Complaint Review: Safeway Stores - Covington Washington

I saw a report on Safeway, and how the person was extremely stressed-out working there. I completely agree with that person, and would like to share my story, too. I have worked in retail grocery stores since 1994, and I finally had enough. It's not only Safeway, but Fred Meyer, as well. I also worked at Top Foods stores (Haggen, Inc.), and found that I enjoyed working for them the most.

I began working at Safeway in Covington a few years ago. I started out as a Courtesy Clerk. I got paid $5.05 an hour to answer the customers' and fellow employees' every beck and call. It really is slave labor. Not only do you run out and get carts, you help the customers with their needs, do price checks, do a gigantic list of cleaning jobs, you bag groceries, and you receive poor treatment because you are the low man on the totem pole.

I did this for over year, working my butt off, never complaining, even training other new hires that came in under me. My best was never good enough. Time and time again, I watched as men hired below me got promoted to Helper Clerk positions immediately, I watched older women be promoted to Bakery and Checker positions, and I became frustrated.

I talked to my boss, and she said, "Oh, I thought you were still 17 and that's why you were never promoted." I had turned 18 some 6 months beforehand. So, I got promoted to Helper Clerk.

I got a raise of 25 cents an hour, and couldn't believe the workload. In a 6 hour shift (closing shift), I was required to fill and face all ad and coupon items on every aisle, I was required to fill and face all the end displays, I was required to fill and face the entire dairy section, and this is all while attending to the needs of each and every customer.

The person that filed the first complaint about Safeway is completely correct in saying that they force the Superior Service bit down the employees' throats. We were told to stop what we were doing whenever a customer walked by, smile, greet them, and ask them, "Are you finding everything okay?" We were also forced to bring them to each item they were looking for. This sometimes meant walking to the other side of the store, then getting stopped by 4 other customers on the way over.

It clearly lead to abuse of our courtesy. I found myself spending much of my shift walking around with a lazy person's grocery list, helping them find every item on it. To make matters worse, those annoying Secret Shoppers would come in to monitor our service. I always did well on mine, but because I was forced to be kind and was afraid of the consequences if I didn't do right.

I was severely stressed out. I was working up to 65 hours a week, developed carpal tunnel syndrome, and I got sick all the time, working in the dark, dusty, rat-infested back room. Customers seemed to just go out of their way to be rude, too. I remember getting screamed at for not having egg nog in July. I remember having to do so much work in such a small period of time, I would rush to do a job and have a major catastrophe happen, i.e. 6 crates of milk gallons falling off of a 6 wheeler, spilling all over the floor or crates of pop explode all over the place.

I'd be mopping it up, pouring sweat, and someone would have the nerve to jokingly say, "Missed a spot!"

I wanted the chance to be a checker, because I knew I was smart enough to learn the codes, and the best pay lies in the checking jobs. I was continually passed up, offered excuse after excuse for why I shouldn't be a checker, i.e. too young, not smart enough, not the right look, etc.

On top of being only 18 and completely stressed out, our Safeway seemed to be continually going through remodels and resets. We were forced to work and be courteous, trying to push huge carts of milk and towers of bread through crowds of angry customers, all while dodging gaping holes in the floors.

I was good at my job, and became good friends with Jeannie, the Dairy Manager. She is a wonderful person, and completely overworked. She even talked about wanting me to take over Dairy when she retired. She was a beacon of light in that dark work environment.

I asked to get out of Helper Clerking, and was moved to the Produce department. I was the only girl working there, and was told the first day by the men that "girls never last in Produce."

With that cloud hanging over my head, I tried to learn the tricks of the trade, and found that most of the time, the guys were too busy to train me because the holidays were coming up. I was left to close on Thanksgiving and Christmas, basically not knowing what to do. I was constantly reprimanded for my poor job, yet always scored perfectly on my "Spy" Shopper visits. I was also working about 70 hours a week. I missed my family and boyfriend so much, and felt so alone.

I was depressed, and would go to work completely in dread and overwhelmed. I felt numb. Finally, my manager pulled me aside and told me, "Honey, you'd be better off working in a Nordstrom, or something." Yeah, that hurt. So I left, going back to work as a Helper Clerk (aka SLAVE)

After 2 more months of that, I was brain-fried, a physical and emotional wreck. I knew it was time to move on. I was and still am a hard worker, with a strong work ethic. This was just too much, though, for ANYONE.

It's hard to find jobs elsewhere, because retail is all I know. I moved from store to store, hoping it would get better, but it didn't. I found that being a Checker for Haggen (Top Foods) was a great job, and where I finally fit in.

Nunnayerbeezwax

Kent, WA, Washington
U.S.A.

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