Upon further consideration

I have previously written about use of self checkout, and my finding it a generally acceptable alternative in the implementation being used by the supermarket Albertsons.

No more do I find it acceptable. I ran out of patience with the Albertsons system when it developed a very easily triggered tendency to go into an error loop that can only be stopped by manual intervention by the clerk who minds the self checkout stations.

How does this error loop occur? For example:

• I remove an item from the bagging area (because that area is getting too crowded) when it is supposed to be OK to remove items from that area.
• The station's audio prompts start complaining about "Item unexpectedly removed from bagging area. Return item to bagging area." (Or something similar.) I return the item.
  
• The audio prompt then starts complaining about "Unexpected item in bagging area." I remove the item.
• The audio prompt returns to complaining about "Item unexpected removed from bagging area...."
• And so on and so forth ad nauseum until the clerk intervenes.

Bah. I don't have the time to waste. I've quit using the Albertsons self checkout system until and if they bring in something else entirely.

I still don't have experience with other self checkout systems to comment on them.

Self checkout - nays and yays

The concept of self checkout at stores has been rolling into San Diego for some time. First time I saw such a set up was at a Home Depot. The implementation they are using worked fine for me the once or twice I have used it. But I really don't go to Home Depot enough to have a proper opinion of their set-up.

On the other hand - I do my regular grocery shopping at Albertsons. Last year they began installing their self checkout set-up at stores that have enough space to allow whatever number of standard checkouts that have to be removed for installation of the self checkout units, and still have whatever their minimum number of standard checkouts is.

I have gotten into the habit of using the Albertsons self checkout system. It certainly has quirks. For instance, the space for bagging of items is really not large enough to hold everything in a regular weekly (or whatever) purchase, but the system is definitely happiest if the customer does keep everything that is being purchased in the bagging space until payment is completed.

I find I always have to put at least one, and usually two bags in the cart before I am able to finish scanning and bagging everything. And when I do that, the system starts whining about an item being removed and telling me to put it back. When the whining starts, the system does display an option for the customer to press that basically tells the system: yes I did mean to remove that bag so shut up. I've gotten pretty good about being fast to press that option and thus cut off the system's audible complaining before it really gets going.

But these complaints are really pretty minor. Overall I like using the self checkout because I appreciate having more control over the process, and I normally am out the door and walking to my car at least as fast, if not more so, than if I had gone to a standard checkout.

(I can't comment on other self checkout systems because I just haven't seen any others to date.)