Self Checkout?

In July of 2011 it was reported (click here) that Albertson's LLC was getting rid of self check-out lanes in all its markets. Later in the year I heard that Big Y was going to do the same.  I hope they did it.

I wish stores in my area would do it. Yesterday we were grocery shopping at a local Pricechopper market. The store had at least 14 checkout isles. Two were designated as express lanes. One was open for full service. Then there was self check-out. That is all. With six full carts in line at the full service station, we decided to go to self-service. Never again.

During the time we were performing our chores checking out, the entire line of 6 shoppers cleared the full service line.  What with scanning glitches and the machine chirping "place the item in the bag" when that is exactly where it already was, both of which happened constantly, it took forever to check out. Even so, there had to be an employee monitoring the 4 self-service stations.  Even if only one person is at one station, the employee has to be there. I suspect whoever is covering that "look out" over the self-service stations finds that more nerve-wracking than taking care of a regular register.

While doing a bit of web searching on the issue of self check-out, I found a number of people who love it, since there are never any lines.  They are probably right, since people with a full cart are probably shunning the self-service options.  Perhaps stores should use them primarily as a choice among express lines.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I will not go through the self check-out again unless the store provides a solid discount on my bill.