Item — HN Reader

> The biggest problem is theft. Not only is it easy to steal from self-checkout machines, it can be hard not to steal from them.

This is me. At a Walmart this weekend the machine booped instead of beeped, and I didn't get that meant it didn't scan, and dropped the item into a bag. An employee was watching and swooped right in and fixed it. But paying that much attention meant that she might as well have checked me out herself, probably a lot faster.

AI could change the economics soon, but apparently not yet.

3 comments

Around here, whenever there's any sort of problem with self checkout, the employees don't even try to diagnose the problem. They're not paid enough to bother. Recently, a self checkout machine started beeping because I had used an e-coupon that exceeded the total price of all the items by a couple of pennies. It appeared to generate a receipt, but still wanted me to wait. Cashier comes over, looks at the receipt, enters something into the machine, says it's fine, waves me out. I look at the receipt more closely when I get to the car: it literally says "transaction canceled" on the bottom. Not only was my purchase "free", but the electronic coupon was still good!

And do you really think that would have been different at a full service check out? It’s the same person who still wouldn’t care.

Probably not! I naively assumed the cashier is paying more attention during checkout.

> This is me. At a Walmart this weekend the machine booped instead of beeped, and I didn't get that meant it didn't scan,

I routinely forget to scan whatever is on the bottom of the cart. Usually cases of water but a few times it was the box of 32 hamburgers. I never had a cashier catch it - and they're invariably surprised when I come back into pay.

A Walmart I visited recently had a camera at ankle level specially to show the bottom of your cart for the cashier to see.

Another store (I forget which) had a full cart camera and prompted me to check my cart for remaining items because I had unused reusable bags in it.

> A Walmart I visited recently had a camera at ankle level specially to show the bottom of your cart for the cashier to see.

I've seen that, now that you mention it. It must have been on a trip. None nearby have it.

> Another store (I forget which) had a full cart camera and prompted me to check my cart for remaining items because I had unused reusable bags in it.

That's a new one. I'm not sure if getting flagged would be more annoying than having to go back.

My last few trips have required an employee override because I left the paper ad circular in the cart. Put it in a bag and get dinged for bagging something not scanned, don't bag it and get dinged for something in the cart.

Have you tried eating it before getting to the check out?

At the supermarket, I often plonk some loose fruit onto the self-checkout machine and then think "what kind of pear was that again?" and guess. Maybe that gets counted as 'theft' if I guess incorrectly and accidentally charge myself less than I should have.