Reader Jason says that the self check out system at his local Lowe’s simply refuses to process his debit card transaction properly. After the third time, he’s finally given up and will be shopping at Home Depot. Aren’t self check out systems supposed to be convenient?
Just had to share our recent experiences with the self-checkout POS (ironic acronym) terminals at our local Lowe’s, as this was the third and most ridiculous time this has happened:
After the long process of selecting our few meager items in a disorganized store with unhelpful employees, we make our way to the self-check out, hoping for a quick escape from the endless corridors of merchandise. Scan item, place in bag, etc.
We would like to use the debit/credit card associated with our checking account as a credit card (gotta love those bonus points), so we select the “Credit” option as our payment type. (Note that “Debit” is a completely separate option, which we did not select.) Slide card. Asked to enter PIN number. Since we do not want to use as a Debit card (with the PIN) we select the only available option: “Cancel”. We know that virtually every other self-checkout that we use will then proceed to process the transaction as a credit card transaction. But Lowe’s?
No! “Cancel” brings us back to the payment selection mode. More time wasted starting over: Re-select “Credit” as payment type. Re-swipe. Wash, rinse, repeat. In our previous two visits to Lowe’s (when the same thing happened!), the POS would finally give the option to accept the card as a credit transaction after about the 3rd or 4th cycle. Fed up that this was happening yet again (with a different card and at a different self-checkout terminal, by the way), we decided to ask for help from a clerk whom we will descriptively refer to as GrumpyOldLady.
GrumpyOldLady proceeds to emulate the futuristic characters on Star Trek as she brings up screen after screen on the POS in rapid succession, meanwhile keeping us waiting for additional minutes when we should have been long gone by now. She manually codes in all of our personal details: card number, zip code, name, on and on — some details entered more than once.
After what seems like an eternity, the result flashes on the screen: Error, cannot process transaction. (Note that there was plenty of money in the account for this measly little $6.xx transaction, so this is not an issue of insufficient funds — just a POS POS.) GrumpyOldLady then proceeds to blame us for some reason; something about not being able to read the 3-digit security code on the back of the card (cataracts?).
She offers no solution to rectify the problem.
We do, however. Thanks, but no thanks. We take the card and leave, vowing to NEVER return to any Lowe’s store. We are forced to go to the Home Depot at the other side of town.
Long story short: Lowe’s is trying to force people into Debit transactions that cost them less in processing fees. Great idea – save the Credit processing fee and waste customers’ time, causing customer to never return.
Thanks Consumerist, and goodbye Lowe’s!
Does this happen at every Lowe’s? Or is something rotten at this particular location?
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I haven’t had any issues with payment at my Lowe’s self checkout. Even when using the scenario you describe.
However, my biggest complaint is that they don’t have a skip fucking bagging button!!! How in the fuck am I supposed to put an 8′ foot board in the fucking bagging area?!?!?!?
@tande04: I get more reward points from my Citibank debit card if I process it as credit.
@linus: When I worked at Publix, our POS asked for a pin if you swiped a debit card and then hit credit. All you have to do is hit “enter” and the transaction processes as normal.
I think it’s probably user error – again with the Publix POS, if you hit credit and then hit “cancel” when the pin came up, it would go back to the original screen. Even after we labeled all the pin pads telling customers to hit “enter” and not “cancel” when they got to the pin screen, we still got customers who said “But I want it to run as credit!”
You can actually MAKE the cashier staffing the self-checkout do the work for you. He or she will be cranky as all heck, but I have done this on a couple of occasions when the regular line was huge. Self-checkout doesn’t work well for some things — plants, for example (soil spills on the scanner) — but the overseer has a gun to use for these situations.
And my theory: if they realize the store is NOT saving money w/ self-checkout (because the sole cashier is overworked), they’ll get rid of them.
I’ve gotten pretty good with the wallyworld self checkouts, even using my own bags on the bagging platform. The trick is to scan a heavier item that isn’t an exact weight when starting to fill a bag – milk, juice, tortillas, etc. They have some variance and the bags weight can usually fall into the allowed range of the POS. Also, with lighter(not seed packet light) items, pressing down lightly when you put them in the bag sometimes helps with the POS detecting them. Self checkout is definitely a learned skill.
I don’t like to buy a lot of stuff using the cashier and my own bags – too many of them don’t know how to actually bag.
Hitting the “skip bagging” button will require cashier override(from their station) if you do it more than twice in a row where I shop.
I’ve also noticed that the POS systems can vary from store to store in the same chain. Which is likely why some of you don’t have the problems others do.
Another peeve of standing in line at the self checkout – if you’re gonna buy $100 in groceries using cash, try not to pay with small bills. Do yourself and everyone around you a favor and stop at the little bank they have in there and get some nice crisp twenties. Yesterday, some woman with a cart full took started paying with a stack of bills in her hand at the same time the guy in front of me started to scan his half dozen items. He paid, then I scanned my dozen items, paid and left while she was still putting wrinkled bills into the POS.
Yes, this crap happens at all Lowe’s — at least the several I’ve frequented in the North Texas area over the past few years. The biggest issue I have is the boundary of the signature area — heaven forbid if you cross the border with your pen; instead of just not registering the out-of-bounds marks, the system will beep loudly, chastise you to draw only within the box, then hold you up for several seconds displaying the message. It can take forever to check out there, and the trouble it causes does make me seriously consider shopping elsewhere.
hmm I always have the opposite problem at Lowe’s… their self checkouts won’t accept my transaction as a debit and the cashiers always have to come over and process it through as a credit.
I use my card everywhere, Lowe’s is the only place where I have this problem….
I’ve NEVER had this problem at Lowe’s – and I just rang up a $900+ sale 2 days ago. Sounds like something is wrong with their terminals, nothing more.
I don’t understand why people use self checkouts.
You are paying the same for the items as you would if you went to a cashier. All you are doing is letting the company hire fewer workers because they can get the customer to do all the work.
I’ll do self checkout when the company gives me a discount on my purchase.
You can’t really write “Long story short” after 5 paragraphs.
At the Lowe’s by me, the cashiers almost always direct us to the self-checkout line. I try to go to their lines but they’re too busy chatting on cell phones or whatever. Apparently they don’t realize (or just don’t care) that the self-checkout machines are replacing their jobs. There’s a Home Depot that’s closer but we find that Lowe’s generally has better paint.
I am a Head Cashier at a Home Depot, and we also have Self Checkouts. I understand your frustration when it’s the only place to checkout, it frustrates us as well. With the economy the way it is and sales down overall it’s common to be understaffed. We hate it, but we can’t change it either, that has to come from higher up. If SCO is the only option for you the attendant at the SCO can and should help you ring in large or otherwise problem items with his/her scan gun. Also, many have a full service register at the SCO station so that is sometimes an option.
While the machines are annoying here are some tips to get out quickly.
Do not try to self checkout with items that have weight issues such as:
Paint
Plants
Large items that cannot fit in the “bagging area” (lumber, pipe, etc)
Small items that don’t weigh much (bagged hardware, mailbox numbers, etc)
This is because (as most of you probably know) the machines know how much each item should weigh based on the UPC, so if the item varies in weight as in the case of paint and plants chances are you will need assistance. Small items don’t always weigh enough to trip the scale, and large items aren’t always practical to place in bagging are.
Items that you cannot ring completely by yourself include:
Spray Paint (at least in my state the cashier needs to enter a birth date)
Measured items such as molding or high end woods (cashier must measure)
Insulation (it asks the attendant the quantity)
Items that you cannot ring without assistance include:
Anything with a handwritten tag (cut wire, chain, carpet)
Loose hardware
Items with a yellow sale tag (at least at my store the bar code is for internal systems only) a cashier must enter these manually.
Also remember not to lean against the bagging area, many people (myself included) don’t even realize they are leaning on the tall item rack and wonder why it is yelling at them.
I know they are irritating (I think I hear them in my sleep) but hopefully this helps you guys.
i LOVE self-checkout and wish every store had it. i’ve just decided to shop almost exclusively at shaw’s because they have a self-checkout lane, which no other store in my immediate area does. it’s a real blessing to be able to get in and out of the grocery store in less than 15 minutes if i’m only buying a few items. there’s no reason i should have to stand in line behind families with multiple giant carts, or wait in a “speed” checkout line with 15 people in it.
sometimes i think there should be grocery stores targeted to single people. frozen foods, chips, booze, movie rentals, no carts, no kids, self-checkout. it could be a good way to meet other sad lonely people, too. ah, what a life i live.
When minimum wage jobs go away (like checkers) they don’t really go away; They become your job at the true minimum wage of zero.
@carso: “I think consumers should consider themselves fortunate that they have not yet been asked to pay additional fees for signature debit/credit transactions, and I really think we’re likely to see that in the very near future.”
I’m sure the future is 10 years ago and the costs have already been rolled in to the prices everyone pays.
@Fredex: ‘They become your job…’
Self checkout is cashiering no matter how you look at.They try to spiff it up by saying things like you don’t have to wait but you wind up waiting for assistance anyway.
Yeap,unless I get a discount for checking my own stuff out I refuse to use them.I was pushed into one at HD,I had some paint color samples and it kept on saying more items scanned than processed or something to that effect,so I tried scanning the strips bar code to satisfy the machine.even the defacto cashier/customer assistant couldn’t get rid of that message.
Not sure what is worse, the POS machines or the hoards of idiots with no ability to use them. I am not referencing the person submitting this story by the way, I just seem to run into people who are confused by “select payment type”.
Welcome to our store. Please find everything you need; take it to the front of the store, ring it up, bag it, and get the hell out. We do not wish to have any human contact with you. We wish to take your money as efficiently as possible. Got it? Good. Now leave.
You know, you can also press enter instead of cancel, without putting in a pin. That should run it as credit.
As others have stated, some POS readers (that are a POS) do in fact autodetect some cards as being debit cards and not give the user a choice (usually you can “cancel” out and get the choice). As for the reasoning why the choice between using it as debit (PIN) or credit (signature), some banks do give points or rewards for using it one way or the other and some banks (including mine) whack the user with a POS fee for using it one way or the other (rarely both).
I’d rather wait than use a self checkout.
My Lowe’s does the same thing, FYI. You can’t process a debit card as a credit; it will process it as a debit no matter what you select. Also, their machines SUCK! They refuse to read my bank’s debit card 95% of the time. It’s not just my card, either, it’s all of the cards from my bank. My American Express card works a little better, able to correctly scan about 30% of the time, so after a few tries it will usually go through.
Also, they NEVER have cash registers open. ONLY the (4) self-checkout registers are open. The other (6) or so actual registers sit empty, shut down and helpless.
But I still go there. I fucking hate Home Depot.
My experience with designing POS systems taught me to never use a debit card. Too many bad things can happen. Every time the cashier screws up or a self checkout doesn’t act the way you want it too will start racking up holds on the amount of the purchase in your checking account that may take days for the bank to release the funds(and up to a month). This is whether you try to process it as debit or credit.
the new lowes by me has self-checkout, the old one across the river (poughkeepsie) does not
they used to hire people called ‘employees’ to do the cash register thing. i don’t want a job doing that, much less for free.
i refuse to use the self checkout on principle. often i’ll walk down to the contractor checkout cause the lady down there is nice.
And on the flip side, I have issues with Home Depot because of their self check out. 2 weeks ago I used it.. 3 out of 4 were out of order and the 4th one, the one I obviously was using, froze up. Took 15 minutes for it to reboot. They wouldn’t let me check out in another line. Told me I had to wait in case it didn’t or did charge me. If it didn’t, I’d have to go through the checkout process again. If it did, I was free to leave.
The self-checkout at Lowe’s is great, unless you have:
1. Heavy items.
2. Akward items.
3. Lots of little items (like nuts and bolts).
4. Very light items (like PVC pipe fittings).
5. Specially cut items like wire or chain.
6. A palette full of cinder blocks.
7. An item without a stick-on bar code.
Fortunately, there aren’t any items like that in home improvement store!
But hey, at least they keep on cashier in the “Contractor Lane” open, as long as you don’t mind waiting for the guy in front of you who’s buying a box-truck load of lumber to check out.
UNEXPECTED ITEM IN BAGGING AREA!
Can I ask why people just don’t hit the “Skip Bagging” button? The local Walmart self-checkouts have it.
Also, speaking of Walmart self-checkouts… [www.flickr.com]
@laserjobs:
Wow, you’re a jerk.
I’ve used self checkout once or twice at Home Depot and not had too many problems with it. But so many items there are large and bulky, it just seems like a retarded idea in the first place.
Sounds like this Lowe’s might be having some sort of software issue with their card readers, as the Credit option should immediately have the reader communicate with the credit card network and issue an approval/denial to the computer.
Anyways, I don’t go to Lowe’s or Home Depot much, since I work at Ace Hardware part time… no self-checkout for us!
@Platypi: Our store has some lumber!
@GMFish: Ouch! I think our store is pretty well-staffed, guess it depends on your location. I would stay away from the PowerGlide brand of tools ,they are crap. We’ve got good DeWalt tools, but also the cheapy B&D ones as well…Our store also has a good selection of spark plugs for lawn equipment…replacement chain links for a bike chain…and an entire 32-foot aisle (both sides) of fasteners. If you live in the Houston area, you should come by and check it out!
Lowes machines are a pain, but at least they have real checkout lines. Home Depot sometimes has no real checkouts, so I stopped shopping there.
@KenManiac: Good points, Ken. I refuse to work for the places where I shop, unless they suddenly want to start paying me. And don’t anyone say that self-checkouts keep prices low, because I have NEVER seen prices go down or stay the same because of these machines. I have only seen profits and executive pay increase.
I work at self-checkouts every day, and it seems that people get incredibly annoyed with the machines as quickly as possible.
If you knew that this was going to happen (the person mentioned it happened 2 times in the past) why did you suddenly think it would work this time?
Cashiers need to have the 3 digit code on the back of the card in order to process the card manually. If they don’t have that code, there is nothing they can do. It’s not really the cashier’s fault.
There are plenty of people who use self-checkout and love it (me included). You just have to be patient while learning to use them, and understanding with the cashier that is trying to help 4 self-checkout POS machines at the same time.
I suppose I might be a little biased when I say this, but Self-checkout cashiers get treated like crap when the person is unhappy with something the machine is doing. It’s not the cashier’s fault! Once, someone even threw a bunch of items right at me when the got annoyed with the “skip bagging” button. It can be very annoying, I understand this, but it’s there for a reason. The cashier didn’t create the machine, or the program that runs on the machine. They are just trying to do their jobs.
Frustrating.
Just one more thing to add, please forgive me for not putting this in my first post…
Self-Checkout machines are fantastic in my opinion. If you are visiting the store on a super-busy day, and you just have a few items, the self checkouts are a HUGE time saver. If you don’t like self-checkouts, don’t use them. I don’t see why it’s so hard to understand… again, I am probably biased for the comment.
You can always ask the people at customer service or the person behind the return counter to cash you out if there are no other registers open.
The machines are not there to make prices go down, they are there for convenience for the people who like them.
@mac-phisto: If the item isn’t heavy enough to register on the scale of the self-checkout, you will get that message. It’s annoying, but it’s certainly not anyone’s fault. Just expect it, because there is REALLY nothing the cashier can do about it. I wish there was.