On one hand, they can be a speedy payment alternative when you don’t have much shopping, but on the other, they can be a bit of a nuisance when they don’t weigh your grocery items properly, resulting in having to bother a store colleague for help.
But it seems at Tesco, some customers have been left irritated recently, complaining that the self-service checkouts are “too loud” – do you agree?
Others have said they feel like the robotic voice sometimes “screams” at them, while one even revealed the noise is the main reason they “never go” to Tesco.
It comes as someone shared a post on X that has had more than 200,000 views, which said: “Tesco self checkout are TOO LOUD. Hear ye hear ye (customer name) club card has been accepted. So uncouth.”
To which this person replied: “I never go to Tesco for this reason.”
An account shared: “Being outed with the APPROVAL NEEDED declaration is always fun.”
One profile responded: “No genuinely I never go into a tesco but the one time I did I was like why are you screaming at me.”
Also commenting on their experience of volume issues on the Tesco self-service tills, this user put: “Announcing to the whole store that I need an adult just bc I dared swipe a can of Monster at the self checkout.”
This shopper chimed in: “Idk how staff on self serve at any supermarket don’t go loco being shouted at by robots nonstop.”
Another agreed: “It must drive the staff absolutely mental.”
Newsquest has contacted Tesco for comment.
What are the new self-service tills at Tesco?
Last year, Tesco rolled out “VAR-style” self-service checkouts in stores across the UK, following in the footsteps of Sainsbury’s.
The new system, which became available in Tesco stores during the spring of 2025, features a camera which records customers scanning and packing their shopping.
Playback clips are then shown to shoppers if they scan items incorrectly, with a message like: “It looks like that last item didn’t scan”.
In May, customers were keen to share their thoughts, as someone previously said on X: “Shouldn’t have to do these sort of things today in society.”
This person argued: “Just bring back staffed tills – simple option.”
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A Tesco spokesperson told Newsquest at the time: “We are always looking at technology to make life easier for our customers.
“We have recently installed a new system at some stores which helps customers using self-service checkouts identify if an item has not been scanned properly, making the checkout process quicker and easier.”
What do you think of Tesco’s self-service checkouts at the moment? Let us know in the comments below if you think any changes are needed.
