Minor things that bother you

[Max Rockatansky]

My wife likes to pollute my text messages with TikTok links despite me repeatedly telling her I don't have a TikTok app.

Don't need one to watch.

Whenever I try to watch a link I get redirected by my phone to download the app.  Figuring out how to get around whatever is prompting that hasn't been something I've been motivated to do.

[kkt]

Remember too, that for those in the Mountain and Pacific time zones, programs scheduled after sports games are rarely affected.  In many cases, the local shows that were pre-empted for the earlier sports times run immediately after the live sports shows.

So... I should move to California?

Maybe but not because of that

[LilianaUwU]

I may have posted this before, but it came up as I went for groceries yesterday and it made me think about it again. People who pack their bags AFTER they paid at self serve checkout, delaying everyone who's waiting in line.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I may have posted this before, but it came up as I went for groceries yesterday and it made me think about it again. People who pack their bags AFTER they paid at self serve checkout, delaying everyone who's waiting in line.

I mean...why would anyone do this? It's double the effort when you can just scan and put in bag. I get the wanting to separate perishables and shelf-stable/non-food items before bagging, but just get a second bag ready.

[Max Rockatansky]

I may have posted this before, but it came up as I went for groceries yesterday and it made me think about it again. People who pack their bags AFTER they paid at self serve checkout, delaying everyone who's waiting in line.

I mean...why would anyone do this? It's double the effort when you can just scan and put in bag. I get the wanting to separate perishables and shelf-stable/non-food items before bagging, but just get a second bag ready.

Sometimes the bags are a pain in the ass to open.  If that happens I'll just put the items aside and deal with it at the end of the transaction.

[LilianaUwU]

I may have posted this before, but it came up as I went for groceries yesterday and it made me think about it again. People who pack their bags AFTER they paid at self serve checkout, delaying everyone who's waiting in line.

I mean...why would anyone do this? It's double the effort when you can just scan and put in bag. I get the wanting to separate perishables and shelf-stable/non-food items before bagging, but just get a second bag ready.

Sometimes the bags are a pain in the ass to open.  If that happens I'll just put the items aside and deal with it at the end of the transaction.

I've got reusable bags that I've used so much they literally cannot close. And even if I need a new bag, I'll fight for it to stay open when I bag my things.

[Rothman]

I may have posted this before, but it came up as I went for groceries yesterday and it made me think about it again. People who pack their bags AFTER they paid at self serve checkout, delaying everyone who's waiting in line.

I mean...why would anyone do this? It's double the effort when you can just scan and put in bag. I get the wanting to separate perishables and shelf-stable/non-food items before bagging, but just get a second bag ready.

NY sez, "What bags?"

[Max Rockatansky]

I may have posted this before, but it came up as I went for groceries yesterday and it made me think about it again. People who pack their bags AFTER they paid at self serve checkout, delaying everyone who's waiting in line.

I mean...why would anyone do this? It's double the effort when you can just scan and put in bag. I get the wanting to separate perishables and shelf-stable/non-food items before bagging, but just get a second bag ready.

NY sez, "What bags?"

I've pretty much decided to go down with the sinking single use bag ship.  They are too useful around the house that I'm not to stop until the state (California) takes them away completely.

[Rothman]

I may have posted this before, but it came up as I went for groceries yesterday and it made me think about it again. People who pack their bags AFTER they paid at self serve checkout, delaying everyone who's waiting in line.

I mean...why would anyone do this? It's double the effort when you can just scan and put in bag. I get the wanting to separate perishables and shelf-stable/non-food items before bagging, but just get a second bag ready.

NY sez, "What bags?"

I've pretty much decided to go down with the sinking single use bag ship.  They are too useful around the house that I'm not to stop until the state (California) takes them away completely.

We now know who to blame for the Earth's destruction.

[gonealookin]

I may have posted this before, but it came up as I went for groceries yesterday and it made me think about it again. People who pack their bags AFTER they paid at self serve checkout, delaying everyone who's waiting in line.

I mean...why would anyone do this? It's double the effort when you can just scan and put in bag. I get the wanting to separate perishables and shelf-stable/non-food items before bagging, but just get a second bag ready.

I have some reusable Trader Joe's bags that are very nice, they're big and machine-washable.  But they are on the heavy side.  Too often I have set them in the bagging area, only to get the dreaded UNEXPECTED ITEM IN BAGGING AREA, which causes even more delay.

So, yes, I tend to set the scanned items loose in the bagging area, make the payment and then do the bagging.  I know it's something I need to do as quickly as possible if people are waiting.  Sorry to inconvenience you for that extra 20-30 seconds, although I would also say the scanning goes more quickly if I'm just scanning rather than scan-bag-scan-bag.  I'm not sure the total time elapsed is different, my way vs. your way.

Our neighborhood Safeway has six self-scan stations, and I know what hours to avoid because the place is busy, so there's rarely anybody waiting behind me and it's seldom an issue at that store.

[Rothman]

Heh.  Yep, the "unexpected item" nonsense trained us all to bag later.

[1995hoo]

The way I solved the "unexpected item" thing (at stores that don't have the "Use My Own Bags" button) is to scan the first item, then place it in a bag as I place the bag in the bagging area. (That is, scan the first item with no bags in the bagging area but have the bag ready to go.) That seems to satisfy the machine because it's expecting to detect something being placed there. An attendant for the self-checkouts at Harris Teeter suggested that to me several years ago and it's just about always worked.

The possible downside of that approach is that if the bag is uncooperative about staying open, the machine may start nagging you for not placing the item in the bagging area quickly enough, but I think I've only had that happen one time.

[Rothman]

Our inefficient solution is just to bag the groceries in our own wheeled box and bags in the trunk of our car.  So, no bagging in the store at all.

[kkt]

I don't think there's any way to get through the self-checkout without calling the attendant over at least once.  There's a longer wait for that than just going through the checker line.

[vdeane]

The self-checkout systems I have experience all want you to place the bags first, so the solution is to figure out how many bags you need before you begin scanning and set them out at the start.  At Price Chopper/Market32, they'll ask "did you add a bag" at this stage for each one; Wegmans has you click once when done.  Then, when I scan, I'm always careful with the first item for each bag, and wait for the system to say "please place the item in the bag" (if I don't, I find that I can be faster than the system and get unexpected item problems; these can also happen if the bag is jostled, which is easy to do when empty and why I'm careful with the first item).  After than, things can be bagged at full speed as usual.

I don't think there's any way to get through the self-checkout without calling the attendant over at least once.  There's a longer wait for that than just going through the checker line.

I actually manage fairly regularly, though not as much as I used to when I shopped at Hannaford; they have nicer self-checkout systems than Price Chopper/Market32 does.  Although it helps that Price Chopper has an attendant at at station at the head of each cluster of four, so when I do get the "please remove the item from the bag and scan it before placing it in the bag error" (after having already scanned the item) I just need to wait a few seconds for the attendant to catch it and silently clear it from their station.

[JayhawkCO]

I may have posted this before, but it came up as I went for groceries yesterday and it made me think about it again. People who pack their bags AFTER they paid at self serve checkout, delaying everyone who's waiting in line.

I mean...why would anyone do this? It's double the effort when you can just scan and put in bag. I get the wanting to separate perishables and shelf-stable/non-food items before bagging, but just get a second bag ready.

We have some of the self-checkouts that also have a belt, which means it's impossible to bag the item right after you scan it.

[SEWIGuy]

I don't think there's any way to get through the self-checkout without calling the attendant over at least once.  There's a longer wait for that than just going through the checker line.

I have been through the local grocery store self check out 100+ times and can count on one hand the number of times I have had to have someone come over. (And that's usually because I am buying alcohol.)

[Rothman]

Yep, have only had a need to call an attendant over for double scans.  Has happened maybe five times in my lifetime.

[jeffandnicole]

I don't think there's any way to get through the self-checkout without calling the attendant over at least once.  There's a longer wait for that than just going through the checker line.

That seems...unusual.  I rarely have issues.  And when I'm waiting in line, it's pretty visible that most other people scanning their items aren't needing intervention by an attendant either.

[LilianaUwU]

I don't think there's any way to get through the self-checkout without calling the attendant over at least once.  There's a longer wait for that than just going through the checker line.

I very rarely need an attendant, but in the event I do (curiously, it happened today), it does take a while to get one.

[GaryV]

I rarely have issues.  And when I'm waiting in line, it's pretty visible that most other people scanning their items aren't needing intervention by an attendant either.

But on the days that I have problems, it appears that other people do as well. Which leads me to believe that it's not my problem or other people's problems, but rather the system is giving false error readings.

For example, there is no problem at all while I'm scanning a number of items, but why as soon as I push the "Pay" button it pops up with "Help is on the way"? And when help gets there, they simply clear the error message and all is fine.

[kkt]

I rarely have issues.  And when I'm waiting in line, it's pretty visible that most other people scanning their items aren't needing intervention by an attendant either.

But on the days that I have problems, it appears that other people do as well. Which leads me to believe that it's not my problem or other people's problems, but rather the system is giving false error readings.

For example, there is no problem at all while I'm scanning a number of items, but why as soon as I push the "Pay" button it pops up with "Help is on the way"? And when help gets there, they simply clear the error message and all is fine.

Some stores' selfcheck systems are a lot better than others.

[DTComposer]

I find that I run into issues at self-check at about the same rate that I run into issues at a cashier.

The thing that does bother me is customers who don't know when they should or shouldn't use self-check:
People who have full carts and aren't as quick at scanning as a cashier (and run into issues with the limited space to place items after scanning); people who have a lot of coupons (which invariably cause issues and need assistance); and/or people who are timid about the whole process (so they move much more slowly in scanning, reading/comprehending the screens, paying, etc.).

I noticed the Target nearest me has limited self-check to 10 items or less, and I think that should be the norm.

[Rothman]

I'm more annoyed when Price Chopper shuts down its self check.

Have to say, waiting for someone with 300 items at a cashier does seem longer than just going to self-check where the line typically moves faster.

[vdeane]

Interviews where the questions are shown as text on the screen rather than by including when the interviewer asks the question.  This style seems to be popular for DVD/BluRay extras for some reason.