I don't think you are a beginner, ha! Anyway, you are correct. The last race at Hidden Falls, it seemed most checks were run by new to our sport volunteers., most likely with a crash course 1 minute training on how to scan with Livelaps. We are lucky in our club to have old farts as checkpoint leaders.
Still, issues come up. Last year at our LTR LoneStar Enduro, our check was the textbook example of how it works with LiveLaps. Every rider scanned without delay--well, until one of the fastest riders in Texas, Cole Kirkpatrick, came through. We could not get the scan complete--started moving the phone in and out, up and down, the whole time Cole is NOT happy. Finally after about 20 seconds, the scan registered. It was correct on the back up sheet and everything was good, but it got Cole pretty excited.
Then we had another 200 riders go through and everything was perfect again.