General Chat

Anyone got any job vacancies lol!!!!!!!!!!!!

just kicking it to the top...lol

your quite right christine! I am a department manager and it s our job to listen to our staff and we do spend most of our time on the shop floor. However we are required to attend certain meetings where the senior managers tell us what that weeks/days expectations are and any issues are usually relayed through us dept managers so I guess you could say we are the middle men ! we are also the ones that deal with customer complaints( although there is usually nothing we can do but pass it on to senior management)who only come if the customer specificly requests them to as they are not particularly good people persons.

As a dept manager we have to lead our dept team to deliver their job, train them,develop them,and review them. manage our sales,shrink,waste and availabilty. Attend meetings to discuss these and come up with new ideas to improve them. Deal with customer issues, be their on tap to listen to staff issues. As we are mostly short staffed we have to do the GA's work ie filling the shelves and due to I DONT QUEUE we are sat on a checkout most of the day while our staff are on there all of the day! and at the end of the day we get it in the neck from the senior management because we havent delivered all of the above...

You're quite right, Christine - there is no excuse for rudeness. Often the problem I used to find was that customers didn't realise that the shopfloor staff (who are usually the nearest person you can see in a uniform if you need help) are probably far too low down in the shop hierarchy to have anything to do with ordering stock, yet - if something is unavailable - that worker is likely to be on the receiving end of the customer's tantrum. (Management, interestingly, never seemed to be around - or answering their phones - at these crucial moments.)

Sundays used to be bad for us because it was the only day of the week when we didn't get stock delivered so if something wasn't in by, say 6pm on a Saturday, it wasn't likely to be in till about 3pm on a Monday.

I do feel sorry for the girl you mentioned, because I remember when I had first started work I was painfully aware that I didn't know where some items were and when you're new, you are still trying to find your feet and encounters like that can put you off the job very quickly.

I remember, Tracy, particularly my last summer in my part-time job (I mainly went back because I knew I would get guaranteed summer employment although I had looked for an alternative summer job).

You've probably seen those little flippy plastic coated offer prices on the edge of shelves - which have to be taken off by hand and replaced every three weeks (or whenever promotions end) and because they are the same colour as the old offer tickets.

I once had a late-middle aged man get quite cocky with me when I realised he was looking at an offer ticket that should have been taken off but got missed. I apologised and said it was an oversight and that I had forgotten to remove it and he started on about Trading Standards and false advertising, and then took the wine to the till where it scanned at the old price so a supervisor came in and checked it and then told me off! (Which took the said supervisor away from the till where the checkout staff might have needed her to authorise a refund or sort a problem out with the till etc.)

I know I should have removed the old ticket but I would like to think that most customers (especially when I did have chance to explain that I had missed it) would have said, "It's OK, we all make mistakes, don't we?".

I hope it doesn't sound like I'm trying to justify bad service because that drives me just as mad when I'm shopping but some customers do make a meal out of staff making simple mistakes sometimes, and I am sure they do it because they know the staff have been trained to believe the "customer is always right" mantra.

I think you hit the nail on the head Kate!

The employees dont really have the opportunity to take 5 mins out, sort out their heads and bring back that smile. I believe that would be one of the hardest jobs to do.

You dont know what barriers they are facing in their personal life, but they do try to leave it at the door and be professional (well not everyone).Especially when some customers threaten them with their jobs when it is not justified. Where do they get off? I believe they are just on a power trip assuming that the people working in retail are beneath them.

I believe in treating people how I would like to be treated, old principle these days but I will not deviate. I say what goes around comes around! Karma is a beautiful thing (no I am not a hippie)

Tracy

At our local Waitrose last Christmas week, we went to a checkout where there was a new girl, this was about 9.30 am. We both spoke to her and asked how busy she expected to be. A bright smile came back, and she said,(Thank you, you are the first people to look at me and speak this morning). What a way to earn a living!

Coming in late to this but as a former sales assistant in a supermarket, I totally agree. There are a lot of students who work in such jobs because the hours are reasonably flexible with regards to college timetables etc, intelligent people (some young, some older - never been sure why, once you're over 23 you're suddenly a "mature student") who just need to make some money for college essentials.

And yet, often, because they are young I think some shoppers assume that the assistants are people who didn't leave school with any qualifications, and in my time in supermarket work I did sometimes get spoken to like that by customers.

As Tracy and Carole said, that assistant who somebody has just verbally laid into often can't just disappear till they have got their head together, they have to greet the next person coming to them for help or bringing their shopping to the till with a smile.

Carole and co

I take my hat off to you! You do a sterling job trying to be civil with some customers that just dont know the meaning of the word!

All employees have the right to a safe working environment, not matter where they work,and what job they do. Some of us take it for granted.

Would you be happy if you got up in the morning and knew that today might be the day that a customer goes too far? Some people just dont get it! They think that if they rant and rave at someone because they represent a company makes it ok, well it is not!

Have you ever felt threatened at work? I have, when I worked in a store environment and the customers just have a go. To add insult to injury, a lot of them have a rant then say "I am not having a go at you", well actually you are. You can speak rationally like every other human being on the planet but you choose not to.

your choice!

Tracy

Tracy I agree with you!

I work in retail and I am constantly disgusted with the way members of the public speak to sales assistants. The problem is, is that they don't see a person in front of them, they see the company and they take their frustrations out on that person. I wish that these people would realise that we are people with emotions and feelings. We are not automatons. The things I have been called, and the language that I've been subjected to is apalling. People say we don't live in a feudal system, but we do! The public and sales assistants!

Carole

I want to make you aware of something I witnessed today in my local Tesco. I thought the female manager was marvellous.

I was being served by the lady on the desk (returning clothes I thought I would fit into) and she was lovely. Meanwhile a really aggressive and grumpy man had demanded to speak to a manager , NOW! as he was unhappy with a cd he bought as he didn't like the sound of it! Yes, you heard right!

Anyhoo, the manager of the service desk came down and spoke to him and tried to fathom what he was compalining about. she was really polite and genuinely wanted to help him ,next thing, he was shouting and swearing at her, really up in her face and pointing at her. She calmly stepped back and the asked him 3 times not to swear and to calm down , as she could not make head nor tail of his rants.

I was disgusted by his behaviour and have to say that I really don't think it is fair that customer's (crazy or just plain angry) think it's ok to speak to another human being like that. OK, they represent a company, but she doesn't go to his place of work in a public environment (with children) and rant and swear at him, so why do people feel that is ok to do it to them.

I am really disturbed with the way customer's speak to staff, not called for. It is becoming more and more frequent and I can't believe what I saw.

Moral of the story, you get further making a compalint if you take the emotion out of it and speak to the person calmly, dont add all the emotional baggage, it will just upset you.

grumpy man, if you are reading this then go and get laid!

I will even sub you £20 to hire someone to help you out!

Tracy

Hello

Bit late joining this thread but i will as i've had issue with Tesco recently too ......

Firstly tho - i have to say that the poor quality of fruit and veg undoubtedly has to be a result of the bad weather we've had this year - all that rain is not good for root vegetables inparticular ......

Our local store is actually a fantastic store - it's large, well stocked, clean and staff are plentiful and helpful ............. i've even worked there a couple of times myself.

But my main issue is the prices - and i have recently stopped shopping there now and go to Sainsbury instead, as i was finding i was buying the same and more/better for half the cost !!

Living alone, I rarely buy fresh meat or veg as I could not afford to - but i have come out of Sainsbury with both in my bags and a weeks shop all for under £40 (me and 4 cats) - that's a real bonus ...........


I think Tesco have just gotten too big overall tho - probably spending too much money on TV adverts to out-do the opposition - and yes i have noticed recent ads for the new cheaper lesser named brands being introduced - don't appeal to me tho - why not just trim their existing product prices across the board...........


Thank you :O))

who wants the soapbox next lol ???

well im glad some of you have had a good experience at a tesco store and id like to join in by saying they have a good returns policy

Well I usually find staff at all the stores mentioned quite pleasant and friendly, it could possibly be because I myself am a smilely chatty person. It is only the odd one or two who couldnt force a smile even if the Queen and Phillip walked past stark naked with a bunch of their flowers stuck up their buts.

Yeah but......................... shelves have to be filled throughout the day - empty shelves mean customers complain.

A friend of ours used to work for Tesco and some of the tales she told us about customers antics were weird.

Me I prefer Sainsburys, of the two local stores Sainsburys has a better ambience, easy access to stuff and far more space where clothes are. Tesco does seem to be going downhill the local stores can only be described as tatty!. Like Tesco tho Sainsburys restock throughout the day.

I dislike retail therapy apart from supermarket shopping!

all the big 4 supermarkets are all the same over worked staff rotten fruit and veg rude staff check out asstisants that dont help pack when needed ie elderly people with dissabileties check out staff on a go slow that was morrisons and when i could not open the bags because i have bad arthris in my thumbs they were no help that also was morrisons i did complain at customer services who said they would look in to it just because you dont see a dissabiletly dont think i dont have one when asked the lad on check to open bags for me he just sat there waiting for me to pay and go away

I agree with Tracy,the Tesco we go to is 20 miles away. Somerfield is local but unpleasant. Waitrose has nice fruit and veg, but pricy. We enjoy our morning out at Hereford belmont Tesco's. The staff we always find helpful and cheery, and can get agood cup of coffee and a sit down. Toilets are clean and roomy. Cant always say veg is good, but am able to get that elsewhere. I get agreen cabbage for 50p which is nice, and the choice of mushrooms is excellent. I try to find something nice to say to the checkout girls. They have to put up with so many moaning minnies you wonder they can smile at all! I have also found their on-line service good and useful while I can not get to the shops for lack of transport.

you are absolutely right christine about them working the staff to the ground and they certainly dont treat them with any respect

I have started to shop at Asda there cheaper than Tescos their staff are always polite and when I'm being served they concentrate on me and not holding conversations with other staff members. I f you've a store near its worth a try. mary x

Interesting the idea to limit people to only 6 of something. I think most stores have done away with this idea as all it takes it someone to bring in mum, dad, son, daughter, or just come back and forth for a while, then the whole idea of limits is null. I personally find it frustrating. I have 6 kids and go through at least 12 loaves a week. I buy in bulk and freeze, then remove as needed. I fI was limited I would simply get one of the kids to purchase.....that said I rarely buy the dear stuff of any food type, its always the value brands!!

love Theresa