Published on 12, July, 2020
I love self service tills in shops. They are much more hygienic than manned tills. The only unhygienic part is pressing the button asking how I'm making the payment and if I want a receipt.
On manned tills the operator touches every item of food I buy and on a recent visit I saw an operator sneeze all over herself and her hands and food items.
Now some shops are going into reverse, Booths are ripping out their self service tills, and my local branch of Iceland has gone back to manned tills only.
All opinions are welcome.
During the pandemic they were the less risky option and that's when I started using them more. I used to hate them and they certainly seem to hate me. I can rarely get through a transaction without needing human assistance to override at some point.
Having said that they do have some advantages and I'm increasingly opting to use them even when I have the option of a manned till. Once I get used to how each stores systems work I find them more predictable than a human.
I tend to buy a lot of stuff with yellow stickers and I like that I can go at my own pace and check that each item has scanned at the correct reduced price. On a manned till they scan so fast that I cannot keep up with checking the prices whilst simultaneously trying to pack and fend off any attempted small talk. I hate having to check the receipt and then queue at the customer service desk afterwards if something has scanned at the wrong price
I suspect that the reason stores are ripping them out is more to do with security and abuse than customer preference.