Hello LPG,

I just want to highlight a concern of mine. 

Recently I went on one of the many coach day trips that are available during the summer and such trips start quite early in the morning at a relative central point in the borough.   This particular trip began at the Catford Town Hall where we all met the coach.  The only drawback of going by coach is the amount of things that I want to take with me, and there is always something that is not really vital but that I remember on the way to that early morning meeting point. 

 It was no different on this trip, and I had arrived early enough to pop over to the Catford Centre for a packet of tissues.  You know how it is, as I looked for the tissues I also found a couple of other things I wanted, but when I decided to pay for my items I realised that the only option open to me was the self-service checkout. I am afraid they lost my custom that day; I put the items on a conveyer belt and left the shop because there was no member of staff to take my money.

During most of the ‘shopping day’, self-service payment is a choice, and because most of us shop in a hurry, more and more of us opt for exploiting it.  But I found the choice to pay a person taken away from me because it was early.  We see this all the time; banks trying to deter us from using cheques, car parks offering online payment options, the option of contactless debit cards, utility service providers offering discounts if we pay by direct debit, and so many other innovations that are offered as an option but gradually become the only option available. It appears that every aspect of customer service is being automated, the establishment’s main aim being to save corporate money.  Do you realise how many choices we are allowing them to take away from us?

It is our fault.  We, the consumers, will be told about company policy, but if the consumers boycott such services the companies and other organisations concerned will not be able to implement them.  Their first concern is making money; saving money comes second!

So please don’t make it easier for them to get away with taking choices away from us and remember that automation costs jobs and forces our sons, daughters, nieces and nephews (not to mention our grandchildren) to have less job opportunities. 

I believe that we need to keep our options open.  We pensioners are at a stage in our lives when we are most able to afford a bit of extra time so, when the option of personal checkout is not available to you, ask the shop to open a real till.  They are likely to because they don’t want you to spend your money anywhere else.    

You can’t query your bill with a self-service checkout and it cannot offer you service with a smile either!

UR, Catford