Walmart now has self-checkout aisles

[JCMach1]

At least in Houston. I immediately did my own boycott and used a human being.

Every one of those damned things is a job stolen (albeit a relatively crappy one) from someone.

Part of checkout is customer service damn it! Give me a human being!

[Uben]

1. HEy! Don't complain !

Walmart will having you stocking the shelves next.

[rurallib]

2. I always use a human - it is someone's job

Not a great job, but I will be damned if I will help destroy jobs.

[NNN0LHI]

10. Cashier at one time was a great job

Good union wages and benefits. A person could support a family or put themselves through college doing it.

Don

[Brickbat]

12. In some places, it still is. Many of the grocery stores where I live are union, including the

cashiers.

[Doctor Hurt]

16. I don't. And I am not bothered in the least.

Things change. Assembly lines use robots now, and that doesn't bother me either.

[Angry Dragon]

29. .............

:thumbsdown:

[BOG PERSON]

47. agreed

:thumbsup:

[RB TexLa]

54. And the people who build and service the self checkout machines? Don't care about their jobs?

[rurallib]

59. I am betting they also build checkout stations

eta - probably voting machines also.

[FLPanhandle]

3. Why are you even going to Walmart?

I refuse on principle to set foot in one.

[elocs]

34. That's fine, but don't impose your choices & principles on others.

There are lots of people who have no choice as to where they shop. There are also good Democrats who work for Walmart in order to support their families. People do what they have to do to get by and don't need others judging them for their choices when their choices may be limited.

[FLPanhandle]

36. It's just odd to see someone who is worried about jobs shopping at Walmart

The OP won't use a self checkout due to jobs, but spends money supporting one of the biggest job destroyers in the country. I find that odd.

Shop there if you want, but you kind of lose the right to bitch about the loss of jobs when doing so.

[elocs]

40. If you cannot understand how some people have no choice but to shop at Walmart

then you are distinctly lacking in imagination. I find that odd.

If I choose to shop at Walmart I certainly don't lose the right to bitch about the loss of jobs just because you say so, although I must commend you for your high opinion of yourself.

[JCMach1]

38. Went for a specific item... ordinarily I avoid them like the plague.

I am only in the US a few times a year, so had to pick it up...

[FLPanhandle]

39. Understand.

Makes more sense now.

[snagglepuss]

43. You may want consider going there simply to buy lost leaders, itmes

priced at a lost to get you in the door. You benefit at their expense.

[GKirk]

4. There are probably better paying jobs

in the manufacture of those systems than the jobs they are replacing.

[Donnachaidh]

5. they've had them for at least 2 years in Atlanta n/t

[Warrior Dash]

6. When glass was invented, candle makers objected too....

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. Candles are still being made and hand made candles demand a premium now.

Tho I am not clear on what that has to do with glass, since candles were used for many years after glass was popularly used.

[GKirk]

25. That has me scratching my head too.

I would like to know the connection.

[Warrior Dash]

28. When glass was invented, candle makers viewed it as a threat to their "industry"

and called on the King to impose a glass tax in an effort to force poor people to continue buying candles.

[GKirk]

32. Ok I get it now...

having glass windows in your home allowed the daylight in, thus not needing a candle burning in the day time.

[Brickbat]

7. Wal-Mart killing jobs? NO WAY.

Shopping there and then worrying about a cashier job that's gone missing makes me think of shutting barn doors after horses have gotten out.

[qb]

8. Technology is good for our economy... the problem is corporations using overseas labor.

Americans should be manufacturing and servicing the checkout devices (among many other things).

[Taitertots]

9. Cars killed horse jobs, radio killed newspaper jobs, TV killed radio jobs

Don't oppose more effective methods to preserve antiquated jobs.

[Balbus]

11. I appreciate you sticking to your principles.

Means less people in the self-checkout lines and I can get out of the store quicker.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Warrior Dash]

24. I completely agree...

[Obamanaut]

13. They've been here for over two years, and it's a small town. One

of the two other grocery stores has had them for longer than that.

[aikoaiko]

14. I used to feel the same way until I realized I also....

....use:
ATMS
Purchase online
Pump my own gas
Read online articles instead of print
Use netflix instead of a store
Order on demand movies instead of going out to cinema

etc.

[HopeHoops]

18. I refuse to use the damn things. Look what happened to gas stations!

[William769]

19. The Wall Mart in Cape Coral Florida some self-checkout aisles.

The most useless piece of equipment I have ever seen!

[TransitJohn]

20. Had them for over 10 years in Wyoming.

Along with every other supermarket.

[tularetom]

21. The damage has already been done - they probably laid off 5 cashiers

to get people to use the self checkout stations.

Our local Home Depot has these things and you are practically forced to use the self checkout thingy because - guess what - there are NO humans at a register anywhere in the store except possibly at the register that's set up for purchases of lumber and other bulky items. With maybe 10 people in line.

[Pool Hall Ace]

22. As a cashier in a grocery store

let me tell you that I do not believe self-checkouts take away jobs. At the store where I work, there is always at least one cashier who is assigned to assist customers with self-checkout (and they can be kept quite busy).

There are many customers who don't feel like accessing the produce lookup codes, or they do not know exactly where to look. We humans, on the other hand, have many of them memorized. I believe there will always be a sufficient number of people who prefer human cashiers. I could be wrong, of course!

Self-checkouts are great for, say, the guy purchasing soda and chips who does not want to get behind the little old lady with the overflowing cart who, two minutes after her total has been rung up, still cannot locate her checkbook.

[Shagbark Hickory]

26. Furthermore, they may actually attract more customers to the store, leading to more job creation.

I find those self checkout things convenient now that they seem to work better than they used to.
Some people may even go out of their way to shop in a store that has them.
And at least there's a choice to use them or not.

Something tells me walmart thought this one out.

[Tesha]

37. That's a less-than-zero sum game, of course.

Those people being served at the self-checkout line are
*NOT* being served by some cashier somewhere, even
if the labor "transference" is from another store.

Tesha

[Shagbark Hickory]

53. If sales increased 1% from speeding up checkout with these devices ...

(or perceived speeding up of the checkout), then they may have to hire more employees somewhere , if not in the store then somewhere in the supply chain, maybe even in the the factories in china or the factories in the US that are exempt from labor laws or the farms in the us can hire more migrant workers to work for pennies an hour.

Not to mention the jobs created building and maintaining those self checkout registers.

Wouldn't it be better if perhaps fewer cashiers were needed, but more trained, higher paid self-checkout register factory workers were needed? Isn't that we want for our country?

I'll also add that more cashiers might actually be needed if the use of self checkout lanes means more customers will more more frequent visits to the store, even if they don't buy a whole lot more. More cashiers at more times of the day. More frequent stocking and turning of the shelves. That's my guess.

Like I said, I think walmart has this concept all figured out.

[nc4bo]

23. Ours used to have them too, then they removed them all.

Not sure why.

[Z_I_Peevey]

56. Yep, same here.

People just refused to use the self-checkout and when there was a big store re-set, the self-check stations went bye-bye.

[Tippy]

27. All of our Wal-Marts have self checkout at least 8 in each store..

I never use them....but very seldom even go to wal-mart..

[HipChick]

30. Walmart,Giant,Safeway,Home Depot have had them for a few years now

[Zax2me]

31. Haven't these been around for years?

In all type stores, not just Wal-Mart?

[zacherystaylor]

33. Increase efficiency, increase wages, reduce planned obsolescence

I have no objection to this if it increases efficiency and they pass the benefit of that on to the consumers and the workers. The problem is that they don’t pass on the benefits to the workers and the consumers.

I think that unions who try to preserve jobs by avoiding increased efficiency have been missing the point. The purpose of the economy should be to improve the quality of life for the public in the most effective way possible without doing more work than necessary.

My bigger concern with Walmart and many other conglomerates is that they use planned obsolescence as part of a major scam to defr4aud the consumer. They’re suppressing wages by ex
I went into more detail about how they intentionally use this process to steal from us in a recent blog about how “complacent consumers have few if any rights” if anyone is interested. It also discusses how they use trade secrecy laws to keep the research into methods to increase planned obsolescence secret; which means that the government is passing laws that enables fraud to increase to benefit the campaign contributors.

http://open.salon.com/blog/zacherydtaylor/2011/06/06/complacent_consumers_have_few_if_any_rights

[Dreamer Tatum]

35. Oh brother

Those are for people who are buying just a couple of things and don't want to wait, even for the express lane.

Besides, someone has to design those things, make them, program them, buy them, install them, and maintain them.
Ever think of that?

In any event, gee, welcome to 2005. Those things have been in grocery stores since then.

[Travis_0004]

41. I can assume you avoid ATM's too

Wouldn't want to take a bank tellers job.

[Imajika]

44. At least during bank business hours anyway...

After hours the OP would have an excuse, but during banking hours if the OP feels this way he/she should never use an ATM.

And trust me ATM's not only do eliminate teller jobs, they are partially designed to do precisely that. I worked at a bank for a long time and they even want to put automated machines inside to avoid having to hire and pay tellers. The only thing slowing down the process was older people tended to resist it, but as the new generations grow up that problem will no longer be a stumbling block for the banks.

[madmom]

42. We have 5 grocery stores here. All but one has self check out, that is Aldis.

[Macoy]

45. Never Use Them

I fully agree with not using the self-checkout lanes. I have never used them and I never will. I do not understand how anyone who cares about their fellow man could use them without a guilty conscience. Is saving a few minutes worth having a family lose a wage earner?

I would rather wait an extra 5-10 minutes than know I was helping to keep a person unemployed. Yea, Wal-mart jobs suck, but I can tell you, being unable to provide for your family sucks more.


On a side note, I look forward to the day I am rich enought to avoid shopping at Wal-mart.


Macoy

[Romulox]

50. Aldis = non union.

:hi:

[ProfessorGAC]

46. That's Weird

Around here, the stores that had them actually got rid of them. And, when they opened a new store south of here, they never put them in.

My guess is that it's too hard to control shrink with self-checkout, but the one in Morris, IL had them, and doesn't any longer.
GAC

[Maraya1969]

48. I never thought of that. Maybe we can start a petition to not use the self check out isles.

If people are willing to stand in a long line and complain but refuse to use the self checkout it might get some TV air time and they might use less of them.

[Romulox]

49. Drive my Hyundai to Wall Mart to buy a buncha Chinese made crap. Refuse to use self-check

to "save jobs"????

:silly:

[Chakaconcarne]

51. Why are you shopping at Walmart?

I can understand if you have no other option....but seriously.

There should be few if any circumstances that would prompt someone to NOT use a cashier.... Let those self checkout aisles gather dust.

[BOG PERSON]

52. you can't steal somebody's job by replacing them with a computer

the job isn't property of the employee. it belongs to the employer. it's the employer's prerogative to give that job to a human, or to let a computer do it for cheaper.

[KingFlorez]

55. I use them when I want to get in and out of the store

Really, it doesn't take anyone's job, people who are doing a lot of shopping are going to go to the checkout counter. The self-check is for people who are buying a few small things and those in a hurry.

[dems_rightnow]

57. Pretty much every Wal-Mart and grocery store

Have had self-checkouts here for like 10 years. Welcome to the 21st century.

[Bennyboy]

58. Had them here for long time

in CA. And they do not take anyone's job. There are monitors and other support staff (unseen) that negate the job loss. I asked about them years ago with that very question.

In CA they are common place in supermarkets, HOME DEPOT, Lowes and many other retail places.

The retail managers all tell me that they would hire more people but drug testing is a huge problem and that people don't want low paying retail jobs that are drug tested. I know I wouldn't.