Incident at WalMart

[Father Kit Cool Gun Garth]

I was in WalMart yesterday when the Store Manager came into the room I was in.
He wanted to know why I was in their Breakroom.
I politely told him that I was taking a break.
He responded by advising me that the Breakroom was for employee use only.
I advised him that I had just recently worked here.
But you aren't an employee he retorted, to which I quickly asserted that I had just checked myself out at the self serve register. 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

They don't get it.  They don't understand, don't care, and won't discuss it.  

 

I had a manager in fits one day when he told me could check myself out.  I told him he could open another line and I wouldn't have to.  He started giving me  hard time and I told him if I had wanted to do that I would have applied for a job, but he couldn't afford me. He asked what I thought I was worth.  I told him that when I retired I was making right at $12,000.00 a month.  He told me that was ridiculous.  I told him he and his store were ridiculous.  He told me I could always shop somewhere else and I said I would do that from now on and started to walk away from about $350.00 worth of merchandise in my cart.  He asked me if I was going to put it all back where I got it.  "Mister, I don't work here and you just essentially threw me out of your store."

 

Then I showed him my cell phone which was still recording the whole thing.

 

A couple of dozen people watched this encounter and a few even clapped.

 

Have you ever seen a mind being boggled?  It's a show worth buying tickets for.

 

Walmart won't get another cent out of me....ever again.

Edited April 11 by Forty Rod SASS 3935

[Rye Miles #13621]

I have no problem with self checkout. I usually just buy a few items and it’s quicker snd easy. 

[Eyesa Horg]

I'll use it if I'm in a hurry and only a couple registers are open. But that's rare!

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

I just ask a Walmartian to check me out. Except for one Old Biddy at my local Super Walmart, they've always been happy to do so. And they seem to have cashiers available more than they did.

A while back I was at my local Frys, (Kroger for those who might not know), and the Manager was directing people to the self checkouts as the cashiers were busy. So I asked him to check me out. He said that he could show me how to do it. So I told him that I know how to do it, but I don't work there, so he could either check me out or put the groceries away, I didn't care which. He checked me out.

[Alpo]

I bought something at Home Depot sometime back. Get up to the front with it, and see three or four people just standing there. And I'm looking around on the registers, which all appeared to be self-checkout, and one of those three or four people ask me if he could help. I asked him if any of the registers had an actual cashier and he said he'd take care of it and we went over to one of those self checkouts and he rang me up. Works for me.

 

Strange though.

[Oak Ridge Regulator]

I don’t mind self check out as long as they realize the quality of my work depends on how much they are paying me per hour !

[Pat Riot]

I won’t do Self-Checkout. 
 

A few months back a lady at the Walmart Service counter told me they didn’t have enough people there to run the cash registers when I asked where all the cashiers were. 
 “Just use Self Checkout.” She said in an exasperated tone.

I asked her who did I need to see for my 10% discount for doing their jobs for them. Then I left with my cart of groceries sitting there. 
 

I have a feeling that I am not the only one. There have been plenty of cashiers since. 

[John Kloehr]

Wow! Selfcheck is not why I don't shop there, it is a different reason.

 

And first, when I do shop there it is not for price (though generally cheaper). I shop there for the item. The last time I shopped there, I needed a coffee pot. No clock, no timer, just an "on and off" switch. Amazon did not have this item.

 

But the employees are beat and exhausted and driven too hard! They do not come to work to help people, they show up because it at least keeps a roof over their head. It provides no real meaningful purpose.

 

I prefer to shop where employees are appreciated. That includes places where I do use self-checkout. To be blunt, running a register at that business is not really going to make an employee feel good about their job.

[Rye Miles #13621]

You guys better get used to self serve because if they keep raising the minimum wage you’re gonna see a lot more of them!

[Sam Sackett]

Maybe not, but it’s a job that can put groceries on the table. 
 

I will NOT use a self checkout. Even if the “Assistant” offers to check me out on one, I will decline. The “self” checkout still gets the credit for the sale and that’s what goes on the reports. I do not believe that self checkouts are saving money for the businesses in the long run. There are many reports that show that many are sneaking items through and not paying for them. That is store loss and cost. 
 

I don’t think I am alone. I have left a cartful of items and walked out if there was no cashier. And I’ll do it again..

 

Sam Sackett 

Edited April 11 by Sam Sackett

[Warden Callaway]

I have a favorite associate at Wally-World where we shop. I don't need her every trip but pass with a nod when we cross paths. She often helps me find things.  One time it was bandanas.  I had looked through the men's clothing area.  I found handkerchiefs and other men's accessories but no bandanas.  Asking her, "Oh, they are with women's purses.". Aha! Logical.  I should have seen the correlation.  She took me to them. 

[Still hand Bill]

2 minutes ago, Sam Sackett said:

Maybe not, but it’s a job that can put groceries on the table. 
 

I will NOT use a self checkout. Even if the “Assistant” offers to check me out on one, I will decline. The “self” checkout still gets the credit for the sale and that’s what goes on the reports. I do not believe that self checkouts are saving money for the businesses in the long run. There are many reports that show that many are sneaking items through and not paying for them. That is store loss and cost. 
 

I don’t think I am alone. I have left a careful of items and walked out if there was no cashier. And I’ll do it again..

 

Sam Sackett 

I too don’t use self checkout unless forced, ie no checkers at all.  
 

I did learn that self checkouts have an inherent flaw.  They look for an items weight on the scale under bagging.  If you put lots of weight on the scale, it becomes overloaded and no longer checks each item.  This can be helpful if you don’t want to deal with putting everything on the bagging area.  Just load the bag area up with a few water jugs, then it’s essentially disabled and no more messages that you skipped bagging.  

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

14 minutes ago, Sam Sackett said:

I will NOT use a self checkout. Even if the “Assistant” offers to check me out on one, I will decline. The “self” checkout still gets the credit for the sale and that’s what goes on the reports. 

I don’t think I am alone. I have left a careful of items and walked out if there was no cashier. And I’ll do it again..

 

Sam Sackett 

If you have an account with them that has your payment info, (debit or credit card number), and you pay with it, Walmart sends you a survey in your email. When they do this, I will ALWAYS make it known whether I had to ask somebody to check me out at the self checkout, or if I was able to have a cashier check me out. 

And while I've never HAD to leave a cart full of groceries, I've threatened to do so. 

[Warden Callaway]

I can't even check out with a cashier.  I seldom actually buy anything in stores.  I usually get Mary to put what I need on her list. Or I'll find what I need and put it in the basket.  But one time I was on my own. Got what I wanted and headed for the 10 items or less that didn't have a line.  Rang up my purchase.  I tried to use my credit card. Wouldn't go. Tried several times.  The sales clerk came around to help me.  No wonder, I was trying to use my Department of Conservation card instead of a credit card.  

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

1 minute ago, Warden Callaway said:

I can't even check out with a cashier.  I seldom actually buy anything in stores.  I usually get Mary to put what I need on her list. Or I'll find what I need and put it in the basket.  But one time I was on my own. Got what I wanted and headed for the 10 items or less that didn't have a line.  Rang up my purchase.  I tried to use my credit card. Wouldn't go. Tried several times.  The sales clerk came around to help me.  No wonder, I was trying to use my Department of Conservation card instead of a credit card.  

My friend used to say that my credit was so bad that they wouldn't even take my cash.

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

I don't like the self check-out devices and they don't like me

I tried to use them a few times in a number of stores, but part way through, they go wonky.

Now, I bring in my handicap cane/stool and just sit waiting in line until I can be checked out.

One nice manager at W/M tried to direct me to the self check-out units, but I told her I didn't work there.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I only go there when I know they have something that would require significant effort to get somewhere else. Last case: a spool of blue thread.

[Dantankerous]

Several times I have had the self checkout machine lock-up in the middle of self checking out and no associate around to assist. I waste no time walking out leaving everything in place, in the cart, on the scanner, partially bagged. If their equipment won't function properly it is not going to be my problem. And this is NOT Walmart, where I usually do get decent customer service. The repeat offender location is a Krogers and the only reason I occasionally go there is they are convienently located right on my way home from the four letter word that also aggravates me to no end all day.

 

Many of my friends' kids have worked at Walmarts in the area. I hear stories of all kinds... rude customers, entitled shoplifters, incompetent supervisors, etc... Welcome to the new world.

 

 

Once years back I went to Walmart early in the AM and needed help finding something, I have forgotten what exactly, and could not find an associate anywhere for help. I walked around until I came upon a huddle of 12 or so employees, all in some kind of a pre-shift safety/pep meeting. They started clapping and chanting something that sounded like a high school pep cheer, but for their job. They all looked embarrassed. Looked like a mandatory daily event led by a supervisor. Bizarre to say the least. I couldn't leave fast enough.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 11 by Dantankerous

[Ozark Huckleberry]

Before I get flamed for this, understand -- it's nothing personal to anyone here. I respect y'all's opinions on self check-out, but just have a different perspective.

 

Never really had a problem with self-checkout. If keeping costs down translates to better prices, then so be it. But then, I'm also the guy that grabs a cart from the lot on the way into the store since I'm going that way anyway (besides, I like to ride the cart across the parking lot sometimes --  especially if I can do it in full view of a mom with some eight-ten year old kids).

 

 

Store with self check-out run on average twice the shrinkage (i.e. -- theft) that stores without it do. Part of that's error, part of it's intentional. I hear people talking about taking the 'employee discount' when they go through self-checkout and wonder how that's much different from the person who just tucks it under their jacket. And the clerk who checks the receipt at the door? Store policy. He or she's not making it personal with me, and I figure getting personal and being a jerk to the clerk isn't going to make my day any sweeter. If it does, I think it says something about me, not the clerk.

 

I try to avoid giving store people a hard time -- I can't get away from the idea that they are my neighbors and even if it's a national chain, the clerk putting in a day's work lives somewhere within an hour's drive of me. I might not know 'em personally, but we're all in this together.

 

It IS frustrating when the self-checkout machines don't work as they should, and the clerk isn't able to help. But I've seen the clerk-run checkouts malfunction also, and when that does, just watch the line of people who back up waiting for either the clerk to figure it out, or the head cashier to come, or the store manager.. Think they're any happier that they've waited in line and then get of stuck there while the one machine they've committed to gets sorted out?

 

Some store clerks do get rude with customers and there's really no excuse for that, but they're probably not rude with the first customer who bitched at them. If a clerk gets a measure of me being an ass, it's likely that the the next customer they deal with gets exposed to my attitude as well.

 

I haven't always had this attitude about the self-checkout issue -- maybe I'm just mellowing.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

17 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

I have no problem with self checkout. I usually just buy a few items and it’s quicker snd easy. 

It ISN'T quicker when they only have three or four self checkout stands working and twenty people waiting and only two registers open.  And then there's the one item that doesn't make the idiot scanner work.

 

You'll never sell me on them being better in any way.

[Rye Miles #13621]

36 minutes ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

It ISN'T quicker when they only have three or four self checkout stands working and twenty people waiting and only two registers open.  And then there's the one item that doesn't make the idiot scanner work.

 

You'll never sell me on them being better in any way.

It isn’t any quicker when there’s long lines for the cashiers and things go wrong with items being scanned by the cashier as well. My experience with self serves have been totally different from yours. I’ll continue to use them when it’s convenient. To each his own!

 

Oh I forgot about the person writing a check or having trouble with their EBT card. That takes up a lot of time!

Yea that don't happen at self serves!

Edited April 11 by Rye Miles #13621

[Dantankerous]

2 hours ago, Ozark Huckleberry said:

...If keeping costs down translates to better prices...

 

Not at Kroger it hasn't.

[Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438]

2 hours ago, Dantankerous said:

.If keeping costs down translates to better prices...

Hmm...if the store saved 10% from the use of self-checkouts, who is more likely to benefit....the customer or the store?  I think I know, but then I have a cynical view of life in general.

 

LL

[Dantankerous]

8 minutes ago, Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438 said:

Hmm...if the store saved 10% from the use of self-checkouts, who is more likely to benefit....the customer or the store?  I think I know, but then I have a cynical view of life in general.

 

LL

 

Me too.

[Finagler 6853 Life]

Change is painful.  I don't care one way or the other.  I will use which ever is fastest.  I pump my own gas, I use an ATM, I use a kiosk at the airline check in.  Heck, I have to enter my own info in a computer to register a new purchase of a firearm.  I don't get a discount either.  I bagged groceries in high school.  I'd rather check myself out at the mart as I can bag my items better and faster than their clerk can. I'm one of those guys that will drag an errant shopping cart back into the store also.  I hated those people that would push their shopping carts out to their car and then just leave them because they didn't need help with their groceries.  Those were years before cart corrals were even thought of.  The manager would ride our butts if we didn't bring those carts back in the store.  What really threw me was going into McRonalds to place and order.  I had to use a machine but a live person brought the order out to me.  COVID really changed their business model.  Most people use the drive through. Like it or don't, the retailer's business model changed a lot because of the minimum wage issue and COVID.  Like I said, I don't have a dog in this fight but I can change with some training.  Learn something new everyday.

[Warden Callaway]

Mom told of her experience of driving up to a pump at local gas station. She waited but no one came and pumped her gas. This was long after they started self pump service.  But still, some stations would come out and pump for you - especially if you were somewhat handicap.   

 

One small independent station in town would have the lowest prices in town  - even if it was by 1 cent. And they always pumped and took payment righ at your vehicle.  They did a lot of business.  But they didn't have a convenience store or sale pizza or beer or lottery tickets.  They just had an office area with oil and such. Don't know why they folded.  

[Texas Joker]

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/dollar-general-drops-self-checkout-at-hundreds-stores-reduce-theft

[Eyesa Horg]

I'm amazed they don't lose more! At our local DG, you can stand there almost forever waiting for an employee to cash you out. They're usually God knows where stocking etc and apparently can't hear you ring the bell. Always wonder how many people just walk out with the goods. I've never seen more than 2 employees in our store at the same time! Even with the increased minimum wage, nobody seems to want to work anymore.

[The Shoer 27979]

2 hours ago, Texas Joker said:

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/dollar-general-drops-self-checkout-at-hundreds-stores-reduce-theft

I have read similar articles about walmart and I think it was home depot. Said they were bring in a new system that when you enter the store it scans your card automatically  and then everything you put in your basket gets scanned, or it is something like that. I read the article 8 months ago and I have a hard time remembering last week

[Warden Callaway]

 

[Pulp, SASS#28319]

One thing I’ve noticed about WalMart, is even if it’s just me and one other shopper, that shopper would standing in front of the only item I needed, and reading the labels on every thing on the shelf.

 

 

[Rye Miles #13621]

5 hours ago, The Shoer 27979 said:

I have read similar articles about walmart and I think it was home depot. Said they were bring in a new system that when you enter the store it scans your card automatically  and then everything you put in your basket gets scanned, or it is something like that. I read the article 8 months ago and I have a hard time remembering last week

I seem to remember a story about a store like that only it was a grocery store in Europe somewhere.

 

Found it 

https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/11/15/no-scanning-no-cashiers-no-cards-we-went-grocery-shopping-at-london-s-new-checkout-free-te

Edited April 12 by Rye Miles #13621

[The Shoer 27979]

11 minutes ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

I seem to remember a story about a store like that only it was a grocery store in Europe somewhere.

 

Found it 

https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/11/15/no-scanning-no-cashiers-no-cards-we-went-grocery-shopping-at-london-s-new-checkout-free-te

It was walmart that I read, said something about losing to much money to theft. Until the Dr's get my mess right all I have done is read, read way to much for my small brain.

[watab kid]

good one , in my book you qualify as an employee at least fot now but te longer we keep doing theur work the farther we get from that position , , accepted norm becomes the norm ,