If you have ever shopped at Safeway more than once, then chances are you have seen their self checkout area. This self checkout area allows customers to scan and pay for their items without the need for a cashier. Sometimes, however, these self checkout areas are closed. This may have you thinking, does Safeway have self checkout hours?
While it may not be that large of an issue, Safeway does not advertise their self checkout hours, which means that customers have no clue when the self checkout session opens or closes. So, this makes it really hard to understand when and why these areas are closed.
What are Safeway’s self checkout hours? Generally, Safeway’s self checkout hours are anywhere between 7 am and 12 am. The self checkout hours at Safeway typically follow the hours of the store they are in.
However this is not always the case as sometimes the self checkout area is not open when the store is open.
To make sure I was getting the right information, I got in contact with Safeway’s customer service to see exactly why there are instances where self check out closes early or opens late.
Why Does Safeway’s Self Checkout Close Early?
Despite the fact that the south checkout area is supposed to follow store hours, sometimes the self checkout is closed early. There are a couple of reasons why this is the case:
- Employees shut down machines to avoid staying after closing
- Machine Maintenance
The main reason for this is that self checkout machines take time to shut down, therefore if it is close to closing time an employee may decide to close the self checkout early to avoid staying late.
Another reason why the self checkout area and see if we may be closed early is because sometimes the machine software has to go through maintenance rendering them usable for a certain period of time.
Why Does Safeway’s Self Checkout Open Late?
If you arrive relatively early to your local Safeway and you notice that the self checkout isn’t open yet, then chances are there wasn’t an employee who was either assigned or had the time to start up the self checkout machines.
Most of the time, when the self check out area is open earlier in the morning, it is mostly due to the fact that there was not an employee there to turn on the machines. From what I’ve seen, this isn’t as common though. For the most part, the self checkout machines are up and running right when the store opens.
Final Thoughts: Safeway Self Checkout Hours
So, all in all, Safeway self checkout hours typically follow their regular store hours. There may be certain instances where the self check out area is closed while the store is open, but for the most part this shouldn’t happen.
The customer service representative said that their employees always try to make sure that the self checkout stations are available when employees need them. In the instance that they are not, the above reasons are most likely why the self checkout is closed.