Designed by people that hate you. No, really
Self-service checkout machines. Is there any other machine we interact with in the modern world that is quite so odious?
As I stand in line to use one of these infernal devices, listening to the sighs of frustration from the customers ahead of me, I debate whether it’s worth it. The extra minutes I’ll save from not queuing up for an old-school conveyor belt, or the agony of a vein exploding on my forehead from using one of the damn things…
Cannot verify your bags
Whilst I can’t condone shopping in socks and sandals, I try to be a good eco-boy by bringing my own bags to the supermarket each week. (Somewhere in the Pacific there’s a baby albatross with one less plastic bag in their stomach who’s thanking me.)
Each week, I duly select ‘using my own bags’ and place my deluxe hessian bag in the bagging area. And each week I’m told my bag can’t be verified and that I’m to wait until an assistant arrives to help me. I’ve tried placing my bag down gently as if it were precious cargo, in the hope of getting the machine to acquiesce. I’ve also tried ramming it down, in the hope that announcing my bag’s presence with a punch will have better results. Neither works and each time an attendant has to be called over.
What does it take for a bag to verified without calling the work experience boy over? Why not tell me so I can alter my behavior or bring a different bag? If this isn’t possible, then why not just say so? Want to use your own bags? Press here to call an attendant over.
Transparency. Don’t lie for the sake of sounding technically competent, because God knows the machine is failing at that one.
Unexpected item in the bagging area
You’re merrily scanning and bagging, accompanied to the sound of beeps from the bar code reader. Until, unexpectedly, the machine interrupts:
Unexpected item in the bagging area. Remove this item before continuing.
WTF? I’ve just scanned that wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano. I live in Islington – buying expensive cheese should hardly be unexpected behavior.
Hold on, did it scan? Was the scanning beep I heard a false memory? Or…
Unexpected item in the bagging.
Half way through the next error message the machine catches up – it’s found the cheese after all. Thanks for scolding me just because you’re a bit shite.
Please remove your card
This being slow doesn’t just extend to playing catch-up, often the machine is downright one step behind. How many times have you been told to remove your card after removing your card from the chip and pin machine? It’s very dull being told to do something that you’ve already done.
A lack of focus
A lot of these problems stem from having to be able to deal with the worse case: yes, items do get dropped into a shopping bag without them being scanned occasionally. Of course, the system needs to be able to deal with every eventuality. But many of these problems stem from the checkout machine trying to do too much.
Interacting with one of these machines is a nightmare, with slots, swipes and scanners all over the place. Fiddle up here and remove whatever from down below – the interactions are all over the place. What would happen if the experience were concentrated down? If these machines are here for convenience, how about *just* focusing on paying by card and getting the shopping experience *right*? Do one thing really well rather than lots of things badly.
What does this all mean?
Rants aside, I do have a point to make.
It baffles me that someone, somewhere has said “yep, this is it, this is good enough to have our name on it.” I know that systems, services and platforms are always a balance between what can be achieved within the time, money and expertise available. I’m also sure that these machines are a huge technical accomplishment: it’s a barcode reader, measuring scale, cash dispenser, payment and touch screen device in one. That’s unbelievable.
However, that’s all wrapped up in a truly dreadful customer experience. Could some of the time (and money) spent integrating three different payment types into one device been better spent getting the shopping experience right?
Of course, being able to accept notes, coins and cards was probably part of the brief so the manufacturer isn’t all to blame. However, how much better would it have been if someone had had the confidence to say “we can do it… of course we can do it… but it may not deliver the experience you’re looking for.”
It would have been a bold move, possibly a courageous one. However, each time a customer uses one of these machines and is frustrated, I can’t help but wonder about all the money supermarkets spend each on branding, marketing and creating the perfect store environment. Millions of pounds a year and it comes down to this? My last thought as I walk out of the supermarket isn’t of quality or value for money, it’s of my last experience at the store:
Unexpected item in the bagging area. Remove item before continuing.
20 comments
I couldn’t agree more. I worked in a supermarket for 2 years as a checkout girl and foolishly assumed that using one of these machines would be EVEN EASIER than the pretty straight-forward checkout system.
Not once have I managed to negotiate a ‘self service’ checkout without needing assistance from a nearby member of staff, whether it be to verify a reduced item, verify our loyalty card, verify we’ve bought along our own bags and so the list goes on.
Now, I will always face the queue rather than negotiate this terrible CS experience!
Even worse are the people who stroll up to the machine with a cart full of items. I don’t seem to have the unknown bag issue, but that might be because I usually just put my items down and then at the end toss them all into my backpack.
The machines work well enough most of the time, if more stores had more of them installed it might lead to quicker bug fixes and more people on hand to debug issues as they arise.
In either case, I think we can all foresee that these machines will end up becoming more and more popular. The stores that embrace them and get cracking on ways to make the process more pleasant will win out in the end.
Lol. I ganged up with other shoppers today to find all the things we needed. It’s like a treasure hunt.
Agree entirely. There is something defective about the people involved in their creation and production. I notice they are all the same, from Tesco, to Asda, to Marks & Spencer, so it would seem a single company is to blame for their shameful monstrosity.
The placement of the various orifices is just obscene (change and notes come out in entirely separate places, receipts often fall straight to the floor). You are quite right about how it deals with bags and the lousy error handling. I suspect you are also right that it would have been better to push back on the requirement for handling cash rather than bodge it in such a horrible way.
Shame on the vendor creating this nasty bit of equipment (worse even than the most user-hostile cash machine). The supermarkets should also take flack for agreeing to have this clunky box of fail in their stores.
The thing I love best is “Select Payment Type”. I JUST PUT MY FUCKING VISA CARD IN THE SLOT — SEE IF YOU CAN GUESS WHICH FUCKING PAYMENT TYPE I WANT TO USE.
Have you considered the possibility that it was designed by a progressive forward-thinking former cashier who just didn’t want to see jobs lost to what would so obviously be a boon for retailers and customers alike?
As it is, nearly no jobs are lost to these monstrosities, and any that are likely offset by higher-skilled positions employed toward their repair.
~ yoni
I do prefer the machine over the “customer service” of a real person. Let’s be honest, most of these stores have employees that hate being there. The machines tend to be nicer. BUT, waiting for assistance means you ruin the whole experience and have to deal with a person anyway.
So…maybe shopping from your browser would make life happier…maybe…
This is pretty new to me as we don’t have this in our country so I actually went on YouTube & made a search. LOL
But anyhoo, this video explains the ‘Unexpected item in bagging area’ bug: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyqLWb0ne84&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyqLWb0ne84&feature=related
From the very first time I used the self checkout I’ve hated it. That stupid, “unexpected item” message makes me so angry. It is the WORST EVER customer “service” interface I’ve ever had to deal with. You’ve illustrated exactly what’s wrong with it perfectly.
That pretty much was a good example of being around one of those things.
I use to work at a grocery store in our area and we did a switch from express lanes to the scan machines. The company said “for better customer service” which really meant that we now have 3 less employees we have to pay because I’ve really never seen them give better service then a real person.
The best part of it came though when we use to have rushes the self scans would have 2 or 3 people and the other lines would have lines 5+ long because a lot of our customer base (who were mid 30+) really didn’t want to deal with them.
Agree with every word. Except that you forgot to mention that even on the rare occasions that things go right so far, the sodding machine still fucks it up at the end by nagging you to take your shopping away while you’re still putting your card back into your handbag/checking everything’s packed ok/putting your coat back on.
I quite like them. Am I a bad person?
My supermarket self service machine experience: Beep a few items through… put in cash… hope for best… leave store. Quicker than going to the real person scanning queue. They could be designed better, but I still like them. Payment by i-phone bumping in future?
What I really hate are train ticket machines… most won’t take cash… huge queues at the station… impossible to understand product menu…. ie what on earth is a super-saver-part-day-return-alternate-thursdays-non-off-peak-hours-travel-in-the-rear-four-coaches-replacement-bus-serivce ticket?
My problem tends to be “Unexpected 3 year old in bagging area”…
Isn’t it just giving false positives, to discourage shoplifting? Ie if you don’t do it exactly right, it’s going to ding you. (Beyond being a crap system)?
There might be an easy fix for the first problem encountered with using your own bag. Most of these infernal machines have a “start” or “begin” button. Set your bag down before you hit that start button. I would imagine it zero’s out the scale at the beginning of the check out process. The reason I believe this is because the weight changes frequently when the plastic shopping bags are restocked and consistently decreases as they are used. I’ve seen store clerks restock the bags between customers without ever doing anything to the machine like hitting a reset button. I haven’t tried it yet, since I only use the self-check when I have a couple of items and don’t need a bag anyway.
I’ve seen store clerks restock the bags between customers without ever doing anything to the machine like hitting a reset button. I haven’t tried it yet, since I only use the self-check when I have a couple of items and don’t need a bag anyway.
I now will refuse to use these machines because everytime I do there is a problem. e.g. a DVD with security tag or alcohol age verification. When I do get an assistant to come over I am made to feel like a complete twat. I have walked out minus my purchases on about 5 occasions now & will continue to do so.
They work fine for me, and I love ‘em! In fact, I’m amazed that they work as well as they do. There are minor niggles – for example notes should not be ‘dispensed below the scanner’, and the voices & beeps should be different on each machine to stop you thinking that your neighbour’s beep is your own.
But on balance, they are great, and you complain too much!
But on Bala
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Oops, sorry, glitch in my last comment. God, I hate this commenting system, why can’t they design a decent commenting system?
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