tescos here i come

Anything has got to be better than the assault on our senses being perpetrated over at M&S. They have X-Factor celebs voicing the self-service checkouts. Who’s shouting at us excitedly today, to insert your card NOW in the Lordship Lane foodhall? Ant and bloody Dec, that’s who. I only went in for granola, I’ve come out with palpitations.

Lidl in Balham have a sexy male voice on their scanner

I use the M&S in Victoria Station and last week a customer asking for assistance on a self serve till had to wait until the voices finished shouting their message before the assistance could hear her.

I don't think the supermarkets value shopper experience. I think they forget they wouldn't exist without us.

We have more power than we know - and don't put it to good use

About ten years ago my wife and I attended a Sainsbury focus group meeting. The virtually unanimous view expressed at the meeting was that we wanted better customer service with more staffed checkouts. The meeting was clearly a waste of time and money for Sainsbury's since very soon afterwards self checkouts started to proliferate. The situation has of course become much worse since then.

This morning at Sainsburys was a joke.

The large self service checkouts have been cut back to 4.

2 only for cash and 2 for cards. That is it. Ask a Manger and they say its not us.

It took one person 20 minutes to look at her shopping decide what bag it should go in, another person did not have her card and went off to find money in all 25 minutes, no one using the cash tills.

In effect the tills were shut down

Almost as though, if you don't want to shop and pay the way we want you to, it'll take you longer to use our standard and reduced self service checkouts. Thanks Sainsbury's , seems like you really want to help customers, NOT.

spider69 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This morning at Sainsburys was a joke.
>
> The large self service checkouts have been cut
> back to 4.
>
> 2 only for cash and 2 for cards. That is it. Ask
> a Manger and they say its not us.
>
> It took one person 20 minutes to look at her
> shopping decide what bag it should go in, another
> person did not have her card and went off to find
> money in all 25 minutes, no one using the cash
> tills.
>
> In effect the tills were shut down

That's the people, not the facilities; people stand there gormlessly in the queue and it gets to the point they need to pay and they appear surprised that money is required. Cue a shuffle through the 17 pockets of their "organiser" (ha!) handbag, a decision as to whether to pay by credit or debit card or maybe they start counting out the change and then realise as they get to £17.34 that they're 50p short and they go back to the card.

You get similar in airports as people try to find the ONE document that they need - a passport - and it takes a trawl through 14 pockets and 5 minutes of panic.

exdulwicher Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> spider69 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > This morning at Sainsburys was a joke.
> >
> > The large self service checkouts have been cut
> > back to 4.
> >
> > 2 only for cash and 2 for cards. That is it.
> Ask
> > a Manger and they say its not us.
> >
> > It took one person 20 minutes to look at her
> > shopping decide what bag it should go in,
> another
> > person did not have her card and went off to
> find
> > money in all 25 minutes, no one using the cash
> > tills.
> >
> > In effect the tills were shut down
>
> That's the people, not the facilities; people
> stand there gormlessly in the queue and it gets to
> the point they need to pay and they appear
> surprised that money is required. Cue a shuffle
> through the 17 pockets of their "organiser" (ha!)
> handbag, a decision as to whether to pay by credit
> or debit card or maybe they start counting out the
> change and then realise as they get to £17.34 that
> they're 50p short and they go back to the card.
>
> You get similar in airports as people try to find
> the ONE document that they need - a passport - and
> it takes a trawl through 14 pockets and 5 minutes
> of panic.

It's the children causing chaos this week - or it was in Iceland - but it's half term isn't it (and not having children I have no understanding LOL)

I think if people used trolley self check outs for trolleys and basket self checkout for baskets it would be a lot quicker for everyone 🤔 Fed up being behind people with trolleys in basket only checkout when I Only have a few items

The handheld scanners had been installed when I went yesterday.

Here is the link to the Sainsburys website page on SmartShop [www.sainsburys.co.uk]
There is also a FAQ page (and FAQs in the app)
[help.sainsburys.co.uk]

A few comments / questions on this thread are covered:
- The app works on iPhone and Android
- You will need your Nectar card to pay
Downloading the iPhone app was easy - have your nectar card to hand. There are more FAQs in the app than on the website.
- You pay at a card only SmartShop checkout, SmartShop enabled self checkout (cash or card was an option last time I used one?) or via Apple Pay - if supported in store, no need to use a checkout

This sounds good, but will take some getting used to as self scan did. There are bound to be some teething troubles both technical and user in the first few weeks but if it can improve the queues like yesterday afternoon it will be good. There are more checkouts now than there were when Sainsbury’s opened. Even with every checkout open, and they have been when I’ve been in at busy times, there are queues. If those who want to use SmartShop free up the traditional tills for those who want that option that’s a good thing in my opinion. Time will tell.

Why the hell should we do Sainsbury's work for them? I refuse to use self checkouts. If asked why not, I ask for a 10% discount for doing so. If pushed, I would say that self service shopping was against my religion and would ask them to respect my diversity.

More importantly, what about elderly and disabled people who need help from supermarket staff?

ZT - do you still sit in your car at filling stations and wait for the attendant to come and put the fuel in ?

Ed-pete, I started using self service petrol stations more than 50 years ago. You can't compare the simple task of purchasing one item and then paying a real life human being with buying a multitude of items and continual attempts to find and then swipe barcodes accompanied by beeps and the monotonous, patronising voice of a VR woman saying "unidentified item in the bagging area", or whatever phrase they have been programmed to say when the system doesn't work.

But if you're happy to do the supermarket's work for them without receiving a discount for doing so, then that's up to you.

Once again, what about elderly and disabled people who need help from supermarket staff? Aren't they worthy of your consideration?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit was june 02, 02:58pm by Zebedee Tring.

The queue's there this morning were ridiculous, have never had to wait so long. Ironic that a cost saving measure like this will probably end up losing Sainsbury's a vast amount of customers judging by the comments today.

I am just going to order my groceries online to avoid this shambles.

I am just going to continue to shop locally and support our high street

I am sure I could represent many customers, All I want to do is pick up a trolly, fill it with goods, find a payment aisle or self service, pay and leave.

If people want to use all this new stuff fine but remember many people do not.

I shop on instinct, view into the trolly. unencumbered by a scanner.

I really do think Sainsbury's have lost the plot some where along the line.

ZT - my comment was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. I'm sure that this is simply a corporate response to (a) the blocking of the Asda merger, (b) falling market share to the likes of Lidl and Aldi. I have every sympathy for those elderly or disabled customers who would find this service difficult to use. Personally I have used Sainsbury's online service for about 5 years now and although not perfect - and not suitable for everyone - it works for me.

Saw an elderly lady having trouble scanning her bread at the self service tills. She needed to enter the numbers, but was having trouble seeing them. She called over the worker and you know what this rude arrogant worker said. You have to put the numbers in your self it's not my job to do it for you.

So that means her job role must be security guard as she sure as hell isn't there to help you.

How do you pay for shopping with a nectar card

TheArtfulDogger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am just going to continue to shop locally and
> support our high street

I also shop locally in Lordship Lane using my shopping trolley for items I can carry easily but as I have health issues I need to have heavy and bulky stuff delivered. I certainly feel like boycotting Sainsbury’s.

Zebedee Tring Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> More importantly, what about elderly and disabled
> people who need help from supermarket staff?

My mother (in her mid-70's) loves them. Going to the normal checkouts, she often finds items being scanned and passed down the conveyor too fast for her to pack them properly and she gets confused and disorientated by that and feels embarrssed at holding up other people in the queue.

Using the scanner, she can pack her shopping logically and carefully, keep an eye on how much she's spending and she just finds it much less stressful.

She uses technology more than I do!

snoopy17 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Saw an elderly lady having trouble scanning her
> bread at the self service tills. She needed to
> enter the numbers, but was having trouble seeing
> them. She called over the worker and you know what
> this rude arrogant worker said. You have to put
> the numbers in your self it's not my job to do it
> for you.
>
> So that means her job role must be security guard
> as she sure as hell isn't there to help you.


They have come rushing over when I get stressed out at the tills (which is as soon as it flashes, beeps and says "unknown item in bagging area") but it depends on the staff member I suppose

Once they made me feel like a criminal because I put my pin in wrongly - although the lady who came over rolled her eyes in a way that said "they've taken this mornings security briefing to far"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit was june 03, 10:51am by JohnL.

[www.theguardian.com]

lol
you don't need a plastic bag to take your shopping home in - and you wash it anyway (don't you?)

There is no need for plastic packaging on veg.

Although back in the day, everyone used to buy their fruit and veg at the market and they would pick it for you, put it into paper bags and off you'd go.

Went to Sainsbury's last night, excited about having been told on here that they were now selling their fruit and veg loose. They had a few courgettes, carrots, cabbages and easy peeler oranges but hardly anything else being sold loose that you couldn't buy before without it being covered in plastic.

They expect you to then put your things in a plastic bag (thus defeating the point of having loose produce) and weigh and put a sticker on them. None of the scales or label printers were working.

All of the new self-scan tills were closed and there were large queues at the very few staffed tills and self-checkouts.

This on a Monday night, when you should be in and out in no time.

If they don't sort this out, they're going to make themselves irrelevant very quickly.

edcam - just to note that with the loose veg (very limited in Sainsbury's) - you can put it straight into your basket / trolley and weigh it loose - you dont have to put it into a bag at all. The scanner weights it and prices it and you dont need another sticker.

If you do want to avoide plastic there are many smaller shops - for example a great one on nunhead lane that sells almost 80% of all its fruit and veg loose / no plastic - and if you do need a bag they have paper ones.

I thought Sainsbury's were supposed to have gone plastic free for their loose fruit and veg??