Monday 21st September 2020
Today was another life admin day. Laundry, filing, transfer of funds for future bills due, vacuuming, cleaning, washing the dishes, changing the bed linen, catching up on watching YouTube and the Food Channel , preparing for work tomorrow and reading/responding to emails including manually reporting my aporoximate race finishing time since I had so many technical difficulties using the Run Keeper app which I read up on and found discussions on quite a few problems using it on an Android smart phone.
Watched the 200th episode of Have You Been Paying Attention and tried to watch an episode of Drunken History but just could not get into celebrities intoxicated trying to tell the histories of famous Australians.
Asleep by around 10 pm as I really itchy again.
Tuesday 22nd September 2020
Myer 10.30 - 4.30 pm
I leave home 2 hours before I start work and the 144 buses do not show up which means I have missed the B Line connection(s). While I was waiting 2 x 200 buses pass by in the opposite direction towards Chatswood which meant I could have caught a connecting 280 bus or even 2 travelling in the opposite direction although they may take a little longer. If my day starts like this it means I am going to have a really bad day at work even a bad week!
This 144 bus is travelling at a snail's pace - will I even get to work on time?
Just made it in time for work today.
I asked everyone that did not have a Myer One card today if they wanted to join and they all said no so I have almost given up asking. Reasons were one customer had one but had not activated it yet. A few customers did not want one because they have far too many loyalty cards already and didn't want any more. Still some customers that have really old cards but have not used them for a while, these are the ones I am encouraging to start using again as I recently started using my really old Myer One card again. I don't think there were any customers that I could not find on the POS today that did have a Myer One card but not with them.
People are still generous with rounding up their purchases as donations to give to the local charity which is still the local womens shelter.
I just lost an entire 3 paragraphs of this blog as it just crashed. So fed up with this blogging site.
No such luck with orders. I wish I could do some but everytime I want to do an order for a customer the system either crashes on me or the product(s) the customer would like me to order is unavailable or out of stock and the system won't allow me to proceed to the add to bag screen. Remember the last order I attempted to do with all the plates and bowls for the Asian couple which crashed the order system on the iPad? Update the order was finally processed by a team member the following day and they finally received the first batch of plates and bowls I had spent so much time collecting off the floor, putting through the register and packing up for them in bubble wrap. However they had prepaid for to be delivered to their home and the other team member and I were asked today about who packed the box? - we were then informed by the customer service manager today that the entire delivery was completely broken upon arrival at the customer's home. No wonder I had kept getting this little voice in my head on my days off that I should follow up with this customer - it was possibly an inkling that something had gone wrong with the delivery in between me wrapping it all up and it being delivered along with the additional order placed for the shortage of stock required by the customer. A big oopsie and hopefully they received their order from the iPad ok. I wish I could follow up with the customer but no longer have their contact details.
Now let's talk about the "lid lady" customer. A customer rings up and she probably rang and spoke to someone previously about the issue . She ordered a 10 piece cookware set online and just received it from the Myer Eastern Creek Distribution Centre today. When she opened it up she found one of the lids had a dent in it. She did not believe that it was damaged in transit as it was very well pack but a defect from the manufacturer/supplier. She asked if she had to bring the entire set in a really heavy box back for exchange or if she could just bring in the dented lid to be exchanged for a new one if we had the set in stock. I took all her details down and advised that I will get back to her on it as I had to check that we had the stock in store first. She had already checked for me and advised that we definitely had the stock. So I checked and yes we had the stock and also asked the operations manager and the customer service manager whether she had to return the entire set or just the lid. Both advised me that she could just bring in the lid for exchange. I put a box of the cookware set on a trolley behind the counter and ring her back to advise her she could just bring the dented lid back for exchange. She said she will be in tomorrow morning however I advised her that I would not be in tomorrow but will let a team member I am working with today know that you will be coming in and the situation. The customer showed up this afternoon and announced who she was to me with her dented lid. I undid the electronic security device over the 10 piece cookware set and let her search through it for the equivalent lid to replace the dented one she had bought in with her along with her order details. I go over to electricals to grab some faulty labels and place the dented lid inside a Myer bag turned inside out and fill out the faulty label and all her details attached behind it and place the bag for safe keeping in the cupboard behind the counter. Whilst the customer was searching through the box for the lid I served other customers as I did not want them to wait whilst I spent time digging through the cookware set. The customer found the replacement lid thanked me for my help and that was it. Nothing to put through the iPad or register. After she left , the customer service manager advised me to put the dented lid back into the 20 piece cookware set and put a 30% off on it with a neat note advising lid slightly dented on it and I also made sure the other team member working with me knew to do so as well after I left. The customer had basically pulled apart and taken out the entire contents of the 10 piece cookware box just to find the lid and did not even put it all back into the box for us. I attempted to put it all back in but failed so the team member I was working with made it a mission to get it all back into the box.
I lost count of how many different security devices I had to remove from products today and how many problems I had trying to remove all of them. Why can't they all be standardised. I wasted so much time trying to work out how to remove them especially the ones that can't be removed by the standard 2 magnetic security removal devices at the Homewares counter. I know Industrie have their own security tags that can't be removed using the standard security tag removal devices so you have to take it over to menswear and find it to remove the security tags. Today I had a customer who could not Find anyone to help her in the Menswear department so she took her purchases of a shirt and 2 pairs of Industrie shorts in a size small to the Homewares counter to be purchased. OK so I was able to remove the security tags off the shirt and one pair of shorts as they were standard or Myer security tags but had to find the Industrie security tag removal device and try and get the tag off the shorts. The customer became unsure of the sizing therefore she decides to swap them for 2 pairs of medium instead that was fine I just did an exchange and gave her a new receipt to get the inventory correct. Before we did so we had to find a male serving in the Menswear department as we could not just walk up to any male customer in the department and ask what size they were. So I found a male team member in the Menswear department and established that he was a medium although he was quite a small build. So I processed the exchange however when it came to removing the Industrie security tags with the device, the first security tag of the white pair of medium shorts came off easily however the security tag off the blue pair of shorts would not budge and there was no other pair of medium sized shorts in the same style. I had advised the customer previously that if she was unsure of the sizing for her 15 year old teenage son to purchase one medium and 1 small pair and to return the incorrect size for an exchange of the correct size. She really didn't want to return so I said to her that maybe not being able to remove the tag off the medium sized shorts was a sign. We were about to exchange the medium blue back to a small blue but at the last minute the male team member that assisted my customer and I with sizing managed to eventually remove the security tag off the blue pair of medium shorts. No exchange necessary. I return the unwanted 2 pairs of small shorts to the menswear department and the customer makes her way home with her shirt and 2 pairs of medium shorts and receipts in a Myer bag. Hopefully she has got the size correct and does not have to return.
Today I reported 2 suspected theft reports on the POS system. One was a missing mug from a box someone had written a note about and mine was a sleeve from some sort of large serving board. I suspect this was from a board hidden in a display in the electrical department holding up a number of black espresso cups and saucers from a photograph the electricals manager posted in case we were looking for the black espresso cups and saucers but could not locate them.
The Bodum rep was in today and I said hello to him thinking he was a customer but he told me who he was and he was just tidying up the display. He looked familiar and so I asked him if he was the Bodum rep for any other stores. He said DJs but I meant other then Myer & DJ and then he clicked Plenty at St Ives and Balgowlah. I was sure I had met him before. He was the new rep for Bodum and popped in that day.
I did my first gift registry processing on the POS system today. It was a bit annoying too many fields to fill in - things like the name of the recipient and name of the person who is giving the presents. It would not accept the Myer One membership card until the end either. So annoying - it should be a simple process ie enter the registry code into the POS, scan the items to be purchased and the Myer One card then process payment. The customers purchased 3 x boxed dinner sets. Hopefully the items will now disappear off the gift registry as they is the most important thing.
I had a paper birthday voucher for $10 to process as a part payment on the POS today. I completely forgot how to process it as usually I get digital ones and it's enter the amount scan the barcode and select gift/reward card on the POS which is a lot easier then a paper one.
The customer service manager comes over with a leave planner for the next 12 months and explains to me and the team member working with me how she will stick this on the back of the cupboard and we are to write which days we would like off . She advises that once she approved our leave to enter it into Kronos. She explains she is doing this as last year too many team members were asking for leave over the same period of time. We are casuals why do we have to have leave approved - we are not being paid for time off. Is this even legal? I know what days I want off already so instructions from customer service manager noted.
I tried to stay awake to watch the finale of Plate of Origin but just could not. What a flop that new cooking series was. Short and not so sweet in the end it was I think team Greece verses team Vietnam and I woke up just in time to see team Greece win the $100000 Channel 7 budget prize money. It was so late when the show ended. So glad this cooking show is over - with Matt Gary & Manu it just could not attract the same cult status as the Master Chef series on channel 10 or My Kitchen Rules (MKR) series on channel 7. Channel 7 needs to do another Boys Weekend series with Manu Miguel Adrian and Gary or just bring back Ready Steady Cook - anything is better then Plate of Origin series one and I'm pretty sure there won't be a series two anytime soon.
I watched a bit of late news then could not sleep so am blogging - It's now close to mid night. So glad I don't have to work tomorrow. Time to do some planning.
Wednesday 23rd September 2020
Day off today. It started off a perfect day but is around 11.30 am the weather is losing it's luster. The sun has diminished a little and it looks windy outside.
There is always something to do on my day off even if it is not venturing out.
First I catch up on emails, watch YouTube videos, book and pay for entry to attend the annual Cake Bake & Sweet Show but only the Sydney event out at the Showground (unfortunately) this year on from Friday 4th - Sunday 6th December 2020 for the Sunday session - general entry was originally $30 which is a bit steep and there was a promo code which heavily discounted it to a more affordable price but I misded out on it as it did not work so yesterday I was sent another email with new promo codes expiring today and purchased my ticket with it hopefully sucessfully although I have not received a confirmation email to date which I should have but do have an order number paying $18 instead of $30 for general entry to the show on a Sunday ( if you go on the Friday It's only $16 using the promo code - I didn't see the flexi ticket option this time pop up when it did originally but don't need it this year as I usually work on either a Fri or Sat). I know it won't be good this year as it has declined in the past few years but what else can I attend or go to most things have been cancelled . It is unfortunate that it is likely I won't be able to attend the same event in Melbourne in November this year as Melbourne always does food and wine related events better then Sydney! Also the event is just too close to Christmas.
Next I had another look at tickets available to go to the Van Gough Alive exhibition out at The Hall of Industries. When I originally looked at pricing and availability it was almost completely sold out for Sept Oct and into Nov and at over $50 for an adult general entry for all sesdion times and dates there was no way I was going to it. But today when I looked quite a few weekends were sold out throughout Sept Oct and the first week of Nov as well as a few blocks of weekdays but there was quite a lot of availability including today but was I going to pay the $40 to go? No not quite. Maybe I should save it for my birthday as one activity to do or for a day that I have to take off to attend an AGM in the morning.
In between I made myself a nice breakfast of Korean instant noodles ( first time I am trying Korean instant noodles) with tofu broccoli carrot mushrooms corriander shallot seasame oil and soya sauce. So yummy must get a few more packets - the quality of noodles is so much better.
I watch the news and try to catch up on yesterday's blog. I also make a shopping list. I think it will be a salad sandwich for lunch today if I don't go shopping!
My laundry has not been put away it is still in the laundry bag ALMOST DONE and I really should take the rubbish out again DONE. I did do a quick vacuum again this morning as the floor just gets so dirty from my shoes from venturing in and out DONE.
Checked Kronos again today and my shifts have changed again. An extra 3 hour shift to cover lunches on a day I should be off and an extra half hour on a Friday taking me to the COB thst day instead of finishing at 4.30 pm. I wish I didn't have to spend so much time checking my Kronos.
2 pm and I've finally caught up on my blog. The sun is out again and I should really venture out but will see.
I just forgot about another exhibition I want to see opening 2nd October and on until 26th April 2021. More about this later.
In the afternoon I ventured out to Chatswood to do a grocery shop. I managed to get most of the things on my list except brussel sprouts and laundry money. I did recharge my Opal card but only with $20. Some things were just a little too expensive as they are not in season or probably cheaper to buy at an independent store rather then a supermarket chain.
I lost track of time and returned home on a 200 limited stops bus probably after 6.30 pm which was probably the last 200 bus running from Chatswood.
I could not be bothered cooking dinner so had smoked salmon cherry tomatos mini cucumber with cream cheese and corn chips.
I watched tv - the news on the ABC and went to sleep then woke up around midnight then went back to sleep then woke up again at around 3.30 am then went back to sleep waking up around 7.30 am on Thursday morning.
Thursday 24th September 2020
A sleep in before work for once. I am working the late shift until close tonight at Myer 2.30 pm - 7 pm ( late night shopping - that's going to be fun getting home only way home is via B Line and transfer at Neutral Bay onto 144 or any bus to Manly and transfer onto 144 both long wait times for 144 @ that time of the night and let's hope I don't fall asleep or miss my transfer point or connecting bus!)
I received an email response from What's Cooking for a Christmas casual job I inquired about a while back. They asked me a few questions such as does my current employer know I am looking for alternative employment - no of course not! Casn they have have a reference yes they can but only from my previous employer as I no longer work there but not from my current employer as I am still employed by them aand after an incident many years ago where so how my current employer found out that I was looking for alternative employment whilst I was still employed by them, I have to be extra cautious of the information I provide to employers I apply to. I advised What's Cooking that I was about to leave for work asnd Wil get back to them tomorrow.
Caught the 144 and connected with the B Line bus at Neutral Bay Junction 2 hours before the start of my shift. I had breakfast and even had 30 minutes to go shopping at H & M for work clothes before staring work at 2.30 pm today. I bumped into the 2 team members who have now become besties sharing the same name (even saying they are now joined at the hip ) on their day off shopping at H&M. We chatted about work stuff before leaving them to go shopping and me off to start my shift ( I didn't have to walk far Myer was right next door).
Oh boy do I have a lot to write about today! I think I am going to start looking for another job. I'm sorry but in my 2 months I have been working as a casual here at Myer, I don't want to work at Myer anymore nor do I want to be a shareholder anymore. Myer is going down.
It's getting to the point where it's not only the stress of always having to travel upto 2 hours to get to work on time and 2 hours to get home that is making me want to find more permanent work closer to home but it is the added stress of not being able to plan my life outside of work due to constant very last minute same day changes to the roster whether it be changing my shift start and finish times on the day of my shifts or adding extra 3 hour shifts randomly after the roster has been scheduled without notice AND other quite serious issues that have occurred today.
I again reiterate the importance of why I keep a daily diary of my employment activities at Myer.
Besides not having any sucess with orders again today and no Myer One sign ups despite asking almost every customer that did not have one, I almost got a customer to sign up but I could not find any unsued Myer One membership cards around. The customer was interested in joining up and was purchasing a nice denim jacket so I told him that I would have to ask the team member I was working with that night where they were kept. The customer saw the price of the denim jacket which was on sale and said that he wanted to buy another one so would return and by that time I would have been able to find a Myer One card and sign him up for membership. Unfortunately I was called away for a very brief last minute monthly one on one with the customer service manager. Another missed sales opportunity and another missed opportunity to have a break even if it was only a toilet break ( I didn't even have time for a break again today). Anyway it was same same discussion on my slowness to get things done ( which I had to explain I did get things done today), and how I left a team member I was working with on my last shift to repack a 10 piece dinner set back into It's box which took ages ( remember the one the team member I was working with who made it her mission to get it all back into the box when my effort did not quite work out?). I was accused of clock watching basically that afternoon after my shift and that I left right on the dot - no I didn't and I don't take breaks so I am entitled to leave on time which I actually didn't as I always get last minute customers. I know what times I arrive and leave and don't need to be constantly accused for things which did not happen. I had to explain to the customer service manager about the 10 piece cookware situation. The customer service manager is constantly telling me about how she and other managers can see what transactions I put in, how they are put in and how I perform my duties basically I am reminded that my every move working at Myer is being watched and monitored by cameras and technology. Isn't that actually illegal watching employees in general? I have mentioned about invasion of privacy several times previously in my blog and I believe this is a serious issue at Myer. Note accusation # 3 for today ( 2 more accusations to come in this blog). I am ensuring I am saving every word of this blog as I go in case my blog crashes again as this is a extra important diary entry in relation to my employment at Myer.
My blog just crashed after I started writing about accusation # 1 - see what I mean just as well I saved as I went and only lost a few words.
Back to accusation # 1 ( not really an accusation but an issue). Remember the leave schedule organised that I was informed about by the customer service manager. Well as soon as I found out when the date of the 2020 Myer AGM was and decided to take my birthday off, I went to the cupboard and opened it to find the leave schedule was up and went to pencil in the dates I was unavailable however found a major problem. My name had been left completely off the list of team members names so I had to add myself to the bottom of the list on both sheets and penciled in the dates I was unavailable ( yes that is correct I use the term unavailable and not leave request as a casual does not have to request leave and wait for approval of leave) but not before writing at the bottom of the first leave schedule planner a rather cheeky comment for the attention of the customer service manager of " Gee ****** thanks for leaving my name off the list!" I later grabbed hold of her and told her the issue making my unamusement known to her and adding " Am I not employed anymore after September?!" She looked on the leace schedule planner and did not believe me and then tried to explain to me what happened when she realised that my name was indeed not on the list. She blamed it on a insert of the electrical manager's name and that it was a copy paste error. Yeh sure!!!!! She should not be a customer srrvice msnasger if she can't even remember all team members working under her department.
Accusation # 2 and this was the serious one which I am going to write in as much detail as possible as this really annoyed me and has speared on my decision that it is time to find alternative employment. Yesterday over the team group chat on what's app there was some sort of photograph of a note and something about a team member(s) processing a refund on the POS for a customer without a receipt instead of issuing a returns card. I didn't really think anything of it as I didn't know anything about it nor was I working that day. When I returned to work today. The customer service manager approaches me personally and tells me ( ACTUALLY ACCUSED ME TO EXACT) without a second thought of the 2nd hand information coming out of her mouth of me processing this refund. She says that it was a $59.95 purchase, that I rang the operations manager and spoke to him about it and that she could see that it was me who processed it from the transaction reports. I kept defending myself and asked "Are you sure?" and she kept saying yes you rang the operations manager and he was thought it was you. I also added that I don't remember making a refund for $59.95 for any customer without a receipt, all the refunds I've done always had receipts and if I am unsure I always ask another team member. I was not just really annoyed with the customer service manager at this point but angry especially when she said not to dwell on it anymore it's done and to move on. NO I WILL NOT MOVE ON! I know it had nothing to do with me. I did think maybe another team member may have put it through on my team ID accidently or intentionally which can happen if your team ID has not timed out or if you forget to log off after you finish your sale on the POS. At my one on one, I was owed ( and I mean owed not given) an apology by the operations manager via the customer service manager. A mistake had been made. The customer service manager had gone back to the day/date of the customer refund and I was not even rostered on to work that day and had nothing to do with it and she knew who had put the refund through. I kept telling the customer service manager that I have never rang to speak to tbe operations manager before and the only 2 times I spoke to him to ask him a question was on the floor. Aparently managers are monitored too so a manager or 2 now have a mark next to their name(s).
Thank goodness today has come to an end and now anyone reading my blog will know why. Again I missed the B Line bus as I had left my drink bottle at work and had to stop and buy a watermelon juice after work as I had not had a drink of water all shift. I was lucky the chicken shop that sells fresh juices was still open as they were packing away their bottles of juices for the night. After a bag check I had to walk out of the staff entry/exit doors and back through the mall and across the overpass bridge to get to the bus stop to catch the B line or Manly bus in order to connect to a 144 or 143 home as the 280 Chatswood bus does not run from Warringah Mall all the way to Chatswood after 7 pm. I can never make the last bus at 7 pm on a late shift as it takes me at least 20 minutes to walk all the way from the staff entrance/exit to the closest bus stop by the time I take the lift to the staff level, return the keys and or ipads, punch off , grab my bag out of the locker and go through a bag check.
I hopped on the first bus that went to Manly but got on the wrong bus and had no idea where I was heading as it was very dark and the bus was taking much longer then the one I took on the night of the last stocktake. I remember that bus was an express bus and only took 15 minutes to reach Manly. I had to ask a guy on the bus if the bus we were on was headed for Manly it was but he too hopped on the wrong Manly bus. Tbis bus took the scenic route and even he had no idea where the bus was heading. Aparently it goes via Curl Curl but that was unfamiliar to me however as soon as the bus crossed over the bridge above Manly Lagoon ie Queenscliff Beach I knew where I was. So it took an extra 10 minutes or so to get to Manly Wharf but still a bit of a walk to the 143 a nd 144 bus stop along the wharf area. I arrived home just before 9 pm. Exhausted I watched some YouTube and went to sleep. I didn't even bother to update my blog. Before going to bed I did ensure one thing was done - my leave days had been approved by the customer service manager so I entered them onto Kronos as instructed - Thursday 29th October 2020 and Wednesday 4th November 2020 NOW UNAVAILABLE TO WORK.
Friday 25th September 2020
Day off and a sleep in - well not really as it gets warmer and the days longer, it is getting easier to wake up earlier due to seeing daylight earlier in the morning. It is not quite daylight savings yet ( that is next week usually coinciding with the annual Labour Day public holiday long weekend).
By 5 am this morning I am already awake and the sun is already out - another beautiful day although last night on the scenic route bus to Manly, that took forever to get to Manly from Warringah, a guy on the bus I was chatting with had a look at the forecast for today and it was forecast to rain). By 7 am I have already had a full breakfast and blogging as well as checked my bank account and transferred funds.
Why am I hungry all the time? I just had breakfast and still am having more breakfast.I just had a packet of instant seafood flavour Korean noodle soup with fresh spinach leaves & salmon that I added in a large bowl. This is only the 2nd time I have eaten instant Korean noodles and the first time I am trying this brand of instand Korean noodles ( there are so many on the market and they are all much bigger then the most of the other Asian instant noodle brands and the quality and taste is so much better - why haven't I discovered these instant noodles before!) It was just yummy but I got a little surprise when I opened one of the condiment sachets and tipped the contents into my bowl. I have never seen anything like this. Cute little kitty cat faces ( at least I think they are little kitty cat faces) floating in my bowl of noodle soup but I wasn't keen on eating them - I just tasted one of them and I don't rate them much. Photos below.
I am unsure what to do today as some of the events I planned to attend are not on yet.
For now I am watching the ACC tv news and catching up on blogging. My blogging is taking me quite a bit of time today as I have quite a bit to write about in regards to what happened yesterday.
Again always something to do on my day off and preparation for work tomorrow, pay bills etc.
6 pm and it's raining. It says it's 11 degrees but feels like 8 degrees no way - it does not even feel cold! It just sounds wet.
Just sent an email response to What's Cooking re Christmas casuals.
Watching the news on Channel 10 The Project then plan to watch The Living Room then a shower wash dishes and sleep .
Today I roasted a whole defined butterflies organic chicken stuffed with a blended up mixture of cream cheese silverbeet stalks onion shallots garlic fried shallots mixed herbs lemon thyme ground pepper vegetable stock cubes tasty cheese breadcrumb fresh bread crust tumeric fennel seeds dates figs & a dash of water
Saturday 26th September 2020
Originally I was rostered to work at Myer today from 9.30 am - 1 pm ( I have to leave home by 7.30 am in the morning in order to get to work on time catching the 144 and connecting with a B line bus as I don't think the 280 bus from Chatswood runs that early)
I left home at 7.30 am and just managed to get on the connecting B line at Neutral Bay Junction. Getting me to Warringah Mall around 8.40 am. If I missed that B Line I would have had to wait for the next one getting me to Warringah Mall by 9 am. In between there is apparently a 190x bus from Neutral Bay Junction to Warringah Mall however it does not run very often and I easily have missed it. It would have gotten me to Warringah Mall around the same time as the B Line bus ie just before 9 am.
It waa freezing this morning with high winds. As soon as I arrived at the mall I needed something hot to eat so purchased my usual 2 croquet from the chicken store. I really need a hot tea but I will stick to my water.
I am trying to find a particular toy store in the mall so will see if I can find it before stating work at 9.30 am. No time to search for it today. As soon as I arrive on the floor to work at Myer it is only 10.20 am and I am already serving customers waiting in a queue. By 10.30 am the customer service manager advises me that the electrical manager has called in sick and asks me if I can stay and work back until 5 pm. Of course I agreed to do so. At least I had a proper 45 minute lunch break today ( I left 15 minutes to get back onto the floor in time) Because I was only suppose to work until 1 pm today I did not bring my lunch with me so had to purchase a chicken and lettuce sandwich to eat for lunch. I just purchased it from a random cafe in the food court near Woolworths and took it back to the Myer staff lunch room to eat.
It's not even the end of the day and I was asked again by the customer service manager if I can work tomorrow. Is she crazy! Of course I can't work as I can't get to work buses don't run directly to and from Chatswood I would have to wait forever for connecting buses from home to Neutral Bay Junction and onto Warringah Mall on a Sunday bus timetable. I advised her that it takes me upto 2 hours one way to get to work and I left at 7.30 am this morning just to get to work by 9.30 am. I need some days off and I do have a life outside of Myer. So I think the team member I was working with today was in discussion with the customer service manager after I left about whether she could work tomorrow . Her friend was complaining how she talks too much to everyone not just the customer service manager and therefore takes so long to leave. This time I opened up my bag to show the customer service manager before exiting the staff entrance/exit before she asks me. Saves the hassle.I punched out using the machine located near the staff entrance/e it this time instead of using my phone so I didn't forget to turn my location off after punching out.
So still no orders to day or Myer One sign ups. I asked almost everyone possible except if a customer looked as if English was not their first language or if they took far too much time just to purchase the simplest of items.
People were still giving purchase round up of donations to the current charity of the women's shelter today. There were a few on my last shift that wanted to give more but it is just too hard to do on the POS - there is only the option to do so at the very beginning or very end of a transaction. I had a return and exchange from a customer today and there was a 5 cent credit owing to the customer on a card only POS register so I though I could be smart and balance it out to zero by rounding up the return exchange purchase to the nearest dollar as a donation to charity but the POS system did not have an option to do this even the customer service manager could not process this and because the original transaction was a cash sale the 5 cents had to be processed on the only cash register available which meant I had to cancel and reprocess the transaction again on the cash register. I ended up refunding it onto the customers card. The customer had a second purchase he wanted to return and exchange on another receipt and it was also a cash transaction but I forgot and processed it on the card only register so had to redo the whole return exchange and cash refund on the cash register but could not work out why I could not refund the cash difference of $25.79 I think it was and silly me was not thinking - the customer service had to tell me you can't refund 79 cents - oh derrr. Fixed rounded up to $25.80 cash refund back to customer. I said to the customer service manager I hope I never have to refund 79 cents again. She says to me we haven't had cents for ages and gives me a fake slap for being such an airhead. It was really busy and I don't think about these kinds of things.
What is it with customers and their towel purchases. I had at least 2 customers each bought a whole set of new towels and both had not changed their towels since they were probably married ie they have had the same set of towels for 10 years or more each. I even joked with on of the customers see you again in tens years! Today I had a customer who asked if if she should wash the towels before using them . I think you should I advised her as you never know where they have come from or been - who doesn't wash their towels and other linen before using them? Yuk!
Sometimes I get some really rude and demanding customers and no matter how much I try and exceed their expectations with exceptional customer service , they are still demanding and rude towards you. Today I had 2 examples of rude and demanding customers both of which I referred to my customer service manager for assistance with.
Rude customer # 1 the pavlova plate lady. She rings in the morning and inquires whether we actually have any in stock at the store. I take her name and number as well as details of the item she requires and advise her that I will have a look on the shelves and get back to her as soon as I can. She was happy with that. My first attempt at looking for the pavlova plate which I am very familiar with was unsucessful. I turned to the iPad and POS systems to cross check where the was any in store. Yes there were 3 so they should be on the shelves somewhere. I manage to locate them hiding in a display and call her straight back explaining that it was MW white 34 cm flat pavlova plate and that she could have used just a large round plate with no ridge on the bottom of it and just a low profile rim around it however a proper pavlova plate is oven safe therefore it can be baked and served on it. She was happy that I found her one and said she will be in to pick it up later today. This was fine and I advised her it would be on the back counter on hold in the Homewares department. She arrives pretty late in the afternoon to pay for it and pick it up. I find out she needed it tonight then explains how her cluck & collect order went missing so she had to find another one. All was fine up to this point in time but I had an idea and wanted to compensate her for the missing click and collect order as a token of appreciation and ask the customer service manager if tgere were any complimentary coffee vouchers I could give to her ( usually we have some in the draw but I could not find any). The customer service manager starts to chat with the customer and the customer advises her of what happened with the misding order and how her husband had to ring to find out where the misding order was. The customer service manager tries to look up her misding order on the iPad and found it had been cancelled but no other details as to the reason were showing. The customer becomes rude and demands to know how this could happen and yells out that Myer should get there shut together and that she will not be buying from Myer again. I'm guessing no complimentary coffee voucher for you rude customer. I wanted to smooth the annoyed customer over not agitate her more. I reiterated to the customer in front of the customer service manager how in the end all's well ends well that she needed the pavlova plate for tonight and I found one for her and I think she was able to use her birthday voucher from Myer of $15 off it as I assumed because the order had not gone through neither had the birthday voucher so it was a win win for her. I said to the customer service manager after the customer left that she would have scored a 3 for customer feedback on that and the customer service manager said that was uncalled for and not to worry about any bad feedback and that she's not giving the customer a coffee voucher for being so rude.
Rude customer # 2 the insistant purchased at Chatswood & return for a refund at Warringah Mall lady. This customer walks in with a Myer bag and a receipt asvising me tgat she had purchased this quilt set from the Myer at Chatswood and would like to return it for a refund. I asked her what was wrong with it and she said it was the wrong size and colour and was told she could return it for a refund by a team member at the Chatswood store. I was very unwilling to give her a refund as 1. It was not purchased from this store eventhough she had a receipt. 2. She had taken every single piece out of it's packaging - if the product was still intact then I may have considered giving her a refund - how do I know she didn't sleep on it or wash it - would you buy bedding that had been used or resold? But most importantly 3. After explaining the non return policy of linen such as pillows sheets quilts quilt covers and now towels due to NSw health regulations that have been in place since last October and not just due to the current COVID pandemic , she insisted that she was told by the team member at Myer Chatswood that she could return it for a refund. I calmly informed there that I will need to get an authorisation for the refund so range the customer service manager whose only response was so what do you need an authorisation for? I explained the situation and she asked me did I advise the customer of the returns policy - of course I did so it was agreed that I could refund her the money but to keep the original receipt which I did and stuck it to the outside of the Myer bag with her returned quilt cover set in it leaving it on the back bench for the customer service manager to see. I did not want another unauthorised refund accusation after the previous one which had nothing to do with me. The customer advises me that she too was not going to purchase from Myer again and she said that she will be purchasing from Adairs as they don't have any returns for refund policy like Myer does. I calmly explained to her that yes they do and it's on their website because it is a NSW health regulations policy not just a Myer one. I later showed the customer service manager the state of the returned product and she is going to write it off.
Quite a few of my customers did not return for their holds on the back counter. Usually it's because too bulky to carry around with them. One customer did not return because we could not process a digital CBA rewards redemption so probably went home with the intention to get her physical CBA card but could not be bothered to return. Quite a few customers actually used all of their CBA rewards points on purchases today.
Usually if a customer purchases a lot of fragile of bulky items , I advise them to grab a trolley from the carpark where people like to dump them whilst I am putting their items through the POS and after load the purchases into their trolley and direct them to use the lift. It's the easiest way to get around the mall. Loads of pillows quilts and towels purchased today. Very bulky stuff and the occassional dinner set as well.
There was a lot of menswear purchased today as well. Why aren't they going to the menswear counter? Oh they say there is nobody there. I went over to ask a question as a customer wanted to buy a combo of polo shirt and t shirt as a 2 for $40 deal - no they can't do a combo it only applies to the t shirts and there were 2 people actually behind the counter in menswear. Customer ditches the polo shirt but keeps the 4 t shirts, 2 of which just would not allow me to override the regular price - because 2 were marked correctly and the other 2 still had a discounted price under brand partner promo on them. So confusing. The customer service manager was there and she was showing off her ability to serve multiple customers at once to a customer being served on the POS next to me. I had trouble again getting off one type is security tag and as I was about to try the special security tag removal device, a brand partner concession team member helps me remove it with a pair of scissors - note to shoplifters and customers who leave Myer without checking that a team member has remembered to take the security tags off a purchase DO NOT TRY REMOVING ANY SECURITY TAGS OFF YOURSELF UNLESS YOU WANT TO LOSE AN EYE(S) OR CAUSE OTHER SERIOUS INJURY TO YOURSELF! I won't even try to remove these special security tags myself after seeing this one removed. No damage to the product but very dangerous to whoever is removing it.
At before 5 pm the back bench was clean , we check that all the registers did not have any transactions left on them that were just queries, I collected the iPad to be returned and charged, the other team member locked the cupboards and returned the keys and we checked and directed any straggler customers still in the store at 5 pm and yes there is ways one hiding this time at the electrical counter who left tgen decided to return - no we did not serve him and directed him out the front door. End of a very long day for me.
I managed to catch the 280 bus to Chatswood as it was still running at 5.30 pm on a Saturday but had to wait for 15 minutes until the next one arrived. Home by 7 pm as I needed to stop and buy a snack at Woolworths Chatswood.
Nothing on tv on a Saturday night so blogged and slept in the following day it is really cold outside waiting 15 minutes for the next 144 home from Chatswood I was freezing! It is still so cold and it's almost October!
Sunday 27th September 2020
Day off and end of a very long week. So relieved.I decided not to go anywhere today just sleep in and eat. It is quite cold still but the sun did come out the disappeared mid day tgen came out again.
3.30 pm and it's time for me to do some shopping at Chatswood armed with a shopping list.
How rude a 144 bus towards Chatswood failed to stop at the same bus stop after I signalled the bus to stop. There were 2 other passengers waiting for that bus but they decided to walk as goodness knows how long it will take until the next 144 arrives. The bus was not full and the driver slowed down towards the bus stop but did not stop, it just drove on. This is the second time this has happened to me at the same bus stop so I again lodged a complaint on the transport NSW website to investigate. It could be the same bus driver doing this. Not happy!
Arrived At Chatswood but did not have much time to shop except for groceries. First stop was Priceline to buy moisturiser body wash oil and cortesone. Next onto Fruitez before walking down to the larger Coles supermarket in The Chase shopping centre at the other end of Chatswood where I remained before repacking my grocery purchases and walk back to Chatswood Station and catching a bus home. It is still very cold tonight - this time I was smart and wore a turtle neck, thick fleece hoodie leggings and a skirt to keep me warm.
Home a snack and a few cups of tea and watch the Food channel before bed by 9 pm.
Prep for work again tomorrow but only a very short 3 hour add on shift again - I wish they would not do this to me it just wastes my entire day ( which was my original day off).
Can't wait to start attending more exhibitions again as they open.
End of another week.
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