I've been using my own bags at Jewel in Chicago for a while. When you put them on the scale, it notes that something has been added and offers a big "I'm using my own bags" button.

My biggest issue is keeping my four-year-old from leaning on the dern thing.

Yeah -- the newer self-checkout systems have a "my bag" button, where you set your bags down and it zeros the scale for you.

And, even if the system doesn't have that button, if you just set your bags down on the bagging scale, an employee can zero the scale for you.

You might want to update that part of this post, it's not really correct.

I've seen what AmyDerk mentions, but it doesn't always automatically accept it. Some stores then also require the attendant to allow the bag weight.

I feel like self-scans just take longer, no matter how many items you have or what people are doing in front of you. Use the trained professional!!

I also like manned checkouts because they will give you the canvas bag credit (if the store participates).

Thank goodness someone has finally written about this. It always annoys me when people use self check out for alcohol purchases. Unless it's super slow and the attendant is available, you're going to waste time trying to wave someone down.

I do still have difficulty with it at times, especially with the weighing in the bagging area.

I hate these things for anything more than 2 or 3 items at most. I ALWAYS have issues. And yes, I will admit to user error.

Although the Jewels around me have an "I'm using my own bag" button, they don't always work. My location just upgraded their machines and seem to work 100% of the time now, but other locations with older machines don't. To get around this I first scan a heavy item that isn't weighed, like a can of tomatoes, milk, juice, etc, and put it in the bag, and then the bag on the scale in the bagging area. The relatively small difference is ignored by the machine and you don't get the prompt about an unexpected item in the bagging area.

At my store, unless there is an empty manned checkout lane (extremely rare), the self-checkout is always faster. I've tested it quite a few times and it never fails, even when there's a slow old lady who doesn't understand it or a bunch of college kids who are together but making separate booze purchases. One of the reasons for this is my store has one single line for all four self-checkouts. That means you can't get stuck because of one slow person. The next person in line gets the next available checkout. It's great.

I do, however, have some pet peeves. If you're buying a lot of booze, or using coupons, don't go through the self-checkout if there are a lot of people and the person overseeing the area looks busy. It just slows things down. If you've never used them before, don't try them out when things are busy. Please, don't take full cart with $150 worth of groceries through. It will take you forever. Even if you have a lot of experience, the machines aren't as fast as the ones manned by people who the store trusts, and you will take forever.

I've never seen what HipChek mentions here in Philly, and I regularly stop at four different supermarket chains depending on who has the best sale that week.

So, no, the information isn't inaccurate. For many stores it's very useful.

Only one of the 4 major stores in my admittedly small town has self checkout, and I use it when it's practical (when I'm not buying a whole cart's worth of groceries). I love the people who seem to be unable to read. One major annoyance was for about the first year they had them they'd close them at 9 and I almost always shopped after that between work, the gym, family stuff, etc. Now thankfully they keep one open but why can't they all be left open? My mother gets mad at me for using them as my grandmother was a checker but I don't see how that's relevant. It's called progress, people.

I can't wait until we get to the stage of that IBM (I think) commercial where the thief looking guy crams all kinds of stuff into his trench coat, walks out, is stopped by security and they go "Sir! You forgot your receipt!" That'll be cool.

I always take the self checkout machines simply because I hate the fact the guys packaging my things at the manned lanes always piles canned tomatoes and other heavy items on top of my fruits, bread, etc. The day these guys will know how to pack groceries properly, i'll use the manned lanes.

I don't know how it's like elsewhere but here there's one clerk who keeps an eye on the 6 selfcheck machines at all time so they always zero the scales, take care of redeeming coupons, etc.

Thanks AmyDerk and hipcheck for the info about bringing your own bags. I updated the post to account for some systems that do allow you easily use your own bags (although it still doesn't seem to be the norm, unfortunately).

Thank you for this. I hate the self-checkout and I'm happy that others feel the same way. I've noticed the self-checkout creeping beyond grocery stores. For example - Lowe's. At my Lowe's, they're always trying to make me go to that line telling. When I say I prefer not to, they assure me someone is there to help me. If there's someone to help, why can't that person just help me at the regular checkout? Ok. Thanks for letting me vent and for offering some tips when I'm forced into the dreaded self-checkout line.

@Christine M., I hate when the "bag boy"does that too! I generally avoid the self check out for a lot of the reasons above, but I'll use it when I have a bag of fresh figs, a delicate loaf of bread, or a bag of gorgeous wild mushrooms. Those things are never that good once they've been crunched by a can of tomatoes or a gallon of milk.

If I have a lot of groceries, though, and I'm buying delicate items, I'll use the manned check out and just set those things at the very beginning or end of the conveyor belt and specifically ask that they be bagged together and then handed to me. I've gotten some strange looks from teenagers who couldn't care less about eating plump, intact figs or fluffy bread, but once I explain (in a self deprecating way, a la "once I was bagging them myself and they got crushed-- what a waste!"), they seem to not hate me as much.

My biggest one - if you're buying produce, make sure it has a sticker on it. The sticker has the fruit/veggie code that you should be able to punch in instead of trying to browse through 40 different varieties of apple.

I don't like that the self checkers take away jobs from real checkers. Those provide great jobs for high school students and seniors. Plus it's nice to interact with someone (even if they do put cans on top of tomatoes).

I like them because I don't have to talk to anyone, but I hate that they are always set with such loud instructions. Turn off the vocals and they'll be blissful. Most people can read or figure it out themselves so why do the machines need to shout?

My husband and I have a rule, lots of produce equals manned checkout line, it takes forever to punch in those codes.

If I bring my own bag, I just don't sack anything until I've paid. It might take a few seconds more at the end, but it's still less time than waiting on the store employee to notice me and zero my scale.

The self-scanner can't account for a split carton of eggs, as I found to my dismay a few months ago, and the supervising clerk had wandered off so I couldn't get it corrected quickly. The reusable bag problem is a big one; none of the local stores near me have an option for that yet. (Although the special needs baggers that one chain employs during the day are often stymied by reusable bags as well--it's hard to convince them to put more than a couple items in each, like they're used to doing with the plastic bags, or they put items in plastic and then in the green bag. Sigh.)

Finally! To hear others complain about the absurd people in these lines! These were supposed to be quick but have turned into bigger ordeals than the regular lines. The pet peeves I have had with them since day one:

-Ive seen a HANDFUL of times an extremely old lady/gentleman who decided to buy 6 bags of 40lb cat litter/ huge flats of bottled water/ etc. You can't lift one bag to get to the scanner so how do you suppose you'll struggle 5 more times? It's been 15 minutes and the employee at the self checkouts is always missing when you need them. Use a real line and avoid the wait and the struggle.

-People who think that, even though everyone tends to use the lanes for a handful of items, they might save a milisecond by checkingo ut their 2 weeks worth of groceries overflowing the cart at the self checkout. They take forever and stand there confused when the machine freaks out because they need to take bags off the scale to make room.

-The alcohol business. On rare occasion if no one else is waiting and I see the attendant, I'll use those to buy a bottle of wine or whatever. But I've seen more people try to use them with lines behind them and then roll their eyes mad like they really didnt know the machine needed the attendants code after seeing their id. The best is when they shuffle in their wallet or bag for 5 minutes and realize they don't have it!

-The health nut who bought every rare, bizarre veggie in the store and has 30 vegetables to look up in the system because none have stickers.

And its a simple thing, but most people using self checkout, like me many times, grabbed an armful of stuff they need. So don't be rude and leave your handcart on the little loading area when you leave so they have no where to put their stuff or struggle to move your basket. Theres always a deposit for them at the end of the self checkouts. Grab it on your way out. These are the same people who leave their 5 feet of coupons and receipts the system printed out cause they don't want them. Great. Thanks for leaving it for me.

I'd rather be checked out by a person. If that means that one person gets to keep their job instead of being replaced by a machine.

I almost always use the self serve check out, and rarely encounter problems. I use my own bags (I use the "add bags" function), there's always an attendant around to help me out if the machine goes crazy, I get to load my bags the way I want to and no one rushes me (unlike at the manned cashes where they generally throw everything all over the place in an effort to get your bag loaded quickly and then throw your receipt at you and the next person in line pushes you out of the way).

I really enjoy grocery shopping. I enjoy walking through the store, reading labels, choosing produce. I like loading my own bags, something that is especially important for those of us who have to walk any distance with reusable bags. I use my own bags because they fit my items better, and because plastic bags cost 5 cents. I don't like having cans tossed on top of my hot dog buns.

I don't feel that the self serve check out eliminates jobs, instead it allows more employees to do other tasks, like stocking shelves, working the service counter and even the random person that walks the aisles with the "ask me a question!" shirt. Also, they're good for those periods of time when by law (in QC) the store cannot have more than a certain number of employees, but there's a mad rush on the cashes.

I haven't seen self-serve grocery check around here--I suppose it must exist in San Diego somewhere, but not at the places I shop. I do love self-serve at IKEA and hardware superstores. It's definitely faster for me to check myself for the few items I pick up at those places than wait in the longer lines for manned lines.

@checkersumthing

Re: third paragraph. That's what I've noticed as well (Why, hello fellow Quebecer!).
The self-checkout manes makes those rules about not having more than 4 employees working after 5 or on Holidays more tolerable.

Most of the issues I've had with self checkout systems in the UK have been down to machine design. The ones we have in Morrison's are a pain, and if you have more items than you can hold in a single bag, then forget it - the space given on the scales to load your shopping is only capable of holding one very small pea, and then only if you place it exactly in the right place (OK, I exaggerate, but more than one bag of shopping and everything falls off).

Thankfully, all the ones I've used seemed to have the hang of bringing your own bags, usually giving you chance to zero the scales with them on before you start shopping.

The other pet peeve mentioned - people with overladen trolleys trying to use the machines - is generally handled by restrictions on the number of items which most people respect (and I've even seen people turned away by staff if the machines are busy and someone with an overladen trolley tries to buck the system and use them).

All in all though, I tend to do the same as most people - if only a few items, use the self checkout. If doing a proper shop, manned checkout.

The manager at our local Safeway says there are huge differences in quality between the cheapest and most expensive self-service machine. When he got the choice, they got the really good ones, and they're a joy to use. I almost never use a regular checkout line - once you get the rhythm that the machine wants, I can check out just as fast on my own.

And I'll almost always stop and help the slow person struggling with produce in front of me. 99% of the time, they don't understand that they can just enter the code off the sticker.

The ones at Safeway seem to be okay with my bags, or at least they've never complained. The local Kroger has much less accommodating machines, and after the half-dozenth time I had to ask for help, I've given up and use the regular line there.

The first few times I used the self-checkout, I, too, didn't get that you could just enter the PLU number from produce. The machines at my Stop and Shop were very unclear about it. I was embarrassed but very thankful that someone (a nice grocery samaritan, not an employee) clued me in! Now I'm pretty good at that part!

I am constantly guilty of being the alcohol purchase and the veggie looker-upper. I would like to think i'm pretty swift at it and I know the codes for most of the fruits/veggies that I purchase. And I save my coupon barrage for the BIG shopping trips when I stock up. My biggest peeve is that there isn't alot of order when waiting in line for a self checkout station. I have been cut in the line so much when it is OBVIOUS that there is line formed. I don't care if you have kids or are extremely old. You can ask to go first and 99% the time the answer will be yes (as long as you have fewer items than me). Ignorance is not bliss, just you being an A**hole.

I hate self-checkout. I'm simply lazy and I like the lack of effort required in the regular line. And I find that the self-checkout line at my market is always slower than the regular line. There's always something that holds up the process.

Plus, waiting on the regular line is much more conducive to reading InTouch Weekly et al.

self checkouts are hard to screw up... except maybe with produce. If I have a lot of vegetables I have to go through the long queues of the regular checkouts.

This one time I had so many problems with the checkout because of a woman that was leaving. She kept freaking out about losing her phone (I'm so sick of hearing about phones!!!) that she kept unpacking her grocery cart onto my checkout scale!

I shop at my local Kroger and I nearly always use the self-checkout. One thing I just learned was that they have a set maximum number of times you can choose the "skip bagging" button. I use this for my bread and some veggies that won't stay in the bags properly or get smashed because there's not enough room in the bag area. I recently just happened to be buying a lot of delicate food items for a party and went over the maximum. The overseeing employee had to come over and do a lot of clicking and tapping to fix things up. I'm sorry though, I can't exactly remember the max - I think it was 8. Maybe best to ask someone the next time you're in the grocery if the overseer doesn't look to busy.

PLEASE DON'T USE SELF CHECK-OUT!! People are going to lose their JOBS after being replaced by self check-out!!!

Interesting to read this post and all these comments. We do it a bit differently in New Zealand. At my local, you pick up a hand-held scanner at the entry and scan each item as you go. You can pack straight into your bags in your cart. There are several scales by the produce so you can weigh and print off a sticker with a barcode right there. At the checkout, you just pay for what you've scanned (they do re-scan occasionally to check, less frequently once you have a record of no mistakes). I prefer this to scanning everything at checkout - whether by you or an employee.

Don't try and buy DVD's if they're locked, I learnt that the other day as I had to wait for the 'helper' to help me. Took me just as long as if I had gone through the served check out.

In France you solve the no-sticker issue by having to bag, weigh and then get a sticker for your produce.

Ours seems to work fine most of the time...but I agree with JMD--why the heck do they have to TALK so much? I know, I know, really, but I wish it were an option to turn it down. It could then reset for the next patron.

Self-Checkouts are pretty common around here, especially in stores where they can't seem to keep their clerks. The two stores in my vicinity that I regularly frequent still advertise for help wanted (clerks) and run multiple self-checkouts.

I find the interfaces of the self-checkouts to be annoying. I wish they had a volume button (the ones I use are often pitched too loud), or a "help off" option. I don't need to be reminded how to scan a fruit each and every time I try. Often I'm done paying with my debit card long before the "help" is finished talking.

Otherwise, using the self-checkout is usually faster than dealing with a clerk directly. I still do check out with clerks, and often reserve the use of the self-checkout for when the clerks are overburdened with long lines of people.

I love self checkout! Grocery stores around here seem to have upgraded from the ones with the dinky scales tied to the plastic bags to ones with a large bagging area at the end of a conveyor, like a normal checkout would have.
The only issue comes with lighter items, which tend to get stuck on the transition between the rollers and conveyor belt- if you don't give the item a push, it will stop up the whole program until an employee comes and does it for you.

I like the self check out. I've been doing it for a while, and it gets easier with practice.

I want to see the prices I am charged, and the checkers go too fast for me to keep up. I find every single error, and there are a lot at my chain grocery. I bought a $15 bottle of Woolite that had been marked down to $8. It rang up as $15, and I got it for free. The same thing happened with a $4 tin of nuts the last time I shopped. I find something about twice a month, and at my store, if the price is wrong, the item is free. My personal best is nine items in one shopping trip.

I also like to bag according to where it is going in the house. It makes unpacking so easy. And I know what is in every bag. It's easy to get all the frozen items into the freezer first thing, then the refrigerator, and so on.

@Village--yes! I'm an avowed self-checkout fan, for largely your last reason. I don't trust baggers not to squish my bread in the first place, but organizing based on my kitchen? Forget it. The extra minute or two in the store is well worth the time saved putting things away at home.

I dislike the self-checkout and never use it. The main reason is that I know the store employees will do a better job than me - I'm no good at bagging my groceries. Second, why would I opt to do it myself when I can have someone do it for me?
I would also second what SlowLorus said and suggest that taking a few minutes to chill out in the checkout line and read some celebrity gossip might be good for you.

A trick I have found when using my own bags (for self-checks out lacking the 'own bags' option) is to bag the first item BEFORE placing the item or bag on the scale.

Example, if the first thing I am scanning is a box of cereal, I will scan it and place it in the bag and THEN put the bag with the cereal box in it on the scale.

The bags I use are not that heavy, and there is a little bit of wiggle room in the assigned weights (even identical products never weight EXACTLY the same) so the scale does not pick up on the weight of the bag and start yelling at me. It works 99% of the time. Once that first bag is full, load the next item into your new bag, place both on the scale, and continue.

I do like the personal experience of a manned register but self-check out is always faster for me and I like being able to bag my groceries in a way that makes unpacking them easier (I tend to be a little OCD when it comes to that) Plus I tend to do most of my shopping at night, when self check-out is the only thing open so that only one person has to work and can watch over multiple lanes.

Self checkout machines are awful. Not only does almost everyone hate them, but they are taking jobs away from real humans. Stupid big companies putting people out of work and reducing their customer service, all in the name of profits.

If you live in the Southeast, I recommend Publix. Their baggers go through pretty extensive "bagging training", their customer service is top-notch, and they promise never to use self checkout lines. When I was a cashier, I would have gotten my pay docked if I put bags together as sloppily as some of these people at the hippie markets here in Chicago.

I only use self checkout when I have a few items AND there isn't a line. There's bound to be one or two people ahead of you that are either going to break the machine, or just take FOREVER to scan their items.

For the people who have problems with the baggers in the manned checkout lines squishing their produce and bread: Empty your cart in a certain order so you don't have to worry about it! Bottles like milk/juice first, then boxed items, cans, meat/cheeses, hard produce, then your softer produce, eggs and bread. It's amazing how much smoother it goes if you set it up for correct packing.

On the other hand, if you have a publix in your area, like Katy did said, GO THERE. I have never had a problem. They really do a great job on training their baggers with how many items to put in a bag, not mixing certain items with each other, seperately bagging things like meat that could possibly contaminate your other groceries, etc.

I try to avoid these if I have a generous stack of coupons. It lets me redeem them just fine, but when it's time to stick my coupon in the coupon slot, the sensor gets screwed up and it thinks I'm trying to work the system. It keep telling me to insert the coupon after I've already done so.

I use self-checkout a fair amount when they're not as busy as the regular lanes. When you're the next person in line, it's hard not to criticize the person checking out for being slow. When it's finally your turn, it's hard not to feel like you're being criticized by the next person waiting.

One day I was checking myself out and a woman gets in line behind me, and promptly lets out a terse sigh, translated as "Hurry the H up, kid...", complete with what I thought were raised eyebrows. So naturally I feel the pressure (and the hatred) emanating from her. In defense, I keep working on my little basket of foods and grumble as I look up my vegetables, etc., muttering things under my breath. Of course the thing gets confused and tells me to re-enter the item or something. I can tell the woman is getting antsy, so I therefore begin to get snarky. I return a terse sigh back to her, with matching raised eyebrows, and I managed to get it back on track. After about 4 instances of this happening, I hear her clear her throat, and I immediately think "If she says one word, my bok choy is going right in her face..." She says: "I hate these machines - they can never get anything right, and it puts so much pressure on the person ringing out who has a line behind them..." Then she yelled over to the aloof self-checkout attendant so come fix the machine for me because it was a POS... (no pun intended).

I made a friend that day in the self-checkout line.