So much for a self-help check

Just last week, I decided to try out the new kid on the block- a new super market that opened shop just down the road.

I walked into the chilly aisle of the mart, which I considered quite ‘soothing’  given the unrelenting tropical heat we have had to endure these past months, and was amazed to note the wide array of goods on display. It is undoubtedly the biggest mart in the neighbourhood and everyone was coming to pick a thing or two. Some come in with a genuine reason to shop, others, it seems, ostensibly as a social status symbol.

Being my first time, I picked the few stuffs I wanted and headed straight to the counter with my money, only to be told that I had to go to any of the various scanning machines they had installed at different corners of the mall to check my prices. “Why,” I queried. ‘Couldn’t the cashier just do that?.’ ‘Why put me through the stress?’ I asked. 

Anyway, without waiting for an answer, seeing that it was pointless quietly did as I was told, only to get more frustrated and infuriated by the minute. The scanning machine wasn’t responding. I spent some precious little time fiddling to no avail, before finally seeking the assistance of an attendant, who positioned the items properly to get the prices.

As I make my way to the pay point, I couldn’t help but notice the confused and harassed look on the faces of some other customers like me fiddling with the scanner or the items bought, wondering the best way to position the items to get the needed response.

‘What is the point of putting customers through so much stress, when they still have to queue to pay for the items purchased?’ I wondered. ‘Why can’t the scanner be installed at the pay end, where precious time could be saved by allowing the trained attendants to handle the machines?’ Imagine how much time it will take the untrained customer who has a trolley full of items to scan all, before paying for them at the check point?

I suppose, many like me found this approach (or is it innovation?) as exasperating as nagging wives. I would suggest that next time companies want to introduce policies such as this they should carry out a survey to find out how those most affected by the policy would view it.