Self-checkouts: does the machine make you dishonest?

Being able to make your purchases and scan them under the at most distant gaze of a cashier for several positions: by setting up this system, we had to expect that there would be abuses. Large distributors wanted to save time and money by automating the checkout process; they can’t have it all.

By not having to pass in front of an employee, the less honest among us feel like they are growing wings out of defiance or even out of so-called principles, as our article points out, even if, in any case, a theft remains a theft. In any case, this reminds us that the machine cannot solve everything because humans remain human. He is not going to let himself be dominated by the machine and obey it.

To counter this, countries have had to put in place more or less sophisticated means to increasingly control scanning. To the point where it becomes a chore, especially when it comes to an item weighing system. We can then wonder about the point of inventing so many tools in order to cheat the consumer. The question arises of going back and simply eliminating these automatic checkouts.

In Switzerland, distributors have not taken any of these steps despite the thefts, since only random checks exist. On the one hand, we understand that they still benefit from this automation. A sign that the benefits provided by the machine remain much greater than the cost of the flights.

Finally, on the other hand, this also means that certain clichés die hard since the Swiss remain very honest and trustworthy when we leave him the responsibility of tipping his articles without too much supervision. To see if this Swiss exception will continue.

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