Achievement Unlocked: Returns (sorta)

[Dreamstalker]

After more than a year of being told that we don't have the space in this store, we finally have a rack for returns baskets. It's a 6-foot slide-together metal shelf unit that has definitely seen better days (one of the retainer rings for the bottom shelf is missing so that shelf is wonky; J wants to get that fixed posthaste as we suspect the whole thing will collapse if hit hard enough with something like a cart or pallet jack). But it exists and fits neatly behind the formula case up front; it's shallow enough that the pallet jack can still get close to the bakeshop freezer. Ironically, the plastic pallets and crap that was there before took up more space, and adding the rack is forcing the rest of that space to be organized as the baskets take up the entire thing (only shelf free is the very top, and only I'm tall enough to reach up there). I spent 3 hours yesterday labeling the baskets and showing people how it works. No more baskets under the registers; returns are to be put in the rack by whoever's free, and then when someone has any downtime they take a basket from the rack and put everything away.

In theory. Someone did put "Produce" on one of the labels, so I suspect we'll be finding produce/perishables in that basket for days to come until it gets reprinted or I'm allowed to start beating people with a leek. No frozen stuff made it back there yet, so I have hopes for that.

[EricKei]

Of course there's no frozen stuff on there. That belongs on the regular shelves, hidden beside soup cans. Right next to that steak someone decided they didn't want a year or so back.

[Dreamstalker]

A recent reoccurring theme has been whipped cream cans ditched in the freezers (part of me is hoping for one to explode either from the cold or the temperature shock when it's removed on a 90-degree ambient day...). I have to post a BIG sign about dairy/frozen being put back where they live right away.

I may have posted this before, but back in October ASM found a (sealed) pack of what I think was a California roll stuffed behind the dog food...with a sell-by date of April something. I swear something lunged at me from under the lid when I picked it up.

[Lovecats]

People would just love to leave frozen items in the cereal aisle. My favorite though was when someone left a Halloween Barbie in the freezer section. Poor thing had little bitty icicles hanging from her nose.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Of course there's no frozen stuff on there. That belongs on the regular shelves, hidden beside soup cans. Right next to that steak someone decided they didn't want a year or so back.

Or the crablegs that somebody didn't want that was hiding behind the bagged dog food for months and we couldn't figure out where the stench was coming from until we decided to check dates on that section and found the packaging . . .

[Tama]

I have been shopping sometimes and found once-frozen pork products in the cereal aisle. Warm. Ew. I always try to let someone know about it.

[DerangedHermit]

After more than a year of being told that we don't have the space in this store, we finally have a rack for returns baskets.

Makes me wonder if this is a corporate edict. After not using one of those racks for years (we had one when our store first moved and reopened 10 years ago, but it fell into disuse), my store got one and the CSM was on everybody's ass about using the baskets and not just putting it into a cart...which is fine if they ever had enough people with enough time to do the backshop.

Of course that never happens. My store is one of the busier of the company's stores in this area, but the lack of labor suggests that they don't really care about anything besides looking at dollar signs. Unfortunately for them, there are many other stores in this area that are more than willing to take our business away.

[Dreamstalker]

My store is the 'red-headed stepchild' of the company (Produce Manager's words). Small, a bit rundown because we don't own the building so can't make many improvements/repairs unless Corp says we can (and even if they do, ASM is deathly afraid of going through town hall to get permits for any work).

I think the only reason we got the rack was because the suits were sick of seeing overflowing carts in the office hallway (which is where the emergency exit is located, so said carts were blocking egress). Things do seem to be working; far less room to dump returns, so in order to free up space the stuff HAS to be reshelved. Although on Monday I found a cart full of returns right next to the (empty) rack...I filled the baskets and returned what didn't fit (and put another snarky note on the rack and lineup sheet). Somehow with all the new hires we still apparently don't have enough people to do returns.

[notalwaysright]

The registers at my store got their return/go-back bins essentially taken away. We used to have multiple bins with labels like "seasonal" or "jewelry" so that merchandise was sorted. Then you took the bin to the corresponding area and it was pretty fast. Now the registers have one (maybe two) unmarked bins in which everything is mixed. And then New Manager complains that the closers didn't get all the go-backs done. Which is funny, because in the fairy tale world corporate thinks exists, the cashiers (and cutters) are supposed to put things away as the day goes on. On a day like today, no go-back will get done until after we close, then the closers get blamed even though it would be near impossible for them to get everything put away.