customer service representative

customer assistant

warehouse worker

retail sales associate

cashier

Tesco

I have a strong career background in Customer services with over 7 years experience.  This includes working for Tesco Storers plc and Post Office, as a Customer Service Assistant.  This role I have  fulfilled enthusiastically by exceeding customer expectations with the services I provide while making sure I am abiding with the policies of our company. Due to this I have been commended by management for my professionalism, productivity and quality of work whilst abiding to policy and procedure, and seeking out knowledge to assist in this role. This is reflected in my call monitoring reports, customer service desk and probationary reports.  As well as frequently winning the award for the CSA of the week award due to my performances above and beyond required level of service.

Working as a Customer Service Assistant, has greatly enhanced my knowledge and skills of working in a strong customer focused environment. Being the first point of contact for our organisation I feel it is very important to make sure the customers’ needs are met accordingly in line with our policies and procedures.  My role entails dealing with a wide range of areas ranging from complaints, refund requests, mystery shopping and abusive and drunkard customers which has given me a key insight into the key customer areas of the organisation.

In my role of Customer Service Assistant, I am constantly required to resolve any queries or problems our customers and stake holders have, which can range from dealing with an intoxicated customer or dealing with  face to face queries from irate customers on behalf of our management due to my excellent customer service skills.   Therefore judgements needs to be made by myself from the information giving by our customers, stake holders or management as we need to cater for the differing needs of the groups mentioned above.  An example can be dealing with a vulnerable customer who has demanding needs due to the nature of their disabilities.  

In addition to this by being an established member in the customer service team, I am always assisting colleagues who encounter difficult situations with customers.  This is mainly done through retraining I give to my colleagues especially when put into difficult situations that require you to think on your feet.  This is why I am always required to be up to date with all the current policies and procedures.  This involves using analytical skills which I have developed while studying for my BTEC in Motor Engineering. 

I am trained in depth in a variety of computer packages which I use on a daily basis in my role and frequently assist others in its usage, these are Excel, Word, Internet, Intranet and email. In addition to this  I am an avid user of Language Line and Type talk, and would encourage a wider spread use of these tools, as they are much easier to use and more easily accessible than they appear.

By having a varied customer service background in the roles I have carried has enabled me to fully understand the customer care principles and methods.  As I have always been in the front line dealing with queries and request to a very high standard from both internal and external customers.  
I am always sensitive to the needs of the customers.  An example can be in my previous and current role where I am constantly required to deal with irate customers and try to defuse the situation by adhere to their needs but at the same time making sure I am complying with the policies and procedures of the organisation.


I have been asked to undertake many extra duties in our organisation in order to meet the demanding needs of our business.  This entails working in the checkout, customer service desk and the shop floor in quick succession without any problems. I also Cover Security during their breaks. This is due to my ability to multitask, work on my own initiative and follow instructions with little guidance. Many times I did not require assistance from my colleagues for these tasks as I would multitask and complete these in order of priority as the customers’ needs will always come first.   In addition to this I am required to conduct a Supervisor’s role while they are attending meetings on a frequent basis, as I am required to give assistance to colleagues when required while monitoring their performance.

I do not shy away from difficult situations and although I am able to sympathise with the customer/enquirer when necessary, I feel the success in dealing with angry customers is the ability to also be firm with the organisations policies and procedures and not to mislead the customer in any way. I usually find that if I explain clearly why the customer can be incorrect while also taking into consideration of their personal circumstances.  This then usually leads to an agreement of some form with the customer even when they have refused with another colleague of mine. 

I frequently have to refuse discussing club card account details to non-permission granted enquirers, which can cause conflict, but I offer remedial solutions when possible, and advice on what they can do to provide our organisation with the required permission, explaining the compliance with Data Protection and Confidentiality, otherwise offering to take information provided and noting accordingly, yet advising that I cannot confirm any details regarding the account.  The step up to Customer Services Assistant would be a natural progression and I have a willingness and enthusiasm to learn more about this field.  
       

Therefore I feel that persuasion is an essential tool that I use when working in our organisation, as the requirements of our customers’ needs must be balanced with the policy and procedures of the organisation.  However, it is essential that the utmost integrity is ever present when persuasion is used.  An example can be by persuading the customer of alternative products that are available if the product requested by the customer is out of stock.  This then has a positive impact on our sales record.  In addition to this I am part of the focus group where I or my colleagues can suggest ways in which our department can be improved and I am responsible in liaising with management by showing reasons how these suggestions will benefit the whole department.       

I feel that the equalities and diversity policy refers to the notion of equal opportunities without discrimination.  That everyone should be treated equally and fairly regardless of sex, age, religion and disability as mentioned in the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.  Therefore I will do my utmost to make sure this policy is implemented in the way I conduct my role. 

I am a very punctual person and also have an excellent attendance rate with my current and previous employers which are due to the high level of standards I set my self.

My overall experience with this company has been negative, so lets begin with the cons.

Number 1: The lanes are messy.
The first thing you will notice about working at Tesco Warehouse is just how messy and un-organised (near enough) every single lane is. I worked on picking and I had to put products into the right cages, sounds simple, right? well it should be, but good luck finding a cage with the right number on it because they are all jumbled up and miss placed, cages are thrown around like ragdolls and almost all of them are heavily damaged and un-usable, not only that but the mechanical trolley you use is rather bulky too. So getting through some of the lanes is like crawling through a claustrophobic tunnel where cages are so narrowly spaced apart it's hard enough just walking down them, never mind dragging a big machine down them, it's an absolute nightmare. 

Number 2: The company's standards.
Now if all of that wasn't off putting enough, The company expect you to reach a performance total of 92% per day (this works by timing you on how fast you perform each assignment they give you) to reach this goal you would have to keep going non-stop until you're ready to go on your break or lunch which is at anytime you want, which sounds good at first, but if you have your break early on in your shift it runs down your percentage like crazy and the canteen (which you have to pay for) is only open at certain times. So in reality, the choice is merely an illusion. If you do not reach 92% by the 8 (or 12 weeks if you reach 85% before then) they will let you go, because they are only willing to keep on staff who can reach 92% and too be fair I understand that this is here to stop people from slacking off, but as I have mentioned before, the lanes are incredibly untidy and most cages are un-usable or full so you'll have to dig around for a good one to use, drag it to where you need it, print off a label for it, then scan the item on a constant basis. Because of this it is near enough impossible to reach 92% in my opinion. 

Number 3: Faulty equipment.
Another thing I like to point out is how faulty at least 90% of the machinery is in this Warehouse. It is very rare that you will see a trolley with a printer on it. You will only get a trolley with a good amount of battery charged into it if you come in half an hour early before shift. To be honest coming in on time won't help you get your percentage up either, the only way I can is to come in 20 minutes before hand. Because before you can start working you have to clock in, charge your trolley key, grab a mach trolley that works (if you can find one) hand in a paper card for a arm computer (that's either really slow or has a battery charge of like 4% that you will have to replace in another hour) and then you're off to go, it doesn't sound that bad in words but trust me, doing that every day when you want to get your percentage up get's real tiresome, real fast. But even after all that you might end up scanning a product that sends you in the wrong lane and it's only when you're half way through, that it realises you're putting things in the wrong area, then your arm computer will suddenly tell you you're in the wrong lane (but doesn't say which one you're meant to go to) so you'd have to go to a podium and ask where to go and you may have to recall everything you put away as well, draining your percentage yet again. Either that or the trolley will suddenly stop working out of nowhere or the scanner on your arm computer will stop working, the list could go on, but there are more things to talk about... 
(of course you can try and ask for your time back, but 90% of the time the higher ups will say "little faults like that are built into the system" and they will refuse to give you back extra time.)

Number 4: Chaotic, Overcrowded and no organisation.
Going back to number 1 where I said the lanes are really narrow, untidy and just an overall mess. Well it gets worse when there are like 10 - 20 people, all with big motorised trolleys speeding down a lane, all rushing around like mad men trying to get their percentage higher with no disregard for other people because "if you can't reach 92% you're gone" (not saying everyone is like this here but there are quite a few) The bad thing about this is that because some of  the lanes are already a nightmare to traverse anyway, you will get people crashing into each other, people screaming, shouting and yelling at each other during prime times and you'll products falling off of trolleys as well as cages and wheeled pallets skidding all over the place because our trolleys are so thick they wreck havoc to everything they drive into. On top of all of this you rarely get a higher up organising the lanes or keeping watch to make sure nobody causes any trouble, some staff have screamed at each other and everything and nobody is there to stop them, it's an absolute joke!




It's not all bad.

Number 1: Some managers are alright.
A lot of the time managers have been helpful and pointed me in the right direction. I say sometimes though as they can be dismissive and just seem to get annoyed whenever you ask for help sometimes.

Number 2: at least the pay is good.
It's a tough job I won't lie, but if you REALLY need the money, it's a pretty good start, you get paid monthly but I earned about £1400 last month and I've just started, so you can get promotions that boost how much you make an hour.



Conclusion:
Working at Tesco makes you feel rather small and insufficient, they hire new staff every week and most don't hack it for very long and for good reason. A lot of the time you cannot help it if your percentage is low due to the reasons above. You feel bad for getting it low too as they will tell you, "we don't want you here" (coming in early and finishing on time isn't good enough for them) You may not get bossed around a lot but the pressure to reach 92% everyday is draining. It's not the worst job I have ever had by a long shot but it's not the best either. I suppose that's why the pay is so good, going up to £10 an hour this October. So it's a tough job, you'll probably hate it, but there are worse jobs out there and if you can hack it for a couple of months you'll find A LOT of money in your bank account at least.

Throughout the Covid plan-demic I lost my stable high paid job, so I had to do something in order to keep my home and pay my bills. I decided to work for Tesco’s as a last resort, to my surprise it was most definitely my top 2 worst job of all time. They literally have a 15 year old 
(who’s really 24) running the Dot com department, her communication skills are nonexistent, and she’s also has passive aggressive nature about her. The Dot com manager doesn’t respond to any messages or phone calls, and only reaches out to you when she needs you for overtime because the team are so under staffed. As an experienced manager who has been a manager for several big brands, this type of management is outrageously insane poorly ran, and unprofessional. Honestly I cannot comprehend how this person was even promoted to be a manager in such a large turnover store. I applied online and didn’t hear back from the Tesco’s almost three weeks, however when I finally got the call, but was left with a voicemail, and I was asked if I’m still interested in the job, and if I could get in touch ASAP. The Dot com manager never left a contact number for me to return the call, so I literally had to walk into Tesco’s and ask what happened, and if the job was still available. When I arrived I was asked If I could attend an induction without an interview, I was a little shocked as it’s protocol to have at least a chat before you decide to take a job on. Two days later I attended the induction and most of it consist of videos about the company, it wasn’t very clear about the actual Dot com role, the videos mainly consist of health and safety, and great customer service. The base pay was outrageously low, and the hours that were appointed were sickening. I have a few underlying health issues that I am battling with however I did not want to make it be a major thing, but made it clear I had them just so that the managers were aware. On my very first day I was trained by a temp, who had literally started a month before me, which was unprofessional as the colleague didn’t seem that knowledgeable,and wasn’t enthusiastic about training me, however I  was trained by the temp for two days straight. When it was time to go out on my own on the third day, I was shocked to have a supervisor come up to me not even introduce themselves as to who they were, but giving me an earful in stating that you have to go faster as the pick rate needs to be 152. To my surprise I was stunned And was taken back, and had asked what’s a pick rate, because it wasn’t mentioned in my induction nor was it briefed to me whilst being trained by the temp. Literally everyday I was spoken to about a pick rate, as a person who is outspoken I replied with I wasn’t aware of this and politely stressed that I’m new so it will take some time to become acclimated with a store that is 5000sq ft. The actual job of picking products for customers that they have requested wasn’t the bad part, it was literally being bullied into going faster and being told if you’re not able to hit 152 you’ll be fired. For me that was super stressful, distasteful, disrespectful, unpleasant, and very unprofessional especially being in a pandemic when everyone is dying around us. But hey used this BS slogan in their tee shirts saying “we are in this together” On top of that I was accused of having an attitude which was also unprofessional as I’m not a person who carries myself in that manner, so this misinformed info that went back to the manger, which was an utter fabrication. The hours are not great as a team we initially started at 2AM until 10AM. Then the time slot got moved from 2AM to 4AM to 10-12PM. My body was all over the place, the supervisors and managers were not motivating or encouraging, so the job just become a drab. On top of that they failed to mention that at least 20 people had gotten sick with Covid and that one of them were in the Dot com team. I was livid as I already have hidden health issues, and was very disappointed as it made me realise that this company does not care about their employees they just care about the employees making lots of money for the company. Tesco’s is a billionaire company but only pay the employees £8.72 an and £9 after being there for three months. I found out about the Covid sick employees from customers on the street, there was no phone call or briefing, I was only told to wear a mask, and then later on asked to be tested. The company is a joke if they treated their employees better they would get better results and productivity completed, but as most bad companies fail to recognise poor management creates disheartening employees and a disharmonious work ethic. I have many great ideas how this company could run better but it’s not my place to convey and it’s not my business, they’re digging themselves a deep grave as the turnover for employees is very high. Lastly even though the employee ratio is Multi cultural I experienced a fair amount Prejudice which is also unprofessional and unacceptable, this company needs to apply sensitivity training, and strive to be a lot more ethical. I would not recommend my worst enemy to work at Tesco’s!

Working on the checkouts is not bad if youre okay dealing with customers. Can't get to know your colleagues as youre separated or warned whenever you even ask a colleague how theyre doing when theres no customers. This rule doesnt apply for team leaders though as they can chat to each other and go on phones as they please in front of customers. They don't even have to help their team promptly as the job title might suggest opposite. Instead they are chatting and youre left waiting with a customer at a till looking like an idiot and dont know what to do. Youre lucky if the customer waits around for the situation to be resolved. Your breaks are often forgotten about even when the shop is quiet and the leaders have nothing to do. You have to ask when your break is when its 4 1/2 hours into your shift and you haven't had one yet (law to have 15 minutes break every 4 1/2 hours or 30 minutes every 6 hours). On some days you get your break when you've only been in 1 hour and the rest of the shift drags. You will not receive positive feedback from anyone if you have done well. You will however get pulled into the office and get penalised for small mistakes which become diciplinary meetings and 'investigations' with the manager. They will also make unwanted remarks about your personal life and how you should be to them. You can tell your union rep about management bullying or harassment but the most they will do is just make you feel at ease during a meeting that you at least wont lose your job. Eventually, at the rate the line manager was going with meetings, i might have lost my job. I had to leave and find another job before that happened so that it wouldnt look bad for me. Reps also won't take your concerns seriously about the bullying. Nobody except your family has your back. Speaking of family, you really dont have to worry about any of this if you have a parent really high up in the company who brown noses their higher ups because you and all of your siblings will have a secure job wherever you like in the company. Your job will be untouchable even when you cant do the job. You may have no leadership qualities but if you want the team leader wage, its yours as long as you want it. Futhermore the line managers main goal seems to be hiring people to go on work dos and go to clubs with. If she doesnt like you, shes going to try her best to nit-pick and sack you. On the first month I wasnt paid correctly. I did loads of overtime and it was weeks and weeks before i got a clock-in card. My core shifts werent even logged properly, let alone my overtime. I should have had a full months wage + overtime as i worked 5 weeks in hand. I brought this up to my union rep, a team leader who i had a bit of faith in and my line manager. I was ignored but then ultimately told "oh, how strange" and that it had nothing to do with them. I'm aware of tax and how it works but tax doesn't leave you with £300 when youre expecting just short of maybe £900. The line manager could have at least put me at ease and gone through what hours i had done and double checked this by looking at who has logged in to tills and maybe checked cctv for me being there working, just so i had some evidence to take it higher. As it stands i worked about 3 weeks for free in my first month and I have nothing but my word to back me up. As soon as i got my clock-in card my wages have been fine because it cant be mistaken. Another issue i had was trying to arrange a shift off so that i could go and visit a family relative in hospital before she passed away. My team leaders never allowed this and she passed away. I never got a chance to visit her. I took 2 days off for mourning. These were approved by the line manager. I was then called and asked to come back to work before the third day. I ended up mourning at work. A few months later I lost 3 more loved ones in the same week and a half. 1 of them were family. I tried to take a short leave off for mourning. I called in the first thing in the morning to explain why i wasn't going in and they said it was okay and to take as much time as i needed. Less than 2 hours before my shift would have ended that day, my line manager calls me up asking me to confirm my reason for absence and that she didnt approve the absence. She also said if i didn't come in for my next shift, i'd be getting an investigation and potentially a diciplinary. I called my union helpline and they didnt even let me explain and passed me along to the tesco employees helpline who didnt back me and said to just go in to avoid punishment. That is when i decided to hand in my leaving notice the next day for complete lack of humanity let alone everything else. I had a high attendance and I couldn't even get 1 day off for mourning 3 loved ones dying in such a short amount of time. I ended up mourning at work again. I regret not filling in a grievance form about my experience there to get my line manager and team leaders investigated.

The job itself isn’t the problem. The system is.

On paper, everything looks organised: performance targets, activity tracking, delay codes, clear responsibilities. But the way the workplace actually runs doesn’t match what the system expects.

Goods in, picking, and loading all happen in the same tight space I can see that theres a system in place to mitigate the effects but quite frequently ,Lanes get blocked, machines overlap, and sometimes you’re physically stuck waiting for space to clear. But your timer keeps running as if movement is always possible. When congestion slows you down, it’s treated as personal inefficiency, not a layout issue.

Equipment readiness is assumed, not ensured. Scanners, vehicles, and other essential equipment are often left uncharged or randomly stop working. You can arrive early, ready to start, and still lose time searching for functioning equipment or waiting for replacements. All that time counts against you. The system sees you as slow, not the workplace as unprepared.

Handling equipment is often left in bad condition and has to be fixed before work can begin properly. And Support staff start exactly at shift time, while workers are expected to be ready 10min prior to shift time . If you need help at the start of shift, you wait. And if you ask for a delay because of that waiting, you’re questioned as to why , which discourages honest reporting of genuine operational issues.

We’re encouraged to report delays when things go wrong. But support staff quietly   say that management are unlikely to process delays over 30 minutes. On paper, that sounds reasonable. In reality, when you add up congestion, missing equipment, unprepared work, and repeated interruptions over an 8-hour shift, it’s easy to lose far more than 30 minutes to issues outside your control. The system tells you to report problems, then quietly discourages you from doing it fully.

Another issue is Sometimes work simply isn’t ready at shift start. None of these issues are recorded as system failures yet your performance score assumes perfect starting conditions every time.

I’ve been told in roles like this that there are ways to report problems, but using them too frequently draws attention. Yet not using them quietly lowers your performance. Necessary tasks like fixing equipment or correcting unsafe setups often have no proper activity options, so real work becomes invisible in the system.

Training is split in two. There’s the official way that looks good on paper, and the unofficial way workers and even trainers quietly pass on to help each other survive real conditions. Management denies the unofficial side exists, even though the operation depends on it.

Responsibility is tracked digitally, not practically. When multiple people are involved in the same task due to space or time pressure, the system still points to one name when something goes wrong  even if that person didn’t control everything that happened.For example you could close a cage and report it on the system then someone else could open it and forget to close it but because it says the person who closed it was you, you’ll get called for it.

When performance is reviewed, the focus is on tiny details like timing or scan gaps. Bigger issues congestion, missing equipment, and upstream delays are ignored. It feels like being judged against a version of the job that only exists on a screen.

The only time I have ever seen the warehouse run smoothly was when people said the line manager’s boss was coming in. Suddenly equipment was ready, space was cleared, and processes actually worked. That made it clear the system can run properly but only when higher oversight is expected.

I believe a big reason these structural problems never get properly acknowledged is because if line managers escalated them they would create more work for themselves : reports, audits, uncomfortable questions about targets, budget implications, and accountability at higher levels. From the outside, it feels easier for the system to hold frontline workers responsible than to admit the model itself is flawed.

People here work hard. But the system doesn’t measure reality. It measures an assumption. And when reality doesn’t fit that assumption, the pressure lands on the worker.

It’s not a people problem.
It’s a system that refuses to admit its own limits. Hopefully this give you a more accurate description of what to expect 

I used to be a security guard for Tesco. What happened next was having this huge motivation slowly crushed into the abyss. The beggining of the end is how I describe it. endless shifts, hours on top of hours, but very little to see of the real stuff - wage, very few days off, 2 weeks in a row working 8 hour sometimes 12 hours and yet i hardly got to see or enjoy the tiny amount of pay of minimum wage. Paid less than staff per hour which is unfair. 

By the end of the 1 year spent across several stores my back was breaking, my feet were becoming numb with pain, I was needing more and more sleep to overcome the previous day until it was literally in a toxic live to work cycle. I was in so much pain from standing all the time, after finally getting a way out of the mess, getting fired came as a blessing, it has taken a further 2 full months for me to properly recover my health and i finally get to sit down and not wear that wretched suit, it's incredibly liberating, I feel alive again and that's all that matters. I felt myself becoming zombified before and it was ruining my life, feeling forced to be there just for marginally-better than welfare level of money, it took way too much to break a £1000 a month. A decent wage would be 3 to 6 grand a month take home which would allow saving for property and start a family

It became a split decision between "do i want money for doing this" or "do i finally want to sit down" and the latter became more important to me. There is obviously a slave culture here. Staff do extra unpaid work beyond closing time because they care so much, it couldn't be more frustrating when I was so tired and aching and needing to get home while the manager still holds the keys, most stores are open 18 hours a day, so that unpaid overtime is ridiculous. They should be fully prepared to leave the shop with all customers out 5 minutes before. 

This leads on for me to talk about managers at Tesco. These are some of the worst people on the planet, they do not even conversate with you unless it's to tell you off, they are arrogant and a lot of the time clueless, i could do a better job with my eyes closed and hands tied. I'm someone who enjoys light hearted banter, making people laugh with plenty of jokes, I take a vested interest in people but the vast majority of managers are just go around angry and ignorant, i can't work with people like that and I don't want to. Having social time at work helps keep my sanity in place, so often was the case of working alone as the guard you get to feel alienated and unfulfilled. The atmosphere is lame. Tesco work culture makes zero effort to make you feel welcome or excited about being there. All it's good for is buying food from, not working for. 

Furthermore I was working close to the door in the autumn/winter you get an icy breeze and you don't get to wear a coat, the suit has no thermal properties thus I was chilled to the bone for hours as you dont get to run around on duty to warm up or wear a hot water bottle or move closer inside. I don't have a problem working in the cold but not without adequate thermal protection, that's unreasonable. 

I could write a book about how bad the experience was but honestly.. i'll try wrapping up here - weight gain became a side effect of the job. I typically like to eat well and I do my excercise bit so im never too out of shape, but the shift pattern was so intense it killed off motivation to stay in shape, i put on 2 stone in a couple of months my chest was aching from being dragged down by gravity, you're also surrounded by all of you're favourite food, within arms reach.

I definitely couldn't return to work in Tesco with Tesco staff ever again, not in my lifetime. it's too much of a nightmare. The only thing keeping me there was getting paid a few peanuts more than welfare but when you do something purely for money and not the enjoyment of it, then its obviously doomed to fail  in the end, as it did.

The company is a JOKE!, the management Team are a complete farse, bunch of lazy incompetent arrogant nasty people with the worst people skills I have ever come across and are paid far too much money for the work they do.

Staff wise you will find some generally nice down to earth people, however there are also the bigger percentage of useless lazy lieing people who make your job a lot harder by not completing there tasks/work load per shift and just leaving there duties Uncompleted which you then come in behind them and are told to finish there work plus your own duties in a smaller time frame with no help from the management what so ever, you will get the (How are you getting on!? ) line they love to use every 5 minutes from the management as they walk past which basically means Hurry up!...

The organisation of the place is very poor, uneven work load distribution per worker for the time frame of your shift makes it impossible at times to complete your tasks and fit in breaks if your on a shorter than 9 hour shift. 

Equipment required to complete your tasks are most likely always faulty, or left Whithout charge, no batteries, broken, no signal etc and you are told to just get on with it if you report such matters to the management and make sure everything is done before your shift ends.

Holiday days can be hard to get granted as there is a lot of staff members. You will also receive phone calls on holidays asking if u want overtime, and will be contacted when your off sick for more than a few days to ask when you are coming back as you need to watch your attendance percentage.

If you are off unwell for whatever reason even with doctors notes sick lines, be prepared to be in the office with 2 members of management for at least an hour and a half each time getting the rule book literally flung at you, then come the threats of disaplinery actions and potential sacking, and it doesn't take many days off to get them to that stage.

You will always be offered a part time flexi contract when joining this company, this is so they can demand you work at there beck and call, when you are assigned to a particular department you work in and you have done your hours your contract has stated you will be pressured into picking up over time, a lot of overtime since ur flexi contract you can't say no,  if you then do all the overtime your department needs but you still haven't reached full time hours for that week or over full time hours for that matter they will then contact you to fill in on other departments to cover there overtime or if someone calls in sick or is on holiday you are required to cover those shifts. 

No water allowed on you on shop floor, a million other rules and regulations they preach to you daily, It feels like a concentration camp and your not to be seen standing for 2 seconds not doing something or you will get a judgemental frown upon you from the management team, as they all walk past you in a gang with a costa coffee in there hand laughing at each other's jokes and pointing at things they want done and completely  ignoring customers as they are above customers they seem to think and then they will shuffle back to there offices and hide for an hour or 2 or more then come back to slave drive you some more.

I have worked for a lot of retail companies over the years and a lot of them have been bad in there own ways, but this place TESCO! Is by far the worst establishment I have ever worked for it is a complete and utter joke! I cannot stress this enough.

And then you also have the arrogant rude grumpy customers that give you attitude and abuse Just because they feel like they can, so there is that side of it to look forward to aswell.

BE WARNED! Don't work for TESCO! Hope this review has helped your descision making.

Like with many things take what I say with a pinch of salt.

TL;DR - I would advise you avoid, you may find the wage initially to be great if you get past your probation, but that feeling will fade as it did with me. Staff are made of a handful of friendly, decent human beings and the rest with robotic, soulless husks. The ratio for agency to employed staff is staggering with the turnover also reflecting this.

Assuming you go with the company and not agency the day usually consists of one of 4 shifts: 6am - 2pm, 10am - 6pm, 2pm-10pm or night shift which is 10pm - 6am. A typical rota is a week of earlies and one lates with mixed days off. Sunday is the start of the week so your days off can be shafted by this. 

Your typical day is picking, a job which dependent on what department you are in may be mechanised with long trucks or by foot. Picking itself is not hard but the rate and pressure to perform is there. You are constantly put into conflict by a toxic environment of pace and impatience. Other staff will rudely cut in, block lanes with their ignorance and show general disdain that you are doing your job correctly and not rushing it like they are. As people WILL rush about to hit rate, the awareness of safety goes down. People bump into each other, trucks that carry loads can seriously damage if not kill others do a lot of near misses, all of this is usually hushed if not ignored. In regards to your own health, you will harm yourself if it be physically with lifting and moving about or mentally by burning out with the overload of noise, movement and dealing with others.

Management are a mixed bag: Certain managers are very helpful, approachable and realistic/down to Earth. Most however are unemphatic or lacking in interpersonal skills. There is a lot of passing the buck and not a lot of management taking responsibility or ownership when they mess up. Examples can include but are limited to: Not handing back holiday forms so YOU must chase them up, not caring you have almost had a near incident, not being able to follow company policies and thus the union needs to step in, etc. This may be from the companies idea of culling staff which causes an overload of work (not to discount managerial work nor the stresses they may be put through), but I think it is because the managers themselves do not want to be there and a possible lack of training on their part. 

Workplace culture there is cancerous. Aside from your actual workmates you will find people from different walks of life, some are natives with good patter and respectful manners, most however, are out of touch that have been there 10+ years, never wanted to advance but hate the place so caught in a limbo they proceed to slop in whilst moaning about others behind their backs. There are a lot of non natives, many Eastern Europeans, like some of the natives are good humoured, well mannered humans that have been here for years, have families and want to stay here. The rest are ignorant, arrogant and do not wish to integrate and actually segregate themselves creating a toxic environment of suspicion, hate and cliques. 

Hardest part of the job I would say is not wanting to throw yourself into the Clyde or Forth each morning when you realise you have another 8 hours of physically demanding work within a hostile and dangerous environment, but that may just be me. But on a more serious note I'd say either having to resist engaging in conflict or the toll it creates on your body lifting and walking about on hard concrete.

Enjoyable I would say are the fellow goons you befriend, some people in there are too good for the place and carry on regardless. You are also kept in better shape than sitting down all day, it's a full body workout with around 8-12 miles of walking.

Typical day at work varies on a daily basis. Some days are more challenging than others depending on what type of queries that have to be dealt with when customers call up. I have a varied job role; dealing with pay monthly customers and their accounts which includes bills and taking payments over the phone updating personal details,allowances,number transfers,upgrading contracts,taking new orders,cancelations,store calls, also handling the most sensitive cases where the account holder has passed away or a family member has passed away who was on their account and this needs to be handled with care, sensitivity and empathy,. Also pay as you go customers which is a bit less regarding accounts as they dont have one set up but still deal with top ups,credit, and transferring of money and number transfers. I also deal with handset support so booking in faulty handsets,repairs and general trouble shooting. I have extended on my customer service knowledge and skills,learnt how to use a range of different computer software and systems. Iv also learnt to problem solve under pressure as per customer queries and can deal with the most difficult situations, either a deceased customer, someone who is having personnel difficulties or a very upset,angry and frustrated customer. My team manager is a great example of how a manager should be he keeps team moral going, is supportive,encouraging,helpful both on a work level and a personel level.Hes always there no matter what and will go abouve and beyond for each and everyone of us on my team.I wouldnt want to move onto any other team where i work, as we are a very close working family who even get together outside of work and our manager encourages this and joins in. The place i work is very busy, hard working and there is always a good atmoshere. Everyone is friendly to each other on other teams and you can go to anyone for help or advice. its a warm and friendly place to work.The hardest part of my job is dealing with a situation where the customer is being difficult and hostile and having to diffuse the stuation, find a resolution thats both realistic for the business,myself and the customer. Also the customers that have a deceased family member and are having to make that difficult call to sort out the account and the customers that are having personnel difficulties in their lives and i try to help as much as i can in finding a resolution that in the same way as the difficult ones so we can reach a realistic and achieveable outcome that everyone is happy with. The most enjoyable part of my job is when i have had a difficult call be it an unhappy customer or a customer with sensitive issues and manage to turn that call around and have the customer go away happy and iv managed to sort the issue out without it escalating or made that customers day a little more easy to deal with.

If you like to be put into the deep end,  then this is the right place for you. If you don't like to be moaned at 24-7 then run quick away and apply elsewhere. 

Ok maybe its abit over the top but seriously it's not a joke IT IS A CHALLENGING PLACE TO WORK. 

You will be working a lot of hours. If your working early shifts it will be   6am starts finishing at 3pm in the afternoon. If your working a late shift it will be 3pm to 11pm. Some might shut at midnight. 
If you are working night shifts it will be 10pm till 7am.

You usually have a team of 6 to 10 staff members 1 to 4 team leaders 1 deputy manager and 1 store manager. Depending on how much money your store takes in the more staff and support you will have.

However when it comes to hoildays and absences it will be most challenging to work in the environment as  there will be loads of overtime but not enough to cover most hours. Where you are left with huge queues and difficult customers that you will have to face on shifts. The job can be very stressful too.

The good thing is it is set hours to work and your working in a smaller shop. The other challenging thing is getting delivery in and out the shop without blocking an aisle as the shop can be a funny layout you have to get pass customers while bringing in stock.

You got to learn everything and be everwhere on Shopfloor as you do get told off for any reason if there's been a complaint or failure to complete a tasks. E.g not filling essential stock out on time. 

You will get the blame, for most things that have gone wrong in the shop. As your store manager and deputy manager will hold you, responsible if anything happens so be prepared and check over your work and tasks given to you to avoid this from happening.

You will be a key holder and you will be opening up shop early morning and closing shop very late at night. You will also be dealing with cash. Either till checks, refilling cash alongside with the cash admin or store or deputy manager. When they are not in you are in charge of everything.

The management structure is not really good in a small shop you are not really supported if you was working in a bigger store you will be ok as you will be working on the one department and not doing everything in a small shop.

It's usually busy in the mornings when school run is on and customers are on their way to work/college or school. And the same applies in the evening when  customers are going home and you have your regular customers your local customers who you will see on a daily basis.

There will be times when you would feel like having a break but you won't usually have your full breaks as there will always be something going on in the shop, you will be consently on your feet. Wear the most comfortable shoes you can wear yeah.

The job is fast-pace environment only work there if you can work those hours as this job is not for everyone, only for the brave i'll say,  you do learn alot of skills but it's what you make out of it too. 

You will be doing the same routines day in and day out.  It is the hardest job I've ever done. I would not recommend it. It will be ok if it's like weekend job but not fulltime. But it is mainly if you need the money you would stay there working .

 If you don't like to be having back problems, working unsociable hours and do get stressed I don't recommend working here. You just need to weight up your options and look at the bigger picture if you really want this or walk away it's your call.

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