(Safeway = grocery chain where I live.)

Background: I applied a month ago online, and they called me back a few weeks ago for an interview. The person who hired me (M.) said that I would be working at the Starbucks they had in the store.

Training has been hell.

On weekdays I am available anywhere after one. On weekends I am available all day. But, they seem to ignore this. First, they tried scheduling me for store training in the middle of classes and didn't seem to get that. I was told by Mel. that my availability was all day.

I thought I got that straighten out after she double checked my application.

About a week and half ago they told me I would start the Starbucks portion of my training. They wanted me to train that Friday and Monday, which was labor day, from eight to one. I explained to Mel. that I could miss class one day for training, but that I would not be able to do this in the future. Again, I'm really wondering if the even looked at my availability.

I was sent to another store to train.

There I realized I wouldn't be able to train unless my trainer (Reb.) changed her schedule. She worked the morning shift, when I would be in class, and was off during the weekend. Apparently she's the only one in the area that can train me.

I worked last Wednesday at the register, with a co-worker of Reb. I don't know why because she (let's call her Ama.) was not 'licensed' to train me. She showed me around, but I didn't complete any of my training. Basically, I have to do a bunch of booklets and such.

After the shift, Ama. told me that she would talk to Reb. about when I could finish training. Mmk.

Safeway calls me in the middle of class. Or rather, Mel. calls me and tells me that I need to work on Friday. I call her back, but I get some employee who tells me that she just stepped out and if I can work today. x_x

Basically:

Me: Hello, is Mel. there?
Employee: No, she just stepped out.
Me: Okay.
Employee: I can give you her message.
Me: Tell her firstname lastname called about her schedule
Employee: CAN YOU COME IN? CAN YOU WORK?

I wait thirty minutes. This time the manager answers.

Manager: Hello, this is soandso.
Me: Is Mel. there?
Manager: Yes. Hang on for a second.

I'm put on hold.

Manager: Hello, this is soandso.
Me: Hello.
Manager: Still waiting for Mel? May I ask who's calling?"
Me: This is firstname lastname.
Manager: Okay. Hold on.

I'm put on hold again.

Someone picks up, but it sounds like they put the phone on the counter or something because I can hear people talking, announcements. I say "Hello!" and such but no one answers. I wait, and finally they hang up on me.

I drive up to the store, just to be told Mel. went home.

I'm starting to wonder if this job is worth it.

EDIT:

Mel. called me.

I got my schedule. They want me to work.

I'm still not finished training.

Do you live near me? o.O
We have Safeways.. XDD

I would quit if I were you. It's not worth it. They ignore your schedule and don't complete your training and it's been weeks. That's just crazy. and they sound like they treat you like dirt.

man that sucks! i live right around the coner of a safeway, nothing to do with it but im random that way. XD
anyways.
they didnt train you, they dont care about your schedule, they skrewed up your schedule, they HUNG UP ON YOU when you asked a question after making you wait for so long....

why do you want this job again?

I would quit and I would tell them exactly why. If this is how the training process is, the work will be worse. I would tell them that due to the unprofessional manner that you have been treated during the past weeks, that you insist on leaving before you start. You won't be able to use them as a reference, but I think it's worth it.

I've had jobs where the boss can't get her act together and the WHOLE staff suffers for it. If her leaving is a constant thing and you can't get them to understand you can NOT work before 1 on weekdays.. quit. It's that simple. You can find another job, it's not like you're going to try to make a carer out of this, right? I mean.. it's a Starbucks. (sorry, I hate Starbucks as much as you hate Safeway right now.)

I really do hope things turn out for the best, but don't let them push you around too long or you won't get out of it.

It sounds like they really don't care about you. I'd say you should quit and THEN give them a piece of your mind for giving you such a runaround and being disrespectful, treating you like garbage and making you go above and beyond to be trained when in the end you never received any training.

Ugh, Safeway...I feel your pain; I worked there for about a year and a half and it was hell. (Well, technically it was Vons here in Southern California...different name, same company, same shit.)

Really, the only thing you can do is start looking for a different job...if the woman who hired you can't wrap her head around the fact that you are not available before 1:00 on weekdays, and can't stay around long enough to deal with the store, then it's not a job worth keeping. If even the store manager can't keep track of her...that's not a good sign.

What are they paying you, if it's not asking too much? Because I was getting minimum wage all along - let me just say that THAT was not worth the crap they constantly gave me.

So...if this is all going to be a constant, your best bet is to just, in...kinder terms, of course, tell Mel. to take that job and shove it up her ass.

lol im with Amani on that last part. XD

oh that suxx i dont live by safeway phew!

Oh yes, this does not bode well for your future there. Unless your direct supervisor after being trained is smarter than the rest of them... (not holding breath) then they'll just continue to disregard your schedule.

I don't understand why so many places swear they will work with you on personal schedules, especially if you are taking classes - only to pull this kind of crap as soon as they have you in the door. :(

Yup... that's safeway... >.< don't worry... their motto is "Customer first, employee never"

I applied for full time and ended up with 8 hours a week. -.- and they kept switching me around and when they tried to make me do janitor work I got annoyed.

I was never actually trained, more so just 5 people telling me to do stuff their way and complaining when I get annoyed that nobody would officially train me. Then the manager came to tell me I wasn't "Fit for the job" -.- and that I should work somewhere where I was better... yeah really... maybe if they trained me I'd know wth I was doing...

So it's definitely not you... its just that they treat their employees like crap because their focus is the customer not you...

if you dont like a job, dont keep it. unless its the greatest pay that youve ever had. then you might have to bare with it for a while until you find something else

My issue is I need a job because I'm moving out soon, and I will be paying rent. Living at my house is being less of an option as days goes by.

I had my first official day last night after finishing training last week. Everything that went wrong, went wrong. The coffee pots were acting up, the touch-screen register would act up if the customer wanted to pay, etc. Had one customer drink half of his it latte, come to me, and starts complaining how it tasted wrong and that he want a refund. Oh...okay. If it was that bad, you wouldn't of drank half of it. <_<

Right?

Granted, no one else complained.

The Starbucks manager was there for an half an hour to show me around. She asked me if I needed someone to come up and help me, and I said yes. The person didn't show up until an hour before closing. Also, the manager left because she had to go pick up her daughter.

Did I mention that something was leaking?

I also didn't get a break. At all. There was no one to cover me because I was working alone. No one in the store is qualified to work at the Starbucks. There are no tables around the Starbucks. The Safeway has them set up near customer service and the exist.

Plus, my state has NO LAWS when it comes to break, lunches, etc. I can't find anything in the employee handbook about Safeway's policies.

Standing on your feet for six hours = hell.

I SAY YOU QUIT DAY JOBZ! CUZ IT SOUNDS LIKE IT STINKS! eewie.!

Well if you have to work, then start looking for another job while you're working there.

You should NOT be left along when you haven't learned how to run the store yet. I don't care how awesome you are and if you've got a photographic memory, that's just bad policy for leave a new employ alone for so long. And no state laws regarding breaks? What state do you live in?? The whole thing sounds messed up. Look for another job on your off time, if you HAVE to keep working, but don't stay there, it'll suck you in, you'll never get out!!

WYF about that guy! who drinks half a latte and then complains that it tastes funny?!

My brother at the end of the month when he's out of funds. >.> He's such a bum!!

...XD i started laughing at that one. LOL ok, that actually sounds like something id consider doing. consider, mind you. i probably wouldnt have the nerve, cuz it seems sorta rude to me.

@MollyJean

I am.

Hopefully I will l have luck with the holiday season coming up.

It also annoys me that the guy I worked with on my first day, who came in later than he was asked to, didn't tell me everything there was about closing. The only check-list they have is something the manager wrote and it is very, very basic direction-wise. I know to clean everything, dump the coffee, etc. I didn't know where to take the trash, etc.

The guy was scheduled to workwith me. Nope. He worked an earlier shift. The manager told him to stick around to teach me some things. Things he should of taught me when he helped me close on Sunday. Oh, and things that he did not do himself that he didn't even do.

Basically:

"Do you know how to this and that? Why didn't you do so-and-so last night?"

No. I don't know because no one showed me. And no, I didn't do it because I DIDN'T KNOW. @[email protected]

He was supposed to show me how to close

Kicker? I might not be a certified Barista despite finishing the actual training...which is a series of small books with activities, questions, etc. Funny. They told me that I was certified, done training, etc. The Safeway's Manager on duty came over and told me this.

Oh, apparently the other store wanted me to work Friday and Saturday of last week, and didn't tell me so, but told the manager I didn't show up. I'm not psychic.

Also, apparently I was trained wrong. Which is fun when someone is lecturing how you don't steam milk correctly, and then does it the same way you do it with small differences. Silly stuff like that.

Look. I should not be asking cashiers where shit is. I should of been told that on the first or second day I worked.
In short: I'm not certified, the guy who sort-of helps me doesn't really.

seriously, you should quit. dont take their shit, just find a better job. well, keep that job till you find a new one, then quit and go to that job.

Understood on needing the money to move out and start paying rent - but let me tell you, you're not gonna get that at Safeway if it's anything like my experience. I started off at minimum wage, and then there were so many deductions (union dues, etc.) that I was eventually making roughly $5.50 an hour - minimum wage over here in California is $8.00/hour.

Again, my advice to you is to start looking for a different job now - save yourself the time and trouble later. From my experience with Safeway, it's probably not going to get better, no matter what you do - believe me, I tried damn near everything. e__e; They are...not a good company to work for; some stores are better than others...but most are pretty bad, and it sounds like you got one of the bottom of the barrel.

Whatever happens, I hope everything works out for you.

Oh thats horrible hun. I work at Walgreens so things are a little better. I've been here three years so they can't bully me around like that. I'd say hold onto your job because in this economy theres no telling when you'll get a better one or something of equal pay.

Be happy that you got any kind of training, I guess. I work at Kohls, and the one I'm at basically threw me out there after going through a couple CBTs (computer-based training) and told me to have fun. xD

But honestly, I'd quit. That's ridiculous. Do they not care about employees?

The one thing I can tell you about the breaks - get used to it. Fast food for anything is crazy. Your feet will die. I work at Taco Bell and I have for a long time now...and sometimes I have 10-12 hour shifts with no break. I know...it's crazy. But then I think about how I need the money for school...so there isn't much I can do about it. Get comfort sole inserts or something for your shoes. There aren't a lot of laws about breaks for people who are legal. Those who are underage (16 and 17 years old) have to take breaks, at least in my state. But those above age don't get those laws. It depends on the company.

Also, the jerk with the half-drunk latte who wanted a refund? That will happen a lot too. I had some guy ask for a refund for his fruitista freeze when there was about 1/4 left of it because it "tasted funny and not like he imagined it would" so my manager had to give him a refund because he started raising holy hell in the middle of the restaurant.

People who come to fast food are, many times, rude. It sucks. But you'll get used to it. as well as incompetent coworkers.

When I first joined Taco Bell under my first manager...I would work the day shirts. and he would always make me do drive through. (I hate drive through btw...I prefer to actually make the food). I would be scheduled until 4 or 5pm. What sucked is that he would then schedule the night people to come in at 5:30 or 6. So then he would be like "you have to stay until they get here." and THEN the jerks would show up 30minutes-1.5 hours LATE for their shift. So if I was scheduled from 10-5 that day, I'd be there, sometimes, until 8 at night. Because after they got there, they'd have to wait until no one was ordering in the drive though and then count my draw before I could leave. Luckily I got a new manager that would always let me be on the line making food...which was logical because I was the fastest food maker in the entire store...so I don't know why my old manager insisted I be on drive through every day.XDD

Sorry for all the anecdotes! good luck!