ANYONE who's had a customer service job before will know it's not always easy – and working in a supermarket especially can be challenging.
With hundreds of customers every day, it can be tricky to manage both their expectations and the other tasks, like stocking shelves and replenishing stock that come with the job too.
Paridhi Badgotri, 23, recently worked at Sainsbury's for six months as a part-time Trading Assistant, which involved sorting and replenishing stock, working on the tills and cleaning.
Sounds straight forward, but there were little tricks to each job, for example when shelf stacking making sure the items that are going out of date first are near the front.
And, as with any job, there were good and bad points.
Paridhi says: "The discount was only 10 per cent so I won't say it was good… but I damaged a huge amount of eggs, sauce bottles and other products, and my seniors never charged me a single penny!
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"Replenishing the bottom shelves was the worst job because my back started aching a lot after one point."
Reduced to tears
The biggest challenge was dealing with customers – and Paridhi would be shocked sometimes by their behaviour towards staff.
Paridhi says: "I was an international student so customers' accents could be really confusing to understand.
"One time, a customer said a very rude tone 'are you deaf? You should leave your job. You can't understand a thing, idiot.'
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"This was my first time on the tills and I started to get tears in my eyes, but the best customer behaviour was right after this moment.
"An elderly woman who was standing behind this person asked me if I was okay and tried to console me."
Shoplifting shock
It was an certainly eye-opening experience, as Paridhi says: "I was shocked people have the capacity to be so incredibly rude – and stealing from Sainsbury's was so easy!"
"The worst thing customers would do is confuse us with calculations on cash payments so that they can fool us.
"One time a customer stole some alcohol in front of us.
"We stopped him at the door and he had blood on his clothes.
"He said he won't give the alcohol back and my seniors threatened to call the police.
"Even then he pushed them and ran away. That was scary and shocking.
"As we had regular customers, we had regular stealers as well, who would come in daily to try their hand at stealing and get caught.
"It was really annoying at first but it became funny because our team would be on alert as soon as a regular stealer stepped in so we were ready to catch them red-handed."
Acts of kindness
When the odd customer here and there wasn't stealing, Paridhi also witnessed plenty of acts of kindness too.
She says: "We had regular customers, who would come in every morning to do their shopping – so after a point you know what they want even without needing them to say it.
"Even small words like "thank you, dear" would mean a lot.
"There is something really satisfying in witnessing the smile on a customer's face when you get them the product that they have been looking for a while.
"You need a lot of patience and sometimes they would make eccentric demands, but we had to tackle them strategically."
Top tips
In terms of when to visit, there's a specific time slot Paridhi recommends.
She says: "Definitely visit any Sainsbury's after six, and keep an eye on the "Reduced to Clear" stickers in the fresh food section, where you can find products nearing their expiry date at significant discounts.
"Make sure you sign up for Sainsbury's Nectar card to earn points on your purchases too.
"These points can be redeemed for discounts on future shopping or converted to vouchers for various rewards.
"Keep an eye on Sainsbury's website or app for exclusive online-only deals and discounts.
"They often have special promotions for online shoppers.
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"If you prefer a less crowded shopping experience, consider visiting Sainsbury's early in the morning or late in the evening.
"And look for meal deals and lunchtime offers, especially if you plan to grab a quick lunch while shopping – Sainsbury's have some really good meal deals."
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