Self-checkouts are driving me loopy, says LEE BOYCE… I'm on a crusade to let retailers know how infuriating they are
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It's lunchtime on High Street Kensington, one of the busiest shopping streets in London… and perhaps the country. I'm inside H&M, buying a few garments for the winter period two weeks before Christmas on my break. But, to purchase them, I will have to queue.
That's fine. After all, queuing is in our DNA. However, the queue hardly budges. Soon, there are nearly 20 shoppers behind me, snaking into the middle of the store. Some abandon it out of frustration. I'm tempted to join them. Others tap feet, glance at watches, sigh. Not quite the shopping experience you'd expect from one of the biggest clothes retailers on the planet.
H&M bosses decided a while back to slim down the number of manned tills in this shop. Now, on the ground floor, there are just two – with four self-checkouts next to them. On my frustrating outing, three of the self-checkouts – powered by Fujitsu – are not on for whatever reason, and the one that is has an occasional baffled customer.
Checkout cheek: Why has it become such a palaver to buy items in shops?. No staff member is helping on the self-checkout and the few customers brave enough to embrace it are expected to remove security tags, and fold items into their bag. The manned tills also deal with returns, which adds to the pain of a man just looking to snap up a pair of jeans and a shirt, then get on with life.
