Well worth reading ....

news.sky.com/story/1018975/making-sense-...ns-lopsided-recovery

40 deep queues at Lewis's and Debenhams yesterday in Edinburgh. Never again

ITK - STILL In The Krap.

STILL sucks mainsteam NewZac-Crap, Pie In The SKY - WTF ?

With not-a-clue to the ever widening deep-divide beyond the cosy, so called 'Home Counties' CONservatives south-east heartless, heart-lands.

Suck on the BIG sink-estates suckas, and feel the real squeeze down the wastepipe.

One nation Tories ?

Do us a favour guv, tell one tell a BIG-un !

A bit chilly in here with Merry Xmas coming. Chuck another pleb on the fire Jeeves, old chap. Oh, and drop a small coin in the kiddies' poorbox to salve my no-conscience, er, conscience.

In The KNOW - WTF ?!

I CANt understand your WAY of writing-when-not-thinking-straight and sadly CANNOT carry any more confusing POSTS like these.

Debenhams & John Lewis...2 of the worst places to work for, let alone shop in.

I've worked for both in my time. Ignorant management that put you in for overtime, without asking, question your holiday leave, pay you normal wages for working Bank Holidays & Sundays & treat you like something you've scraped off your shoes, or an idiot. Terrible places. Better off working or going to a better field...Become a scarecrow!

Never (& I repeat) NEVER get a job in either Department Store. You'll regret it. I promise.

bh wrote:
Debenhams & John Lewis...2 of the worst places to work for, let alone shop in.

are staff at John Lewis not "partners"? - and therefor have a share in the profits?

JK2006 wrote:
I CANt understand your WAY of writing-when-not-thinking-straight and sadly CANNOT carry any more confusing POSTS like these.

Be kind, JK - it IS Christmas !

What if no one can understand a word he says?
Its his time he is wasting - and his carer might be back shortly.

Angel wrote:
40 deep queues at Lewis's and Debenhams yesterday in Edinburgh. Never again

They will be the "workers", angel - spending their hard-earned cash !
And why not?

bh wrote:
Debenhams & John Lewis...2 of the worst places to work for, let alone shop in.

I've worked for both in my time. Ignorant management that put you in for overtime, without asking, question your holiday leave, pay you normal wages for working Bank Holidays & Sundays & treat you like something you've scraped off your shoes, or an idiot. Terrible places. Better off working or going to a better field...Become a scarecrow!

Never (& I repeat) NEVER get a job in either Department Store. You'll regret it. I promise.

One of my girlfriend's friends has a partner who works in John Lewis in the Midlands.They stood by him during his long illness,she can't praise them enough...I expect we all have different experiences.

Seems the poorer the country the longer the queues...either they have more money to spend...or they just employ less staff ratio per customer than other countries? Either way do as I do,if there is a long line in front simply leave your trolley and walk out.

Still some sign of life in ITK deep inside the VERY Secure Unit.

Quote, smart Chico Marx to his proven-lawyer:

"U can't fool me. My Mama told me just last Xmas, there ain't no such thing as a Sanity Clause !"

Innocent Accused wrote:
[quote]bh wrote:
Debenhams & John Lewis...2 of the worst places to work for, let alone shop in.

I've worked for both in my time. Ignorant management that put you in for overtime, without asking, question your holiday leave, pay you normal wages for working Bank Holidays & Sundays & treat you like something you've scraped off your shoes, or an idiot. Terrible places. Better off working or going to a better field...Become a scarecrow!

Never (& I repeat) NEVER get a job in either Department Store. You'll regret it. I promise.

One of my girlfriend's friends has a partner who works in John Lewis in the Midlands.They stood by him during his long illness,she can't praise them enough...I expect we all have different experiences.

They'll stand by you in long illness, yes...but that's because they have too, due to the one thing they can't argue with...Your Doctor!

These stores also have their own Police Force, called Security. Not so bad in John Lewis. But I remember one event at a Debenhams store, where a certain customer spent time in hospital, because he came a cropper to one of their "private" police. And a colleague that was also refused time off, to go to a family funeral. Terrible. Plus no fun, when you find you've been put down to do a 12 hour shift on one of their million poxy Sale Days & no one says a word, until you see it on the rota, a few days before. I came accros a line manager effing & blinding, that he'd spent 2 days putting the rotas together. He of found it much easier, if he'd confird with his employees first...Coz the daft bugger, only had to change it all again, with more "F" words being shouted from the rooftops. You complain about the bloke's language & nobody above hime, believe any of the staff.

I also forgot to add that they keep as little staff, as possible to save money & tell their staff constantly to push products & their above interest damn Store Cards.

The on-line sales are mismanaged & many people get the wrong items & there is poor Customer Service. HR in each store, was shutdown for a head office based service & they also employ clueless twits.

As far as I'm aware John Lewis have an excellent staff policy. Is it not a co-operative? Always seem to be the same staff year after year and the service first class. Never liked Debenhams or high street shopping for that matter. Full of pedestrian, pond life types.

In the last six months my business has never been busier, to the extent I can take a day off during the week as opposed to working six days. Strange, but true.

It's true to say John Lewis has a better class of customer. Staff do take a share in profits, yes. Though the procedures away from that, are basically exactly the same as Debenhams. Though in John Lewis, most staff are too frightened to say boo to goose. There are more British workers in their stores.

Where as there are a bigger percentage of immigrants employed by Debenhams. I think, they prefer to hire them, as they don't answer back at management. Then too, many supervisors are less than 25 years old & none too clever, at that. For me, it was hell working for them. It was like getting through Fort Knox, to get in & out everyday.

You had to pay £5 for a swipe card to get in the main staff entrance. Then sign in a security book. Go to your locker (new starters had to pay another £5 for a locker key). You put your stuff in the locker. Lock it & then go on to the shop floor, log on to a computer, with an 8 digit employee number. Then click on the menu to take you to a clock on page. This could take time, as the PCs were slow. Then you had to make sure, you were on your department 5 minutes, before your shift.

Getting out was just as much bother. Then once a week, you were subjected to a Security search. You could leave the department at 5pm, to go home, but it would sometimes take 20 minutes to get out. All breaks were unpaid & you had to speak to a Supervisor, before & after starting work. There was no trust at all. If you left the department, a couple of minutes early, you'd be reported & forgetting to sign out, resulted in a written warning. I lived about half an hour away, but although I got there in a half an hour, it usually took over an hour to get home again, because of all the faffing around getting out of the building.

Sometimes the PCs malfunctioned & did not register, your clocking in & out & depending on the manager or supervisor in charge, you'd be pulled up the following day & given a dressing down. I suffered depression, in my last year working there & in the end, just got totally fed up, with being treated like a 12 year old (which doesn't wash at 45). My doctor put me on sick leave. I was quite ill & on phoning up my department & telling them about my sicknote, I was told I also needed to report this to the Duty Manager of the Store. I forgot to ask for his number & couldn't get hold of him. I got a nasty phone call later in the week, saying I hadn't phoned him, so I wouldn't get paid. Thing was I was never entitled to sick pay from them, anyway as I hadn't enough stamps. I told them this & rang off. 2 days later, they sent me a letter, also saying I wasn't going to be paid, due to my failure to contact this damn Duty Manager. As I'd already explained the situation, I then sent it to them in writing. Never got a reply.

I went back to the doctor, a week later & he advise me to get out of this terrible place, as soon as possible, as he blamed it, for my depression. He was right of course. I thought about it & rang my line manager, who was still spouting this "you never rang the duty manager" nonsense. So, in the end, I told him, that I would not becoming back to work in this stupid place anymore & there was a letter coming his way, explaining that. He went quiet after that!
It then took almost 3 months, before they sent me my P45 & final cheque. Then, they said I'd been overpayed, because I'd given notice, before the end of the month!

I'd been overpaid by (wait for it) £8.52! Taking into account I'd paid £5 for a swipe card & anothe fiver, for a locker, I replied saying "No, you actually owe me £1.48". Quite unbelieveable & understandable why they can't get staff to work, for them.

Angel wrote:
40 deep queues at Lewis's and Debenhams yesterday in Edinburgh. Never again

you would think they'd take notice of ITK and hire more people.

Today is "super Monday" or something like that !

Visa claims £222,000 will be spent online every minute.

Recession? What recession?

In The Know wrote:
Today is "super Monday" or something like that !

Visa claims £222,000 will be spent online every minute.

Recession? What recession?

yahooo..all those scroungers are out spending the cash and keeping the economy afloat!!!!

let's hear a big cheer for socialism making ITK's day!!

Hedda wrote:
you would think they'd take notice of ITK and hire more people.

Yes, we will have to bring in more people from Eastern Europe - because as you know, the UK dolers are unemployable.

We need smart, intelligent, articulate people - not those with nails through their faces !

Absolutely shameful !

Nowt new in Ye Olde phoney-Anglophonia.

CHARLES DICKENS, 1838: 'Oliver Twist', " More ?! You want MORE - boy !! " Oliver Twist is an early example of the social novel, exposing various contemporary evils, including the Poor Law. Dickens mocks the hypocrisies of his time by surrounding the novel's serious themes with sarcasm and dark humour. The novel may have been inspired by the story of Robert Blincoe, an orphan whose account of hardships in a cotton mill was widely read in the 1830s.

ALDOUS HUXLEY, 1931: 'Brave New World', title from Miranda's speech in Shakespeare's The Tempest (1610), Act V, Scene I, 'O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in't. Huxley's novel is set in London AD 2540. When the book first appeared, its shocking analysis of a scientific dictatorship seemed a projection into the remote future, anticipating developments in social engineering, reproductive technology and sleep-learning.

CHARLES CHAPLIN, 1936: 'Modern Times' film written and directed by Charlie Chaplin in which his iconic Little Tramp struggles to survive in the modern, industrialized world. The film is a comment on the desperate employment and fiscal conditions that millions faced during the Great Depression, conditions created, by the supposed 'efficiencies' of modern industrialization.

ALDOUS HUXLEY, 1958, 'Brave New World Revisited'. A reassessment of his earlier classic, in an essay. Among the most important post-WW2 tracts. Using Huxley's tremendous knowledge of human relations to compare the modern-day electronic world with his earlier prophetic fantasy. He scrutinizes threats to humanity, such as propaganda, overpopulation, and chemical persuasion, and explains why we have found it virtually impossible to avoid them. 'Brave New World Revisited' is a trenchant plea that we should educate ourselves for freedom before it is too late.

DON McLEAN, 1971, 'Vincent' " They're not listening still, perhaps they never will."

"Brass" 1981, TV Britcom-noire, set in 1930s industrial Grim Britain, with Robber-Baron exploiter mill & mine owner Bradley Hardacre. "This is awful! Miners are now dying with silicosis. MY coal-dust in THEIR lungs ?! Is there no way of removing it before they're buried ? It's MY coal-dust !!"

Mad Dogs & Englishmen !