Pet Hates........or FFS

[Marco]

I agree with montesquieu but when buying just a few items I dont really want the cashier asking me if I need help with packing, about the nectar card and the mundane small talk

I can't stand the small talk either, so I just stand there and look grumpy (not difficult as it's unlikely I'll be enjoying the experience), which usually has the effect of discouraging the staff from talking to me!

Different if I'm in my local butchers or fruit and veg shop, when I'm shopping at independents, and as a regular there the staff and I have gotten to know each other (the relationship therefore is totally different), so having a chat/bit of banter is all part of the experience.

However, I simply abhor self-service checkouts in supermarkets, because as I've said, I dislike the precedent they set, and they unquestionably lose jobs, so in that respect we have to stop just selfishly thinking about ourselves and what superficially seems more convenient for us.

I'm also not a 'top-up' shopper, so when I use supermarkets (as I hate going there unless I have to), I do a week's shopping (at least) all in the one go, so there's always a trolley full of stuff, the majority of which is fresh produce, which is a major ball-ache putting through self-service checkouts. I'd be stood there forever doing it, so it's simply a non-option.

Here's the thing, which shows that it's ALL about saving money for the supermarkets...

If more checkouts were manned by staff (rather than the majority closed), especially during the busiest times, and there were more 'express' tills available (six items or fewer/baskets only), which was strictly monitored, there would be no need for any self-service checkouts, as everything would be running quickly and smoothly!

But of course that costs money.... And are they passing the money they've saved on employing less checkout staff onto customers? Are they fuck. It's all going into the pockets of the fat cats!! And that's another reason why I boycott self-service checkouts. The last thing they are is having been created for our benefit!

Here's the crux:

If in a supermarket I'm PAYING (indirectly or otherwise) for the privilege of being served, then I WANT to experience that privilege, or otherwise as Tom says, be reimbursed (via discounted shopping) for the inconvenience of having to serve myself.

That way I'm being incentivised, on MY terms, to serve myself, not merely being surreptitiously 'groomed' into changing my behaviour by supermarkets, simply to maximise profits for the fat cats!

End of.

Marco.

[Macca]

If you go in my local Sainsbury after 2100 then it is self service only now. That's unacceptable. I insist on them either opening a till for me or doing the self service thing for me. They do it, presumably because there is some dictat from head office that says they have to. But that won't last.

I'd be happy to see all the supermarkets go broke, then we could go back to having the butcher, greengrocer and general store. That was a much better system.

[Primalsea]

I seem to have an adversion to overly chipper, attentive sales guys when I walk into a shop. This gets worse when I have to put up with their sales pitch crap. Odd that I dont seem to have the same feeling towards the overly chipper, attentive attractive saleswomen. Still see through the sales crap, but the whole experience is more more pleasurable to tolerate...

[Primalsea]

You guys who dont like self-service checkouts. Does this mean you will sell all of your hifi and start employing real musicians to play in your living room whenever you would like to listen to music?

I’ll get my coat...

[walpurgis]

It can be fun to walk into a Hi-Fi shop and when an assistant comes up, say something dumb like 'my daughter says I need a new stereo' and then see what sales patter you get from him. After he's gone on a bit, you can throw him by pointing to something and saying maybe 'do you know the effective mass for this SME arm?' or 'do you have any Koetsu SUT's in stock?', that should put them on the back foot!

[alphaGT]

It can be fun to walk into a Hi-Fi shop and when an assistant comes up, say something dumb like 'my daughter says I need a new stereo' and then see what sales patter you get from him. After he's gone on a bit, you can throw him by pointing to something and saying maybe 'do you know the effective mass for this SME arm?' or 'do you have any Koetsu SUT's in stock?', that should put them on the back foot!

I recall having a go at a few sales persons in hi fi shops in the past, a pleasant surprise when you find one who knows what he’s talking about!


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[Macca]

I seem to have an adversion to overly chipper, attentive sales guys when I walk into a shop. This gets worse when I have to put up with their sales pitch crap. Odd that I dont seem to have the same feeling towards the overly chipper, attentive attractive saleswomen. Still see through the sales crap, but the whole experience is more more pleasurable to tolerate...

This is true.

[Macca]

You guys who dont like self-service checkouts. Does this mean you will sell all of your hifi and start employing real musicians to play in your living room whenever you would like to listen to music?

I’ll get my coat...

The Sumerians were knocking about around 3500 BC and we know they had shops. The concept probably goes back much further. One thing all shops had in common from then until about five years ago was that you went in, chose your goods and then you went to a person and they wrapped them up and took your money. Now, after 10,000 years of that working just fine, we suddenly have to do it all ourselves.

Bollocks, I'm not having it.

I'd be up for some Luddite type action - break into the supermarkets and smash up all the self-service machines. Down with this sort of thing!

[Primalsea]

The Sumerians were knocking about around 3500 BC and we know they had shops. The concept probably goes back much further. One thing all shops had in common from then until about five years ago was that you went in, chose your goods and then you went to a person and they wrapped them up and took your money. Now, after 10,000 years of that working just fine, we suddenly have to do it all ourselves.

Bollocks, I'm not having it.

I'd be up for some Luddite type action - break into the supermarkets and smash up all the self-service machines. Down with this sort of thing!

[Marco]

The Sumerians were knocking about around 3500 BC and we know they had shops. The concept probably goes back much further. One thing all shops had in common from then until about five years ago was that you went in, chose your goods and then you went to a person and they wrapped them up and took your money. Now, after 10,000 years of that working just fine, we suddenly have to do it all ourselves.

Bollocks, I'm not having it.

Lol.... Now you see if we all thought that way, and boycotted the bastard checkouts, then it would force the supermarkets into a rethink! So let's take direct action.

We need to 'train' THEM into behaving the way that WE want, not vice versa... Never underestimate the POWER OF THE PEOPLE!!

Marco.