Language · Idioma · Langue · Sprache · Lingua · Język

Hand held scanners

Anything Left-Handed Left handed life, Everyday & Practical
Left handed life Everyday & Practical

Evelyn mentioned that her local superstore (like numerous others) had closed many of their tills to “encourage” customers to use self service tills – but that their trolleys are set up for right handers as the hand held scanner holders are on the right. Leaving aside the question as to whether supermarkets should be discounting our shopping for us as we are doing their job for them (!) IF you are using a hand held scanner, would you prefer the holder to be on the right or the left? We assume we know the answer but wanted to check !

10 ESSENTIAL products every left-handed child needs

Left to Right, Right to Left: The Switch is On

Kate's Journey - update

Comments 79

  1. Roger Bacon
    Booths Supermarket in Fulwood, Preston does NOT have self checkout service.
    I use no other store because its products are, generally, excelent quality and the staff helpful.
  2. Andrew Ball
    Our local Tesco have trolleys with the scanner holder on the left
  3. G6JPG (John)
    I don't _think_ I mind, really.
    Also, I think I've seen cases where the scanner holder can be slid.
  4. Valerie Banton
    My local asda store has the scanners held on the left. I had not noticed until my right handed daughter complained!
  5. Jane
    I work in school and I an left handed. Some teachers do not get why kids who are left handed struggle with writing.. simple answer us there book isn't tilted so they can see what they are writing so they can't see it isn't their fault. I've jad teachers laugh at me when I try to explain difficulties. These kids are set up to fail before they even get going
    1. Andrew Ball
      We absolutely had to have the paper square to the edge of the desk, so the left little finger rubs directly overwatch you've just written!
      I was the only kid in the class to get homework, to practice my letters until they were legible! Finally sussed out by myself how to get my little finger below the line of Mt writing.
  6. Danny Amos
    Being left handed its been that way all my life.
  7. Wilma Marshall
    A a right hander, with a leftie tendencies and a true leftie son, I assume on the right would work for lefts, and the left for rights.
    So why not compromise and make it an option on al trollies or have specific trollies to suit different preferences.
  8. Ruth Simmons
    Some of Sainsbury's small trolleys do have the holder on the left (usually the newer kind where the holder is part of the handle and not bolted on). As long as there is a holder I'm not too fussed about the side
  9. John Davies
    I love some left handed power tools, e.g circular saw. Or left handed cake forks!
    1. Andrew Ball
      I would love left handed power tools as well! I've developed a technique of pushing that pesky little button (that needs to be depressed before the trigger will work) with the "ball" of my left index finger, (rather than the tip of your right finger as the right handed designer intended), but with some tools you're still holding the entire thing awkwardly whichever way round you hold it!
  10. Colin Bland
    We shop at Sainsbury’s and we use a clip on trolly as my wife is disabled.The holder on their trolleys is on the left however it is totally unusable due to the design of the basket. Have a look next time your in.Waitrose no problem.
  11. Colin Bland
    We shop at Sainsbury’s and we use a clip on trolly as my wife is disabled.The holder on their trolleys is on the left however it is totally unusable due to the design of the basket. Have a look next time your in.Waitrose no problem.
  12. Angela Allen
    My Sainsbury’s has them on the left hand side of the trolley. It’s now dawned on me why I see so many people carrying the scanner in their hand rather than putting it in the holder as they are obviously right handed, lol. Up until now, I’ve been thinking,why aren’t you using the holder, like me. Makes a change for left Handers to get priority
  13. Jackie Stone
    Our Asda has them on the left side.
  14. Kay Crone
    Even if they do put some scanner holders on the left, it would probably be only a few, and people just grab the nearest trolley, so I doubt you’d ever find one when you need it! They need to put two holders on every trolley, so people can use the one they prefer
  15. Robert Wilkin
    I don't self scan anyway. For the reason you outlined, that being service is supposed to be included in their prices.
    1. G6JPG
      I think - like several respondents - you are confusing what's being discussed. We're not discussing whether you self-scan when you've finished shopping or have your shopping scanned by a beepeuse: we're discussing hand-held scanners (like a small gun) you use _as_ you shop. Those who like to use those do so because, if you take boxes/bags with you, you can _pack_ as you shop, avoiding the delay when you're finished of unpacking your trolley (and packing your bags/boxes, often under pressure). The trolleys have a little holder on the handle to put the hand scanner in between picking up items; the original poster was saying, do you prefer that to be on the left or right of the handle? There are advantages and disadvantages to either (for both LH and RH users); as several have observed, it could be placed in the middle.
    2. peter nightingale
      I self scan at the local Leroy Merlin store, to save queueing behind loads of customers with awkward, difficult stuff, and to go straight through. I automatically put my purchases in the bagging area and scan, then place them on the pre scanning side as the tills are back to front for me
  16. Jean-Marie Thompson
    Hold scanner in left hand. Pick up item with right hand. Scan. Put item in trolley. Awkwardly put scanner back in narrow holder over to the right. Irritating!
  17. Alison Mansfield
    I use a phone app to scan my shopping.
    A phone case that opens with the spine on the right would be great.
  18. Wendy Kiernan
    Just one of the many inconveniences we lefties have to deal with!
  19. BRAULIO DE OLIVEIRA PAIVA
    I have to think about, because when I was young I was forced to write with the right hand and now I have wait my brain to decide wich hand I'm going to use.
    1. Rhiannon Britney
      They have discovered that left-handed people who were forced to use their right hand now have a problem distinguishing their left from their right. And they also have depth of field problems too. ;(
    2. peter nightingale
      I agree, I was forced to use my right hand at the age of 5, and my brain goes into overdrive trying to work out which is left and right. I always computer scroll in the wrong direction, and press up for down and vice versa on the likes of car windows, My brain also goes into overdrive with things like trying to work out which way to turn a screw etc
  20. Pam
    I have problems with normal brooms if they have I 3 screwed in handles. I sweep and they always unscrew.
    1. Georgianna Counterman
      My husband drills a small hole through the top of the broom and stick, then inserts a small screw stopping it from unscrewing.
  21. G
    We have three ways of scanning. There's the original, where you do your shopping, then take it all out of your trolley (cart) and put it on a belt and the cashier then scans it all, and you then pack it into your bags or boxes. There are usually queues (standing in line) for that. Then there's self-scan - same thing, but you do the scanning yourself. Often still queues, but shorter, plus you're in more control. Finally - and only in some stores - there's scan-as-you-shop, using a hand scanner like a little pistol; the advantage of that is you can pack as you shop - there's no unloading and then repacking when you get to the checkout: all you do at the checkout is pay (plus scan any items the hand scanner wouldn't scan).
  22. Sue G
    Hand held scanners.
    I have noticed they weren't comfortable to use, but until you wrote about it I didn't realise it's cause they're on the wrong side!!!!
  23. Jerome C MacMillan
    Since all checkout lines are setup for right handed people and I have been moving to the right all of my life, it probably would be confusing to checkout moving to the left although I would like to experience it at least once.
    1. G6JPG
      Actually, in UK some supermarkets have the operators in "islands" with belts either side, so some of them _do_ move to the left.
      \\
      But this is about where you want the scanner holder on the trolley (cart) handle to be, for HAND-HELD scanners (like a little pistol) that you use while shopping.
  24. Mr A Blackamore
    Would in be so hard to fit the scanner in the middle, not only would the help left handers but means right handers could swap hand to pick an item from the other side ???
  25. G6JPG
    Another thing - I don't know if it's handed, but it could be: a lot of ordinary tills, in the slope down behind the cashier to where you pack, have a hinged lever, the intention of which is that the cashier swings it over, so that the next customer can start packing while the previous customer is still in the way and blocking half the packing area. I have NEVER - in about 40 years - seen this actually _used_ in the way intended. (In the UK that is; in Germany they used it 40 years ago, and I have no reason to believe they don't still.)
  26. Hugh Scott
    As i have seen others say we live in a right handed world and us lefties have adapted to use many things with our right hand. I don’t really mind the scanner being on the right side
  27. Mo Mortimet
    All self check outs are a problem for me, I only use them where there is no viable choice, but I always make a point of speaking to a manager and asking them to feedback the problems us lefties experience.
    1. G6JPG
      I think the question was about hand scanners, and where the scanner holder is on the trolley handle, not the self-scan checkouts you use when you're done. Though I agree - surely it wouldn't hurt to have _ONE_ of those be set to go the other way - with big arrows to draw attention to it; such a store would surely actually get more custom, as word spread!
  28. peter nightingale
    on the left
  29. somebody else
    Being disabled I can't manage a trolley, so I do small amounts of shopping at a time. I find it much easier to use my phone to scan my shopping. And I do get a discount on a lot of my groceries when I scan my own shopping.
    1. Rhiannon Britney
      I live in SoCal, USA and the only scanners are at the checkout and are flat scanners that the cashier uses. We don't scan our items. Question: why do they have you scanning items? Why doesn't the checker scan the items? I have NEVER been out of the USA (to my disappointment). I am curious. ;)
  30. Mary Rose Carman
    As left handers we grew up in, and had to cope with, a right handed world so we don't really notice when things are "rigbt". I accept that we are in the minority and it is easier (and more cost effective) to manufacture everything the same way but it would be nice to have a choice.
  31. Sarah C
    I have been self scanning for years and when I saw a trolley with the holder on the left in Sainsburys I got a bit excited but found it impossible to use because I had got so used to it being on the right!
  32. Colin
    Put it in the middle of the trolley!

    Selfish/thoughtless right handed bias yet again.
    1. Sue G
      Agree
  33. LYNN R
    Addendum to my comment. Now that I’ve read other comments, you seem to be talking about scanners being ON the trolleys (shopping carts here!). That was done here for a while in a few stores, but never caught on - now all the self checkouts I see are separate stations at front of store, where you scan each product in your cart at the end of shopping. All automated stations, with a single human available for assistance if needed. Most stores have a mix of traditional checkers (humans) and automated stations.

    There ARE some stores where each person uses their phone to scan products along the way, placing in cart after scanning, then all charged electronically as you leave. Only human interaction is if you try to walk out with unscanned items! Never been in one of those stores - I wouldn’t like it because you have no physical receipt and I ALWAYS check my receipt for mistakes BEFORE I leave the store. Not common system here.
  34. LYNN R
    It’s different here in USA -almost every self scanning I’ve encountered (mostly grocery stores) is ambidextrous. No hand held scanner - you wave the UPC on each product over the scanner (platform where you also weigh stuff), then put in bag or on flat weight sensitive counter that keeps track of what’s already been scanned. The ONE place that had a hand scanner (Costco) had the scanner on the left!

    Don’t know if it would make a difference which side it’s on (for me), but seems like putting it right in the middle (on top of register) would be simple way to make system ambidextrous.

    BTW, payment (either cash insert or credit card insert/scan) is all over the place! Sometimes right side, sometimes left, occasionally in middle right under register (screen showing transaction progress). Not standardized here at all!

    Welcome as new owner! Glad to know ALH will continue.
  35. thenudehamster
    Personally, I'd prefer the scanner to be left somewhere else. You don't get any discount for self-scanning, so where's the advantage? With a trolley full of shopping, I'd rather have a professional do the scanning so I can concentrate on packing. Asda, a while ago, had an app that did the scanning; Worked a treat until I realised that my wife was putting stuff in the trolley that wasn't scanned. Finished up taking twice as long as we had to keep checking the whole trolley for missed items.
    1. G6JPG
      "With a trolley full of shopping, I'd rather have a professional do the scanning so I can concentrate on packing." The whole (or at least main) point of _hand_ scanning is that you can pack _as you shop_, rather than having to take everything out to scan it when you're finished shopping (either by yourself on a self-scanner, or by a beepeuse). Obviously to take advantage of this you need to take in your own containers; I usually use a crate, or occasionally just take a cardboard box from the fruit and veg area if there's one there that's empty.
  36. Piper Provost
    They should be centered so either left or right handed can use it.
  37. Steven James Piazza
    I am left-handed, either put things in the middle or better handle left-handers.
  38. Rhiannon Britney
    Well Left-Handers are natural adapters and the world is designed for right-handers. We all know that they aren't going to change things for us so why complain. Since we are natural adapters we should be showing them how superior we are because of that. When I have to use something with my right hand I do and move on. Right-handers can't do that!
  39. Joanne K
    It should be able to slide on a changeable base or holder. I would prefer that. For most fine motor tasks I use my left hand. Some, very gross more skills I use my right leg., occasionally I use my right arm .

    I think the new generation of kids will develop better skills and intellect because they usually use a right hand mouse. That allows their brains to develop greater. I hope the scientists research this. My nephew is incredibly bright and has good spatial skills because of this.
    1. G6JPG
      For a while I used the mouse in my left hand (though I never switched the buttons). I got carpal tunnel, though don't know if it was from doing that; doc suggested I switched, so I went back to using mouse in right hand, and ache got better, though again I don't know whether there was any connection.

      I now use almost entirely laptop with touchpad. I haven't switched the buttons.
  40. Don deBourguignon
    As noted by another, the credit card signature pad is another gift from righties. I also write back-handed and find signing on those little displays is a real, barely readable bother. In the US, the card swipe slot in on the right, of course, and the 'pen' is anchored on the left. This is perfect for right handed people.
  41. Don deBourguignon
    While I have, as I am sure other left handed individuals have, learned to do many things with my right hand. With many things it is either do it with the right hand or do not do it. A side benefit to this is that this will leave my left hand empty to manipulate the items being purchased, which I find easier.
  42. Sandra James
    I hold the scanner in my right hand so I can tap with my right hand
  43. Millgigs
    Better still, why not have one on each side?
  44. Suz
    They should have a holder on both sides, problem solved!
  45. Stella
    Why can’t it be in the centre of the trolly?
  46. ELISE DEE BERARU
    This is actually one thing where it doesn't matter because which hand I use to scan depends on whether the checkout station is to the left or right of the shopping cart (USA speak for trolley). Since our self-service cashiers also have flat bed scanners to read the bar codes, I only use the scanner for large items like 12 pack aluminum cans or 16-18 pound (approx 10 kilos) of cat food or litter.
  47. Iain
    I may be in a minority but I prefer to use the scanner in my right hand.
    I use my dominant left hand to pick up products.
  48. Christi Ramirez
    Yes! It is so akward when checking out with the scanner!
  49. MAGGIE TAYLOR
    As a left hander myself I also get frustrated that the coin holders to release the trolley are all on the right hand side as well. I still feel that it is a right handed person's world we are living in but appreciate that there is a fabulous company ie yours that I can purchase many left handed products which is fantastic. Well done,
  50. Margaret Ross
    I always use a handheld scanner in my local Waitrose, but just hate that the holder for it is on the right of the trolley handle. I seem to spend my life crossing and uncrossing my arms to move things to the "proper" side.
  51. Phil
    Put them in the middle, then we can all ue them.
    1. Jacki f
      Sure, discounts until set up central position why not. Equal and diverse.

      I . Left handers gang
  52. Sal
    Central placement would suit all- too much to expect?
  53. Phil
    Definitely left
  54. Carlisle Rogers
    The left
  55. J. P. Gilliver
    I've never thought about it! When you asked the question, my first thought was indeed that I'd prefer it on the left, but thinking about it, I can see both: it might actually be handier for we LH folk if it were on the right (in the same way we drive on the left in this country to favour RH people, so their sword/whip hand was ready to fight someone coming the other way).
    Thinking about it some more: the obvious answer is that the holder should be in the middle.
  56. Alan JS
    An advantage of using the scanner on the right is that it allows us to use our left hands independently for product moving etc. That's not as easy to do for a right hander
  57. Paul Boegel
    I am left handed so on the left works for me.
  58. Ruth McDevitt
    It is truly almost impossible for a left hander to operate a right hand scanner. My real peve, though, is the device where you sign on a small pad that has the pen holder attached at the top. I cannot place my hadn in the over hand position, which I use to write, on the pen holder, consequently making my signature even more unreadable than it normally is!
  59. Claire Pegg
    Scanners: yes, a left-hand option would be useful. Or maybe a more centralised unit, for either/or.

    I also find having the on/off switch and volume control on the right side of my mobile phone somewhat awkward too.
  60. Susan
    The left
  61. Andrew Ball
    Left, left, left!
    The scanner holder on the right is useless!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Used only for reply notifications.

Your email address is used only for comment reply notifications and will not be shared or used for marketing.