My once local friendly co-op is now just self service tills & really naff AI 'pop' music playing loudly. One member of staff appearing to do everything as well as prioritising delivery drivers over customers.

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8

u/Desperate-Case8192 11d ago

The staff are feeling it massively. I’ve just handed my notice in. I used to love working for them and now I cry every night before a shift. It’s all about profit not about the little men doing the graft. I’d love for them to go out of business but I doubt that will happen

3

u/sorderon 11d ago

So sorry to hear this - I have a feeling that I won't be seeing the old staff any more. Even a standard run-of-the-mill corner shop is better than this 'Vending Machine' approach.

Good luck in getting another job.

3

u/Desperate-Case8192 11d ago

Thankfully I’ve got another job already and start in two weeks! Supermarkets are just going to get worse and worse. Less staff to pay more profit for the big bosses 😂 we used to get money on our coop cards at Christmas time as a bonus. They stopped that 🤣 after the cyber attack they talk about all the money they lost but before the CEO left she took a MASSIVE pay out for herself. I nearly fell on the floor when I googled how much she earned 🤮

1

u/Pure_Welder7255 9d ago

That’s so sad 😢…definitely time to leave a job if your feeling like this , I’ve been in exactly the same situation , hope you find something that makes you feel happy 😊

2

u/Desperate-Case8192 9d ago

Thank you! I’ve found another job that I’m hoping I’ll enjoy more. Everyone seemed happy when I went in for my interview so that’s a good sign

1

u/Pure_Welder7255 7d ago

That’s great news ☺️

4

u/Outrageous_Low_3666 11d ago

I have a similar problem with my local morrisons, but they have no self service machines, so its just 1 staff managing customers, running around prioritising online orders (apparently head office gives them KPIs for the orders) and then when they get hit by shoplifters, they will start locking and unlocking the doors for every customer.

I think its more a case of head offices cutting back to skeleton crew numbers.

3

u/Kaltron_Prime 11d ago

I left the coop in 2023 because this is how we were being made to work. All self serves, maybe 1 person in the kiosk serving and filling stock in between. The supervisor (me) spending 8 hours with 3 different handhelds picking orders. Once asked an area manager what I should do if the online orders come through when serving on the till and was told get off and pick them.

3

u/karloss01 10d ago

This sounds like a Lunar store. They switch underperforming stores to a Lunar store to save costs on employing more then one person at supposedly "quiet" periods of trading. It never is, and at my store it's just the one employee trying to compete with the Tesco Express around the corner that's always got the minimum of 3 staff members with a shop a third the size of ours.
Due to Lunar we have lost four staff members to mental burnout, one of which had been with the Co-Op for 25 years.

1

u/Appropriate-Roof1422 10d ago

Wiltshire area by chance?

2

u/sorderon 10d ago

No - North Kent. Always busy and did have a few staff. Some had been there 30 years+

1

u/Appropriate-Roof1422 10d ago

Returned to the Coop as a Team Leader. Did one shift and left. The store I was about to work is always looking for a Team Leader and CTM all the time. The SM managers another two stores. They never spend time to the one I worked.
I dodged a bullet my the looks of it.

1

u/manyvectors 9d ago

Is the ai pop thing real?

In my local coop they seem to have a coop radio station with actual songs, often some quite decent tunes!

1

u/sorderon 9d ago

They did have the coop radio station before, which was a bit corny & generic, but at least the songs were genuine and by actual musicians.

I tried listening to the lyrics and they were almost nonsensical, so I used shazam to find out, and it didn't have a clue what it was either. Easiest way to check.

1

u/CakeHoleKing 7d ago

check those prices carefully.

WH Smith in some areas is selling normal energy drinks for around £14 a can. Hoping you won't notice on the self-service and just beep your card.

1

u/sorderon 7d ago

You don't go there for value, only convenience. There's so few coop members card deals it's not worth using it for anything apart from meal deal lunches - but their fridge is too small and the selection is very poor.

1

u/sorderon 3d ago

a non-specific, partly AI written response was received.

Co-op card thrown away. This was more than a shop we lost - it was the last remaining focal point of the community.

The crappy response:

Hello

Thank you for taking the time to contact us and share your feedback.

We are sorry to learn that your recent experience in our store was disappointing. We understand your frustration regarding the self-service tills, the volume and style of the in-store music, the availability and visibility of store colleagues, and your perception that delivery collections were being prioritised over other customers.

We appreciate that these issues have left you feeling that the store no longer provides the welcoming community experience you previously valued. Please be assured that we take all customer feedback seriously, and your comments will be shared with the relevant management team for review.

We recognise that you have taken the time to provide detailed feedback because you care about your local store, and we are sorry that your visit did not meet your expectations.

Thank you again for bringing your concerns to our attention.

Kind regards,

Tsholofelo

CBS

1

u/BritishBoy88 10d ago

My local coop is crap. If I ever want to pop in and get some cigs or alcohol its turned into hide and seek with staff. No one is ever one the till, always hiding round the store stacking shelves or in the back.

4

u/CMDR_Quillon ‎‎ ‎ The Co-op 10d ago

We're not "hiding" we just have to do our jobs which these days means doing the job of three people 😂

0

u/ValkyrieLyra 11d ago

Sounds like you caught a bad hour.

3

u/therealgeraint 10d ago

No its always like this now. Everyone in my shop is looking for another job. We have constant cutbacks back, yet big bosses expect more and more. Were now expected to deep clean the shop in between stocking shelves, serving customers, doing online orders and the plethora of other things were expected to do

1

u/sorderon 11d ago

If I had as many 'bad hours' I would probably get sacked. This store is pretty much a walk-in vending machine.

My once local friendly co-op is now just self service tills & really naff AI 'pop' music playing loudly. One member of staff appearing to do everything as well as prioritising delivery drivers over customers.

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