it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas(staff not included!)

[watershed]

On the day Morrison's supermarket gave the first airing of their Christmas advert (prime time,middle of corrie,complete with Ant and Dec) they slashed all promised overtime for their staff. Locally at least,anyway,don't know about nationally.This after taking on a batch of temps(8 hours a week) for shifts existing staff were prepared to cover.

Glad i don't work for them!

[ranworthbreeze]

Is that any different from any of the supermarket chains, they are all chasing customers with offers for this & that.

New shops are being opened all over the place but staff hours are not being increased or extra staff taken on with contracts, but again that is happening again at all supermarket chains.

 

Regards

Alan

[donnygeoff]

Glad i don't work for them!

 

I don't work for them either...

 

But I shop there

 

I don't work for RBS, Barclays, or any other bank who are cutting thousands of jobs, but I bank with then ( well not the ones mentioned)

 

It is called BUSINESS

 

not CHARITY.

 

Maybe that is harsh, but it is the way of the world..

 

[watershed]

And how exactly does wasting time and money training temps equate to good business when you have experienced fully trained staff available?

[ExSurveyor]

And how exactly does wasting time and money training temps equate to good business when you have experienced fully trained staff available?

That is called a business decision, made by people employed to run a business, many of whom started out on the shop floor before they became hate figures for those they left behind.

[NorfolkNog]

Actually I have considerable empathy with the OP on this one. We use our local butcher and local shops as much as possible. Also the likes of Tesco and the Co op are closing pubs up and down the country and turning them into convenience stores.

[Maxwellian]

I would suspect that the cost to the business of training zero or low hour temps is quite low and gives them great flexibility. Especially when compared to the higher wages and overtime multipliers of existing staff. I would also think that companies that have a lot of staff that do overtime are getting concerned re the recent legal case on over times impact on annual leave (whilst this will certainly go to appeal).

I was always told to never rely on overtime to maintain a lifestyle, always live within your basic. I know that sounds patronising to those who struggle to do so, but I have always tried to live that way, not that I get paid overtime.

As stated it is a business decision, it is not a right. The statement that interests me was "promised".

Edited to correct speeeeling

[watershed]

'Promised' not in the strictly literal sense but the forthcoming fortnights rotas were given,including the overtime for those who wanted it.There is no premium for overtime. Then at the drop of a hat,all the rotas were changed,cancelling all overtime.

[ExSurveyor]

Norfolknog

Also the likes of Tesco and the Co op are closing pubs up and down the country and turning them into convenience stores.

This is not correct, pubs fail for any number of reasons, shops take over empty buildings and ensure they don't fall into dereliction.

[watershed]

Part of the reason for pubs going out of business is the cheap alcohol from the supermarkets.quite ironic really....

[ExSurveyor]

Or, part of the problem is people buying cheap booze from the supermarket rather than supporting the pubs, that's also quite ironic...

[C.Ricko]

How about the chance given to the new employees to earn a few quid before christmas and get some work experience,?

who knows , some people have career changes in new year and this could be a long job interview to save the business hassle in the new year? 

[jeffbroadslover]

If the breweries didn't charge landlords such a high rent, high prices for the stock  and therefore insist on such a high profit on sales then just maybe people would use the pubs more often ! 

 

Overcharge for something and nobody will want it,  charge a sensible price that people can afford and they will buy it.

[donnygeoff]

OR...

 

Cancel the smoking ban

 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Personally, i think to any busines, Christmas is a comercial rip off.

 

People tend to forget what`s really important about Christmas, and always try to outdo somebody. We just get what we need for Christmas, and no more, as nine times out of ten, a lot of the Christmas extras just get wasted and thrown out. Keep it simple, and enjoy it with those who mean the most.

[Paul]

it is interesting, what one person would report as "slashing overtime" another would look upon as "taking on xx temporary staff for Christmas". More families with an income over the festive period. What one person would describe as profligacy over prime time adverts with big names another would call investment in the business. Always two points of view.

The point about basic wage, overtime and holiday allowance is a real issue. I know a couple of employers who are currently dropping logs over the potential cost if what they see as the worst case scenario, which is currently being supported by the EU directive is enforced.

[SteveO]

I am becoming rapidly disenchanted with Sainsburys of late. Not only have they increased the amount you have to spend there in order to get Nectar points, I had an experience there today which really pi**ed me off. 

 

I wanted to buy a new phone for Mrs O, and noticed that Sainsburys were offering to double the redemption value of their Nectar points.  I looked on their website and found the phone I wanted, albeit at £10 more than the same phone from Amazon. Never mind, I would be able to more than offset the extra cost with the double Nectar point redemption value. However, their website would not let me redeem Nectar points online, so I went into out local store at lunchtime today.

 

I found the "Customer Service" desk and said to the assistant  that I had seen this phone on the Sainsbury's web site and asked if they had one in stock. The clever-clever reply that came back took me by surprise. "Website", he said, "We don't have a website".  "Ahem, yes you do" I said (or slightly less polite words to that effect) "I was on there last night and I saw it".  That took the wind out of his sails momentarily, but then he played his trump card. "Well let's go and look" he said, coming out from behind the counter and leading me to the phone display.  "If we have one in stock, it will be out there" he said, a note of triumph now in his voice. Of course, he knew bl**dy well that they didn't have the phone I wanted, just a stack of empty boxes and an "out of stock" label. He shrugged, turned his back and went back to the peace of his "Customer Service" counter. 

 

And they wonder why they are struggling!

 

 

 

Steve

[BroadScot]

Hi Steve,

 

The opposite for us, well SWMBO, as you may know, we now pay 5p for polly bags, so SWMBO took her Sainsburys bag in with her to go upstairs to the clothes dept. Having selected her purchase and paid for it upstairs, we went back down the lift with said item in the bag. We got as far as the security exit when, yup the alarm went off. I went out to the car,  while she went over to the Customer Services, showed the receipt and was told to wait a minute, she was then presented with TWO bunches of flowers, one bunch was orchids. This was for all the inconvienence, they said. So they aint all bad at Sainsburys. I personally find the staff at the checkouts there, very polite.   

 

Iain.

[Labrador]

All depends on which Sainburys(or for that matter any major supermarket) you use. They are all the same, it's all down to the management/staff ethos in any individual store. The store manager should be made aware of short comings on the customer service counter and if you get little satisfaction then take it higher.

[Hylander]

I am finding that Iceland has some very good quality products.   Their mince pies came out top of the mince pies produced by all of the supermarkets this year.     I can assure you I have always been a very snobby shopper but reality makes you think differently.

[Timbo]

I am more than a bit sceptical of what passes for 'sound business practise' when dealing with the work force these days. My daughter is a prime example. She has so many jobs, all on zero hours, that she is a government statisticians joy. On paper fully employed, in reality...number of hours worked for remuneration... zilch, nada, nothing, nowt! To get work experience she is doing all she can from charity shops to making craft items to sell to volunteering for everything.

 

She's just had an eight week work experience placement with the local social housing provider where one of the jobs she was given was to organise the next batch of work experience candidates and what work they would be given to do when they arrive. This week she will finish her work experience with no job at the end of it, the only prospect is another work experience placement where she will be used to do work for free that the company should morally be paying someone to do.

 

I find the whole situation short sighted and farcical. One company's worker is another's customer, if you don't pay them...they can't spend and business ceases. 

 

As for supermarkets I have a choice of Tesco and Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl in town, along with Asda in the next town. Price wise they are all much the same although Tesco will try to swindle you at the checkout...always read through your receipt. Quality of produce... Morrisons leads the way with Tesco in last place. So where do we shop? Tesco of course, simply habit. We moan and complain every time we get to Tesco. I always suggest we go to another supermarket next time, my other half always ends up at the customer service desk to sort out the over charging and we always agree to go elsewhere next time...just to end up back at Tesco. Hang on maybe its one of those 'time travel' loops?

 

Because I'm a sort of observant chap, or more likely I buy the exact same thing whenever I go shopping, I have noticed the quite vast difference in prices between the Tesco in my home town and the Tesco in Stalham. I stocked up my cupboards both at home and RT last year with the exact same products, on the same day. A whopping £12:35 difference. I still shop at Stalham Tesco when I arrive at the boat instead of doing it at home before I set off...habit again!

[grendel]

I have been there too on zero hour contracts, how can a company complain when you take a job with a competitor that is full time, when in 6 months they have given you just a few hours work, yet the one employing me did (they also said they had a lot of work for me coming up, I didnt believe that either) just 20 hours work a month would have paid the bills, but they couldnt even manage that.

Grendel

[ranworthbreeze]

Morrisons for me, my Son's 10% staff discount and the new price matching has been a great bonus for our household.

 

But at the end of the day. each to his/her own.

 

Regards

Alan

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

We mostly shop at Asda, because it always works out considerably cheaper, and if it is`nt cheaper by 10%, they refund the difference. Sometimes we print out a voucher for 80p, sometimes it`s as high as £5.00.

 

We do sometimes shop at Tesco, and if we want anything late at night, or on a Sunday, we use Tesco express in our village.

 

We also use Lidl, as they`re just at the bottom of our road, but don`t have the selection of the big superstores. However, i`ve noticed that Lidls have a lot moreBRITISH products than the superstores, and they`re NOT the cheap shop they used to be. I remember when i lived in Kent in the mid 90s, my brother was staying at my flat (while we were on the Broads actually) and he bought a box of 24 cardboard burgers from Lidls for the massive price of 45p, or thereabouts, and they did have the texture of cardboard when cooked. Now however, Lidls (and probably Aldis, quality is excellent, and still very competatively priced.

 

 

We`d love to shop at the local Butchers, greegrocers etc every week, but we have to live within a budget, so if we did, we certainly would`nt be boating every year, as we would`nt be able to afford it.

 

 

The only thing i`ve got against Lidls down the road is i don`t think i`ve come across any locals working there, and the staff all have foreign accents. That`s probably why our youinger generation can only get part time, or zero hours contracts.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Something else that really bugs me is when you buy perrishables that are packed in packaging with Christmasy bits on it, only to see the sell / use by date befor the end of November.  Asda are currently selling mince pies like that.  Bah humbug i say, and keep Christmas in December.