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The Banana Trick and Other Acts of Self-Checkout Thievery (2018)

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Re: The Banana Trick and Other Acts of Self-Checkout Thievery (2018)

#121

Post by rconti »

jedberg wrote: post #17

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…

I'm a sucker, too. I tell the DMV how much I actually paid for the car. I had to go out of my way to ensure Garmin understood they sent me a second $600 watch, and be extra clear that when I returned it, they needed to make sure they didn't send me another in the RMA process.

I could say I sleep better at night. But I don't know. I'd get over selling the extra watch on eBay. I'm sure I've understated vehicle value in the past to save a few bucks on taxes. I apparently regret it so little that I can't even remember for sure. I've DEFINITELY bought things from out of state to avoid tax. shrug

None of us are perfect or perfectly moral, but I think starting out by not considering yourself a sucker for doing the logically correct thing (without bringing morals into it) is a good start.

Re: The Banana Trick and Other Acts of Self-Checkout Thievery (2018)

#122

Post by shaklee3 »

chihuahua wrote: post #77
jedberg wrote: post #17

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.

They had that briefly at my local Costco, then killed it shortly after. Never found out why...

Re: The Banana Trick and Other Acts of Self-Checkout Thievery (2018)

#123

Post by dredmorbius »

gruez wrote: post #87
dredmorbius wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or the stores withdraw from that region. See: food deserts.

> 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...

Multiple factors contribute. Paul Baran, inventor of packet-switched networks, added a footnote to a 1968 monograph noting that his parents' inner-city Philadelphia fire insurance had just been cancelled.

The unavailability, or high cost, of insurance may prove fatal to both homeownership and businesses.

https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P3780.html (footnote, p. 7)

Note too that Marginal Revolution, based at George Mason University, pushes an explicitly libertarian, market. fundamentalist, ideology. Cowan and Taborrok occasionally break type, but the exceptions prove the rule.

I'd need to review the article in depth, but an immediate observation is that in a media-saturated, advertising-filled world, demand is anything but exogenous.

Re: The Banana Trick and Other Acts of Self-Checkout Thievery (2018)

#125

Post by provolone »

To avoid false accusations of theft, avoid self-checkout. YMMV.

I understand that people are abusing the system. I can accept that the store has an interest in loss prevention. But I'll never feel comfortable with being checked up on. As a stubborn person, I'll have to start shopping somewhere else when this happens. This means a less convenient location. Where's the time savings in that?

Many here bring their politically charged economic analysis into it. For me I've always wanted to just get home without any undue awkward/impolite scenarios. Nor do I want to navigate the menu system for produce.

Waiting in a longer line is relatively cheap for the peace of mind gained.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17785132

Re: The Banana Trick and Other Acts of Self-Checkout Thievery (2018)

#126

Post by perakojotgenije »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #64
mindslight wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

No they are not. I was buying in my local Tesco in Hungary the other day and they've removed almost all human cashiers and on that day only self-checkouts were working so I had no choice. And as for speed - I had to call operator three times because of measuring error and after the checkout had to go to another operator to remove that beeper things from the T-shirts I bought. The process was definitely much slower than with cashier. I will not be buying there anytime soon.

Re: The Banana Trick and Other Acts of Self-Checkout Thievery (2018)

#127

Post by randrews »

Zhenya wrote: post #76
randrews wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that may have happened to me accidentally once: a couple years ago I was sick and unable to sleep, so I went to a grocery store at about 1 AM to buy decongestants so I could maybe get some sleep. Most of the lights were off inside and I didn't see another person there, it was sort of creepy actually, but I figured, meh, 1 AM. I bought my pills with the self checkout and left. About a week later I was at the s…

Don't think that's possible. They have to open and close registers for accounting etc. Maybe someone was in the store and just had not yet closed down the checkouts.

On the other hand someone who would leave the door unlocked might also be someone who wouldn't close out the registers.

Or maybe there was someone there and I didn't notice. I was sick; I was pretty out of it.

Re: The Banana Trick and Other Acts of Self-Checkout Thievery (2018)

#128

Post by mcherm »

kranner wrote: post #115
YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #26

>> “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…

> 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, extreme persecution complex I really don't see the relation between delusional thinking and consuming narcotics. Can you explain what you mean? I've seen people high on narcotics; they seem loopy and sleepy, but not particularly susceptible to…

I believe the connection is that people addicted to narcotics are famously insistent about self justification, even when it is obviously baseless.

Re: The Banana Trick and Other Acts of Self-Checkout Thievery (2018)

#129

Post by swsieber »

ricardobeat wrote: post #75
choward wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Mainly because I support the idea of automation and want it to work well. I must be missing something. Where is the automation? It's just the customer doing all the work instead of an employee.

I don't know what it looks like in the US, but here in Europe it is often faster / more convenient to use the self-checkout. The lines are shorter, it's easier to bag everything, and it's easier to keep an eye on all the prices. Plus there are random inspections every now and then, and usually cameras on each machine. To top it off, they don't take cash, only debit cards, so it's very easy to find any wrongdoers. I w…

U.S. resident here: every where I've been the self check out mostly supports cash. Sometimes there will a machine or two in "card only" mode, presumably due to running out of bills/coins.

Re: The Banana Trick and Other Acts of Self-Checkout Thievery (2018)

#130

Post by javadocmd »

itronitron wrote: post #40

If 850K is the amount of shrinkage for 21M of in-store sales then a store that delivers groceries can offset the cost of delivery due to the corresponding reduction in shrinkage.

What they didn't report is the corresponding decrease in labor costs. If they save 1M in labor to lose 850K, they're still ahead.
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