I just returned from a quick (or what I thought was going to be quick) shopping trip to my local grocery store to pick up a few items. I didn’t even get a cart; instead I grabbed one of those little plastic baskets at the door to hold my purchases. Just a quick run down a few aisles to pick up ground beef, milk, dinner napkins and some frozen vegetables…no problem!
Mission accomplished, I headed toward the self-checkout line. After a few minutes a terminal became available and I went to check out my five items. Things were going well until, after I swiped the napkins, a message came up on the screen and a cyber voice announced that the attendant had been notified that I had a “restricted” item. Now, that would mean that I had wine and I needed to show my ID, since I don’t think they sell illegal drugs in the store (or, at least I don’t know where they are). Since I wasn’t aware that dinner napkins were now considered a dangerous substance, I waved for the attendant, who was standing at a terminal in the area.
She was involved with another customer, a young man that was having some trouble checking out with a bag of potato chips (another controlled substance on Kroger’s secret list?) I waved to her, since my terminal was still stuck in approval-needed mode, and she obviously wasn’t paying attention to the message that told her I needed help. The conversation between her and the young man went back and forth. From what I could determine, he had a coupon for a free bag of potato chips, but had picked up the wrong brand. The attendant was trying to help him out by explaining that if he went and got the kind on the coupon, they were free. He didn’t care, and she kept after him to go get the other kind. All this time, my terminal was still frozen, and no amount of waving or asking could get her attention to hit one key to release my terminal. In the meantime, another terminal began charging a customer double, and he was also unsuccessful in getting the attendant’s attention.
I had to walk over to where she and the young man were discussing the potato chip dilemma to get her to clear my terminal. Success! Then, I swiped the frozen peas and carrots and was immediately stopped in my tracks again, since I unwittingly picked up the one bag of in the freezer on the restricted list. Terminal frozen, I went through the previous exercise to get some help. Thankfully, the young man had given in, got the correct chips, and was on his way.
Self-check-out terminals are great when they work and there is an attentive service agent available at the check-out area to clear terminals, check IDs or verify prices. They aren’t totally self-service, since there are things that can and do happen to slow things up. Customers opt out of the regular check-out lines because self-checkout is supposed to be faster, but can be just as irritating as someone with 20 items in the “15-items-or-less” aisle when there is no one available or tuned in to keep things running smoothly. One experienced cashier stationed at the self-check-out will help make happy repeat customers.
Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, is a freelance writer, blogger, and workplace consultant. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in "Training" magazine, "Training & Development" magazine, "Supervision," "Pulse" and "The Savannah Morning News." You can read her blogs at www.skirt.com/savannahchick, www.workingsmartworks.blogspot.com/ and on the web at www.mjnhconsulting.com.
Mission accomplished, I headed toward the self-checkout line. After a few minutes a terminal became available and I went to check out my five items. Things were going well until, after I swiped the napkins, a message came up on the screen and a cyber voice announced that the attendant had been notified that I had a “restricted” item. Now, that would mean that I had wine and I needed to show my ID, since I don’t think they sell illegal drugs in the store (or, at least I don’t know where they are). Since I wasn’t aware that dinner napkins were now considered a dangerous substance, I waved for the attendant, who was standing at a terminal in the area.
She was involved with another customer, a young man that was having some trouble checking out with a bag of potato chips (another controlled substance on Kroger’s secret list?) I waved to her, since my terminal was still stuck in approval-needed mode, and she obviously wasn’t paying attention to the message that told her I needed help. The conversation between her and the young man went back and forth. From what I could determine, he had a coupon for a free bag of potato chips, but had picked up the wrong brand. The attendant was trying to help him out by explaining that if he went and got the kind on the coupon, they were free. He didn’t care, and she kept after him to go get the other kind. All this time, my terminal was still frozen, and no amount of waving or asking could get her attention to hit one key to release my terminal. In the meantime, another terminal began charging a customer double, and he was also unsuccessful in getting the attendant’s attention.
I had to walk over to where she and the young man were discussing the potato chip dilemma to get her to clear my terminal. Success! Then, I swiped the frozen peas and carrots and was immediately stopped in my tracks again, since I unwittingly picked up the one bag of in the freezer on the restricted list. Terminal frozen, I went through the previous exercise to get some help. Thankfully, the young man had given in, got the correct chips, and was on his way.
Self-check-out terminals are great when they work and there is an attentive service agent available at the check-out area to clear terminals, check IDs or verify prices. They aren’t totally self-service, since there are things that can and do happen to slow things up. Customers opt out of the regular check-out lines because self-checkout is supposed to be faster, but can be just as irritating as someone with 20 items in the “15-items-or-less” aisle when there is no one available or tuned in to keep things running smoothly. One experienced cashier stationed at the self-check-out will help make happy repeat customers.
Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, is a freelance writer, blogger, and workplace consultant. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in "Training" magazine, "Training & Development" magazine, "Supervision," "Pulse" and "The Savannah Morning News." You can read her blogs at www.skirt.com/savannahchick, www.workingsmartworks.blogspot.com/ and on the web at www.mjnhconsulting.com.
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