Costco Door Scanning Rolling Out

[mbz321]

Is anything changing at the exit as a result of this technology or is this strictly an entry thing?

Strictly an entry thing, although locations are supposed to stop letting people wander in the Exit door. I can't wait until October when my building is supposed to get the entrance scanners to see if they enforce it or not, because as of now, there are always people sneaking in the Exit.

[storewanderer]

Is anything changing at the exit as a result of this technology or is this strictly an entry thing?

Strictly an entry thing, although locations are supposed to stop letting people wander in the Exit door. I can't wait until October when my building is supposed to get the entrance scanners to see if they enforce it or not, because as of now, there are always people sneaking in the Exit.

I think this is a better approach on trying to deal with the membership sharing than making the front ends go crazy over it.

One side of me still wonders if giving this whole trying to kick non members out or force them to sign up immediately up and letting non-members shop with some sort of outrageous upcharge like 20% and only accepting payment by cash/debit card only on those transactions may be a better option. Under this model you could basically eliminate the entire entrance check. Yes the front end would enforce it but it would be pretty simple- transaction with no member card scanned gets a 20% upcharge and restricted payment types. Don't like it? You can have today's upcharge applied toward the cost of a membership if you go see membership TODAY.

Oh and those non-member transactions with 20% upcharge: all sales final. NO refund and NO exchange. Satisfaction is NOT guaranteed.

[Alpha8472]

My Costco photo is so old it is a blurry mess. I don't think employees are paying attention.

I just rejoined Sam's Club for a discounted deal. They are now checking cards at the door. However, Sam's Club doesn't have photos. The employee just looked at my Sam's Club app which has a virtual card.

The Food Court requires a card scan. The self checkout also requires a scan. I found the self checkout to be amazingly easy to use compared to the awful self Checkouts at Costco which have no hand scanners. You have to drag your bulk items across the stationary scanner.

[ClownLoach]

My Costco photo is so old it is a blurry mess. I don't think employees are paying attention.

I just rejoined Sam's Club for discounted deal. They are now checking cards at the door. However, Sam's Club doesn't have photos. The employee just looked at my Sam's Club app which has a virtual card.

The Food Court requires a card scan. The self checkout also requires a scan. I found the self checkout to be amazingly easy to use compared to the awful self Checkouts at Costco which have no hand scanners. You have to drag your bulk items across the stationary scanner.

That blurry mess on the card apparently is nice and clear on the screen. They are going to have to address ergonomics because the stores here are looking up at the person, down at the screen for a match. I think they had to do this current solution because the photos on the cards are so bad that they probably got many claims of discrimination etc. from misidentification at the register with such a tiny little black and white photo. You can't make any decisions off the card photo unless it's the newest full color one on the Visa card.

Sam's here is not checking at all, but rather the opposite and the entrance employees are pulling shopping carts and handing them to every inbound customer. They do however stop anyone with a return and apply a dated sticker to the box. No scan at food court. And the Sam's self checkout is probably the easiest, although some stores are now trying to complicate it by trying to force the customer to transfer items to a different cart as they scan. Scan one item then drop it into a new (previously empty) cart. Scan and transfer. Scan and transfer. And they're rude to the customer about it if they don't know what this program is. Technically it's the program Costco and Price Club had many, many years ago before they gave up and bought conveyor belts to save the backs and wrists of their employees. Your cart became the next customers cart. It's a pain and unnecessary with exit door scanning, so I wonder if it is a local shrink program like some of the Sam's I haven't seen where allegedly many or all items are scanned at the door.

Sam's definitely took my picture when I became a member again back in 2017-ish? They use an iPad now. At some point in the more distant past they did have tech to load a grainy, lousy quality photo onto the Cashier's register screen. That was when they first installed the IBM touch screens where the customer had to swipe their membership card on the customer facing screen. I know this for certain because I saw it in use, but I also don't think their current POS does this. I also think the photo only worked on screen at the member's home location. They went to the cards without pictures or names when they implemented the iPads because they were taking an idiotic amount of time to sign up a member due to the antiquated technology (like 10 minutes for an experienced employee) and their new division CEO at the time said that was unacceptable and IT must get it down to only a couple of minutes.

[storewanderer]

My Costco photo is so old it is a blurry mess. I don't think employees are paying attention.

I just rejoined Sam's Club for discounted deal. They are now checking cards at the door. However, Sam's Club doesn't have photos. The employee just looked at my Sam's Club app which has a virtual card.

The Food Court requires a card scan. The self checkout also requires a scan. I found the self checkout to be amazingly easy to use compared to the awful self Checkouts at Costco which have no hand scanners. You have to drag your bulk items across the stationary scanner.

That blurry mess on the card apparently is nice and clear on the screen. They are going to have to address ergonomics because the stores here are looking up at the person, down at the screen for a match. I think they had to do this current solution because the photos on the cards are so bad that they probably got many claims of discrimination etc. from misidentification at the register with such a tiny little black and white photo. You can't make any decisions off the card photo unless it's the newest full color one on the Visa card.

Sam's here is not checking at all, but rather the opposite and the entrance employees are pulling shopping carts and handing them to every inbound customer. They do however stop anyone with a return and apply a dated sticker to the box. No scan at food court. And the Sam's self checkout is probably the easiest, although some stores are now trying to complicate it by trying to force the customer to transfer items to a different cart as they scan. Scan one item then drop it into a new (previously empty) cart. Scan and transfer. Scan and transfer. And they're rude to the customer about it if they don't know what this program is. Technically it's the program Costco and Price Club had many, many years ago before they gave up and bought conveyor belts to save the backs and wrists of their employees. Your cart became the next customers cart. It's a pain and unnecessary with exit door scanning, so I wonder if it is a local shrink program like some of the Sam's I haven't seen where allegedly many or all items are scanned at the door.

Sam's definitely took my picture when I became a member again back in 2017-ish? They use an iPad now. At some point in the more distant past they did have tech to load a grainy, lousy quality photo onto the Cashier's register screen. That was when they first installed the IBM touch screens where the customer had to swipe their membership card on the customer facing screen. I know this for certain because I saw it in use, but I also don't think their current POS does this. I also think the photo only worked on screen at the member's home location. They went to the cards without pictures or names when they implemented the iPads because they were taking an idiotic amount of time to sign up a member due to the antiquated technology (like 10 minutes for an experienced employee) and their new division CEO at the time said that was unacceptable and IT must get it down to only a couple of minutes.

I've seen the cart to cart policy "encouraged" at Sam's Club self checkout here but not forced. Basically the employee will tell the customer "you can put items into this other cart after you scan them." That is the end of it.

At this Sam's many/all in a lot of cases items are scanned at the door.

All they need to do to address ergonomics is get a screen that moves up and down (since the employees checking are of varying heights) so the screen can be set "level" to the employee and customer walking in. The employee can't be having to look up and down constantly.

I also think the computer should make the decision automatically if the person standing there matches the photo on file via facial recognition type software. The employee should only have to make the call in situations where it "isn't clear."

[Alpha8472]

I experienced the scanners at the entrance today at the Danville, California Costco. There were 2 scanners with employees. I didn't have my card with me, so I had to open up the Costco app and use the digital card. The scanner had trouble scanning my phone. The employee grabbed my phone and tried scanning it himself.

It was not an easy process and I can see how the line can back up. It definitely uses much more labor.

[ClownLoach]

I experienced the scanners at the entrance today at the Danville, California Costco. There were 2 scanners with employees. I didn't have my card with me, so I had to open up the Costco app and use the digital card. The scanner had trouble scanning my phone. The employee grabbed my phone and tried scanning it himself.

It was not an easy process and I can see how the line cam back up. It definitely uses much more labor.

So I am going to try to get clarification tomorrow, but it appears the expanded front door staff is moved from self checkout. Now self check only gets one employee total. The three stores I visited in the last week all had door scanners and all had only one person in self checkout. That meant they manned the line only and only handled needed overrides, errors, and helped only customers who demand assistance directly. One refused to scan the entire cart and asked me to scan everything myself then call her for the case of water. She then made me lift that heavy item so she could see underneath it which really pissed me off as it was totally unnecessary. First off, it comes off like you're accusing me of something, and what would I hide under a case of water, which by the way is plastic wrapped around and transparent from the top down? I felt very uncomfortable with her bad attitude and suspicious demeanor.

I thought that was just a weird behavioral fluke at an out-of-town store I don't normally visit (Goleta) but it sounds like they are changing those roles at all stores as part of the rollout. If that is the case, then they need to release the hand scanners for heavy items or get rid of self checkout all together. Apparently the official policy (per a terse chat I had online with customer service this afternoon as I filed a complaint about the above employee) is only a employee can use the scanner because anything scanned with it is not calculated towards the flatbed scale. So theoretically anything scanned in the cart isn't weighed, but it's Costco - they have a real person read the receipts and verify anyway. Thing is I know where they keep their handhelds which I won't print here but it isn't locked, and as such if I'm left unsupervised without help for heavy items then just try to stop me from pulling it out and using it to scan my cart. You won't know until I'm already in the process of scanning and then what? Try to take it away from me? Doesn't say in the member agreement I can't grab the scanner if I can find it... Not trying to be malicious, but if they no longer offer quick assistance to scan heavy items at self checkout then I see no reason to use it anymore, and if I then have to wait at all for a regular register then I might as well just plan the next trip for Sam's Club where my cell phone is the scanner. I'm really disappointed with the way Costco is handling this, and the TV news is reporting that a spokesperson said all stores chainwide will have door scanners by Labor Day now. They apparently are expediting the rollout due to the membership fee increase which they think will cause more people to try to cheat and share cards. (Rather doubt anyone is canceling their Costco card for going up less than a burger combo at any fast food place).

[ClownLoach]

My Costco photo is so old it is a blurry mess. I don't think employees are paying attention.

I just rejoined Sam's Club for discounted deal. They are now checking cards at the door. However, Sam's Club doesn't have photos. The employee just looked at my Sam's Club app which has a virtual card.

The Food Court requires a card scan. The self checkout also requires a scan. I found the self checkout to be amazingly easy to use compared to the awful self Checkouts at Costco which have no hand scanners. You have to drag your bulk items across the stationary scanner.

That blurry mess on the card apparently is nice and clear on the screen. They are going to have to address ergonomics because the stores here are looking up at the person, down at the screen for a match. I think they had to do this current solution because the photos on the cards are so bad that they probably got many claims of discrimination etc. from misidentification at the register with such a tiny little black and white photo. You can't make any decisions off the card photo unless it's the newest full color one on the Visa card.

Sam's here is not checking at all, but rather the opposite and the entrance employees are pulling shopping carts and handing them to every inbound customer. They do however stop anyone with a return and apply a dated sticker to the box. No scan at food court. And the Sam's self checkout is probably the easiest, although some stores are now trying to complicate it by trying to force the customer to transfer items to a different cart as they scan. Scan one item then drop it into a new (previously empty) cart. Scan and transfer. Scan and transfer. And they're rude to the customer about it if they don't know what this program is. Technically it's the program Costco and Price Club had many, many years ago before they gave up and bought conveyor belts to save the backs and wrists of their employees. Your cart became the next customers cart. It's a pain and unnecessary with exit door scanning, so I wonder if it is a local shrink program like some of the Sam's I haven't seen where allegedly many or all items are scanned at the door.

Sam's definitely took my picture when I became a member again back in 2017-ish? They use an iPad now. At some point in the more distant past they did have tech to load a grainy, lousy quality photo onto the Cashier's register screen. That was when they first installed the IBM touch screens where the customer had to swipe their membership card on the customer facing screen. I know this for certain because I saw it in use, but I also don't think their current POS does this. I also think the photo only worked on screen at the member's home location. They went to the cards without pictures or names when they implemented the iPads because they were taking an idiotic amount of time to sign up a member due to the antiquated technology (like 10 minutes for an experienced employee) and their new division CEO at the time said that was unacceptable and IT must get it down to only a couple of minutes.

I've seen the cart to cart policy "encouraged" at Sam's Club self checkout here but not forced. Basically the employee will tell the customer "you can put items into this other cart after you scan them." That is the end of it.

At this Sam's many/all in a lot of cases items are scanned at the door.

All they need to do to address ergonomics is get a screen that moves up and down (since the employees checking are of varying heights) so the screen can be set "level" to the employee and customer walking in. The employee can't be having to look up and down constantly.

I also think the computer should make the decision automatically if the person standing there matches the photo on file via facial recognition type software. The employee should only have to make the call in situations where it "isn't clear."

My local Sam's doesn't care, but a couple in Orange County aggressively enforce the cart swap. One store has a very loud employee who will immediately bark at the customer to stop what they're doing and orders them to cart swap. She tried that with me once after I had everything neatly UPC up in the basket and I told her that I am done scanning and if she interfered I have the cell phone number of a VP who I will call immediately to report her hostile attitude towards the members. (They used to have a buggy login on their Android app so I had to hassle with resetting my password, so I just self checked most of the time. They've since fixed that issue so now I use scan and go almost exclusively.

I agree with the facial recognition, which could completely eliminate the need for everything here. But it would likely be a huge privacy issue, cost a lot, and didn't some states ban facial recognition systems in store security of any kind?

[storewanderer]

I experienced the scanners at the entrance today at the Danville, California Costco. There were 2 scanners with employees. I didn't have my card with me, so I had to open up the Costco app and use the digital card. The scanner had trouble scanning my phone. The employee grabbed my phone and tried scanning it himself.

It was not an easy process and I can see how the line cam back up. It definitely uses much more labor.

So I am going to try to get clarification tomorrow, but it appears the expanded front door staff is moved from self checkout. Now self check only gets one employee total. The three stores I visited in the last week all had door scanners and all had only one person in self checkout. That meant they manned the line only and only handled needed overrides, errors, and helped only customers who demand assistance directly. One refused to scan the entire cart and asked me to scan everything myself then call her for the case of water. She then made me lift that heavy item so she could see underneath it which really pissed me off as it was totally unnecessary. First off, it comes off like you're accusing me of something, and what would I hide under a case of water, which by the way is plastic wrapped around and transparent from the top down? I felt very uncomfortable with her bad attitude and suspicious demeanor.

If she wanted to check under the case of water she could lift it herself and check it. What, was she "too busy?" Better yet she can get on the floor and look at it from the bottom up from under the cart and see there is nothing under it.

I guess you could hide something under the case of water though I am not entirely sure what at Costco, also if you did that the case of water would wobble when shook from in the cart so if that was a concern a quick shake and seeing that case of water is stuck in the cart should suffice that nothing is under it.

I cannot believe that behavior.

I am suspecting what is happening here is if not all items are scanned at self checkout, and it is caught by the exit door, the self checkout attendant is disciplined similar to how a mainline cashier is disciplined, hence this behavior. That doesn't seem right on a self checkout. The attendant can't catch everything. A case needs to be filed against the customer if that happens.

I would demand a talk with the warehouse manager about this employee's behavior and why it occurred.

The excuse for why customers cannot use a handheld scanner also strikes me as complete garbage. If this is a concern, they could get the POS software to break out the receipt for scanned/weight verified items and "UNBAGGED" (left in cart) items. Just like the "skip bagging" function on a Kroger or NCR self checkout. In the case of a Kroger self checkout directly under the item that you "skip bagging" on the screen does a little line **check cart** (this doesn't actually print on the receipt though). I am sure Costco could easily get that to print something under items that don't go into the weight total. Who cares if the customer or employee scans it. Then the door check person could pay extra attention to those items to ensure nothing funny goes on. Like, you know, a couple packs of meat, one pork shoulder and some ribeyes, where the receipt mysteriously has two pork shoulders scanned but not weighed with "check cart" printed under each on the receipt, and conveniently stacked in the cart so the ribeye is on the bottom and the pork shoulder is on the top.

As far as facial recognition goes I think they could put it into the membership agreement. The purpose of it would be membership verification purposes. There could be an "opt out" option (in which case you go wait in a long line to walk in). Just like there is an "opt out" of the TSA body scanner, a "pat down" (and delay).

The fact that I keep making analogies to the Costco experience and the TSA airport security experience strikes me as odd, and also strikes me that Costco has some serious issues they better address and fast, to make things better for their customers. At some point customer loyalty only goes so far.

[Brian Lutz]

I don't even have a physical card for Sam's Club, nor have I had a photo taken. My wife bought the membership and added me as a second user on it, and I just added the app to my phone and pretty much always use Scan and Go when we shop there. I don't think I've ever had a card check at the door either, but I get the impression that the Sam's Club here in town tends to be understaffed on a regular basis.

Overall, I get the impression that Sam's Club has made all these investments in technology such as Scan and Go that have effectively reduced the amount of labor needed in a store by about 30%, then decided to run their stores with about 50% less labor.