Dimwits in Distribution

[XCashier]

Since this is not a management, coworker or customer problem, I guess it goes here.

I've been working on the early morning stock crew at my store for the past several weeks, and quite enjoying it. I've always liked putting stuff together, and doing Plan-O-Grams is rather like putting together a large puzzle, plus I like the satisfaction that comes from finishing one, stepping back and seeing how good the section looks. It's even worth going to the store at 5:00 AM (sometimes 3:00 AM!). Best part is, very little customer involvement!

Anyway, we receive freight on Monday mornings. Had a huge delivery this morning. About halfway through, I noticed a fragrance, a pleasant fragrance like pumpkin spice or apple cinnamon candles. Figuring we had some strongly-scented candles in the shipment, I didn't think anything more of it.

Until we got the damaged boxes. Now, we've been having a bit of a heat wave here, with temperatures around 95-105 F during the day. Everyone in this area knows about it. Except, apparently, the distribution center people.

That lovely fragrance I noticed earlier? Well, we got several boxes of wax melts that had suffered from the heat wave. They melted --as in liquefied! -- and soaked through the cardboard shipping boxes onto and through other boxes!!! There were at least five wax-soaked melt boxes and dozens of others with wax stains and ruined merchandise!

Apparently distribution didn't think to keep them in a cool place, despite the boxes bearing neon yellow labels warning to do so. I don't know how much merchandise was too damaged to salvage, but my SM and two AMs were busy trying to fix the mess. I sure hope our store doesn't have to eat the cost.

[notalwaysright]

That stuff smells really strong even not broken/soaked through the containers. I don't even want to consider what it would smell like then. I'm sure they will get written off as vendor damaged, or at least I'm pretty sure. The stock room stank today because of that truck. What's weird is that at some point the warehouse DID actually think of the summer heat... We've been sitting on thousands of those candy melts for months, because they sent them early, when it was cool.

Also, you have two AMs? We have one, and that restructuring *just* happened. I liked when we were able to have such early shifts. They moved our truck from 3 AM to 6 AM, and per our DM we aren't allowed to have anyone in the store earlier than 6. They don't like that these people get there early and aren't available to the customers. It's such a crock, because it's near impossible to get any stocking done while the store is open. And I'll stop hijacking your thread.

[XCashier]

No worries about hijacking the thread. It's good to talk to someone in the same business.

IIRC, our store is one of the larger ones; not the largest (which have framing departments) but the next size down. We actually have five or six AMs. And we've got tons of the candy melts, too. Don't know why they didn't do the same regarding the wax melts; it's not like they expire.

I actually do like the fragrance of the melts, but yeah, that was much too much. And the mess...! All those goopy boxes! And the poor SM was trying not to get that drippy mess on her white shirt...!

I really do hope distribution uses some brainpower next time (yeah, right! ) and stores/ships them in a refrigerated section.

[notalwaysright]

IIRC, our store is one of the larger ones; not the largest (which have framing departments) but the next size down. We actually have five or six AMs. And we've got tons of the candy melts, too. Don't know why they didn't do the same regarding the wax melts; it's not like they expire.

We have this whole shelf in the back devoted to the melts, all nice and labeled with the flavors. It's very organized, for us. The store I'm in must be super weird! We're big, with framing and a classroom, but it's like we're out of step with all the rest of the stores. We have the SM and AM, then a bunch of other managers. We have the Education Coordinator, and a receiving manager (name was just changed, not sure what the official title is), and various full time keyholders. The actual chain of command gets murky once you get past the SM and AM.

I actually do like the fragrance of the melts, but yeah, that was much too much. And the mess...! All those goopy boxes! And the poor SM was trying not to get that drippy mess on her white shirt...!

The fragrance wasn't as bad as those pine cones we get each year, but still not something I would choose to smell. Oh, and I'm happy you like doing planograms! We had a couple people doing those. One is the what used to be called the merchandise or seasonal manager. Again, not sure. Anyway, they kept passing them on to another full timer. But she HATES them, and she freaked out with the restructuring because she's supposed to do more but doesn't get paid more, so she gave her notice. I guess she blames New Manager (SM), but in this case I can't see that SM had any control over it.

[XCashier]

We have the SM and AM, then a bunch of other managers. We have the Education Coordinator, and a receiving manager (name was just changed, not sure what the official title is), and various full time keyholders. The actual chain of command gets murky once you get past the SM and AM.

That's what we have; I just refer to all except the store manager as "assistant managers" because I can't remember who has which title. That and they all do managerial duties when the store manager isn't available.

The scented pine cones aren't bad in small amounts, but when they have huge boxes of them right next to the registers, they do cause headaches and the scent is very overpowering. (I usually request the register furthest from the boxes.) I like cinnamon scent, but this and yesterday's disaster were way too much; I can certainly understand why people have scent sensitivities.

I asked the receiving manager (?) about the Great Wax Meltdown and she said it's considered vendor damage. You were right.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I asked the receiving manager (?) about the Great Wax Meltdown and she said it's considered vendor damage. You were right.

I know w/the Litter Box, stuff like that I can scan out and it'll usually tell me to send it back to the Reclaimation Center.

Certain items, though, we have to scan out under a different code and it's counted as shrink. We're allowed a certain daily allowance for store shrink (which is usually lower than what I end up scanning out) so we're considered a high-shrink store (another reason for shrink is theft, but that's for another topic.)

Now if it's a large quantity of damamged items (say a couple of cases get damaged b/c of melted wax, for example) the computer flags the item and an alert is sent to Corporate, who then sends down an email to the store asking us if the quantity is correct.

Usually it is and it's either (a) out of date or (b) damaged b/c of leakage from other damaged items that contaminated product and rendered it unsalable.

Either way, my store gets credit for damages returned under the correct code.