Gross misconduct!
Now they tell me! Apparently the fact that I accepted a gift from a customer because I’d (out of working hours) upgraded the firmware on his SLR for him means that I could be fired for gross misconduct. How bizarre.
In other news, we are now getting five pounds for each customer we persuade to take out the “EasyPay 24” deal, effectively meaning we are paid to encourage people to get into debt. (I’m probably guilty of gross misconduct for mentioning this actually – such is the nature of business.)
What else to report? Well, aside from us becoming Canon specialists (and destroying our reputation for unbiased advice at a stroke) there’s our store target of accessories. For every a hundred pounds of camera, we’re supposed to sell twenty-three pounds of accessories. Our manager (if we had one) could lose his job if he doesn’t get us to meet this target. So we’re supposed to get customers to buy the accessories.
Fair enough – digital cameras need accessories. But a quantified cost? Not really. Oh, and the target has increased since I started – it was seventeen for the first week I worked but then went up to twenty, and up to twenty-three after Christmas. The company claim that meeting the target guarantees good customer service, but then they increase the target… slightly inconsistant. We all know the target is because cameras make no profit whereas accessories do. They just disguise it under the banner of customer service. If that was their real priority we wouldn’t have a target, and would just be told to sell the customer what they need. (Oh, and the number of accessories needed for an a hundred pound camera is approximately thirty pounds. It’s almost identical for a two hundred pound camera. Just so you know.)
I’ve enjoyed a lot of the work, but I’m glad I’m leaving. The pressure to pressure customers into things is terrible. Ever since we were bought out and the Jessop family (gasp, I said the name of the shop!) were kicked out the company has gone downhill. Half the employees don’t know anything about cameras any more…
So, goodbye to Jessops from next week, if they don’t fire me for gross misconduct first (not that the assistant manager would care that I’d taken a gift – I told him about it months ago…)
Matthew @ 20:33, April 13, 2006 to Diary | Comments (7)
Comments:
Cat
And that, in a nutshell, is why I quit too. I was sick of being shoved onto shop floor with no training whatsoever in order to flog largely unnecessary accessories to peons. Er, customers.
Comment added at 23:14, April 13, 2006
Matthew
Well, with my colleagues I got a bit of training – I know far more about SLRs than I ever thought there was to know. It was never formal though – more me asking questions when I didn’t know something, and remembering it.
I felt like a Dixons employee half the time, trying to persuade people to buy the repair protection plan (extended warranty) and unable to answer their questions. That’s the way Jessops has gone – our shop, it seems, is the last bastion of the free (or one of them) as we try to please the customers first then head office, like we’re told to do but not meant to do.
Comment added at 08:59, April 14, 2006
Jessop's Head Office
Matthew Weston, For gross misconduct you’re hereby suspended with half pay for the next four months while we decide what your gross misconduct was.
Comment added at 09:02, April 14, 2006
Matthew
Oh noes!!!
Hah. Half pay for four months when I’m in Japan? Rock on!
Comment added at 09:05, April 14, 2006
Rory
Ah, disillusion with retail work. I’m glad I worked far, far away from the public, in a dark warehouse, where I didn’t use my brain enough to even consider being disillusioned. That said, a lot of my colleagues were untrained zombies too. I’m glad I’m not working now (except for the general, y’know, lack of income).
Comment added at 13:06, April 14, 2006
Benjamin
Is there such a thing as “miscounduct but not gross misconduct” ??
And thanks for the impartial camera advice, the comittee are taking it under consideration. hey at least Jessop’s are specialists in a good range eh?
I guess that was one of the good things about working at Boswells, being independant means there isn’t a distant head office telling you stuff, all we were told by our bosses was “sell stuff, and sell lots of it” but in a nice way :)
In conclusion, working in retail is fine for a bit but drives you mad long term. Office work FTW!
Comment added at 00:03, April 17, 2006
Sheepie
*shudders at memories of work experience in an office*
Comment added at 12:12, April 17, 2006
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