I've felt like doing this before, they ought to buy him dinner
and apologize for poor service.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/330043_prybar03.html

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Which reminds me of an entry that should be the first entry in every 
automated telephone menu:

"To speak to a live human being, press one."

Regards,
John

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Tim Attwood wrote:
> I've felt like doing this before, they ought to buy him dinner
> and apologize for poor service.
> 
> http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/330043_prybar03.html 
> 
> 
So how many remember the guy who got on the talk show circuit back in 
the day for blasting  an airport pay toilet with a handgun?

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Tim Attwood wrote:
> I've felt like doing this before, they ought to buy him dinner
> and apologize for poor service.
> 
> http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/330043_prybar03.html 
> 
> 

"Please put the item back in the bag."

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no puede acabar a cajero que los procesos
satisfacen la espera para la ayuda
satisfacen la espera para la ayuda
satisfacen la espera para la ayuda
satisfacen la espera para la ayuda
satisfacen la espera para la ayuda

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> I've felt like doing this before, they ought to buy him dinner
> and apologize for poor service.
>
> http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/330043_prybar03.html

You have to wonder how much testing they actually do before launching in the 
shops.  I used one yesterday where it asked me to "insert cash or choose 

OK, it says I've put in 20, good good, now what?  Really it did nothing, and 
gave totally no indication what I was to do next.  In the end I pressed the 
help button and a woman came over.  She said you had to press the "pay with 
cash" button *after* you've finished putting in your cash.  OK - nice 
system.

Also, has anyone ever succeeded in getting anywhere near the speed that you 
can beep things through at a normal check-out?  There seems to be a 
deliberate 1 or 2 second delay after scanning each item before it will let 
you scan another.

In 5 or 10 years time the idea that we have to get everything out, scan it, 
then put it back in again will seem totally ludicrous.

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scott wrote:
>> I've felt like doing this before, they ought to buy him dinner
>> and apologize for poor service.
>>
>> http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/330043_prybar03.html
> 
> You have to wonder how much testing they actually do before launching in 
> the shops.  I used one yesterday where it asked me to "insert cash or 


> did nothing, and gave totally no indication what I was to do next.  In 
> the end I pressed the help button and a woman came over.  She said you 
> had to press the "pay with cash" button *after* you've finished putting 
> in your cash.  OK - nice system.
> 
> Also, has anyone ever succeeded in getting anywhere near the speed that 
> you can beep things through at a normal check-out?  There seems to be a 
> deliberate 1 or 2 second delay after scanning each item before it will 
> let you scan another.
> 
> In 5 or 10 years time the idea that we have to get everything out, scan 
> it, then put it back in again will seem totally ludicrous.
> 
> 
Recently tested 2 systems in different supermarkets. One where you scan 
yourself the barcode. Main problem seemed to be having a grandson 
running around at the same time. Of course he wants to help, so that 
takes some additional time. The other experimental system is using a 
mobile phone to pick up (probably) an RFID in the pricetag on the shelf. 
At another place they do an experiment with paying by mobile phone. 
Combine the two and it may even get useful.
At another staff restaurant in a hospital that I recently visited you 
had to punch what you got for lunch yourself on one of those many button 
counters. That also takes more time than when a specialist does it. Yet 
they only needed two very bored looking ladies to direct the medical 
staff to a free terminal. Of which they had 4, so they apparently need 
only half the staff in the restaurant.
Great things are afoot in scanning and paying over the next few years.

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On Thu, 06 Sep 2007 13:34:44 +0200, scott wrote:

> Also, has anyone ever succeeded in getting anywhere near the speed that
> you can beep things through at a normal check-out?  There seems to be a
> deliberate 1 or 2 second delay after scanning each item before it will
> let you scan another.

Actually, the ones here at Smith's are pretty quick.  The longer delay is 
in the scale recognising that the item is in fact in the bag.

The thing that pisses me off the most, though, is when people go up to 
the self-checkout lanes with $600 worth of groceries, some of which they 
can't take off the cart and place on the scale.  They spend more time 
shuffling the bags around so everything will *fit* on the little shelf 
the scale is attached to.

Those things are a convenience for things buying a handful of things - 
but it seems people get more and more illiterate as time goes on; "15 
items or less" does not mean "735 items is *fine*".

Jim

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Wal-Mart has experimented with self-checkout, but it appears that the 
experiment did not work well.  The new one near my house doesn't have 
any self-checkout aisles.

Regards,
John

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Jim Henderson wrote:
> Those things are a convenience for things buying a handful of things - 
> but it seems people get more and more illiterate as time goes on; "15 
> items or less" does not mean "735 items is *fine*".

Wouldn't it be great if, after the 15th item, the thing said:

"This lane is for 15 items or less.  Because you are scanning more than 
15 items, we are imposing a 10% surcharge on your purchase.  Thank you 
for needlessly enriching us while simultaneously pissing off everyone in 
line behind you." :)

-- 
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com

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