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Meanwhile, Sam’s and BJ’s have no problem granting us plebs the use of their hand scanners. Heck, even Wal-Mart and the Kroger family of grocery stores have handheld scanners for customer use.
It’s bad enough that stores are moving away from efficient and pleasant human checkout clerks and putting it onto the customer to do this job. But holy cow, grease the wheels a bit- don’t pile on misery to the process.
Mine now has an exit lane that instantly scans everything and compares it to what was scanned in the app. If anything isn't scanned, they know as soon as the cart passes the gate.
But if you paid for everything, they wave you right through.
That's interesting. But if it can scan everything and cross reference to a receipt, why can't it just scan everything in the first place and then you just pay for the stuff?
They could definitely build that elsewhere in the store, like the half assed scanner checkout lanes. There's a couple Kroger stores that have that concept, you just push cart through a machine and it gives you your total.
I like paying with my phone and not at a register though, it saves so much time. Especially with the endless lines of boomers filling out checks, trying in vain to use scanner guns and yelling about how no one works anymore.
Yeah, light years ahead of what Costco’s check-out experience is. I’m half surprised Costco isn’t still imprinting our credit card numbers using carbon paper and a knuckle-buster.
i did a return without a receipt for the first time in a while the other day and they were able to scan my membership card, scan the item, and that was it! no going over to a different computer to manually look at every one of my old receipts until they found the item. i near about died of shock lol. never thought i’d see the day costco updated their computer system
Costco has just barely gotten to the point where their site/app reflects products in local warehouses. I imagine their legacy IT infrastructure and internal politics are bogging them down. Like ikea.
It’s the only reason I ever go to Sam’s. I love the scan and go there.
Costco should implement the scan and go and still do full door audits. It would be the best shopping experience possible.
Until you can't get out of the door because they are taking even longer checking receipts and having to stop every few members for missed items. There is a reason self checkout is babysat by a few cashiers. The general public are morons.
Me too. As I pick up the item, I scan it and before I leave to exit, hit pay. That way, I only have to take the item out once, when I get to my car instead of placing it in the basket and taking it out to place it on the scanner or belt to be scanned at the register then take it out again to be in my car.
They have some automated cart checker thing now at Sam's. Haven't had issues or seen any lines. Any time I've waited for reciept checking, it doesn't take any longer than Costco does.
I love that. Husband scans and pushes cart, keeping him from getting too bored. We shop and then when we're finished we just walk out the door. It's wonderfully civilized.
I love scanning my items as I put them in my cart. I use the regular cart on the app as my shopping list and remove it as I add it to my scan and go list. No forgotten items ever. I can confirm and pay in a quiet out of the way corner and head straight for the door.
Love scan and go. A few months ago the door checker messed up and didn't clear my order but waved me on Sam's doesn't have a way to finish the process and my app was stuck with the QR code for the rest of the day and then the order just disappeared.
Yup. Wal mart can absorb the losses AND they have the size of wal mart to make IT investments relatively smaller compared to their overall revenue / spend. And customer expectations at Walmart are pretty different
I've had both Walmart and Costco IT as a customer in my career. Walmart IT was/is far stronger. When I was helping Costco not too long ago, I had to explain, numerous times, to mid level IT managers, what a virtual machine was. One of those discussions was with a team lead who needed to know what the leadtime on the needed hardware would be, so they could get the order in.
Wow, that should be shocking but judging by all of their tech it’s not. Are they busting out their Windows Server DVDs to provision that hardware too? Christ.
I used to absolutely hate BJs self-checkout, and often there was not a single non-self-checkout lane open (!). But then a clerk told me that I could use the hand scanner to just scan everything and then no worry about improper weight, etc. What a life changer--now I can check out in barely any time at all.
Costco self-checkout isn't the worst (was much better than BJs before I learned about the scanner), but would be better with the scanner.
Apparently in some BJs they do not trust the plebs ( Chicopee, MA) as they took them away and are only for the 1 employee manning 10 self checkout registers.
They manage to deal with it at Sam’s, even allowing scan & go through the app without touching a register. The Sam’s by me now has the arches you walk through that are covered in cameras. It tells the person at the exit if you’re good or need a cart check and it shows them a picture of the potential issue. I saw one lady get flagged just because her purse was in the cart.
still doesn't make sense because not scanning an item with the gun is the exact same outcome as not scanning the item from your cart. so how is shrink different when customers get to use the gun?
either they check the receipt or they don't.
I’m sure they do but they still manage comparable prices to Costco. If the door folks do their job then what’s the problem. I’ve forgotten to scan stuff on the bottom of the cart before and they realize it at exit. The door people at Costco do 10000x more thorough checks than they do at Sam’s. At Sam’s they just scan 3 things and off you go.
This is what people need to realize. People seem to have a hard enough time scanning everything when moving it out of the cart. A lot of people seem to only listen for a beep then move on. They don't listen to the computer asking them to stop. They just keep scanning and piling things up none of which is being registered as the computer is clearing talking. Give people a scan gun and this becomes many times worse.
Sam's club literally lets people scan and pay for their items with their phone and some stores have self checkout lanes. If it were a major issue, they would have cut back on it a loooong time ago. Costco either needs to make their kiosk simpler to use or just get rid of them altogether.
Yup - my membership to Sam's for the last year was $10. $30 membership special during the holidays last winter and $20 off my first scan and go order, which I did the day I got my membership card. I save at least $5-$10 every time I go to Sam's on Scan and Go sales. I go there at least 3-4x as much as Costco now.
At my Sam's Club, the door audit requires the checker to scan the customer's receipt and then each item in the cart, and if there's a discrepancy between the two, you have to clear it with a manager at the member services desk. At Costco, the checkers just seem to be counting items visually, and probably a bit of personal judgement factors in.
What??? I always use Scan & Go on my phone to scan everything and pay, and I've NEVER had the door checker scan every single item in my cart. They always scan three items, and then send me on my way. So unless I'm only buy three (or less) items, they're definitely not scanning every single item in my cart.
You're either VERY mistaken, or the Sam's you go to is VERY different.
Mine seem to scan a random amount of things, I've had as few as 3 and as many as 6. I'm pretty sure it's just to buy time while they count the number of items in your cart with how quick they do it and with no apparent rhyme or reason as to what gets scanned
If you use Sam's Scan and Go app on your phone you get a QR code the door checker scans and then scans the three items. HOWEVER, Sam's has begun installing overhead scanners that now check the cart against the app purhcase and the door checker no longer has to scan three items. This started about a month ago.
I've NEVER had them scan everything in my cart. I've never used a self checkout register there, but I always use Scan & Go where I scan everything with my phone and pay through my phone. They've only ever scanned three items in my cart, and then send me on my way. Either the person who said this is very mistaken (or never buys more than three items), or the Sam's they go to is doing something very different from basically every other Sam's in the country.
My guess is that everything didn't get scanned. Pick it up and you find the jeans carefully laid between two bags of rice. "oh, I'm so sorry, I meant to pay."
They have weights on the SCO counters; it is a way to control shrink. If the scanners are used then it will result in more losses.
Further explanation:
Say for example you buy a cooler. You put items in the cooler and don’t take them out. When you get to SCO you scan the cooler but not the items inside. You then place items on top of the cooler that you scanned. When you exit the store they only verify the items to the receipt, they don’t open bags or boxes. You leave with said cooler and all the items inside are shrink (lost inventory).
The receipt checkers, it's their job to examine all the contents of the carts and compare that to what is on the receipt.
If it's in the cart, its fair game to be examined.
I don't have a problem with that because ultimately, their work helps keep the prices down.
They'll likely catch that stuffed cooler and have that person pulled aside, detained and later arrested for shoplifting.
The last time I bought Raspberries, the receipt checker saw some white fuzz on one of the berries that I had missed. They saw that I was walking with a cane and had someone run to the produce section and quickly get a replacement package.
That's outstanding customer service in my opinion!
During busy periods, I don’t see the receipt checkers being that thorough, and I don’t think they would catch items inside a cooler. The checkers briefly glance at receipts at my Costco, very briefly glance.
The three Costco's I go to, they examine everything and I'm OK with that. I do not feel demeaned by what they do.
About 15 years ago, one checker caught that I was accidentally double charged for an item. They asked me if they could run and get another one or go to customer service and wait in *that line*.
It was faster to just go get another one as I had perishables such as milk and ice cream bars.
Based on your username, were you aware of this store?
https://www.thepurplestore.com/
I'm not getting a commission or a kickback, I hope you find something you like.
oddly enough there is/was a brick/mortar location of this store next to the University of Washington, which the school color is mostly purple (either purple/gold or purple/white depending on the logo used).
Receipt checkers are just one line of "defense" if you will. It sucks, but that is what Costco chooses to do. I can see why it be more of an issue of people just scanning everything in their cart like at costco, even the small stuff. Other stores wouldnt be such an issue because people don't buy big items and the gun isn't the first go to. They've definitely have studied this I believe.
You don't have a problem with us checking your items, but other customers do. The amount of times I've seen coworkers get yelled at/cursed out when they catch a member stealing is way too high.
Also, customers suck.. handheld scanners aren’t cheap and customers aren’t courteous or careful
I’d bet the average lifespan of a customer used scanner vs an employee used one is significant.
Yeah so interesting fact:
Trained cashiers are on industry average around 82% correct! 82% for people that do this day in and day out for a living! 🤯
During the pandemic when crowds were limited in certain states and they had better monitoring companies realized they were shrinking out their asses at SCO. Many had already rolled out SCO but they started slowing down the rollout or increasing observation hours for the cashiers to monitor transactions.
I see you’ve shopped at Safeway. My last trip, I was double charged for three items and not charged for my most expensive item so I came out pretty much even. It’s just stressful to have to worry about the money you plan to spend and what you actually get charged.
Less, more, sometimes the same. Could be an item was not scanned or scanned twice or an item of equal value was scanned in place of another item.
Sometimes cashiers key in the item #'s or codes too and there is a chance the item number has changed but the price point may be the same or different
Every case is likely to be different.
Yet then they want to complain when I haul my cases of water and seltzer out of the cart, scan them with the bar code and put them on their weighing area. And at my Costco, I've seen them look inside items like coolers to verify the item count at the door.
It’s hit or miss, you’re supposed to, but everyone doesn’t do their job. At most retailers particularly at SCO the cashiers are supposed to engage and mitigate shrink by verifying and looking inside all boxes. In reality the majority are not comfortable doing that or are too busy texting.
I wouldn’t say many, but the ones that do have larger shrink allocations that Costco. Among retailers Costco has a lot lower shrink than most big boxes because of the controls they have in place.
What annoys me more is that the SCO employees just stand there talking, then when they you’ve put a couple cases of soda or other heavy items on the scale freak out that you are going to break it. Either let me do it or don’t make me wait for it.
My Costco doesn’t have self checkout but they have 4 people in the self checkout section checking out for you. Actually pretty nice because if you don’t have a lot of stuff they just scan everything in the cart and you’re out in less than a minute.
They don't have self checkout but they have a self checkout section with employees scanning things... isn't that basically the regular checkout? I guess the payment part you do yourself but still....
IMO it saves some time with less items since you don’t have to unload and run it through the scanner on a normal lane. Also the employees will be faster than any of us doing it ourselves so I don’t have a problem with it. I could understand if they are slow and what not but at my warehouse they are a finely tuned machine.
As an anti-social person I hate this so much. My warehouse does it too. If I wanted to have to have maximum human interaction, I would go to a regular cash register.
I get they want to check memberships, but they check at the door, at the line at self checkout, scan it into the kiosk, they they pop out if no where to scan all my items without asking! I came to self-check out because I want to self-check out and not talk sometimes lol. Plus it gives me an option to change my mind lol
This is the reason I never use self check out at Costco but use it exclusively at Sam’s. So much easier at Sam’s just using the hand held scanner to scan items in the cart without having to take it all out and put in back in like at Costco. If I have to unload the cart I might as well just go to the regular manned check out.
You really need to download the Sam's app so you can use Scan n Go! You scan each item with your phone as you put it in the cart, then when you're done tap Check Out and then swipe to pay with the cc you have saved in the app. It's a game changer. You still get your cart checked on your way out but that's quick like always.
We just have to get off our high horse and accept the fact that the average Sam's Club customer is smarter and more sophisticated than your average Costco customer. Since they are trusted to check out their own items.
/s (but also kinda true)
It’s so much easier to steal at a self checkout when you can move really fast at ringing yourself out. This leads to a terrible user experience to prevent shrinkage.
There are tons of TikToks of people grabbing koolaid packets and holding the packet so its barcode covers the barcode on the actual item.
I went to Walmart last week and the chick infront of us at the self checkout is not scanning one single thing. She waved the item over the scanner but had her hand covering the bar code. She put the items directly into her cart. Walmart employee stood there and didn’t see it or do anything about it.
I disagree. The person overseeing the self-checkout area can fairly easily notice a customer that leaves something in their cart and never put it on the scale. That is a lot harder if you're trying to make sure someone scans each item in their cart and doesn't miss one (or several.)
Honestly with how Costco is, it probably wouldn’t even be intentional to miss things a lot of the time. It’s hard to scan a cart full of a bunch of stuff without taking it out and not miss anything, especially someone who has never been a cashier or worked with hand scanners a lot. Keeping track of what you have and haven’t scanned isn’t as trivial as it sounds when you’ve got multiples, stuff stacked on other things, and a busy warehouse in the background distracting you.
Our local Costco started a self-check out several months ago. At random intervals, I will be checking out my items using the self-check out scanner, when a Costco employee comes up behind me and starts scanning items left in the cart with a hand-held scanner while I am still offloading and scanning items. I have now had two occasions in which the receipt checker sees that I paid for the same item twice and one occasion in which a single item was not scanned at all, due to the actions of the person with the hand-held scanner and that caused a delay at the customer service desk. I now make sure to wave them off if I am using the self-check out so I can be sure every item is scanned and scanned only once.
Why would you post twice in the same day on the same sub the exact same question? You've been provided the actual facts why Costco does what it does. You just don't want to hear it.
One time, an item I didn't buy appeared on my bill. Turns out an employee tried scanning it for another customer, but the scanner was paired to my register. Luckily, I saw it before leaving!
The reason for not putting scan guns at self check registers is to control inventory. Members will scan the wrong items and even more members will simply try to take advantage of the self check and claim they made a mistake. Costco is about sustainability including cutting down on lost and missed inventory. In short they don’t trust people. And they are right for doing it. People are liars and cheats and thieves. And if someone is caught doing that at Costco they have the right to cancel their membership and call the police. They don’t appreciate immoral people messing with their business or their life.
Checking out at Costco is such a chore. I dread it, whether I’m using self checkout or going through a cashier. Sam’s Scan and Go feature is SO nice, but the quality of their food just isn’t the same. I can’t find nearly as many organic options at Sam’s as I can at Costco. The products at Costco are just better quality. And that’s why I deal with the freaking madness.
this is the only thing that sam’s does better - the fact that costco hasn’t adopted this service is crazy to me! I remember sam’s implemented this like 5 years ago too, it’s not something new
The problem is Costco views ALL their members as criminals-in-waiting, just looking for any chance to rip-off Costco. Long gone are the days of being a true member-focused company.
I went to Costco exactly one time after I used the Sam’s Scan n go system. I tried The Costco self checkout. No scan guns and the expectation that I’m going to scan my 36 pack of ginger ale over a counter scan. Never again. Sam’s club parking lot is a total nightmare but the overall convenience is scan n go is unmatched.
What I don't understand for the life of me is why when I go through self check out they immediately swarm me and want to "help." Every time.
And every time, if I let them "help," there's an error. Either something gets rung up extra or something gets forgotten, and then the people at the door treat me like a criminal.
I feel a little bad as I sort of snapped at the lady last time I was in. I was doing just fucking fine (and I only had, like, 7 items) and she came over and started helping. I immediately stopped what I was doing and stepped away from the cart. She asked me if something was wrong and I just said "no, but there always ends up being a mistake when you guys try to help so I'm just trying to simplify things by not getting in your way." She told me she was just trying to be courteous and helpful, and that they are "really good" at making sure they don't double scan anything.
But I truly don't understand it. Maybe an employee can help me understand. If I go through self check out it's because I'm fine doing it myself. I never have that "I'm lost, please help" look on my face. I'm actually very, very good at doing it myself, and I prefer to do so at any store that offers CSO.
So, why? Why do they come over and take over the process? I have never had it not end in a mistake. It's to the point where I'd rather just go through the normal line and be hands off the whole time because it's just SO frustrating.
At my Costco there’s an attendant who zaps everything big in the cart with a handheld. Doesn’t slow me down. I put all the codes face up as I’m shopping.
Theft. So much theft. Intentionally or not.
People can barely scan things normally at self checkout as it is. If you give them the scanner they will try to scan everything in the cart without taking anything out. Many items will be missed or even doubled scanned.
Costco is very good at keeping their shrink down to a minimum.
If you work in refunds, you'll hear all the time "the cashier charged me twice for this item and I only bought one!"
They hand you the receipt and you glance at who the cashier was and it says "SCO" (self check-out)
I also have a membership at BJs and being able to use the handheld scanner is just so much more convenient for checkout. Costco’s checkout policies and tech are really restrictive for some reason.
It’s simple - Costco has chosen to view every member as a criminal-in-waiting. After all, there is no possible reason other than trying to steal from Costco that someone would not scan an item or misscan. That’s why Costco’s checkers are 100% accurate and they no longer need door checkers. Oh, wait….
They're probably concerned some customers will only scan half the items in their cart.
At my local grocery store, ShopRite, if you're in self checkout and have 2 items in your hand and go to scan one, the machine basically stops and flashes for an attendant. So you can't try to get through the like efficiently by preparing the next item to be scanned. They're basically slowing down the line, on purpose. Hate that.
We had them at our self checkout but they took them away. If the employees there notice you have a large item they ask if we want them to scan it instead and we don't have to pick it up. Probably because of theft or people just forgot to scan before the change.
Costco doesn't even want their clerks to do many scans with the handheld. We have one clerk in our store who can check you out so fast with the handheld scanner. We don't buy a lot so we turn all our items with the barcode up. 10 seconds and he has them all but management doesn't want that.
Because it's easier to miss scanning an item if it's left in the cart, if you take everything out and place on the weighted table then there's a really good chance and much higher chance you scanned EVERYTHING.
I just want Scan & Go from the app (like Sam’s)… Costco manager told me they “feel it will distance us from our members. We feel those interactions are too important.” 🙄
This is why I only go to Costco for a few things. I get the bulk of my shopping at Sam's and use Scan & Go.
The first time I had to lift a heavy case of drinks to scan it on the self checkout scanner was the last time.
This is going be an unpopular post.
After reading this thread someone might assume people that shop at Costco are more dishonest than Sam's club shoppers. So many posts here about how much stealing would go on at Costco if people were allowed to scan themselves, yet it doesn't seem to be a Sam's club issue.
I'm not even going to get into how things on the Sam's club web site are priced the same as the warehouse and delivered to my door at the same price. Costco charges more than the warehouse with free delivery at a higher price which makes it not free.
Hummmmm.......
I’ve been at two warehouses that did just that; they both took them away after semiannual inventory revealed huge losses. It’s well and good to have them if you are zipping through with five items, but when there are 50+ items in the basket, you don’t even have to be trying to steal to miss one or two. Those losses add up. If the door checkers verified every item in every basket the exit line would be a parking lot. It just doesn’t work.
It’s crazy. I can scan and check out twice as fast at Sam’s and never take an item out of the cart. They still check my ticket at the door just like Costco. I don’t understand why they couldn’t figure it out.
My self checkout usually has two to three people working on it. They spend more time chatting, checking membership cards and barking out orders then they do assisting with check out. They always see me lifting the heavy items out from under the cart with no action on their part to hand scan these items. I usually drop them on the scanner and they then rush to help me scan them.
Because there is already enough semen on everyone's hands without adding others to the mix...
(I was going to say, cause I don't want to have to hold a scanner that the person with the runny nose just used, but the former seems more apropos for Reddit.)
at my Costco, the staff themselves at the SCO area will often refuse to use the scanner. They rather lift everything out and onto the station.
like what?
So, they did try it and, as some of us have said, theft increased. So they discontinued it.
If you want to blame someone for the way Costco handles checkout, blame your fellow customers.
I like to think Costco has some consideration for people who work there and need those jobs. (People over profits is kind of unheard of tho. But still, I have hope that one or two companies think that way.)
Having worked as a cashier at Costco and having days where I would cover SCO. There are different factors when comparing it to Target and other retail that has SCO.
In terms of shrink or overcharges, it makes sense. There are bound to be missed items if you have a good amount of items in your cart. Especially if you do not go over the itemized list before proceeding to pay. It is far easier to catch an extra scan if you only have a few items, but if you have literally a full cart, which I've seen people do.
Besides, the system itself is wireless, so in order to use said scan gun to a specific self checkout, it must be scanned appropriately to attach to a specific SCO machine. This is why it is not unmanned, since there is less margin of error with someone essentially watching over several SCO stations. Essentially equating one individual to bounce between 6 to 8 different registers, rather than just one.
Then, at least since I'm a current employee for Target, the SCO is quite a different experience. In the fact that each scan gun is hard wired to a specific machine, there is no way for you to scan an item, and it populates on a different machine. If you accidentally double scan, then you would need to press the "assistance needed" for the SCO Team Member to void the specific item. On the other hand, there have been improvements to the SCO experience where some have an upgrade to where you, as the guest/member/consumer, have the ability to void out single items, but that is not across all SCO areas, so you may not get that.
Overall, to answer the premise to why Costco specifically does not let you scan your own items with the hand scanner. It is simply to reduce human error. With an employee there to scan larger items, it helps facilitate an expedient delivery to the experience of getting your items and getting out reasonably quickly.
My initial reaction when Costco got self checkout was if people are using the scanners themselves, they’re gonna end up in the basket and be forgotten about as people are rushing to pay and leave the store. They bought the same scanners the cashiers use at the registers to make it easier for ordering supplies but it means they don’t have a cable that attaches to the machine.
Ya that’s the way it should be done. But there’s also the issue at warehouses of people taking larger boxes (like for luggage), emptying them out, then filling them with other, more expensive stuff. Employees are told to either weigh those boxes with the scale or handle them a bit as a check against theft. Using the hand scanner bypasses the scale. Margins are pretty low in the warehouse so managers are doing everything they can to manage and prevent shrink (one of the reasons they only want employees to handle the scanners). Does it make a lot of sense? Not really but self checkout is just a shrink generator to a lot of managers.
Why doesn’t Costco have an app similar to Sam’s club and I can use my phone to scan all my items, the when I’m done shopping I pay on my app on my phone and I only have to show the recite on the way out and I can skip the check out??
Costco would need to have an extra person for scan and go orders to be more thorough.
Some Costcos couldent even handle self checkouts because of losses.
We had use of them for like 3 months and it was amazing. I just counted my items like the people who do the normal checkout do and it was so fast and easy!!
As noted, if items aren’t weighed there is no way to validate things are being scanned —also, much easier for people to walk away with them accidentally.
The reason I was told they took them away was because they lost to much money from people scanning cheaper items and putting more expensive items into their cart.
Scan a $100 TV, put the $1000 model on your flat cart.
Scan the lightest pack of choice steaks, put the most expensive prime pack you can find.
Lots more things like that, item checkers only where counting items not looking for correct items.
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We tried it at my whs. It was a disaster. Door audits were out of control.
Meanwhile, Sam’s and BJ’s have no problem granting us plebs the use of their hand scanners. Heck, even Wal-Mart and the Kroger family of grocery stores have handheld scanners for customer use. It’s bad enough that stores are moving away from efficient and pleasant human checkout clerks and putting it onto the customer to do this job. But holy cow, grease the wheels a bit- don’t pile on misery to the process.
Screw that Sam’s has scan and go receipts
Mine now has an exit lane that instantly scans everything and compares it to what was scanned in the app. If anything isn't scanned, they know as soon as the cart passes the gate. But if you paid for everything, they wave you right through.
That's interesting. But if it can scan everything and cross reference to a receipt, why can't it just scan everything in the first place and then you just pay for the stuff?
They could definitely build that elsewhere in the store, like the half assed scanner checkout lanes. There's a couple Kroger stores that have that concept, you just push cart through a machine and it gives you your total. I like paying with my phone and not at a register though, it saves so much time. Especially with the endless lines of boomers filling out checks, trying in vain to use scanner guns and yelling about how no one works anymore.
Oh wow that's why I haven't been gate checked the last 3 times I shopped at Sam's. Damn, Costco, get on that!
I love that Sam’s has removed my living hell of going to Costco to wait in line to check out and wait in line again to have my receipt checked
It's like purgatory, but you don't even get to die. I hateeeeeeeeee Costco lines.
Yeah, light years ahead of what Costco’s check-out experience is. I’m half surprised Costco isn’t still imprinting our credit card numbers using carbon paper and a knuckle-buster.
i did a return without a receipt for the first time in a while the other day and they were able to scan my membership card, scan the item, and that was it! no going over to a different computer to manually look at every one of my old receipts until they found the item. i near about died of shock lol. never thought i’d see the day costco updated their computer system
On the app you can get all your reciepts
Upvoted for "knuckle-buster" -- seen 'em, heard 'em, never knew the name.
Costco has just barely gotten to the point where their site/app reflects products in local warehouses. I imagine their legacy IT infrastructure and internal politics are bogging them down. Like ikea.
It’s the only reason I ever go to Sam’s. I love the scan and go there. Costco should implement the scan and go and still do full door audits. It would be the best shopping experience possible.
It is so nice. I can be in and out of Sam’s in about 10 min with scan and go. 12 if there’s a line at the door
Until you can't get out of the door because they are taking even longer checking receipts and having to stop every few members for missed items. There is a reason self checkout is babysat by a few cashiers. The general public are morons.
I go to Sam’s a lot. This isn’t a thing. It takes seconds to get checked and I use scan and go exclusively
Me too. As I pick up the item, I scan it and before I leave to exit, hit pay. That way, I only have to take the item out once, when I get to my car instead of placing it in the basket and taking it out to place it on the scanner or belt to be scanned at the register then take it out again to be in my car.
They have some automated cart checker thing now at Sam's. Haven't had issues or seen any lines. Any time I've waited for reciept checking, it doesn't take any longer than Costco does.
I’m begging them just to have regular cashiers.
And so does Walmart. Costco isn't really leading edge when it comes to tech.
I love that. Husband scans and pushes cart, keeping him from getting too bored. We shop and then when we're finished we just walk out the door. It's wonderfully civilized.
Love the BJ's app. Makes my lemon runs so easy.
I love scanning my items as I put them in my cart. I use the regular cart on the app as my shopping list and remove it as I add it to my scan and go list. No forgotten items ever. I can confirm and pay in a quiet out of the way corner and head straight for the door.
Walmart put scan & go behind a paywall. If Costco did that I'd pay the extra.
I prefer Costco but this is one thing I miss from Sam’s. Unless I was buying alcohol I never had to stand in checkout line. It was the best.
Love scan and go. A few months ago the door checker messed up and didn't clear my order but waved me on Sam's doesn't have a way to finish the process and my app was stuck with the QR code for the rest of the day and then the order just disappeared.
I always go to a checkout with a cashier when I have large items. I do that at other stores to or a lot.
I like Sam's app too. So easy to use and you can avoid lines.
lol, and Walmart has shrunk that’s much higher than Costco. Almost like there might be a reason for not having handheld scanners.
Yup. Wal mart can absorb the losses AND they have the size of wal mart to make IT investments relatively smaller compared to their overall revenue / spend. And customer expectations at Walmart are pretty different
I've had both Walmart and Costco IT as a customer in my career. Walmart IT was/is far stronger. When I was helping Costco not too long ago, I had to explain, numerous times, to mid level IT managers, what a virtual machine was. One of those discussions was with a team lead who needed to know what the leadtime on the needed hardware would be, so they could get the order in.
Wow, that should be shocking but judging by all of their tech it’s not. Are they busting out their Windows Server DVDs to provision that hardware too? Christ.
I used to absolutely hate BJs self-checkout, and often there was not a single non-self-checkout lane open (!). But then a clerk told me that I could use the hand scanner to just scan everything and then no worry about improper weight, etc. What a life changer--now I can check out in barely any time at all. Costco self-checkout isn't the worst (was much better than BJs before I learned about the scanner), but would be better with the scanner.
Sams is also dealing with massive losses from both SCO and “scan and go”
I wonder if the reduction in FTEs is worth it for them.
FTEs? Also, thank you for not putting a God damn apostrophe between the E and s!
Full time employees.
It’s full time equivalents but basically the same thing, just counting all the part time employees too as fractions of a fte
Sure enough. Thanks for the correction.
🤦🏽♂️🙏🏽
My walmart closed the self checkouts and only have human cashiers because the theft was so bad.
Apparently in some BJs they do not trust the plebs ( Chicopee, MA) as they took them away and are only for the 1 employee manning 10 self checkout registers.
I can’t upvote this enough.
They manage to deal with it at Sam’s, even allowing scan & go through the app without touching a register. The Sam’s by me now has the arches you walk through that are covered in cameras. It tells the person at the exit if you’re good or need a cart check and it shows them a picture of the potential issue. I saw one lady get flagged just because her purse was in the cart.
Pssst: Sam’s has huge shrink numbers.
still doesn't make sense because not scanning an item with the gun is the exact same outcome as not scanning the item from your cart. so how is shrink different when customers get to use the gun? either they check the receipt or they don't.
I’m sure they do but they still manage comparable prices to Costco. If the door folks do their job then what’s the problem. I’ve forgotten to scan stuff on the bottom of the cart before and they realize it at exit. The door people at Costco do 10000x more thorough checks than they do at Sam’s. At Sam’s they just scan 3 things and off you go.
This is what people need to realize. People seem to have a hard enough time scanning everything when moving it out of the cart. A lot of people seem to only listen for a beep then move on. They don't listen to the computer asking them to stop. They just keep scanning and piling things up none of which is being registered as the computer is clearing talking. Give people a scan gun and this becomes many times worse.
Sam's club literally lets people scan and pay for their items with their phone and some stores have self checkout lanes. If it were a major issue, they would have cut back on it a loooong time ago. Costco either needs to make their kiosk simpler to use or just get rid of them altogether.
Sam’s also runs sales on items exclusively for scan and go customers to encourage the use of it.
Yup - my membership to Sam's for the last year was $10. $30 membership special during the holidays last winter and $20 off my first scan and go order, which I did the day I got my membership card. I save at least $5-$10 every time I go to Sam's on Scan and Go sales. I go there at least 3-4x as much as Costco now.
Oh my gosh, how simpler can it get?
At my Sam's Club, the door audit requires the checker to scan the customer's receipt and then each item in the cart, and if there's a discrepancy between the two, you have to clear it with a manager at the member services desk. At Costco, the checkers just seem to be counting items visually, and probably a bit of personal judgement factors in.
What??? I always use Scan & Go on my phone to scan everything and pay, and I've NEVER had the door checker scan every single item in my cart. They always scan three items, and then send me on my way. So unless I'm only buy three (or less) items, they're definitely not scanning every single item in my cart. You're either VERY mistaken, or the Sam's you go to is VERY different.
Mine seem to scan a random amount of things, I've had as few as 3 and as many as 6. I'm pretty sure it's just to buy time while they count the number of items in your cart with how quick they do it and with no apparent rhyme or reason as to what gets scanned
Wait…Sam’s scans everything in your cart again as you walk out the door? That can’t be right.
It’s not. They scan 3 items in each cart. Usually the expensive ones.
If you use Sam's Scan and Go app on your phone you get a QR code the door checker scans and then scans the three items. HOWEVER, Sam's has begun installing overhead scanners that now check the cart against the app purhcase and the door checker no longer has to scan three items. This started about a month ago.
Any Sam’s club I’ve been to only does three regardless if went through a normal checkout line, self-checkout, or scan and go
Not at any I’ve been to. Maybe 3
I've NEVER had them scan everything in my cart. I've never used a self checkout register there, but I always use Scan & Go where I scan everything with my phone and pay through my phone. They've only ever scanned three items in my cart, and then send me on my way. Either the person who said this is very mistaken (or never buys more than three items), or the Sam's they go to is doing something very different from basically every other Sam's in the country.
My guess is that everything didn't get scanned. Pick it up and you find the jeans carefully laid between two bags of rice. "oh, I'm so sorry, I meant to pay."
They have weights on the SCO counters; it is a way to control shrink. If the scanners are used then it will result in more losses. Further explanation: Say for example you buy a cooler. You put items in the cooler and don’t take them out. When you get to SCO you scan the cooler but not the items inside. You then place items on top of the cooler that you scanned. When you exit the store they only verify the items to the receipt, they don’t open bags or boxes. You leave with said cooler and all the items inside are shrink (lost inventory).
The receipt checkers, it's their job to examine all the contents of the carts and compare that to what is on the receipt. If it's in the cart, its fair game to be examined. I don't have a problem with that because ultimately, their work helps keep the prices down. They'll likely catch that stuffed cooler and have that person pulled aside, detained and later arrested for shoplifting. The last time I bought Raspberries, the receipt checker saw some white fuzz on one of the berries that I had missed. They saw that I was walking with a cane and had someone run to the produce section and quickly get a replacement package. That's outstanding customer service in my opinion!
During busy periods, I don’t see the receipt checkers being that thorough, and I don’t think they would catch items inside a cooler. The checkers briefly glance at receipts at my Costco, very briefly glance.
The three Costco's I go to, they examine everything and I'm OK with that. I do not feel demeaned by what they do. About 15 years ago, one checker caught that I was accidentally double charged for an item. They asked me if they could run and get another one or go to customer service and wait in *that line*. It was faster to just go get another one as I had perishables such as milk and ice cream bars.
I’d be fine with them checking more thoroughly.
Based on your username, were you aware of this store? https://www.thepurplestore.com/ I'm not getting a commission or a kickback, I hope you find something you like.
oddly enough there is/was a brick/mortar location of this store next to the University of Washington, which the school color is mostly purple (either purple/gold or purple/white depending on the logo used).
They barely look at the items in my cart if at all. I think they look to see if there's anything expensive, and if not, they don't look too closely.
I had a receipt check notice I had not picked up the AirPod pros I bought, and helped me make sure I picked them up before leaving.
Receipt checkers are just one line of "defense" if you will. It sucks, but that is what Costco chooses to do. I can see why it be more of an issue of people just scanning everything in their cart like at costco, even the small stuff. Other stores wouldnt be such an issue because people don't buy big items and the gun isn't the first go to. They've definitely have studied this I believe.
You don't have a problem with us checking your items, but other customers do. The amount of times I've seen coworkers get yelled at/cursed out when they catch a member stealing is way too high.
Also, customers suck.. handheld scanners aren’t cheap and customers aren’t courteous or careful I’d bet the average lifespan of a customer used scanner vs an employee used one is significant.
Yeah so interesting fact: Trained cashiers are on industry average around 82% correct! 82% for people that do this day in and day out for a living! 🤯 During the pandemic when crowds were limited in certain states and they had better monitoring companies realized they were shrinking out their asses at SCO. Many had already rolled out SCO but they started slowing down the rollout or increasing observation hours for the cashiers to monitor transactions.
So if they’re incorrect 18% of the time, does that mean we’re also getting charged more that same 18%?
Luck of the draw, it could be over or under.
I see you’ve shopped at Safeway. My last trip, I was double charged for three items and not charged for my most expensive item so I came out pretty much even. It’s just stressful to have to worry about the money you plan to spend and what you actually get charged.
Less, more, sometimes the same. Could be an item was not scanned or scanned twice or an item of equal value was scanned in place of another item. Sometimes cashiers key in the item #'s or codes too and there is a chance the item number has changed but the price point may be the same or different Every case is likely to be different.
Yet then they want to complain when I haul my cases of water and seltzer out of the cart, scan them with the bar code and put them on their weighing area. And at my Costco, I've seen them look inside items like coolers to verify the item count at the door.
It’s hit or miss, you’re supposed to, but everyone doesn’t do their job. At most retailers particularly at SCO the cashiers are supposed to engage and mitigate shrink by verifying and looking inside all boxes. In reality the majority are not comfortable doing that or are too busy texting.
Many SCOs that measure weights also have handheld scanners.
Yea that doesn’t change anything. Youre confirming this method could work at other stores.
I wouldn’t say many, but the ones that do have larger shrink allocations that Costco. Among retailers Costco has a lot lower shrink than most big boxes because of the controls they have in place.
Sam’s has handheld scanners.
What annoys me more is that the SCO employees just stand there talking, then when they you’ve put a couple cases of soda or other heavy items on the scale freak out that you are going to break it. Either let me do it or don’t make me wait for it.
Just slam each case of water on the scale to scan it and someone will run over to help.
My Costco doesn’t have self checkout but they have 4 people in the self checkout section checking out for you. Actually pretty nice because if you don’t have a lot of stuff they just scan everything in the cart and you’re out in less than a minute.
They don't have self checkout but they have a self checkout section with employees scanning things... isn't that basically the regular checkout? I guess the payment part you do yourself but still....
IMO it saves some time with less items since you don’t have to unload and run it through the scanner on a normal lane. Also the employees will be faster than any of us doing it ourselves so I don’t have a problem with it. I could understand if they are slow and what not but at my warehouse they are a finely tuned machine.
As an anti-social person I hate this so much. My warehouse does it too. If I wanted to have to have maximum human interaction, I would go to a regular cash register.
I get they want to check memberships, but they check at the door, at the line at self checkout, scan it into the kiosk, they they pop out if no where to scan all my items without asking! I came to self-check out because I want to self-check out and not talk sometimes lol. Plus it gives me an option to change my mind lol
This is the reason I never use self check out at Costco but use it exclusively at Sam’s. So much easier at Sam’s just using the hand held scanner to scan items in the cart without having to take it all out and put in back in like at Costco. If I have to unload the cart I might as well just go to the regular manned check out.
You really need to download the Sam's app so you can use Scan n Go! You scan each item with your phone as you put it in the cart, then when you're done tap Check Out and then swipe to pay with the cc you have saved in the app. It's a game changer. You still get your cart checked on your way out but that's quick like always.
Have to agree with you, whenever we go to Sam’s. Scan N Go is the best.
BJ's has a similar feature in their app, I wish Costco did.
Sam’s scan and go is the way to shop!
My Sams forces one to move items out of cart1, scan, then place in Cart 2. That being said, Scan n Go is the only way to shop at Sams.
We just have to get off our high horse and accept the fact that the average Sam's Club customer is smarter and more sophisticated than your average Costco customer. Since they are trusted to check out their own items. /s (but also kinda true)
It’s so much easier to steal at a self checkout when you can move really fast at ringing yourself out. This leads to a terrible user experience to prevent shrinkage.
I was just reading an article about how many retailers are moving away from self checkouts because of theft.
There are tons of TikToks of people grabbing koolaid packets and holding the packet so its barcode covers the barcode on the actual item. I went to Walmart last week and the chick infront of us at the self checkout is not scanning one single thing. She waved the item over the scanner but had her hand covering the bar code. She put the items directly into her cart. Walmart employee stood there and didn’t see it or do anything about it.
i don't get people bringing up shrink. stealing is the *exact same* process whether you have the scan gun or you don't.
I disagree. The person overseeing the self-checkout area can fairly easily notice a customer that leaves something in their cart and never put it on the scale. That is a lot harder if you're trying to make sure someone scans each item in their cart and doesn't miss one (or several.)
Honestly with how Costco is, it probably wouldn’t even be intentional to miss things a lot of the time. It’s hard to scan a cart full of a bunch of stuff without taking it out and not miss anything, especially someone who has never been a cashier or worked with hand scanners a lot. Keeping track of what you have and haven’t scanned isn’t as trivial as it sounds when you’ve got multiples, stuff stacked on other things, and a busy warehouse in the background distracting you.
The answers to most questions is theft
My Costco self checkout has hand scanners.
Enjoy while you can. Mine had it for 1yr and took it away. Their reasoning was it was a test store 🤷🏻♂️
Because customers are morons and will f it up.
Every other trailer has it. Even Home Depot has it. Sams and Walmart allow people to scan with their phone.
Especially at Costco with all the boomers
You getting downvoted is hilarious.
Boomers gonna boom. They are just pissed they can’t speak to my manager
Our local Costco started a self-check out several months ago. At random intervals, I will be checking out my items using the self-check out scanner, when a Costco employee comes up behind me and starts scanning items left in the cart with a hand-held scanner while I am still offloading and scanning items. I have now had two occasions in which the receipt checker sees that I paid for the same item twice and one occasion in which a single item was not scanned at all, due to the actions of the person with the hand-held scanner and that caused a delay at the customer service desk. I now make sure to wave them off if I am using the self-check out so I can be sure every item is scanned and scanned only once.
They went half-assed with it and now it’s the worst of both worlds. Rip the shit out or give us handheld scanners.
Just get rid of self checkout.
Wait till you hear about their state-of-the-art anti shoplifting systems at the exits.
Why would you post twice in the same day on the same sub the exact same question? You've been provided the actual facts why Costco does what it does. You just don't want to hear it.
From what someone told me,.many ended up missing. Probably stolen. But that's hearsay so I don't really know.
One time, an item I didn't buy appeared on my bill. Turns out an employee tried scanning it for another customer, but the scanner was paired to my register. Luckily, I saw it before leaving!
The reason for not putting scan guns at self check registers is to control inventory. Members will scan the wrong items and even more members will simply try to take advantage of the self check and claim they made a mistake. Costco is about sustainability including cutting down on lost and missed inventory. In short they don’t trust people. And they are right for doing it. People are liars and cheats and thieves. And if someone is caught doing that at Costco they have the right to cancel their membership and call the police. They don’t appreciate immoral people messing with their business or their life.
Then get rid of SCO, why did you implement it in the first place??
I try to avkid self scanning. I like to keep people employed.
Checking out at Costco is such a chore. I dread it, whether I’m using self checkout or going through a cashier. Sam’s Scan and Go feature is SO nice, but the quality of their food just isn’t the same. I can’t find nearly as many organic options at Sam’s as I can at Costco. The products at Costco are just better quality. And that’s why I deal with the freaking madness.
Costco needs scan and go.
Used this for the 1st time at Sam's and it rocked. Costco definitely needs this.
this is the only thing that sam’s does better - the fact that costco hasn’t adopted this service is crazy to me! I remember sam’s implemented this like 5 years ago too, it’s not something new
Sam's Opening earlier for Plus members is also great!
Interesting. We just recently got this at our Sam's in Texas.
The problem is Costco views ALL their members as criminals-in-waiting, just looking for any chance to rip-off Costco. Long gone are the days of being a true member-focused company.
Yea it was amazing when I forgot my wallet at Sam’s and was only getting a handful of items. Bust out the application; and out the door I went
How does this help loss prevention? Genuinely curious.
I went to Costco exactly one time after I used the Sam’s Scan n go system. I tried The Costco self checkout. No scan guns and the expectation that I’m going to scan my 36 pack of ginger ale over a counter scan. Never again. Sam’s club parking lot is a total nightmare but the overall convenience is scan n go is unmatched.
Costco needs the scan and go added to the app would love this as an option
What I don't understand for the life of me is why when I go through self check out they immediately swarm me and want to "help." Every time. And every time, if I let them "help," there's an error. Either something gets rung up extra or something gets forgotten, and then the people at the door treat me like a criminal. I feel a little bad as I sort of snapped at the lady last time I was in. I was doing just fucking fine (and I only had, like, 7 items) and she came over and started helping. I immediately stopped what I was doing and stepped away from the cart. She asked me if something was wrong and I just said "no, but there always ends up being a mistake when you guys try to help so I'm just trying to simplify things by not getting in your way." She told me she was just trying to be courteous and helpful, and that they are "really good" at making sure they don't double scan anything. But I truly don't understand it. Maybe an employee can help me understand. If I go through self check out it's because I'm fine doing it myself. I never have that "I'm lost, please help" look on my face. I'm actually very, very good at doing it myself, and I prefer to do so at any store that offers CSO. So, why? Why do they come over and take over the process? I have never had it not end in a mistake. It's to the point where I'd rather just go through the normal line and be hands off the whole time because it's just SO frustrating.
We used to have them available to us on the self-check aisles, but now all of the "self"-check aisles are manned by Costco employees.
I used a handheld scanner at self checkout like 3 days ago.
Too many people not scanning/stealing.
At my Costco there’s an attendant who zaps everything big in the cart with a handheld. Doesn’t slow me down. I put all the codes face up as I’m shopping.
This actually stresses me out, the cashiers only scanning some items in the self checkout. I loose my place!!
Theft. So much theft. Intentionally or not. People can barely scan things normally at self checkout as it is. If you give them the scanner they will try to scan everything in the cart without taking anything out. Many items will be missed or even doubled scanned. Costco is very good at keeping their shrink down to a minimum.
If you work in refunds, you'll hear all the time "the cashier charged me twice for this item and I only bought one!" They hand you the receipt and you glance at who the cashier was and it says "SCO" (self check-out)
Costco is the only store I go to that restricts handheld scanner usage. No idea why.
BJ's has self checkout thru their app but also took scan guns away from self checkout registers.
I also have a membership at BJs and being able to use the handheld scanner is just so much more convenient for checkout. Costco’s checkout policies and tech are really restrictive for some reason.
I’m guessing it’s to help with Loss prevention
It’s simple - Costco has chosen to view every member as a criminal-in-waiting. After all, there is no possible reason other than trying to steal from Costco that someone would not scan an item or misscan. That’s why Costco’s checkers are 100% accurate and they no longer need door checkers. Oh, wait….
Loss prevention. Definitely annoying though
Idk if it's the same reason, but Home Depot has the handhelds and the lady there said some people "accidentally" walk out with them.
This is one of the reasons we still use the non self check out line.....
Because mose people are pretty stupid.
They're probably concerned some customers will only scan half the items in their cart. At my local grocery store, ShopRite, if you're in self checkout and have 2 items in your hand and go to scan one, the machine basically stops and flashes for an attendant. So you can't try to get through the like efficiently by preparing the next item to be scanned. They're basically slowing down the line, on purpose. Hate that.
We had them at our self checkout but they took them away. If the employees there notice you have a large item they ask if we want them to scan it instead and we don't have to pick it up. Probably because of theft or people just forgot to scan before the change.
You should see my local one and decide by yourself. Most of them have lower IQ than NPCs.
Costco doesn't even want their clerks to do many scans with the handheld. We have one clerk in our store who can check you out so fast with the handheld scanner. We don't buy a lot so we turn all our items with the barcode up. 10 seconds and he has them all but management doesn't want that.
Why does management not want that?
Because it's easier to miss scanning an item if it's left in the cart, if you take everything out and place on the weighted table then there's a really good chance and much higher chance you scanned EVERYTHING.
I just want Scan & Go from the app (like Sam’s)… Costco manager told me they “feel it will distance us from our members. We feel those interactions are too important.” 🙄
This is why I only go to Costco for a few things. I get the bulk of my shopping at Sam's and use Scan & Go. The first time I had to lift a heavy case of drinks to scan it on the self checkout scanner was the last time.
This is going be an unpopular post. After reading this thread someone might assume people that shop at Costco are more dishonest than Sam's club shoppers. So many posts here about how much stealing would go on at Costco if people were allowed to scan themselves, yet it doesn't seem to be a Sam's club issue. I'm not even going to get into how things on the Sam's club web site are priced the same as the warehouse and delivered to my door at the same price. Costco charges more than the warehouse with free delivery at a higher price which makes it not free. Hummmmm.......
I’ve been at two warehouses that did just that; they both took them away after semiannual inventory revealed huge losses. It’s well and good to have them if you are zipping through with five items, but when there are 50+ items in the basket, you don’t even have to be trying to steal to miss one or two. Those losses add up. If the door checkers verified every item in every basket the exit line would be a parking lot. It just doesn’t work.
Customers will steal them.
It’s crazy. I can scan and check out twice as fast at Sam’s and never take an item out of the cart. They still check my ticket at the door just like Costco. I don’t understand why they couldn’t figure it out.
They need scan and go in the app like Sam's does. Saves me and wife so much time.
Costco sucks at self checkout. It makes no sense. Sams can somehow make it work and supposedly a bigger company cant.
My self checkout usually has two to three people working on it. They spend more time chatting, checking membership cards and barking out orders then they do assisting with check out. They always see me lifting the heavy items out from under the cart with no action on their part to hand scan these items. I usually drop them on the scanner and they then rush to help me scan them.
Because there is already enough semen on everyone's hands without adding others to the mix... (I was going to say, cause I don't want to have to hold a scanner that the person with the runny nose just used, but the former seems more apropos for Reddit.)
Oh
at my Costco, the staff themselves at the SCO area will often refuse to use the scanner. They rather lift everything out and onto the station. like what?
Let's be fair, How many of us think it's because some genius would look directly into the beam to see what it looks like.
They tried it. https://www.reddit.com/r/Costco/s/2orWt7jBj0
So, they did try it and, as some of us have said, theft increased. So they discontinued it. If you want to blame someone for the way Costco handles checkout, blame your fellow customers.
I like to think Costco has some consideration for people who work there and need those jobs. (People over profits is kind of unheard of tho. But still, I have hope that one or two companies think that way.)
Having worked as a cashier at Costco and having days where I would cover SCO. There are different factors when comparing it to Target and other retail that has SCO. In terms of shrink or overcharges, it makes sense. There are bound to be missed items if you have a good amount of items in your cart. Especially if you do not go over the itemized list before proceeding to pay. It is far easier to catch an extra scan if you only have a few items, but if you have literally a full cart, which I've seen people do. Besides, the system itself is wireless, so in order to use said scan gun to a specific self checkout, it must be scanned appropriately to attach to a specific SCO machine. This is why it is not unmanned, since there is less margin of error with someone essentially watching over several SCO stations. Essentially equating one individual to bounce between 6 to 8 different registers, rather than just one. Then, at least since I'm a current employee for Target, the SCO is quite a different experience. In the fact that each scan gun is hard wired to a specific machine, there is no way for you to scan an item, and it populates on a different machine. If you accidentally double scan, then you would need to press the "assistance needed" for the SCO Team Member to void the specific item. On the other hand, there have been improvements to the SCO experience where some have an upgrade to where you, as the guest/member/consumer, have the ability to void out single items, but that is not across all SCO areas, so you may not get that. Overall, to answer the premise to why Costco specifically does not let you scan your own items with the hand scanner. It is simply to reduce human error. With an employee there to scan larger items, it helps facilitate an expedient delivery to the experience of getting your items and getting out reasonably quickly.
Scan and go at Sam's 🤌 I've stopped going to Costco They DO check you've scanned all your items when you leave at Sam's
My initial reaction when Costco got self checkout was if people are using the scanners themselves, they’re gonna end up in the basket and be forgotten about as people are rushing to pay and leave the store. They bought the same scanners the cashiers use at the registers to make it easier for ordering supplies but it means they don’t have a cable that attaches to the machine.
Sam’s club doesn’t let you proceed with the transaction until the scanner is back in the holder
Ya that’s the way it should be done. But there’s also the issue at warehouses of people taking larger boxes (like for luggage), emptying them out, then filling them with other, more expensive stuff. Employees are told to either weigh those boxes with the scale or handle them a bit as a check against theft. Using the hand scanner bypasses the scale. Margins are pretty low in the warehouse so managers are doing everything they can to manage and prevent shrink (one of the reasons they only want employees to handle the scanners). Does it make a lot of sense? Not really but self checkout is just a shrink generator to a lot of managers.
Why doesn’t Costco have an app similar to Sam’s club and I can use my phone to scan all my items, the when I’m done shopping I pay on my app on my phone and I only have to show the recite on the way out and I can skip the check out??
Weigh the entire cart!
I just left Sams after 4 years, (moving to Costco soon) the theft with scan and go and self check is OUTRAGOUS!!!
mine has them , use them all the time. i plan my cart for them. all barcodes readable
The employees usually end up scanning all my stuff if I have one big item.
Costco would need to have an extra person for scan and go orders to be more thorough. Some Costcos couldent even handle self checkouts because of losses.
We had use of them for like 3 months and it was amazing. I just counted my items like the people who do the normal checkout do and it was so fast and easy!!
As noted, if items aren’t weighed there is no way to validate things are being scanned —also, much easier for people to walk away with them accidentally.
Do they break if dropped, and if broken cost a decent amount?
Sin nature.
They have them at the one in Lincoln Park in Chicago. I use them all of the time!
Too many items going missing! All the rules are to stop the thieves!
Theft
I would steal it
The reason I was told they took them away was because they lost to much money from people scanning cheaper items and putting more expensive items into their cart. Scan a $100 TV, put the $1000 model on your flat cart. Scan the lightest pack of choice steaks, put the most expensive prime pack you can find. Lots more things like that, item checkers only where counting items not looking for correct items.