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Coles customers miffed after store goes self checkout ONLY: 'Now EVERYBODY has a job at Coles'
Coles has been criticised by some of its customers for taking away the supermarket's checkout operators from one of its stores located in Melbourne.
Sharing on a popular forum site known as Reddit, one irate Aussie noted that their local Coles store has now completely phased out traditional checkouts — meaning no more human assistance when it comes to scanning your items and paying for them.
'Coles Braybrook now only has self-check. No checkout operators any more,' said the shopper who made his complaint public on social media.
A spokesperson for Coles confirmed that hybrid assisted checkouts have been installed at the Braybrook store but insisted that employees are always available throughout the service area to serve and assist shoppers.
However, despite this claim, several people responded to the shopper's post saying they would rather shop elsewhere rather than be forced to deal with these 'self-serve' machines.
The reaction to a Coles store going self checkout only has divided the internet. What do you think? Source: OpenAI
One user wrote sarcastically: 'Now EVERYBODY has a job at Coles.'
Another chimed in: 'Let’s all charge them the going rate of a checkout person and discount that from our totals.'
A third added: 'I refuse to do self serve unless it’s a 10% discount to do it. I’ll go elsewhere. This is laziness from Coles.'
'I prefer the checkouts with people but not making small talk. I don’t like using the stupid machines," another complained. "Technology hates me and something always goes wrong. I’ll tolerate some small talk if it means not using the machines.'
Others defended the move saying that it was about time supermarkets started investing in such technology instead of wasting money hiring employees to do jobs that machines can do more efficiently.
One user said: 'I personally like these. And for every checkout operator they no longer hire, I’m sure they hire at least one personal shopper.'
'All of which staff can do now that they’re not standing on a register for five hours to serve exactly three people,' added another.
A third chimed in: 'I prefer them. Hate small talk. And it’s way quicker.'
It should be noted that while some Coles customers were divided about the change, others took a ‘serves-you-right’ attitude to people who were unhappy about the adjustment.
One person wrote: 'I think there’s a whole other aspect people aren’t seeing, the amount that staff get abused,' another added: 'I’m noticing more and more staff are wearing safety cameras at Coles and Woolworths.'
'Yep, and customers thinking the job is easy and looking down on the staff. Now they can scan their own s***,' another quipped.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think supermarkets should also implement self-serve checkouts or do you prefer going to those with human operators so you can avoid automated machines altogether?
We here at the SDC don’t necessarily mind self-checkout machines, but we certainly don’t support stores where they’re the only option available. Aside from the fact that there are some customers who have a difficult time using them, this appears to be a great way to put people out of a job, which is not something we can condone.
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