[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by 79CamaroDiva

These things are driving me insane, and I don't know why people think they're the greatest things ever. I HATE the retail stores that put self check-outs in and leave ONE cashier somewhere at the other end of the store. Retail jobs have always been a safe bet to be able to have SOME kind of job if you are young, unskilled, or just need a part-time job, even if they suck to work in, they're still a JOB.. I don't know numbers, but I'm sure after the last few years of internet shopping, even from the retail giants, the amount of people employed by these companies has probably decreased quite a bit, and now they're bringing in more computers to do what has always been a humans job..

Go into your local Home Depot or supermarket that has some of these.. where they used to have a half dozen or more cashiers working, they now have 1 cashier and 8 self checkouts.. now they cut their expenses dramatically because they're only paying one person, but none of the savings is passed on to you because in effect, you are now "working" while you're at the store. It's completely ridiculous, and I have told a number of stores that I flat out refused to use them. If there's only 1 person working and a line 10 deep, I'll wait in line. Usually the cashier gets upset if theres a line that long, if they are I'll explain to them why I won't use the self check-outs, and I usually get a thank you. Even the employees usually don't understand that these things are costing them money, a lot think that it helps make their job easier..

sorry for the rant, but I definitely encourage everyone on here to think about it before they use one of these things.. all it is is big business trying to save a dime and not pass it on to you.

btw, please don't change this into a political thread. thx

Places with self checkouts run really tight margins anyway. Home Depot, Lowe's, and a lot of those types of places are known for beating up their suppliers and forcing them to make inferior products to their spec.