sales manager

assistant buyer

operations manager

detective

assistant manager

The Range

It's been a while since I left so need to try and remember everything as I wanted to do a review as soon as I left but never got round to it. 

This is by far the worst job I've ever had and I've been in the working world over 10 years now and had some bad jobs but this place was the beyond bad.
It comes to something when you're going to work and constantly coming away crying! 

Moral is extremely low at this place. It's very rare you see anyone smiling. Everyone's miserable and doesn't want to be there. 
There is a small handful of colleagues who i respect and they got me through but a lot of people there are awful mainly being management. But i will get to that. 

Training, what training? Got a day of being shown how to work the tills, the rest you have to work out yourself and hope for the best. 
If you're a decent person with ambition (i.e the job is a means to an end whilst at UNI or working towards better things ect), you will be treated like some sort of invalid. It's like the settlers (mainly the older people in management) can't stand that you want to go somewhere in life whilst they moan about their job but can't be bothered to do anything about it. 
The amount of times i felt looked down on and like people didn't have the time of day for me because I wanted more from life. It's draining! 

Work conditions are horrendous and I don't know how they get away with it. In the winter it is absolutely freezing. The tills are right in front of the doors and at times it was bitterly cold! It's no wonder I was constantly unwell yet they'd moan if anyone rang in sick. Go figure.
My hands at times were so cold I'd struggle to function. Their air con is a joke and obviously just there for show. Even customers used to say how bad it is.
Then there's a till where god help you if it's a windy day and you're on it. It's like being stood in Gale force winds all day at your till, it's ridiculous especially when there's other available tills to work on but management put you on that one, where's the logic??

Tills never work properly. Constantly freezing, sometimes can take ages to unfreeze and you've got a big que of customers, very unprofessional. 
But then the place as a whole was unprofessional. Some of the staff spoke to customers like utter rubbish, I don't know how they get away with it. 

Never get 2 days off together, when full time you feel like you live in there. It really got me down. 
Over Christmas, public holidays like Xmas day are classed as your days off. So no extra time off. 
Then why they're open boxing day I'll never know, absolutely dead. I along with other staff were absolutely bored to tears and was put on a section to aimlessly tidy the whole shift. I didn't serve 1 customer that day and I was till staff. The job was just torturous, I'm struggling to remember everything but it was honestly so bad. Even a 4 hour shift felt like an eternity, I wasn't a happy person whilst there. 

Management, where to start. Found the store manager totally unaprochable. She seemed to throw her weight around a lot and I felt like she spoke to people like a piece of dirt at times. A lot of people felt the same. Also found her unreasonable at times. Clearly didn't care if staff were unhappy. Also walks around the store on the phone a lot, is she actually doing anything or just trying to look important/busy?
2nd down from her, assistant manager or deputy whatever she was. Couldn't stand hed nor could most staff. Amount of times she spoke to me like an invalid, what is the need? Also can honestly say in the time i was there I never saw her do any actual work. Just stand at the top of the stairs making sure staff aren't talking. 
God forbid you talk in there... I know we're there to work but wow, you were on edge to even be seen discussing work matters because you'd be told off like a naughty school kid if you were seen talking.  
Then you've got someone else in management who thinks they can come in on their day off and dictate to staff (swearing also). Seriously needs to get off that high horse.
I could go on, most of management could do with a course in how to treat staff with more respect and learn some decent customer service skills. 

I know this is a long review but I can't stress how bad this place is to work. I can't speak for other branches but the one i was at was dreadful. 
No respect, treated like an invalid, staff moral extremely low. Everybody hates it there.
If this was my company I'd be ashamed.

2 words to finally sum up my time and my experience there.. Soul destroying

•	Customer focused at all times
•	Ensure all staff fully and efficiently carry out instructions and work in a safe manner in accordance with Company policies and procedures. 
•	Maintain Stock File Accuracy and Store Compliance
Accountabilities Including
•	Assist in the smooth running of the store and to achieve maximum sales
•	Ensure that all staff are aware of all Company procedures, policies, rules and regulations and that they are adhered to at all times
•	Make sure the store has the highest standards of presentation
•	Ensure all audit requirements are met
•	Responsible for the operational compliance of the store retail support functions.
Responsibilities Including
•	Trading Standards compliance checks
•	Store e-mail system usage
•	Production of Point Of Sale/ price indicators
•	Booking on of incoming/outgoing stock
•	Processing of damaged (demics) stock
•	Issuing and inputting stock inventory counts
•	Issuing and inputting inter-store transfers
•	Ensuring store compliance with Company deadlines
•	Processing customer orders
•	New starter induction
•	New starter reference checks
•	Payroll procedures
•	Adherence to cash office procedures
Knowledge & Competencies 
Communication:
•	Ensure that all Senior Managers, Department Managers and Supervisors are informed of all aspects of the daily action bulletin and other store needs and that all Head Office deadlines are met.
Security:
Ensure that the integrity of the building, monies and goods within by controlling all keys, safes, exits, entrances, activation and deactivations of alarm system.
•	Ensure that you are available to cover alarm call-outs, and that the information that the monitoring station has is up to date and relevant.
Health & Safety:
•	Comply with all Legal & Company Health & Safety regulations within the store for customers and staff.  
•	Ensure the safe use of machinery, electrical equipment, manual handling and general housekeeping of the store. 
•	Keep written records of fire alarm tests, accidents and electrical testing. 
•	Keep all risk assessments up to date and ensure risk assessments are completed on all relevant members of staff.
•	Make sure the store has a fully functional and working Health & Safety committee; that meetings are held regularly and minutes published on the staff notice board.
Personnel:
•	Training: ensuring that:
o	All staff are fully competent in the duties asked of them
o	All staff can work safely
o	Identify training needs
o	All training is completed.
•	Rotas: ensure that:
o	The weekly staff rotas for your department are organised and adhered to 
o	The department has sufficient cover at all times.
•	Discipline: Ensure that:
o	All staff adhere to all Company procedures.
o	Gain full productivity from all staff at all times 
•	Recruitment: ensure that:
o	All vacancies are brought to the Store Manager’s attention. 
Stock Control: 
•	Liaising with all buyers on all stock issues.
•	Monitor all stock deliveries as per Company procedures and periodically spot-check vehicles entering and leaving site. 
•	Ensure any stock movement i.e. in-store transfers has authorisation. 
•	Ensure all customer collections and deliveries are signed for in the correct manner.
EPOS: 
•	Ensure that all EPOS standards and legal requirements are monitored and upheld
•	Check that regular trading standards reports are completed and all issues raised are signed for in the correct manner
Daily Inspection:
•	Pre-opening morning store checks to ensure that the checkout and customer service areas are clear, tidy and ready for start of business. Inspecting each department within the store.

Having worked in retail for over 10 years I can say with confidence that working for this company has to be the “bottom of the barrel” when it comes to retail-based employment. 

Despite having clear guidelines within their own Employee Handbook that outlines the expectations of each job role, seldom are they followed; more often than not you are expected to go above and beyond your station with little to no intensive to do so and an absolutely astonishing lack of training for any of it. You are effectively thrown in at the deep-end and criticised harshly for your inevitable mistakes. There had been more than one occasion that I had witnessed senior management yelling at staff publicly on the shop floor, which was not only embarrassing but also highly unprofessional.

Expected tasks and deadlines are never communicated effectively, or even communicated at all, leading to frustration and constant bombardment to any morale you might have left. It is not uncommon for staff to last less than a few months here; I have personally witnessed several staff quit in my short time with the company, including walk-outs which multiple people had told me they had also been tempted to do, myself included. Any concerns that you bring up to management are met with an untruthful understanding tone when more matter-of-factly they will never be addressed and you will begin to feel like a broken record having to constantly bring them up time and time again. 

It is clear that there are cliques at this store, with even management having clear favourites. I have never experienced such venomous gossiping at any workplace as I have at this one. Colleagues will openly complain about others in a disgustingly mean light, often within earshot of a customer and sometimes even when serving one too. There is also a high degree of racism across all departments, with multiple colleagues referring to customers with a multitude of slurs once they have left the store or are out of earshot. On occasion, these have also been said under their breath while serving said customers. Not once did I hear or see any repercussions for these behaviours and quite frankly the management seems to encourage them.

I would not wish working at this store on my worst enemy. Working here has been mind-numbing and I am certain that the stress alone has genuinely taken years off of my life. I cannot count the amount of times I had come home on the verge of tears from frustration alone. There is no support, no training, and no clear expectations for you to fulfil. No matter how hard you work it will never be acknowledged. Management will tell you that they feel their staff to be incompetent when, in truth, they can barely communicate between themselves let alone to their own employees.

Do not take any job offered by this store or this company for the simple sake of your own health. There are plenty of other entry-level retail jobs out there and for better pay too. Save yourself the terrible experience and look elsewhere. 

Your asked to work the job of 3 people for basic minimum wage. To progress to supervisor its only an extra 50p per hr with no support from management in your first 12 week probation.
Interview process is easy i was called within 5 mins of leaving the building offering me the job. They didnt even ask for any referances which i thought was strange.
No staff appraisals, you are seen as a machine not a person. No extra pay for bank holidays, no extra pay for unsociable hours. No sick pay. 
High turnover of staff which gives no consistency to the store. Highly understaffed so will often have to pick up the slack of other departments as well as your own. Hard work does not pay off in this job! But being liked by Management does!
You are given no training. Lack of communication between managers and supervisors.
Sales Managers are only seen to be working when the store manager is around. 'Favorite' supervisors are allowed to congregate in the staff room chatting to management about non related work topics. 
Its quite demeaning when you working hard and all day everyday you see a sales manager getting paid triple what you are for getting to chat a whole 8 hr shift. During staff talks at the beginning of the shift we were often told what an awful man we worked for. Management would often say what a 'slug' he was among other unpleasant insults.Often i would walk by the office into the staff room on my break and you could hear certain management/supervisors gossiping/slagging off other employees. Disciplinary's are supposed to be confidential but within few weeks you could guarantee the whole store would be talking about it. 
The ops Manager has a split personality. When approaching her you will either get your head bit off or be loved, there is no in between. Many employees have been so upset by her they have left.Her behavior toward staff underneath her can be seen as rude and at times very offensive.
But all this is yet again brushed off by higher management and put down to a cultural difference. She also seems to have difficulty in paying the correct amount of wages this has happened to many employees whilst i was working there and then has the audacity to blame the employer when it was clearly her mistake.
The store has a consistent problem with rats, many of times they have been found under the racking dead. The warehouse is also swarming with them. Rat droppings are over all the stock and some of this stock is food from the Iceland department. The stock is binned if it has been chewed or scratched otherwise your asked to wipe it off and put it on the shelf. The smell out there can be horrendous especially in the heat. They often have checks so ive no idea how they have been able to stay open.

AVOID GETTING WORK PLACEMENT HERE IF YOU ARE YOUNG/A STUDENT. After joining the team behind this supermarket I was overjoyed and excited since this would be my first ever 'corporate' and retail job. It took only about 2 weeks for me to latch on and realise that one of the supervisors (who was in charge of the group of employees i was with) was pretty big headed and never cared to listen to anything we had to say. A prime example of this was when, without consulting me beforehand, they booked me in to work a 12:30 to 16:30 slot on a Wednesday afternoon. Now, this doesn't take a genius to realise that, as a full time student, it is extremely unrealistic to expect me to somehow find a way to get there and also make free time from my sixth form studies (since I joined very close to exam season). After a phone call to said supervisor, I was threatened with being let go almost immediately after I said how improbable it was going to be that I would be able to make it in for the shift, but thankfully I was able to get a lift from one of my friends who works at another nearby store. This was the first of many altercations that I had experienced with the higher-up staff in this store and after nearly 2 months of being tossed around I finally took the balls to hand in my notice. Not only this, I started working around the time where the minimum wage for 16-17 year olds went up from 4.20 to 4.35. Now, this may not seem that big or important, but they didn't change it for the next paychecks that we all got which annoyed us quite a bit. Not only that, my fellow employees who were also new to the store had made complaints about not being paid on time; some were paid nearly 3 weeks after they were supposed to get it. Along with the pay, was the hours that we were assigned. It's no surprise that there seems to be a lack of staffing at the store since I'm pretty sure people got sick of working there and left as soon as they could. This resulting in them assigning more than DOUBLE and sometimes TRIPLE our legal contracted hours which we signed for on paper, while the contract stated that we can request further hours , nowhere did it specify that we would automatically be assigned these extra hours and would HAVE to turn up or face reprimands or even be dropped from the store entirely. After being over-worked, under-paid and generally treated like garbage from the staff at the store; I had finally had enough of the place. So please, if you are young and looking for work, go find somewhere else. This place really isn't worth your time or effort.

I've worked there for 3 Years, Sadly for me a waste of my time, 1st Year I was working on Seasonal and I got to say it was very unorganized. 

Customers complain about prices not being on the shelf and the reason for this, the company wouldn't get more equipment for the Staff and we had to relies on what we had in store which most of the time equipment wasn't up to code, ended up breaking down or full of Errors, bear in mind these systems were not up to date.

Till were just plain awful, again, till remained slow inefficient and the company refused to have these updated, increasing the chance of error forming causing Issues.

The Company Refused to listen to staff members suggestions often get ignored.

The Company has a very poor standard of security we often have to stop any Theft that could happen instore security barriers doesn't work most of the time.

The workload is adequate but can be very competitive since they will now count on how many pallets you have done.

Training/Coaching is almost non-existent once you have started you have to hope the person next to you knows what they are doing to try and help you.

Lack of Staff members is a major problem that lacks availability, making it a 3:1 Ratio (3 people leave and 1 gets hired).

The Management would say, they would need further improvements but I do not blame them for the issue as such, The Company Fails on Training them to there standards only to relies on there past experience which can cause uncertainty which is why Head Office is the main cause which they do not provide the support they need for Management.

Workplace in General, Fairly poor, low morale, people tend to have friendship groups and not diverse.

The hardest part of the Job (In my Opinion), Is dealing with ordered Spas for customers reason why I say this is because of the lack of communication with fellow members of staff which I was on my own at the time even Supervisors had no idea of a protocol of Spa Handling, which was making the customer angry for not knowing.

What do I enjoy the most about the Job?
Staff members, Some people I have made good friends with and had some key moments when felt really good. But sadly these were very rare.

 

Absolutely horrific organisation from top to bottom, no training or guidance given and you literally have to learn as you go along. Culture is shocking and company had a 65% labour turnover for last calendar year yes 6,500 staff left this abysmal company. They open new stores by employing the first people that apply through job centre which creates instant culture problems from the get go but when vacancies arise you can then pick from candidates that have applied on indeed or reed showing such inconsistency. Deputy and Operation Manager salaries are shocking and comparable against all other companies as low as you’ll find with massive workload. Oh and supervisors are paid a whopping 25p per hour more than the retail assistants!  There is no control over stock and just emphasis on crashing as much stock on shelves as possible with less thought on standards. Leaks from sub standard roofing in almost all stores and staff well-being is a disgrace literally pay no benefits apart from a discount scheme they are cutting all the time. Covid- well where do I start area manager and CEO a disgrace no care toward staff just blame without proof for protecting colleagues and customers and have proof of it which would embarrass company if leaked to press. PPE arrived 6 weeks after COVID and almost all stores were trading 80%up on previous year with profit before people there for lost to see. Head office full of uni people no clue about retail and the bullying throughout this company is rife. Emails and calls with bad language and disparaging remarks a plenty. One person in sole control of HR yes one person for 11,000 staff and a CEO with no retail experience who along with area manager guesses scenarios and points blame without proof. Customer complaints would come in and area manager straight away would back customer without even entering conversation and for the owner an arrogant money grabbing clown albeit a rich one. Stay well clear and do not degrade yourself to this shambolic company. After seeing most stores I couldn’t believe the state of some of them two of which should be closed down for safety purposes. Avoid at all costs and happy job hunting all! 

Most days are fine you come in you get told what you need to do, it’s usually just stock if you are in the shop floor if you are till staff you start by checking the tills makes sure they are working have a quick clean up baring  in mind when till staff start work we are open once you start your shift at 8:30 in the morning but your shifts will change ( I used to be on tills ) tills gets stressful especially near Christmas which is usual, if you are on the shop floor though you get told where they need you and what you doing over there for example I’m usually on my own department and I work stock that’s all I do really if you are new you don’t have a department because the management likes to see what best suits and to see where you thrive, if there is a visit it will be very stressful because mangers wants to look good and will cause you to run around to make the store look good, if the store looks bad it looks bad on management. I’ve learnt about all the different ways you can use the stock we sell, and what they are used for how to used them and that’s helps me to sell these products off. Management can be tricky in my store I’m fairly lucky the management are quite chilled out as long as you are doing your job again if they are stress they do tend to take it out on you but try not to take it personally ( trust me it takes practice not to take it personally I cried here and there when I first started ) the hardest part of the job is probably not working on your department because customers ask you things about that department and you have no idea, or the stock you don’t know where anything is but management usually puts other people on different departments to either see how they get on or to help out on stock if that department is falling behind, the most enjoyable for me personally is the people I get to work with I have made bonds for life with some people there and I wouldn’t change the people I work along side with, we can have a laugh and we tend to do things outside of work like for example we go out for birthdays or just in general, management arranges Christmas nights out but this is for my store personally you might not apply at the range at the same store as me. All jobs have there up and downs just like this one, all jobs are not prefect. 

I will be completely honest here. When I initially started at The Range, I enjoyed it. It was nothing special - I was simply on a till, serving customers, and eventually I was able to do stock, working from pallets and distributing products on the shop floor. However, gradually, more and more responsibilities were piled on top of that. Eventually I was given a 'code', enabling me to run checkouts. This is essentially a supervisor role, except you are not paid as such. To begin with, the tills are a pain. They freeze ALL the time, and once one freezes, they all freeze. It's only for about a minute but it happens constantly. As a code person, you're expected to keep the department in order, which is insanely stressful at times, particularly when the other departments (as well as your own) are often severely understaffed. Admin are little help either, with one or two doing little else than returning snide, aggressive and sarky comments over the radio. It's not very encouraging. 

Then a new rule was introduced, and all people with codes also had to be trained on customer service, which is often either insipid or stressful. There have been occasions when I have been the only customer service trained member of staff in the building with a queue of people waiting to be served. Furthermore, on late shifts, no more than one person is allowed on the customer service desk, which makes the evening drag terribly. You're confined to this pen with very little to do.

Working conditions are fairly negative too. I don't recall the last time both sets of automatic doors on checkouts were operable. There have also been times we've had to keep one set of doors open, which means it's freezing on some of the tills. The lack of decent security means checkouts staff are repeatedly having to call customers back in to check their shopping if the alarms sound - which they do A LOT, due to their pathetic and ineffective de-tagging system.

Any work you accomplish is seldom appreciated. I could go on, but this review would be far too long. What I will say is, if you're looking for a simple job as checkouts staff, it's an okay experience at the best of times, but stay much longer, and far too much will be expected of you for so little pay.

Pros:
- The other members of staff on the same work level as me were wonderful people to work with (save maybe 1 or 2)

Cons:
- Low wages, High performance demand
- Cheap standards, not even enough seating for staff in the lunch room, leaking roofs constantly, rats in the warehouse. We had to try and make the best of what we had.
- Management was mostly awful, started good, but it declined over time, the company went though 3 district managers in the few years i worked though (all of them quitting the company)..
- Some of the store managers were nice, but the staff managers had some of the worst people I've ever worked with, including one control freak who treated staff like lower forms of life.
- Even some of the supervisors acted like they were managers pushing staff around like they were garbage.
- Often in doing late shifts, they left us locked in the store at risk of us missing the only bus home that ran hourly. 
- No dedicated cleaners or first aid on staff, so was never prepared for accidents happening.
- Had a security guy to begin, once he quit they never rehired, so the company blamed other members of staff then thieves stole items 
- Doctors appointments and holidays you arranged with management were forgotten about by them and you were disciplined for missing work when you didn't show up. 
- Company was to cheap to fix toilets when they broke down, the only mens toilet was broken for over a month. 
- Expected to know how to work the system for item tracking when not ever being trained on how to use it, and when you did ask nobody ever had the time to teach you.

This was one of the worst working experiences I've had in terms of the company itself. The man who owns it (I use the term man loosely) is a greedy, selfish, shallow little despot who treats those working for him like the just a number, your not worth anything more to him then that.

Every person I meet after leaving the place who also quit said the same thing, it was the worst experience, any all the jobs they got after it was far better for them. 

This place is truly the pits to work for, do not apply, your worth more then what this trash hole of a company will ever give you back.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Sales manager 8 salaries reported	£22,074 per year
Assistant buyer 8 salaries reported	£22,125 per year
Operations manager 9 salaries reported	£25,685 per year
Detective 16 salaries reported	£26,566 per year
Assistant manager 15 salaries reported	£26,884 per year

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