I had to go to Sainsbury's this morning. I didn't have to purchase too much so I wasn't in the store very long. When it came to pay and use a check-out I usually prefer to use a manned check out (sorry to sound sexist. They are usually operated by women, but a few male operators are employed in this store) One such human-operated check-out and there were long queues to use any of the checkouts. I had no choice but to use one of the self-service checkout. There are plenty of these, those which are more like a traditional check-out with a conveyor belt so if you have a lot of items to scan, then it's a relatively easy process to load the belt and then scan as the items move along towards the scanner and pack it all the other end. I walked towards the area where the other self-service checkout were. These are the more familiar form of self-service check-out, which are probably intended for those shoppers with only a few items to scan and pack. I had bought two 'bags for life' which you are now expected to use rather than rely on plastic bags which are used once and then disposed of and if you use them you are charged 5p for each one. I organised myself so as to scan each item from right-to-left so as to pack each item and place it in the bag in the bagging area. The first bag was a reusable one we'd bought in Waitrose and was presumably to heavy for the system as it told me 'unknown item in bagging area' and the digital screen asked me to get assistance. So a staff-member came and scanned his I.D. card to get the machine to clear and allow me to continue scanning my shopping. Several more items kept setting off an 'unrecognised item' message and stopping the scanning process once or twice more. I had to use the second bag and this didn't faze the machinery, thankfully, but it seemed to take a good deal longer to go through this process than was reasonable. It makes me wonder whether it's really saving time and effort to use one of these self-service check-outs when there are so many glitches and it requires a staff member to oversee their use. Just employ enough people to operate the traditional check-outs rather expecting shoppers to rely on these self-service check-outs.
From self-service check-outs on telephone sales and marketing. I have had a subscription to BBC History Magazine for a couple of years now. In February we had a slight financial hiccough when a lot of our subscriptions to the various magazines we subscribe to (and probably a few other direct debits which are related to such things as insurance, council tax, etc etc.) came out at around the same time and therefore depleted our bank account considerably. As a result I went into our bank and cancelled many of these subscriptions. You have to go to your bank to cancel a direct debit, no good going through the company to whom payment is made. Anyway, after some consideration, I have decided to reinstate the subscription to BBC History Magazine as it's so good and if you have a subscription you get your magazine delivered via the post and quite some time before it's on the news-stands. Also, you pay quite bit less than the cover-price, so all in all it's well worth it.
I rang the customer line which is printed in the magazine. They currently have an offer of 5 copies for £5 and then so much a year for your subscription. I got through relatively quickly to speak to an agent and I was going to quote my subscription membership number as I wanted to know how many magazines were left on my current subscription. Logical really, as there was no point in setting up a fresh subscription if there was the possibility of them over-lapping and I might end up receiving two copies of the same magazine. But when I tried to do this I was told that the system was being up-graded and therefore I wouldn't be able to do this. A crazy situation for a business to get into, up-grading their computer system which meant they couldn't access your details. A good way to surely loose a customer. I shall attempt to ring at a later date when, hopefully, their computer system has completed being up-graded and I can complete my transaction. it just goes to show how we have become controlled by these bits of technology and when they don't work properly how much inconvenience they cause.
From self-service check-outs on telephone sales and marketing. I have had a subscription to BBC History Magazine for a couple of years now. In February we had a slight financial hiccough when a lot of our subscriptions to the various magazines we subscribe to (and probably a few other direct debits which are related to such things as insurance, council tax, etc etc.) came out at around the same time and therefore depleted our bank account considerably. As a result I went into our bank and cancelled many of these subscriptions. You have to go to your bank to cancel a direct debit, no good going through the company to whom payment is made. Anyway, after some consideration, I have decided to reinstate the subscription to BBC History Magazine as it's so good and if you have a subscription you get your magazine delivered via the post and quite some time before it's on the news-stands. Also, you pay quite bit less than the cover-price, so all in all it's well worth it.
I rang the customer line which is printed in the magazine. They currently have an offer of 5 copies for £5 and then so much a year for your subscription. I got through relatively quickly to speak to an agent and I was going to quote my subscription membership number as I wanted to know how many magazines were left on my current subscription. Logical really, as there was no point in setting up a fresh subscription if there was the possibility of them over-lapping and I might end up receiving two copies of the same magazine. But when I tried to do this I was told that the system was being up-graded and therefore I wouldn't be able to do this. A crazy situation for a business to get into, up-grading their computer system which meant they couldn't access your details. A good way to surely loose a customer. I shall attempt to ring at a later date when, hopefully, their computer system has completed being up-graded and I can complete my transaction. it just goes to show how we have become controlled by these bits of technology and when they don't work properly how much inconvenience they cause.
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