Self -checkout can be a nightmare

Anyone know of a self-checkout system that goes smoothly every time you use it? My last experience, at the Super Stop & Shop in Hackensack yesterday, was frustrating and confusing, and I needed the assistance of an employee as well as the woman behind me to complete my purchase.

I went there to buy drug-free Australian shoulder lamb chops (on sale through Thursday for $3.69 a pound) and picked up antibiotic-free chicken legs sold under the Nature's Promise label, four packages in all. There was no price sign near the clementines from Spain -- the first I've seen this year -- and no wonder. A produce worker said they were $9.99 for a five-pound box, about twice what I'm used to paying.

The self-checkout systerm  -- called "EZ Shopper" -- turned out to be a broken promise. Three of my four packages scanned with a beep, but the fourth didn't and the belt ran backward. The employee came over to help. Then, after I swiped my credit card, I couldn't find the box in which to sign my name (it wasn't on the pad where I swiped the card). The woman behind me showed me it was located elesewhere.

In all the confusion, I didn't get credit for my reusable bag.