean is priced as per can, why needing to weight it? Only items that are priced per unit of weight needing it. This is human form of deduction and intelligence. Hence as a matter of principle, I scan it by not weighting them. I watched to make sure it registers the scan.

Shopping habit usually leads people to prepare the plastic bag ready to receive scanned items. The minute you ruffles those hard to open up plastic bag, the machine barks instructions to remove foreign items with words to that effect and the machines lock up waiting for operator’s assistance.

Now rather than getting annoy, I begin to apply two tactics, which I encourage others to do: Dumb instructions should be treated verbatim – hence I usually take the whole bundle of the plastic bags off the table. (thanks Coles for supplying me clean plastic bags. When I need any, I just get the machine to tell me to). When the machine is locked it usually pops up the key pad. Help yourself with this amusing game of guessing the pin as it is so inviting. If I pick the right number, I win the bingo and that means I can reset the machine any time. If I lose and if the system is designed using security best practice, it will lock the machine up, preventing even valid entry to be supplied for a cooling off period.

Hence one machine is then preventing from inflicting harm on another human. I have even tried thumping the scale and this some times has the effect of reseting it too.

I am technologically competent human being but intolerant of half-witted dumb machine trying to reduce my level of intelligence to that of a piece of silicon and stainless steel.

I reckon they need to go back to the drawing board.