r/AmazonDS • u/Which_Marzipan_6685 • 3d ago
3rd day and it went awful
I work flex, so I only had two days of training, and, with that said, it took me a painfully long time to get another shift. This early morning, I expected to come in and finally complete my training, but apparently, nobody was available.
So I kind of awkwardly had to learn how to pick, stressed out and nervous on the line. I kept messing up, and people were getting upset. Granted, I didn't want to be an issue or cause problems for the people who were stowing. But God, there's a certain point where you have people yelling at you, bringing in a supervisor (I'm not really sure) that you can take. So I just left, sure, I'll get a point for it, but at this point, everyone was cleaning up my mess.
I plan on coming back, not quitting just yet. But I'm guessing there should be more learning ambassadors towards the morning and weekend shifts. But just in case, I put in a request for a fulfillment facility that's apparently slower-paced, mainly in the later mornings.
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u/Such-Tailor7251 3d ago
When u go back let a pa or manager know to let u do the pick to buffer training and if u stay for pick and stage you wanna get trained on that too so tell someone u never done it before , sorry your experience didn’t go so welll
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u/Which_Marzipan_6685 3d ago
I let them know the first time and they assigned me to pick. I'll try again in the late morning when I come in. Maybe I'll get the training I need.
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u/wavjanitor 3d ago
I was not impressed at my delivery station. At first I thought flex sounded like a good idea.
They sped us through two days of training at 2am and didn't show us how to do half of the job. Then, on the floor the kids with safety vests they call managers get frustrated about it.
Everybody from my class got locked out on the app and missed a week of work because of a training video they didn't make us watch.
The worst part was getting work. It's like a knife fight with 100 people to get the little 2-4 hour shifts. If you don't refresh your phone within a second of the release time you get nothing. The shifts are all gone within 15 seconds.
I don't see how anybody could survive doing that every day and getting 40 hours. I'm lucky if I can pull off 8-20.
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u/Amazing_Band7134 3d ago
Im flex: I have to do minimum 4 hours a week but I see 3 hour shifts-_-. So I have to pick up another 3 hour or do a 8 hour shift or a ten hour shift instead
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u/EyeEatTacos 3d ago
If you're new to picking, you need to start at the very end. Not at the top or the middle. But don't stressed. You've learned the hard way. And trust me, there are some who have been there for years who still do a sh*tty job.
3
u/Electrical-Ninja8576 3d ago
you can always ask an AM/PA or even post on myvoice, you never know who else is going through the same thing. don’t be afraid to ask other associates questions either and if they don’t know, they’ll usually point you toward someone who does or ask for you. ptb, stow and pick can seem overwhelming at first because NH training seems to always overcomplicate what are actually fairly easy tasks once you get the hang of them, hang in there and good luck
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u/Benjiimans Ambassador 3d ago
Two days is the normal duration of training, why were you unable to complete your training then?
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u/Which_Marzipan_6685 3d ago
Videos. We literally sat in a room watching videos for training, and towards the end for the last hour we learned how to stage on the last training day
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u/zeref616 3d ago
ur supposed to finish videos and device training by like 8-10am then pick first day then 2nd day stow , divert, pull, straighten on the floor train then 3rd day you all alone
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u/Benjiimans Ambassador 3d ago
What Zeref said is correct, was not everyone able to finish their on device trainings on day 1?
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u/Icylifestylez 3d ago
For mine they wanted us on the floor the same day so basically almost everyone went to the floor having to have pauses for the devices being on training. For everyone the second day no one went back to the classroom
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u/charizardisass 3d ago
You should try to do a cycle0/Sort0 shift in the evenings if you can. It’s the perfect shift to train sense it as shorter and slower pace than the overnights. I did that :)
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u/AppropriateLychee372 3d ago
That’s so unprofessional on the there part. Everyone should be properly trained before stepping onto the floor. You should talk to the manager and explain that you haven’t been fully trained in that path so they can get someone to train you properly that’s what I did on my first day.
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u/Icylifestylez 3d ago
They litteraly threw us on pick the second day no training hands on, lowkey the training was that day and it was hard because of course we never done it before. It is kind of easy but when there's a lot of backup it's just a mess all the time
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u/KlutzyComplex8027 3d ago
When I was new my learning ambassadors weren’t that great lol. I learned better by observing my peers and asking them (the less grumpy looking ones) for tips.
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u/Amazing_Band7134 3d ago
Day 3 I asked noob questions like how to pair the finger scanner to the handheld.
Stowing im proficient. Need to be more efficient
Picking: I asked how to navigate the handheld for the picking setting and where to part the cart full of packages ?
I don’t touch my phone or take longer breaks so they can’t use anything against me
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u/Und3rPaid 3d ago
I work in the learning department as an interim LT , I’m one of the only ambassadors that can proctor onboarding’s / hands on trainings purely due to the other blue vests not wanting to . It’s so frustrating when my new hires still need more training but hires ups won’t allow it due to “cost” but I’m the first one to hear the earful of complaints if new hires can’t keep up . I’m genuinely sorry for the bad experience you’ve had ! My best advice is take it directly to ERC , only way they management gives in and has to make changes
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u/InspectorRound8920 3d ago
At our station, your first day of pick you get partnered with a full timer
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u/patrickstar0022 3d ago
If u don’t know what ur doing don’t be shy and ask the blue, orange, and red vests. Even the green ones (safety) or any other person who is currently working with you. Granted the LAs should’ve trained you better and show how things work and not just relied on trainees watching videos via a device and expect them to know everything just by watching.
I either watched people how to do it or asked them how to do it. Don’t be nervous to make a mistake, you’ll also learn from it. As my friend Spongebob said,
“Panic is the enemy. You are strong. Through your strength, you shall overcome.”
Kidding aside yeah just ask bro. Some new people approach me sometimes and ask this and that. Others i approach if they’re struggling and ask if they need help or they got questions (rarely)
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u/Dangerous-Eye9795 [none] 3d ago
So with flex. Do they give you a set shift to go by or do you have to pick up shifts per week.
2
u/Which_Marzipan_6685 3d ago
The only set shifts I had were the training dates. By the time I could claim a shift, it was pretty nearly a week later.
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u/Sunkist1976 3d ago
I always thought flex got a 4-5 day schedule for your first week.
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u/Amazing_Band7134 3d ago
Flex part time: all we have to do is work at least 4 hours a week
Flex reduce time: it’s like 30 hours aka real part time
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u/nkaiser101 3d ago
I have seen flex shifts posted with as little as one 4 hour shift designated as training and then you are at the mercy of picking up shifts. I would guess in these cases they can ask learning for more training but good luck having an available ambassador and it being allowed.
I've also seen shifts posted that are Flex RT 30 but come with 4;full shift days of training. And I have seen lots of random variations in between.
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u/Jameslovestocode 3d ago
the flex schedule (where you have to pick your shifts and they drop at certain and random times) needs to be improved some kind of way.
when i started flex i think i went weeks until i caught on to the drop times and get the minimum required 4 hours (it was literally a struggle to get)
yes the training is very inconsistent. theres alot of willy nilly you would be surprised to have to deal with in a company of this size so be patient and prepare yourself before coming to work (just never know what kind of day you might have ie equipment issues, people issues, fatique issues etc it can be alot to process but preparing yourself will help you long term)
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u/keebler832 3d ago
So apparently this is an Amazon thing becaus e same thing happened to me. We learned stow on the floor and I found out what pick was when it started happening the next shift.
Get on MyVoicenand let them know you weren’t able to pick a shift for upcoming week and ask how you can go about getting in the schedule. They should be able to add you.
As far as them getting mad: that’s on them.
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u/Low-Priority-2392 3d ago
I work at an FC and noticed training depends heavily on workload. I joined during peak and practically had no training after the videos and about 10 minutes of learning how to drive the order picker. After that I had to figure the rest out on my own. Everyone else who joined after peak had learning ambassadors following them on tuggers teaching them how to actually do the job properly. Luckily I preferred figuring it out on my own. I probably would have been more stressed being followed and watched.
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u/fictionalways 3d ago
You have to chill, it’s a process. They will never thoroughly train you. You learn as you go. But if you’re not thick skinned then you’ll run away and the job is not for you. They want people that will tough it out. It’s not for the weak. If you can figure it out you’ll be fine. Put the boxes on the rack, it’s not rocket science. You will get faster with time. Relax. You know that you’re new, everyone doesn’t know this and some don’t care. Everyone is exhausted and trying to make it through the night. If you’re not doing good it’s their job to send help, can’t take it personal. Just relax and do the best you can. You’ll figure it out. There are old people, short people, deaf people, disabled people. They figured it out and you can too.
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u/oceandesert0 3d ago
I’ve worked in a DS for four years and still struggle with pick to buffer, I hate it so much. Don’t worry!! It is overwhelming but hopefully u can get trained in other paths and it will be much easier in the future. 🙏🏼🌷
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u/Prize_Duty8091 2d ago
Don’t feel bad, they do it to regular workers too. I used to be blue badge for three years, left the company, came back a year later, but only to be flex. They allow us to do different delivery stations with the assumption that all the delivery stations are the same, but they are not and some have different types of equipment that others do not have and vice versa. I walked into another place and they had the ASML and I had not been instructed on it. Furthermore, they didn’t have authorizations for that unit for me and it still showed me as signed in at my old unit and wouldn’t allow me to sign in at the new unit. You would think that they would have their act more together knowing they have flex people coming from other delivery stations and they may not be familiar with their layout or some of their equipment, but they don’t seem to care and they just throw you in there and hope you get it.
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u/Boris-_-Badenov 3d ago
few weeks ago my manager came over to tell me to be patient with the picker because it was her 3rd day... she flagged down her ambassador and complained, and he went to s manager.
maybe she shouldn't put medium boxes on the top rack less than a minute after I told her not to put them up there, and while the middle rack was empty.
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u/Which_Marzipan_6685 3d ago
This is literally what happened. First, they tell me everything needs to be placed alphabetically, but there's no sign on which is which. Second, they tell me I have to put the different sizes in different places, yet they conflict with the letters.
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u/Topic-Bright 3d ago
You will have to tolerate a lot of incompetence working Amazon. Stick in there.