I worked at Asda for 10 years - AMA

[asdapazta]

I saw someone do an Aldi one of these recently and found it very interesting.

I worked for Asda for just under 11 years, starting at age 16, I left last year so worked through the whole toilet paper/hand sanitiser/pasta covid madness.

What's your view on scan & go? How did staff in your store feel about it?

@refreshingseahorse ooh scan and go! Most staff hated it, our store had ridiculously high theft so it made it more difficult to know who was scanning and who wasn't. It was also embarrassing having to do 'spot checks' on customers. There were a few power mad colleagues who loved it though

What kind of discount did you get?

What were the most common things people tried to steal?

@QueenImprov you get a 10% discount as a standard and then they would run double discount events where you would get 20% off for a few days at Christmas and Easter and sometimes during the summer.

Literally everything was stolen haha! Alcohol was the worst, we would only put 1 bottle of spirit out at a time and have a manned security camera on the aisle at all times. Small toys think surprise eggs, Pokémon cards etc and then the usual cheese, razors, beauty products and meatball stolen to sell on. We had to close our changing rooms because of theft. Also large items - microwaves, boxes of beer, duvets people would leave in their trollers and 'forget' to scan them.

Meat all stolen to sell on* not meatballs

I have noticed that Asda frequently price larger packs at a higher price per 100g than smaller packs. Are the staff all aware of this and if so, do you ever let the customers know that it was cheaper to buy two small packs than one large pack on some products?

Do they still have you sing the customer loyalty song?

@Whatevergetsyouthroughthenight I think we would notice it when we are shopping ourselves (it's not something we take much notice of when putting stock out or ticketing) and I think most would let customers know, however it's a bit tricky to notice unless you're passing a customer when they are looking at that specific item, personally I wouldn't say anything at the till in case the price had changed as they often do.

@Dodgygeezer I've heard it sung at regional events!

I worked for Asda many years ago. What's the thing called where everyone has to clear all the cardboard up? Or did I imagine that?

@Dyerun rumble!? I had almost forgotten that!!

Should add, I only lasted 6 months which I why I can't remember

Oh yes!!! The rumble LMAO

@Dyerun dare I ask, what was so bad you only lasted 6 months?

Great thread! On the self-scanners- is the random quality check actually random?

@Ginandrosemary sometimes I think they are completely random, but some things that tend to trigger it are:

Spending less than the average basket/trolley spend
Buying a high value item
Taking a longer than average in-store

Thanks! Haha I sometimes spend ages slowly perusing the shop so I wonder if that's why I often get quality checked. Either that or I look suspicious.

@Ginandrosemary now that they know your average time spent, you'll likely get stopped if you're quicker than usual haha!

How much were you paid?

@InaMuddle2 it was always slightly above minimum wage, I think when I left (Jan 2022) it was at around £10.60 an hour

I've heard mixed reviews on working for Asda. Some say they are a supportive company and care about the development of their employees, whilst others say they're horrible to work for and don't care about you, you're just a number.

What do you think?

Are there any specific items or products staff would never buy due to terrible quality?

Any particular areas of the store that is unhygienic/untrustworthy?

....... What is the customer loyalty song?

Were you at ASDA while that big equal pay case was going on? How was the case - and its outcomes - communicated to you all? How did the case impact how workers felt about Asda as an employer?

@BaggyJumpersandLeggings I think this depends on each stores management team and, in particular, the general store manager. You can have a line manager who is a dick but if your GSM was good they wouldn't get away with treating you awful, if your GSM was a dick then all managers would be like that, even ones who had been OK under other GSMs- they had to if they wanted to progress I suppose.

When I left my store had become unbearable in my store, the management team really made the whole place toxic. It filters down to colleagues too, so people who were once your friend would run to management to say you had come back from your break 10 minutes late (even if it was 2 minutes) or you would be shunned if you phoned in sick for a genuine reason!

They introduced flexible contracts we all had to sign basically saying they could rota us in whenever we were needed and there were no set hours, it made sense and most other supermarkets had implemented similar. Some managers were sensible, would ask before putting you in for shifts etc. others were awful, there was a woman who worked at my store for 5 years, her son was disabled and she worked the 2 days her husband didn't (he earned far more than her). Her line manager would rota her in on days he knew she couldn't work constantly and then make a big deal about changing them for her (although he always did change them) she left eventually.