This Just In – It’s magic when you make a wish, mention it to virtually no one and then it comes true.
The other day I was reading about the trend in business of self-checkout. We’ve all seen the social media rants that talk about consumer resentment for being stopped at the store exit and asked for a receipt to prove that you didn’t slip anything extra into your bag. I get the complaint, I really do.
After I have combed the store for my $100 worth of groceries, why is it “stop and frisk” when I’m FINALLY on the way out the door? Where’s my employee discount for doing the scanning and bagging? If we’re so concerned about theft, maybe an employee should be involved in the checkout process?
Yeah, I get it. More specifically, my complaint goes like this … self-checkout is a trend that went waaaaay back to before COVID. Yes, I’m telling my age, but I remember well that we used to gas up at our favorite Esso station, owned by our neighbor, John Sullivan. We pulled in, he filled the car with gas, cleaned the windshield and checked the oil. The last two tasks helped him earn his profit on the 30 cents/gallon gas. Ahh, the 60s.
Anyway, then came “self-service” as an option (with a discount on the price of gas) and soon full-service gas pumping was gone (except on the New Jersey Turnpike – another story). Restaurants established a thing called a “buffet” which was really a way to get us get up and make our own salad. Grocery stores and big box stores (Target and Walmart) have had some version of self-checkout for a decade or more and McDonalds blew everybody’s mind a few years ago by having customers use a kiosk for ordering.
As I read the complaints about self-checkout and today’s shopping experience, it boiled down to people dreading the long wait for not-very-skilled customers using self-checkouts. I couldn’t agree more.
In Hillsborough’s Walmart last week, I had a handful of items (no cart) and went to the self-checkout line. I was behind several people who were plainly doing their shopping for the week. I have no criticism for them, but the self-serve checkout is simply not designed for them as customers. Frustrating for everyone. It’s designed for the quick exit of a person with a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread.
And that’s when I made a wish. I wished that the store’s management would empower the staff to simply guide those customers to the checkout line that is staffed … and designed for greater capacity. I thought of how a customer would receive the intervention of a staff person coming over and saying “I can check you out over here – it will go much faster.” This would speed things up for everyone involved and the customer would view it, I thought, as SERVICE. Customer service.
So when I went to Harris Teeter (on MLK) and was in line (not the UScan line, just a regular checkout line) with a very full basket of holiday groceries, I was patiently waiting for the person in front of me to be finished. The checkout person in the adjacent line popped over and said “I can check you out over here” and guided my cart to her station, where she zipped through my groceries with holiday cheer and impressive speed.
My wish was granted. I have named the local stores of these very large companies for the obvious reason that I think Harris Teeter should be commended for how their checkout staff handles this situation (this time and generally) and I think that Walmart has a lot of work to do.
In the restaurant business, they know that most dissatisfied customers “vote with their feet.” A bad experience is often not reported to management. Customers simply go elsewhere next time. That’s why you might get a free dessert if you complain. You’re helping management do better and you don’t have to.
I’m so grateful this season for my friends at WCHL and Chapelboro and all they’ve brought to my life. I’m grateful for my family and its resilience this year. My extended family and friends have made it possible to get through some scary times this year and I don’t know how that would be possible without them.
Happy holidays to you and yours. Looking forward to 2024 – the year of knowing better and doing better.
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97.9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – jean@penandinc.com and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
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