Self-checkouts are driving me crazy, says LEE BOYCE… I’m on a crusade to let retailers know how annoying they are

It’s lunchtime on High Street Kensington, one of the busiest shopping streets in London… and perhaps the country.

I’m in H&M and during my break two weeks before Christmas I buy a few items of clothing for the winter period. But to buy them, I’ll have to stand in line.

That’s fine. After all, queues are in our DNA. However, the line hardly deviates. Soon there are almost twenty customers behind me, sneaking into the middle of the store. Some leave it out of frustration. I’m tempted to join them.

Others tap their feet, look at their watches, sigh. Not quite the shopping experience you’d expect from one of the largest clothing retailers in the world.

The bosses of H&M decided a while ago to slim down the number of manned checkouts in this store. Now there are only two on the ground floor – with four self-checkout counters next to them.

During my frustrating outing, three of the self-checkouts – powered by Fujitsu – are not enabled for whatever reason, and the one that is has the occasional bewildered customer.

Kassawang: Why has it become such a hassle to purchase items from stores?

No staff member assists with the self-checkout and the few customers brave enough to embrace this are expected to remove security tags and put items in their bags.

The manned cash registers also process returns, adding to the pain of a man who just wants to buy a pair of jeans and a shirt and then get on with his life.

Finally I get to the cash register. No apology for the wait, let alone an acknowledgment that I exist. Indeed, the staff member spends much of the transaction talking to her colleague about lunch breaks.

“Excuse me,” I ask. “Will your bosses put more manned checkouts in this store next year? Every time I walk in the lines seem crazy. It never used to be like that.’

The staff member thought I was blaming her. I don’t blame her at all. I would be exhausted if I had to deal with this huge line.

I shrugged like, “Probably not.”

To get an answer, I contacted H&M directly to ask what the fuss was about. Does it want customers? Does she keep an eye on the queues? Why self-checkouts if they are not enabled?

And most importantly, will it listen and reinstall a few more manned checkouts?

A spokesperson said: ‘At H&M we continually strive to give our customers the best possible experience.

‘We use a mix of self-checkouts and manned checkouts with the aim of giving customers a faster and more convenient shopping experience and we adapt our approach to each store.

“All future changes will be based on customer feedback and operational efficiency, and our main goal is to increase customer satisfaction.

“We have seen a very positive response from our customers, with approximately 40-50 percent choosing the self-checkout option when it is available.”

That doesn’t reflect my experience. Are half of shoppers now happy to blindly use self-checkouts?

It seems more stores have upped the ante with self-checkouts since the summer, and perhaps it’s all coming home in the run-up to Christmas.

On Saturday I undertook a task that I rarely do these days… I went to a giant supermarket early to do a shopping full of carts without kids.

I’m being pushed to have an online delivery pass these days, but I actually wanted to get some in-store inspiration leading up to Christmas. Moreover, I almost always forget some crucial items in the online shop.

Once I finished the mammoth task, I got to the cash registers and discovered that… there were no manned cash registers available.

That’s right, one of the country’s largest supermarket chains had no checkout staff. I certainly wasn’t going to scan a £200+ store myself.

I was in a strange Mexican confrontation with an employee, who kept calling me “mate” as I tried to hassle her to open a cash register.

Soon there were a handful of other shoppers with me, awaiting further instructions. Such a bizarre experience, all to simply pay for my groceries at a supermarket that I wanted to customize.

Eventually, two cash registers were opened and queues formed. Half of the manned cash registers in this store have disappeared this year.

It’s all getting out of hand. Last year I argued that while self-checkout is great for grocery shopping, it’s driving more and more people online and I think shoppers are getting fed up with it. It only seems to have gotten worse.

Is it because self-checkouts don’t have to pay national insurance premiums? Retirement plans? A salary?

The boss of fast food chain Itsu recently insinuated this.

In my opinion, customer service at major retailers has gone into complete trouble this year. It’s a real shame.

I am now running a one-man campaign to get retailers to understand its usefulness. Don’t ditch self-checkouts entirely, but don’t ditch manned cash registers for something bosses see as cheaper… and tell the story that it’s more convenient. Sometimes that is true, often not.

So let me know your horror stories: lee.boyce@thisismoney.co.uk. I will take them to the appropriate retailers…

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