81–90 of 231 posts
What really irritates me about shoplifting is that the honest among us subsidize the criminals . Inevitably, retailers and grocers raise prices due to increased theft, encouraging more theft, in a vicious spiral (I don't have proof of this; rather, it's an intuition). Also reminds me of drug use in sports.
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I don't share the thinking behind that comedy bit at all. For me, self-service checkouts offer such added utility -- no tiresome social interaction with the cashier, no awkward moments when shopping in a country where you don't speak the language -- that it more than makes up for the burden of ringing up my purchases.
I don't understand the momentous burden shouldered by others and their fleeting and superficial social interactions but I suppose that is due to my naivete. For me they are simply the lowest-stakes social interaction you can undertake and another chance to work on my ability to charm an audience.
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I'm glad you get personal utility from the new method, but the rant is coming from a place where people are forced to use self checkouts and would rather not - eg stores where they shut all but one staffed register, creating a huge line.
That's more of a problem. In Europe the self-check outs are optional. They're also faster, because there isn't much of a queue and the people with carts all go to cashiers. I don't feel oppressed when I use them because I appreciate the speed. If that advantage disappeared, I'd be less pleased.
The other thing with those down here is they have a weight-based security scale with high number of false positives. Combine that with 4-6 machines constantly having them to get some unhappy customers. Also, those at Walmart and Kroger often have coupons or other issues that require attendants. Sometimes customers will argue with them wanting things checked. This might take a lot of time. Now, we have 4-12 or something people all waiting on one person due to one person. Then, some get irritated about what order they're served in when the attendant gets back. Way worse experience than at a register with a few people in line.
I'm fine with self-checkouts or registers. I prefer to have options, though, like you said in your comment. I'm good at reading the situation to determine which will be faster. When they force me, I just go somewhere else to spite them unless they got me locked in with an exclusive item or deal(s) worth the time. The oligopolies let them do that here and there.
What really irritates me about shoplifting is that the honest among us subsidize the criminals . Inevitably, retailers and grocers raise prices due to increased theft, encouraging more theft, in a vicious spiral (I don't have proof of this; rather, it's an intuition). Also reminds me of drug use in sports.
We in fact do: executives of companies with poor service, little innovation, and lots of fraud against consumers and employees. They take millions to tens of millions... typically goes up... despite others doing most of their work whose own income is minimized wherever possible. There's also thieves that make three to four digits a year taking some percentage of company earnings for themselves, too. I can't stand them either.
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I'm not aware of any major stores that provide a self-checkout discount.
I've never been to a store that gives a discount for self-checkout, but it probably does lower the overall cost of shopping there. there's very little that Walmart can do to differentiate itself from Target, so I would at least expect these kinds of businesses to be forced to pass a lot of the labor savings on to their customers. if you really hate ringing up your own groceries, there are plenty of higher end grocery…
So, there's your data points. Meanwhile, a lot of companies are getting rid of their self-checkouts since there's tons of theft. They've probably lost more at some places than they saved on laid-off cashiers.
What really irritates me about shoplifting is that the honest among us subsidize the criminals . Inevitably, retailers and grocers raise prices due to increased theft, encouraging more theft, in a vicious spiral (I don't have proof of this; rather, it's an intuition). Also reminds me of drug use in sports.
Or the stores withdraw from that region. See: food deserts.
they seem to be mostly as a result of lack of demand, not lack of supply.
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2017/12/po...
>> “There is NO MORAL ISSUE with stealing from a store that forces you to use self checkout, period. THEY ARE CHARGING YOU TO WORK AT THEIR STORE.” I find the twisted reasoning in this comment shocking and I don't really know what to say. It is a kind of twisted reasoning that I've only seen in people who were high on strong narcotics and were carried away by waves of wishful thinking and delusions, or, again, extrem…
I don't shoplift, but I'm appalled at the double standards that are often applied to consumers and workers compared with large companies. Amazon is selling counterfeit products to unwitting shoppers across the United States. Large firms like this do not subject themselves to any code of ethics like we do; there is only the risk of getting penalized. Yet their business models are reliant on us acting ethically. It is…
I must be a rube, because I've never stolen from one of those things. When it makes a mistake I call the attendant to correct it. Mainly because I support the idea of automation and want it to work well. Maybe it's just the reliability engineer in me that wants to call out the bugs and have them fixed. Or maybe it's the former security engineer in me who got paid to find the flaws in these systems and my ethics deman…
The self-checkout at Costco is a godsend. I usually buy 2-5 items at Costco, and the self-checkout allows me to avoid standing in line behind people with overflowing shopping carts. I can pay in about 30 seconds and get out of there.
Napster was "overcut" by the iTunes Music Store, and then streaming finished off music piracy. You really can combat stealing through better purchasing experiences.