Treated rudely by Tesco checkout staff

uktim29

missile wrote: »

Go on complain make a fuss - if more people did then they may take notice

People just waste their effort doing this. People who complain about this/that/the other still assume people do a job for life.

The average staff turnover in retail is 40% a year. Every 2 years it will be a completely different bunch of people. Your just wasting your time assuming complaining can sort out an industry which has been driven to providing a lower standard of service by the consumer always wanting things cheaper. Therefore staffing levels are always cut back causing lower standards of service as the staff get more stressed. If you think that isn't what the consumer is doing then why are supermarkets doing so well?

I know people moan often about what Dave Brooker says but he always has a point! If you don't like the service at supermarkets stop supporting their business model and the service that comes with it and go to your local butcher/green grocer where much more time is spent on customer service. If you like the cheapness of supermarkets and support the business model of over-worked often stressed staff just to get things as cheap as possible then get a grip.

cowboy

ben500 wrote: »

It means he isn't surprised and doesn't really give a shlt but if it will shut you up he'll send you a cut and paste apology and maybe a £5 gift voucher. I'm surprised you are so shocked you got off lightly compared to many.

Yeah, that's why I wanted to do something and not just being "bribed" with vouchers to shut my mouth.

fudgeukraine wrote: »

You want someone sacked for being rude to you

Bit extreme if you ask me, Disciplined perhaps!

Yeah, I do apologise I was a bit harsh on that. Disciplined is the word...

Thanks to others who commented. Well, I want to point out something to some of you who defended the rude staff. This lady get PAID for her job, so she is supposed to do it properly. We PAY for our goods, so we are supposed to be treated politely and not be shouted at.

Maybe, the cashiers here are too pampered. They get the at least £5/hour salary with so little effort. All they do is scan, get paid by customer, return change - they don't even need to do the packing, we customers do it for them! So how difficult it is to just be polite to customers? None of this would've happened if she explained to me politely that the voucher cannot be used somehow..I would've just say forget about it then. But she went on and on, grunting arguing and !!!!ing me off. I really don't understand what is wrong with people like this. If she can't be polite, then why choose this kind of job?

My friend in another country (a developing country) worked as a cashier/checkout lady in a not-so-big supermarket before, and she got paid peanuts (like £0.50 per hour if you convert). There, they have to pack the goods for customers and have to be polite + greet their customers all the time; otherwise they will get sacked. Why is this the case for a medium-sized supermarket of a developing country but not for a giant supermarket like Tesco in a developed country like UK?

cowboy

uktim29 wrote: »

People just waste their effort doing this. People who complain about this/that/the other still assume people do a job for life.

The average staff turnover in retail is 40% a year. Every 2 years it will be a completely different bunch of people. Your just wasting your time assuming complaining can sort out an industry which has been driven to providing a lower standard of service by the consumer always wanting things cheaper. Therefore staffing levels are always cut back causing lower standards of service as the staff get more stressed. If you think that isn't what the consumer is doing then why are supermarkets doing so well?

So you would rather sit down and do nothing, even after being shouted at and treated rudely? That will make things better? Well, if you think that's the case, then good for you.

Tesco is earning big profits every year and they can't even spend some time to train their staff properly, or at least weed out the bad apples?

cowboy

albertross wrote: »

Why does this have to be a fight against Tesco. The member of staff is an individual, and if they are rude, that is part of their personality or how they where brought up.

If they are continually rude, the managers would probably notice after a series of complaints, and do something about it. You have already complained to the manager, so have done your bit to speed that along. Taking it further is just wasting your time, unless you want revenge. I would have dealt with it at the time, and moved on.

I seriously doubt it is Tesco policy, or part of Tesco training to be rude to customers

You're right...I'm not taking this against Tesco solely and I was just hoping that Tesco could do something about this. But have you think about the reason why Tesco has so much more complaints than other supermarkets like Sainsburys, Asda, etc? That's when people start to think about the lack of emphasis on customer service by Tesco. Also, she is Tesco's staff and they have to take some responsiblity as well. After all, it was Tesco who employed her, no?

missile

For sure check out staff come and go, but it is managers job to motivate staff to be pleasant to customers. If more than you complain to head office, maybe they will do something about the manager

uktim29

cowboy wrote: »

Tesco is earning big profits every year and they can't even spend some time to train their staff properly, or at least weed out the bad apples?

This is always where people get it wrong. It might look like big profits but its a 5% profit margin. You can't get much lower unless you want the risk of a loss next year if various costs go up. It wouldn't just be a case of training. If you look at everything people moan about at Tescos to cover the lot of it would be a lot more than their 5% they make by the time you apply it across the entire Tesco estate.

Have I ever been shouted at by staff? No. I believe there is a reason for this. It can't just be luck I've been buying stuff for 30 years and haven't had this. I know for a fact through dealing with them that some of the public have massive self awareness problems. In other words their reaction to a situation is almost always the reason why they end up getting "treated badly".

Sometimes I can recognise staff that are stressed for example today getting my car tax with a post office that only had one member of staff on duty and a very long queue. Treating them like a person even if they have made a slight mistake over something rather than getting worked up and ranting on about service like some do will make all the difference.

cowboy wrote: »

But have you think about the reason why Tesco has so much more complaints than other supermarkets like Sainsburys, Asda, etc?

They have about at 25% market share, the other around 8% or 5% and then the independents. So statistically you'll expect to see around 2.5/3 times more complaints about Tesco than any other supermarket just due to market share.

uktim29

missile wrote: »

For sure check out staff come and go, but it is managers job to motivate staff to be pleasant to customers. If more than you complain to head office, maybe they will do something about the manager

But the managers come and go just as quicly as well! And how do we know the manager hasn't done anything anyway?

grex80

My point was this:

My local tesco (biggest in Scotland) has just recently opened.

The majority of staff all come from the local area, which, for want of a better term, is full of scum.

Now, I know you can't generalise, BUT these people really are working there to keep them out of the rain.

The store was opened in such a hurry that quality control would have been WAAAY down their list of priorities.

Basically you're getting served by the same oik that at some point in the past or future will steal you hubcaps/steal your bag/stab you for drug money.

£5 odd an hour is NOT in any way a "salary" - it's the bare minimum, and personally, I would not get out of bed for it.

The fact that Tesco etc employ the lowest tier of people is perhaps our own fault - if we were prepared to pay more, perhaps the wages would be higher and we would not be getting served by illiterate ill-mannered scum, but that's capitalism for you.

You pay your money, you take your choice.

NiteRider

Cowboy

I sympathise - my partner and I were treated abysmally by Tesco store staff and management.

Try sending an e-mail to the MD at [EMAIL="terry.leahy@uk.tesco.com"]terry.leahy@uk.tesco.com[/EMAIL] and also post details of it on http://tesco-complaint.blogspot.com/ The latter has already been suggested.

We complained but were fobbed off by Tesco. A week or so after doing the above (along with posting on MSE) I received a resolution of sorts.

My partner and I do not shop at the offending store at all. We rarely shop at any Tesco now, preferring to use Asda and Iceland. There are one or two items which are cheaper for us in Tesco but that's all. We used to spend 90% of our food bill there but no more!

laalaa

grex80 wrote: »

The majority of staff all come from the local area, which, for want of a better term, is full of scum.

Now, I know you can't generalise, BUT these people really are working there to keep them out of the rain.

Basically you're getting served by the same oik that at some point in the past or future will steal you hubcaps/steal your bag/stab you for drug money.

£5 odd an hour is NOT in any way a "salary" - it's the bare minimum, and personally, I would not get out of bed for it.

The fact that Tesco etc employ the lowest tier of people is perhaps our own fault - if we were prepared to pay more, perhaps the wages would be higher and we would not be getting served by illiterate ill-mannered scum, but that's capitalism for you.

How dare you cast your deluded judgement on people that are simply trying to earn a living!

Would you rather they were at home claiming benefits? If they were you'd be moaning at that too!

For what its worth, I work at the store I think you are speaking of. I left my better paid job (£22,000) as a nurse to work there. I have two degree's, so I am certainly not illiterate!

I am in the process of changing my career, and needed a job that had less hours, and responsibilty so I could return to uni to finish my 3rd degree. I am not keeping out of the rain.

Stuck up people like you are showing yourself to be disgust me.