Self Check-out Has Come To Costco/East Lansing, Michigan

Honestly, I am not surprised to see this. We've been ringing ourselves up at Walmart for years now. I remember I used to complain about how hard it was to find a cashier there to ring you up. Especially late at night. Next thing I know, there's more self checkout registers and fewer cashiers.

Guess Walmart was like, "that'll teach you".

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But it's become the trend. And more stores are doing it.

Why? I'm glad you asked.

It's apparently because we wanted it and we liked it.

Consumer Reports recently published a survey of how consumers feel about self-checkout. The top complaint of the 62,917 subscribers surveyed was too few open checkout lanes. Nearly 75 percent of respondents liked self-checkout’s ability to save time. (Cardfellow)

Complain, ask, and you shall receive.

Now I know, I'm not the only one to stay away and talk about how crowded Costco can be on the weekends. You pull into the lot on a Saturday morning, it's packed and you can indeed expect long lines inside. Sometimes to get into the place.

But I've never complained about the speed of the Costco cashiers. I blame the long lines on the people who shop there.

And now, we have to trust them to ring themselves up. And be quick about it.

Fix it Jesus.

Behold.

6 self check-out lanes at the old Costco in East Lansing.

They're very nice and helpful when it's your turn. They tell you to leave the heavy stuff in the cart (like you bottled water) and THEY'LL SCAN IT FOR YOU.

Wait, what now?!?

Why am I part of this process again?

Here's your self check-out register.

As you can see, it's card only. You insert your membership card first. Ring your stuff up, place it in that sizeable holding area to the left of the scanner, when you're done insert your credit/debit card for payment, get your receipt, load your stuff back into your cart, and be on your way.

I know I'm "quick with it", but I worry about other folks.

Self check-out is hard. How many times have you heard, "please wait for assistance"?

That's not saving anyone time.

Oh and at Costco, you can't just walk up to the food court and order your hotdog at the counter anymore.

You place your order here.

Look, if I'm ringing myself up to save time and money and overhead at a store, I'm thinking I'm gonna need an employee discount.

Cause apparently I work here now.