Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Grocery Pickers in Tesco

135 replies

BeachTree · 13/02/2022 22:23

I try to do one shop a week to avoid the crowds and avoid covid. Yesterday in Tesco it was unbearably busy but I noticed just how many online grocery picking staff were in the aisles and on more than one occasion blocking the aisle. As if shopping wasn't unpleasant enough already, we've got these to contend with now (I realise they are just doing their job and obviously there is a huge increase in online shopping since the start of the pandemic, but still....)

OP posts:
Cheesechips · 14/02/2022 07:58

Why don't you go when it's quieter? Evenings would be best. Can't expect everyone to pander to certain people. People have all sorts of delivery slots and I assume the food has to be very fresh. Why not shop online if it bothers you?

GnomeDePlume · 14/02/2022 08:07

Don't forget that a picker is standing in for many shoppers not just one trolley load.

Most supermarkets don't have significant storage. What you see on the shelf is pretty much what there is in the shop. Many supermarkets have tried warehouse picking for home shopping but found normal stores more cost effective.

FrenchBoule · 14/02/2022 08:08

Ifyou want to avoid crowds and covid then do click and collect.

VelvetChairGirl · 14/02/2022 08:13

Morrisons is full of them every hour of every day, it feels like there should be a better way

GeneLovesJezebel · 14/02/2022 08:14

I never ask a picker for help as I know they are timed, I always look for someone else.

Soubriquet · 14/02/2022 08:16

@GeneLovesJezebel

I never ask a picker for help as I know they are timed, I always look for someone else.
That’s kind of you. Many still do.
cushioncovers · 14/02/2022 08:27

Don't do a big food shop on a weekend simple.

BABAHOTEL · 14/02/2022 08:30

How many more posts moaning about retail staff are they're going to be?

All delivery drivers are rude, all pickers are rude, blah blah.

I think it's the MNs that are rude.

OP, go at a quiet time of the day and stop being so bloody precious.

If you're wanting to avoid crowds and covid then Tesco's on s Saturday morning is not the place for you. You're being totally ridiculous.

People need to stop moaning about retail staff doing their jobs. How would you like it if the general public were constantly moaning about you.

BABAHOTEL · 14/02/2022 08:31

@GeneLovesJezebel

I never ask a picker for help as I know they are timed, I always look for someone else.
I'd s risky never thought about that, but thank you for bringing that to my attention.
Glitterbells · 14/02/2022 08:32

They are just people, human beings, trying to make a living, amd they have as much right to be there as you do.
If they weren’t there, then whoever is buying the shopping would be.
The people buying the shopping may also be people with numerous children, they may have prams with them, they may br slow.
They may be using disability aids or wheelchairs. Would that inconvenience you too?
Who has the right to use the supermarkets? Only perfect people in the way you see fit?

GnomeDePlume · 14/02/2022 08:38

DS is a picker for Asda. During first lockdown he was starting at 3am so that they could be largely finished before customers came in. Asda no longer wants to pay the premium so they start later.

Main bulk of picking is done in the morning but as a PP mentioned, there is little space for keeping the 1000s of items once picked. Also click and collect orders come in during the day so they have to be picked as well.

NotMeNoNo · 14/02/2022 08:42

Unless you have exclusive use of a personal supermarket there are going to be times when you have to say "excuse me" to another human, I don't see how this is an AIBU really. Have you tried it?

Try the 24 hour Asda at 10pm when the pallets are out for restocking, now that's a challenge.

TwoCoffeesPlease · 14/02/2022 08:46

Why don’t you do your shopping online as well then it won’t bother you?

AngelinaFibres · 14/02/2022 08:55

If you are still terrified of covid then don't go on a Saturday.
If that is the only day you can possibly shop them go in the evening or very early.
Order a delivery for yourself and don't go at all
Do a click and collect order. They will put it in your boot when you pull up and you don't even need to leave your car.
Many, many ways to avoid the drama.

the80sweregreat · 14/02/2022 09:00

I feel sorry for any retail employee as it's long hours and not that well paid. Being a picker must be even harder , working around the public who are also trying to shop.
I think that the supermarket model should just have ' Amazon ' type warehouses for the groceries that are being sent out by delivery vans. Seems a better idea , although they probably won't because it's more money for them to find to do it this way and maybe a lot more logistics to do it this way than I am aware of.
The same goes for the ' just eat ' delivery guys in places like KFC etc who have to hang around to pick up their deliveries too.

KatherineJaneway · 14/02/2022 09:19

I try to do one shop a week to avoid the crowds and avoid covid.

Well going on a Saturday won't help you avoid crowds, it must be their busiest day.

Rosebel · 14/02/2022 09:40

@RedskyThisNight

My son is a grocery picker. He much prefers doing the job when the store is empty and there aren't any/too many customers about.

He finds that customers have a tendency to

  • stand in the middle of aisles having a chat with their friends
  • block the ends of aisles with their trolleys
  • let their small children run about without supervision. He is terrified that he will accidently hit a small child with his rather heavy trolley one day

And, of course, because he's working, he has to be unfailably polite to customers who are less than considerate or downright rude to him.

Basically if everyone thought about other shoppers, the supermarket would be a nicer place :)

I'm a picker and know how your son feels re small children. I'm always absolutely terrified I'm going to catch a small child with the huge, heavy trolley. In regards to some other posters we can't pick at night as that's when the shelves are stocked and we don't stand round chatting, I wish we had the time. We start at 3 in the morning and we try to keep out of customers way but they don't do the same for us. Try to remember we're shopping for vulnerable people and have a bit more consideration. It's not exactly a rewarding job and would be nice to think people appreciate us rather than bitching about us. Still it's been a while since we had a retail staff bashing thread so....
BABAHOTEL · 14/02/2022 09:45

Exactly!! The busiest day of the week and you want to avoid crowds and covid? How bloody ridiculous!

GnomeDePlume · 14/02/2022 09:46

On the plus side, if you ask a picker where you can find something they can give you a precise location. If I am in the shop then I will sometimes phone DS to ask where something obscure is. He always knows.

Crochetandcoffeebreaks · 14/02/2022 09:51

YABU, I used to work as an online shopper for a different store and we hated being caught up in the crowds of customers just as much as you do Grin we would start at 4am for the normal items and shopping that needed to remain fresh/frozen would be picked later in the day for obvious reasons. Some shoppers would be required to return around 1pm after finishing at 8am to complete the later shops. The hours are completely unsocial so don't mind them if they've decided to stop for a chat after hours of mindlessly picking items.

HunkyPunk · 14/02/2022 09:51

@GnomeDePlume

On the plus side, if you ask a picker where you can find something they can give you a precise location. If I am in the shop then I will sometimes phone DS to ask where something obscure is. He always knows.
Yes! I never ask a picker in store as I know what their time constraints are, but ds was always able to give me details of where to find a product down to the aisle number and position in aisle!
melj1213 · 14/02/2022 09:57

@HarlanPepper

So interesting, thanks *@melj1213* . I love 'behind the scenes' info!
You're welcome - the general public only ever see the consequences of policy and, while sometimes things appear illogical, there will be a reason they are done a certain way but they aren't always explained to customers (or we just don't have time to justify our working practices to customers multiple times a day). It's easy for retail staff to forget that not everyone has all the behind the scenes info that makes the decisions make sense.
Erictheavocado · 14/02/2022 09:59

DC 2 works for one of the big supermarkets and one of their first jobs was picking. They are in a warehouse, so don't have to contend with shoppers/children etc, but even so, says tgey have the highest respect for pickers who are in stores. Targets are tough, they are picking for several people at one time and having to avoid the shoppers. DC has moved up the ladder several times since their picking days and still says that was the most difficult of the jobs.
I am grateful for the people who pick my shopping every week. If you are so worried about covid and crowds OP, I suggest you go at a different time, or book your own delivery slot.

crabappleof · 14/02/2022 10:03

I've noticed some have a better technique than others.

I keep seeing the same young lad every week and you'd genuinely wouldn't know he's a picker. He parks his trolley at the end of the aisle - unobtrusive.

At the other end of the scale is the woman who goes with the two-trolley approach and leaves them in the middle of the aisle, and moves so fast you have to dodge her. I turn the other way when I spot her.

melj1213 · 14/02/2022 10:07

@KatherineJaneway

I try to do one shop a week to avoid the crowds and avoid covid.

Well going on a Saturday won't help you avoid crowds, it must be their busiest day.

Yes it is generally, especially if it is the start of a school holiday/half term as this weekend was. Generally weekends are always busy but especially so during the core hours of about 10am-4pm.

If you want to know when the busiest/quietest times are then ask someone in your individual store as they will be able to advise - for example in my store, evenings are generally quieter, especially the last 2 hrs unless our town's football team are playing a midweek game as the stadium is literally next door. In the hour or so before and after KO it is hugely busy as the fans all come in before the game for snacks and drinks and afterwards to go to the loo and get snacks (usually away fans who have long journeys home); and we often get a situation where one half of a couple will go to the game while the other half spends a leisurely time wandering round trying to stretch their weekly shop to take 90+ minutes so that they will be done as the game finishes and can meet their partner to go home together.

Swipe left for the next trending thread