Jewel Self Checkouts Going Away

A few weeks back I noticed they removed the self checkout lanes at my local Jewel supermarket.  I was disappointed by this because I preferred using the self checkout rather than going through the regular cashier lane.  I'm not much of a people person so I would rather check out and bag my own items than having to interact with the checkout person and bagger in the regular lane. 

A lot of people complain that there are always errors with the self checkout.  I don't find this to be the case. See it is good, but you have to know how to use it.  If you have anything like coupons or items requiring an ID, obviously the self checkout is not the best route because you are going to have to have someone come and help out anyway.  You have to follow the procedure of scanning the item and placing it where it is suppose to be and you should not run into any problems. 

Jewel says that they are doing away with the self checkout to make it more customer service oriented and to help prevent theft.  I guess making people interact with the staff makes it more friendly, but some people would rather not do that.  I don't know if it will cut down on theft either.  Maybe they figure people are not paying for all their items in the self checkout stations.  If this is true, I can understand wanting to do away with them. 

I will still go to Jewel but it is a shame they won't have the self checkout anymore.  On surveys for other stores, when they would ask for suggestions, I would always say they should add a self checkout option.  I think Walmart is the only place that has it now, but I don't like to shop there as I have mentioned in a previous blog.

I can already see this is stirring up controversy on the comments sections on news websites as they just reported on it a few days ago.  What are your thoughts on the matter?