POUNDLAND goes self service!!

petersmart

petersmart

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Went into my local Poundland to get some black bags and found they had installed those self service machines where you have to scan in your own purchases.

Absolute chaos - nothing scanned properly and they had 2 machines for "real" money and 1 for cards.

Took me about 10 minutes and 2 assistants to buy 3 articles because they wouldn't scan properly - also every time the assistant scanned in a Paracetamol a voice would say something about needing verification!

And a lot of their stuff is no longer a pound - in fact some "specials" go up to £8.00!

Luckily there is a Poundworld store next door with real assistants - so far!
 
Had them in our Poundland for a good while now and seems to run smooth enough. I don't visit that often but have noticed quite a big drop in cashiers now - sometimes only 1 till with a human!
 
In my local Poundland many of the customers would struggle if self service just meant chucking a quid in a bucket.

Even worse if they had multiple items numbering more than the amount of digits on their hands

Local Waitrose installed self service last week too, only takes cards which isn't great when you only have a bottle of milk and a loaf
 
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Paracetamol is a limited supply item you can only buy two packets per person at any time over the counter .that applies to ALL supermarkets
 
srichards said:
I hate the self service tills. I won't use them. Why put someone out of a job? Retail and selling each other crap we don't need is all this country has.
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I always try to use the local bank branch rather than a cash machine and will never bank online.

Agree about selling crap, just had another one of those shops open here, Poundsnatcher or suchlike
 
srichards said:
I hate the self service tills. I won't use them. Why put someone out of a job? Retail and selling each other crap we don't need is all this country has.
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but it's upskilling - think of all the people you need to train to build them and then keep fixing them as they break every 5 minutes ;)
 
I don't like them either but it's not just Poundland that have these, all the major supermarkets have self service checkouts. I guess it's more efficient to move more people through the checkouts, but it does take away the human contact which is sad.
 
the black fox said:
Paracetamol is a limited supply item you can only buy two packets per person at any time over the counter .that applies to ALL supermarkets
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Well Poundland sells them 3 at a time and has done for ages.

And honestly I can't see the point of all that crap - if I was going to commit suicide I wouldn't choose paracetamol, it's a pretty awful way to go.

And I can actually buy hundreds of any pills over a few days - if I went round every shop selling Paracetamol alone there must be at least 10-12 in Corby alone - there's about 300 pills in one day!
 
I prefer to speak to a human and not shouted at by a Machine.
 
if I was going to commit suicide I wouldn't choose paracetamol, it's a pretty awful way to go.
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Indeed it would be, very painful death I believe.

Even more bewildering is the need for a pharmacist to be present when buying Calpol. Must be to check you know what you are doing, suicide could only result from drowning
 
petersmart said:
And honestly I can't see the point of all that crap - if I was going to commit suicide I wouldn't choose paracetamol, it's a pretty awful way to go.
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Well the figures are 4 years old now so I suspect the stupid law has only prevented about 1,000 suicides.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21370910

The real risk of paracetamol overdoses is surviving them. About 500 people don't need new livers thanks to the law.
 
tijuana taxi said:
Indeed it would be, very painful death I believe.

Even more bewildering is the need for a pharmacist to be present when buying Calpol. Must be to check you know what you are doing, suicide could only result from drowning
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Not bewildering at all when you consider that Calpol is most often given to infants, as a cure-all, by halfwit parents.
 
srichards said:
I hate the self service tills. I won't use them.
Why put someone out of a job? Retail and selling each other crap we don't need is all this country has.
Click to expand...

I always try to use the local bank branch rather than a cash machine and will never bank online.

Agree about selling crap, just had another one of those shops open here, Poundsnatcher or suchlike

Never bank online?
I've been with First Direct for 20yrs now, Staffordshire dealer by great people when I have to call them.
 
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srichards said:
I hate the self service tills. I won't use them. Why put someone out of a job? Retail and selling each other crap we don't need is all this country has.
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Our local WH Smiths installed self-service tills several years ago. The manager used to come to queue for the 'proper' till and take you to the self service till, saying it was quicker. I used to make him scan my purchases.

Now, the manager stays in his office and we all queue quite happily for the proper till.
 
srichards said:
I hate the self service tills
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Similar, but they hate me I only have to approach the "Till" and it goes into melt down.
It takes thrice as long to go through one, by the time we've had " how many bags?", "unexpected item"
"Scan your club card" "authorisation needed" And that was just for a packet of mints :(
 
Never had a problem with self scan tills.
 
viv1969 said:
Never had a problem with self scan tills.
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Ah, so you are the one, I had heard that, that type of person existed, but I never actually believed it TBH :D
 
Meeten said:
Never bank online?
I've been with First Direct for 20yrs now, Staffordshire dealer by great people when I have to call them.
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I don't do online banking either. (hopefully will never need to)

viv1969 said:
Never had a problem with self scan tills.
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I've never had a problem with them either ............... I've never attempted to use one.
 
OldCarlos said:
I've never had a problem with them either ............... I've never attempted to use one.
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Woohoo for you, but using one is rather easy.
 
viv1969 said:
Woohoo for you, but using one is rather easy.
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Nah, it's easier if I don't go at all. My moneyboss does all the shopping! :D (I have been known to go with her VERY occasionally...............& sit in the car listening to the radio ;) )
 
Our local small Sainsburys has them and the are a right PIA, never seem to scan 1st time and always messing up
and assistance takes ages to come, I've left shopping and walked out at times
Tesco on the other hand are brilliant, never had a problems and love the scan as you shop, so much easier and you can price check
if something isn't marked
Sometimes you get a random check to make sure you've scanned everything, but if you're honest it's not a problem
 
I like using the scan, pack and go system.

You pick up the scanner as you go in, scan your items as you pick them up, pack them in you bags, when your finished shopping you just scan the till bar code and it reads your scanner, you pay and off you go
 
OldCarlos said:
I've never attempted to use one.
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Safest plan TBH :thumbs:

Keith W said:
I like using the scan, pack and go system.
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I've never used it, but I can see the attraction.
And I assume that the small (?) amount of shop-lifting ( sorry failing to scan) that actually takes place
Would be compensated by the lack of till attendants wages ?
 
Cobra said:
I've never used it, but I can see the attraction.
And I assume that the small (?) amount of shop-lifting ( sorry failing to scan) that actually takes place
Would be compensated by the lack of till attendants wages ?
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As I said, they do random checks, I've seen people caught out.
Actually someone I know picked up the wrong flavour yoghurts, changed them but forgot to change them on the
scanner, got a random check and it picked up the unscanned item, they explained what had happened but still had the entire
shop redone just in case
 
Gremlin said:
As I said, they do random checks, I've seen people caught out.
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And as I was saying,
Cobra said:
I assume that the small (?) amount of shop-lifting ( sorry failing to scan) that actually takes place
Would be compensated by the lack of till attendants wages ?
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1/100? assuming 10% are accidentally dishonest ( I bet its higher in some area's)
that's 9 people still getting freebies :)
 
Just had Ocado deliver the months shopping, who needs self service machines.

Still have to get the perishables, but the five minute walk to Waitrose isn't too onerous
 
viv1969 said:
Never had a problem with self scan tills.
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Same here, but I can almost guarantee if I use a conventional till, I will have items where the barcode just refuses to scan.
 
I love the scan-and-pack-as-you-shop facility at my local Waitrose. I shop there most weeks and I haven't been asked for a re-scan since about 2009. Plus I can use the app to decide which 10 items I want discounts on *after* I've picked them. Plus a free coffee to drink whilst I'm shopping. Sorted.
 
nilagin said:
Same here, but I can almost guarantee if I use a conventional till, I will have items where the barcode just refuses to scan.
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After saying I rarely go shopping, I actually went into asda today with the moneyboss! :jawdrop: (only coz I needed a pee) & she only bought half a dozen items so proceeded to the self-service in order to avoid a couple of short queue's. "it's much quicker" she said. (y)
The scanner refused to accept/read a bloody cucumber. :LOL: After pressing the `help` button & waiting several minutes for a member of staff, all was well. :rolleyes:

"You're a bloody jinx & you're banned from accompanying me anymore!" :mad: (that'll do for me :cool: )
 
Cobra said:
Objective achieved. Nicely done Carl (y)
:D
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Haha.

It wouldn't have been so bad if I'd somehow intentionally sabotaged something :LOL: I'm obviously just not naturally cut out or suited to certain tasks. :rolleyes:
 
4 items at a B&Q self check out - 2 decided they needed a human to input a code... One of the 2 refusals was identical to one of the acceptable items. Probably explains why there were 2 bods serving at the self service tills (which seems a bit screwy to me if the idea is to free up staff to skive elsewhere!)
 
I guess having worked in retail in the past (Primarily behind the till), i can't say I have much of a problem with these self service tills. At times, customers can be remarkably snobbish and the level of entitlement some people have as they expect you to pack their bags. I'm more than happy to help but don't be expecting the person behind the till to be doing all the work, at least these new tills make you pack your own bags.

I was in Poundland just a few days ago and queue for the tills seem to move fairly quickly as thankfully many of the larger retail shops use a similar system in the self service tills. These tills have their uses. They're great for going in if you need change or purchasing items certain items ... condoms ;)
 
DorsetDude said:
Agree with you but he answer, as it usually is, is money. Fewer salaries to pay - more profit.
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I think they're struggling since Brexit , a lot of lines they used to carry aren't profitable at £1 hence the specials
 
On holiday, I spotted several €1 shops. Didn't go in but I bet it's the same stuff people pay £1 for here. Store branding looks pretty similar to Poundland.
 
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