I m guessing that the staff are on minimum wage and that s it. Why? I walked past twice today and found most of the trainee staff smoking outside, fffing and blinding, bumming cigs from each other/passers by and generally looking like their usual haunt would be outside the Western Hotel (if ya know what I mean!)
As long as it is repaired and done up , as long as it is used, as long as it is a shop that employs, pays dues to Penzance, provides a cheap available stock, as well as not being a cold damp empty space that will be to the detriment of the street and to adjoining shops. As long as it maintains the appearance that this town is not a dying echo of the past ready to crumble at the slightest sound.
Well now, I thought this was the Age of the Dreaded Credit Crunch; all the more reason to treat customers with more respect and deference I would have thought.... Just went into a shop that sells cut price goods (still unsure as to the sourcing); I walked up to the counter, proffering the batteries, not seeing any signs or barbed wire entrenchments, and I was stopped by the counter staff and told to step back to some non-visible line and ordered to wait until invited by a cashier to step forward. My immediate reaction to this pomposity was to place the package on the counter and to walk out; they have in perpetuity lost a customer. I would rather crawl on baking sands across the Sahara and to pay the going rate for a product than to enter that outlet again.
@ treeve you might be interested to read my letter I sent to them. It turns out to be a national policy and the store manager and I have discussed this. He is committed in taking this up with the regional manager after reading my letter listed below.... enjoy:
Date: 27th October 2009
Dear Sir, I feel I must complain about the new queuing system that has recently been adopted in Poundland.
The reason for the system, as I understand it, is because others are pushing in. But the impact on the store has a more serious affect. We came into the store yesterday and saw shopping dumped everywhere.
Here are my observations. Pro’s
• The queuing system is designed to prevent pushing in
Con’s
• Queuing shoppers into one queue has a negative impact on the shopper visually. Seeing one big queue is far less appealing than several smaller queues.
• Shoppers having seen one large queue will likely leave their shopping and walk out of the shop.
• Retail staff will now have to spend more time putting back dumped shopping rather than shelf filling.
• Retail staff wondering around the store looking for where the dumped shopping came from will loose the store approximately a third of shelf filling time and therefore reduce profit.
• Checkout operators have to shout to customers, “excuse me there’s a queue you know” across the shop floor. This has a demining effect on shoppers who aren’t use to being told of like school children.
• Older, more easily confused shoppers often don’t hear the checkout staff shouting at them because of their hearing impediment. All they see is an angry assistant mouthing and waving their hands in the air.... I know this because I’m deaf and it has happened to me... pretty degrading you know.
• There is absolutely no signage suggesting how to queue So it’s a (free for all to anyone who hasn’t yet been shouted at by till staff)
• The till staff on some checkout’s are facing the wrong way and have their back to the queue.
• Shoppers coming towards the till from any other aisle won’t know about the queue hidden in the last aisle.
• I note that the staff queue the shoppers in the only aisle that is full of perishable goods... therefore reducing sales of these date sensitive goods at busy times.
• During busy times it is almost impossible for staff members to fill the items that sell faster like milk.
• Retail staff will be under immense pressure when filling in the aisle that the shoppers queue in and it’s likely that stock rotation might become overseen because of this pressure.
• A lot of the goods sold in the aisle that the shoppers queue in are chill chain goods and would make it very difficult for a staff member to adhere to the chill chain procedure when the aisle is packed with customers queuing
• Sales of goods in the aisle will generally drop because this aisle will always be used primarily for queuing and not sales as intended.
• Finally there’s Christmas... what then?
These are just my observations. I have noticed a lot of people walking out.... but they’ll be back, it’s Poundland after all. But if the customer doesn’t enjoy their shopping experience, then price alone would no longer be enough reason for shopping at Poundland
If they want to pretend they are a Bank, fine, but I object FIRST CLASS at being addressed in that manner ... she could have said ... excuse me, I am sorry, but due to pressures on staff, we would like to introduce a spaced queueing system. AND to have proper signage and a system of poles and ropes ... There was not even a PLEASE, so that is IT for me. Some things are not worth the scramble for a few pence. It is in the same vein as the 'are you alright there?' condecending trash ... what is wrong with 'can I help you?' ... I have now decided to answer the question with full details of my physical and emotional state.
It is a horrible queuing system I'll grant you that..... but to be fair the staff are under as much pressure trying to control the shoppers, so it's fair to say that politeness was bound to go out of the window sooner or later. Its not so much a local issue rather a national policy that needs changing. I have to say I do like Poundland a lot. The staff are great and there are plenty of bargains.... But the queue system really needs to be addressed for the needs of both customers and staff.... I believe it would be a better environment all around.
First time I have noticed any such problem in a UK shop, anywhere. It was not as if I was mobbing the till; I was quietly standing six feet away. I have shopped in this country for 50 years or more. I am disgusted at being treated in such an ignorant fashion. Never again.
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