Self Checkout Registers – Friend Or Foe?

Let me start off by saying that I LOVE shopping at The Walmart Neighborhood Market at Skyland & Hargrove Road. They have everything I need, at great prices, and they're open 24/7. Better yet, I like the fact that it's just one mile from my house. Prior to the store opening in September 2015, I would have to drive further into town just to do my grocery shopping. The convenience of all these factors has simply been a Godsend for me.

The store also has Self Checkout machines, which are nice if you don't have a lot of items, and you need to get in and out quickly because you don't feel like waiting in line for a regular Checkout Register. However, there are times that the only registers that are open are the Self Checkout ones. Especially, if you like to shop in the middle of the night like I do.

So what's the problem? The problem is that sometimes the Self Checkouts don't like to cooperate with me! Quite frankly, they're a PAIN!  I mean, you have to get the items out of your buggy yourself, you have to scramble to find the barcode on each item yourself, you have to bag each item yourself, (in plastic bags that don't pull apart as quickly as you want them to), and you have to clear them from the bagging area and put them back in your buggy, because if you don't, you'll get an error message from the machine telling you to bag your items!  Well, Duh!

What do you think I was going to do? Not bag them and leave them for the next person to pick up and take home with them?! As a matter of fact, I was getting an error message between EVERY item I scanned! Messages like, "This Item Needs To Be Weighed", "Remove All Items From Your Cart", "Check The Bottom Of Your Cart To Make Sure That All Items Are Bagged", "Please Clear Conveyor Belt To Make Sure All Items Are Scanned", "Please Ask Store Associate For Assistance With Item",.....it was RIDICULOUS!

Thankfully, a Walmart Employee came over to assist me. I said, "Thank You for coming over here, I was about to look for someone to help me out. How did you know that I was having difficulty with this machine?" She looked at me and said, "Sir, it was because I could hear you cursing at the machine from 4 aisles away!".

Lesson Learned: Shop during regular daylight hours with a REAL person working at The Checkout Register. Because from this point forward, I am officially breaking up with Self Checkout Registers!