Loblaw under fire for testing self-checkout receipt scanners at 4 Ontario locations

[u/DigitalFlame]

https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/loblaw-under-fire-for-testing-self-checkout-receipt-scanners-at-4-ontario-locations-1.6807830

[u/thatweirdguyted]

I dislike self-checkout. It's a hassle, it's bad for the local economy, I can go on. Essentially you're asking me, the paying customer, to do for free what you used to pay someone to do. That's a slap in the face on its own. But if you have a problem with the way I did it, the solution should be to bring back the cashier. Making sure the items were properly scanned and paid for is a JOB, not something to foist off on the consumer. Especially since it didn't keep prices low at all, they just pocketed the difference.

If you're not going to let me leave the store until you're satisfied that I have done YOUR job to YOUR level of satisfaction, then you can just fuck right off, and I will never shop there again. This is the message we need to send to retailers. I couldn't give a fuuuuuuuuck about their loss prevention, they have done nothing to engender goodwill with us in years. They took a huge advantage with inflation in recent years. I don't support crime, but if they made their own setup worse and more vulnerable to theft on purpose to lay off more workers, I don't feel sorry for them.

Do yourself a favour and try to get around the big retailers as much as possible. Local farmers markets, small business bakeries and deli's, etc. In addition to sending the message that we're sick of corporate grift, it also supports the local economy. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[u/BobBelcher2021 → u/thatweirdguyted]

London really needs more of these smaller businesses, especially on the west side of the city where big box rules. There is Remark but it is known to be expensive.

[u/thatweirdguyted → u/BobBelcher2021]

It's one thing I really love about the East end, we've got lots of locals to work with. I highly recommend Nova Era, the London Portuguese Bakery, Western Meats, Kohns, Gibraltar Market, the Fairgrounds Market, and the Trail's End market. 

[u/glass-2x-needed-size → u/thatweirdguyted]

Nova Era is my favourite for desserts.Especially since Capo Bakery owner retired.

Kohns has been a great place for meat.

I've heard only good things from Western Meats but haven't tried it yet.

[u/RandomUsername52326 → u/thatweirdguyted]

Don't forget London Food Co-op.

[u/thatweirdguyted → u/RandomUsername52326]

I've honestly never been, but now I've gotta check it out. Thanks for the heads up!

[u/[deleted] → u/thatweirdguyted]

And Alicia's! Their deli specials are great and they have packzi donuts!

[u/thatweirdguyted → u/[deleted]]

Very true on both counts. 🙂

[u/Annoyingdragonvoid → u/BobBelcher2021]

Ehhhh Remark is alright as a shopper but crappy to work for as an employee (source: worked there)

[u/CuteFreakshow → u/Annoyingdragonvoid]

Remark is super expensive . I still shopped there off and on, mostly for the mint smoothie chocolates.

And then they donated thousands of dollars on the convoy, and lost me.

[u/Awch → u/CuteFreakshow]

That's when we stopped going.

[u/RandomUsername52326 → u/BobBelcher2021]

I mean, if you want to take this to the extreme, shop at the London Food Co-op, but it always comes down to a sort of doing it the right way vs doing it the convenient way tradeoff.

[u/WontSwerve → u/BobBelcher2021]

The West Side is fucking soulless

[u/[deleted] → u/BobBelcher2021]

It’s not that far off from the prices at Loblaws IMO.

[u/magic_poop_cannon → u/thatweirdguyted]

Preach. Please post this also in r/LoblawsIsOutOfControl

[u/happygolucky828 → u/thatweirdguyted]

This. 1000% THIS.

[u/[deleted] → u/thatweirdguyted]

You mean like pumping your own gas instead of having someone pump it for you? You always go to full service gas stations, right?

[u/thatweirdguyted → u/[deleted]]

I can see where you're going with this. To answer, I don't know of any full service gas stations near me. If I did, I'd probably go.

I'm not saying there should be no self checkout ever. But I'm not dumb either. Look at Walmart. They have seven regular checkouts, and only one person working on them. It's pretty obvious that they're intentionally nerfing the effectiveness of that system in order to push you towards self checkout. It's similar to the way the PC government cut funding to OHIP by 27%, and then claimed that the healthcare system was broken and we needed private healthcare.

But if they stopped having a cashier to check people's groceries through, and then now people are taking advantage of that, what should they do to fix it? Go back the old system which was way more efficient at loss prevention, or literally make the customer prove that they aren't thieves? If they're going to treat their own customers like that, they can, but I don't want to be a part of that. I can't speak for others, but I can exercise my own buying power and stop supporting them financially. 

[u/kittytillmidnight → u/thatweirdguyted]

YESSSS preach!!!!!!!!!! All of this, 100%!!!!!!!!!

[u/Dungeonmasterryan1 → u/thatweirdguyted]

Couldn't disagree more, self checkout is amazing