TESCO FIASCO

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!!