Plate 0′ Shrimp

In my previous post I mentioned that I’m not a fan of self-checkout, in grocery stores, or anywhere. Companies don’t offer self-checkout because it’s more efficient. It’s not. They don’t offer it because it is better for the customer. It isn’t. It’s a pain in the butt. The only purpose of installing a self-checkout is saving money by being able to fire checkers, and replace their labor with yours - the customer.

My fiance and I were driving back after picking up a malti-poo puppy from a breeder’s agent in San Ramon. We took a wrong turn and ended up driving by Safeway on Bollinger Canyon Road. At that point he doggie wasn’t feeling well and barfed all over my passenger, so I ran in to grab a roll of paper towels.

As with all stores featuring self-checkout, this was understaffed. Huge line in the express lane, and complicated rain-check transaction in the only other open check-stand. So, because of the urgency of the barf situation, after waiting in both lines, I bailed to the self-checkout. One item, on sale for $.79. I followed all of the prompts and entered all of the transaction information. After my ATM transaction was completed, however, the recorded voice kept demanding that I select a transaction-type. When I pushed on the screen nothing happened. So I just left. No one seemed to care. The “customer service” person was too busy in a personal conversation with her friend to notice.

I just got back from Lucky (formerly Albertsons), the only grocery store I’ve been to that uses self-checkout. Why a grocery shopper would opt to do the work themselves (unpaid) while replacing a paid checker who is now out of a job is beyond me. I’m sure Lucky loves not having to pay those checkers, and certainly doesn’t mind making you do the work. But I digress.

So my boss at ADP told me yesterday that Clementine tangerines were on sale for $5.99 at Lucky. That’s a savings of $2 over the Safeway price, so I went over to make the purchase. When the time came to receive my change of a penny, the checker said sincerely and with feeling “Thank You.” I guess she meant “Thank you for the penny.” Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want the penny, but is the first time that a cashier at a major corporate enterprise has not offered to give me the change owed, even if it was just a penny.

There are two conclusions that can be drawn from this. 1) I was dealing with a renegade cashier who took it upon herself to take her till out of balance and not offer me my change, or 2) Lucky has instituted a policy of not offering change if it’s a penny, or two pennies, or some other insignificant amount. Over tens of thousands of transactions this can add up, not to a lot of money, but something that adds to the bottom line. If this is official Lucky policy, however, I would rather the collect my pennies and give them to charity, rather than keeping them. The self-checkout already makes Lucky look like a low-end, miserly, bottom-feeding grocery store. They don’t need this additional help.