This week is Sydney Craft Week 9th October - 18th October 2020. Refer my blog , photos & short video uploaded onto my Youtube channel on my first visit to the Australian Design Centre.
Monday 12th October 2020
Woke up at 5 am and really don't want to go to work but I have to.
First thing I did was catch up on watching YouTube & post photos of my Sunday's adventures onto Facebook.
6.20 pm time to get up and pack my bag for work then have a shower.
7 am and I'm watching the news. Very allergic today. Eyes watering really badly and my cough is back. There is rain forecasted but not until towards the end of this week.
I caught the 144 bus to Neutral Bay Junction and connected with the next B Line bus which was 4 minutes away but arrived within a minute. I spotted , sat and talked to another team member who started at 10 am today who works in the Kidswear & Menswear Department ( both of us wearing a mask the entire trip). The traffic is really bad along The Spit Bridge this morning and I said to this team member that public transport and traffic in general will get worse as Christmas and Summer gets closer.
I am working at Myer today from 10.30 am - 4.30 pm however there was again a last minute change on Kronos yesterday to my finishing time from 4.30 pm to 5 pm. The same with this Friday's shift. 2 x 30 minutes added to 2 shifts REALLY does not make up for a full shift tomorrow that was also cancelled at the last minute yesterday ( read my comment further on this blog) . I just wish they would stop doing this!
I check have been checking and have to check Kronos more then once every single day since starting , my Myer Metrics almost every single day ( reading as much as MComs possible - goodness knows what I am suppose to be reading! and when it is working - I haven't been able to read it in the past week or so as it has kept hanging), I check WSS once a week for pay slips and for information from them for my fortnightly Centrelink reporting & I have no choice except to read the text messages on the team group chat on Whatsapp daily ( even on my days off) as it is constantly popping up and HOUNDING me with reminders to read the Mcoms or check Kronos or action something. I will have to turn all Myer related communications off on 29th October when the Myer AGM is on. It is so important that I attend this year's Myer AGM as I am now working for Myer and not just a shareholder. I hope I don't have any technical issues.
Damn it I went to the post office to buy a mailing satchel and realised I had forgotten my wallet. I hope it is at home and I haven't lost it! If I have lost it then I will have to cancel and or replace everything in it. Oh well can't worry about it now. Have to work. Must look for it after work tonight.
Such a slow day today at work. Having a late 1 hour lunch break after 2 pm at the latest as you can't have a break less then 1 hour before you finish your shift ( typical put me on an extra 30 minutes so they don't have to pay me for 1 hour break because I would have worked a total of 6.5 hours. That's a type of wage theft if you ask me.)
No Myer One sign ups today although I managed to find 2 customers old Myer One numbers after 2 or 3 attempts of using all of the POS look up functions. I still did not bother to ask for donations from rounding up purchases as I still can't see the donation figures on Myer Metrics which was hanging again today. No orders today as well, as the products customers wanted were still out of stock.
A customer wanted to return a set of 3 boxer shorts he had purchased from Myer Chatswood which he advised were the wrong size . I had to advise him that underwear is non returnable due to health regulations and confirmed this with another team member who asked if he had tried them on. Yes he had therefore definitely non returnable.
Before I even started work today my sales were already -$26 as someone returned something that they had purchased from me previously. Doesn't matter as the guy that purchased the Italian coffee perculator on Saturday returned to exchange it for the larger one. "Remember me?" he asks - of course I remember him I overcharged him for the coffee purculator as the ticket price was different to the scanned price so I had to honour the ticket price! I didn't write about this previously on my blog as I forgot - oh well I can't remember everything that happens. Nice guy - even joked about not enough coffee hence the exchange for larger sized purculator.
Giftorium is finally being set up with all It's arches - wants to make you want to take a selfie under them! Christmas is still a work in progress though. One thing that wasn't displayed very well when I arrived today was the Sugatfina range. No one will even look at them they way they were merchandised! I hope there is a lot more stock of it coming in and that it is remerchandised. Worst display of all Christmas gift ideas! I love the Sugatfina range and whenever I go to Nordstrom in Canada I buy myself some and I mentioned this when I spotted it reading Mcoms right at near the beginning of when I started working at Myer to the team leader about this range of internationally sourced lollies and how I love them - that was 3 months ago almost. Now they are finally here in Sydney.
Why is glassware always so messy? I restocked the displays today ( Krosno Duet & Splendor ranges from the reserves) and did a tidy up of them.
After putting stuff away that is all over the back counter there are still customers in the store at 5 pm when the store is closed.
I forgot to return the iPad and then I forgot my drink bottle so had to run back twice. First to return and sign back in 1 iPad and then back upstairs to retrieve my drink bottle.
Straight home on the 5.30 pm 280 bus to Chatswood and the 144 bus. No stopping for tempting snacks or groceries tonight as I don't have my wallet with me just my Opal card and phone.
Not much on except Junior Masterchef on Channel 10. I fell asleep watching it and Have You Been Paying Attention.
Tuesday 13th October 2020
Day off today as original shift 10 am - 5 pm was cancelled at the last minute on Kronos on Sunday 11th October 2020.
No plans today since it was a last minute cancellation of my shift.
I slept in until 7 am this morning but was up between 1 am and 4 am. I did not sleep very well at all. I was trying to upload photos onto my blogs to catch up and am almost there.
I again apologise for missing photos of my last Sunday's adventures to Collins Flat Beach and also from my visit to the Lindy Lee exhibition @ the MCA previous to that blog. I am still having problems uploading photos from my other phone.
I will make it another life admin day today.
Always rubbish to take out, cleaning, cooking, filing , postage, shopping, looking for work ( yes I am still searching for a permanent part time position) , paying any bills and keeping my diaries upto date etc.
I need to go to the post office today hopefully with my wallet this time! Did not quite make it outside today.
I almost forgot about the Telstra AGM that starts at 9.30 am this morning with registrations starting at 8.30 am. I missed the first 15 minutes or so of the live steam. It wasn't difficult to join the live steam which I am surprised about . Anyone can register to view the AGM all you had to do was type in your full name, a mobile number, an email address and a company if applicable. I did not need my SRN # or post code or any other security codes or passwords to view the virtual AGM only to obtain a voting card and vote . Ummm? Where is the cyber security ? They are mentioning it but not practising it at least not at this AGM. If I was actually attending the AGM in Melbourne this year I would have had the same issue with registration as I did last year. What did I think of attending my very first virtual AGM for 2020? Not bad but I would rather be there in person because 1. I get to have a bit of lunch and possibly meet the board members as well as ask questions as I am not game enough to ask a question in public. 2. It's a tax deduction with any excuse to escape Sydney.
I did have some technical glitches - I could not see any facts and figure in the virtual AGM all the PowerPoint presentations were cut off, touch the screen in the wrong place or drop the phone accidently and you get kicked out of the meeting and have to send off for a link via email to join back in which took me 3 attempts and kept coming up access denied hence missed some important information from the meeting. All the board members and speakers were right justified for some reason and if you can't make your screen wider their faces get cut off the screen. Annoying back screen which looks like a giant green screen but other then that a little too easy to access and submit my vote. The virual meeting completed by 11.15 am without any heckling although there were a few not so civilised questions thrown at the board throughout the meeting especially in regards to the declining share prices, very poor customer service over the years and ongoing NBN / other technical issues. Nothing new except for a few complaints from CBA shareholders who had to choose between attending the virtual CBA AGM or the Telstra AGM as they were both on at exactly the same date and time on the same virtual meeting platform. I would not have been able to attend this AGM if I had been working at Myer today. Ironically it worked out with the cancellation of my shift today. Telstra's defence was that they plan their AGMs years in advance so clashes can't be helped. Oct Nov seem to be an extremely popular time for AGMs. Besides Myer and Telstra having their AGMs usually in Oct Nov , my timeshare also has their AGM in November (which I am never able to attend) and so does Medibank Private. Exceptions include Scentre Group who have theirs earlier each year around April.
The next virtual AGM I am attending is Myer at 2.30 pm on Thursday 29th October 2020 - having a look at the list of virtual AGMs online Myer is not using the same technology and I am almost 100% sure I will have issues attending it online.
Next brunch a nap and some tv.
Catch up on trying to upload photos onto my blog, read Metrics including MComs, checked WSS for payslip break up, checked Kronos again and read any messages on the Whatsapp team group chat - I seem to spend most of my days off reading Myer work related stuff - at least I can't be accused of not reading any of it!
I went to keep around midnight and can't remember what I was doing, YouTube catch up, Food channel ??? Deleting a bucket load of junk emails??? Who knows but I did wash the dishes and have a shower before going to sleep.
Wednesday 14th October 2020
Day off today and was up by 5 am this morning. I paid a load of bills and updated my hard copy and digital diaries. Checked my shifts again on Kronos and then made a savoury lamb mince terrine which needs at least an hour in the oven.
It is now 8.15 am and I am watching the news.
Feeling so lazy today. I made myself venture out at lunch time as I still have to go to the post office and to the city to Samsung to get my SD card out of my phone which I am having trouble with removing.
I caught the 144 bus to Chatswood then caught the train to Town Hall. I hate going into the city - it's just so dirty and disgusting in the city.
I spotted a team member I was working with at Myer on Monday and called out her name several times but she still didn't hear me - her friends had to give her a nudge to acknowledge me but she still didn't quite acknowledge me - I think she called me Juls or something like that. I said Hi to her and walked onto my next destination - the Samsung store to get my SD card out which was stuck. Looked liked it came out ok this time. Maybe my little poker tool is damaged or not long enough after all it has bern on my keyring for a very long time and I haven't touched the SD card or SIM card since I purchased the phone over 3 years ago Done full 256 GB micro SD card removed new empty 256 GB SD card inserted into phone.
Next onto my next stop the post office but there isn't one nearby so I go to Officeworks however when I arrived all the large padded mailing satchel were sold out so I had to make do with a packet of the largest plastic courier satchels and the smallest roll of bubble wrap. No single rolls of packaging tape so I purchased a double packet. I looked at iron transfer A4 sheets but at 5 sheets for $24 a packet it was a little too pricey. I did have some in my storage somewhere but maybe I threw them out by mistake when I moved about 2 years ago. I have so much photographic paper though hundreds of it in all different sizes.
Next stop was a toilet stop before walking to The Australian Design Centre on Williams Street. It is my very first visit to the centre and it is currently Craft Week and I am there to see a few exhibitions
1. Fuse Glass Prize
2. Seed Stitch Contemporary Textile Awards
as well as view their Object Shop.
I probably spent upto an hour there and there was only the receptionist and one or two other people there walking through the galleries looking at both exhibitions. Photos below ( hopefully they will now upload better now that I have a new SD card in the phone). Apologies I am still having problems uploading photos so ama photos still missing that I am unable to upload.
I have uploaded a short video onto my YouTube channel of one of the art works on display at the Australian Design Centre titled Electric Sheep 2020 by Tina Fox which was a winner in the Seed Stitch Contemporary Textile Awards.
After viewing the above 2 exhibitions as well as the Object Shop, I walk back to Town Hall Station and head to Woolworths to recharge my Opal card and get $10 worth of coins for laundry money. It is then on the train back to Chatswood and to go shopping at Westfield first at Myer Chatswood where I purchase a replacement tube of Jurlique hyration face mask, then to Coles where I do a grocery shop and to pick up a free sample tub of Culture Co Kefir stopping along the way to look for work clothes and shoes (that must be black black and black!) at Witchery, Uniqlo and other chain stores before heading to Woolworths Metro Chatswood for a final grocery shop then a bus home.
Some tv and sleep as I am very tired.
Thursday 15th October 2020
I slept in this morning as I don't have work until 3.30 pm this afternoon. Time to catch up with yesterday's blog. Still having a lot of trouble uploading photos to my blog therefore uploading only photos that will upload without problems.
Breakfast and preparation of lunch for tomorrow's day at work with an amended finishing time to 5 pm.
I have a whole 3 days off in a row this Saturday , Sunday and Monday and really want to go away to South Australia but am so scared of getting sick and contracting the Corona virus. There seems to be clusters appearing everywhere as people are beginning to travel more freely between some states as borders begin to reopen.
Looking at flights and hotels it is quite expensive as well - do I save my money for say foe a new technology purchase as technology is no longer inexpensive to purchase - a top of the range new phone can now set you back more then an almost top of the range laptop. Prices of phones more expensive than laptops - that's just not on.
I need to save enough for after Christmas when my casual work sets up and the JobSeeker supplement ends in December 2020. Did the government not think about how temporary unemployment figures have fallen slightly from 1 job for every 12- 13 people to 1 job for ever 8 people now due to the fact that a lot of employers are hiring temporary Christmas casuals who after Christmas will again become unemployed - such a bad time to cut the recent already halved JobSeeker supplement forcing the umemployed back to bare minimum welfare payments hardly enough to survive on. Yet the JobKeeper supplement continues onto March 2021 and what and how will this third newly devised JobMakee scheme work. It may help younger Australians upto 35 years of age get I to or back into the workforce but the government has yet again done nothing to assist older Australians between 45 years plus - we are the forgotten group hence it is true about once you hit this age group you become invisible. If the government won't help me as I get older towards retirement age , I will have to think about how I am going to help myself - super is not going to help me at all in my retirement age.
I am working at Myer 3.30 pm - 7 pm today - a 3.5 hours shift which takes me a total of 3 hours minimum travel time. I will get home by before 9 pm but have to take the long way home no 280 bus runs after 7 pm
I catch the 144 bus to Neutral Bay Junction and connect onto the next B line which was due in 4 minutes time according to the arrivals schedule board. There was another bus that goes to Warringah Mall which kept saying due now on trip planber but it did not show up and was not coming up on the arrivals schedule board. A B Line bus shows up in less then 4 minutes instead so I hopped on it.
The traffic in front along the Split before Spit Bridge was really heavy this morning and I wondered why. The bus driver even opens the front door of the bus as he stops - I wasn't sure why he stopped and why there was so much traffic in front of the bus at a stand still - the bus doesn't usually stop before Manly Vale so I though maybe the bus was ahead of schedule or stopping to let someone on like a bus driver change over. To my surprise I look ahead and see the Spit Bridge open up to let the masts of a sea vessel through that is too tall to sail under the bridge. It is the very first time I have seen The Spit Bridge open up and close back down. It was a smooth operation and it didn't take long until traffic was flowing again. I leave home 2 hours before the start of my shift in case of incidents like this.
There is always stuff to do when you arrive particularly stuff left on the back bench to be returned. Today I found a few returns that should not have bern allowed even with a receipt.
1. A faulty kitchen scale which actually is not faulty. Myer has an exclusive battery free kitchen scale which uses a wind up mechanism which I think is fantastic obviously the customer didn't think so. She claims it did not work when it does indeed work and it is actually quite fail proof. I don't think she read the instructions on how to use it nor did the team member who served her understand how to use it when they accepted the scales back as a faulty item. I tested it and questioned why it was returned faulty. It worked perfectly fine but the instructions were missing from the box. Even the customer service manager said it worked fine when she demonstrated it to other team members. A team member thought it was one team member I have worked with that accepted the scales back as faulty but when I asked her I knew it could not have been her as she is pretty good with returns. So it was not her.
2. Item # 2 returned which should not have been accepted as a return even with a receipt was a shirt tgat I returned downstairs to the Women's clothing department was a shirt on clearance. Clearance items in general are non returnable ie no return no exchange no refund. Customer's tend to return stuff to other departments thinking they can get away with it more easily . No they can't!!!! At least this return of clothing by a customer was not someone trying to return underwear purchased from another Myer store with no tags on them!!! and that they have tried on. Again no one knows who processed the return when asked.
I managed to sign up another customer to a Myer One membership but no orders today and I am still not bothering to ask customers to round up their purchases to give a donation to the current charity of the women's shelter.
I had 2 last minute shifts added. The customer service manager spoke to the VM manager and told him how I had an eye for VMing. Oh great an extra 9 hour shift next Wednesday from 8 am - 5 pm which means no customer service but waking up and leaving home at 6 am just to get to work by 8 am!!!!
I just get asked to stay in Kidswear for the last 30 minuted of my shift as there is no one there - last team member finished at 6 pm and while I am there a manager ( who does not know me and I have never met or seen before) comes looking for me and tells me off at the same time for not being in the Kidswear department ( I'm serving a customer for crying out loud!) and to ask me to call the assistant store manager who also wants me to work an extra 5 hour shift from 12 noon - 5 pm on Saturday - that's Super Saturday this weekend. She also asks me if I could work Sunday - I had to say no because I can't get to work due to limited public transport service. There goes my long weekend plans! This is why I am getting loads of grey hair - I can't plan anything more then a few days ahead. Yes my hair has started turning very grey since I started working at Myer and very rapidly!!!!!!
Why are there no prices on all the items in the Electrical department? Does the electricals department manager not realise how heavy boxes of electrical items are to pick up and drag to the nearest counter to be price scanned at the POS system. I had a customer looking for a juicer for her daughter so showed her some options and also mentioned an extended warranty ( care plan) to her before she made a decision on a Breville juice which I took to the electricals manager for him to process under my team ID #. It was too bulky for me to drag back to the Kidsware counter so I dragged it by the handle to the electricals counter. The electricals manager asked me " Don't you know how to put another team member's purchase through?" Of course I do but I can't put through my own. I gave it to him for 2 reasons 1. It was too bulky and heavy for me to drag up and down and I didn't want to lose a sale 2. I needed to get back to the Kidswear Department and stay there as requested for the last 30 minutes of my shift and had already been told off once for not being there explaining I was with a customer in the Electricals department. Also had the cocktail shaker customer waiting to be served at the Kidswear counter.
So annoying a customer's son purchases a cocktail shaker about 5 minutes before closing time. I am unable to find his mother's Myer One membership number on the POS system at all using the details given to me so just put through the single cocktail shaker. His mother returns right as the store announces the store is now closed over the PA system advising me that she bought 2 other cocktail previously and when his son bought the third one he didn't get a discount for it and has all her dockets with her. He didn't tell me that his mother had purchased another 2 cocktail shakers and why didn't they purchase them all in one go? I did mention to the son that there is no discount as he is only buying one item so it was full price. The son just paid for the item on card. The mother also tells me that he iss not the type to mention if there was a discount. Unsure what to do I asked the electricals manager and he said put it through as a item discount . So the quickest way I could think of how to fix this was refund the item in full back onto the mother's card and put it through again with the item discount of 30% and get her to pay for it again. Then run to return the IPad get my stuff punch out and get the next bus to connect with a 144 either a B line or Manly bus. I missed both as I still had to walk across the 2 car parks one through the mall and the other outside the front of the mall and go up and across the pedestrian overpass bridge which takes at least 15 minutes extra to get to the bus stop. There is no 280 bus from outside the front of the mall - the last bus is 7 pm direct to Chatswood on weeknights and there is no way on Thursday nights I can make this last bus. My only way home is a transfer in all directions home. So I catch the next bus that arrives which is a 196X bus to Manly but no guarantees I will make the next connecting 144 bus which runs every 30 minutes or so at that time of the night and I still have to walk across to Manly Wharf to catch it. There were people waiting so I assume they have been waiting a while . I DON'T have time to cook as it will be close to 9 pm by the time I get home if I manage to get the next connecting 244 home so stop and get a spicy chicken burrito for dinner take away - this time I remember to scan my loyalty card. I see the 144 bus at the bus stop about a few hundred meters away and run for it like a person in front of me, just in time before it is about to depart. Made it. Now I can relax. Home by 8.45 pm. I wash my mask and my hands, turn the tv on and eat my burrito and a juice before catching up on some YouTube before going to bed.
No need to prepare lunch for tomorrow's day at work. Already done the day before.
Still really itchy with allergies. Getting irritations from wearing a mask all day most days and if I eat the foods I know I am allergic to - dairy - I could never give up cheese! ( there was loads of cheese in that burrito I ate!) My body does not like rain either and today there were passing storms apparently with forecast more to come later in the week.
Friday 16th October 2020
Myer 10.30 am - 4.30 pm. Shift finishing time changed to 5 pm today. I leave home at 8.30 am and catch the 144 bus to Neutral Bay Junction. I look out for the next B Line or bus that travels to Warringah Mall. One arrives that was late but it was a B line bus so I hop onto it. Although I managed to get a seat the traffic over The Spit Bridge was pretty bad - much worse then a few weeks a go - an indication of what's to come as we edge closer to Christmas.
No Myer One sign ups today. I asked everyone and they just said no mostly with the reason of having too many cards already. One lady just said yesterday that unless she received 10% discount for every purchase it was not worth it but the best excuse I heard from a customer today for not wanting to sign up for a Myer One card was " I'm too old for one."
No orders again today and I only asked 2 customers today if they wanted to round up their purchases as a donation towards the current charity and both said yes.
A few returns for refunds or exchanges but the best customer reason for a return and exchange of babywear today had to be a young couple who purchased 3 pieces of girls baby clothing back in July. They had a receipt and the clothing still had tags and labels attached to them. Usually Myer's policy is no return no exchange and no refund after 30 days of purchase which was extended to 60 days during the current COVID pandemic therefore their purchase would no longer be eligible for a return exchange or refund but in this circumstance I allowed it particularly because they purchased it at this store, had the receipt, they were not clearance items and had all the tags and labels still attached. Now for the reason. They were told that the to be born baby was a girl - the doctor had told the parents before it was due to be born. Oops the doctor made a slight mistake when the baby was born it was not a girl but a little boy and obviously the doctor missed one important piece of anatomy on the baby. So I asked the young couple why they didn't go to the gender reveal - obviously there was one but the young couple mentioned they were lucky they had not sent off the clothing to Germany before they found this information out. Aparently they sent photos of the baby clothing off to the mother of the baby and the mother of the baby boy asked why they had purchased little girls clothing when it was a little boy after it was born. So the young couple decided to return the 2 pink pieces of baby clothing but kept the 3rd piece as the colour scheme worked for both sexes and exchanged it for little mustard colours shorts, a little onsie with an animal print on it and a t shirt with more masculine colours on it.
After going up to the VM manager and advising him that I believe I will be joining his team on Wednesday, he says I know and later returns to advise me tgat he has put me on an additional shift which will be on Kronos and to let him know if I can do it. I advised him as long as it does not clash with other manager's rosters That's fine I comment " You managers do communicate amongst each other don't you?" I sure hope they do otherwise Myer really is in trouble!
This afternoon I was able to make the 6.10 pm 280 bus to Chatswood outside the mall's entrance/exit instead of having to walk over the pedestrian overpass bridge and even had time to do a quick grocery shop even after finishing work at almost 5.30 pm due to finishing putting up all the new signs in time for tomorrow's " Super Weekend" sale where quite a few items are now 40% off not just buy 2 or more and get 30% off. Myer seems to have a different sale every single week, in fact they seem to have a different sale every single day and team members are constantly struggling to find the time to take down expired offers and put new ones up. This is why it was almost 5.30 pm before I finished work and management will not be happy that I punched out so late after my scheduled shift finishing time of 5 pm which was already amended previously from 4.30 pm to 5 pm.
Which brings me to my next point. My shifts are changing so many times I can no longer plan anything and my usual hardcopy diary is such a mess I can't read it anymore from crossing out and adding so many changes to my shifts. I am now having to write more details in it to note which days I check Kronos to confirm my shifts, who verbally asked me to work extra shifts, even which department wants me to work what shifts and then there are last minute cancellation of shifts or amendments to shift start and finishing times on the day of shifts and changing days of shifts. Hell no wonder Myer is in such a bad state. I am a firm believer that if you can't get the basic simple things correct and together such as scheduling of staff rosters how on earth are you going to manage an entire company?! Once again - GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER MYER!!!!!
So to stop my diary from becoming the mess it has become due to all my rostered shift cancellations additions and amendments, I am going to record in more detail and in advance my shifts on my blog so the public can see how much Myer constantly amends and cancels my rostered shifts. Readers may or may not be surprised so read on as I post my next 2 or 3 weeks up on my blog instead of 1 week at a time.
Note : I have had 2 cancelled Tuesday shifts in a row now. Is there a pattern forming?
Saturday 17th October 2020
Day off today . Not any more. See above Thursday night's blog. Now working at Myer 12 noon - 5 pm today - Super Saturday.
It was so busy today I did not even have a break.
No orders again today, no Myer One sign ups and no round up of purchase donations. I asked everyone about Myer One and still no takers. I did not sign up one customer for Myer One again when I failed to find her on the POS system after multiple attempts. I DON'T want any more customers with 2 even 3 different primary Myer One card numbers under their name!
I haven't checked Myer Metrics for a while - no time so I am unsure if an order I did showed up in the metrics total of 4 orders. I know in the past few a weeks I also have signed up 5 Myer One cards but forgot to scan the barcode on the register after signing up 2 if them - my fault.
I did have a mix of online refunds and store exchanges today but always checked with the team leader each time I did a refund or exchange before processing in the event I get falsely accused of refunding items without a receipt again.
The team leader told me about how there was a new bus service between Chatswood and Mona Vale starting soon and she was going to find out about it for me. I researched it myself and it does not stop anywhere near Warringah Mall, it is an express coastal Northern Beaches route therefore I advised her of that.
I can't remember who I served or what customers purchased today - it was just frantic with loads of enquiries.
There was this coup and I served them before but forgot as I serve so many people everyone begins to look alike. I said to them that they will become my favourite customers. They look like a fun couple who I reminded not to poay for glassware at the electricals counter as they don't check things.
Then there was the young couple who purchased a pillow and a box of wine glasses. I ask them to them "Just a pillow and a box of wine glasses?" their response was "Yes they go together DON'T they?" and I joked with them " Only one pillow to go with your wine glasses?"
A customer came in to pick up her fake plants and there were 5 put aside for her but she only wanted 4 so I advised her that probably all of them were held for her so she could select the best 4. She was also after some round Darren Palmer vases which I checked and there were 7 of them available in the store but could not be located last time she enquired about them - I suspect they were all broken in one of the many batches of glassware and ceramics broken over the past Week! I packaged the fake flowers up for her in tissue and covered the heads over with a Myer bag so they don't get damaged or poke someone in the eye and also made sure they all had labels on them as I am almost certain that she will return them - she seemed like a customer that would do that. She had a very unusual spelling of a common name - just as well I wrote "not for our customer service manager" on the customer hold slip who also has almost the same spelling of that common name except with an "e" on the end of it.
Another customer who I really hate serving because I think she has OCD wanted to return a S & P relic dinner set because it had a pitcher over the plates She purchased it online and wanted to exchange it for a box availa ble in the store but says we didn't have any. I DON'T think she even looked. I was happy to do an online refund for her end of story but she wanted an exchange so I found the last box for her and thought great I do a straight forward refund on the iPad for the online order and put the same replacement relic dinner from the store throgh for her paid on the POS system but no she wanted to swap each plate betwern the 2 boxes to get the moist perfect ones and took a very long time doing this taking up 2 counters to do so when there is a queue of people wanting to purchase stuff behind her. I didn't realky want to deal with her I just wanted her to p at and leave. It's too close to Christmas for these types of customers to be in the store. Finally she got the full perfect dinner set then asked if tgere were others - Yes there was and advised her to take a look at the botyom shelves of the 3 S & P display tables for them. ( Bye and don't return! The guys in the Electricals department csn serve her.)
OK I confronted the team member I bumped into on my day off in the city and asked her " Do you call me Jules?" She admitted she did but also calls that team member my name ( Juls is not her real name by the way - she is just known by that name). She is so American so I said to her "All Asians look the same?" She said "No they do not" - it was just a mistake. I hope she won't make that mistake when there will be at Christmas time 5 employees with the sane name as hers! Confused? We all may be!
The other day I was sent over to electricals briefly and had no idea why. The Electricals Department manager did not look happy that day. Did someone shop lift something from his department? No I found out today that there was a bit of a scandal involving a team member in the electricals department who went to process an customer return for an item that was faulty for repairs. They were aparently processing it on the iPad but disappeared with it and nobody knew where he was. He aparently waa seen with a what was described as "a hot check" and was caught in the lift by the customer service manager when he asked her if he could process a refund for the customer. The customer service manager was furious. I wanted to hear the full story about it from the team member who knows all about it but it was busy so only got the short version of the gossip. I am left wondering if tbis team member actually had his employment terminated because of this incident.
That isn't the only problem the Electricals department has. The above team member started the same time I did at Myer and so did his buddy who is the other team member causing issues. This other team member only gets 1 shift a week or a fortnight if lucky but according to another team member he does it to himself. He has a habit of calling in sick or late apparently.
Besides the above 2 issues the back counter of the Electricals department is always a mess! The team members have been told even by the store manager to keep it tidy however they are guys! You will never see the back counter of the homewares department in a mess excep t for Christmas maybe!
I thought I served 2 customers that I put items through on a POS but when then tapped their card thought it did not go through so I chased after them but it did go through and there were no security tags left on the products they purchased and they had a receipt so they were fine but someone did beep as they exited and tgey thought it was a guy in front of them but they didn't get a close look at him so I could not do anything. The items left on the screen were probably from them being accidently scanned twice when the barcode is too close to the scanned and I haven't logged off which can happen when I am checking breakable items. How I hate when that happens and security tags beeping and not coming off easily!!!!!!
I had a really rude customer today - a guy who was looking at MW crockery sets and demanded to know which items were discounted and how much. When I told him some were 40 % off and some were buy 2 or more at 30% discount he said not to worry about it. I move onto my next customer and mentioned how impatient and rude he was. She said typical male. Yep that guy had no idea what he wanted and very impatient.
For the amount of time I worked today I am unsure if I did ok with sales.
I had a bit of an issue doing a refund on an iPad order done in store by another team member and paid at POS. I thought I was doing the correct thing and I was but a team member put me off what I was doing so I stopped and tried to back track ie scan the bar code from iPad to POS. I just remembered that once you select pay at POS a message comes up saying you can't go back so the same would apply to a refund on an order paid at POS so in order to reprocess the refund on POS I had to call over a manager and ring customer service to reset the customer order to process the refund again on POS. Done sucessfully for customer.
At 5 pm I collected the 3 ipads and left the 4th one for the team leader who spoke to the store manager about how Myer did today at the Super Weekend sale after I left to return them to be signed out and put back into the recharging station before punching out, getting my things out of the staff lockers, bag check and exiting via the staff entrance / exit. I walk back through the mall and castch the next 280 bus back to Chatswood. I did not stop to go shopping as most stores had closed and I was really tired. Arriving at Chatswood I stop off at Woolworths Metro to see what hot food is available as I did not want to cook tonight. I settled on a hot chicken rice bowl and also purchased a truss tomato for sandwiches. Home on the next 144 bus.
Dinner , the Food channel and a catch up on YouTube and blogging. I eat my chicken rice bowl and a green juice before going to bed.
I am feeling really allergic with a cough, itchy skin, watery itchy eye , stuffy nose and scraychy throat. It started to spit with rain at Chatswood interchange. My body really hates rain as you probably know from ready my blogs.
Asleep by 9 pm.
Not a good end to the week. I am asleep and It is just after 11.30 pm - the road looks wet outside but it is not pouring with rain. I am awoken by a big rumbling sound that seems to be coming from the front side of the unit below - as if a huge shelve full of books just collapsed. It was that loud it woke me with a shock. It sounded as if it came from unit 1a below and I my initial thought was I thought the guy living in it may be injured but I hear this loud panicking frantic voice outside in front of his unit in the parking area therefore run to the window to take a look outside - he is out there ok but there is a car that has swerved into the parking lot that had hit side of the apartment block possibly. There is a young woman from the car having a conversation with the guy from unit 1a outside his unit in the parking area talking and ringing emergency services and frantically calling someone she knows. It looks like both are ok however the young woman is very shaken up from the accident and the police have just arrived to investigate what happened. I can hear them laughing a little now so no one is injured but it was quite a loud rumbling sound. When an accident happens along Pacific Highway it always happens outside where I reside. I think this is at least the 3rd accident to happen in less then a year that has occurred all within a few hundred meters outside of this apartment block and each other and all single driver single car accidents - one car hit a pole across the road almost directly across travelling in the opposit direction and the other car managed to crash into the metal traffic barrier along the side of the highway just outside this apartment block which was removed and replaced. By 12.10 am I look outside again and the police have done their investigation of the accident and the woman's friend or relative has arrived. How much damage was there to the apartment block? There are witches hats around part of the front brick wall in front of the parking area that had been knocked down. That's all I can see from where I am through the window. A lucky escape for the guy in unit 1a below and just as well unit 1b next door is vacant at the moment. The guy from unit 1a is talking to the women's friend or relative outside although I can't see the woman anywhere now. They are now probably waiting for the tow truck to arrive. I am up now so i might as well finish my blog.
I take a second look out the window and the car is still in the parking area and I think there is a little more damage around the bottom of the apartment block then I thought - I just can't see it from above. I hope insurance covers it all. I hope the structural integrity of the apartment block is ok.
A third look out of my window at 3am and I hear the tow truck finally tow the car away out of the parking area out the front of the ap argument block and finally see the damage . The apartment block front wall where the mail boxes are is completely demolished- that was what the rumbling sound was a tonne of bricks - well not quite but it feel and sound similar to the earth quake I felt in Vancouver one year in the middle of the night ( refer my previous blog on Did you feel the earth quake?)
Sunday 18th October 2020
Day off today. It is not the best day to venture out. No longer forcast for thunder storms but overcast with rain. No plans for today.
Today would have been the 50th anniversiary of the annual City2Surf run however this year the race is virtual. Unfortunately I missed the cut off registration date and time to participate in this year's race as I was working for the past 3 days and was planning to come out of retirement just to run the race by registering at the last minute. Unfortunately registrations closed on Saturday at 6 pm the day before while I was still at work and on my way home. Because the virtual race could be run between Friday 16th October from 6 am and Sunday 18th October by 6 pm, I thought I could still register and do the run on Sunday sometime as there was no fixed start time or route. I was wrong. I was also constantly checking the forecast which was rain all day and thunderstorms on Sunday my only day off work to do the run. A last minute check of Sunday's forecast did not show any rain or thunderstorms but was overcast. Oh well a missed opportunity - the organisers should have had a longer window to complete the 14 km run like the Blackmores Running Festival did in case it rained ( again on the day I chose to run the race) . I also missed the 2000 Sydney Olympics 20th anniveriary recreation of the original 5 km run around Olympic Park as I was working so was looking at doing the City2Surf having completed the Blackmores Running Festival 20th Anniveriary Virtual Family Fun Run which was only 3.5 km. I only registered in advance for the Family Fun Run and not the 10 km Bridge Run I normally run as it was very uncertain as to whether any Fun Runs were going ahead in 2020 and I didn't want to waste my entry fees if cancelled completely aand fees could not be refunded nor did I want to miss out on registration if there is limited capacity of the number of runners allowed to run in the races this year. There are quite a few virtual runs and walks coming up later in 2020 but none are major anniversiary runs. Even international virtual runs popping up around the world open to international participants!
So today I slept all day today. I have not checked Myer Metrics or MComms for days and when I tried to log into it today a surveillance message popped up and I am unwilling to accept it until I look into it in more detail as I believe that it is a breach of privacy laws. I am hoping I am wrong but it seems that Myer requires us to download and use all of their apps on our own private mobile devices and pressures employees to read and check them constantly yet they want access to our private devices for surveillance purposes. It seems to be a one way street. They already monitor (watch) everything we do in store via cameras, everything we read on all our private devices such as what's app team group chat, Myer Metrics ( Mcomms) where we are monitored when and if we are actually logging in and reading it , WSS for pay slips and recording of any payroll and HR information and Kronos ( to punch in and punch out, check rosters and leave requests - in order to punch in and out my location setting on my phone must be turned on - if I forget to turn this off after punching in or out Myer is able to track my whereabouts and it will drain my phone of data and battery ( I use their digital punch or time clock to punch in and out whenever possible to avoid this as mentioned before this is a privacy issue )
Here is a good example of monitoring and surveillance - I mentioned that I haven't checked Myer Metrics for a while now but on the What's app team group chat I find out from the team leader via a message that I received 3 x 10s from customer feedbacks so now all team members know about it - before I did!
Day drink watch tv do dishes have a shower and go to sleep. Worry about everything else tomorrow on my day off.
I think I have had enough adventures for this week!
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