Looking at the String on Walmart reminded me of my limits on self checkout. My limit is about 6 items that are easily placed in the 2 attached bags.
i do not want to be yelled out to place the item in the bagging area. Also I avoid Self Check out if I have un-barcoded items like loose fruit or veggies. I do not want to lookup Produce codes.
I am not opposed to self checkout but orders over 6-10 are a no-go!
And trying to buy wine and then find a clerk to approve it
Your Walmarts must be quite different from ours. There is always a clerk or two hovereing at the self-ceckout area where there are 8 registers. At the regular long conveyor belt ones there are a couple of roving clerks and I have never had to wait more than 20 seconds or so if I needed help. They all have those handhald devices which can stop a self-check register if they detect someone trying to cheat by not scanning things, etc When I have purchased caffeine pills or glue or items which are age-limited, the light comes on over the register and a clerk shows up very quickly.
There was a few weeks after an operation where I had to buy adult diapers and thank God for self-checkout registers. There are suggestions from forums that teens who are self-concious can use self-chechout to but condoms without any interaction from store employees. So for some, the self-checkout is the place to go no matter how many items. Now it might look funny to be self-scanning hundreds of boxes of condoms…
As an aside, if you have an online Walmart account and have saved your credit card in there, you will find the tab that lists all your receipts. That can be useful if your register printed receipts fade in the heat. You can log in and reprint a receipt.
The only place we have conveyors at Self checkout is Costco.
Kroger has the 8 station setup you describe.
Walmart has a Corral (closed area) with an attendant at the entrance and at least 12 stations. Difficult to get help…
Due to location, we are far more likely to use Kroger for the small shops
I prefer self check-out. Where I mostly shop it’s a limit of 20 items which is a lot. Sometimes I think I might be over 20 but I’m not. I can keep an eye on prices better and I assume it keeps my costs lower as the store needs less employees.
I worked at Target and there were no limits on self-checkout, which was a disaster. People with gigantic orders just held up the line; people who were stealing had to be watched carefully; people with kids think they can multitask and they can’t. I’m all for self-checkout, with limits that are enforced. Beyond that, go to a cashier.
No sure what is the problem with self checkouts. No one has ever yelled at me! And as mentioned, our Walmarts has about 12 self check outs on each side of the buiding. And if you have a problem help is near. On the no barcode veggies and fruit, there is a handy look up in the menu.