Asda - No service: staff gone home!

emmas42

When I worked in the high street we had a woman that would turn up at 5.55pm at least once a week and stay until around half an hour after the store closed. We tried being polite, we tried giving her extra help to get her out faster, we reminded her of the closing times etc. One day the store manger actually shouted at her for wasting our time (OUR time, we got paid until 6.00pm only. Standard for retail, we cashed up in our own time)

In the end, every day we would position a staff member of the doors to watch the high street from around 5.45pm. She had bad legs and walked slowly so could be spotted easily. The moment she was spotted the doors were shut and locked. She once started banging on the doors and screaming at us. It might seem a bit cruel, but by being such a selfish old bag she would make us miss transport home. Once or twice was OK, but every week!?!
It's people like that that can make retail a bit of a grind.
Loved the majority of my regular customers though :-)

I think with retail it comes down to treating people as you would like to be treated. My next job was in DIY, people get stressed about deadlines and living in a mess. However, if you have a problem and choose to shout, scream and treat me like dirt, your order will not be my priority. (Area manager normally sided with me too) Talk to me calmly about your problem and give me a chance to sort it out and you may even get offered a discount or freebies to ease the situation.

lol I digress...
In answer to the OP if I was in charge of staffing the George counter, I would have organised one person to stay either by drawing straws or promising the staff member an early finish at another time to suit them. The counter should without a doubt have been manned.

System

aheaton46 wrote: »

So what you're saying is 3:55pm on a Saturday = OK, 3:55pm on a Sunday = Not OK and shoppers at this time are prats.

Why?

Maybe it's more convenient for them to shop on the Sunday. Maybe they simply choose to go on the Sunday. It's hardly relevant, both customers are paying for your wages. If the shop is open, you should expect customers.

3.55 on a saturday is fine we dont shut till 6 !!!
legal trading hours on a sunday are 6 no more where i work unless a customer is in the queue they are told just that and they either have to join the queue or leave, the i will only be 5 mins doesnt wash thank god.

marleyboy

flashnazia wrote: »

Arr!:mad:

Just went into my local Asda to pick up a click and collect George order 15 mins before closing time.
Waited at George desk for 5 mins with some other ppl.
No sign of life at the desk so went to find someone. A manager said "sorry the George staff have gone home", in other words, get lost.

Not sure how anyone can interpret "Sorry the George staff have gone home" as "Get Lost", what I imagine the manager meant was "My apologies, but the staff members for George are no longer in the store."

marleyboy

As far as I am aware the words "Get" and "Lost" dont even appear in your version of the event, I dont know how ANYONE can confuse the word "Sorry" as being an absence of "Can I help you instead?".

As far as I am aware, if the George or the Optician department of an Asda store is unsupervised, closed or unstaffed, there is very little (if anything) the retail department can do to help, meaning the manager being forced to lie to the customer by pretending they are able to help, albeit I seriously doubt the manager then said "So Get Lost!!!!".

duchy

I'm currently enjoying two days off -I've worked every day since (and including) Christmas day.
I've always worked in public facing jobs and come to the conclusion that some people simply have so little in life to make them feel valued or important that they deliberately go into businesses just as they are closing to keep staff late and make themselves feel important.

Why else would someone want to do a big trolly shop at 5 minutes to closing time, or go into a travel agency to book a holiday as they are turning off the lights.

My favourite was the very well spoken and aggressive guy who told me I HAD to keep the bar open til 1am instead of midnight for him and how his Mummy worked for the Sun and he'd get her do a story on it. He was right in my face -to the point one of the other staff went to get security. I smiled sweetly and told him NO-as licencee I can refuse to serve anyone and I'm refusing to serve you regardless (we did have a licence til 1am but for the previous two years had opted not to use it and closed the bar at midnight -He was obviously NOT a regular) and said "Oh yes I know your Mum -she lives in XXXX Road -I'll pop in to see her tomorrow" (She was a neighbour of mine but I didn't twig he was her son til he mentioned who she worked for)........ and he slunk away muttering.

dfh

Sorry the George staff have gone home= Get lost.

Thanks for the English Lesson.

meritaten

I have been on both sides here! I have worked in retail and have been a customer! so I know the hassles. I would expect staff to be there until the designated closing time! I have also ran into argos with five minutes to spare with my reserved item cos i couldnt get there sooner! and had no probs getting my item! I wouldnt have gone in five minutes before closing with a complaint though! I have also worked ten or twenty minutes after my shift ended because I have been dealing with a customer. thats the nature of the job!
just like bar staff dont get paid after closing time when I worked that job! I got paid from 7 til 11. even though some nights it took until nearly twelve to clear up and ready the bar for the next day! many jobs have an unpaid aspect to them! my OH spends a few hours a week on his toughbook at home for what should be done during his work hours! he doesnt get paid for it but he doesnt have time to do it in work!

aheaton46

Saying sorry is easy. Actions speak louder than words. If they were truly sorry I'd expect them to back that up with actions as far as they could.

spike7451

duchy wrote: »

I'm currently enjoying two days off -I've worked every day since (and including) Christmas day.
I've always worked in public facing jobs and come to the conclusion that some people simply have so little in life to make them feel valued or important that they deliberately go into businesses just as they are closing to keep staff late and make themselves feel important.

Why else would someone want to do a big trolly shop at 5 minutes to closing time, or go into a travel agency to book a holiday as they are turning off the lights.

My favourite was the very well spoken and aggressive guy who told me I HAD to keep the bar open til 1am instead of midnight for him and how his Mummy worked for the Sun and he'd get her do a story on it. He was right in my face -to the point one of the other staff went to get security. I smiled sweetly and told him NO-as licencee I can refuse to serve anyone and I'm refusing to serve you regardless (we did have a licence til 1am but for the previous two years had opted not to use it and closed the bar at midnight -He was obviously NOT a regular) and said "Oh yes I know your Mum -she lives in XXXX Road -I'll pop in to see her tomorrow" (She was a neighbour of mine but I didn't twig he was her son til he mentioned who she worked for)........ and he slunk away muttering.

A long time ago,over twenty years,when my drinking career started,I was home on leave & in my local one Friday afternoon waiting on some mates when in comes a drunkish bloke in a suit.
He has a couple of more drinks & when the barman refuses to serve him,he pulls out his service revolver & slams it down on the bar,demanding he is served more drink.
Cue blue lights & sirens outside & two RUC officers charge into the bar,talk him down,they knew who he was, & cart him away.

marleyboy

aheaton46 wrote: »

Saying sorry is easy. Actions speak louder than words. If they were truly sorry I'd expect them to back that up with actions as far as they could.

Actions huh? considering the limitations of what they COULD do, maybe a triple somersault followed by a pirouette?