Sirena: First Dominican Stores with Auto Checkout

[El Hijo de Manolo]

Anyone who has employed staff in DR knows the complete nightmare it is, with all the taxes and the extra salary, liquidacion, maternity leave, sick leave and so on and so on. A company like Sirena I believe also pays their packers a salary. These automatic check-outs will save two salaries. Yes, some things will be stolen (things are stolen even if you have cashiers by the way) but they will have worked out that it is better business.

In the UK I stayed at an airport hotel where you literally had no interaction with any member of staff. You checked in on a kiosk that printed your key card. You tapped the same key card to get into the breakfast area which was a buffet. All very clean and very efficient, and obviously saved a fortune in staff.

I predict more fights at the La sirena auto checkout than at a Mets Yankees game

 

[MariaRubia]

Wait until they start charging for plastic bags like they do in Europe, that will be fun. In the UK it's now 30p per plastic bag, sometimes 40p (50 US cents for each bag). They also charge for paper bags in most stores as well.

I've always liked the special line that only Sirena's gold customers can use, supposedly. Every time I've gone into a Sirena, they always call me over and say I can use it. Gold customers and gringas only.

 

[Manuel01]

Wait until they start charging for plastic bags like they do in Europe, that will be fun. In the UK it's now 30p per plastic bag, sometimes 40p (50 US cents for each bag). They also charge for paper bags in most stores as well.

I've always liked the special line that only Sirena's gold customers can use, supposedly. Every time I've gone into a Sirena, they always call me over and say I can use it. Gold customers and gringas only.

I would love it when the charge for the plastic bags. Right now you can get a pack of marlboro and they double bag it.

 

[NALs]

Wait until they start charging for plastic bags like they do in Europe, that will be fun. In the UK it's now 30p per plastic bag, sometimes 40p (50 US cents for each bag). They also charge for paper bags in most stores as well.

I've always liked the special line that only Sirena's gold customers can use, supposedly. Every time I've gone into a Sirena, they always call me over and say I can use it. Gold customers and gringas only.

The idea is for people to take their own reusable bags (the ones made of cloths) as they are more environmentally friendly than plastic or even paper bags.

I would be interesting if in the DR people take their own reusable bags, say one's with the logo of Sirena while they are doing their shopping in Jumbo. lol

 

[Tom0910]

In the UK I stayed at an airport hotel where you literally had no interaction with any member of staff. You checked in on a kiosk that printed your key card. You tapped the same key card to get into the breakfast area which was a buffet. All very clean and very efficient, and obviously saved a fortune in staff.

There are hotels in Florida that have the same setup. I stayed in a hotel in Sarasota last year that I never saw a single staff member during my stay other than the cleaning lady.

 

[USA DOC]

The idea is for people to take their own reusable bags (the ones made of cloths) as they are more environmentally friendly than plastic or even paper bags.

I would be interesting if in the DR people take their own reusable bags, say one's with the logo of Sirena while they are doing their shopping in Jumbo. lol

I use reusable bags from National........and take them them everywhere to shop..they have lasted years.......cant wait for the first day of auto checkout, want a good seat when it gets busy

 

[josh2203]

Wait until they start charging for plastic bags like they do in Europe, that will be fun. In the UK it's now 30p per plastic bag, sometimes 40p (50 US cents for each bag). They also charge for paper bags in most stores as well.

Ha...Since La Sirena introduced those "high-quality" plastic bags that had the text "realmente me necesitas" printed on them, I replied to the bag (yes, the bag), no I don't need you but it's the bag boy that is using too many of you to pack a simple thing...

It would be nice for them to start charging for the bags, as in Europe that is common and I'd like to be able to refuse those bags... That of Jose Luis are fine, Jumbo more or less, but the ones from Sirena are truly c**p and have been for years...

 

[josh2203]

The idea is for people to take their own reusable bags (the ones made of cloths) as they are more environmentally friendly than plastic or even paper bags.

I would be interesting if in the DR people take their own reusable bags, say one's with the logo of Sirena while they are doing their shopping in Jumbo. lol

I have not seen supermarkets really doing this, but BMCargo introduced reusable bags years ago... We had many of those, really good quality

 

[SKY]

Jumbo and Nacional both sell reusable shopping bags with their logo. But they do not always have them. Works well, just give the guy packing and he fills them. A lot easier to handle also......

 

[Kricke87]

Jumbo and Nacional both sell reusable shopping bags with their logo. But they do not always have them. Works well, just give the guy packing and he fills them. A lot easier to handle also......

Yes, I think it's hysterically funny that "they" want you to use it, but you HAVE to be specific that you want to use ONLY those reusable bags, if not you know that they will pack your goods in plastic bags to then put the plastic bag into your reusable bag, which then basically makes it useless to have those reusable bags.
I even remember like a year ago the cashiers at Super Pola (and La Sirena) told me that once a week they would have special lines for people with reusable bags and that they would not use the plastic bags at these check-outs... I'm still waiting for that..

 

[Sol09]

Regarding the plastic bags, I have tried to convince many of my Dominican friends to buy reusable bags. They tell me that they need the plastic bags for the garbage cans.

 

[El Hijo de Manolo]

I always wonder how the folks here using reusable bags at the supermarket throw out their trash. Is there some modern way to take the trash out in DR that doesn't involve plastic bags? Are they throwing the garbage out the window as is? Myself, I have a med sized garbage in my kitchen I need to buy a larger bag at the supermarket. The smaller ones from the supermarket I use for bathroom and food waste after meals. Should I just shovel this into the trunk of the car and drive it to a ravine? Should I use a cardboard box and shipping tape?

 

[malko]

You are all missing the obvious.: How on earth would we cook rice --- twice a day, every single day ---- without the emblematic plastic bag ?

 

[El Hijo de Manolo]

You are all missing the obvious.: How on earth would we cook rice --- twice a day, every single day ---- without the emblematic plastic bag ?

I heard they cancelled plastic bag use for rice steaming when they recalled zantac and its generics from the pharmacies here. Tbh, I only saw it done once in 20 years.

 

[josh2203]

Is there some modern way to take the trash out in DR that doesn't involve plastic bags? Myself, I have a med sized garbage in my kitchen I need to buy a larger bag at the supermarket. The smaller ones from the supermarket I use for bathroom and food waste after meals.

Unfortunately, not that I know of... What you describe above was exactly what we did... But I'm not a Dominican... My wife's whole family uses exactly all the plastic bags from the supermarket do dispose of their garbage...

I saw once our neighbor having these really neat large white plastic bags for garbage and found those in the supermarket as well. Those we then used for garbage... Mind you, those are even much more sturdy than the c**p bags from Sirena...

 

[NanSanPedro]

Regarding the plastic bags, I have tried to convince many of my Dominican friends to buy reusable bags. They tell me that they need the plastic bags for the garbage cans.

Exactly. I see no reason to waste money on resusable bages

 

[JD Jones]

I use the reusables for shopping and buy the big box of 4 rolls of 16 gal. GLAD bags with the pull ties for trash. I put the full bag outside each time the guy who cleans our common area comes and he runs them up to the garbage truck.
Oddly enough, the garbage truck passes by six days a week.

You guys on the North Coast don't have daily garbage trucks?

 

[NanSanPedro]

I use the reusables for shopping and buy the big box of 4 rolls of GLAD bags with the pull ties for trash. I put the full bag outside each time the guy who cleans our common area comes and he runs them up to the garbage truck.
Oddly enough, the garbage truck passes by six days a week.

You guys on the North Coast don't have daily garbage trucks?

Obviously I can't comment on the NC, but in Boca Chica we don't have daily garbage pickup. My street is too narrow for the normal garbage pickup anyway so we rely on a guy with a janitorial type cart to pick it up. He's really a nice guy but his schedule is not etched in stone. I probably pay 800 pesos a month to him. He'll get an extra 1000 in December.

 

[Northern Coast Diver]

I use the reusables for shopping and buy the big box of 4 rolls of 16 gal. GLAD bags with the pull ties for trash. I put the full bag outside each time the guy who cleans our common area comes and he runs them up to the garbage truck.
Oddly enough, the garbage truck passes by six days a week.

You guys on the North Coast don't have daily garbage trucks?

Here in Sosua there is daily pickup in the center of town. Other parts 2 or 3 times a week.

 

[AlterEgo]

Trash pickup is one of our biggest complaints. There is no regular pickup, they show up when they want. If you put bags outside the gate, dogs will shred, if you put out in a barrel, someone will steal the barrel. So the alcalde, who lives across the road, told us we have to pay for pickup. So we did. They still didn’t come. So we do what everyone else does. We burn it. 🤬