Source: u/Portarossa on Reddit, April 7, 2020.
Transcription:
'Unexpected item in bagging area.'
It's not unexpected, you digital fuck. You literally just told me what it is. It's right there on the screen. I did the wavy-wave, you did the bleepy-bleep; up until the point where you decided to have an electronic stroke, things were going exactly according to plan. What you mean is that you haven't been programmed right. Don't go putting this on me, like I've somehow gone out of my way to surprise you. I've got places to be, man. I can't be playing hide-the-actual-salami with the Terminator's younger, shittier cousin.
Oh, and now you've sent for backup. Well done. Now I have to deal with a human person who thinks I'm either an imbecile or a thief for not being able to work what's effectively a bathroom scale with delusions of grandeur for the fourth time.
Definitely regional, but common enough. That has been my experience with my local chain pretty much every time, including on the way home from work this evening.
The local Loblaws near me (the Canadian devil chain) set theirs up with like a 5% weight tolerance, so if you put something down too fast? Sensors go off. Bag it then put it on the scale? Sensors go off. Manufacturer put too many chips in your package? Sensors go off.
I don't shop there anymore
Theirs suuuuck. The ones I actually enjoy using though? Home Depot. They don't bother with the scale weighing anything, and you get a gun to scan (with green laser sight!) so I leave most of the stuff in the cart, beep beep beep and I'm out of there. Can recommend
I agree about the Home Depot experience. The scan gun is fun and efficient. However, I’d attribute it to the impracticality of placing 12 bags of mulch on a scale rather than Home Depot truly wanting us to have a pleasant checkout experience.
I can imagine a kafkaesque nightmare where the checkout accuses you of having too much paint in a gallon can.
My local Whole Foods did a serious redesign on their self checkout (no laser gun though) and it works pretty well even with having to look up and weigh produce.
Thank God for shrinkflation am I right?