On Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:27:17 +0000, Cynic
wrote:
>On Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:21:52 GMT, "zaax"
>wrote:
>
>>Safeways (and morrisons still might) used to have a scanner you picked
>>up on the way in, and scanned as you shopped and paid on the way out -
>>no check out :)
>
>IIUC they are beginning to lose favour with the supermarkets, and the
>"self scan" checkout used instead, where the activities of several
>customers are overseen by a staff member as they scan their items, and
>checking is also done by having the till ensure that the weight of the
>bagged items equals the weight of the scanned items..
>
>The problem has been that customers tend to start off scanning their
>items as they shop with complete honesty, but after a while quite a
>high percentage of customers decide to skip scanning the odd item,
>thinking that if they are chosen for a random check, they can get away
>with claiming it was a mistake. Then if not challenged, the number of
>"oversights" becomes greater, until the supermarket is losing quite a
>bit to the "soft" shoplifting activities.
>
>So whilst initially heralded as a success, supermarkets have since
>discovered that customers have been getting progressively more and
>more dishonest.
The first time I saw this scheme, in a Waitrose, I thought what a
darned stupid idea. It's an invitation to turn otherwise honest people
into crooks through inertia. And this is what has happened. People
today have a record who would not otherwise have had one. And anyway,
what problem was Waitrose trying to solve? I hated Waitrose then for
the extortionate pricing, and now, thank God, I don't have any near me
to be seduced into by the very attractive, polite and well-spoken
young ladies they put on the tills during the public school holidays.
MM |