So, I was recently hired by Kroger (though I'm honestly leery about it now) for cashier. The equipment we have is just so messed up that the scales don't register weighted items, the scanners don't read half of the barcodes, the things will friggin' ring double of an item without it even scanning an item a second time (I'm really getting tired of this one personally), as well as freezing up or constantly asking for override codes to be input into it. I've only worked here three days and I already want to tear my hair out from these machines. I've been stuck in the express lanes but the line gets held up ALL THE TIME because of the POS register. Has anyone else experienced crap like this?
So old that the keys are literally falling off. I lost the EFT button today. =/
This is sad to hear. My homestore has these keyboards and I love them to death (probably because I was trained around them!).
IBM actually has stopped servicing these! The keyboards are not manufactured anymore. Let your supervisor or customer service manager know about this. At least in my store division, I'm told that if the keyboards drop they'll put in some touch screens (easier to learn by far).
But like I said, your higher ups need to know about the keyboard quality. At least tell your supervisor. God that would suck.
You've only been working for three days? Let me give you some advice:
1) Express registers SUCK; let your supervisor know how much they suck. I try to split an associate's time on a big register and an express register evenly. Because sadly, someone has to use it. But don't be the person stuck on the express register for eight hours. That just gave me terrible flashbacks.
2) It seems like you are getting a lot of trouble with manager overrides popping up. As a front end supervisor myself, 90% of those overrides can be avoided entirely.
i) Manager's override for a coupon? Learn how to use the Mfr Cpn button to key in coupons for specific departments. Your FES probably has a whole booklet full of keyboard functions. (or if it's the REALLY old keyboard, you'll have to use the 30021/30022 coupon codes although be really wary of using them often).
ii) Did you enter a wrong PLU for those tomatoes but it's asking for a manager's override to void them? Chances are you weighed them wrong (e.g. produce was hanging off the scale when the computer was weighing it). Void+Enter voids the last item you keyed in, and if that doesn't work you can try voiding it manually: Press Void, enter the PLU number that you last entered, and then enter the weight that you originally entered (that should be on the monitor) BUT MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE THE TARE! If you want to void 4.82 lb of bananas, the weight you would enter to void is 4.83. Because that 0.01 lb extra is the TARE WEIGHT, the part that the customer does not pay for (in the case for the bananas, it's assumed the TARE WEIGHT is the clear plastic bag that customers usually put their bananas in.) Learning the TARE WEIGHT for each PLU takes a lot of practice but can save you a lot of time!
iii) Do you need to redo an order and need the transaction voided? That usually requires a manager's override. If there's not that many items, you can void every single item and press total. When it reads zero dollars, CASH IT OUT (hit the cash key twice). If you're cashing out zero dollars, nothing really happens, and it's usually faster to void all the items and cash out rather than wait for the FES to come over and void+total.
3) Have you tried zeroing the scale if the scale is busted? Resetting the scanner so it doesn't double scan? Ask your FES how to do that since I don't know if you have the exact same model of scanner we have.
I'm sorry if my explanations are long winded and confusing (this is why I only train baggers :) ) but I hope this helps. As I tell my baggers, if you have a crappy attitude, you are going to have a crappy time. It all reflects back.
