Bad customer service rant.

[FagAshLill]

I've had to run to the local co-op because I needed some fridge bits. Didnt fancy paying out for delivery fees and taxis so that's why I chose there.

After asking 1 of 3 members of staff where certain stuff was, I noticed I was not the only one trying to catch her attention, she looked harrassed, stress and down right tired from having to run into the stores all of the time.

After finally getting my way to the checkpoint we stood there for 1/2 an hour. I could understand that if it was busy, but no. "OK" I thought, it's probably a new starter on the checkout and indeed it was. ON HIS OWN, no other members of staff to help him, he was staff number 2 of the three in the entire shop looking stressed until I looked over another counter to the 3rd member of staff in near tears as she was getting shouted at by customers who were waiting to be served (seen her a few times so she's not new).

3/4 of an hour into a 10 minutes pop to the shop, my stuff finally goes through the checkout (after, and I kid you not, picking up random loose vegetables and asking me what they were so he could put in the code!), and asking for home delivery and showing him the card and the time recepit, another 10 minutes had passed before he finally managed to shout for someone to help him.

I'd had enough at this point, so I told him to leave it and I will go somewhere else and walked out leaving £159 of shopping behind still waiting to be paid for.

If this was a one off I could understand it or around christmas or even snow, but it's beyond a joke. Its a complaint I hear about the place all of the time and not just limited to that particular store.

I'm now home, with a cup of coffee with an online asda shop done and cheaper by a long shot too.

Whats your tales?

Much much better than small Tesco, by a million miles!

they have little buttons to call people over when it is busy

how can you spend 150 on fridge bits
and 45 minute que...really

sounds like a crock of shite tbh

if I spent 150 quid in my local co - op it would have to shut - they don't have that much stock

I rarely go in to co-op but when I do staff are thin on the ground

mini - it was a typo. Was meant to be £50

We have a huge co-op and it's always well stocked and the staff are really helpful , and I like their ethos.. but do wish they were cheaper.
Oh and as my son has just started working there, wish their uniform wasn't such vile nylon

Our local co-op is poorly stocked, disorganised, has rubbish fruit and veg and you wait for e-v-e-r to be served. I could have written the OP.

Our local co-ops have had a transformation and are blooming brilliant. They are also expanding rapidly and beating Tesco hands down in the small shop stakes.

Definitely seems to depend where you are.

Our local Co-Ops are fab (we have quite a few round here). They are clean, well stocked and their fruit and veg is always fresh.

Not the cheapest option though so I wouldn't do a weekly shop there, but great for bread, milk, fruit bowl top-ups etc.

If our local Co-op runs out of anything you can always go and check the other one - walk out of the shop, go 50 yards down the road and cross and you're there!

Why they have 2 shops pretty much on opposite sodes of the same road in such a tiny town has always been beyond me!

I used to live v near a Budgens - that was very good too.

I used to work in a little local shop which was recently renovated and turned into a Co-op three times the size. Did the architects/designers add more tills to account for the greater size of the place? No. No they did not. So there's five of us staring in dismay and horror at a queue of around forty people that trails around the entire shop, desperately trying to be polite and good to every customer while the shelves empty because we're all stuck on the tills.

After six solid hours serving customer after customer, with no breaks, I have been known to stare at a courgette and think "What the fuck is this?" The worst bit was when I had to ask one of my co-workers... They laughed at me, and rightly so.

I hate the co-op very over priced!

BlathersFright that is the same in the next village over from me

They are open different times & sell different things

Not ours. Same things and open at same time. 1 is a bought-out Somerfield I think

An old fart remembers.

About 1977/78 Denis Healey addressed a fringe meeting at Labour Party Conference. Some left-wing group had demanded that the Government nationalise the ?commanding heights of the economy? and Healey was being sarcastic about it. ?Oh yes?, he said, ?I understand all about that. Take over Marks and Spencers and make them as efficient as the Co-op.?

Well, Marks and Sparks have had their own problems but M and S on a bad day are streets ahead of the Co-op on a good day and a mainly female audience were wetting themselves. The Co-op bit of the party were furious and well they might be!

Our local Co-op is very good indeed. There's a couple of local women who work the day shift and they clear the queues double quick. Great for milk and bread, and other bits and bobs, but I don't do a big shop there, as a little expensive.

Also, as someone else mentioned, their croissants are the best I've ever tasted outside of France.

Our local Co-op is dreadful, tbh. A large shop, but only 3 tills; never enough staff, and always grimy. (And no croissants, apparently there is no demand for them here) [hsad]

I'm a retail manager,not for co-op,staffing budgets are my biggest issue.if u want to make a difference then contact head office and tell then how understaffed their store is.
It is also stressful for the staff involved,i don't enjoy seeing 15 people queuing up with only 2 staff to serve them,but it is made very clear that if I overspend my paltry budget by even a penny I will be sitting in a disciplinary.

Seems to be the luck of the draw. I find our CO-OP is better managed than the local Waitrose; it's the best shop around here. Also visited an excellent Morrisons at the weekend: excellent selection and everything really fresh.

Our little local Co op is usually very good, and the staff, local people are helpful. Sometimes there is a queue for 5 minutes or so, but it is not the fault of the staff and the store is always clean. Stock can be a bit of an issue at times as their deliveries often turn up mid-afternoon when they have been told the lorry will be there at 9.00am. The prices are high though, we live in a quite 'upmarket' little town and the prices are much higher than if we go to the bigger Co op a few miles away in a former mining area.