Archived No checklanes open???

[BullseyeBabe]

We now must have both SCOs open from open till close. That means we often have no checklanes open at all. Since we're a high volume super the guests aren't happy. The SCO TM isn't supposed to let any guests walk past the SCO. If the guests don't want to use the SCO the TM is supposed to offer to ring up their items for them. If the guests insist on being rung up at a register then the GSA/GSTL is supposed to hop on a lane and ring them up. If they make it past the SCO, we've failed.

We're getting tons of complaints including surveys. Our STL and ETL/GE think the only reason that the guests are unhappy is that we aren't positive enough about the changes. We have to "sell" the changes to our guests.

It's genius really! They've come up with a plan to save payroll and a way to blame someone else if the guests don't like it. They're trying to eliminate backups. Maybe if the SCOs didn't require us to sign in for every little thing it would work better.

I swear we feel like we've been beaten into the ground. We're taking all the abuse and we're getting blamed for the abuse we're enduring.

I was already struggling because I get zero off stage time. Now I'm spending most of my shift cashiering. I used to love my job, now I dread going to work.

 

[REDcardJJ]

wtf? It isn't brand to have no checklanes open

 

[Dog]

Same thing at my store, which guests really don’t like and vocally complain about. And lash out at the SCO TM. I like self checkout but I just think that we should be having (at least) one register open at all times. And, we have new SCO machines now which need to be unlocked every time the guest uses cash, so when 3 people are all trying to use cash at the same time, well, they’re just going to have to wait I guess.

 

[pinkp2ie]

I’ve never heard of anything or anywhere where a checklane isn’t open. Maybe at store open, or kind of late, or a couple weeks after the holiday one lane is open. But not nothing.

Yeah, refusing SCO for one item is stupid if you know how to read. Using SCO for a full cart of stuff is ridiclous.

 

[Times Up]

That's awful. Pull that maybe the 1st hour of the day, but all day???

How many total SCO does your store have? If the cashier is ringing up someone how can they supervise the other lanes or act as a theft deterrent?

 

[BullseyeBabe]

We have 8, 4 on each side. If I have 2 cashiers I can only open SCOs. I'm supposed to be able to open a lane when the 3rd cashier comes in, but I can't because the 3rd cashier had to cover breaks. Once we finish breaks it's time for covering lunches.
On top of all that we push SSS and candy, build salesplanners and everything else we're supposed to do.
We recently went to the, no reshop at Guest Service also. There is no one to push reshop during the day so...
I hate that I'm feeling so negative about everything. I'm sure there must be a way to make all this work. Are any of you doing this successfully? I need some help!

 

[NPC]

how I feel reading this

 

[Kartman]

How I feel...

 

[gsa4lyfe]

We don’t do that typically but I had a time when there was a pretty bad snow storm and they didn’t close our store but every single person on the front end called out including Starbucks except for me until noon. I wasn’t going to sit on a register all morning so I didn’t open any lanes and anyone that came in and was hesitant about SCO I just rang up on a lane. Obviously thats extreme circumstances but I couldn’t imagine doing that everyday.....

 

[BullseyeBabe]

how I feel reading this
View attachment 5303

Huh?

 

[OneArmedJesus]

Could calling the hot line work, cause that's some bull.

 

[Times Up]

Are your cashier hours that low, or are they being siphoned off to support other areas if your store?

My store hasn't resorted to SCOs only, yet. However, our front end has the same expectations as yours, but has managed to keep 1 manned check lane.

I am anxious to hear if other stores are doing this and why this is being done. We GS our guests on the floor, but not when they hand over their cash? Doesn't seem to give a positive last impression.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

I have seen schedules of 1 cashier, sco & GSA with no service desk tm till 10 am

 

[RTCry]

I have seen schedules of 1 cashier, sco & GSA with no service desk tm till 10 am

That pretty much goes against the idea of “elevating the guest experience”. Target once again tries to do it on the cheap.

 

[BadWolf4531]

We are also a high-volume Super and open at 7am.

At the very minimum, we will have the GSTL, the service desk TM, and one SCO TM in at 7:00. That is usually more than enough to cover the first hour of business. The service desk TM opens their side of SCOs and watches both, while the other SCO TM opens the opposite side and hops on the closest lane if any guests don't want to use SCO. They will usually call if it's getting crazy and they need the GSTL to ring or watch SCOs.

Do you keep a checklane light on, even if you don't have an actual cashier? I've found that sometimes helps alleviate the "there are no open checklanes" complaints from guests, even if they have to wait a few seconds for the GSTL or another TM to walk over to the lane.

I've actually found that having the SCOs makes my job a lot easier, especially with the software updates last fall. But, as always, ASANTS.

 

[PackAndCry]

Is your store IGS and there actually is a lane open, but it's one of the IGS lanes? My store does that for a couple of hours each day (usually an hour or two after open and an hour or so before close) and it works, not sure what'll happen when our IGS is removed though.

 

[BullseyeBabe]

We don't have IGS. Our SCOs require us to help nearly every guest it seems. When do we have to help? When they use manufacturer coupons, EBT, or buy produce, alcohol or gift cards we have to put in our numbers. Our WIC transactions take forever too. Of course we can't do WIC on the SCOs. No, we do not turn on a checklane light when we don't have a cashier to man it. Our goal is to keep guests from using the checklanes. Sometimes I wonder if the real goal is to keep guests out of the store all together. I saw a comment about us becoming warehouses that send out orders and have drive up only. Is that where we're headed? Maybe.

 

[BadWolf4531]

We have 8, 4 on each side. If I have 2 cashiers I can only open SCOs. I'm supposed to be able to open a lane when the 3rd cashier comes in, but I can't because the 3rd cashier had to cover breaks. Once we finish breaks it's time for covering lunches.
On top of all that we push SSS and candy, build salesplanners and everything else we're supposed to do.
We recently went to the, no reshop at Guest Service also. There is no one to push reshop during the day so...
I hate that I'm feeling so negative about everything. I'm sure there must be a way to make all this work. Are any of you doing this successfully? I need some help!

Sorry, just now read your second post.

Are your SCO TMs getting scheduled under Cashier or Self-Checkout? If your ETL/STL is only scheduling them as cashiers, then it's possible they are shorting you as much as 30 payroll hours per day. SCO is supposed to be it's own separate workcenter now, just like guest service. Your cashiers should be the only ones on lanes.

As I said in my post above, my store will often not schedule the opening cashier until 7:30 or 8:00 at the latest, and that usually works just fine considering how slow we are that first hour. But if your first actual "cashier" isn't coming in until 9 or 10, your store is definitely not staffing appropriately on the front end. I'm surprised the DTL hasn't torn your bosses a new one yet, if that's the case.

I hope things get better for you soon!

 

[Trek]

We never need to worry about front lanes coverage as my store does set schedules for our front end TMs they're always available everyday.
We also don't give a fuck about our Guest Service Desk we never have it open until 9-10am.
My GSTL/GSA always leave to do all kinds of front end prep so the SCO TM acts as temp GSA overlooking returns/opu any guests walk to SD, speedweaving SCO and cashiers blinkers help.
I'm allowed to have a walkie but everytime I sign one off all the salesfloor and even the Cart Attendant bitch to the LOD that they need one.

 

[Kartman]

Yea, why should a CA need a walkie!

 

[REDcardJJ]

I have seen schedules of 1 cashier, sco & GSA with no service desk tm till 10 am

This is silly. There's hours allocated for an SCO TM from open to close, so stores that pull that stuff are stealing hours to allocate elsewhere (looking at you, flow)

 

[Trek]

Yea, why should a CA need a walkie!

Our CA always go to the STL or LOD first to ask for walkies when they can just ask the GSTL for help. We get the ''TEAM DOES ANYONE HAVE AN EXTRA WALKIE OR GIVE UP ONE FOR THE CART ATTENDANT'' every single day

 

[OneArmedJesus]

We always have a SCO TM, a GS TM, and a GSTL/GSA and usually a Cashier, and we're usually fine at the morning

 

[Frontlanegirl]

If I was a guest, I would be pissed if I had to check out a full cart of merch at a SCO.

 

[Leo47]

Even on weekdays we’ll have the GSTL, 2 GSTMs, 2 SCO TMs, and 2-3 cashiers all at opening.