B&Q Shocking Service

margaretclare

I find the remarks about B&Q employees being 'monkeys' quite offensive.

My eldest granddaughter works at their store in Huddersfield. I can vouch for the fact that she's not a 'monkey'! She's also an instructor in Sea Cadets and plays women's rugby in her spare time.

One of the worst major retailers I've had to deal with in recent years was IKEA. And, despite having paid nearly a grand for our new bed from Dreams plc last autumn, in the words of my DH 'the ortho mattress looks as if two hippopotamuses have been sleeping on it!' We are still going through the customer complaints procedure.

And Friends Provident have been taking for ever to transfer my stakeholder pension.....(sigh) 'Oh, you want an Open Market Option!' 'Yes, that's exactly what I want'. That was a couple of weeks ago...

Margaret Clare

gregg1

grex9101 wrote:

That's not quite the point I was making.
What I meant was that people who are working should have enough money to enjoy LIFE - work to live, not live to work and all that.
If that means spending the surplus cash each month on things like tobacco, alcohol and (eek) tattoos, so be it.
Certainly, you should prioritise things like bills, food, clothing etc but if you have nothing left at the end-what's the point?
I daresay it's because of these HUGE companies paying terrible money that there are so many folk out there who choose to simply not work. I mean, what's the point of working when you're no worse off on benefits?
I don't agree with it at all, but the above certainly seems to be the case.

I agree with Ivan here. You ask the question "whats the point of working when you're no worse off on benefits" I am gobsmacked that anyone would ask this question - whatever happened to pride? It would be a matter of pride to me that whatever I was getting paid, my manners should not be compromised. I have been in shops where people are probably being paid similar or lesser amounts than the B & Q staff I encountered (and I know not all of them should be tarred with the same brush) but still manage to be polite and courteous to customers - it boils down to upbringing I think.

gregg1

IvanOpinion wrote:

Can I just take issue over this .. People know what th pay is when they apply for the job and the they will also know their role and T&C of the job within the first day, of which customer service is probably one of them. If they are not performing that job role then no matter how much or how little they are being paid then they are not worth it and should be dismissed. Just because someone earns more money does not necessarily change their underpinning personality and motiviation .. unfortunately too many people in this country are so wrapped up in themselves that they have all the personality and manners of a grape.

Ivan

Quite right.

tomstickland

B&Q; just another large company where it's pot luck as to whether you deal with someone who gives a f**k or not. The problem with all these places is that they don't pay well enough for their staff to be expected to care TBH. Not saying that all their staff are no good, but with low pay you have rapid turnover, and the responsibility is lost in the corporate system somewhere.

grex9101

tomstickland wrote:

B&Q; just another large company where it's pot luck as to whether you deal with someone who gives a f**k or not. The problem with all these places is that they don't pay well enough for their staff to be expected to care TBH. Not saying that all their staff are no good, but with low pay you have rapid turnover, and the responsibility is lost in the corporate system somewhere.

EXACTLY!!!! Bang on what i'm talking about!

gregg1 wrote:

I agree with Ivan here. You ask the question "whats the point of working when you're no worse off on benefits" I am gobsmacked that anyone would ask this question - whatever happened to pride? It would be a matter of pride to me that whatever I was getting paid, my manners should not be compromised. I have been in shops where people are probably being paid similar or lesser amounts than the B & Q staff I encountered (and I know not all of them should be tarred with the same brush) but still manage to be polite and courteous to customers - it boils down to upbringing I think.

I did say i don't agree with it....
I'm just saying it must be difficult to be "proud" to work for a company that pays so little-especially when everyone knows they do. I've worked for a few companies in my time who paid terribly, and I certainly had trouble admitting to it.
I still went to work though...

BUT

what IS the point of working when you're no worse off on benefits?

again i'm not in this position, and even if i was, i'd still work, but some people are lazy, or whatever, and these big low-paying companies are encouraging these types of people to stay on benefits by default.
Surely you understand what i mean?

margaretclare wrote:

I find the remarks about B&Q employees being 'monkeys' quite offensive.

My eldest granddaughter works at their store in Huddersfield. I can vouch for the fact that she's not a 'monkey'! She's also an instructor in Sea Cadets and plays women's rugby in her spare time.

Margaret Clare

I don't think anyone meant to cause offence by using the word "monkeys", but the general, and i mean GENERAL point here is that big companies who pay crap money do (generally) seem to have poorer staff than other retailers (i.e m&s) who pay that little bit more.
I'm sure your granddaughter is excellent in her job and helps everyone etc, but a lot of people on a low wage may not be as diligent and will perhaps not value their companies' customers.

IvanOpinion

tomstickland wrote:

B&Q; just another large company where it's pot luck as to whether you deal with someone who gives a f**k or not. The problem with all these places is that they don't pay well enough for their staff to be expected to care TBH. Not saying that all their staff are no good, but with low pay you have rapid turnover, and the responsibility is lost in the corporate system somewhere.

The pay is not the issue .. it is peoples attitude that is the issue and the selfish me-me-me society that we no live in. As gregg1 says 'whatever happened to pride?'. Personally if staff behave like this I would say they are being over paid and are not even worth the legal minimum pay .. lets face it, that part of their job only requires them to be pleasant to another human being. I will also point out that in the past I have ofyen seen that it is the customers own bad manners and holier-than-thou uncompromising attitude that often ellicits the sort of response they deserve.

Pushing pay up is NOT a panacea for the wider society and can be detrimental. The Peugeot plant in England is a good example of that - there are well paid jobs (in fact some workers apparently got £24K for putting washers in place), but that meant that the factory managed to price itself out of the market .. as soon as that happens the only thing left is to devalue the jobs to a competitive level within a global economy or close down totally.

Ivan

gregg1

grex9101 wrote:

EXACTLY!!!! Bang on what i'm talking about!



I did say i don't agree with it....
I'm just saying it must be difficult to be "proud" to work for a company that pays so little-especially when everyone knows they do. I've worked for a few companies in my time who paid terribly, and I certainly had trouble admitting to it.
I still went to work though...

BUT

what IS the point of working when you're no worse off on benefits?

again i'm not in this position, and even if i was, i'd still work, but some people are lazy, or whatever, and these big low-paying companies are encouraging these types of people to stay on benefits by default.
Surely you understand what i mean?

I think you missed the point I was making. When I said whatever happened to pride what I was referring to was a person's pride in themselves, not particularly in the company they work for. You know, priding yourself on your ability to be polite and courteous (and that applies to anyone, customer or sales assistant included) and priding yourself on doing the best job that you can whatever the pay (and which, lets face it, is the figure you agreed to work for in the first place).

And no, I am sorry, and truly I am not picking an argument with you here, just telling it from my perspective, but I will never understand the mentality of staying on benefits just cost it pays better - again, it goes back to having respect for yourself (and I am NOT knocking anyone who finds themselves in the unfortunate and unenviable position of being unemployed through no fault of their own). You can't blame companies who pay minimum wage for the people who PREFER not to work, everyone has to take responsibility for themselves I am afraid.

grex9101

gregg1 wrote:

I think you missed the point I was making. When I said whatever happened to pride what I was referring to was a person's pride in themselves, not particularly in the company they work for. You know, priding yourself on your ability to be polite and courteous (and that applies to anyone, customer or sales assistant included) and priding yourself on doing the best job that you can whatever the pay (and which, lets face it, is the figure you agreed to work for in the first place).

I don't mean to be too argumentative about this, and I really do see what you're getting at - Of course self pride is important, and of course people should be kind/courteous/polite etc etc (by default). But doing the best job that you can (for your employer) whatever the pay? Hmmm. Not sure. Really. I mean I know that good money does not instantly make a model employee, but it DOES help. It's not all money either-good conditions are a must. I would imagine that the likes of b&q offer little in terms of pay or conditions.
Therefore, I fully expect a number of their employees to have a "who gives a f*ck attitude". To be honest, I would probably be like this as well-not to the 90% of genuinely nice customers, but the the other 10% who may look down their nose at me, or give me hassle. £5 odd an hour simply ain't worth the stress mate. Get what I mean?

gregg1 wrote:

And no, I am sorry, and truly I am not picking an argument with you here, just telling it from my perspective, but I will never understand the mentality of staying on benefits just cost it pays better - again, it goes back to having respect for yourself (and I am NOT knocking anyone who finds themselves in the unfortunate and unenviable position of being unemployed through no fault of their own). You can't blame companies who pay minimum wage for the people who PREFER not to work, everyone has to take responsibility for themselves I am afraid.

You're not arguing with me here as (as before) I agree with you-NOBODY should be on benefits unless they have a sound and legitimate reason for not working.
And yes, I can blame companies who pay minimum wage - I understand the point that it would be bad for the economy for everyone to be on high wages, but there's a difference between "high" wages, and "acceptable" wages i.e wages (such as min. wage) that require a governmental "top up" to provide these workers with what I consider to be a less than reasonable standard of living for those in the developed world.

gregg1

grex9101 wrote:

I don't mean to be too argumentative about this, and I really do see what you're getting at - Of course self pride is important, and of course people should be kind/courteous/polite etc etc (by default). But doing the best job that you can (for your employer) whatever the pay? Hmmm. Not sure. Really. I mean I know that good money does not instantly make a model employee, but it DOES help. It's not all money either-good conditions are a must. I would imagine that the likes of b&q offer little in terms of pay or conditions.
Therefore, I fully expect a number of their employees to have a "who gives a f*ck attitude". To be honest, I would probably be like this as well-not to the 90% of genuinely nice customers, but the the other 10% who may look down their nose at me, or give me hassle. £5 odd an hour simply ain't worth the stress mate. Get what I mean?


You're not arguing with me here as (as before) I agree with you-NOBODY should be on benefits unless they have a sound and legitimate reason for not working.
And yes, I can blame companies who pay minimum wage - I understand the point that it would be bad for the economy for everyone to be on high wages, but there's a difference between "high" wages, and "acceptable" wages i.e wages (such as min. wage) that require a governmental "top up" to provide these workers with what I consider to be a less than reasonable standard of living for those in the developed world.

I think we are sort of singing from the same hymn sheet but will have to agree to disagree on some points. I have worked in places myself for not much money when I was younger and still would not have dreamt of giving anything other than 100%, but thats me (although I know lots of other people who would do the same). I do think that if someone has a bad !!!!!! attitude that is probably not going to change whatever they get paid, and I also know people who are earning mega bucks and are arrogant little so and so's.

But I still don't think that is a reason to be treated like dirt when you go into a shop, I know I was hacked off after my experience at B & Q (and I thought I was a "nice" customer - I did not even go and complain about my bad treatment - maybe I should have done?) and it certainly did not occur to me to say to the two women I encountered "look, I know you are probably getting paid peanuts for doing this job so I totally understand why you have treated me like s.... and I forgive you for it and can't wait to come back and try to spend my money with you another time only to be totally ignored again".

But I do agree with you, the current minimum wage is probably not realistic in this day and age.

grex9101

gregg1, I think that we are actually agreeing on the same points by arguing about them if that makes sense?!

so it's all cool big chap, totally see where you're coming from. and you have te same first name as me so that must be good. cheers!