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Most of my issues with self-checkout are with the anti-theft measures. What is especially galling is that I live in a state that charges for bags to encourage you to bring your own bags, so of course I bring my own bags. If you use your own bags, a /very/ common thing, it throws off the weight sensors and requires someone to clear every 3-5 items, and lags between every scan. When I was much younger I worked briefly as a check clerk at a grocery store, my typical shopping I could scan and finish in 1-2 minutes on a register lane, but because of the stupidity of self-checkout it takes me 10-15 minutes.

I get that "this is why we can't have nice things", that people will take a sticker off a can of beans and put it on a PS5 or other shenanigans to try to steal/shoplift/cheat. I'm not doing that, and it makes it a massively worse experience. The worst thing of all is companies have huge self-checkout areas and then don't open any registers (or maybe 1 to sell tobacco products). Which means I have no choice. I actually prefer delivery, because it's a flat $5 fee and I don't have to mess with any of this anti-consumer bullshit, but it also reduces profitability for me as a customer because I don't make incidental purchases by not being in the store at all.




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