19 Replies to ““Social theorists””

  2. Lats night I went to Shoppers Drugmart. One security guy, one person stocking shelves, three self-check-out counters, number of cashiers: zero.

  3. This might not work so well at Superstore here in Edmonton. Several years ago, it introduced self-serve checkouts and they proved to be quite popular. Anyone could use them and they were flexible about how the purchases were paid for.
    About a year ago, it imposed a restriction on them. The checkouts only accepted credit or debit cards. Cash sales could only be paid for through the regular checkouts. The reason, I was told, was that too many people were forgetting to take their change. Personally, I don’t believe that because, during the time I used the self-serve checkouts, I never saw that happen.
    Fortunately, Safeway and Save-On Foods still allow me to pay cash at their self-serve checkouts.

  4. McDonald’s self-serve kiosks don’t accept cash either. You can place your order at the kiosk and pay cash at the cashier or use credit/debit at the kiosk. In the case of McDonald’s, kiosks have simply moved the choke point from the cashier to the kitchen. The automated McDonald’s have a maximum two cashiers and all other staff are either cooking or expediting orders. So to my untrained eye, I haven’t noticed any reduction in staff. On the other hand, I haven’t noticed any improvement in efficiency either. The problem is the human employees are more focused on chatting with each other than expediting orders.
    Captcha = Oxidant Chickens LOL!

  6. Steve, if you hire children, they work like children. I was in a MikyDees today and noticed the same as you, 16 people “back there”, and slow as hell. They were not organized workers, they should have a whip (with real whip:-))) person back there:-))

  7. My local Canadian Tire used to feature self checkouts. It was great. In and out in just a few minutes. However, after a while, the machines were “out of service” more often than they were working. Now they are gone and the lineups at the few available cashiers are unbearable. For this reason, I now do all my hardware type shopping at Lowe’s or Home Depot where the customer has a choice.

  8. “When you look at a price for … an omelette and it seems like it’s $5 more than everywhere else, that’s going to have an impact on demand,” he said. “So higher prices will reduce demand.”
    No shit Sherlock. That must be a very good omelette whereby the imputed tip is $5.

  9. I often use the self checkouts now,though as an old timer who was used to stacking my beaver pelts “yay high” in trade for goods,it took a while to get used to them.
    S/C’s are better than some bitchy Woman’s Studies graduate who believes her cashier’s job is beneath her dignity,or the unfriendly losers who used to staff the local superstore,made you feel as welcome as a fox in a hen house.9/10 times now I’ll opt for the self checkouts,one exception being if I see on duty an older lady at the local Walmart who is always polite,friendly,and as Rodney used to say,”makes ya feel like somebody”.
    For a tourist town,service people here sure don’t know anything about “service with a smile”,which they DO practice just South of us in Washington State and Oregon.
    One real exception to the snarly,bitchy server rule here is the pub I frequent about 3 times a month,the servers are always polite,friendly,efficient and never get your order wrong. I always tip about 20%. Any place that has the tip worked into the price will NOT get my business.
    I don’t go out that often,and when I do I expect it to be a pleasant,enjoyable experience,not an exercise in frustration as I just about die of thirst waiting for a coffee refill and the waitresses wear blinders so they can’t see me frantically waving to them.
    Automate everything,and in a few years bring in Collective Farms,so the arts majors can have something to do.
    I’m old and just don’t give a f*** about “the noble worker” any more.

  10. @Steve: You stated:
    “On the other hand, I haven’t noticed any improvement in efficiency either”
    O contraire here in my neck of the woods. MacD was fast before the kiosks and seems even faster now with them. I go there about twice a month for the breakfast and I get breakfast faster than I can get a simple coffee at Tim’s. And I don’t use the kiosks.

  12. Your mileage may vary. Do you live in the US or small town Canada? If you do restaurant service across the board is better in the US from fast food to fine dining than it is in Canada and in small towns, McDonald’s is still considered a good job by smart, ambitious, industrious kids. My experience at the 8-10 McDonald’s in my area of travel are just as slow or slower than before they automated. In addition, the rest of the restaurant has gone downhill. Three of my last five visits to different McDonald’s the self-serve area has been out of either ketchup cups, ketchup, napkins, or Coke Zero. Two of those items weren’t supplied within the time I finished my meal. This was at peak times when someone should be making sure things are filled. NME666 is right. It comes down to poor management, whips or otherwise. 😉
    As for Tim’s what can I say about a place where people can’t even form a simple line and they serve crap in a cup for coffee.

  13. In western Canada we have a chain called Earl’s. They attempted to eliminate tipping by installing a mandatory 16% ‘hospitality charge’. After 6 months they gave up and went back to the ‘old way of doing business’. Tipping at least gives the customer a lever to evaluate the experience.

  14. Thanks for posting the feature on stores cutting on staff to compensate for high wages.
    Nothing new. Our family owned and operated a self serve filling station in 1970 when washing the windshield and checking the oil was part of the service. Subsequently, we could reduce the price of gas by 2 cents a liter and that boosted sales. If the driver was disabled or a senior, we broke the rules. Today, self serve stations dominate.
    Now if we could find an automated parliament and send Trudeau down the road………………..

  15. @Steve.
    I live in a small town of Bathurst in the province of New Brunswick(that’s next to Maine in case you are geographically challenged like a lot of Mercans). The MacDonald’s here is very well run with excellent staff and good owner. You’re right about Tim’s, they are not laid out properly to accommodate line ups intelligently. But there coffee is not crap, that’s a matter of opinion. My opinion is that it is almost as good as MacDonald’s coffee. I won’t dispute your opinion that restaurant service is better than in Canada’s, I don’t have enough experience to judge though my few American experiences have been very good.

  16. The only reason to go to Earl’s or Moxie’s is for the 20-ish prostitots in the black dresses in the front of house. Mediocre menu, mediocre fare, staggeringly hot chicks in the front.

  17. Canuckguy,
    There’s no shore like the north shore that’s for shore. 😉 I’ve known people who came from Bathurst.
    Sorry, I’m not a Mercan. I’m a Canadian from Burlington, Ontario on the western end of Lake Ontario sandwiched between Hamilton and Oakville. The McDonald’s in the GTA have pretty crappy service. My experience has been that US locations and franchises in smaller Canadian centres have superior service because there seems to be a greater appreciation for the jobs. Still not a fan of anything Tim Horton’s. To each his own.
    Cheers

  18. I’m not familiar with that establishment … is that where you can liquor in the front, and poker in the rear ?

  19. @Steve:
    “There’s no shore like the north shore that’s for shore”
    Love it, that expression has been around longer than me.
    Well that warmed the cockles of my heart. Good one.
    “Sorry, I’m not a Mercan”
    Sorry I mistook you for a Mercan.
    But you don’t have to apologize for not being an Mercan.

Proudly powered by WordPress & Skyrocket Themes

MENU

Navigation