TBH, I kind of find the excess use of CCTV on some of the self checkouts to be rather invasive, same goes for stuff such as having a guard at the exit perform item and receipt checks. Rather use a staffed checkout at that point. The receipt checks are annoying too, especially when you already seen me scan and pay for the single item I was buying.
Apparently outside of places such as Costco where you consented to receipt checks as part of your membership agreement, stores can't really enforce them (and open themselves to liability if they attempt to prevent you from leaving) and you're free to walk away.
Another thing I noticed are the security gates enforcing one way traffic into and out of the stores that have sprung up recently to curb shoplifting, they really shoehorned them in and it's clear the store layout was not originally designed for them with how awkward the flow of traffic is now. Probably spent more installing all that junk than what they'd make back deterring shoplifters IMO.
Having only half the self checkouts open seem to be another common thing here, I suppose it's due to staffing issues but it's pretty annoying when you opt for self checkout to save time, only to be confronted with a long lineup because half the self checkouts are "closed".
@Cole D, seems like the kiosks at McDonalds here are better, they tried the table number stuff here too but they changed back to the order number system where you wait for your order number to be called at the pickup counter. Much better for a place like McDonalds IMO.
