Vent: ASDA - Am I out of order or should I be complaining to all and sundry here?

trevormax

Takoda wrote: »

I've just been totally dismayed - yes truly dismayed - at the vitriol directed towards customers on here. I had no idea that we were held in such contempt by shop staff. Maybe I'm naive - been protected a bit from the real world by my job for the last few years - but I have seriously been shocked by the attitudes of shop staff.

The customers attitudes towards supermarket staff are different to what you have experienced. It's almost as if customers see them as slaves who have been put there to do their bidding and heaven help them if there is something they can not do for you. I had many a customer screaming at ME because a product they wanted was not in stock or not being sold anymore, something completely out of my control. This was mostly old people or stressed out mothers (not fathers) with a dozen kids. Indeed the best customers were usually young adults or people with no kids with them who would just accept an item is out of stock and move on with their lives.

When you start working in a supermarket, you don't have this attitude, but over the years, you put up with so much !!!! (for minimum wage) that you just get sick of all customers. You notice types of customers whome you instinctivley try to avoid because they are not worth the hastle or you have a joke with your colleagues in the warehouse about a particular customer. After working there for so long you just don't see them as customers anymore, but as obstacles getting in the way of you putting out 10 trolleys of stock in a few hours. It's not the best attitude as without customers you would be out of a job, but the customers bring it on themselves.

Interestingly, your own attitude towards shop staff will forever be polite and friendly because you know what they have to go through.

delain

I have a friend who used to work in Tesco and he says they were told by their managers not to reduce anything given to them by customers.

He did however used to do me big bags of cakes for 10p, but i didn't have to 'find' them myself! Those were the days

I can see ASDA's point of view, they feel targeted.

Enigmatic_Me

I wouldn't ever buy meat at full price from a supermarket nevermind at a reduced price! Have none of you ever watched these programmes "Supermarkets and their foods"

Plus, I also used to work in Personnel for a large supermarket and I was often horrified and I mean horrified at what goes on behind the scenes. :eek:

miss*whisper

marleyboy wrote: »

Not sure I would trust buying a chicken thats been reduced to 10p

LOL I only buy if it looks and smells ok otherwise I walk on by

And then only if I propose to cook and eat it immediately. Wouldn't tempt freezing at that stage.

Takoda

pimento wrote: »

I was once treatened with violence by an old boy in Asda because I picked up a bacon joint that had been reduced and he said it was 'already taken' by him even though it was still on the trolley having been marked down. The Asda employee was so embarrassed that he actually came and apologised to me afterwards when I was queueing to pay (minus the banon joint). I told him he had nothing to apologise for.

I did think about fighting the bloke for it, but could just imagine the headlines in the local paper if I had...

Yeah - "Shopper HAMBUSHED by elderly gent in Supermarket!"

Takoda

trevormax wrote: »

The customers attitudes towards supermarket staff are different to what you have experienced. It's almost as if customers see them as slaves who have been put there to do their bidding and heaven help them if there is something they can not do for you. I had many a customer screaming at ME because a product they wanted was not in stock or not being sold anymore, something completely out of my control. This was mostly old people or stressed out mothers (not fathers) with a dozen kids. Indeed the best customers were usually young adults or people with no kids with them who would just accept an item is out of stock and move on with their lives.

When you start working in a supermarket, you don't have this attitude, but over the years, you put up with so much !!!! (for minimum wage) that you just get sick of all customers. You notice types of customers whome you instinctivley try to avoid because they are not worth the hastle or you have a joke with your colleagues in the warehouse about a particular customer. After working there for so long you just don't see them as customers anymore, but as obstacles getting in the way of you putting out 10 trolleys of stock in a few hours. It's not the best attitude as without customers you would be out of a job, but the customers bring it on themselves.

Interestingly, your own attitude towards shop staff will forever be polite and friendly because you know what they have to go through.

Great post.

We were on minmum wage too though at the bookshop. I thought all shop staff were unless they were management/supervisory.

Would be really interesting to know if there's anyone who currently works at Waitrose on here regularly. Or M&S. I wonder if they have the same bargain hunter problems? Or whether it is solely a feature of the more downmarket supermarkets?

DCFC79

Claire_Bear wrote: »

I think it all depends on what the customer is like. If they asked politely and humbly, and it was a one off then I'd probably do it for them and be polite and smile back. But if they took tons of stuff off the shelf an hour before close, carted it round then shoved it in my face and demanded I reduce it then I would probably refuse to do it.

DCFC79 In the Sainsburys where I used to work, they used to give all the bread and stuff left over at the end of the night to a homeless shelter, but then they were told they had to stop due to Health and Safety regulations in case one of the homeless people got sick and sued the company! :mad:

the stores i worked at didnt give any food to the homeless shelters, i seem to remember asking why we didnt give food to the homeless shelters and i was that exact reason.

i honestly did try and do my upmost to the customers but when your doing a job other than reductions(i job i was asked to do ) and i would still get harrassed. id purposefully make them sweat which didnt work all the time as they would ask me "when are you going to reduce the food". I saw reducing the food as my job which i was payed to do and i wouldnt let no customer dictate to me when i should reduce the stuff and by how much.

gordikin

DCFC79 wrote: »

the stores i worked at didnt give any food to the homeless shelters, i seem to remember asking why we didnt give food to the homeless shelters and i was that exact reason,

i honestly did try and do my upmost to the customers but when your doing a job other than reductions(i job i was asked to do ) and i would still get harrassed, id purposefully make them sweat which didnt work all the time as they would ask me "when are you going to reduce the food". I saw reducing the food as my job which i was payed to do and i wouldnt let no customer dictate to me when i should reduce the stuff and by how much

Can you please make that readable? Capitals, sense, sentences...paragraphs?

marleyboy

I could read it fine, I don't think the lack of capital letters made it incomprehensible, in either of the two paragraphs.

DCFC79

marleyboy wrote: »

I could read it fine, I don't think the lack of capital letters made it incomprehensible, in either of the two paragraphs.

cheers marleyboy