I'm lost in the supermarket

[venta]

I have just put an entire trolleysworth of shopping through a self-service checkout in Tesco, without once putting that which was unexpected in the bagging area. I was not beeped at, remonstrated with, warned or menaced by the machine. It did not summon members of staff at arbitrary moments. I even persuaded it to let me purchase the vacuum pack of smoked mackerel whose barcode didn't scan.

I am made of 24-carat, armour-plated righteous WIN.

Comments

[ewx.livejournal.com]

Err. Is that unusual?

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yes.

Possibly you are already superhuman and do this anyway.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

Well, I usually buy baskets full of shopping than trolleys, but otherwise, I find the self-service tills entirely straightforward and always have. Hence my puzzlement; I don't understand what the difference is between what I'm doing and what other people do, that results in the reputation exhibited in this post.

[venta.livejournal.com]

There's a number of things I've had trouble with in the past....

1. If you're using your own bags, and add the bag *with* the first item rather than beforehand, you're in a world of trouble. I think the machine's handling of "own bags" has improved of late, actually.

2. If you are too slow putting the item in the bag (for example, because you're trying to make space to pack neatly), the machine gets upset.

3. If you try to rearrange your shopping, the machine gets upset.

4. If you scan an item and it immediately says "please wait for assistance" (which it sometimes does for no apparent reason[*]), ignore it. Otherwise someone will come over and neither of you will know why and they will patronise you relentlessly.

Last night was, indeed, entirely straightfoward. I think it's one of those problems where, as soon as you make a mistake, it seems to multiply and you descend into a hell of beeping from which there is no escape.

Oh and:

5. Do not buy saffron. It is, actually, impossible to buy saffron painlessly via a self-service till (it's too light for the granularity of the scale, and the machine won't believe you've put it in the bag).

[*] Sometimes it does it for a good reason, eg buying a restricted product.

[cardinalsin.livejournal.com]

This comment has just won my "comment of the day" award, which only proves the OP was entirely true.