Today I visited the
above mentioned store ,not something I enjoy at the best of times but
recently things have become much worse.
A few months ago our
local branch ,and I suspect many other branches was graced with a
visit from the”Time and Motion” people,cuts were needed as
profits were down ever so slightly.
The study at my local
branch took place while the branch manager was on holiday and so he
had absolutely no say in the matter. After the usual poncing about
with clip boards the geniuses from Time and motion recommended
certain cuts which would,.they said, enable the store to run more
efficiently and for less money.
Many experienced
members of staff were sacrificed in favour of younger and probably
less well paid members. In areas where three people had been needed
to do the job the workforce was cut to two. This method was used
across the board,the result,at my branch at least has been
catastrophic!
So devastating have the
measures been that I doubt very much it the people who made these
absurd recommendations actually understood how the store works.
Seeing staff sitting at
checkouts when the store was quiet gave them the idea of cutting the
number of checkout staff and using other members of the store
personnel to stand in at busy times,a good idea ….... no.
The personnel who fill
in at busy times are having to leave their own jobs to man the
checkouts,obviously this means that the work they were supposed to be
doing does not get done.
These days one is
constantly hearing “Will green card holders please report to the
checkouts.” this is code for things are hotting up. Then one hears
“Will amber card holder please come to the checkout.” This is
code for the queues are getting longer and we can't cope. Finally one
hears “Will red card holders please report to the checkout,” this
is code for ,if we don't shift these bloody queues there’s is going
to be a riot!!!
Now the colour coding
denotes the staff who, according to the Time and Motion wizards can
be most easily spared from their own employment, and this is where
the whole bang shoot falls flat on it's backside.
You see the green card
holders are the shelf stacker,s and price ticket changers and since
this system came into use there are more gaps on the shelves than I
have ever seen in a supermarket. Whole sections empty. Today
Muffins, crumpets,bread rolls and many other bakery items were no
where to be seen at one thirty in the afternoon. Grapes,none potato
varieties,few, fresh milk,none,speciality cheeses scanty. Through out
the store this was the case.
Here and there large
trolleys filled with merchandise to fill these gaps stood,(in
everyone’s way ,I must add) all around the store,several in most
aisles,and where were the staff who were supposed to be shelf
stacking.......manning the checkouts that’s where!
In retail the first
rule of business is quite simple “ You cannot sell empty spaces”
Tesco take note.
Every where to be seen
are staff members with clip boards running around like headless
turkeys or talking in anxious voices on the telephone. Ask one of
them where a certain product might be found and the silence is
deafening.
Ours is a superstore
and upstairs in Aladdin's cave clothes household goods hardware and
electricals are to be found. The clothes department is at the moment
in such a state of disarray that women’s. Mens and childrens
clothes are mixed up together instead of being in separate areas of
the floor.
Today I watched in
amusement while a burly six footer with the build of a rugby player
tried on a parka to a backdrop of ladies nightclothes,he looked
ridiculous and the poor man knew it.
Different departments
are melding one in to another and attempting to find anything is
difficult.
Last week I picked up a
dressing gown for PA, it was a lovely deep purple and was surrounded
by others exactly the same. Along side where men’s pyjamas and
other men’s dressing gowns, all seemed well...until I got the
blessed garment home and Pa pointed to a label declaring it to be for
ladies!.
I was some what miffed
at this turn of events,on my return to the store I discovered that
these purple gowns had been deposited among the men’s dressing
gowns by mistake. Now it has to be said that the gown looked pretty
damn unisex to me but Pa would have none of it and since the receipt
was lost we now have a spare dressing gown in a small size which is
neither use nor ornament at anyone here.
Since the new way of
working came in to operation a series of unpleasant smells have
plagued the store, spills of things such as milk are not clean
properly as no one has the time. Three days ago the entire milk
section had to be gutted and scrubbed, the smell,in spite of the use
of a great deal of disinfectant was dreadful and there was no fresh
milk to be had.;
Today, the shelves were
empty of fresh whole milk and so on two separate occasions have
been unable to purchase Pa’s special Jersey ,non homogenised milk,
or indeed any thing but skimmed and semi skimmed,where are the shelf
stacker’s....you guessed it, manning the checkouts!
Most of the abandoned
trolleys full of produce are wrapped in cling film and it is
impossible to get in to them to help oneself to muffins,etc. It is my
intention,on future visits to take with me a small blade in order to
gain entry to the things I need.
Lastly I feel bound to
point out that none of this mess is the fault of the staff, they are
at the sharp end of a very bad set of decisions and with the approach
of Christmas things can only get worse.
My message to Tesco is
that the good will of both customers and staff is rapidly running
out,oh and what happened to the “only one in front” boast, today
there were three in front of me!
Can we have some decent
service …...please!!
