"It sucks to buy anything in 2023" - Kotaku

I just read this article on Kotaku... and I reckon it's bang on!

It’s wild how horrible it is to buy anything today. We all have less money than ever and corporations have more than ever, and yet, they still demand even more. And now, they don’t even mind how transparently clear it is in 2023 that all they want is that money. They don’t care about their workers, their customers, or the shopping experience at all.

Although the author is talking about shopping in the US, I'm pretty much thinking the same thing here in the UK. It does suck!

jawa_ wrote:I just read this article on Kotaku... and I reckon it's bang on!

It’s wild how horrible it is to buy anything today. We all have less money than ever and corporations have more than ever, and yet, they still demand even more. And now, they don’t even mind how transparently clear it is in 2023 that all they want is that money. They don’t care about their workers, their customers, or the shopping experience at all.

Although the author is talking about shopping in the US, I'm pretty much thinking the same thing here in the UK. It does suck!

I say, strawberry float that. Let’s outlaw billionaires, take their money, and make this world a better place before we all get crushed by the rich. That sounds much better to me.

I'm loving how Jawa is slowly turning into a revolutionary

What I don’t buy is that article. Sure, each of those things might happen occasionally, and that’s annoying enough. But to portray all of them occurring on the same day is just nonsense.

Sounds to me like they're just generally pissed at not living somewhere good.

I know the feeling all to well.

I shop exclusively at Fortnum and Mason, my shopping experience has been great.

Dark times ahead when even Jawa fails to put a positive spin on something bad.

Late stage capitalism.

It's gooseberry fool but the next generations won't be able to buy anything because the world will be on fire, so swings and roundabouts.

I went to buy a gingerbread cookie for my loved one at Waitrose. There was a long queue for the self-service checkouts that were all in use (and had patently replaced about 80% of the staffed checkouts - there are no small basket checkouts), and queues for the 3 or so staffed checkouts.

Went to scan the cookie and it scanned it twice. Now here's the systematic design error there (it's called debouncing but I won't get into that computer engineering term). There's absolutely no strawberry floating reason why anyone would want to scan one or more items twice within 1 or 2 seconds of each other. As nobody can scan successive items that fast. So there should be a 2-4 second gap between scans to make this impossible. Why? Even if that were desirable behaviour, in the cases that it is in error then the clerk has to come along and delete the extra item. Which slows down the system and defeats the purpose of a self-service checkout, as it isn't self service any more.

So that's what they did. Then paused for a moment, stopped dead in front of my face and stared at me (while I was removing another card from my wallet), asking "Just one minute. Are you making multiple transactions?.

I said yes. She walked off, or at least I thought she had, but no, clearly she was still watching me. I turned around and said, hey, I'm not a thief, I'm autistic. As I had definitely been pegged there (wearing a hoodie, fingerless gloves, and a patchwork jacket - bags under my eyes from a long, long day - having just found out my income has been cut by £240 a month due to a government mistake). I said if you are going to stand that close to somebody and call them to attention for no reason at all, raising your voice, and inflecting, that's confusing and distressing for anyone on the spectrum.

Wanting to get the strawberry float out of there, I walked off. Only of course I hadn't then done my second transaction because I was distracted by this woman confronting me for no reason I could understand. As left alone I am perfectly competent - more than competent! I had a tomato in my pocket and some corn thins and homous in my hands. "Excuse me sir, you haven't paid for those!"

Well of course, I had paid for the cookie and lost my train of thought having been interrupted by (a) this hellish system, with every single self-service machine simultaneously bellowing "Please scan your next BEEP item... Thank you BEEP for shopping at BEEP Waitrose. BEEP Thank your for shop BEEP ping at Wait BEEP rose. Thank you BEEP" - effectively serving no purpose whatsoever other than sensory hell, and (b) being confronted for no apparent reason.

So I went back to scan those in too. Then the security guard obviously has to watch me do that. I explain I'm overwhelmed by all of the pointless noise and had I been left to my own devices I would have been fine. The clerk starts scanning in the items for me without asking if I needed help with that (obviously I can't be making off with £3.50 worth of food or anything like that). Having interrupted my own cognition yet again, then I'm trying to pay for them. The card reader denies my card with contactless. I'm asked to pay again before I've even tried to pay again. I put the card in to enter the pin - as it's a new card, it probably wasn't activated for contactless yet. I literally have the pin for for this card written on a bright pink post it note in my wallet, because I can never remember it. I input it wrong because of the anxiety of having now both a clerk and a security guard hawking me, which has at this point completely shot my cognitive function. I point out to the clerk that my hands are shaking. I try again, and get it right the second time. Thank strawberry float for that.

Shopping does strawberry floating suck these days. The tiniest innocent thing can go wrong, the environment is strawberry floating dreadful, nothing is accurately sign posted and there are no dependable layouts for stores. And you never know when you're going to get a jobsworth who can assume your only purpose there is to validate their vigilance.

Searching for something online is only half successful, half of the time, as mentioned in the article due to shitty competition, sponsored ads, fake items, incomplete product information, conflicting information, review shills, and all sorts. So this often takes hours longer than it needs to just so that you don't get ripped off, accidentally buy shite, only to have to inevitably return it, and then end up with some kind of dispute, presuming you receive it at all, and the courier doesn't "miss you", lose it, take it, or dump it in some random place where someone else helps themselves to it.

But if you intend to buy something in between other things (something you expect to be stress free and only take a couple of minutes) from within one of the few monolithic, super concentrated groceries destinations, some systematic gooseberry fool only has to throw you off, and you only have to look wrong, or get easily confused or overwhelmed by these environments and systems, to be marked as up to no good and leave breaking up in tears as you realise how utterly inhospitable this is for actual human beings.

I went to buy a gingerbread cookie for my loved one at Waitrose.

Jesus.

That sounds horrendous Gecko, though sadly, it doesn't surprise me.

There have been a couple of instances over the years where my anxiousness ultimately led to me being accused of something in that sort of manner.

Waitrose

you know how GG's long posts have become a meme?
well im glad i read that one - it actually makes me emphathise more with the students at my school who may find classrooms/schools equally stressful at times.
sorry you had to go through all that matey!

Moggy wrote:I'm loving how Jawa is slowly turning into a revolutionary

... . I think I kinda am. I used to be that way, Moggy - many years ago! - but then the system pretty much wore me down and introduced a thinking pattern of "acceptance". Over the past few years my mindset has changed, though; generally because it's pretty obvious how most of the government and most companies are just trying to see how far they can push you into that "acceptance" mode. Yes, our service is sh!t... but pay more for it.

Zilent Night wrote:Dark times ahead when even Jawa fails to put a positive spin on something bad.

I do like to seek out the best in things, Zilnad, but it sure is becoming a challenge nowdays. There is such much crap to deal with - like, everything - that I do wonder if I, and others, will continue to have the ability to identify "good aspects". It is become tougher and tougher.

Green Gecko wrote:I went to buy a gingerbread cookie for my loved one at Waitrose...

Dang, Gecko, I'm sorry that you had such a rough experience. I can understand how the combination of self-service machines, a hectic environment and noise can cause those situations.

Green Gecko wrote:...I literally have the pin for for this card written on a bright pink post it note in my wallet, because I can never remember it...

Oh! I'm not familiar with how people with ADHD spectrum challenges have difficulty in recalling things such as a PIN number. That must be tricky. Would it be an option to store the code on your phone? The approach of using a post-it note (even a bright pink one ) in your wallet raises the risk of bad things happening in the event of a theft. Even if you don't have a smart phone (which I don't, either!) an option could be to store the code within a text message.

Strawb you, I won’t do what you tell me.

Sorry to hear about that shitty experience, Gecko. Most supermarket self service checkouts have a set up where you have to place the item in the bagging area before you can scan another, so surprised to hear Waitrose will allow you to scan multiple items at a time. You'd think they would have a better solution for double scans if that's the case. Although if there is no weight verification, it's no wonder they have security watching self check outs like a hawk. Still a poor experience.

Looking into it, Waitrose also don't do the same "quiet hour" that most other supermarkets do, where they turn off music/tannoy announcements, quiet the tills, etc to provide a more low sensory stimulus time for those who are sensitive to that sort of thing to shop more peacefully. Not that a single hour is ever going to be convenient to all shoppers who might benefit from it, but I do wonder if not having systems like that in place at all also contributes to a general lack of awareness or consideration for shoppers in that situation amongst their staff.

Going very early in the morning usually offers the best quiet/calm experience in supermarkets, but that isn't always practical for everybody. Plus the shelves aren't always fully stocked yet.

It is amazing how different the experience is though.

I sometimes find online shopping, especially for clothes, really inconvenient. If I go into a shop I (in theory) can try on an item. It doesn't fit? Cool, I'll pick something else. It does fit? Cool, I'll buy it and take it home. Online shopping? Well it says it fits. Order it, pray that it arrives, if it does arrive hope that I'm in, if I'm not in, hope that the delivery company leave the parcel where I told them to. If it fits, cool. If it doesn't, repack the item, take it to the nearest drop off point (which more than likely isn't anywhere close).

Not that in person shopping is much better, I need some new trainers, no problem I'll just nip down to the shop that's nearby. Only they don't do 1/2 sizes any more.

At this time of year I try and do my food shopping either as early or as late as possible. I find the crowds and the noise a bit overwhelming. My local supermarket has signs up saying the self-service machines are the quick use machines. Only they aren't because everyone is doing their massive weekly shop (which at this time of year is even bigger) and they only have two staffed tills open. So self-service is rammed with trolleys that don't actually fit properly in the space provided and queues are spreading up the food aisles meaning you can't get to what you want. I ended up feeling claustrophobic, tearful with a creeping feeling of panic that my usual method for calming down was touching. I hated to do it but I just ended up leaving my basket and getting out of the shop.

I've had items double scan on M&S self-checkouts multiple times, meaning I've had to call someone over to remove it. But then they've usually got to come over anyway because of the alcohol. I asked once if it was a common occurrence and she said it happens all the time. Never had it happen in other supermarkets (yet). M&S also have their small barcode scanner in a vertical position, and I find it never scans as seamlessly as the horizontal machines elsewhere.

Sainsbury's have at least now seen sense to turn the option to refuse a receipt off (which you need to open the gate).

The new(ish) handheld scanners speed up the process massively, but I pay close attention to make sure that the item has actually scanned or the scanner hasn't lost its connection. There was an orange pack of Soreen I picked up a couple months back and the scanner just would not pick it up...so I put it back.

They've basically created an environment for themselves where it's now easy to be accused of shoplifting and to actually shoplift.

The M&S app just lets you scan as you go about (letting you remove any double scans yourself) and even pay, so really all you’re doing is loading your bags straight off the shelves and walking out the door without going near the checkouts at all. I wouldn’t really have any issue with being stopped for a check with that because it both looks *and* feels like you’re shoplifting. But I’ve yet to be stopped.

God, all these bloody loyalty apps and their two-tier pricing (which is nothing more than a rebranding of promotional offers, but now you just need to be a member). I noticed Lidl's are now at it as well with Plus price banners everywhere.