photo: Bára Richterová, PrahaIN.cz/Self-service checkout in Tesco, illustrative photo
Self-service checkouts are a perennial topic. They are popular among many, others choose a classic cash register with an attendant. But it is not only about the elderly population, for example, a larger purchase is enough and the problem is global. With the aim of saving staff costs and speeding up customer check-out, self-service checkouts are already in almost every supermarket. They are especially preferred by those with small purchases.
But many shops have come up with the fact that only the self-service ones are open, especially in the morning and evening. This happened a few days ago in the Albert hypermarket in OC Šestka in Prague’s Ruzyna.
A young man came to the register an hour before closing time with a full shopping cart. The classic cash register was not open, so he asked the attendant for help. The saleswoman replied that she would help him with the marking.
“But I’m not your employee to mark up a big purchase, because I can’t even fit it on that storage area,” he replied. Still decent, but already with visible tension.
The classic cash register did not open, the man refused help and went to mark himself. He spent about ten minutes at the cash register, twice he had to ask the operator for help anyway. Once he needed to confirm he was over eighteen and the second time he wasn’t sure about the type of pastry. He spent the next few minutes putting his shopping into bags.
We wrote
Like Kaufland, the Lidl chain has decided to pay its customers for waiting in line. “We save not only your time, but also your money,”…
Complaints also multiply on Google reviews
He had 115 items on his receipt. It should be noted that he was not the only one who literally fought with a full basket at the self-service checkouts.
“We are very sorry to the customer, even in times of slower traffic, at least one cash desk should always be open. This is not a standard situation and we are already checking the whole thing with the store in question. In the Praha Ruzyně store, customers can also use the Albert scan, which will speed up the clearance of large purchases,” Jiří Mareček, director of communications for Albert stores, told PrahaIN.cz.
But others had the same experience.
“The idea of putting so few saleswomen on the sales floor of a hypermarket that not even one classic cash register can be staffed and everyone has to use self-service would deserve metal. It is especially appreciated by the seniors, who we smile at each other here despite the full carts,” commented more than one reviewer on Google reviews.
Similar situations are the order of the day in Tesco, where a maximum of one classic checkout is open outside of peak hours, and large queues form at the self-service counters and the staff do not have time to solve problems.
However, we noticed another slip-up at some smaller stores. There is one classic cash register in operation and next to it there are self-service ones, but there is no employee. When someone needs advice at the self-service checkout, they have to find the staff themselves.
“The self-service cash registers are open in the morning with staff ready to help the customer. We continuously monitor the situation in the store and adapt the operation of the cash registers to the wishes of our customers,” Iva Pavlousková told PrahaIN.cz on behalf of Tesco.
