To be irritated by ‘pickers’ in Tesco

[Pottedpalm]

I don’t often shop in Tesco as I have other large supermarkets closer to home. However on Saturday morning I called in for a few items needed fir a dish to take to a party. Plan was to shop speedily with a basket for cheese, cream, herbs, pastry, bread…
My progress was hampered at every turn by pickers trying to manoeuvre their large ’trolleys’. In the cheese aisle two were parked blocking the section I needed to browse, with a third one opposite, and they took ages to find what they wanted. Same in other areas, although the refrigerated areas were worst.
AIBU to think Tesco should address this issue, particularly at bust times like Saturday mornings?

I am a Tesco online shopper and I get my receipt around 7am on the day of delivery so I assume that the actual shopping happened just before that ?

what do you mean by "trolleys" Don't they use the normal trolleys for customers? My experience is that pickers are timed so will shop faster than families who physically go to the store.

Can't you just say "excuse me"?

And for the record l can assure you that the pickers find you equally as irratating. Bosses wont take into account the store is busy and drop the pickrate, and the pickrate is right up there with oxygen according to dot.com managers.
I am an online picker, it is a form of torture trying to work around cold, hostile , moaning customers who expect store to be empty on a sat morning, we get held up by the night team stocking shelves, they treat us like shit , then wr have the joys of the customers.
People have short memories, online shopping made sure no one starved during covid, my shifts were changed to 1..00am overnight, alot of pickers have young kids,and responsibilities too.
If you are going to complain, complain ti the store manager who happily hides away upstairs whilst demanding pickers pick quicker than the speed of light.
Soon it will be all online, so make most of it whilst it lasts, thats why new premises for pickers only aren't justified.

^ This.

I saw a video from Ocado, they have built automated warehouses for this. I wonder if more supermarkets will do the same eventually.

I feel your pain OP. This is one reason why I started doing my shopping online. Thought I'd join the lazy wotsits letting someone else do their shopping for them. Some shops have "dark stores" which are just for online shopping but it's a nuisance when they use the normal shops and block up all the aisles.

Also we pick for 6 customers at a time, so we are saving space believe it or not.

@Raquelos - you've hit the nail on the head here. For those who have their shopping delivered, you're possibly blissfully unaware that the pickers have large contraptions, big enough to shop for multiple people (remember that when you get the wrong item delivered) which simply block the aisles.

The trolleys they have are huge of course they are not taking up less space and there is usually 2 on the go in the same aisle! Op I'm with you I understand people need their online shop but its really irritating.

My partner used to be a picker. The large trollies are taller than the pickers and they are expected to haul e.g. multi packs of bottled water onto the top tier and they have targets and will be spoken to if they don't meet them. My partner worked for waitrose (who try to arrange all picking overnight) and are supposed to be one of the "better " employers. I'm pretty sure Tesco will also have targets and the pickers will have no time for gossip. I have also experienced pickers in the way in Tesco and if they want to retain store customers (not sure they do) I think they should rethink this.

In the cheese aisle two were parked blocking the section I needed to browse, with a third one opposite, and they took ages to find what they wanted.

The long winter evenings must fly by in your house.

Never noticed this but the people restocking shelves get on my nerves. Always seem to be there in Sainsburys making it difficult to manoeuvre the aisles. I worked in a supermarket in the 90s and all restocking happened overnight. What happened to that?

the words you're looking for are "Excuse me, i just need to get to this item, Thank you" and magically, they will move aside for you.

Shop at Morrison's, all their online orders are done at warehouses.

Yes , I had this today it was driving me mad . They were everywhere 😡😡

Is this a joke thread? 😂

If not, then it's simple. You walk into a supermarket on a morning, you expect the people who work there to be packing online deliveries. You also expect other shoppers to be manoeuvring their trollies around. God forbid other shoppers got in your way too 😬

@WinterMusings when you’ve done patting yourself on the back, please explain how it is efficient to put four (for example) customers’ shopping in one trolley, which then has to be separated out again into four separate orders.

Try Lidl’s or Aldi’s instead problem solved.

Our Tesco is always choc full of pickers on a Saturday morning too - I only tend to go in for top up bits though so doesn't irk me too much. I sometimes do an inward eyeroll when staff are hanging around getting in the way having a chat, but in our store that tends to be the management!
A warehouse system is possible as that is what Ocado and Morrisons do, I prefer to shop with them too as the items available to choose are always in stock and never a danger of dodgy substitutions.

Well said 🙌🏻

I don't think those saying it's not a problem are really aware of the size of these 'trollies'. All it takes is three down the centre of an aisle with shoppers browsing alongside with their normal trollies and it's gridlock. For all the 'excuse mes' in the world you simply cannot pass.

@Nat6999 no they are not 🤣

Maybe they should live under the floor and reach for the items through trap doors with grab sticks while you sail past. How dare they look you in the eye and block the aisles with their useless tasks that have nothing to do with your happiness.

This has to be the most ridiculous 3rd world problem thread I’ve ever seen on here 🙄

people weren’t moaning about the ‘inconvenience’ of online pickers during covid. Not appreciating how these generally min wage shop workers were putting themselves at risk to be able to get food to your door so that YOU felt safer

its better for the environment to have less people driving to the shops

online pickers mean there are less people in the shops for you to complain about

why can’t online pickers briefly stop and have a quick chat with a colleague once in a while during their shift? They are humans with normal human need for interactions

if they are in your way, you literally have to say ‘excuse me’ and they will happily move

the online pickers have also got to deal with very rude customers who reach out in front of them, tut at them etc. often for 8 hours a day in comparison to your 20 mins

don’t blame others in society for your general lack of tolerance and your bad temperedness

So would you suggest the delivery isn't put out overnight until all the pickers have finished getting what they need off it? then having the staff out on the shop floor in the morning with huge cages of picked through stock in people's way instead?