Discussions

Drug Mart (East) usually has only one cashier since the self checkouts were installed. Banks are the same. Hard to avoid now.

I believe the saying goes, “you get what you pay for”. Most people will admit that they go to Walmart for their items because it’s the cheapest place to buy them. Service comes at a cost, so if you want better service, you will have to go somewhere else that actually does offer service and pay more for your groceries.

wildrose said "I believe the saying goes, “you get what you pay for”. Most people will admit that they go to Walmart for their items because it’s the cheapest place to buy them. Service comes at a cost, so if you want better service, you will have to go somewhere else that actually does offer service and pay more for your groceries. "

They just cannot leverage their suppliers anymore to squeeze more profit. The race to the bottom has reached the bottom and suppliers cannot bend over anymore. They are touching their toes already! So are you saying that prices are going to decrease because the service standpoint at Wal-Mart is going to decrease? I don''t think so. They just don't care and figure people will forget and continue to buy there. But people need to consider jobs in this scenario. On principle. I am. I will not visit a self checkout.  
 
Edited by Tiger Barb, 2018-07-24 22:37:05

I don’t disagree with what you’re saying, they’ve bullied their suppliers into giving them rock bottom pricing and there’s no more room to move. And no, Walmart’s prices aren’t going to decrease because they’re squeezing out jobs, their profit margins are going to increase that much more. I’m just saying that they probably feel more justified in moving more to the “check yourself out” model because the consumers are getting a deal on their items. I’m not saying it’s right. It’s just the way it is. The reason other stores aren’t as cheap is because they aren’t as big of bullies to the suppliers, and also have staffed check outs (added costs of service). I shop for groceries elsewhere and am aware that I could get better prices at Walmart...but the shopping experience is also worth something to me. Therefore I pay more.

I will likely get in hot water for this but I love the self checkouts at Walmart! I always bring my own bags and have a Walmart Mastercard so I don’t use cash there anyways. Eeek sorry I know I’m aiding to the less employees needed situation, but it’s so convenient for me :S

than anywhere else IN MY OPINION. So service to me is important and I like Wal-Mart''s produce better. I think they do that part right. Brandon is a smaller centre and you can find most things on sale anywhere from week to week without travel great distances. Especially if it is a manufacturer rebate sale and not a store driven sale. We buy different items at different stores from week to week for our supplies. You just need to know where to look. So the price versus service argument really does not apply for us. But I will wait to buy items if I have to sacrifice Canadian jobs for convenience.  
 
Edited by Tiger Barb, 2018-07-24 23:04:46

I’m okay with using self check out from time to time, but for the most part I like to have an actual cashier helping me.  
Also the self checkout there is for 25 items... and I almost always have a full cart, so there is no room for that at self checkout.  
Also 70% of the time I am using cash for my purchases, and aren’t those machines debit/credit only?  
I only shop at Walmart every second week for things like over the counter meds, juice, snacks for kids, puppy supplies, toys, and limited food items, etc.  
My main grocery shop every week, twice a week is Sobeys! I love their customer service and quality of meats/produce. I’m aware I pay a bit more at Sobeys on some items, but I’m okay with that. And I usually collect lots of air miles as well as $10 gift cards at least twice a month from Sobeys. And I get the the cents off of gas at shell every once in awhile from Sobeys too! I love that west end Sobeys doesn’t have self checkouts. Hope it stays that way.

The op use an atm? Self serve gas?

I would use them all the time if they allowed me to go through with 200+ items, which is what I usually have. I rarely go during off peak times. The one early morning they had one express cashier open; when i came along with my cart full a manager opened another till for me so I didn't think it was poor service.

I often use self check out. I don’t like to see jobs disappear, but the employees who scan super slow and bag my stuff terribly drive me crazy.

Pasquale said "The op use an atm? Self serve gas? "

you are getting one item you need, that you know is self serve. That is convenient self serve.  
 
Wal Mart you could be getting 30 items, that have cashiers. That is what they are they for. This is not convenient for the shopper, with a cart full. Also, I don't like to use them either for a small purchase, as they don't take cash.

I won’t use them ethier.  
It’s taking jobs away from Canadians.  
So what did they do with the cashiers? They certainly are not on the floor working cause you can find someone to help you if you needed them. Not to mention there change rooms are absolutely horrid!  
I haven’t been to Walmart in 8 weeks and don’t plan to be back in a long time.  
 
#stopselfcheckouts #walmart

Don't you say in your OP that there's 1 actual till open at all times?  
 
So why didn't you just use that? You didn't have to use the self-checker.

I prefer the self checkout. Quicker , less lines, i can pack the stuff the way i want. But i guess now thats over if they push the slow people over to the self checkouts.

I find a lot of places never have enough checkouts open for the volume of customers. Because of this, I like the option of self checkout, especially in cases where I have less than a dozen items. It’s quicker and saves me the hassle of dealing with cashiers that seem to be very poorly trained lately.  
If I have a very large order though, I expect there to be a cashier there to put that through. Those self checkouts are not convenient at all when you have 3-400 dollars worth of groceries.  
It’s a toss up for me. I’d much rather see actual cashiers, but if they aren’t going to do their job properly, then I’ll take convenience over that.

I very rarely use self checkout mainly because my cart is full when I shop there. If on the rare time I am there for a few items I will use them because they are fast.  
 
So how does this work for produce? I always have lots. Can I check my own apples/banana’s?

I wish every large store had these, i avoid dealing with humans as much as possible. Generally they are rude, dont know how to bag groceries without destroying a dozen eggs and overall just are not friendly.  
 
Self checkout, hardly every lines - Win. No rude under trained employee to deal with - win. Verify the accuracy of scanned items myself - win.  
 
There is a reason self checkouts are becoming the norm. I hate going to a store with a person now.

So many of you are sitting here acting like "FINALLY! A self check-out!", I never talk to people anyway, they all suck. Ok, first, those ridiculous things are not overly user-friendly. The manufacturers try, and they're good, but like the one guy said up there, I too use cash, and that's a stupid waste of time.  
For the people simply avoiding people, come on. There's rude snobs everywhere, and one is never guaranteed to get a good guy or a bad guy at a store, anywhere. Roughing up food is one thing (I'd just tell them to take it easy), but the mentality that "Oh people are rude. This way, I'm smart and deal with no one". That's lame

RC123 said "I very rarely use self checkout mainly because my cart is full when I shop there. If on the rare time I am there for a few items I will use them because they are fast.     So how does this work for produce? I always have lots. Can I check my own apples/banana’s? "

A little help for produce from googling and it happened to come from a Wal Mart site.  
 
https://www.wikihow.com/Ring-Up-Fruit-on-a-Walmart-Self-Checkout-Register

I absolutely hate those things mostly because it's taking jobs away from people. The very rare time do I ever use those things but I usually dred it.

At walmart once you fill a few bags you can take them off and set them on the floor and continue. I've gotten tired and the huge line ups and gone with a full cart through the self checkout. Fill 4 bags and set them in your cart or on the floor and continue.  
 
Not in the brandon walmart but others but the all look the same.

I cannot believe the harsh reactions to having to do something yourself.  
It can be a convenience.  
It can be a headache.  
It can be easy.  
It can be hard.  
It is NOT important in the greater scheme of things.  
 
Big companies want to make money.  
They do not care about you, they care about your money.  
Sometimes this is not even the “company’s” fault.  
Shareholders demand bigger & bigger profits every quarter.  
Profits are not enough, LARGER profits are all that matter.  
 
If you don’t like something a company does then buy shares.  
Buy more shares...more shares, and more...  
More...  
And more...  
And see what happens. What will you do from the “inside”?  
You will stop caring about customers too as you see your profits rise & rise.  
As your pockets fill with money.  
 
How many Walmart shareholders shop at Walmart?  
 
I agree that 1 teller in a huge store is ridiculous but you will have to arrange your schedule around the company’s policy on tellers because they are not going to change it for you.  
 
For every customer that leaves & vows to never come back there are 10 new ones walking in the front door.  
If you don’t like it then leave.  
They will not miss you.  
 
Get your head out of your... well... just out and realize that, in the industrial machine, you are no longer even a cog. Your happiness or satisfaction is irrelevant... you are a number... A number that begins with a “$”.  
 
Edited by OutinBrandon, 2018-07-25 10:17:25

When I was at Portage Walmart and they told me to go through self checkout with a half full cart I ended up needing the girls help multiple times anyway lol. So they still employ people to help she just was looking after 6 tills instead of 1. There were a lot of people having issues so she was busy.  
 
I used to be a cashier a little over 10 years ago. It was one of my favourite jobs but these self checkouts still have me grief lol. It’s just going to end up with more theft imo. Wrong produce codes, wrong quantities entered in, stuff purposely forgotten in the cart

These are national decisions for these companies in reaction to minimum wage hikes in other provinces. Although we don’t have as high a minimum wage as some of these other provinces, we are seeing the results of those wage hikes here. It’s great that they increased minimum wage but as you can see, companies are finding a way to keep their labour costs in check. This is the wave of the future.  
Friends i have in Ontario with hourly jobs have seen a raise but also a decrease in hours... so they are no further ahead. Sucks but that’s the way business works. No company is going to just take an increase in labour like that without either decrease hours or increasing prices.

sadly not everyone pays with debit or credit cards and a lot of these self checkers dont take cash very sad

Me And My Wife said "sadly not everyone pays with debit or credit cards and a lot of these self checkers dont take cash very sad "

I always have a bit of cash on me. I do not want to use my debit card or visa card for a $5 - $10 purchase.

We realize we don't live in a perfect world: plan accordingly.

I actually prefer self checkout, too. However, that is when I just have a few items to purchase. If it's a big shop, I prefer a cashier to put my items through...and bag them! I rarely go to Superstore for this reason. My Wal-Mart visits are few and far between already, so I guess it won't really affect me anyway :-)

Your in walmart and you need a jar of Vaseline, then you remember you need some duct tape to fix something then you get a text to pick up a long cucumber for a salad.  
 
Do you really want to go through a checkout with Vaseline , duct tape and a cucumber.  
 
Self checkout it is.