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Dec
31

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Christmas Working at Amazon: One Man’s Story

Category: Amazon, Retail Articles, Retail Stories Tags: , , Leave a Comment

Christmas at Amazon: One Man's Story

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What is it like to work at an Amazon warehouse during the annual holiday rush? One Amazon warehouse employee kindly narrated the “nonstop chaos” for us over the past month.

Even in normal times, the job of an Amazon warehouse employee is physically andpsychologically demanding. When the holiday shopping season arrives, the company staffs up with thousands of new, temporary “seasonal” workers. A few weeks ago, one of those seasonal Amazon warehouse workers began sharing his thoughts with us, day after day, They amount to a stream of consciousness narration of what life is like inside the beating heart of Christmas capitalism—the secret place where Santa’s real elves work around the clock to get all of us our presents.

This is one Amazon employee’s journey. This guy is great.

December 3: “Just ended day four… The next two weeks are mandatory 60 hour weeks! I’m just now trying to look into their definition of overtime. I have a feeling that hours 40-50 won’t actually be time and a half. The fact that they do hire just about anyone- myself included, I have a sad work history- suggests to me that ‘they,’ Integrity [the staffing company] and Amazon, have found a way to not give us time and a half. My ‘ambassadors’ certainly aren’t going to tell me, and I have a strong feeling that a few thousand people are going to be really pissed. I’ll say this: it’s fukkin fascinating. It’s all freaks and misfits, again, myself included.”

December 4: “Mandatory 60 hour weeks for the next two weeks. I forget, I think you have to work a minimum number of shifts before you can even THINK about asking for a day off. Even then, it might cost a point [a demerit]… They are conditioning us through incessant repetition that our 15 minute breaks are really only about ten minutes. They ‘fail’ to mention that the time you wait standing in line having to remove keys, belts, etc. is PART of your break. Lunch as well. Clicked out for lunch too of course. Waiting in line to go through a metal detector [ed.: this time is unpaid]. That said, some still drive to a nearby Mcdonalds and come back to eat.”

December 7: “I’ve been told it’s the second largest warehouse in the world!!! Sounds impressive, no? Sure, if were talking square blocks, or square miles, but one day, inevitably, it will become a lifeless, giant, empty waste of space.”

December 8: “I should correct myself. Second largest AMAZON warehouse in the world. Anything more is hard to fathom, though I must say, starting week two, it’s not so overwhelming. Like rats or ants or bees. Really! A chaotic cohesion. They’ve trained into to accepting that our ’15 minute break’ really isn’t. Yeah, sorry about the misunderstanding, but what we really mean is we’re going to forgive you for not bringing it in—the numbers—for 15 minutes. Not get to the break room (I’ll have to get back to that!) and have 15 minutes, THEN get back. 15 minutes total. There is so much, and I’m kinda tired today. Ask me about ‘time off task.’ So yeah, that goes back to being at the far end of the building. There’s five minutes of your 15 minute break. Which means you have five minutes, because you need the other five to get back. You get it.

“To be sure, there is no talk of mutiny or unionizing amongst us proles. Amazon represents the unskilled labor force in America. Elsewhere too I suppose. We are all going to be making a lot of money in a short amount of time, and I think that’s all that matters. Of course it’s not fair to speak for anyone else. Amazon might hire a few people after this ‘holiday season,’ maybe. Probably not. I do know that if I ‘complete my Amazon assignment,’ ISS (Integrity staffing services) will recognize me as… Damn! I forget. I’ll have to refer to my reading material. It’s amusing.

“I should be telling you about my almost 4,000 miles of bicycle touring I did this summer. But, I answered your call. A story is a million stories put together. Ask me about the speed bumps in the parking lot too!

“I hate that I’m leaving my dog for 12-14 hours a day. Amazon takes much more from you than a ten hour shift. Leaving the parking lot for example. And the poor way they herd traffic. Fukk! This could become a book if I could bother.

“The job itself is not mentally challenging. They have this shit down and there is little room for error. Everyone is being watched. Not just cameras, they can keep track of you, and come find you. Tracking device kinda thing.

“The scanners that are mandatory issue for us ‘pickers’ are unforgiving. They know where everything is, everything!

“Yeah, it can be hard work. Today they set the quota—22 picks in your first 15 minutes. Next week? Ever seen Hudsucker Proxy? There’s a scene where the main character gets his orientation. It’s pretty dead on funny, cuz it’s so dead on. Anyway, I don’t mind the running around. I can handle it. But, it’s go go go. You have to have stamina.

“Speaking of stamina, if I could magically fall asleep now, I’d have six hours before I start this whole thing again. Oh! It was said today that we will get out no later than 3-3:30 Xmas eve! I might volunteer for the day itself. Not a Christmas guy anyway.”

December 13: “In a twelve hour period, this happened. If I can forward the email, I will. I don’t think I can…I receive an email to remind me of the ‘mandatory’ overtime. I receive an email telling me they need proof of my high school diploma—because, they want to keep me on. Not Amazon, Integrity—and they need to know if I graduated or have GED. Which I call good enough diploma. Ha! Then, I get a garbled message that I understand as I did not pass the pre screen test and good luck etc…….call if you have any questions. As far as I can tell, they found marihuana in me. I let it be known that I want to talk to an Integrity representative. I get a call back shortly thereafter telling me to ignore the message sent in error and to show up tomorrow. It’s fukked. Of course there more. I’m sad that all this stress occurred on my day off. Sooooo, I’m off to get another 60 hours for six more days. I wasn’t ready to not work, so I’m glad. I’d like to go to HR and air my grievances, but I can only do that during one of my breaks, or lunch, or after work. I question why I’m doing this! Money, sure. Social studies, yes. And?”

December 21: “Sorry for a break in the updates, but the 60 hour weeks take their toll! That said, here’s what seems to be going on lately with everyone. I don’t talk with too many people, but this seems to be the shared story. Work, go home, eat, shower, sleep. Repeat.

“My knees creak and pop, my ankles too. Not normal! This must be why they have mandatory stretching. I see a few people that get into the routine, the ones I see stretching on their own time throughout the day, because there are benefits to be gained (and noticed!) from a regular routine. Not just speaking for myself . The kids don’t care, of course, because there’s much to talk about, such is youth!

“Gotta check to be certain, but it seems that everyone may- and I say should!- receive back pay. Hmm, one of the first stories I remember reading about Amazon involved a class action. This could be interesting. But I do have to wait before I can say for sure.

“It’s pizza for lunch tomorrow! Courtesy Amazon. It’s part of the incentive. It is cool that there is an actual DJ! He takes requests, and today someone commented/complained that the DJ is playing too much devil music. Funny!

“Today they have hourly announcements for someone getting a $10 gas prepaid card. Tomorrow a lucky someone could a $100 gift card. For Amazon maybe?”

December 24: “For two weeks it’s been nonstop chaos! Mandatory overtime, everyone doing their best to not run into each other. ‘Excuse me, sorry, thanks.’ Today was a special half day, everyone left at noon. By the way, Friday-day after Xmas- is mandatory overtime. Why? They expect a huge number of people to be using their gift cards to order stuff. You know, anything from vegan marshmallows to glow in the dark strap-ons. To be fair, they never said we would not be working Friday. I won’t be surprised if many don’t show up. After all, it’s a temp job, and if I may speak for many, everyone’s burned out. And maybe want to spend time with family. And everyone that’s worked there deserves a long weekend.

“Yesterday and today was weird. Almost post zombie apocalyptic. Abandoned carts left in the aisles, just a few (hundred) of us pickers. I can’t explain why we stayed on and others didn’t. End of their assignment. Burn out? Too many points? Does it mean I might have a chance at full time employment? Points equal termination.”

December 29: “No overtime this this week! Just forty hours. So, there was so much chaos and people for two weeks. A constant wave of bodies at all times. Different break times for different groups. It was the only way. It was bad enough! Many people would go to their cars, myself included. There’s so much more to tell. But! Two days before Christmas, many got to go home at lunch. It was weirdly quiet. The next day, on the eve, just as quiet. But then yesterday and today, well let’s say no one is back. Phasing phase. Here’s why:

“Today at stand up, the pep rally of sorts, where we learn about numbers and safety reminders, and ‘go take care of the customers!’ Today was not the usual feel good stand up. It was cold hard facts. We started with 2,000 temps for the season, and as of Xmas eve, it’s down to 400. Pretty obvious. And to think I may never see this beautiful red haired woman again!

“So, numbers. This man hints at saying that some people may have a chance at becoming an Amazon hire. He doesn’t really even say that. It’s well worded. But ultimately if we want to become a ‘success story,’ we have to really get out there and ‘give it our all!’ It’s like I’m in some elimination reality show all of sudden. To be certain though, there will be even fewer people next week, and, if I understood correctly, next week will be the last week. And that’s good to know. I asked about it last week, Integrity just said that Amazon tells them when to call people. I’m guessing that Amazon used their points system…Anyway, maybe they kept people with less, or no points, like me!

“I think those of us who currently remain, we’ll stay on until the end. A damn hard earned $2,000!”

And that’s where Christmas comes from.

Sourced from Gawker.com

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Dec
30

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17 Retail Horror Stories That Will Make You Want To Quit Your Job

Category: Retail Stories Tags: Leave a Comment

We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community for their worst experiences working in retail. Here are the horrifying results.

We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community for their worst experiences working in retail. Here are the horrifying results.

Warner Bros.

1. Submitted by Carmenp4

I work at a Publix grocery store in Florida. One week the ladies’ restroom was out of order, so we had everyone use the employee bathroom in the back. No one really knows what happened except that an extremely large old lady was in there for, like, an hour. Then we heard her screaming and crying for help. We called the ambulance, and when they busted the door down she and the entire bathroom were covered in shit. Just…everywhere. The paramedics refused to lift her out of there, so one of our store’s baggers wrapped her in the fire blanket and threw her on a stretcher. He got a promotion and free lunch for two weeks. He’s the dark hero our Publix needs but doesn’t deserve.

2. Submitted by Hef1215

This lady brought her live parrot inside to help her try on shoes.

3. Submitted by Kevin Strange (Facebook)

I was asked to help out our maintenance guy with an issue in the women’s restroom. I walked into the stall in question, and there was literally shit sprayed on every wall in the stall. I saw that and was just out. I was written up because I told my boss I was hired to stock shelves, not clean up shit.

17 Retail Horror Stories That Will Make You Want To Quit Your Job
Nickelodeon

4. Submitted by Becky Erickson (Facebook)

I worked at Claire’s when I was 18. We use mirrors on the ceiling to see if anyone is shoplifting, and once I saw a little 14-year-old girl hide a pair of earrings into her ICE CREAM CONE. When we confronted her, she ate the ice cream so fast we could barely lift a hand to stop her. We told her she could keep the earrings when they came back out…if they ever did. Hope the intestinal punctures were worth it.

5. Submitted by Jessie Langs (Facebook)

An elderly lady hit me with her cane because I was out of the ornament she wanted.

6. Submitted by Anna Kopsky (Facebook)

A few years ago I worked at a video store in the suburbs of Chicago. Our store had an “adult” section in the way back of the shop. Every time one of those movies came through the return box, the employees would cringe and take turns choosing who would return *those* films to the back room. I had one particularly awkward run-in with a man who looked about 20 years older than me. He walked up to me and whispered, “Which one’s your favorite?” while he had three pornos in his hand. He honestly stood there, WAITING for my answer! I shuddered, put the whole stack on the shelf without sorting them into their places, and left. I told the manager I didn’t want go back there again.

17 Retail Horror Stories That Will Make You Want To Quit Your Job
Fox

7. Submitted by Lindsay Schramm (Facebook)

I worked at a high-end lingerie store in NYC. A very well-known, aging, and slightly off-hinge actress was one of our clients and would always try on a million thongs WITHOUT wearing the protective panties underneath. She would get her body glitter all over them (she’s at least 60), and sometimes we would even find skid marks. Panties at my store cost a minimum of $150 a pop. Whenever she came in we called it “return of the brown eye.”

8. Submitted by Anna Kathleen (Facebook)

I used to work at Forever 21. While I loved my co-workers with all my heart, our customers were hell on Earth. I started my shift in the dressing room only to find some girl changed out her tampon and left everything — blood-soaked tampon and all — on the floor of the dressing room.

9. Submitted by Venchise Glenn (Facebook)

I spent a summer working at an amusement park in the ride photo booth, which was part of the retail department. People would immediately get off the ride and purchase their on-ride photo from us. One day, a man purchased his photo, and when he turned and walked away, I noticed that his white shorts were filled with poop. He pooped himself on the ride, and instead of going to the bathroom to clean himself, he bought a photo to commemorate the event.

10. Submitted by Hannahe4b77

I worked in the J.C. Penney men’s department in high school. I once got a call that the changing room needed to be cleaned. I discovered a bag of socks that had poop in them; someone had taken a bag of tube socks, opened it, took out a sock, pooped in it, and attempted to put it back in the package.

17 Retail Horror Stories That Will Make You Want To Quit Your Job
MTV

11. Submitted by Pinkdeedle

I’m a clothing retailer. One time a girl went into the changing room with a necklace and came out without it. When confronted, she got argumentative and then ultimately reached up her dress and pulled the necklace OUT OF HER VAGINA and threw it at us. So, so, so disgusting.

12. Submitted by Megan Luckey (Facebook)

I was a florist for 14 years. I would have never guessed the odd requests people place on their florists, but one stands out the most. This particular type of thing happens occasionally, but one fellow really aggravated me. For Valentine’s Day, he came in and ordered two arrangements for two people: his wife and his lover. He was a total jerk about the whole thing and kept reminding me how vital it was not to switch them. After several minutes of him explaining how incompetent he thought I was, I promised him nothing would happen. Except it did. His wife got flowers addressed to his lover and vice versa. Maybe if he hadn’t been sending his wife three carnations while his girlfriend was getting a dozen roses, I wouldn’t have been so “forgetful.”

13. Submitted by tusdaep

Had a young woman leave trails of diarrhea around our store. She proceeded to wipe herself with some of our clothing and eventually the 20-foot curtains covering the dressing room. My manager tried to clean up the piles but ended up gagging so badly that I had to finish.

14. Submitted by Liab46e

I volunteered in a charity shop. One day a man came in and tried on some jeans, said they didn’t fit, and left. We soon became aware of a bad smell in the shop and looked for the source. It turned out that the man had a situation and had left wearing the jeans he tried on and put his own back on the rack. The inside legs and some outside of these jeans were absolutely covered in human feces, as were the trousers hanging next to them. We had to throw out all three pairs and scrub the fitting room because some poop splashed up the walls.

17 Retail Horror Stories That Will Make You Want To Quit Your Job
NBC

15. Submitted by Wouldntuliketono

I was working at J.Crew, and this woman asked to use the bathroom. I escorted her to the stockroom, where the bathrooms were. Because we have so much merchandise back there, we always had to wait for the customer to be done. This woman was there for SEVERAL minutes, and there was no sound. When she finally came out she apologized for taking so long and explained it was because she was having the heaviest period of her life, and as we walked to the door, she went into the most graphic detail of menstruation that I have ever heard — how big the clots were, the fact that she always gets crazy diarrhea when she’s on her period — as I am just smiling and agreeing with her. I almost quit that day.

16. Submitted by kristinalawlerf

A co-worker of mine once went to clean out the fitting rooms. She once found a half-used box of Kleenex and a dirty magazine (we’re a mass retailer and don’t sell those) and what my co-workers and I describe as a “biohazard” all over one wall. A manager cleaned it up, because we do NOT get paid enough.

17. Submitted by katiejanejkp

During college I worked in an outlet mall at Old Navy. One day a lady came in who was apparently having some stomach problems (please note: she was wearing a short denim skirt). In that store, we had little hall-like passageways between each “shop,” where we’d hang accessories and miscellaneous crap. Somehow, while standing in this area, the lady must have had projectile sharted/diarrhea-ed. It ended up all over the wall and the floor, with a trail leading to our bathroom in the back, where she hid out until she was ready for her walk of shame.

17 Retail Horror Stories That Will Make You Want To Quit Your Job
NBC

Sourced from Buzzfeed.com

 

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Dec
29

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Why Retail Management Sucks

Category: Life as a Retail Manager, Retail Stories Tags: , Leave a Comment

This was my going away letter to my former employer.  This is a must read.

You wake up at 6:30 extremely tired because you had to close your store the night before and did not get home until 11:15 which allowed you to get in bed by midnight.  As you get ready for work you realize that you do not get another day off for EIGHT more days!  On your thirty minute trek to work, you wonder why your district manager doesn’t move you to one of the seven stores you pass along the way.  You have been told repeatedly that you would be moved closer to home, but you have heard that for over two years so you have given up on that luxury.

You get to work at 7:30 knowing that you want everything ready for the store to be open at 8.  You get all the registers ready and check some quick emails before you realize it is 7:58 and none of your employees have shown up.  You make your way to the front of the store and open the doors and stand at the front register with a smile on your face.  You have every desire to write the employees up for being late, but you know your boss will allow them to use some excuse.  Ah, the luxuries of working with uneducated and unmotivated employees.

As you are waiting for your front cashier to come in a customer walks in and wants something from another department.  Obviously you are the only one in the store so you are unable to help them in that department.  The customer looks at you in disgust and says they will go somewhere else.  In the back of your mind you are thinking “please do!” but something very different comes out of your mouth; “Ma’am I will be more than happy to assist you when my front cashier gets here; she should be here any minute.”

Finally, at 8:07 your front cashier walks in and mumbles some type of apology.  She is in no rush to come relieve you as she slowly makes her way to the time clock.  As you make your way to help the waiting customer you hear “Management to receiving.”  At this point you realize how much you love your job.  While giving the best customer service you can to that customer, you have two other customers ask you to help them find something.  All of this could have been solved by having employees that could get to work on time.

At 8:20 you finally get back to receiving.  Luckily it is the Pepsi Vendor who you are good friends with.  You are thinking you finally have a minute to relax and shoot the shit with a friend when you hear, “return at register 1.”  You make your way to register one and the customer explains to you that the .25 coupon was not rung up correctly.  Unfortunately, your corporation has made it impossible to do a refund without canceling out the entire transaction.  You explain this to the customer and she asks “isn’t there an easier way?”  Yes, there is; take the quarter and stick it up your ass!  Instead, you ring up all 22 items she bought again and make sure to ring up the .25 coupon at the end.  It takes ten minutes for her to save .25, but I am sure it was worth it.

You then realize that you left the Pepsi vendor in the back and you need to let him out.  As he is leaving you both joke around about how great your jobs are.  At this point it is now 9:00 and you have yet to do any of your morning management duties.  As you go back to the office a customer asks you where the Depends are.  You gladly show him that they are approximately six feet from his face!  While doing some work in the office, your boss mentions that you need to get some of the inventory out of the stockroom.  YES!

As you are filling up your cart with Campbells Tomato Soup and Hunts Tomato Sauce you are asking yourself “where did I go wrong?”  I KNEW I should not have skipped that Managerial Accounting class my junior year!  After you have your pyshcological battle you continue forward and stock merchandise on the shelves.  After doing this for several hours you decide it is lunch time.

After heating your meal in the microwave, you sit down and take a bite to eat when you hear “management needed at the front register.”  Well, this should be quick and then I can come back and finish my meal.  On your way to the front register, another customer asks you where the twin pack erasers are that are on sale.  You are extremely nice and walk her to the stationery aisle when you hear “management needed at the front register.”  When you look at the front register you see three extremely upset customers.

As you try to fix this situation, an employee is asking you if he can go to lunch.  You really don’t give a shit what he does at this point, you just want to get these customers out the door.  The same damn coupon situation that happened this morning happened again but now there is a line of people.  You go through the same exact process that takes about 10 minutes.  It has now been 15 minutes since you took your first and only bite of lunch.  After FINALLY getting all the customers out the door, you return to your lunch 20 minutes later.  When you sit down and take bite number 2, you hear “management to receiving.”  It doesn’t get any better than this!

At this point, you pick up your lunch and throw it in the trashcan.  “I am fed up with this, why the hell can’t my boss get some of these calls?!?”  You return to receiving and the warehouse truck is there ready for you to unload 400 pieces of inventory.  As you are unloading the truck, you get a phone call.  An employee is explaining to you that she cannot come in tonight because her brother’s ex-girlfriend has a flat tire two states away.  You explain to her that this is not an excuse and she proceeds to tell you she is already two states away.  At this point, you just want to get the truck finished, so you make a mental note and say fine.

After the truck is completely unloaded, two hours later, you try to get a full meal in.  You actually get to sit down for 10 minutes and enjoy your one full meal of the day.  After you finish eating, around 3:00, your boss mentions that the entire truck needs to be put up today.  Once again you are thinking, why the hell did I go to college to put up baby diapers?  You keep your mouth shut and press on.  For the next two hours you put up tote after tote and at one point you are tempted to just walk out.  You don’t though as you know you have bills to pay and you can’t just quit your job, right?

At around 4:45, you start to clean up when you notice two kids on the toy aisle destroying absolutely everything while their mother is on her cell phone.  As your boss walks by, he mentions that the aisle needs to be cleaned up before you leave.  As you are cleaning it up, the kids continue to play with the toys and sit on the whoopie cushions.  Finally, at 5:15 the mother tells the kids that they need to go.  It takes you another 30 minutes to clean up the aisle after the disaster.

At 6:00, you finally get the chance to go home.  You are extremely hungry as you have only had one meal and you are physically dead because you unloaded AND put up a warehouse truck.  One of your old friends calls and asks you to go out tomorrow night.  Luckily for you, you get to close the store tomorrow night so you apologize and say you will make sure to go out with them soon.  In the back of your mind, you know that you will rarely get a chance to see your friends as the schedule is horrible.

As you drive home you think that it might be time to quit, the sad part is that you realize today wasn’t even that bad of a day; Christmas is going to be 10 times worse!  For anyone who has worked in retail management, you know EXACTLY how I feel.  Luckily for me, I QUIT!

Sourced from  on Google+

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