EVER had to search high and low before Christmas only to find the toys your kids want are sold out everywhere?

Now one former Argos employee has revealed the secret to getting hold of all the top toys before they run out – and grab a huge discount at the same time. 

The insider has lifted the lid on the retail giant, divulging why you should leave your kids at home when shopping at Argos and explains why it can take ages for items you've ordered to come up to the tills. 

As part of Fabulous’ new series, Talking Shop, we’re finding out what it’s really like to work in your favourite high-street stores.

This week we meet Sarah Tulley, 35, from Scarborough, North Yorkshire, who worked at Argos for over a year in 2013.

Here Sarah, who now works as a customer service advisor and lives with hubby Chris, 37, and their son, 15, reveals just how you can snag the best bargains and avoid queues.

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"We tried to make the most out of working over Christmas – I would wear a Santa outfit over my uniform but it was always mad busy – especially on the three for two toy sale days.

Those days were a nightmare with queues right out the door, loads of parents with kids screaming and whining.

The sales had really good discounts and people only have a day or two to pick up their items so you can understand why it gets so busy.

But you'd get people moaning because things had sold out. 

To make it worse we had to ask every single customer if they needed batteries or if they needed insurance – which slowed everything down. Doing those offers was a right pain. 

I think some parents appreciated it because they didn't always realise that the toy didn't have any batteries and then if you're going to open that Christmas day and you don't have any batteries that's a bit of a nightmare.

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But when people are in such a rush, you don't want to have to say that to them as well.

My advice if you want to avoid that Christmas rush but still get a bargain, is you could shop on Boxing Day sale where you'll get lots of bargains. 

I know that's a long time in advance for Christmas, but moneywise you won’t get presents cheaper than that.

We used to know the timings of the sales but we weren't allowed to tell anyone – but nowadays you can go online on different forums and insiders will share when the sales are likely to start.

One thing that not many people know is you can actually order your items online before the sale is announced, then pay when you pick them up once the sale has started. 

That way you should get the toys you want before they go.

But I'd say the best thing to do for Christmas is go to the three for two sale in the summer, because then you could save money and because it's quite time in advance, you don't have to worry about certain toys being sold out. 

We often had parents complaining on the three for two Christmas sale that certain toys had sold out – but it's bound to happen, it's on offer so it's going to go plus the kids often all want the same toy. 

I hated customers who bought a load of kids with them – kids don't like shopping. They always whined or cried.

You had a lot that came in with kids and I know you might not always have a choice, but they would come in demanding, 'Where's my order?'. 

And they wouldn't want to wait for it but you can only get it as quick as you can get it. 

We didn't know what was going on in the collection team at the back. 

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We did have some stuff out on shelves that kids could look at but there is pretty much nothing for them to do so it was a nightmare.  I mean, I've got a son myself, he's older now but I never really brought him shopping that much. 

I would advise people to leave their kids at home if they can.

You can't concentrate if they are whining especially in Argos when you have to write the numbers down and everything. I don't know how people manage it. 

And then there's the waiting.

A lot of people order online and then pick it up in store so that's not as bad, but you still have to wait around a bit for your order to come out.

So unless you're gonna take something like a colouring book or something to keep them occupied while you wait because you could be there a while and they will get bored. 

Your shopping habits in numbers

We polled our readers to discover your experiences of shopping on the highstreet.

• 80% love charity shop hauls
• 85% find it hard to buy clothes for bigger boobs
• 80% have had problems with inconsistent sizing
• 70% have had an online fashion fail experience
• Over 60% are worried about their spending
• 80% are tempted to buy returns pallets.

It wasn't just parents with kids, we did have some customers who would shout and get quite aggressive when their order didn't come up straight away – but that's not going to make it come up any quicker.

In general smaller items could be up within five minutes, maybe less, because it depends on   the location in the collections room, but smaller things were usually easier to get to.

On busier days, bigger items or items that have been located further away could take 20 minutes to half an hour to come up. 

If you want to avoid waiting too long, early mornings are best but it's probably best to avoid weekends if you can come on a weekday about an hour after opening, it is really quiet. 

Of course that's not always possible but you're gonna get yourself in and out much faster when it's quiet.

On the whole I enjoyed working at Argos the interview was straightforward and I was made to feel very at ease, it was better than some I've had before.

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The Sun reached out to Argos for comment.

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