Asda - No service: staff gone home!

Harry_Flashman

Just as the bosses say, no work = no pay then no pay = no work. Simples

spike7451

ChrisEvanson wrote: »

It's not just about money! If staff finish at 4pm then they finish at 4pm. If they agree to stay after that time then that's another matter completely. I agree with you that you should have had an explanation though and an apology.

Slightly off topic but in the same vein of working hours & customers.

When I was at NTL,I had a fault to fix in a customers home,It was an afternoon slot & I was at the customers flat at 1530hrs ish.No one was in & I couldn't get hold of him on the contact number.I called the dispatch office & they eventually got hold of him.

He'll be there in 30 minutes,I was told,as he is working in the local Indian.Thirty minutes turned into forty...Called Dispatch again,he'll be there in twenty minutes.That turned into another long wait.At around 1655,I called Dispatch & told them I wasn't prepared to wait around any longer as we finished at 1700hrs & any overtime had to be authorised by a manager in advance.And I was backed up by my manager.I wasted over ninety minutes on that call,I could have picked up another call,helped a fellow worker out on theres or gone home as it was my last job of the day.

So you see,to me customers can be just as inconsiderate as the the staff in Asda was to the OP.
It swings both ways....

vikingaero

BillTrac wrote: »

No it isn't shock horror.

If the store opening hours are advertised up to the hour, then the store should deal with their customers up to the hour. If the staff want to stop at five to, then the store needs to tell the customers ( who after all, are actually paying the wages etc, albeit indirectly whatever other people comment about) that the store opening hours are until five to. And then it could go on reducing opening hours ad infinitum.

The whole problem is about customer service, or rather lack of. Whether the staff member is being paid minimum wage or not, they are employed to carry out a task. Disappearing five/ten/fifteen minutes early is not carrying out what they are paid to do.

But on the other hand, any customers dragging their heels at closing time should be directed towards the nearest exit asap.

I agree with your sentiments Bill on a normal day. But as Kriss Boy replied this was probably a one-off on NYE and not the norm to bunk off early.

You should visit some stores at closing time - whether supermarkets or department stores and see the hordes of mongs that still insist on shopping when Time Up has been called several times and insist on being able to browse and pay.

DCFC79

vikingaero wrote: »

You should visit some stores at closing time - whether supermarkets or department stores and see the hordes of mongs that still insist on shopping when Time Up has been called several times and insist on being able to browse and pay.

i think the staff just need to be more assertive and tell them the shop is closing and to go to the tills now, we had people coming in at ten to or five to 4 for bits(well could they not plan better, use internet shopping,)

gemini12

This really is not a staff issue as theycan only leave before their shift time with permission. This is a man management decision by the duty manager. I worked in retail for many years and yes customers are the most annoying people but if the shop is open then they should be staffed and it is the managers job to ensure this even if horror of horrors he has to work on the shop floor him/
herself.
A slightly different tack I hate that pharmacies are open but suddenly the phamacist goes on their break and everything has to stop. Many of them dont tell you when the breaks are and appear to be anything fromm 11-3. I know they have to have a reak but it should be well advertised and a regular time when there is only one in the shop.

GlasweJen

I don't really see the problem in the OP, the George colleagues can't do anything that any other colleagues can't do. Why not just go to a different till to be served? You can put clothing through anywhere even the pharmacy and optical tills will take clothes. Exchanges/refunds can be done at customer services.

ETA re working on new years eve, one of our colleagues was physically assaulted by a customer and another verbally abused. The police were called and they were both sent home as they were in no fit state to finish their shift. Perhaps something similar happened in the george department at your local asda?

GlasweJen

gemini12 wrote: »

A slightly different tack I hate that pharmacies are open but suddenly the phamacist goes on their break and everything has to stop. Many of them dont tell you when the breaks are and appear to be anything fromm 11-3. I know they have to have a reak but it should be well advertised and a regular time when there is only one in the shop.

This is a bugbear of mine as well but I'm the counter assistant who gets all the abuse thrown at her because the pharmacist is taking a statutory break and it is illegal to sell P lines or give out prescriptions unless the pharmacist is physically in the pharmacy.

We have a sign saying "the pharmacist will be unavailable between _____ and ______, during this time no medication can be sold and no prescriptions can be dispensed". For some reason no one ever sees the sign even though it is in front of the till from 8am every morning!

Unintentional

GlasweJen wrote: »

I don't really see the problem in the OP, the George colleagues can't do anything that any other colleagues can't do. Why not just go to a different till to be served? You can put clothing through anywhere even the pharmacy and optical tills will take clothes. Exchanges/refunds can be done at customer services.

ETA re working on new years eve, one of our colleagues was physically assaulted by a customer and another verbally abused. The police were called and they were both sent home as they were in no fit state to finish their shift. Perhaps something similar happened in the george department at your local asda?

So many High and mighty customers complain about not getting their own way and yet things like this happen, Some people need to take a good look at themselves before they try to act all like 'Oh I pay your wages'

moneyballs2

In cases like that the ASDA store should have a policy where the items are left at the customer service desk for pickup.


I work in Waitrose and on Christmas Eve and finished at closing, I work on shop floor so I could just go, but the poor checkout staff! I drove past at about 20 minutes after closing and people were still queuing up to pay for things! It's only a small store, so it's not as if it takes ages to walk from one end to the next, these people were just unprepared.

New Year Eve was the same! Sudden influx of customers an hour before closing, previously the store had been quiet. People were still queuing up to be served about 15 minutes after closing again! Luckily we closed at 6, but many of the staff wouldn't have got away until at least 6.30-6.45. Openings times had been published in late Novemeber...

rustyboy21

Customers are so willing to come out with the quote ''I pay your wages''

How upset they would be, if we were to turn around and say back '' I pay your state pension ''