I'm a current woolworths employee working across most departments in the store, ask me anything you want and I'll respond in the best way I can :)
[AMA] I'm a Current Woolworths Employee
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Mostly due to cost cutting, we may not have time to do all tasks
Majority of items we do return, it just depends on whether or not there’s a hygiene or health risk.
I can find assistance in Coles immediately and they go out of their way to assist me to find my item, whereas in WW they just point the finger ( don't even say) where the item I am looking at is.
Is this the WW cultural issue?
I believe it probably comes down to training/company policy. At Coles, the training specifically states that we're to walk with the customer to the location of the product they're looking for and ask if they need help with anything else. Some discretion/common sense can be used if the customer states they can find it themselves
Is there a general policy change throughout WW stores to mark down perishable goods like chicken on day of expiry by only small amounts (eg: 10%), rather than the once common practice of marking down 40-50% 2 days out from expiry, and maybe 70% or more on day of expiry?
That's certainly how markdowns have changed in the last few years in our local store (the manager of which is despised by staff who have confided in me). Seems a cynical exercise made in the knowledge that customers are desperate to reduce spending and pounce on markdowns most of them once used to ignore unless it was around 50% or more.
Not really, these days it’s down to store discretion, but yeah I think it has definitely gotten less over the past few years
At my local store I use the scan n go on the app.
Generally it’s great but occasionally on existing it won’t let you through the gate until someone picks 5 random products in your bag to make sure you have scanned and paid for them.
That’s fine but I shouldn’t have to wait 5-10 minutes until a manager comes out to check, why can’t anyone check without the wait.
Yeah scan and go is pretty great, though unfortunately just to stop theft we have to do this sometimes. Hopefully as it gets expanded further they’ll be better technology in place
'scan n go on the app … Generally it’s great but occasionally on existing it won’t let you through the gate until someone picks 5 random products in your bag to make sure you have scanned and paid for them …That’s fine but I shouldn’t have to wait 5-10 minutes until a manager comes out to check, why can’t anyone check without the wait.'
I hate it when I get that just for existing …
I noticed the newly installed gate at Coles World Square Sydney self-checkout exit - lights on but not closing - sounds like a reason for me to NOT install the scan n go app … ;-)
What percentage is the staff discount these days?
5% for most things, 10% if it's a Woolworths branded item.
It might not seem like a whole lot, but it adds up as we get 3x points from Everyday Extra and some team-exclusive boosters every now and then.
We also get 10% off at Big W, and a further 10% off on clothes and apparel, 30% off travel insurance, etc
I was at Coles for a few years and it was just 5% for us. We always heard rumors woolies staff got 10%.
I remember during COVID time we got a "thank you bonus" . Was something like $200 If I remember, but after tax it was like $40 in the end. Heard woolies got the same amount but in gift card or points, plus shares in the company. Everyone was pissed at coles as you could imagine.
Sometimes at Coles it gets bumped up to 10 or 15% discount storewide and at Coles-affiliated liquor stores (generally around the holidays) and some random deals on grocery items (currently 50% off McCain's Airfryer Chips and 20% off Coles Finest sausages). We used to get a complimentary 4¢ discount at petrol stations but that's been scrapped within the past year
@SpainKing: Yeah, the 10% Christmas discount every year was always good. Only lasted for a few weeks. If only it was 10% all year-round. Employees might actually feel valued for a change.
Speaking as a casual during COVID, our thank you bonus was a $25 gift card…
Might've differed for full-time or salaried workers but we were in a similar boat.
Can you do a price match?
Don’t think we can do price match at woolies
Coles still do raincheck, how come Woolworths get away from not doing it anymore?
Yeah it’s not ideal, probably just changes in business practises since then
Why do I keep having recurring dreams about my time working Nightfill? It's always me going in for a shift, then realising I'm not rostered on after a few hours of working for free.
I used to have dreams of night filling. It was more hellish than anything else. I would dream of filling tomato cans over and over , but the shelf never seemed to fill up.
So I spent a while night working in my dreams and being exhausted, only to wake up and go to Coles and relive the nightmare I just came out of.
this can be your future … rose coloured - or more tomato
Maybe it’s a sign… 👀
How different is it compared to maccas :)
Haha yeah definitely a change in pace, personally much prefer it to maccas (better hours, more consistent work, etc.). Feels so much slower compared to the fast paced kitchen environment :)
Do staff really believe in the outgoing CEO?
Bought a bag of 10kg rice online at 1/2 price special. Before picking up the order I was informed 10kg bag was out of stock and replaced with 3 x 2kg bags. I contacted the Customer Service and was told the 3 bags of 2kg rice were alreay more expensive than what I paid for the 10kg. To be honest I can't agree this logic. What's Woolowrths logic on the OOS replacement?
Online should sub a product with an equal or greater quantity, so they should have definitely given you 5x 2kg bags.
What's with the laggy piece of shit (POS) machines at self serve taking a good 5 seconds between each button press? It's not like that at Coles or Aldi.
Not only that, the new receipt printers… The receipts are 4x longer than needed full of all that marketing bullshit AND they print slower than the older ones.
Like it's literally faster for me to shop at Aldi even with all the old people in the way.
+1
Slow checkout systems drive me crazy, and I have to say, Woolworths is the slowestAldi do self-checkout now too!
And true to form, it is way faster than everyone else'sYeah most likely outdated technology or bad operating system. Probably due for an upgrade soon
When is the best time to get a markdown on salads?
Depends on the store, but as with most products, on the day of expiry close to closing they are usually cheapest
Is AutoStockR still a thing? Or has it been replaced by some other system?
Yeah definitely still around, runs majority of stocking at woolies
Wow. That first came out about 20 years ago now, when I was still working there.
What’s the rational on Woolies refusing change of mind returns and no longer offering rain checks post covid?
Coles still offer both.See responses above :)
All those security cameras on the roof- surely there's no one at a desk watching those all the time?
Depends on the store, some have better security operations whilst others may be less strict (depending on demographic of area)
Would you recommend working here as a first job for a young teenager?
Yeah it’s a great first job, especially in customer service to build confidence, much better than fast food
Is night fill still a thing?
Yep, majority of stores still do nightfill, though some now do dayfill/grocery only
Do you guys care if customer rack shit?
such as a apple or shopping bag or something small. or is its not worth the effort? so many times i see the person in front of me take plenty of shit for free and the staff don't even care. especially when the systems was down last month. whats your actual policy on this one?
And also do you have repeat customers that you hate and try and avoid. we had many at Vodafone. they have a reputation and they didn't even know itGreat question, obviously stealing is against the law, however we aren’t allowed to physically stop or touch them, so many of us don’t bother trying as we may get hurt or verbally abused (happens more than you think).
Yeah we also have some repeat customers I’d rather avoid, but most are really lovely and I love to have a chat with them :)
Do you care or have you seen customers swap eggs between cartons? Like swapping a larger egg from a more expensive cartoon to a cheaper carton?
Do staff still get 50% off for meals from ALH hotels??
I thought it was 5% or 10% not 50%
Not really, I know it’s annoying, but there’s not much point at the end if the day (an egg is an egg at the end of the day :)
It’s now 25% off ALH hotels meals, though it often increases to 40% throughout the year.
With all those cameras its hard to believe they don't use them for facial recognition - I know Bunnings and Kmart do.
What are your thoughts?It’s definitely a way of the future, I recon soon majority of stores will end up implementing it. Does not exist at Woolies yet, though with the levels of theft atm I think it will soon
When's the best time to get discounted roast chickens?
There’s a four hour rule for being on sale for roast chickens, so if you get there 3.5hrs or so before that then you can expect some markdowns.
(I.e if your store opens at 7am, they’ll likely be markdowns at around 10:30/11am)
How brazen is shoplifting now, and is facial recognition being used or planning to be used to intercept known offenders.
Asking for a friend
yep a friend of mine wants to know if there are no longer consequences for theft, then we should just rail against the system and not pay for anything as it is a victimless crime.
who needs social contracts, moral codes and civil compliance those things are for losers
Police are definitely charging people with theft from Woolies/Coles. I watched a lady a couple of weeks ago walk out with 3 bags of shopping straight into the hands of waiting police who arrested her on the spot.
By all means steal whatever you want, but do it frequently enough and chances are you're going to have a meeting with the police sooner or later.
@EFC94: This doesnt seem to apply for stealing cars and causing acts of homicide using a vehicle though.
I saw a male probably aged 15-20 just help himself to a handful of red bulls at the Melbourne Central CBD 7-11 and just walked out without blinking an eyelid. this was in broad daylight with plenty of people around
The young south asian lady at the register was powerless to do anything and just watched.
@H3R34TH4C0MM3NTS: Obviously not every single person who steals something is caught, if you do it once or twice from different places you probably won't be caught. But if you're going to the same store and stealing every time then you'll probably get caught sooner or later.
For the most part staff (coles/woolies/711 etc) don't get paid enough to care about confronting a thief, it's not worth the risk of abuse or assault. All I'm saying is that police are still out there charging people for it. Is there more important things for police to be looking for? Probably, but I'm not here to tell them how to do their job.
@EFC94: now in an area of dense and heavy foot traffic a small percentage of embolden thieves are operating with little consequence, contributes to significant shrinkage for business operators. culturally we have accepted this behaviour. These people are not stealing for survival or to have thier basic needs of food or water met, they are stealing out of entitlement and for lack of respect for society.
if only we had muscle squads patrolling these hotspots profiling likely offenders and making them accountable on the spot would we would stop and put an end to this behaviour. Sadly its going to only get worse as would be offenders know how the system works.
It has definitely increased recently and people are doing it more obviously too. I don’t believe we use facial recognition yet, though whenever someone returns to the store we do usually catch them as we recognise them.
You guys dont restrain people, though, right?
There was lady one down from me at the self self checkout that ran off back into the store a few days back - she couldn't answer the tough questions the checkout lady was asking her and lost her nerve. I noticed because of the tone of voices changed and there was a commotion. the chief check lady got on her communication device and was telling the others (was a Coles) but I don't know how it ended.
One of the things that I think is cool are the "smart" price tags -if anyone hadn't noticed, staff doing an online order, are directed to the next thing to pick up on their list by a flashing LED on the specific tag.
Years ago, I spoke with someone from woolies head office IT about the low cost of "Digital Ink" and the fact that there were remotely addressable LCD Price strips.
Why didn't they integrate the two technologies - I still see staff replacing price inserts in the new smart tags.
IS the smart feature ever going to be available for the end user - I would love to have my grocery list stored in my woolies app, and be guided quickly through the store, making finding what I am looking for easier to find…
So that's why some of them blink. I thought they were low power indicators.
Yeah electronic price tags (or ESL) are pretty cool and allow us to be much better with pricing accuracy and getting products on shelves (don’t have to wait for a printed ticket). Not quite sure what you mean by price inserts??
As cool as the lights would be, it probably won’t be available for the end user, if everyone used it there would be way too many lights and would just get confusing for customers and online team :)I'm in love with the Aldi electronic price tags. I thought they were paper until I noticed one strobing. Sadly my local Woolworths electronic price tags are hard to read. They look dull and the text is so small I have to lean in and squint.
If you see one of the price tags strobing, place your hand over it and it will quit showing off and then display propper pricing info. I would love to know what's going on there.
put your phone down and get back to work
slack ass
do you shop at coles
I want to dive in your dumpster:-
1. how do I get access to it
2. What do you do if ppl are in it
3. what stuff of value is in itYeah it’s usually locked though so there isn’t as easy as it may have been in the past. We dont really throw much away these days, though, it’s mainly donated/redirected to food banks/charities.
I want to dive in your dumpster:-
Is that a euphemism? Because the three questions still work
When woolies getting back rain check?…. my local woolies shelves empty for items when its on half price!
Not completely sure, I’ll have to check and get back to you
What are your thoughts on dumpster divers? If you happen to see someone in the bins picking out food to eat, would you tell them off or just let them do their thing?
Honestly don’t mind them too much, I would usually just let them be :) though the bins are locked these days, so it doesn’t happen much anyway
Why is Pepsi Max 1.25l bottles ALWAYS sold out when they are on sale?
Is it to force people to buy regular Pepsi (which they cannot sell) or force people to pay more for Coke Zero?
I don’t think it wouldn’t be on purpose, just likely due to stocking in your local area. Probably best to go in the morning after nightfall have stocked overnight
How are people getting away with stealing? I thought they stopped people from scanning everything as an onion.
People are becoming more inventive with their techniques, and as we cannot physically restrain them, they often get away with most things. Though it has helped at self-serve, there’s definitely less theft there nowadays
Yes most of the time
Is there a way of collecting spare/flat-packed boxes to reuse (e.g. if moving house)?
Do you have a 'board of shame' with pictures known scammers and thieves out the back?
My local Asian grocery has one in the front and I love it for some reason lol.Those woolies cooked chicken at the front.. Is that good? Can I keep it in fridge and eat in a few days
It's not good. The free range chickens are smaller so they are always overcooked and don't come with stuffing. Either chicken is fine if you get them at half price.
Yep, it will be fine in the fridge. Keep in mind every time you touch the chicken you are adding bacteria. I Wash my hands and tear up the whole chicken, then freeze it in plastic containers.
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Why woolie stores is always under staff and messy with tracks and stacking trolleys in alleyways?
I can find assistance in Coles immediately and they go out of their way to assist me to find my item, whereas in WW they just point the finger ( don't even say) where the item I am looking at is.
Is this the WW cultural issue?
Also, why WW don't accept returns if we have made a mistake with my purchase?