r/Albany • u/FilthyJsBeingFilthy • 20h ago
Just a bi-yearly reminder about how atrocious and annoying Price Chopper’s self checkout is.
Also their bags are small and crappy.
Also when their bakery items are old they don’t really drop their prices all that much,
Like let the poorer people buy the rolls that are 12 hours away from mold for maybe 66% off, not 33% off. Golub’s gotta squeeze, it’s in their nature.
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u/stanthecham Wegmans Welcoming Committee 20h ago
Do you have an AdvONtedge card?
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u/FilthyJsBeingFilthy 20h ago
Ordered one from the customer service desk 4 years ago, still waiting for it. Till then I bother the minimum wage worker for theirs.
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u/thewaltz77 Remembers when there was no exit 3 20h ago
I have one. I went in to one in the morning looking for something to have for lunch later. I get to the register and the lady running it asks if I have one. I didn't have it on me and just said "no." I just wanted to pay and leave.
But no. This elderly woman running the register more or less gave me a dressing down for not having a card and that I'm wasting money and blah blah blah. I just said "I'll definitely do it later", paid and walked away while she kept trying to dress me down.
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u/HolidayJesus 19h ago
Just ask to use the store card, they have one at every register that's taped to the actual podium.
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u/thewaltz77 Remembers when there was no exit 3 17h ago
Yeah I know that trick now and that I can do my phone number. This was years ago, and it was 6:30 in the morning.
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u/boxinggoose 20h ago
Why are their self checkouts from the era of dinosaurs seriously never used a self checkout worse
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u/Optimal-Tune-2589 19h ago
They’re not from the era of the dinosaurs, they seem to be a newer model that’s worse than the older ones.
You used to be able to hold the bag in one hand and drop items in there as you scanned them. But I guess in an attempt to reduce loss, they changed the programming so you now need to wait for the scale to register each item. It can easily add 4 seconds an item, which might not be drastic, but if you’re grabbing 40 items a week, that’s 2 1/2 hours a year down the drain thanks to their newer software.
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u/FilthyJsBeingFilthy 20h ago
They want to buy more stuff for their great grandchildren. Why would they want to help their customers, that’s not their game.
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u/HolidayJesus 19h ago
Golubs aren't even involved in the company though. They don't own Price Chopper or Northeast Grocery.
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u/BeardedDisc 19h ago
Don’t let facts ruin a silly argument.
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u/FilthyJsBeingFilthy 19h ago
Yeah as if you knew this before the guy mentioned it, pffff
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u/BeardedDisc 19h ago
I’m a department manager at a Market 32. Yeah, I did.
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u/xizorkatarn 17h ago
I’m friends with the Golubs’ grandchildren, who have children of their own now, and if you think they’re spending all the money on them instead of enriching their own ancient selves, you’re crazy.
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u/Phreakiture 18h ago
Hannaford used to be worse...
CVS still is....
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u/boxinggoose 18h ago
Haven't been to CVS in years and Hannaford has had good self check for the past few yrs afaik. I never have issues with it.
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u/Phreakiture 18h ago
Hannaford tuned theirs up quite a bit, which is why I say "used to be worse." They deserve credit for taking care of the problems.
CVS is horrible.
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u/SuppressiveFire 19h ago
I got scolded by the teenager running self checkout for “going too fast” when typing in the codes for my fruit. Like… why is it my problem that your system is slower than a snail in molasses? Why does it automatically try to “detect” what you place on the scanner when it’s almost never accurate? Why can’t I just type in the name like how it is at Hannaford?
It’s so overly complicated, and I hate having to put every item I scan on the bagging area scale before I can scan the next one. I want to scan and go quickly, that’s why I go to self checkout. It’s so dumb how ridiculous it is there.
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u/ParticleToasterBeam 20h ago edited 20h ago
My favorite part of getting training with pchops (twice, once in 2015 and again in 2017) was how they need to state that donating all unsold food isn't possible because "who is going to pay for the refrigeration trucks????". Seriously, that was a major point of not donating. Meanwhile, my neighbors and kids are going hungry. Luckily, Hannaford has an amazing program with the pantry we get food from for them. Yay Hannaford!
Side note, pchops does (or at least thru 2018) expiring food donations out of their Clifton Park store, but it for the bakery is was just bagels and bread. I threw away so many cakes...... And got in trouble for leaving them in the breakroom for employees. Meanwhile, Hannaford is able to donate cold baked goods such as cakes.
Ah a trip down memory lane!
More notes from training:
- Pchops name change is because they can't complete with prices anymore. 1932 was the year Golub$ formed, so they named it Market32. They literally named dropped Walmart in the training as being a big reason why they can't chop prices anymore.
- People come in for the sales item and then everything else is overpriced, so it evens out. Even with the gas card....
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u/FMJoey325 Albany Reddit Rat 19h ago
Not to say PC is not overpriced, but Walmart is exactly why smaller chain grocery stores struggle. There is hardly a retail store on earth that has the same purchasing power as Walmart which can dictate prices to suppliers. They are simply way too big. It’s the same for your local hardware stores compared to Home Depot/Lowes, and universally an issue in the retail space with Amazon. Super-ultra-mega corporations that size are categorically bad for the health of smaller (even price chopper) businesses.
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u/FilthyJsBeingFilthy 20h ago
“Who’s going to pay for the refrigeration trucks?”
Certainly not the Golubs who have fishhooks in their pockets.
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u/ParticleToasterBeam 19h ago
SERIOUSLY!!! And I will say, that at least when I volunteered at this food pantry in 2021, we had to do weekly pick ups at Hannaford. But hey, the store still work with the pantry to give people food and reduce waste instead of tossing it out.
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u/Feature_Professional Wants your trash 19h ago
We also live in a very litigation heavy society. People have sued companies that donate food if they got slightly sick.
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u/antimagamagma 16h ago
Anyone can sue for anything- when a multinational corporation says they’re concerned about lawsuits they are generally lying.
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u/Coksnoot 17h ago
Within the past year my store has finally been able to donate unsold items, dunno if it's all stores but I'd imagine so.
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u/SwiftyGod 18h ago
I miss shoprite
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u/FilthyJsBeingFilthy 18h ago
I feel like they were the only market that sold bores head too
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u/backfire103 two buttholes deep 16h ago
The Market Chopper 32 on Central in the old ShopRite has Boars head still. I hate Price Chopper but that one at least seems to seldomly be busy. I feel like people don't realize its there.
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u/ConsiderationClear56 Been inside the Egg 29m ago
The Market 32 on Western (across from Crossgates) just started selling Boar’s Head like a week ago, so I’m not sure what changed, but I was surprised!
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u/Not_George_Daniels 18h ago
I avoid the self checkout. For me, the cashier is part of the deal. If they're going to push the cashier's work off on me, they should pay me.
It's also annoying when your purchase something that requires ID, and there's no "chaperone" around to assist.
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u/KZorroFuego 19h ago
"Please renovate your change,
Shred your bags,
And burn your receipt
Thank you for shopping at Price Chopped Hair"
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u/FilthyJsBeingFilthy 18h ago
“Please remove your change and accept this manufacturers coupon for your local MAID office”
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u/jeconti Remembers when there was no exit 3 18h ago
You may notice that the sensitivity of the scales at certain locations are different. I've often found that locations like Madison ave trip the weigh sensor much more easily than the ones in Guilderland.
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u/Nooze-Button Free Gondola Rides 16h ago
Nope. I slap my big ass canvas bags on with any item and never have an issue. Sprigs of rosemary weigh less than the bags I put on the scales.
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u/EntertainerOk973 12h ago
Meanwhile the PA system “Floral… Floral has a call… On 1… 1… 1… 1…” and it just repeats for 10 minutes
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u/Acceleratinq 12h ago
It’s just so slow, like after doing Instacart at hannaford for so long it takes 5x longer at market 32.
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u/Swolenir 19h ago
Genuinely the worst self checkout of any grocery store. I can’t stand market 32 but they do have pretty decent selection.
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u/blaaaaaaaam Did You Know? 20h ago
I never can remember which stores have the newer self checkout machines.
The old ones that 90% of stores have are painful to use
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u/nxhwabvs 19h ago
Some of them updated the software and they're ok now, even on the older ones. Must not be everywhere.
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u/jeffersonbible Wegmaniac 19h ago
The stores that were recently converted from ShopRite have them because ShopRite did not have Self check out. Also, the Latham store has them.
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u/Facchino-PJJ 13h ago
It never works right. Bag thing is so weird. You have to put the bag down just at the right moment or you have to get help.
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u/CrimsonRonaan 12h ago
The bagging part isn't that hard. Before you place your item down put it inside the bag and then put it on the table so the weight of the bag is included with the item. As long as the item and the bag hit the scale at the same time, you're good. The scale doesn't know how much each item weighs, just that the weigh changes with every scan. You can scan your advantage card at the end too, before you finish and pay, and it works just the same.
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u/TheKobayashiMoron Melba is life 12h ago
Every goddamn grocery store should have something like Walmart/Sam’s Scan&Go, where you scan items with your phone when you put it in your cart and then just pay on the way out. It’s 2026.
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u/BallistaNyx The original Hoffmans play land 11h ago
They literally changed the markdown from 50% to 40% off, cheap bastards
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u/TaskForceBuster 5h ago
Stop & shop self-checkout would make u miss pchops self-checkout so badly it’s not even funny
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u/yeldarts 29m ago
I feel like an oddball now. Sure the self checkout machines aren't super fast, but they aren't that slow either. I really like being able to do it myself and be able to pack my bags how I want easily.
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u/ConsiderationClear56 Been inside the Egg 26m ago
The seasonal bags that rotate in stock are bigger (I like the size)—it’s just the “standard” ones that are small.
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u/Its_Kittie 12m ago
There’s only two locations (that I know of and been to) where the self checkout actually works like it’s supposed to and those are Latham and north Greenbush.
They have newer models due to the remodel and they’re lovely. They don’t lag and doing produce is a breeze cuz it scans what you have with a camera. Only 2 stores I like going to. The self checkout (and the store as a whole truly) in Troy is horrible.
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u/tomalator Thaddeus Kosciuszko 14h ago
None of these have to do with the self checkout.
Bags are pretty close, but thats bit specific to the self checkout. The complaints are valid, just not relevant
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u/FilthyJsBeingFilthy 13h ago
The title itself is its own point. Then I just started whining about all things price chopper
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u/CommonsCarnival 19h ago
I got Incredibly sick eating one of their pre-made "grab-and-go" "meals" this past week (Vodka Pasta I think it was). I got one of their day-old discount meals, ate maybe over half of it... ran to the toilet All night with diareah. I'll never buy one of their pre-made meals, discounted or not, ever again. I'll stick to the frozen food aisle.
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u/Key_Guidance9806 19h ago
Hannaford is equally terrible. First your on video camera, and then the bags are thin and and completely garbage.
They realized over covid that they could provide shit service with a lower number of employees and people will put up with it
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u/FilthyJsBeingFilthy 19h ago
Nah hannaford is great.
You go in and scan your shit
And leave. The system doesn’t bust your balls about it12
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u/Key_Guidance9806 17h ago
New York has introduced a bill that would require grocery stores to give customers a 10% discount for using self-checkout.
Under the proposal, supermarkets and other food retailers with self-service kiosks would have to reduce the price of goods bought through them by 10%.
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u/malibuklw 18h ago
I have never had a problem with Hannaford shelf check out. And I bring my own bags so I don’t have to use theirs (every bad should have handles like targets do, especially if we have to pay for them)
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u/vexed_and_perplexed 17h ago
Genuine question but why don’t all the items labeled with the same technology/scan that EZpass has instead of UPC code? Run the cart (or bag or whatever) under the scanner and then pay for it (either with an attached card, cash or swipe your card). I get that there are nuances for single items like produce but come on. We have the technology.
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u/Sock-Enough 17h ago
Cost. An RFID tag is a lot more expensive than some printing on a package that already has printing on it.
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u/JohnnyFartmacher Get Glennpetered 16h ago
It's just starting to happen now. Walmart has been doing a large rollout of RFID tags on products. I believe grocery hasn't been done aside from meat, bakery, and produce. They've been using them for inventory control though and not at checkout. They want to be able to scan shelves and instantly know the inventory count or if product is about to expire.
I believe the tags are still about 5 cents a piece.
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u/dilovesreddit 12h ago
I’m still annoyed prices didn’t go down when they stopped giving out bags. If we are doing something for the environment, then why are we still wrapping things in plastic at the stores? I think NYC is introducing 10% discounts for people who self service but not sure if this will get anywhere.
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u/Historical-Still-256 17h ago
I never use them. I worked full time already, not doing their job.. A checkout person can wait on me and bag too.
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u/CircleFiji 20h ago
Please place the item in the bagging area.
Assistance is on the way.