Do it yourself supermarket checkouts

[Nostradama]

Wow! They are great. I went supermarket shopping the other day and the friend I went with introduced me to the concept. Really handy, since all the check-out lines were long. I guess people were busy buying Easter things. We didn't have too much to check out, so she showed me how to use the do it yourself machines. I managed everything via the touch screen (first time I've ever used one!)

This installation was at the Woodgrove SaveOn. I have no idea how long it's been there--it's probably a month or more since I've been in the store.

Two concerns: How many jobs will this cost? And the debit/credit card swipe machine is sitting there, open and available for someone to do a quick switch so that all my banking information could be going to the wrong place. And that's not uncommon these days.

Does anyone know how many supermarkets in Nanaimo have installed these? I'd read about them in newspapers, but never expected to see them so soon in Nanaimo.

[Smokey©]

They have had them at Home Depot for about a year now. I doubt if the security of our debit cards, credit cards will be misused via these types of machines. This type of checkout is actually safer then handing your card to another person to insert in the swiper.

[Nostradama]

They have had them at Home Depot for about a year now. I doubt if the security of our debit cards, credit cards will be misused via these types of machines. This type of checkout is actually safer then handing your card to another person to insert in the swiper.

about swipe machines that are left unattended. It takes maybe two minutes, I'm told, to make the changes that send your banking info to an unauthorized destination, and there ya go, your bank account's gone. I don't understand what the danger is if I hand my card to another person, I'm right there, and I watch them swipe it and hand it back to me. They do that frequently at SaveOn. And Dave the Delivery Guy from Quality Foods does it all the time, standing with a hand-held swiper when he delivers my groceries. Could you explain it to me? After all, I'm still dragging my sorry rear into the twenty-first century, and I can use all the help I can get, but at least I've been using ATM cards since the '80s when they first hit Nanaimo. I'm trying, but it ain't easy!

[TH2008]

All I know is I got confused at Save-On foods and I had to be rescued by one of the cashiers to show me what I was doing.

--
TH

[Nostradama]

All I know is I got confused at Save-On foods and I had to be rescued by one of the cashiers to show me what I was doing.

--
TH

Well, I have to admit I think I wouldn't have made it through without my friend prompting me, altho I found it very easy to understand once she got me going. Sad thing was that I realized, once again, that my vision isn't what it used to be. I'd walked right along the side of that area coming into the store, hadn't even seen it. My peripheral vision is shot. Straight ahead is pretty good, anything to the sides isn't. It just isn't there for me.

[Smokey©]

The type of concern you have is valid, however, the type of card swiper you should be aware of is, when you go into a location that they take your card and swipe it below the counter or out of sight. There have also been cases where employees have changed the swiper to be one that collects the information internally then they sell the information. Most major stores will refund you any 'irregular' charges on your card.

The Quality Food people and most others that you deal with on a regular basis are not the problem, it is the out of area locations where the card swiper looks unfamiliar or if the clerk swipes the card out of your eyesight.

I believe the ones at SOF are built into the checkout and cannot be swapped for phony or altered swipers.

Hope this puts you at rest

[Nostradama]

I guess I'm as careful as it's possible to be. And the people who get their hands on my debit card are people I see regularly and know, like the grocery delivery guy, and the pharmacist at the SaveOn. I've known him and most of his staff forever. But I never let the card out of my sight. A server at a local restaurant once asked to take my debit card to a portable swipe machine, which she would then return with, so I could complete payment. Well, that's not gonna happen in my lifetime. Either she was scamming, I figured, or she just didn't know. So I explained it to her--carefully and clearly, but politely. Came home and phoned an ex-student who is an assistant manager there, just to give him a heads-up.

[bamboo]

only home depot got that.

walmart is the next place should have self-check out..
most of people just grab couple of stuff and line up is crazy, that's why i gave up shopping in walmart.


when i was down south, Marysville, population like 25k there, middle of nowhere, their walmart has self-check out as well.

although by saying that, when i paid my liquor, cashier will pop up just to check ID, make sure i am 21 years old at least.

actually i would rather trust machine/computer than human being, because we human being can type number wrong and you just sign it without double check.

scanner probably never goes wrong.

[Nostradama]

Actually scanners are wrong more often than you may think. That's because when a store puts out a flyer or has a sales event, there is a person back at their head office whose job it is to input all the sale prices into the computer for the sale. Sometimes these people make mistakes.

On the other hand, I welcome the self-serve checkouts. Standing in place for 4 - 8 hours on a concrete floor (often in dress shoes) is not healthy. The pain at the end of the day is horrendous, and most people who do this job for years have feet, knee and back problems.

When I was doing all of my shopping at the Woodgrove SaveOn, fairly often a checker there would stop, say "Just a sec, that isn't right." and check the price on something. Sure enough, the head office techies hadn't make the changes. It seems like there isn't that much staff turnover at that store. Don't know why. Good manager working there, maybe? But they've mostly been there so long they know to keep an eye out for things like that.

I once had the chance, can't remember why, to stand on one of the cushioned rubber mats that they have for checkers to stand on. I couldn't believe how good they were! They're really cushioned. But a big problem that I've noticed for checkers is carpal tunnel syndrome. I've seen a lot of checkers wearing wrist braces.

One thing that does concern me is that the self-serve checkout is going to mean fewer jobs or less hours for those folks. In a lot of cases they're older ladies, divorced or widowed, maybe still have kids at home and are helping their kids thru VIU. Or could be a bit younger, and still be supporting kids all on their own. Of course, I'm one of these people who doesn't resent getting junk mail and all those zillions of newspaper inserts, especially at Christmas, because I figure it's making a job for someone.

[Happy in Downtown]

One thing that does concern me is that the self-serve checkout is going to mean fewer jobs or less hours for those folks. In a lot of cases they're older ladies, divorced or widowed, maybe still have kids at home and are helping their kids thru VIU. Or could be a bit younger, and still be supporting kids all on their own. Of course, I'm one of these people who doesn't resent getting junk mail and all those zillions of newspaper inserts, especially at Christmas, because I figure it's making a job for someone.[/QUOTE]

I asked one of the ladies at the Terminal Save-on, and they have a contract where they have to have so many people working at a time (I believe that Save-on's unionized maybe?) so they aren't losing jobs per say, as someone is still standing there making sure things are running smoothly.