The big brained solution is to use curbside for stuff like canned items, chips, liquids, etc. and then go in to get the fresh produce/meats/whatever else needs to be picked through personally.

The people that complain probably have had far worse experiences with self checkout. I've been to a few stores where it was absolute hell between the machines working terribly and unhelpful staff, but on the opposite side all of the grocery stores near me solved the self checkout issues years ago and it is the best thing ever where it works well.

I was thinking of Decathlon. You're right, items must be placed in the box.

in front of me

Where I live it's single line to many self-checkouts. It's nice

The cashier would have had to put all those items back. They chose the option that involved less work for them. Double duty on register and self-checkout is less work than self-checkout and restocking a large cart

I put the blame on Target management and corporate

You don't need a tucking specialist to pump gas lmao

That sucks for you and your area

This was funny like a decade ago when it was commonplace.

Stores in my area solved that at least 6 years ago, maybe even earlier than that.

It does.

In my area, short lines are a priority for most retailers. If a lane has more than 3 people, they'll be ringing for another cashier.

From what I’ve seen it’s a lot of incompetence ( Doing it wrong causing constant approvals) or pure laziness (I’m not gunna do your job for you!)

Very rarely nowadays it’ll be from just shit machines. I’ve seen the box ones you are talking about, no scanning, just throw it all in. It’s a great solution.

You are my people! My first ever job was grocery bagger boy so I love packing my own stuff the way I want. We take our giant plastic bags to Aldi and packing 4 of those is the equivalent of a cashier packing 20 disposable bags.

Your Aldi has cashiers? Ours will have at most one dude available but almost no one uses that checkout.

The duplicate scan is the only hassle I ever get.

They were awful at first, especially the ones with scales that insisted items weigh a certain amount and be placed a certain way. I'm not aware of any around here that do all that crap, and this is a relatively poor little town.

Some stores have scanning from a phone, but for most it is much more cost effective to prevent theft in one place instead.

I know I'm in the minority but I prefer self checkout so I don't have to talk to people. Same reason I quit customer service work. I do not want to hear about your day I want to pay for my shit and leave.

I disagree. These companies aren't total morons. I'm sure they've studied this thing exhaustively and calculated a slighter higher shrink and machine maintenance was cheaper than paying cashiers. Keep in mind, at the low end of the pay scale, the employer's total cost is nearly double the wage paid.

Some places may call the cops, but I'd bet that's a rare event. Look at it from the cop's point of view, they're going to get sick of that petty shit in a hurry, start slowing their roll when the store calls. Want an annoyed police force when your store has an actual emergency?

Most places in America, the big chains anyway, seem to have policies like I was trained with at Lowe's. No cops unless it's an emergency or they stole something huge like a $4,000 mower, and even then, call after they've left and give the cops the license plate pic. Never accuse a customer, not even an implication. Never block a thief from exiting or back them into a corner. They gave us some pretty slick tips on approaching someone we suspected, mainly consisting of chatting to make 'em nervous.

Always keep in mind when you see some crazy shit like the article you read, that makes news precisely because it's crazy shit.

Did that three times, got three times "random" checked, returned my customer card and buy in another store now. Solid 5/7, perfect experience

Pretty much the same. Though I have rarely been more than the 2nd person in line at an Aldi. That one dude keeps pace!