The Woolworths Thread (10 Viewers)

[Roga]

Let's have a guessing game. Where do you think I work? Clue: Somewhere in the Sydney Metro area.

 

[iMatthew]

Let's have a guessing game. Where do you think I work? Clue: Somewhere in the Sydney Metro area.

Thanks, narrow's it down to approx 500 stores.
Hmmmmmmmm, guesses, guesses...

lol

 

[wixxy2348]

Let's have a guessing game. Where do you think I work? Clue: Somewhere in the Sydney Metro area.

Ooh you work at Woolies, Roger?

EDIT: My guess is Woolworths Mt Druitt, Longlife dept

 

[jgibson0011]

they might desperate enough that they won't care.

Well, I tried to tell the girl on the phone, "You realise that I'm only trained for the front end?" and she said it would be fine.
I do recall some sort of 'fresh food' training, however that was almost two years ago (when i started with the company) and I'm sure I've forgotten most of it by now.

Eh...I'll just go in tomorrow and get to know my future workmates...It does seem stupid that they have called me in with no previous experience when I know for a fact that some staff at the store in checkouts used to work at my current store in the deli. Ahh the irony...

 

[langlece]

Was today really really yuck for anyone else? Eww. It wasn't helped by us receiving a call supposedly from an employee saying they were high on drugs and would it be ok for them to work today. Not cool, I spent like an hour in the manager's office sorting it out when she got there, and getting the police involved.

I'm at Camberwell 3221 in Victoria, 4.2. It's the biggest store in Victoria I believe, with 14 big registers, 8 express, 4 self-serve, 3 liquor and 2 smokeshop. We're 24 hours and have had the 2010 layout since about July 2008, it looks awesome, only problem is very cramped express lanes.

We were the first Vic store to get self serve, and second in Aus. We're getting the upgrade on Tuesday which will be interesting, considering we've had the old system for 1.5ish years now. Will be very disappointed to see the computer go... It made it so easy to tell what needed fixing.


Super Service Day at our store was apparently HILARIOUS, especially as it was a Pension day. Our current SM is on leave which is awesome, as the temp SM is awesome, letting us add heaps more shifts.

I've heard that Supervisor Vests with the new logo are FINALLY ready to be ordered through King Gee or something? I'll post details when I get them

Totally saw Santa hats and those random marshmallow Santas out the back today... Christmas in October anyone?

 

[lordtopcat]

Totally saw Santa hats and those random marshmallow Santas out the back today... Christmas in October anyone?

TELL ME ABOUT IT! All our stupid Xmas decorations, trees, cards, hats etc were put out a week ago. It's a depressing time!

 

[Otacon2009]

Yep. While Christmas means holidays and family to most, to me and probably those who have been in retail, it means massive numbers of people, screaming kids, tacky decorations, patience of people drop dramatically, guilt trips on the rise for the sake of saving a few extra dollars and worst of all, the Christmas carols blasted on the radio, with every cover song of Jingle Bells playing. Fortunately, our In Store radio hasn't been working for ages. Mikes work, just not the radio (A godsend for those who can't stand ABBA).

Also, before I go, I just want to post a clarification. While it's not an issue as such, I'm posting this to state that I'm hanging out in this thread as I'm currently at CDU with a pending degree transfer interstate. As we are all aware, talking about universities you don't go to will mean people will think you as a poser/wanker.I joined this forum to get info on degree transfers and when I move interstate (To QUT, Griffith University, UNSW, Melbourne or Swinburne uni) I'll be able to talk university life again. Just wanted to post this in case people get the idea I'm a Woolworths obsessed toolie.

 

[bdude]

I'm at Camberwell 3221 in Victoria, 4.2. It's the biggest store in Victoria I believe, with 14 big registers, 8 express, 4 self-serve, 3 liquor and 2 smokeshop, with around 1.5 mil+ a week. We're 24 hours and have had the 2010 layout since about July 2008, it looks awesome, only problem is very cramped express lanes.

Wow. That's one big store. My coles is just 9 regular, 4 express and one at the front for smokes, refunds, etc

 

[Tragesty]

Hey guys,

Was just wondering if you could enlighten me on how breaks work. I've worked for the past 3 weeks, and found for my (one) four hour shift I got a fifteen minute break, for my five hour shift I got one fifteen minute, and for my seven hour shift I got one half hour, and one fifteen.

Is this how it's meant to be? Is there a rule for when I get breaks? e.g Every X hours you get fifteen, every Y hours you get a half hour.

Thanks for the help

 

[yoddle]

Wow. That's one big store. My coles is just 9 regular, 4 express and one at the front for smokes, refunds, etc

The Devonport Woolies is massive, isn't it? It does the biggest sales in the whole area.

Does anyone remember the store format before the last two. It was a much darker green, probably from the early 90's. I know that Safeway at Highpoint SC in Melbourne is still like it.

Yeah, the store i shop at is still in that format, as well as the store I'm transferring back to for a bit in Jan.

 

[langlece]

Hey guys,

Was just wondering if you could enlighten me on how breaks work. I've worked for the past 3 weeks, and found for my (one) four hour shift I got a fifteen minute break, for my five hour shift I got one fifteen minute, and for my seven hour shift I got one half hour, and one fifteen.

Is this how it's meant to be? Is there a rule for when I get breaks? e.g Every X hours you get fifteen, every Y hours you get a half hour.

Thanks for the help

I'm not entirely sure how the SDA agreement sets breaks out, but this is how it works in my store.

<3 hours and 45 minutes = no break

4 hours <6 hours= one tea break

6 hours < 7 hours = one tea and one meal

8 hours+ = two tea breaks and one meal break.

We used to have a manager who would roster casuals on for 3 hours and 45 minutes, so they'd work just as long as a 4 hour shift, but not get paid the 15 minute break. Ouch.

 

[shinji]

I'm pretty sure it's
<4 hrs, no break.
5 hrs - 15minutes
6 hrs - 30minutes
7 hrs - 45minutes
8 hrs - 1hr + 15
9 hrs - same as above
10 hrs - 1hr + 2 tea breaks.

 

[ekul444]

Ok, this is coming straight from the SDA agreement (the WA one-not sure if you eastern staters have a similar agreement)

more than 4 hours - 10min tea
more than 5 hours - meal break (30min?) & 10min tea
7.5 hours or more - meal break (1 hour?) & 2 x 10min teas
more than 10 hours - 2 meal breaks & 2 x 10min teas

also, meal break has to be taken after at least 2.5 hours of work, and before 5hours.
tea break can not be taken in the first hour of work, or the first hour after a meal break.

 

[ManicAggression]

We have 6 Express, 16 full, 2 smoke shop, 2 liquor.
Not enough, need more. Weekends = most open and still crazy lines
Today we had staff on EVERY register and it was still busy as damn express alerts lol

crap, your shop's huge... :O

 

[ekul444]

Ok, here it is: the long-awaited WoWPoS SCO review from me =]

In my opinion the software is really close to being fantastic -
if they can fix up the problems (and do it quickly)
then I think I will be able to safely say that WoWPoS SCO is a
step forwards from NCR - at the moment its not.
You all probably know these problems and have posted them here before but Ill
go over my main problems with it, now that i have used it:

1. the GUI - we all know how damn ugly it is, no debating that, i think the
start & use own bag buttons need to be in a contrasting colour (grey or something)
and perhaps lighten up the background - the dark green is not good! Put a big W/apple
logo or something on there! its so damn boring!
2. signatures - this has to be the most frustrating problem at the moment.
customers have no idea that their signature has worked, and when we eventually do approve it,
there is no processing screen or anything, so the customer thinks you havnt pushed the Yes
button, when in fact you have.
3. Weight issues, I know this will improve over time, but some of the weight issues i had
yesterday were rediculous.
4. the problem as discussed on here previously about produce being placed into the
bagging area in two lots, surely if the machine knows the exact weight from the scale, it
should wait till that exact weight is in the bagging area!
5. The instruction to 'insert coins, then insert notes' is not necessary i believe. some customers
think that they have to give the exact change now, if they cant figure out for themselves
how to minimise the change they get then thats their problem.
6. green bag support - i thought this was supposed to be the main improvement! i very rarely saw
a green bag that worked, even when the customer presses 'own bag' it still says unexpected item, and
exactly the same thing for 'New bag' - something is wrong here!!
7. the way reduced to clear items are displayed on the total - on normal registers when you scan a reduced item
it shows it something like this:
PRICE REDUCTION
2L WW Milk
Original Price - 3.00
________________ 1.50
But on SCO it puts the original price in the same column as the reduced price, so the customer thinks
that they are being charged both prices, it confused the hell out of me, and it got into such a mess that
I couldnt understand what was voided and what wasnt that i voided the transaction and started her again.

Ok the positives:
1. Seperate look up menus! Thank god for those - so much cleaner and easier to find things!
2. The ability to do all our supervisor stuff through the WoWPoS Screen - I really like this.
3. Everyday rewards card screen - no more complaining about forgetting to scan it

Wow, so 7 negatives and 3 positives... Hmm well my opinion is probably pretty biased at this stage, cause
it was only my first shift with it, and it was generally a really frustrating day.
But like I said, if they can fix the above problems, then WoWPoS is an improvement from NCR...

PS. I dont know why you guys thought the voice was too quiet - ours is so loud that someone has taped up one of the speakers on each machine to try and quieten it!

 

[ALFAM]

Nah you can't. McDonalds has a fantastic online system - Woolies should look at that after the WorkBrain epic fail..

What was the failure???

 

[babikakez]

Ok, this is coming straight from the SDA agreement (the WA one-not sure if you eastern staters have a similar agreement)

more than 4 hours - 10min tea
more than 5 hours - meal break (30min?) & 10min tea
7.5 hours or more - meal break (1 hour?) & 2 x 10min teas
more than 10 hours - 2 meal breaks & 2 x 10min teas

also, meal break has to be taken after at least 2.5 hours of work, and before 5hours.
tea break can not be taken in the first hour of work, or the first hour after a meal break.

lol, I regularly do 5.5 hour shifts in NonTrade and am expected not to take any breaks at all, let alone sign off for a meal.

 

[lordtopcat]

Wow you guys work long without having breaks, in NZ:

<3 hours - no breakk
>3 hours - 15 min
5 hours - 15 + unpaid 30
7 hours - 2 15s and 1 unpaid 30
9 hours - 2 15s and 2 unpaid 30s

The sad thing is I just worked a 10 hour day and I took 1 17 minute break, and they will still take the 1 hour of unpaid breaks out of my wages

When I am working solo in a department I don't feel the need for a break. I have a quick lunch, then I just keep a bag of lollies in the department to keep me going...I feel guilty when I sit around and do nothing

 

[T 360]

Ok, here it is: the long-awaited WoWPoS SCO review from me =]

In my opinion the software is really close to being fantastic -
if they can fix up the problems (and do it quickly)
then I think I will be able to safely say that WoWPoS SCO is a
step forwards from NCR - at the moment its not.
You all probably know these problems and have posted them here before but Ill
go over my main problems with it, now that i have used it:

1. the GUI - we all know how damn ugly it is, no debating that, i think the
start & use own bag buttons need to be in a contrasting colour (grey or something)
and perhaps lighten up the background - the dark green is not good! Put a big W/apple
logo or something on there! its so damn boring!
2. signatures - this has to be the most frustrating problem at the moment.
customers have no idea that their signature has worked, and when we eventually do approve it,
there is no processing screen or anything, so the customer thinks you havnt pushed the Yes
button, when in fact you have.
3. Weight issues, I know this will improve over time, but some of the weight issues i had
yesterday were rediculous.
4. the problem as discussed on here previously about produce being placed into the
bagging area in two lots, surely if the machine knows the exact weight from the scale, it
should wait till that exact weight is in the bagging area!
5. The instruction to 'insert coins, then insert notes' is not necessary i believe. some customers
think that they have to give the exact change now, if they cant figure out for themselves
how to minimise the change they get then thats their problem.
6. green bag support - i thought this was supposed to be the main improvement! i very rarely saw
a green bag that worked, even when the customer presses 'own bag' it still says unexpected item, and
exactly the same thing for 'New bag' - something is wrong here!!
7. the way reduced to clear items are displayed on the total - on normal registers when you scan a reduced item
it shows it something like this:
PRICE REDUCTION
2L WW Milk
Original Price - 3.00
________________ 1.50
But on SCO it puts the original price in the same column as the reduced price, so the customer thinks
that they are being charged both prices, it confused the hell out of me, and it got into such a mess that
I couldnt understand what was voided and what wasnt that i voided the transaction and started her again.

Ok the positives:
1. Seperate look up menus! Thank god for those - so much cleaner and easier to find things!
2. The ability to do all our supervisor stuff through the WoWPoS Screen - I really like this.
3. Everyday rewards card screen - no more complaining about forgetting to scan it

Wow, so 7 negatives and 3 positives... Hmm well my opinion is probably pretty biased at this stage, cause
it was only my first shift with it, and it was generally a really frustrating day.
But like I said, if they can fix the above problems, then WoWPoS is an improvement from NCR...

PS. I dont know why you guys thought the voice was too quiet - ours is so loud that someone has taped up one of the speakers on each machine to try and quieten it!

I agree with all those Points except for a couple:

1. Everyday Rewards Screen - Customers who don`t use EDR are becoming increasingly frustrated over this,saying that it is a pain.

2. The Voice - It is Definitely Too Quite! At my store, we have 2 machines on the side of the service desk/smoke shop and 3 on the other side. I used to be able to be on one side of the self-serve area and hear if assistance was needed on the other side. Now,I can`t. This is FRUSTRATING! and the stupid volume button doesn`t work. AGHH!!

 

[bdude]

The Devonport Woolies is massive, isn't it? It does the biggest sales in the whole area.

It wouldn't surprise me, I think they have about 11 regular, 8 express (although there are two that are rarely used which are right next to the service desk)

Coles Devonport is one of the higher (if not highest) stores, I guess it's because both stores cover a wide area.

Although I don't know how they do it, they're pretty hopeless, it took me 10 minutes to get through "express" with a jar of vegemite.