My wife likes the store because it’s miles closer than others and is smaller and less crowded. They have slowly been doing away with manned registers in favor of self checkout. As of today, it’s 100% self service. 2 full grocery carts? Elderly customers? Too bad.

On top of that, they’ve created these serpentine approach aisles lined with crap kids always want candy and other junk.

Lunatics in search of the almighty dollar. Haven’t been in a big WM in a long time. Won’t be in a neighborhood market again either. I’ll drive the extra distance and pay higher prices at Publix. At least they treatyou like a real person. For now.

They've converted our local Wal-Mart Supercenters to self-checkout only as well. Since Wal-Mart is headquartered here, they tend to use our local stores to test out new concepts and store layouts before they roll it out to all their stores.

So it probably won't just be Neighborhood Markets for long... It's most likely coming to all Wal-Mart stores eventually.


I do most of my grocery shopping at a locally owned grocery co-op, as well as at Aldi. I only venture to the Wal-Marts every month or two when I need something that isn't carried at these other stores and is tough/expensive to ship if bought online, including pressurized products like shaving cream or Coleman camping fuel cannisters.

Remember when gas stations pumped your gas?

quote:

Originally posted by kramden:
Remember when gas stations pumped your gas?

Nope, and I'm not that young. (Nearly 40.)

Except that one time when I went to Oregon for training, and got griped at by the gas station attendant when I got out of my rental car to pump my own, since self service is apparently against the law up there. (Who knew!) Same in New Jersey too, I believe.

Ahhhhh Bentonville. Mecca of the retail world lol. I used to call on Sams Club back in the early 90’s. It was rarely a pleasant experience

quote:

Originally posted by kramden:
Remember when gas stations pumped your gas?

....checked your oil, washed your windows and gave you a gift. That was service.

If I'm going to do the work of the checkout person, I should get the employee discount.

quote:

Originally posted by kramden:
Remember when gas stations pumped your gas?

yep

It's irritating that big big wallymart has to cut cashiers at roughly $10 an hour, many without any benefits due to hours, just to keep feeding the big hungry cash devouring operation.

quote:

Originally posted by kramden:
Remember when gas stations pumped your gas?

And checked your oil and wiped your windshields..... YUP

^^^^^^^^
Ours is still self serve and cashier. Walmart has yet to solve the piferage problem which is increased with self serve. One person watching self serve is not gonna do it. I have the luxury of going at non peak times so I always use a cashier. Customer service has NEVER been important to Walmart.

The lowlifes will figure out a way to cheat them on that.

I went to self checkout at Walmart today. They reprogrammed the software. It now has a camera that watches you and it it thinks something isn’t scanned , it completely locks up and you have to wait for the employee to come unlock the computer . I was an extremely fast cashier in high school. I am way fast and faster than your average Walmart cashier. The computer locked up on me three times today. This is new... the software wasn’t there last week.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:

quote:

Originally posted by kramden:
Remember when gas stations pumped your gas?

And checked your oil and wiped your windshields..... YUP

And your tire pressure, too.

quote:

Originally posted by bubbatime:
I went to self checkout at Walmart today. They reprogrammed the software. It now has a camera that watches you and it it thinks something isn’t scanned , it completely locks up and you have to wait for the employee to come unlock the computer . I was an extremely fast cashier in high school. I am way fast and faster than your average Walmart cashier. The computer locked up on me three times today. This is new... the software wasn’t there last week.

We have this as well. While I was never a slide and scan cashier, I have years of warehouse experience with scanning barcodes. Plus most items if oriented with the top side up, the barcode will be easily scannable. So I’m pretty fast. Faster than a Walmart cashier, but nothing close to a fast Safeway or Costco cashier.

I had the same issue with it stopping me. Self checkout lady told me I need to slow down. She made it sound like the camera was cross referencing an image of the item, with the UPC, and the weight when it went on the scale/bagging area.

If the software is that advanced, I’m actually impressed. That’s one hell of a cross reference.

Our has a couple cashiers but mostly self checkout. I don’t shop Walmart for much so I tolerate the self checkout. What I won’t tolerate is their new system of stopping you and checking your receipt. Fuck that. If you want to stop stealing quit being a cheap ass and hire more help. Line or not, I go around and when they ask for receipt I say “you have a nice day too” and keep walking. If you think I stole something call the cops or go fuck yourself. Once I’ve paid for it, it’s mine.

I like the self checkout if I have, say, under 10 items. If I have a cart load of shit becuase I'm hosting the drunken Irish relatives at my house there is no way I'm dealing with that.

One reason why I am REALLY loving the South. My local grocery store (Lowe's) always has a cashier and a bagger at each register. You just roll the cart up to them and they do everything else. It's great.

$15 an hour requirements = automated cashier stations, its the future.

Prefer using self service checkout most of the time, especially when I have just a few items, in and out in record time.

Something that I do not understand: With multiple self-service checkout lanes, more than half of them are usually closed.

They have these at our local Wal-Mart and what is so stupid is they have 4 employees standing there watching people to insure they scan everything in their cart......Why not just have them run the registers instead.....