Tesco: What's wrong with self-service checkouts as 100K shoppers petition against them

Forget Brexit or the economy. Forget Piers Morgan or what colour that infernal dress was a few years back, because there is a new debate in town to split the British public.

Now the county is divided over whether or not you like self-service checkouts.

Pat McCarthy, 69, from Brentford in west London has opened a can of worms with a remarkable petition to Tesco asking to scrap the automated machines, which has passed 100,000 signatures this week.

But what is wrong with self-service tills, and what are Pat's frustrations that clearly speak for so many?

What is wrong with self-service checkouts?

For Pat McCarthy, the reason she wants rid of self-service checkouts comes down to preferring human interaction.

At the core of the argument against robot cashiers is a simple concept: “You can’t speak to a machine.”

She has voiced an argument that countless people have felt across so many parts of today’s world, a frustration that smiling faces are being replaced by digital contraptions.

Supermarkets do employ staff to help with self-checkouts (Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Writing on Change.org, the online platform she used to raise the petition, she said: "These new tills are not accessible for people who don't have credit cards and can only use cash or those with little confidence to use these self-service card-only tills - myself included."

Tesco has said that staff are always available to help, regardless of which kind of checkout you use.

But Ms McCarthy, who shops at Tesco Extra in Osterley, claimed that she faced a 30-minute wait to pay for her goods with just five or six staffed checkouts available.

"You do need some self-service for the people who find them more convenient but just fewer," she said.

Ms McCarthy, a volunteer who works with people with disabilities and who lives alone, said she enjoys the chat with staff as she pays for her goods.

For 100,000 Brits, you just can't beat that human interaction at the checkout (PA)

A spokesperson for Tesco said: "Our colleagues and the friendly service they provide are absolutely vital to our stores and will always be on hand to help our customers, whether they are checking out at one of our colleague-operated or self-service checkouts."

Exasperation at the self-checkout is far from new. In 2015 Morrison bought back 1,000 staff after a study found 67% of customers felt nervous using the machines.

So there you have it, the battle lines are drawn. Which side of the great debate of 2022 do you fall on? Let us know in the comments below.