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Original poster

To be irritated by ‘pickers’ in Tesco

110 replies

Pottedpalm · 15/08/2022 13:54

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?

OP posts:
Kualma · 15/08/2022 18:14

ifoundthebread · 15/08/2022 17:25

I used to be a picker in a supermarket. And majority of the comments above explain why i left to work in a warehouse instead.

Job itself was easy, but demanding, could easy get 15k step done by 8am. Getting paid pennies to recieve abuse, constant complaints and being tutted at for taking a minute to catch up with a colleague. We were expected to pick over 200 specific items an hour, picking off wrapped pallets, hunting through warehouse freezers for turkeys at christmas, getting told we were ridiculous for not having advent calendars available on november 30th even though we got told we were ridiculous for having them in mid october. The list goes on.

Work doesnt stop because the days deliveries are done, with demand services available like express deliveries/collection, just eat and uber theres always pickers picking until 9pm when i was there.

God forbid you cant get to your cheese. Saturday morning has always been the busiest time to go into a supermarket, long before online shopping.

How true!

Booksandwine80 · 15/08/2022 18:18

Can you not just say “excuse me please”?🙄

SavingsThreads · 15/08/2022 18:22

Indeed! Part of the problem was pickers’ trolleys parked in front of whole sections of goods, one behind the other while the pickers hunted for what they wanted further up the aisle.

So push the trolley out the way and get what you want?

You're making too big a deal out of this op. Goodness knows how cope with life if this prevented you from doing your shop normally.

Bubblebubblebah · 15/08/2022 18:26

ifoundthebread · 15/08/2022 18:13

Your right pickers shouldnt be there by that point but when a pick starts at 3am and theres 20,000 items to be picked and only 3 pickers, unfortunately there will still be pickers about long after the shop opens.

Unfortunately due to the very early starts (we did 1am amd 2am starts through covid) there is a very high turn over of staff and quite often staff shortages.

Show quote history

There is not only 3 pickers. That has never been a problem. 30 is.
Retail is tough, i id stunts in some in store bakeries in my years in retail and early starts make it even harder, but management really has to fogure out how to organise it and retain some staff. It's their jobs

Bubblebubblebah · 15/08/2022 18:28

Some people on here are taking this waaay to personally

ifoundthebread · 15/08/2022 18:36

Bubblebubblebah · 15/08/2022 18:26

There is not only 3 pickers. That has never been a problem. 30 is.
Retail is tough, i id stunts in some in store bakeries in my years in retail and early starts make it even harder, but management really has to fogure out how to organise it and retain some staff. It's their jobs

Show quote history

There was many of sunday morning shifts i started at 3am and there was only 3 pickers in. Others then started at 5am and every hour after. So by the shop is open to customers there is lots of people, dont think we ever had 30 at once though.

Raquelos · 15/08/2022 18:36

I expect automation will sort this out at some point in the fairly near future, I am already seeing people being hired ro roll these kind of warehouse tech solutions out for some retailers.

The robots are coming!!

Bubblebubblebah · 15/08/2022 18:45

ifoundthebread · 15/08/2022 18:36

There was many of sunday morning shifts i started at 3am and there was only 3 pickers in. Others then started at 5am and every hour after. So by the shop is open to customers there is lots of people, dont think we ever had 30 at once though.

Show quote history

My big asda has a lot. I did dash through middle isle to the other side if the store so I would pick up something I usually forget and it was actually noticeable how many were coming in and out of isles... You always spotted some, but this time it was way more. I think the only isle where there were none ever was medicine one!
It's a superstore asda and it covers densly populated area.

Wish the management would instead concentrate on quality of their veg there 🙈...

Mississipi71 · 15/08/2022 20:52

StrawberriesAndCreamPlease · 15/08/2022 18:11

All you moaners can console yourselves they’ll be automated supermarkets everywhere soon enough. In the meantime, online shopping isn’t going anywhere so it’s up to you to accept it or join in! You never know, you might even be doing that job you look down your noses at to supplement your retirement, just like plenty do now. Never say never.

Who's looking down their nose at the job?

Luredbyapomegranate · 15/08/2022 21:04

Snargle · 15/08/2022 14:01

The pickers are still taking up less space than the customers they're picking for would have done if they'd opted to do their own shopping instead of having it delivered.

Exactly.

Supermarkets used to be so bloody busy 20 years ago, we’ve just forgotten.

balalake · 15/08/2022 21:06

OP, I assume you weren't invited to the party only on the Saturday morning?

CheeseCakeSunflowers · 15/08/2022 21:10

In the sainsburys where I work, pre covid all picking was done 4am-8am, everything has changed now, online business has more than doubled whilst getting people to work early shifts has got more difficult. We also now do same day collections, order before midday to pick up after 4pm so obviously those orders have to be done whilst the shop is open. Picking in my store now starts at 2am and continues until mid afternoon. If you think its busy when you're there you should see the chaos at 4am. Nightshift are all over the place with rollers of stock to go out, pallets of stock waiting to be put in place and waste cardboard trolleys, the cleaners are in, leaping out of the way of the man flying around on the floor polisher is fun and weaving amongst it all are dozens of pickers. It is all so much calmer during the day.

CandyLeBonBon · 15/08/2022 21:26

There's doing your job and being considerate of others around you. If you bump into a customer, try apologising. If a customer gives way to you in an aisle, try saying thank you. I see none of this.

No idea why you'd think I wouldn't apologise. What an oddly personal post. @Mississipi71 perhaps save your ire for the person who actually caused a problem rather than accuse me of stuff I haven't done!

Original poster
Pottedpalm · 15/08/2022 21:34

balalake · 15/08/2022 21:06

OP, I assume you weren't invited to the party only on the Saturday morning?

Oh do jog along, dearie.

OP posts:
HouseofHolbein · 15/08/2022 21:39

Nat6999 · 15/08/2022 14:44

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

I'm a home delivery team leader at morrisons. We work from a store that really isn't set up for home delivery 🤣🤣 my dream woud be to be based in a warehouse and to never see another customer again 🤣🤣

PinkiOcelot · 15/08/2022 21:39

Can’t say I have ever been in hindered by pickers in Tesco.

SliceOfCakeCupOfTea · 15/08/2022 21:47

I'll get murdered on here for saying this, but the amount of people who use online shopping because they can't be arsed to go into a shop is the problem.
You can clearly see how the high street has gone downhill since online shopping and Amazon have become a thing, supermarkets will go the same way with a priority for online customers.

Rosebel · 15/08/2022 21:48

I never understand when people moan about pickers chatting. We never had time to do that when I worked at Asda. We were timed on our pick rate.
What do you want the pickers to do? Stop working because you want to shop?
It's a horrible job for rubbish money and no support from management. I will never do it again.
Don't go to Asda if you hate pickers. They work from 3am to 3pm!

xsquared · 15/08/2022 21:49

Hasn't Saturday 10am always been extremely busy for supermarkets? At least in my experience anyway.

Not really noticed this being an issue in Sainsbury's near where I live. If you feel strongly enough about it, then you could always email to complain.if

honkeytonkwoman38 · 15/08/2022 21:51

Can't they automate this? Pickers! They are not collecting fruit. Surely by now they have machines for this?

Duchess379 · 15/08/2022 21:54

Aldi are even worse, leaving the massive cages & crates in an aisle with no one unpacking them & all customers have to squeeze around it. Every time I go! 🤦🏼

JenniferAllisonPhillipaSue · 15/08/2022 21:54

Don't go to Asda if you hate pickers. They work from 3am to 3pm!

I was about to say this, Asda pickers are definitely still on the floor when I'm shopping at 1pm on a Saturday. I never see them chatting, but I do get annoyed by their oversized trolleys that block more than half of the available aisle width. I'm even more annoyed by Asda leaving half-filled cages in the aisles to collect cardboard boxes. I know they have to pick, but do they have to do so during the busiest times? [yes, I know, I'm just ranting]

I may have been known to help myself to the thin carrier bags hung from their picking trolleys when they're not looking ...

Bubblebubblebah · 15/08/2022 22:11

SliceOfCakeCupOfTea · 15/08/2022 21:47

I'll get murdered on here for saying this, but the amount of people who use online shopping because they can't be arsed to go into a shop is the problem.
You can clearly see how the high street has gone downhill since online shopping and Amazon have become a thing, supermarkets will go the same way with a priority for online customers.

The high street has big % on that problem. And before amazon it was pit of coty shopping.

What is killing highstreet and shops in centres is usually nil parking or very expensive the "we don't have that" and so on.
I wnet through 5 shops (and most were bog ones!) trying to find specific Anti draught strip I needed. It showed online yet in every single shop I got "don't have it sorry". One offered to order it for in about 6 days. Amazon delivered next day🤷🏻 Bafflingly we had furniture shop in city whre you couldn't get car to the shop? Odd.

Bubblebubblebah · 15/08/2022 22:12

*out of city

SummerLovin123 · 15/08/2022 22:50

Why cant they pick it in the warehouse? I also find this totally irritating!