[Smogger]

No wonder storesa are moving to self check out lines. At $15 a week, a family is getting health coverage for $780 a year for bagging groceries

Self-check out lines are total friggin junk, and a total failure. They tried to put them in the local K-Mart. The stupid thing won't let you proceed to the next item until you place the one you just scanned in a bag. EVEN IF IT WON'T FIT IN A BAG! It just repeats "Please place the item in the bag" until you ready to smash it and burn the store in the ground. I have seen them at Ralph's too. The most expensive supermarket in California. Gee I gotta scan AND bag my own friggin groceries? At least Food 4 Less passes on the savings when you bag your own, wheras Ralph's tried to pocket the difference while forcing you to be a "member" so they can track everything you buy and sell the info to advertisers.

Automatic checkers are a joke.

[50sDad]

Automatic Checkers are wonderful 99% of the time. When they work, I don't have to go through "happy talk" at the checkout where the checkers pretend I'm their best buddy, and try to get me to use my Kroger card on stuff that I know is not on sale so they can track my purchases better. I can zip through fast, and rarely have to wait for obnoxious drunk guys, little old ladies and indecisive shoppers.

Where those things really rock is in my Home Depot! Dang, no waiting, just blow right through and get on with life!

[Joe Hadenuf]

Self-check out lines are total friggin junk, and a total failure. They tried to put them in the local K-Mart. The stupid thing won't let you proceed to the next item until you place the one you just scanned in a bag. EVEN IF IT WON'T FIT IN A BAG! It just repeats "Please place the item in the bag" until you ready to smash it and burn the store in the ground.

LOL! I've heard similar stories.

Thanks for the laugh...

[finnman69]

Compared to the brain dead checkers at my K-mart, nothing could possibly be worse. These people are stumped adding two pennies together.

[CdMGuy]

FYI, Ralphs and Food4Less are both owned by Kroger. I agree with you about prices. I went to a Ralphs last week to avoid the picketers at Vons, as I didn't want my car damaged by the strikers. Wow, prices were well above Vons for the frozen lunch entrees I buy every week. I heard that Ralphs has raised prices since the strike started, but have no way of confirming that. A friend has commented on the higher prices as well.

[kmiller1k]

I have used the self check-out at Home Depot and at K-Mart and like them both. At Home Depot the set up four self check-outs with one employee overseeing the units. It runs very smoothly and fast. Which begs the question--if I can do it for myself quicker, why can't I do it elsewhere? I hope the grocery workers understand this self-check out may eliminate them all together.

[LenS]

I'm going to have to agree 50sDad. I really like the automatic checkers. Living alone, I tend to buy twelve items or less at a time, so adding four express lanes for only one employee is quite beneficial to me.

Most of the time, they're much faster (especially in a Walmart type of store). And over time, I've noticed that people are increasingly familiar with using them, so the slowdowns with totally confused people using them have mostly vanished.

But I do agree that really bulky items can be difficult to get through. I guess the trick is to put some weight in the bag after each scan before putting it on the floor to make room for more. *g* Oh, and it helps to note produce PLU's for items without a tag/label before getting to the register.