Let's start with your approach. Most of the time when one is free, and you are forced to use one due to the lack of actual cashiers, it isn't behaving. The machine then panics and all of a sudden, somebody working for that shop finally appears to fix the machine; wouldn't it be much quicker just to serve you properly in the first place?
Secondly, what is the point of them? All they seem to do is cause problems, and when they ARE behaving, most of the older generation in the queue are clueless about how to use them. I can feel their pain; having a machine repeat the same sentence at twice the volume you need it to isn't exactly everyone's cup of tea. Neither is the fact that you have to "place your items in the bagging area".
The bagging area. Here arises another issue of having to put things individually in what is called the "bagging area" at the machines convenience is completely ridiculous; shouldn't the machine be helping us?! Most of us don't have the patience to place each individual yoghurt in the "bagging area" one by one, not to mention most of us will have aged by about 50 years in the process - we are not cashiers, so why should we do the machines job?
Research also shows that the only thing stopping people from stealing items when using a self-checkout is the fear of being caught. But this doesn't mean it isn't happening; many people, including the celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson who was cautioned for shoplifting 5 times in 16 days in Tesco, using a self-checkout each time to bag up his items and leave without paying!
Last of all, we need to remember that even if you do find these machines fantastic, they are putting many human cashiers out of jobs, and seeing as Britain has just entered it's second recession, we should not be destroying jobs with irritating bits of machinery to replace them.
Thank you for reading, I have set up a poll so please voice your opinions! (:
