The Woolworths Thread (23 Viewers)

[wixxy2348]

Lol thank God I am not customer trained. I would just tell them they should be flattered or something.

In the weird customer annuls, some dudes came in and bought 200 1kg bags of sugar tonight. We were split between they were store owners who could get it cheaper here than suppliers, or drugs. They did look pretty dodgy. Or option c - they were just having the worlds biggest bake off?

Haha probably drugs.
Nice.

 

[whatashotbyseve]

Lol yeh.

It was CSR sugar though, Home Brand sugar must decrease the street value?

 

[wixxy2348]

Oh, obviously, lol.

Caster sugar perhaps? If it's a finer grain, it'd obvs be better for drugs?

 

[whatashotbyseve]

Nah it was definitely normal sugar. Cos I had to load it into a trolley for them. Got really heavy by the end. Just as well we had 10 boxes lying spare out the back. Highlight of a boring night at work.

 

[wixxy2348]

Strange, ah well lol.
If it was like Bankstown or something, it would probably be 1023890328490238 more suss imo.

 

[pokerchoker]

Today I was manning the only register in our stores allowed to cell ciggs and this young girl comes up to me and asks for a pack of winfield blue. I asked for ID as I was getting them and straight away she snaped at me and said "What do I look 12??"... So then I repeated the standard line "We are required to ask for ID..." before she started making fun of me and saying that I looked 12 myself (I've never seen a 12 year old with a beard, but anyway). I then something along the lines of "If you dont like it complain to the govt" and then the boyfriend got in on the act and started swearing his head off at me...

Once they start abusing you it's game over, they won't get served by me no matter how many forms of ID they have

I work in liquor where this kind of thing is 1000 times worse. We've had some ripper screaming matches in there. Customers threatening to kill staff and screaming like banshees because they didn't get their own way. It gets easier to deal with with experience ('get the FUCK OUT of here mate the cops have been called' seems to work) but jeeze it's a sucky way to earn $17.50 an hour

 

[townie]

When do we get our group certificates? Shouldn't it be attached to our last financial year payslip?

No, your group certificate will arive in internal mail by July the 14th. It takes them a whole week just to extract the information from the system for group certificates, then they have to print and distribute them, it takes a while.

 

[whatashotbyseve]

They usually take a week or two. They are sent to the ATO first, so check you e-tax if you are doing your tax that way.

 

[townie]

Just a quick Question. Twice Now, I have been asked to watch Self-serve for a few minutes, WITHOUT any formal training in self-serve. I`ve been able to fumble my way through & work out what needed to be done, but would It be appropriate for me to ask my Front-end manager if I could be trained up for self-serve?

it depends what you mean by a few minutes. Is it because somebody has to go to the bathroom few minutes, or, we dont have anybody else to do it right now few minutes. it it's the former, i wouldnt worry too much, if the latter it cant help to ask. but i wouldnt get your hopes up, from what i can gather the training might take a while, i doubt woolworths would cough up the money unless they needed a new operator.

 

[whatashotbyseve]

It is pre-filled on e-tax. Technically, nothing is stopping you if the pre-filled data is there, but its always best to wait and check that the ATO figures match your group certificate. Also, remember to claim $300 on uniform expenses, as you don't need receipts for anything less than that.

 

[wixxy2348]

Really? Is it any amount under $300 or do they actually allow amounts up to & including $300?
Coz if so.. that'll be my saviour.

 

[townie]

Hi ppl

Just a Q about getting trained as a supervisor on front end.

I was told the other day by my dept manager that they have been watching me and are impressed and then she asked if I would be interested in being trained for supervision, and I said yes, and she goes "oh good cause we wouldn't wanna say to someone were gonna train them for supervision if they weren't interested" and asks me if I would be able to change my availibilty in the future for supervision shifts. Nothing more has been said.

Does this mean they have been discussing who they would wanna train?

How do get trained for this? Do they choose someone and ask them or do you have to go to your manager and say you wanna get trained for supervisor? Do you have to apply to be trained or anything? Do u think it looks promising for me? There are quite a few ppl who have been there longer than me who are not supervisors, so why would they pick me over them?

Just because somebody has been there longer will not make them a better supervisor, we have a few staff members who have been at my store for a while, but would make horrible supervisors. GOOD supervisors are hard to come by, they need to be trustworthy, calm, efficient and quick learners, you need to know when to strictly apply policy, and when to bend the rules slightly, and know your way inside and out of the register both in the official capacity, but also the little tricks and tips u pick up along the way.

An SUITABLE supervisor just needs to be trustworthy, calm and able to follow procedures.

You have probably exhibited some of the above qualities, hence why your being considered.

 

[wixxy2348]

Shirts x 20, lawl.

 

[townie]

I just checked etax - i don't think the woolworths data is available there yet.

also: why does the ato not investigate it when you declare uniform for $300 or less? Considering retail is the biggest employer in the country it would amount to a significant amount of money if everyone did that.

it would cost even more to investiage every single claim.

 

[YAJYAJ]

Anyone know when Big W usually issues the years PAYG statement for doing a tax return? Really want to get my tax back ASAP.

 

[babikakez]

Shirts x 20, lawl.

Considering how shit they are, that could actually be plausible.

 

[babikakez]

Just because somebody has been there longer will not make them a better supervisor, we have a few staff members who have been at my store for a while, but would make horrible supervisors. GOOD supervisors are hard to come by, they need to be trustworthy, calm, efficient and quick learners, you need to know when to strictly apply policy, and when to bend the rules slightly, and know your way inside and out of the register both in the official capacity, but also the little tricks and tips u pick up along the way.

An SUITABLE supervisor just needs to be trustworthy, calm and able to follow procedures.

You have probably exhibited some of the above qualities, hence why your being considered.

lol, I'm probably in the Suitable supervisor category rather than the Good supervisor category.

But it could also be that some people complement each other as supervisors. There's another supervisor who I work with a lot, and we are complete opposites, but in a really good way. It works really well in getting everything done.

 

[townie]

yeah, complementary is good i think as well. i wouldnt consider myself a good supervisor either, like i said they are very hard to come by, i think i've only known 1 who is (unfourtunately) no longer with us at the store.

however i would consider myself a highly knowledgable supervisor, i probably know more about the systems than anybody else in the store, which has its uses.


Also, FORGOT TO MENTION BLERGH THURSDAY WAS HORRIBLE. we had the ENTIRE AREA TEAM (Area Manager, HRS, SSS, Produce Specialist, Bakery Specialist, Meat Specialist etc.) in the store doing SMARTS.

so pissed off, Front End got 94%, but ended up getting a 1 (instead of 5) because we failed to record Phone/SIM card sales (we are dilligent about filling out the ACMA forms, but didnt realise we had to have an instore record of everything we sold as well )which is apparantly a critical issue)

 

[wixxy2348]

Since we're on the topic of supervisory roles.
I've been with the company for almost three years now. I worked for 4 or 5 months in deli/seafood (worked 3 nights a week in deli and did the Saturday night close in Seafood) when I began, and then moved to Bakery where I've been ever since.
On top of that, I've been trained on registers at the request of the store manager.
I'm on the store safety team, something which the store manager requested too.

About 2 months ago, one of the supervisors resigned. I was approached by the systems manager, who said that the store manager had asked her to have a "chat" with me, about whether I would be interested in working all day Mondays as supervisor. I had to say no, as I had uni all day Mondays (tutorials) and so I couldn't miss them. She said it was a shame, but that she understood.

To be honest, I'm pretty sick of working in bakery. I cop a lot of shit from my manager. Because I am pretty much capable of doing anything that needs doing in bakery (stocktakes, daily reports, stock management incl ordering etc, pastry chef work etc) the manager pretty much expects me to work 38 hours a week when I'm not at uni (and I did that literally every school holidays from the start of 2007 until now).

Except now, I've told her that I only want to work a maximum of three days a week, she's fairly pissed off and has cut all my shifts, and I'm basically working my base contract of 13 hours (whereas previously this would have been flexed up to around 18 hours, plus a shift of 5 or 6 hours during the week).

Would it be inappropriate to approach the store manager (who is an awesome down-to-earth guy who I talk to all the time about work and non-work related stuff) about the possibility of transferring to front-end with a view to be trained as a supervisor?

 

[townie]

Since we're on the topic of supervisory roles.
I've been with the company for almost three years now. I worked for 4 or 5 months in deli/seafood (worked 3 nights a week in deli and did the Saturday night close in Seafood) when I began, and then moved to Bakery where I've been ever since.
On top of that, I've been trained on registers at the request of the store manager.
I'm on the store safety team, something which the store manager requested too.

About 2 months ago, one of the supervisors resigned. I was approached by the systems manager, who said that the store manager had asked her to have a "chat" with me, about whether I would be interested in working all day Mondays as supervisor. I had to say no, as I had uni all day Mondays (tutorials) and so I couldn't miss them. She said it was a shame, but that she understood.

To be honest, I'm pretty sick of working in bakery. I cop a lot of shit from my manager. Because I am pretty much capable of doing anything that needs doing in bakery (stocktakes, daily reports, stock management incl ordering etc, pastry chef work etc) the manager pretty much expects me to work 38 hours a week when I'm not at uni (and I did that literally every school holidays from the start of 2007 until now).

Except now, I've told her that I only want to work a maximum of three days a week, she's fairly pissed off and has cut all my shifts, and I'm basically working my base contract of 13 hours (whereas previously this would have been flexed up to around 18 hours, plus a shift of 5 or 6 hours during the week).

Would it be inappropriate to approach the store manager (who is an awesome down-to-earth guy who I talk to all the time about work and non-work related stuff) about the possibility of transferring to front-end with a view to be trained as a supervisor?

This depends on a few things

1) Does the front end need a supervisor still.
2) How well does your bakery manager get along with front end manager.
3) How much pull does your SM have over your bakery manager.
4) Will the bakery survive without you
5) How well do you get along with FE manager

If the answers are: Yes, Very Well, A Lot, Yes, Well. then i definately would.

As for the broader question of whether it is appropriate to ask, it cant hurt, but ur successfullness depends on the above questions. transfers between departments can be a messy affair. your safest bet is to keep your current bakery base hours, then flex up with front end, and gradually move accross, thats how i did it.

edit: and even if you do succesfully transfer, you have to realise that bakery will always call upon you first when they are desperate (e.g. somebody calls in sick). I'm still the first port of call for liquor shifts that need filling even though i havent done a rostered shift in there for 8 months.