Walmart self check outs !!! ARGH! (Page 2)

Alright guys, time for some input from an actual cashier. I work as a clerk in a store called (I decided not to say what company, because I'm telling you things that I shouldn't), which is like a Wal Mart Super Center only 10000e10 times better.

First of all, let me tell you that being a cashier sucks. We are under enormous amounts of pressure. My company times us, and compares our actual transaction time vs. the "industry standard." Those numbers are divided and we get a percentage score every week. If you slip below 95% your in trouble. Most of the circumstances that cause these "slow" weekly performances are beyond our control. If you get a week where your on an express lane for a few days and a lot of old people come through who don't know how to use their credit cards or who are slow to write their checks, your in trouble. If an item scans incorrectly and you have to get a price check, the clock is ticking. Tic Toc, Tic Toc, your score is going down!

The second part of the job that sucks is that everything is your fault! If the lines are long, it's your fault. If the store ran out of the shrimp that was on sale, it's your fault. If someone had a blowout and trashed the bathroom, it's your fault. If an item rings up incorrectly, guess what, it's your fault. If the computers go down, it's your fault. You get the picture. EVERYTHING IS YOUR FAULT! You have to listen to people and complaining 8 hours a day 5 days a week. On top of that you have to be quick and never make a mistake.

When you get assigned to a Self Checkout, your problems multiply by six! First off, your glued to a computer screen. About every 1-2 seconds a new window pops up asking you to verify something or to check somebodys ID or that their was a payment error, the list goes on and on.
Lets say you've got somebody in one of your lines who has no idea what their doing. You have to leave the screen to show them what to do. During the 25 seconds that your gone, about 20 different windows have come up asking you to do various things. YOU HAVE TO READ EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM! If you make one single mistake you could loose your job and be fined large sums of cash for selling liquor or cigarettes to someone who is not old enough to purchase it. During the time that your filtering through all of those requests and overrides, one of the machines runs out of money, so you have to shut it down. Oh no, now you've made some people really mad because they have been waiting in that line for two whole minutes and now they have to go somewhere else.

On top of all that, the same managers that cut cashier hours down to a bare minimum are telling you that you have to do everything faster because customers are complaining that they have to wait in line to long!

The worst case is when your working an eight hour shift and a couple of people call in sick. The store gets slammed with guests. You working for 6 or 7 hours straight without a lunch or a break. You don't even have time to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water. So, your starving, your thirsty, you've really gotta pee, your hands are sore from the constant dragging of items across the laser, and you have to listen to the constant complaints of people who had to wait for 5 minutes in line! It gets old. Now lets say after all that time, you finally get a break. You've got 15 minutes to eat a meal, go to the bathroom, get some water, and wait on every single person who asks you a question while your doing it. You finally sit down for two minutes, and you have to hear everyone complain because your sitting when you should be doing your job! Because of the fact that you had to tell 59 different people where the bathrooms are, you didn't even have enough time to finish your sandwich.

Finally, just when you think your day is over, you find out that you have to stay an extra two hours because somebody else called in sick. Say goodbye to all of your plans, and say hello to another two hours of hell.

Now, let me tell you why companies put in self checkout lanes. They save money. Believe it or not the profit margins on selling groceries are minimal. My store just had to spend $750000 of it's meager profits on a new roof because the old one was starting to leak. We've had the floor ripped up 7 times this year because of sewer problems. I don't know how much that cost us, but I'm sure it was a pretty penny. These types of expenses would break the bank if we didn't cut hours to make up for it. If you want faster service, your going to have to pay more for it. Since most people don't want to pay any more than they have to, your just going to have to wait in line for a few minutes.

So, the next time you have to wait in line for 5 minutes; or have to wait for the self scan cashier to verify something for you, or even to help you out, keep in mind that they are working as quickly and as accurately as they can. They are most likely doing everything in their power to help you out. Let me say that it does no good to yell at us. We get that at least once every five minutes. Be the guest that is courteous... because it's the nice people of the world that keep the job from becoming too much to handle.

Thanks for letting me vent here, because I sure can't do it at work!

Every cashier at my store is getting shafted at the end of this month. They are putting in new checkout lanes, and many of them will be large order self checkouts. More work and less hours.

EDIT: I realize that you guys aren't trying to knock cashiers, your just venting, as am I. The main thing to take away from this is that cashiers are, and sometimes the things that costumers say to us really hurt.

Edited by Cheetah 2007-10-11 9:35 PM