Whats staff morale like at your store?.

The online lead has left the assistant has handed in their notice

I do online driving and the staff turn over is really high drivers .GAs and shoppers leaving and the guys they are bringing in are beyond useless .They cant even write a clear number on the side of a tote, drivers dont turn up for shifts ,GAs disappear miss shifts then turn up like nothing has happened . Feels like the department is in freefall

Its been a good one year as a GOL driver and I am moving on to pastures new. While I met so many nice and kind customers who are grateful for the service, there were a few customers who ranged from the ones who could benefit from improving their common sense to ones I wish I would never deliver again.

Anyway, I thought I will make a post about helpful tips for online customers and how to get the most out of your shopping experience if you routinely order your groceries online.

If you are a sensible customer and follow a few things, it will always work in your favour.

1. Always look at the email before your groceries arrive and make sure you are aware of any substitutions or missing items. This will save the driver time. If you get a one hour slot for your delivery it means we may deliver anytime during that slot and we only have a few minutes (6 minutes most of the time) to complete your delivery. I had to say this and believe me that some customers think the entire hour's slot is for them.
2. If you put the effort to order groceries, please make sure you or someone over 18 are at home at your time slot. We won't be able to leave your groceries anywhere while you are away and we will take it back to store. So many customers leave instructions to say groceries should be left in basket at their front door etc. Also, make sure to check your address if you order to multiple addresses from same account. Yes, it happened a few times when I went to deliver groceries and the customer is not at the address and when phoned tells they are actually in another part of the country.
3. When the driver arrives and is parking up infront of your house and if you noticed it, please be ready at the door to receive your groceries. If you have dogs, please keep them in another room and close the door. Everyone involved can use their time efficiently and is also safe.
4. If you are an able person: quickly unload groceries at the door step. Once the driver is on his way, take your own sweet time to take your groceries in and organise them as you wish. There are customers who make drivers stand at the door step, go with 2 items (one in each hand) all the way into their kitchen and sort them nicely into cupboards, fridge/freezer, come back and repeat. Please don't be that person. It is extremely rude behavior and you are eating away at the precious time driver has. The best way and only way to collect your groceries is to unload them all quickly onto the floor at your doorstep and take them in/organize them later. Your chilled and frozen items can spend a few minutes at room temperature. Some customers, when they look at frozen stuff say , "ah, frozen items, these will go straight to freezer" and go into the kitchen and come back. What happens when you shop in store? Do you bring a freezer along?? Apply common sense please.
5. If you need help: kindly ask the driver to bring them in and make sure there is enough space for them to unload the groceries. If you are an indoor smoker, know that not all drivers want to enter your property even if you need help. Then, its upto you to be able to fetch your groceries from your doorstep.
6. Don't fake it or push it for free stuff. Most drivers are sensible and give away stuff when they are damaged or have short life. Some customers think they can persuade the driver to give away stuff eg, saying that bread is squashed, sausages are squashed, tin of beans has a minor dent etc etc. Just don't do it. Its very obvious, comes across as very cheap and shows you in poor light. And where we would have given away normally, we will take it back and refund it instead. Nothing more annoying than a customer trying to take you for a fool and asking for free stuff.
7. If you are not happy with a certain product or just simply changed your mind, just give it back to the driver and you will get a full refund. If you find something is not ok once the driver has left, you can always get in touch with the customer service and solve your problem.
8. Always remember: your shopping experience will be at its best when you use common sense, are respectful and polite and value others time. If you don't then expect that there is a proportional decline in your shopping experience.

Hi,

Does anyone know if we are able to go to the colleague changing rooms to retrieve something we’ve left behind if we’re not on shift that day? I’ve left behind my house key and my next working day is Sunday. I would obviously go through the customer entrance but I don’t know how to go by it. Maybe ask the colleague on CSD to ask the managers on headset if i’m allowed????

Thanks for your help :)

I started at sainsburys a few weeks ago, and was excited to work Beer, Wine and Spirits - it's a small goal of mine to build a career in Wines, I want to take my WSET (Wine & Spirits Education Trust) qualifications while working here.

The store I'm at has a 'BWS guy' who works ghose aisles almost exclusively and after I waxed poetic about my dreams my manager almost always leaves BWS to me (it helps that I've already done a few courses and worked a few jobs, and know a bit already).

My manager doesn't know so I thought I'd post here... is there any supported training, career progression or career opportunities in BWS in sainsburys? I've heard of buyers / managers / sommelliers who are hired by other supermarkets - is there a way to speak to upper management about this?

Wanted to check as talking to a few local stores about a transfer to them from a superstore.

Most haven't mentioned it but one local store manager has said that locals do not do dual store contracts at all between a local and a superstore.

The superstore manager seems fine with it and had even reached out to locals on the basis of having a dual contract setup.

Wanted to check if this is correct or if the local manager simply doesn't want to offer it?

Thanks in advance.

After discussion with my manager theyve basically said I cannot just work my 16hour contract hours and need to do more.. i signed the contract for just 16 hours and they agreed yet I keep getting 25-33hrs per week and I do not want this & everytime I tell them no they get mardy when they have to re do the schedules..

My driver matrix says 16hours only, signed by them aswell.

They're honestly starting to piss me off at this point, several times ive stated just my contracted hours and theyre trying to force my hand to do more every single week, I do 16hours because it works around my children's needs.

I hate causing conflict but its just gotten to a point where im ready to walk because Im "not allowed" just my base contracted hours,

What can I do in this situation when my availability is set and already signed by them for 16hours?

the turn over is so high at this store and theyre currently interviewing each week I get they need to fill the missing hours but my contract is 16 and thats what we mutually agreed upon

Just curious because my direct next door neighbour gets deliveries fairly regularly but I've never had that address on any of my runs. I've had literally the next street over and near by streets but never this one

Hey, How long is a responsible colleague allowed to run a store in terms of both convenience and a super? Is it a maximum of 8 hours at the convenience level and then a max of 6 at a supermarket level or can it be longer?

hi i’ve tried searching but I’m not entirely sure how it works.
my friend wants to apply for a job but in a different location (they haven’t worked at sainsburys before), do they put my name down on the application or is there more to it?

I recently joined in June and I was wondering what their pension was I’ve not been offered to start mine but I’d like to as soon as possible and was wondering if you had to be with the company a certain amount if time or a certain age I’m 18

I’ve recently been given a new contract at Sainsbury’s, moving from a temporary seasonal contract to a permanent one. The new contract is specifically for when I go back to university, reducing my hours from around 20 hours (3 shifts) a week over summer to just 10 hours (1 shift) a week, which is what I wanted.

The issue is that my new contract starts next week, but I’ve already been scheduled for 3 shifts AFTER the new contract start date, basically carrying over my old summer hours instead of changing me to the new 1-shift-per-week arrangement.

My manager has said the schedule should update, but knowing Sainsbury's I’m slightly concerned they’ll still expect me to work all 3 shifts even though university will have started and my new contract should already be in effect.

Has anyone else had this happen to them? Did your schedule eventually update automatically to reflect your new contracted hours, or did you have to get a manager to change the shifts manually?

I have my induction tomorrow and all I have been told is to turn up at 11am. I was wondering how long these things usually last and if anyone has any tips on what to wear/bring?? Also I have been hired as an Online Assistant if that makes any difference.

I'm a 3S manager. Should I join USDAW?

As someone who works in retail, I honestly think the phrase “the customer is always right” has been completely twisted over the years.

The original idea was supposed to be about listening to customers, taking their complaints seriously and making them feel valued. It wasn't supposed to mean that customers are incapable of being wrong or that retail workers should accept any behaviour simply because someone is spending money.

Customers can be wrong. They can misunderstand a policy, misread a price, make a mistake or simply demand something that isn't possible.

And that's okay. Being a customer doesn't make you automatically correct.

What really frustrates me is when this phrase is used to justify customers being rude or abusive towards staff, with the expectation that the employee should just stand there and take it because “the customer is always right.”

We're people too. We're trying to do our jobs.

Good customer service should be about listening, being reasonable and finding a solution where possible — not blindly giving customers whatever they demand.

The customer isn't always right.

But they should always be treated with respect — and retail workers deserve the same respect in return.

It would appear most of the people here don't read the post fully before commenting

Who else thinks the union is not protecting us workers at sainsburys they are terrible I belive they are more a company union which is illegal we never got asked about the cameras in vans we don't get protected from bosses lying about we have to go upstairs and also help unpack In peoples homes ect so what do they actually do for us esp as we are the ones paying for a service I belive we ain't receiving

Do customers actually know all we have to do is get the shopping to the door or communal door how come they are so rude when you don't want to do things we ain't supposed to ? We are not meant to be going into houses or upstairs or even helping unpack so it infuriates me when they expect obviously certain customers ie: elderly and disabled I don't mind they are normally very respectful and polite and deserve help but the rest wtf ?

So I’ve just applied to what I believed to be a normal Trading Assistant role in a Local store..at the interview I found out it’s for a bakery vacancy! I’ll be doing 6am-2pm - any tips or tricks (if I get the job!) for me? Seems from what the manager told me, the job itself is easy but time management is the killer 🫣

fellow clothing workers what are your opinions on rfid? did my count yesterday☹️

Hi, I've been working as an online driver for over a year now. When interviewing the job I was begged to do mornings as they were short on staff, which I said was the reason I wanted the job, to do morning shifts.

I was told on the rare occasion I may have to do a late or two a month by the interviewer/manager at the time, to which I told them was fine as long as I was given notice.

Cut to a year later, we've got a new manager who has put me on 80% lates. I've confronted management regarding it and was told I was put on a fully flex contract so I can be put on whatever shift they need me for and there was nothing I can do about it other than politely request more mornings (which has done nothing). And now I'm more of an inconvenience to them complaining about it every other day it seems like. They have 4 drivers which have some how managed to bag fixed shifts contracts, which for some reason we're available to them and them alone, who are exempt from working lates (which seems extremely unfair) and every new hire they hire seems to either be awful or be hired on the promise of doing lates only to request mornings after starting, to which for some reason they're granting the newcomers (probably because of high turnover) but it screws me over.

One of the managers asked me "well what did you write on your availability matrix?" Which is the first time I've ever heard that be mentioned, I've told them what it would be and now no one seems to want to talk about "availability matrix" with me anymore.

This company just seems to nail people down over and over again! Any advice would be helpful

I handed in my notice about two weeks ago to one of my managers about how my last working day is mid September since im going back to university, he acknowledged it and I've even gotten the leaving Sainsbury's email yet im still being given shifts past mid September by another manager?

Is this just the UKG system not updating or do I just assume he hasn't been informed that im leaving? I won't be put on a no hire list for not turning up would I?

We’ve been told by our managers that we’ve no longer to empty the milk out of the Costa machine anymore and just to top it up. Apparently this is to prevent milk waste but to me this just sounds nasty, does anyone else’s store tell them to just top up the milk and not empty it?

What’s the worst first day a new driver has had?