Community Chat

[suzyQ3]

Okay, so I'll admit that I have never used self-check. I'm sure I could figure it out, but I don't want to. :-)

I seriously doubt that where I shop will switch to only self-check. If I'm wrong, then I will have to figure it out.

I have never shopped at WM, so at least that's not a worry. There is not one that I consider to be close enough. I have on occasion ordered non-food items from them online but generally favor Target for that.

[pupwhipped]

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@FiddleDeeDee wrote:

I asked Walmart Son about this and he confirmed that yes, they are converting over to all self check-outs. Don't know the schedule but it's happening. There is a forum on Reddit and a private Facebook page for Walmart employees and it's a hot topic on them, he says. I asked what will happen to those who are checkers and he said they'll be moved to floor work/stocking or whatever the store has to offer else, they can quit. Will they have people to assist and he said yes, that those are the positions checkers will be given first pick. Beyond that, he didn't know anything else since he works on the docks.

The shifts are changing/have changed and FYI,  the pay raise Walmart crowed about wasn't seen by him, anyone on the docks or anyone who stocks the shelves (these 2 groups make up the majority of employees, btw). 

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Thanks for the info, @FiddleDeeDee. And before I say this I want to wish your son only the best with his job at Walmart or anywhere else he chooses. 

I really hate to be mean but I hope this move shoots Walmart right in the foot.....their bottom line! I will be done. And this comes from someone who has always liked and somewhat defended Walmart. My home state is the birthplace of the company. But there are sooooooo many things already wrong with the stores and then add in this smooth move and it's not worth it to me to shop there. There are other places I can spend my money even if it might cost a bit more. I really wonder what Sam Walton would think of all this.    

[FiddleDeeDee]

@pupwhipped Thank you for your kind words. Walmart Son chose to work there for the past year when his college shut down and then went virtual and classes he needed NEEDED to be done in a lab....not paying the money for that. We relocated to Florida and he came with us and started at Walmart. He's returning to MD this Fall and will be at Walmart PT as they'll work with his college schedule regarding hours. Once he graduates, he's done with Walmart.

I agree 100% that Sam Walton would be disgusted as to how his dream/creation is so radically different than when he was alive. What's interesting is that you can say the same thing about many companies that started out amazing and then as the the next generation took over, changed it to the point it's nothing like the original (Nordstrom, for example).

People will ALWAYS shop at Walmart simply because it offers what they need.  Bottom line is every persons wallet and when money is tight, you'll put up and adapt to whatever the business tells you. You'll hunt down things, figure stuff out, check it out, bag it, move it, etc and you'll darn well like it and pay US for the privilege of shopping in our store. Sad but true.

[Cats3000]

@NataliesgrammaHaven't heard about it in New Hampshire.  We use the self-checkout at WalMart whenever we can.  They have few cashiers, and we really don't care.  For small number of items at the grocery, we also use self-checkout.  Only when we have a basket full of stuff will we go to a cashier.  If the self-checkouts at grocery stores were properly configured, we could probably do it ourselves, too.

[Twins Mom]

Recent trip to Wal-Mart was in middle of checkout conversion.  12 Large self checkout

S then 4 for clerks, then an area as big as first where at least as many self checkouts were going.  Depressing.  I was standing for long time in customer return area with one clerk.

[Porcelain]

Walmart doesn't care what you want. They care what is easy and cost effective for them.

Edited to add: I've always said, and it's proven to be true, watch how a company treats its employees. However they treat their employees is the way they will eventually treat their customers.

Same principle as the "waitress test" when dating. When your date is nice to you but rude to waitstaff, it's only a matter of time until they get comfortable and treat you the same way too.

[beckyb1012]

I must admit I have gotten faster and have no problem with the produce ect.. at the one closest to my home where you Have To self checkout.  But in the beginning a couple of years ago I was a disaster and refused to do it.  I got home and found out I had scanned some makeup 3 times.  So I would just wait in a long line for a live body for the next couple of years before I got brave, or forced to do it again.  No problem to it now.

[sunshine 919]

I always thought that the self check outs were for people with 20 items or less so I was real happy because I never buy a cart full of items.  However people with a cart full will get into the self check out line, that defeats the whole purpose of a self check out.  I hope the stores will not go to all self check out it will be a mess. 

Other grocery stores still clerks and self check outs.  There is a Winco where I live and self check outs are for 20 items or less which I love.  In fact I was there this morning.  If you have too many items they will tell you to go to a cashier.

[chickenbutt]

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@FiddleDeeDee wrote:

I agree 100% that Sam Walton would be disgusted as to how his dream/creation is so radically different than when he was alive. What's interesting is that you can say the same thing about many companies that started out amazing and then as the the next generation took over, changed it to the point it's nothing like the original (Nordstrom, for example).

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My father knew Sam Walton.  After Sam died I vaguely recall him telling me about some things that Sam would not have wanted, that his kids did to the company after his death.   I wish I could remember details but, yeah, he said Sam would be rolling over in his grave at what they did to his company.

I haven't been in Walmart for quite a while (several years?), but I did order a couple of things online a couple of times that I stopped finding at my grocery store and that went well.  Not the grocery ordering thing they do now, but just the regular online purchasing with FedEx or one of them delivering.

I'm not one for self check-out, although I certainly don't begrudge it others.  But I wonder how the over all effect of that will be.   I wonder what percentage of people will leave if/when they make it 100% self check-out.

I won't go there.   I really never shopped there that much anyway, especially after they got busted a couple of times taking old meat, applying dye to it, and changing the best by dates. (*shudder*)  Plus, I never found the produce there appealing.  It always looked kind of like it had been left out for a while.   I always wondered if one of the reasons they would have lower prices on many things was that they purchase from places that pick up food that's getting older because I did learn that you really have to look at 'best by' dates on packaging.   I would find the bb dates in general to be much closer than what I would find at the grocery store.

[icezeus]

I have noticed self check outs becoming more of a trend in some of the stores that I shop in. The super Target by me has a bunch of them and the regular cashiers as well, they always have one person in the Self Check out area in case you need assistance.

The funny thing is that I never used them until the pandemic. I remember walking into the Super Target and picking up a handful of items. When I went to check out, the line to be checked out by cashier was just crazy long. I looked at the self check out and it was perhaps 6 or 7 people standing in line. I went over there and was quickly out of the store. I have not returned to using a cashier since. It's much easier.