All McDonald’s Restaurants to Have Self-Order Kiosks By 2020

Are there wipes to clean the screen before I touch it?

Awesome! Finally get my order right!

You still won’t get what you ordered.

they already have it at the mcD near my work place. only takes cards. sometimes doesn't work.

Who wants to eat that dog food anyway.

Ever notice is smells like Alpo?

Not a coincidence.

Sounds great!

Had this in NZ for a year, poor real people losing jobs

we have these in London.

Thanks for all those minimum wage raises!

How, exactly does this help McDonald's' "commitment to being America's best first job?"

Blacks are going to claim this is discriminatory, since it will only take credit or debit cards.

Trump declares: My belly button was retrofitted as a McDonald's self-order MAGA device.

FOOOD

MOAR

FOOD!

Fight for $15! Oh wait...

I've used rhem. They have a few bugs.

"They have a few bugs. "

So does the food.

Will they take SNAP cards?

I was in the Houston airport a year ago, and many restaurants had these miserable kiosks. I sat down at the bar of one and tried to order a burger. They only offered a cheeseburger, but I don't eat cheese. There was no way to modify the order, and both the bartender and manager were unable to find a solution. I ended up having a glass of wine only. A big loud middle-aged jerk a few seats over proclaimed, "I love it! I just want a beer and I don't have to wait for some idiot to take my order!" Seconds later a server arrived with 3 beers. The big loudmouth had accidentally ordered thrice, and it had automatically been charged to his card. I hope they have improved over the past year, but the kiosks were poorly designed and unwieldy to use. If you had any kind of food allergy, you'd be screwed.

Will one kiosk be talking to another and ignore the customers who want to order?

[quote]If you had any kind of food allergy, you'd be screwed.

Oh well.

They have kiosk/tablets in the Newark airport as well, R19. I had a layover there about 6 weeks ago and at the time the kiosks weren't working and no one was able to order food. It seemed all the restaurants were using the same system.

My local McDonald's isn't busy enough to require self-ordering kiosks. The only time they're really busy is lunch hour during the week but most people use the drive-thru.

I don't know why everyone's having a hissy fit about the kiosks.

They're quick, they're easy and you can more easily customize what you order, so honestly, I see it as a win.

Me too, r23.

I worked at McDs as a teen. If you think the staff is rough, take a look at the customers. Drunk, stoned, angry, smelly, loud, demanding, all of the above. You never know which nutjob is going to step up to your register next.

If I worked there now, I’d love to respond to a computer rather than some grumpy grandma.

And when automation takes your job, R23, will you be equally sanguine?

Their new Quarter Pounders use much better beef and are delicious.

As much as I despise McD's, it and other fast food joints give poor kids a job, and give them some semblance of labor ethic, i.e. how to deal with assholes.

I worked at a Wendy's one summer in between high school, and along with a lot of free food, it taught me that I knew I wanted better.

These kiosks will deprive 1000s of kids and elders of easy jobs, leaving them to do nothing or get worse jobs. I hate McD's even more now.

They need to automate the cooking also., in order to keep prices down to what people can afford.

It looks like with the wage hikes that are being proposed for Walt Disney World employees, it's going to be become completely unaffordable for the middle class and below. Go now if you're thinking about a Disney vacation in the future.

McDonald’s sales were struggling in recent years. They need to cut costs to survive, and this is one way to do it.

Yes they have to eliminate jobs, but they wouldn’t be able to employ anyone at all if they went out of business.

Yes capitalist pig. Maybe they could accept less profits?

R29 Jesus, how much fucking profit does Disney have to make??

R30 - I don't see McDonalds closing anywhere. Their prices have gone up considerably in the past 10 years - like almost double.

I rarely eat there - but it's hard to get any breakfast for less than $7, which I think is high for fast food and what you get. With other better choices, why would you pay so much for shit food?

i will never use those things. fucking germs all over the place. gross!

How will this affect poor people who may not have a bank account? Will they use an EBT card? Because the kiosks I've used don't take cash.

The one near us has kiosks, but there's also a small order counter for those who don't want to use them (like old people). They're not that difficult to use, but I agree with needing sanitary wipes - it's kind of gross touching it when you see the kinds of people ahead of you touching it also.

You shouldn’t need sanitary wipes. Like self checkout at a store, there should be an attendant present at all times assisting customers and maintaining the cleanliness of the machines. Or does McDonald’s not even want to give a person that job?

[quote]You shouldn’t need sanitary wipes. Like self checkout at a store, there should be an attendant present at all times assisting customers and maintaining the cleanliness of the machines.

[quote]i will never use those things. fucking germs all over the place. gross!

What a bunch of Marys! How the fuck did we ever survive as a people before the ubiquitous handi-wipes? SMH.

Anything to get rid of as many of the cretins they hire to take orders as possible. They'll save all those benefits they have to pay. That should pay for the computers.

I was on a road trip recently and stopped at a McDonald’s for food. There was a black woman in front of me ordering and she was INSISTENT on customizing every single bit of her order - lengthy instructions on the contents of the burger, temp and saltiness of the fries, amount of ice in the drink, etc. when she got the order she opened the bag and carefully examined everything and sent the burger and fries back to be re-made. All the while she was impolite and full of bad attitude - I felt so sorry for the cashier. I wanted to say something to her but knew it would only cause her to go off on me so I politely ordered my food and thanked the cashier and told her what a great job she was doing. I have sympathy for those cashiers because I know that customer was one of many who are just like that.

[QUOTE]What a bunch of Marys!

My mentioning the necessity of an attendant is a Mary post? What the hell is wrong with having someone there who will assist customers and clean the machines? I managed a couple front end sections at grocery stores and those self checkout machines quickly become a mess with gunk all over the touchscreens if someone isn’t there to watch them and clean them.

R38, back then, we didn't have to touch so many things! now everything is fucking touchscreen!

and yes, i've seen someone standing in the area during lunch time to assist customers.

[quote]Will they take SNAP cards?

troll. SNAP is only sued for groceries

Our Kroger has an assistant, r41, but they never clean the machines. There's always parsley or onion paper stuck in them.

The future looks sucky if you ask me.

This thread has already exploded into Peak Prisspot Pearl-clutching.

SHRIEEEK!

I might have to touch somewhere where....gasp.....OTHER HANDS HAVE TOUCHED!

How dare I not be allowed to speak to.....ANOTHER HUMAN BEING to relay my order!

Get off my lawn! Damn millennials!

Also, you CAN pay with cash--after you place your order, they have a smaller counter with rarely a line and you can pay there.

This makes me feel sorry for McDonalds, because you can bet they will have to replace a shit tone of those displays which will be either stolen or destroyed by angry customers. And then customers being pissed off that they can't order because the self-order kiosk is out of order, vandalized, etc.

Sorry, a shit TON of those

I’m always amused by the pretentious prisspots who always proclaim that they would never ever ingest any MacDonald’s cuisine. It’s actually one of my litmus tests for dating. If you never enjoy a Big Mac even occasionally, get the fuck outta my life. Same as with the humorless idiots who say they hate I Love Lucy. Or those who never let their kids play in the mud. They’re not worth my time.

I was with you R50 until Lucy. Who gives a shit about some old black and white show? Most people I know never even saw an episode of it.

Here in France if you want to pay cash you just use the touchscreen to order and then you hand the ticket with the money, in any line. They just spared the employees from having to take people's orders, now it's faster.

Also the kiosks are multilingual so it's a win-win for everybody. We have people from all over the world visiting and people trying to make themselves understood while ordering, especially in groups, is always a nightmare.

They don't have fewer employees than before.

In the past 2 years, I have gone to McDonald's twice, one in Paris and one in London. Both have kiosks and makes the ordering much more efficient.

this already seems obsolete. Why not an app like Starbucks has? Even my local deli uses one. Just put in your order and it's ready by the time you get there to pick it up.

They do that too, R54.

Where I am, McDonald's also does delivery via Ubereats.

Same in France, r55. You can order from home and ubereats delivers.

I guess we don't have to worry about increasing the minimum wage

McDonald's french fries don't taste good by the time they are delivered to your home

It’s all Soylent Green!! Don’t look in the kitchen!

How can you be so mean about McDonald's? This is where I go for my special me time every week, just to treat myself.

They've got them here in Australia, but it's usually quicker just to order at the counter. Some resteraunts also have the menue on a tablet and you order from it. That seems to be a more efficient option.

This was planned long before any discussions about raising the minimum wage.

Anyone who thinks it is good to destroy more jobs should not complain about more chaos and crime.

[quote]McDonald's french fries don't taste good by the time they are delivered to your home

This is true. The food tastes terrible cold. It has to be really hot and you have to be hungover for it to be ok.

[quote]Also the kiosks are multilingual

Are these kiosks going to be fluent in Ebonics?

The more the push for higher & higher wages by those doing low skilled jobs, the quicker those jobs will disappear to automation like this.

It won't just be fast food outlets. It'll be cashier jobs in supermarkets, Home Depot, whatever retail & dept store brick & mortar jobs are left, etc.

If you think those min wage jobs pay little & offer few benefits now, wait til the competition for those jobs are robots & other forms of AI.

I give it 10 yrs, tops.

Please. The minimum wage could be $5 and McDonald’s still would be rolling this out to every store.

[quote]The more the push for higher & higher wages by those doing low skilled jobs, the quicker those jobs will disappear to automation like this.

And who is pushing for higher wages and the Minimum Wage increase??

Democrats and liberals of course. Pushing shortsighted policies that eliminate jobs and negatively impact the poor and minorities.

Yes, exactly, r66

S H R I E E E E E E E E K

It will be interesting to see DL when the jobs in Finance, Law and government go due to AI

Once again Taco Bell is ahead. You can order your food on your cell phone and pick up your food at the drive through or in the store. Now the orders are correct as it bypasses the order taker. So many ways to customize your order without hoping they put the order in correctly. Somehow we all survived when ATMs replaces the bank teller and I think we’ll all get through this too.

They have an app, r54, but for some reason the McDonald's in town turns off ordering from it randomly.

That said, the last time I went there the manager was running the counter and was steaming mad at my request for an egg white muffin. He's not what you'd call competent.

If they don’t enact a universal basic income, the world will descend into chaos. What the hell are we supposed to do for a living?

That's what the 1 percent is hoping for, R73. All the Poors will kill each other and then no country has to offer any sort of social service support.

I figured they did r72 but since I’m plant based I don’t eat there since even the frys have “natural” beef in them.

So many right-wing trolls in this thread.

I actually noticed them in Europe first. Maybe they tried it first over there. Initially dont like it but eventually found them helpful with little things- like specific toppings you want - for free.

I've found it helpful b/c I like to put my own low fat cheese and mayo on a McChicken. So I order it minus what I don't want.

You can do that by saying it to a person. And then in reply, they'll say "Huh?" about 50 times. I'll take the kiosk.

[quote] And who is pushing for higher wages and the Minimum Wage increase??

[quote] Democrats and liberals of course. Pushing shortsighted policies that eliminate jobs and negatively impact the poor and minorities.

Minimum wage jobs are glorified slavery. Of course the conservative trolls demonize those damn socialist liberals who have the nerve to demand that people can actually live off the money they earn from their hard work and afford things like a decent health care and a having to fear to lose their homes or the roof over their head when they refuse to humor their bossess and put out and get humiliated on a daily basis.

Guys like Elon Musk predict that soon there will be not enough jobs out there for people and it's up to the government to give people money to buy what they need.

Sorry,

and NOT having to fear to lose their homes or the roof over their head when they refuse to humor their bossess and put out and get humiliated on a daily basis.

Most jobs relying on unskilled laborers will disappear within next 20 years for many reasons. This will make it nearly impossible for teens to enter the workforce and for adults without skills or education to find employment. Time to consider universal basic income like Finland is trying. Under this program, all Americans 18 or older would receive a monthly check from the government. Of course, this would require a steep tax increase for everyone to pay for this program.

Those touch screens wear-out quickly. You have to pound them to get what you want. Expensive to repair or replace.

And the above posters are right: eventually you'll be able to collect all manner of germs from it (MRSA, etc.)- right before you eat.

R67 are these the same democrats and liberals that enabled the former ceo skinner a wage that equals $9,247 per hour?

I guess people concerned of germs will then be able to purchase something like a nice little protective thingy that will work on surfaces like the kiosk tablet and keep their fingers clean. Or just carry a bunch of hand wipes around.

But come to think of it. Do people concerned about germs eat in fast food restaurants (or any restaurant for that matter)?

R82 I’m not in favor of this crap at all but your post was complete bullshit. As someone who was once responsible for those machines, I can tell you that they don’t wear out quickly at all. Nor are they responsible for any serious spreading of germs.

[quote]Minimum wage jobs are glorified slavery.

These are entry-level jobs that can be important for those who are just starting out, students, retirees, or those trying to get off welfare.

Democrats want to eliminate these jobs via their policies because they do consider them “slavery” as you noted.

It’s not hard to see how blue collar workers went for Trump, considering the Democrats’ “we want to eliminate jobs” position.

The thing is to order your burger with

Xtra cheese

Xtra onion

And xtra pickle.

It will always taste delicious that way, especially at Wendy’s!

[quote] These are entry-level jobs that can be important for those who are just starting out, students, retirees, or those trying to get off welfare.

"can" is the magic word here. Where are the jobs for those who moved past entry level? At Walmart?

Companies are not people's friends. They exploit their workforce and rake in profits and then use these profits to make life harder for their workforce and everybody else who is not part of the 1%. The masses practically enable the GOP and the 1%. But of course, those damn socialist Liberals are the real menace to society attacking these poor companies (who according to Mitt Romney are people) and destroy people's chance to work for a salary that doesn't cover their basic needs.

[quote]Where are the jobs for those who moved past entry level? At Walmart?

Those jobs are in healthcare, tech, engineering, manufacturing. They require skills and education.

r89, LOL. That's why people with the required skills and education can pick and choose which job offer they take, because there are so many of them begging to be filled.

R90, the low unemployment figures speak for themselves.

[quote]And the above posters are right: eventually you'll be able to collect all manner of germs from it (MRSA, etc.)- right before you eat.

Yeah, because there’s zero germs on the door handle to the restaurant, your car door handle, your seatbelt, steering wheel, the money you just used, the frikken air...

[quote]who have the nerve to demand that people can actually live off the money they earn from their hard work and afford things like a decent health care and a having to fear to lose their homes or the roof over their head when they refuse to humor their bossess and put out and get humiliated on a daily basis.

Oh, dear, dear, dear.

[quote]and NOT having to fear to lose their homes or the roof over their head when they refuse to humor their bossess and put out and get humiliated on a daily basis.

Still not better.

R48, Lmao. You probably didn’t realize how huge these things were before you posted. It’d be like trying to steal an ATM, only with people there watching you.

R89 not the entry level ones. There are entry level jobs in all those sectors. You don’t think it will take tech, engineering, and manufacturing to make the self service kiosks?

Don't be ridiculous R48. They will still have to have a clerk or two there to oversee the self serve monitors, just like they do at Target, Walmart, etc. Besides them the cooks will be there, along with a shift manager. No one is going to steal the monitors, or break them. If they don't work they'll have to have someone there to take orders the old fashioned way. That's only common sense.

As with the self-checkout kiosks, these things are out of order half the time. At my McD’s they have an employee standing there to facilitate and un-jam the receipt printer. And people still take too long to decide what they want.

I’m not exactly opposed, but I don’t really see the benefit. The two times I’ve used the machine, it wasn’t any better than the old way.

[quote]I’m not exactly opposed, but I don’t really see the benefit.

The benefit is solely that they can employ fewer people.

It’s not meant to improve your experience as a customer in any way.

[quote] eventually you'll be able to collect all manner of germs from it (MRSA, etc.)- right before you eat.

Thing is, after one orders, they can waddle to the restroom to wash their meaty paws. Like everyone else in the fucking free world.

I know it will mean hoisting their voluminous fat out of their seat to do so, but somehow, it CAN be done!

"As someone who was once responsible for those machines, I can tell you that they don’t wear out quickly at all."

The ones at a local movie theater are so worn out you have to punch them. And yes, they are grimey-slimey with... something.

[quote] No one is going to steal the monitors, or break them.

This customer might break a monitor.

"Thing is, after one orders, they can waddle to the restroom to wash their meaty paws"

Except... once you touch the toilet door you're all contaminated again. Then you touch the counter, etc.

People will never, ever understand the infinitesimal of germs, bacteria, viruses, std's. They think they are the size of marbles.

R102 Best to never leave the house, then.

R100 Come to my theater. The ones at mine work just fine. Rare that I use them though since I can just scan my phone and don’t need to usually print out a ticket. We have 6 of them and usually 5 have nobody using them. Meanwhile, there’s always a line of people waiting to buy tickets from the 1 or 2 cashiers.

These machines are already dinosaurs. Within 1 to 3 years people are going to get used to the idea of ordering on their phones through the app before they even show up at the restaurant. This allows more real estate inside the restaurant for bigger kitchens and more seating. Plus More and more of their operation is going to be geared towards delivery food so those bigger kitchens will help deal with that.

I love the Starbucks app. Why the hell should I have to wait in at eight person in line after I show up to order coffee? I order through the app, drive over, and my order is sitting on the bar ready to go when I get there 5 to 10 minutes later

The hungry DL prisspots if they don't get their senior discount nuggets on time.

Automation is coming for the field hands too.

Even Strawberry harvesting (which is hard to do)

PS: This method was done in China first. Think about that.

[quote]Why the hell should I have to wait in at eight person in line after I show up to order coffee?

Check out Miss Thang. She is THAT important.

Why should you? I’ll tell you why: because the world doesn’t revolve around you, that’s why. Those people want the same thing you want, their coffee. And we’re here to tell you...you ain’t better’n any of em.

According to the famous Oxford Univ. study, by just a little past 2030, 50% of US jobs will be automated. In China and India it will be closer to 70% and in some African countries it will be close to 90%

That is approximately 15 years away. What are we going to do with all the unemployed people and why are we importing more low-skilled workers without any kind of vetting at all? This is why the proponents of illegal immigration are fucking idiots. We have enough low-skilled workers here who are soon going to be even more jobless than they are now. And they are the ones having children.

Something is going to give, and my prediction is that it will a tremendous amount of bloodshed as jobs and resources vanish worldwide, intelligent people continue to have a low birth rate as the idiots multiply, and corporations and the 1% continue to manipulate those idiots, but also manipulate some "liberals" who buy into bullshit like illegal immigration as a moral concern, rather than cheap labor for the GOP and votes for the Democrats.

😂 You don’t even wait that long. People talk about lines like they’re standing there for an hour. We’re talking 5 minutes.

The fact that you can even go some place and get cheap food and drinks that quickly should be considered a goddamn miracle.

[quote]Those people want the same thing you want, their coffee.

Then they should have downloaded the Starbucks app, and they could’ve had their coffee 10 minutes sooner.

Waiting in lines is for uninformed people.

MISS R105 IS VERY IMPORTANT

SMELL HER!

The kiosks have been in Madrid for at least two years...maybe a bit more.

That heifer at R101 wouldn't do well with a kiosk.

She didn't even understand whether she had a credit or debit card, in the middle of her outburst.

I bet this is going to make people order even more food. By removing the human interaction, people will have no shame in ordering double what a normal person would eat.

R67 wow you really must have your head up the ass of conservative media. This is not a political issue and “liberals “have nothing to do with McDonald’s putting in touch screens. This is about technological advancement.

The only place you’ll find people actually making the argument that this is related to the minimum wage increase is on Fox news or conservative talk radio. And guess what? They will make any argument they can against raising the minimum wage not because they’re right or because it helps anybody but because their job is to literally say anything that keeps stock prices higher and profits rolling in. And you know that’s true because they never ever go after corporations like Walmart that are sucking taxpayers dry

Somehow we survived when we went from the horse to the car. Somehow we survived when we went from paper to computer. Somehow I think we’ll get through this extreme crisis at fucking McDonald’s too.

That bitch at R106 actually tried to climb in the fucking window. OMG.

Say all you want about their politics, but you don't find these kind of antics at Chick-Fil-A.

If ladies still wore hats, gloves, and properly boned foundation garments as recommended by DL, the touch-screen germs wouldn’t be a problem.

I only use one knuckle to select my soda at Moe’s. I don’t need to use my whole hand or tongue to do it. If too many people bitch the screens at McDonald’s are full of germs I think they could just set out a box of the same gloves the cooks wear.

I find r122 ‘s post oddly provocative...

D

O

G

F

O

O

D

All the flu and other viruses and bacteria on those screens is like a giant Petri dish.

Actually, dog food is more healthy thank this junk these days. Better quality and not so many random cow parts.

I was at my local Sam's Club today picking up a prescription and a 180 pack of Kit-Kat bars and they have recently converted their food court to a tablet based ordering system and it was a CLUSTERFUCK. Nobody knew how to do it. I weep for America if you can't figure out how to choose between a hot dog and pizza (like, all they serve there) and swipe your credit card. To Sam's credit, I saw a woman shove a $100 bill in for her $3 bill and the machine gave change, something I wasn't expecting since most machines won't take larger than a $20.

[quote]picking up a prescription and a 180 pack of Kit-Kat bars

Was your prescription for Insulin?

R82 new touchscreens (like the one on your mobile phone) don't wear out like the old ones because they are just sheets of special glass with a current running through them that responds to the electrical conductivity of your finger. You're thinking of the older plastic ones that would physically depress when you pushed buttons on them.

Here in Europe they serve wine and beer at McDonald's, and the coffee is the best deal in town.

Also, McDonald's stock is an excellent investment.

R128 LOL, I thought the same thing.

Many of you act like if you order via the kiosks you will always get your order right. There will still be human beings preparing what you ordered and that means good reading comprehension skills and giving a shit. I would not count on getting orders right more often than it is when dealing with a human.

R 50, I once ate a Big Mac while sitting in a mud puddle watching “I Love Lucy”.

Am I a match for you?

R132 Theyll automate the entire store eventually.

1-2 humans in premises, as a fail safe mechanism. Thats it.

I suggest everyone get an education in a very useful skill thats not AI replaceable.

AI is going to be making your custom order burgers too.

AI restaurant opening in San Francisco

What if the Russians hack the kiosks or the burger-making AI ?

R137, oh fuck! Hadn’t thought of that.

I’m guessing the kiosk will start putting whoppers and cheetohs on the order.

Great. In addition to making us check out our own groceries, now we put in our food orders. This is dumb. Truly the beginning of the end.

I feel sorry for all the weirdos who hang out in the west 72nd street one here in NYC.

Fank you! You fixeded my cheeseburger!

I'm disapponited. I hoped windows would open and you reach in to grab your burger. Like the old days.

I would literally have to be starving to death to eat McDonalds. It is total garbage.

Like your kale isn't full of pesticides.

[quote]They only offered a cheeseburger, but I don't eat cheese. There was no way to modify the order, and both the bartender and manager were unable to find a solution.

OMFG the whole fucking world didn't stop to cater to your dietary needs! Oh the humanity!

Does a drawer pop out with a "TIPS! :-)" sign on it?

[quote]we have these in London.

They are everywhere, not just London and they are forever running out of print roll because the receipts are stupidly long; like Argos length. Full of surveys and shit that you don't care about.

Still, it beats queuing up behind feral families arguing about what toppings little Champagne doesn't want on her MacSlurry when all you want is a coffee.

I've used these a lot. you can still pay cash... you just go pay at the register.

And you just take a number and sit down, and people bring your food to you.

There are still plenty of jobs. I'm not sure how much labor these things save. It just makes ordering faster and easier, once you learn it. Some people seem to have problems with the UI, and the way it handles special deals (like "2 for $4" is weird … you even know of or see any discount until after you check out. But it's mostly easy to use.

And yes, you can customize any item you order.

I used one to order a Senior Coffee. No can do. No old fart’s discount. Had to go to the help desk. I’ll be damn if they get my 24 cents.

The average American McDonald's customer will struggle with this.

[quote]you can still pay cash...

No, no they can’t, R148. They wouldn’t deign to touch *gasp* cash! Too many germs! Eeeek.

Yes, yes they can.

R152’s sarcasm detector is busted.

What kind of a fat whore do you have to be to buy 180 Kit Kat bars?

In his defense, he only can get over there every two weeks. 😝

There's still a register. You can still do things the old fashioned way if you don't want to touch the screen or can't figure out how to use it.

"I can't touch the screen" = "I am the nelliest queen that ever existed"

It's come up a few times on the thread already, but why can't McDonalds seem to get an order right? I consistently get cheese on my burgers when I've clearly specified NO CHEESE. I get the wrong size fries half the time. It says exactly what I've ordered on the computer screen, yet nobody inside seems to be able to read it.

Also, my local McDonalds has been cash-only the past few times I've tried the drive-thru - they've claimed their card processing system is down. I wonder if they're not boosting profits by avoiding credit card fees.

These kiosks do reduce employment. That's the main purpose.

Touch screens do get very dirty. I don't care so much about that issue at restaurants where I can wash my hands before eating. But when Walgreens started using them at the pharmacy counter, I was skeeved, because so many of the people at Wg are ill and/or addicts. (Walgreens has since removed the kiosks.)

And many people can't operate them. Especially in my Mexican part of the world, where the Mexicans have no literacy or computer skills. At the DMV, there is a sign in English and Spanish above the kiosks that says, "If you require assistance using the self-service computer, you may not use it. Please take a ticket for counter service."

Hilarious that some are concerned about getting germs on their fingers while ordering totally toxic "food."

Whenever the things like touch screens make me feel germaphobic, I try to remember I’ve previously lined up two guys next to each other and gone back and forth eating their asses. That helps me get over the squeamishness of touching something used by the public.

Ass to Mac!

RE R158, it has only been 10 to 15 years that fast food took cards in the US at all. During the recession in 2008-10, a few fast food places in my area stopped taking credit cards, with the same excuses you mention. Others started charging fees contrary to their CC agreements. If you complain to corporate customer service, the situation usually gets fixed quickly.

I don't carry or use cash. Plastic only.

So any business that tells me they're not accepting credit cards... will be told to fuck right off.

One step closer to implanting chips into our brains and just place our orders that way. And then the next step is that we don't eat actual food but our chip sending a stimulus that tells us that we ate something delicious.

[quote] If you think the staff is rough, take a look at the customers.

I believe it.

I hate fast food places. Have not eaten in one for 45 years. Don't intend to. Time to Boycott and stand up for our workers. Your job could be next.

Carry hand sanitizer.

"Something is going to give, and my prediction is that it will a tremendous amount of bloodshed as jobs and resources vanish worldwide, intelligent people continue to have a low birth rate as the idiots multiply, and corporations and the 1% continue to manipulate those idiots, but also manipulate some "liberals" who buy into bullshit like illegal immigration as a moral concern, rather than cheap labor for the GOP and votes for the Democrats."

Wow, you sound like a moron. Votes for Democrats? Yeah, good luck with that since the poorer people are the less likely they are to vote. But just keep repeating those right-wing talking points.

They're not "right wing talking points" R169 - analyzing issues like the rise of automation used to be my job. You're a typical hard-left gasbag, who are as bad as Donnie Dump voters in their inability to stray from their side's talking points.

But go ahead, R169, in 15 years, when 50% of the jobs in the US are lost to automation, enjoy the huddled masses of starving, desperate and violent unemployed, because chances are, you're going to be one of them.

No, you're just a right-wing talking-point parroting moron. You were right up until you claimed illegal immigration yields votes for Democrats. That's just bullshit. A GOP talking point. Nothing more.

[quote]Whenever the things like touch screens make me feel germaphobic, I try to remember I’ve previously lined up two guys next to each other and gone back and forth eating their asses.

Oh, that was you! Hi!

50% jobs loss to automation in 15 years? You must have been some boffo analyst, R170. I'll bet some robot could do a better job than you.

r170 is correct. Automation is unstoppable. Which goes hand-in-hand with the unskilled/illegal immigrant debate.

Fast food places all have Help Wanted signs out. Teenagers don't want to work.

r175, there are plenty of teenagers working but who is going to work the day shift when kids are in school? Who is going to work the late night shift that kids can't work because of child labor laws?

Retirees, R176.

Can the kiosks be programmed with a loud, rude, flat voice that cuts you off before you can utter the "ke" in "shake", just like 90% of the time I go to McD's? Because that would be awesome.

Me: "And a small chocolate sha-"

Drive-Thru Worker: "SHAKE MACHINE BROKE!"

The Del Taco near me was closed a couple weeks ago at dinnertime. I thought they'd gone out of business and wrote corporate asking if they had closed permanently. I wish I hadn't done that because I inadvertently narced on the manager. I got a call from the owner asking me to verify what I wrote, he sent me a gift card.

Then I got a call from the manager who tried to make excuses. So I told her I was sympathetic to how difficult her job was and I didn't mean to tattle on her, and she said she couldn't stay open because only 1 out of 3 people showed up for the shift, and that this is a constant problem, but the owner won't allow her to overhire or overschedule to make up for it. And she can't fire them because she's already short-staffed, and anybody else she might hire will do the same thing (no-show).

I don't think Republicans understand the consequences of their anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies. Food is rotting in the fields, and lots of manual labor jobs are horribly understaffed.

R174, automation is undoubtedly coming, but it's not going to replace half of the workforce in 15 years. We'll barely have 50% electric cars by then. R170 is blustering, as you can tell by his insistence he used to study the field.

R178 That damn shake machine is "broke" almost everywhere. Can anyone who has worked in fast food elaborate on what is so difficult about pouring a shake from the machine?

I can only remember once in the last ten years that any of the McDonald's around here had a broken shake machine.

R83, that's why I use a knuckle when I use a touch screen. I haven't eaten at McDonald's in years, the last time I ate there I was severely reprimanded by my digestive system.

I meant R82 for my post.

Too bad the manager in r166's post was not herself packing heat!

Don't use these! This is one time where protecting an American's job takes little effort on your end, go to the counter and order, when asked tell them that you want to protect the jobs of your fellow countryman. This is the type of shit Trump should be crying about over kneeling during the anthem.

When we lived in Amsterdam we would sometimes look at who was in the "coffee shops" - not once did we see even one person who looked hot.

[quote]I don't think Republicans understand the consequences of their anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies. Food is rotting in the fields, and lots of manual labor jobs are horribly understaffed.

They understand, they just don't care. As long as brown people are made to suffer, they're happy.

R111 /R170 is 100% correct.

R165 is, too!

Places such as Las Vegas and the Riverside-San Bernardino area may be the most vulnerable to automation in upcoming years, with 65 percent of jobs in Las Vegas and 63 percent of jobs in Riverside predicted to be automatable by 2025

2025

Banking sector will be ground zero for job losses from AI and robotics

[quote]McDonald’s sales were struggling in recent years. They need to cut costs to survive, and this is one way to do it. Yes they have to eliminate jobs, but they wouldn’t be able to employ anyone at all if they went out of business.

[quote]Yes capitalist pig. Maybe they could accept less profits?

Why should they? Do you accept less money for the work you do? Do you look at your finances and once you pay for the basic necessities (food, clothes, housing), give the rest away? You don't need that vacation. You don't need that new phone. You don't need to go to the movies or pay for Netflix or Amazon Prime.

McDonald's employs a quarter of a million people, has the Ronald McDonald House charity, and spends millions more on causes and sponsorships. Could they do more? Of course. But can't we all? I'll never understand why people get so sanctimonious about how a private company allocates their earnings. Do you want to be told how to spend your money, or have some sort of cap on your earnings? They have to keep all their shareholders happy and confident that they can manage their money and continue to turn a profit.

And further to r195, 85% of McD outlets are owned by franchisees, not the corporation. So theres intense financial pressure for each location to survive.

Anything that improves the bottom line is going to be considered. Like automation.

McDonald's doesnt sell food. It sells franchises.

I used to be able to say just "Number 3, for here".

Now it takes me two minutes of poking around on a screen to order the same damn thing.

How is this an improvement in customer experience?

Ridiculous that the kiosks don't take cash.

Cash is godawful. Soon all stores will stop taking it.

R132 what’s your horror story of your self order gone wrong? I’ve only got 1 and it’s because the workers didn’t notice I ordered my food online. When they made it it was correct and I got an$5 coupon for the problem. Sounds like you’d be okay with a machine marking the food as well as you ordering yourself. If they can’t read they probably don’t need to be handling food.

This is such a "get off my lawn" thread!

"McDonald's employs a quarter of a million people, has the Ronald McDonald House charity, and spends millions more on causes and sponsorships. Could they do more? Of course. But can't we all? I'll never understand why people get so sanctimonious about how a private company allocates their earnings. Do you want to be told how to spend your money, or have some sort of cap on your earnings? They have to keep all their shareholders happy and confident that they can manage their money and continue to turn a profit."

Yawn, nice to see you McDonald's PR person

R193 is so correct. I am always puzzled by the DL animosity toward businesses, people who work hard and reap the financial benefits, etc. These are probably the very same people who rarely ever give a cent to the downtrodden and other charitable causes.

Oxford University study on automation for the fucking moron at R173. It was done a few years back so that's why I say approx. 50% US job loss in approx. 15 years.

R180, we used to have a guest worker program. Cesar Chavez himself was a proponent. He opposed illegal immigration.

[quote] New study shows nearly half of US jobs at risk of computerisation A new study titled: “The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?,” by Dr Michael A. Osborne from Oxford University’s Department of Engineering Science and Dr Carl Benedikt Frey of the Oxford Martin School, estimates that 47 percent of jobs in the US are “at risk” of being automated in the next 20 years

Oh and Mrs. Hard Left Gasbag @ R169 R171 - California voters were just treated to endless ads about... wait for it... how the Democratic candidates were going to be good for immigrants/ immigration. One would think that there was nothing else going on in the state beyond the urgent need to make sure that "immigrants" were OK.

As someone who is left-leaning, and hard left on issues like the environment, war, health care, and someone whose friend group is also left-leaning, I got sick of hearing about DACA and "immigrants" in almost every fucking Democrat candidate's ad, as did my friends. There are so many things that need fixing and what we get is DACA, DACA, DACA.

Germs are everywhere people.

And it’s always the prissiest pearl clutchers with omnipresent hand sanitizer who are licking random stranger’s buttholes or doing ass-to-mouth, I SWEAR.

The end of cash is integral to the master plan of the NWO satanists!

How do you mean, R205?

I love Erna.

Cashless and surveillance = total control over the masses

Three Square Market Microchips Employees Company-Wide

not a good idea

[quote]The end of cash is integral to the master plan of the NWO satanists!

Protect your wealth with Gold!

^^^ 😂😂😂

I try not to use credit cards. only in emergencies. Cash is King. this way, my info won't be compromised when these companies are hacked. it's only a matter of WHEN, they will be hacked, sooner or later and you don't hear about it until 1 year later. These fucking companies try to keep it secret.

So excited about the new iphone

did you line up for you new iphone?

were you excited?

R201 since nobody else said it, I will. Businesses are the main reason for people's misery. Are you broke? Probably because you aren't paid much for the work you do and because every company charges the maximum they can for their goods and services. Who does it benefit? The 1% investor class and business executives, not the masses - in other words, very few people benefit much from your economic activity.

Has your rent gone up 50% in the past 4 years? That's because investors own your rental property and the company that manages it. They all insist on taking as much as they can. And these days, I think that means they will keep taking until a critical mass of people start speaking out against greed.

Oh, but the corporations make us shiny things! Do we need corporations making us burgers and selling us car insurance? No. It could be done by local businesses and not-for-profit government agencies. It would cost less.

Not a terribly long time ago, pre-Reagan, income personal and corporate income and capital gains taxes were higher. One effect these tax rates had was that they put the brakes on greed. People like being successful and making money, even if they can't keep all of it. But when the higher taxes law of diminishing returns (progressive tax rates) kicks in, corporations tend to spend what would have been taxed profits on other things such as R&D, workplace efficiency, and - gasp - wages and benefits such as retirement, tuition reimbursement, health insurance, raises, and other things that many workers haven't seen since 1986.

And I agree with R203. Even though Bernie's original party paid for me to attend grad school, I never voted his party. And the current Democratic party and most of the political left is obsessed with identity politics to the exclusion of everything else. Nobody in politics talks much about the problems of the working and middle classes or about the poor. Wealthy high-tax California can maybe hang with their huge numbers of illegal immigrants, but in other parts of the country, immigration leads to declining wages and work standards and increased misery of all kinds for immigrant and non-immigrant alike.

"Cash is stupid!'

[quote]What the hell is wrong with having someone there who will assist customers and clean the machines? I managed a couple front end sections at grocery stores and those self checkout machines quickly become a mess with gunk all over the touchscreens if someone isn’t there to watch them and clean them.

Some stores are strict and will have the self check attendants or other employees clean the machines and screens constantly.

"Cash is for Luddites!"

The good news is that the work of many attorneys can be automated. It's mostly just assembling phrase sets and then bragging that you worked until 2 a.m.!

[quote]The good news is that the work of many attorneys can be automated.

Then all those out-of-work attorneys can end up in Congress.

It’s a dumping ground for people who failed in the real world.

Yeah it looks like being a politician is one of the few jobs that will survive the robot invasion.

[quote]I got sick of hearing about DACA and "immigrants" in almost every fucking Democrat candidate's ad, as did my friends.

So... apparently you're a racist moron and so are your friends.

I told everyone this would happen. Say goodbye to the jobs of cashiers, shelf stockers, people who mow lawns and loads of other jobs

Poor people are FUCKED

Poor people are fucked, but not just poor people - the next wave is white collar jobs.

R223 your only come back to valid concerns about unwillingly importing unvetted and low-skilled workers at a time when automation is going to cause this country to lose 50% of our jobs in the near future is the now very overused charge of "racism."

I would suggest that either you're an idiot or you yourself are racist. An idiot because you have no other comeback but "racism" or a racist because you're giving free pass to illegal immigrants simply because they're people of color.

If a horde of low-skilled white people, say Canadians, decided to decamp permanently for the US, overwhelming the housing, medical and school systems ( although Canadians would not need ESL classes) and basically making huge swathes of the border states into Little Canadas (Eh?), waved Canadian flags at US political conventions, and demand that the needs of illegal Canadians, their Dreamer kids and all their relatives who wanted to join them, come first, and then be catered to by US politicians owned by big business or wanting the support of the new Canadian-American voting bloc, I'm guessing you'd be the first calling for them to be shipped back.

You, R223, are a patsy of Big Business/ globalists, and you're too stupid to realize it.

(rolling eyes). Your come back is basically "I know you are but what am I?"

No, your concerns aren't valid. All your bullshit has been debunked. We NEED immigrants to keep functioning as a society. That you don't know this means you've bought into the RWNJ propaganda and have ignored the rest. Your'e just plain too stupid to realize how stupid you are.

[quote]. We NEED immigrants to keep functioning as a society

This is 100% propaganda by the 1% pushing globalism misery

This is for LOW wages and labor instability and social instability - good for the 1% ONLY

No, it really isn't. But you know, whatever. You're oblivious to the food rotting in the fields, or the amount immigrants not only contribute to our society, but how they help demographically (birthrates are down, which means the population is aging, which would put a far bigger strain on social security and medicare if it weren't for immigrants).

Sounds like you have your Bernie-Blinders on.

Again R227, I have posted the Oxford University study on job loss to automation, while you have given no back up to your non-argument except "racism" and "Republican talking points."

BTW: the GOP only pays lip service to opposing illegal immigration - the GOP politicians would never cut off the supply of cheap labor for their corporate masters. "Liberals" like yourself only enable the GOP to continue to exploit low-income workers, legal or not.

[quote]the population is aging, which would put a far bigger strain on social security and medicare if it weren't for immigrants).

The 1% is hiding their money in offshore accounts. Change that and social security and medicare is paid for. And there are other games they play now as well. They don't want you to think of that. You must always think of more people, to bring the wages down.

[quote]You, [R223], are a patsy of Big Business/ globalists, and you're too stupid to realize it.

You coulda just called 'em a globalist cuck. Shorter.

You kinda have to wonder what kind of fascist society this idiot wants … draconian anti-immigration and anti-immigrant policies? Forcing Americans to work the fields that no American wants to work in? Can you even [italic]imagine[/italic] the consequences of what they're talking about?

All these people preaching revolution never seem to acknowledge the damage and horrible effect such revolutions have on the oppressed and underclasses. It's almost always straight white guys pushing these idiotic, clueless notions, safe in the knowledge they won't be adversely affected by the upheaval.

This will end in tears and starvation.

I have "worked the fields" R233, to pay for college. I have done many of the jobs "Americans won't do" (and whoever came up with that piece of propaganda deserves a kiss from R227) as did my friends in high school and college.

The ancestors of all those opioid casualties in Ohio worked the fields, and probably a few of them did and do. When we're all starving due to the rise of automation, we will work the fields again.

I'm picturing chaos and rioting at 3:00 a.m.

Exactly, R235

[quote]never seem to acknowledge the damage and horrible effect

What about all the jobs losses that they are actually planning with AI and technology, and at the same time they insist on bringing even more people into the country?

What about admitting that that will create even bigger problems than exist now? more serious ones

WTF ? I didn't order my Big Mac with a used band aid and a dead cockroach.......whose gonna fix this for me? Do I talk to the kiosk?

You have to eat it, R238. And you will want to in the future.

I was in Walmart a few days ago, and they had a sizeable, newly constructed area for self check-out that was actually being supervised by a couple of employees, encouraging shoppers to step right up and do it yourself. No way!

While I have to pack my own groceries @ Aldi's, at least they check out your groceries and put them in the cart for you.

If I'm gonna cash myself out, I won't do it without a 20% discount.

Here in Australia we have a high minimum wage and this sort of automation has been going on for years, guess what? we also have very low unemployment and a labor force participation rate of 65% vs 62% for the USA.

A high minimum wage eliminates crappy, low productivity jobs and encourages efficiency and innovation. If your business can become profitable by simply lowering wages and cutting back your tax burden...then that is what a business will do. But that doesn't make for a healthy economy and it certainly doesn't make for a healthy populace.

Hi Australia! What's it like not having any blacks or Latinos?

R241

But what happens to individuals that don’t have skills commensurate with the minimum wage?

Will they remain permanently unemployed? If you aren’t worth more than $15.01 per hour and the minimum wage is $15, no one will ever hire you.

Anyone who works 40 hours a week deserves to be able to afford a roof over their head and food on their table.

When minimum wage was first implemented, it was enough for a man to support a small family.

Basically, you're full of shit, parroting RWNJ talking points.

The best way to keep the economy going is to ensure that the people at the bottom can actually afford to buy things.

242 - We're a high migration country, so everyone gets a go at being the reject ethnicity that's about to cause the fall of civilisation; Irish, Maltese, Greeks, Chinese, Croatians, Lebanese, Aboriginal, Italian, Sudanese, Vietnamese and many others have taken their turn at the cultural whipping post.

R241 - It is a problem. If you are under 21 then most awards pay you a percentage of the full hourly rate, because it is assumed you are still learning and need experience to get up to speed. If you have a disability then you can be independently assessed to compare your productivity to that of an average worker in that field and be paid accordingly, while still drawing down a part disability pension. But there is a real problem here with long term unemployment, it's about 1.5% of the labor force but 25% of all unemployed. No one really wants to tackle the issue and they get shunted around employment agencies, short term courses, charities etc.

It would be better for a machine to have to deal with the out of control customer who believes they were shorted a McNugget.

Wouldn't it be even better is the machine ate the out-of-control customer?

Or shot them? Maced them? Bitch slapped them?

The possibilities are endless!

R230, I read your Oxford study (thanks for posting it), and while it does a decent job of telling the history of previous dislocations and touches on a lot of upcoming factors, it uses a "novel" statistical approach to make the 45% (not 50%) of jobs potentially at risk by 2020 claim. I don't have the information to evaluate the math, but I'm quite wary of prognosticators dressed up in academic clothes. In my lifetime there have been any number of predictions of global collapse, massive migrations, wholesale famine, that have been belied by actual events. As will these. I point again to the fact that best sales predictions for electric cars are only 35% of the market by 2020 (as a single example). The rate of technological adoption isn't steady, or predictable. Ubiquitous cellphone use became explosive in Africa, and third-world countries much faster than in the developed world, and yet they still have to use bicycles as ambulances.

There's a great deal of inertia at play. An expert system can be a great help in diagnosis, but it's not replaced humans in providing care. I doubt that in 15 years, everyone's simply going to stop going to doctors and use WebMd. As I said originally, automation is definitely coming, but perhaps a lot more piecemeal than your ivory tower paper asserts.

Every time I go to McDonalds and I order a "Number 2, medium, for here", they always ask "Medium or large", so I repeat medium, for here. Then they ask "For here or to go?" So I repeat for here.

WHAT THE FUCK, ARE THEY DEAF?

I think I'd prefer a self-order kiosk. They won't be as fucking stupid.

They're not deaf, R249, they're following the script on their terminal. Since they can't push the buttons out of sequence, they don't even pay attention to what you say except "#2." Then they ask the follow-up questions on the register.

I used to work at McDonalds, R250. It doesn't take a genius to simply listen and enter things. I said "For here" THREE TIMES before they asked "Is this for here or to go?" once. It's not rocket science. If their memory and attention span can't go back more than 3 seconds, there's something wrong with them and they deserve to be replaced with a kiosk.

Their cash registers don't even have price numbers on them, just pictures.

Good. I always steal when I use a self checkout. I can steal from McDonald's too.

With unemployment so low a lot of fast food places are having difficulty finding enough workers. It makes perfect sense that things like ordering should be automated. Automated ordering would also be less prone to errors. I would imagine the kiosks will pay for themselves in no time.

Personally I don't mind kiosks R254, but no.

Kiosks are very expensive. They have to be maintained, and the software has to be maintained. This kind of software, unless produced in-house, will probably have some sort of royalty fee attached to it. The owner will pay for it forever. It's not a one-time purchase.

Kiosk orders are prone to errors, because large segments of the populace are illiterate, not fluent in English, or are not technologically literate. Watching people in the self-check lines at the grocery is amazing. I don't expect people to be any better at ordering food.

Errors can occur in the kitchen too. Do you know why they often happen? The cook isn't paying close attention to the orders that come up (especially special instructions), or the cook is illiterate or doesn't know English. In some parts of the US, there must be an English or Spanish-speaking person in the kitchen to tell the cooks what is on those kitchen terminals, because the cooks can't read them.

I'm currently in one that has the kiosk and nobody uses it, the just order the normal way.

That’s cause they think you’re cute and want to talk to you, R256.

Fight for Fifteen...cents?

[quote] Good. I always steal when I use a self checkout. I can steal from McDonald's too.

The fact that you typed this means you are a truly dumb person. It doesn't work the same way.

R253, there's no way to steal food using the kiosks. Clearly you've never used one.

Anyone who doesn’t understand that these kiosks will replace 95% of low wage workers, utterly obviating a $15/hr minimum wage, has never studied simple economics.

These poor minority children will never be able to get a first job is the minimum wage is raised to $15 per hour. They will end up as baggers or fees because no other legal opportunities will be available.

Socialists are so fucking retarded.

“baggers or fees”

Beggars or thieves.

Your'e a brainwashed idiot, R261.

Am I the only one who's noticed that a lot of the self-checkouts in grocery stores have been removed? People didn't like them and, half the time, they didn't work right.

[quote]I consistently get cheese on my burgers when I've clearly specified NO CHEESE.

Why don't you just order a hamburger? If you are ordering a hamburger and then saying "no cheese", no wonder your order keeps getting fucked up. All of you in favor of kiosks, this is the idiot you'll be behind trying to figure out how to order a hamburger without cheese.

The self-checkouts were removed because older people who struggle with anything computerized couldn't figure them out.

The self-order kiosks are brilliant. I hope they put the money saved on labor back into the shitty food.

[quote]Am I the only one who's noticed that a lot of the self-checkouts in grocery stores have been removed? People didn't like them and, half the time, they didn't work right.

Really? Mine still has them, and I use them all the time with rarely a problem. It's much faster - I take the handheld scanner with me, scan items as I take them off the shelf, then bag them in my recyclable bag as I go. It's made grocery shopping much easier and quicker.

I've never noticed a self-checkout lane getting removed.

And how stupid do you have to be to not figure out how to work one?

[quote]Why don't you just order a hamburger? If you are ordering a hamburger and then saying "no cheese", no wonder your order keeps getting fucked up. All of you in favor of kiosks, this is the idiot you'll be behind trying to figure out how to order a hamburger without cheese.

R264, because ALL of their burgers cheese on them by default (except the woeful tasteless small hamburger). You used to be able to specifically order a Quarter-Pounder or a Quarter-Pounder with cheese, but now, there's only one listed on the menu - guess which?

The self checkout in Target usually has a longer line than the cashiers have. Most people are just picking up a few things and don't want to deal with the drama of some bitch with $300 worth of merchandise in her cart, demanding a price check for each item.

i like using self check out because I can dump all my coins into it...probably bad for humans and good for robots.

I refuse to use it. I was at the train station Saturday and went to the McDonalds. People were waiting in a line 15 deep to use the two double sided kiosks while there was an employee behind a register waiting for a customer. I went right up tothhe person and was done before some of those in line were able to place an order. I would have waiting in the long line if the situation ion was reversed just to do my part and save that wonderful young ladies job. People are such sheep that they will use whatever system the herd is using. I know a store near my house had a manager pushing customers to use the kiosk. I told her I’m not interested in using her digital replacement. She smiled and directed me toward the traditional counter.

Please don’t use these.

People who are complacent with this are stupid and have no comprehension of Economics. "Ooooo...my burger be cheaper, good for me!" That's if the price is even lowered, if it is you'll see it return within a year to the same or more.

Fools will learn the hard way. You take away customer service with another human being and you've gone one step further into the abyss. First the low paying jobs, then the service industry/banking jobs. It's coming your way, selfish fools...you're next.

Ralph's in LA took out many of the self check stands due to theft.

My local CVS cashier told me that their self-checkout machines don’t give you many of the sale prices and discounts.

What a ripoff!!

Guess they’re hoping you won’t notice.

R250 if that’s the case then all the more reason to replace them with machines.

Went to McDonald's today. Noticed something mildly interesting: Guys walked up and used the kiosks. Women went to the counter and ordered the old fashioned way. It was shockingly consistent.

Worked in McD in Australia for five years (high school and uni). We have had these for about three years now in all stores. Customers think they're smarter than us at ordering, but you'd be shocked at how they fuck up their own orders so frequently. "HOW COME I GOT A QUARTER POUNDER INSTEAD OF A DOUBLE CHEESEBURGER???" - "it says on your receipt that you ordered a double cheeseburger?" - "WELL I MEANT A QUARTER POUNDER".

We started with "gourmet" (made to order) make your own burgers to first get people using the kiosks. You could add whichever bun, meat, cheese, sauce, toppings, etc. and there were options that weren't available on regular burgers (like brioche bun, pepper jack cheese, long pickles strips, etc). So often people would create their own burger and then complain that they ordered the wrong ingredients. One woman accidentally gave herself a lettuce wrap instead of a normal bun. People would always mix up chicken and beef and complain that they meant to put the other one.

By the time I was 21 (and officially earning Aus minimum wage) I earned roughly $25 an hour. It was still barely enough to survive on, because the store would constantly hire 14 yr olds and keep them as trainees so that they would get the lowest possible wage. After turning 18, I would be lucky to get three shifts a week, usually just getting one. When you go to McD in Australia and wonder why it's so shit and no one can get your order right, it's because 99% of the workforce have been there less than a month. Once you get beyond"trainee", you cost like $3 more per hour, and therefore lose all your shifts and are replaced by someone new.

I took a lot of pride in my job and actually loved it, and I hated when customers were dissatisfied, and tried my hardest to make every order the best... but sometimes you can only do so much when you're the only person working among an 8-person crew who knows how to make a drink, take an order, count change, cook fries or even mop.

[quote]Went to McDonald's today. Noticed something mildly interesting: Guys walked up and used the kiosks. Women went to the counter and ordered the old fashioned way. It was shockingly consistent.

This is why men rule the world lol!

Uh, R280, being so socially inept that they can't even talk to a counter person is why men are falling behind in our new service-based world...and why they are so violent, abusive, and murderous. Thankfully, many of them are now stuck to their couches playing video games and will not have to face real people ever in their lives.

Wow, that's some pretzel logic.... being so technically inept that you can't even figure out a simple touch-screen and have to run to someone else to order for you … see how that kind of crap works?

I could almost sense the "Barbie" voice from every woman... "computers are HAARRRDDDD!"

There's even people, WOMEN, in the lobby there offering to help people with the kiosks. Still, the women all but ignored them, and the men just confidently walked up and ordered like it was no big deal. Because it isn't.

Yeah, let's pretend that women can't figure out communication and ordering technology. Uh huh.

Well, you're the one pretending men can't order from a human, dumbass.

If given the choice, I think men are bad enough at common human interaction that they would choose, literally, any other mode of doing whatever they want to do. I think women will use both and don't really care one way or the other whether it's a machine or human. The men saw something new and shiny and were drawn to it and the women just wanted to get their shit and move along.

And, don't you have to go to the counter to pick up the food anyway? The only thing they avoided was talking to a human.

No, R285. You order, you have a seat, and they bring it to you.

If you go to the counter you have to stand around and they just call your number and hand you your food at the counter.

Ordering from the Kiosk is just a better experience all around.

[quote]Am I the only one who's noticed that a lot of the self-checkouts in grocery stores have been removed? People didn't like them and, half the time, they didn't work right.

More stores in my area have been adding self-checkouts lately, and they are always in use.

You must live in area populated by stupid people.

Good. I can understand spanish better than I speak it, but these cashiers be having such thick accents its rough.

R287, self-checkouts went away in many places because management thought they could be self-monitoring, and saw their losses explode. Then they got smart again and realized that they could have 1 person manage a dozen or more self-checkouts, and sanity returned. But lots of customers are too stupid to use them. In my city, the ghetto stores still don't have self-checkout. They're only in the nicer parts of town.