This letter was first passed to my old manager, then to corporate home office and finally to the new manager, it has not solved any on going negativity here. I was told that I see to much. That may be true, that is why God gave us eyes a mouth and our own mind to be spoken. I want to share some thoughts I have about the way that our store, Kings of Upper Montclair, functions and needs improvement in some ways. I am a good observer, I listen to customers remarks, along with employees remarks, and I feel strongly that changes must be made in order to keep this store functioning well and afloat and to the high standards expected. . I have pride in my job and I put my all into everyday’s work and these remarks come from the heart and with good intentions. I will list events that I recall that I find unsatisfactory and harmful to the store’s good name. My goal is to see much better communication between all employees and management and to hold the store to a higher standard that would make corporate proud. 1. During a health scare crisis with a customer’s child, the manager on call could not be found for approximately 15 minutes. Numerous attempts were made, by radio and pager, to no avail. A young girl suffered a seizure; her mother responded by giving her emergency treatment, as a couple of employees assisted. Fortunately, the crisis was averted, but the manager’s absence was unjustifiable. I do not believe that anyone else had been instated as the temporary manager. 2.There was a flood behind the deli/bakery area on New Year’s Eve. The grease trap had backed up, sewage was spewing out grease and miscellaneous debris, such as toilet paper, seeds, food waste. There was no attempt to cover and protect the food in it’s path. Business went on as usual, the deli and bakery people were treading through waste that was up to 1” high, and working through it. Before the plumber came, I was bailing out water in buckets with the use of a mini water pump. While the plumber was snaking the drain, sewage was spraying droplets around and endangering the food products in the close proximity. At this same time, three or four employees were slicing cold cuts, working with salads and such, and serving customers. It was a very unsanitary situation. Had the board of health known about this, the store would have been shut down, I believe. 3. Employees privacy is not honored, as listings are posted with negative feedback about their job performance without their consent. These reviews are posted in a public area where customers, vendors and other employees have access to view them. Anyone walking to the public rest rooms through the break area can view them on the bulletin board. These employees rights to privacy are not being honored, and a violation of our laws might be taking place.. I have witnessed about 5 cashiers being visually upset upon seeing their shortcomings posted in public view. Oddly enough, we are asked to sign a confidentiality agreement upon beginning employment. But, here, nothing is kept confidential. 4. I was told by an employee in the meat department that some of the DEP was “ not for me”. There is a designated area where all employees would pick out their meat from the meat cooler at a discount. That was the pattern I followed since I’ve been there, about a year. But, this one day, I was told, “that is not for you”… go look outside on the other rack in the meat room. The meat in question obviously was being held for certain employees only. Two names were affixed to some of those meat packages. Favoritism was being displayed, and was against the proper protocol, I believe, of our organization, Kings. 5. Several times, I witnessed the night manager smoking a cigarette in the compactor room. Employees entering that room should not be subjected to that smoke. I’m sure it’s against company policy and state law. Other employees take extra unauthorized breaks to have a smoke, lessening their work output, at a time when the store is understaffed in the first place. This lessens the efficiency of the store. 6. Managers didn’t respond expediently enough when I informed them that a phony charity collector was promoting the Boys and Girls Club and pocketing the money for himself. It took at least 4, 5, 6, or 7 pleas from me before they called the authorities. When they finally came, they arrested him. I feel that not enough was done by management to protect their customers interests from this phony. 7. Neglect of the building causing safety issues. The roof was leaking whenever we had heavy rains for the near year that I worked there. The water ran down over the electrical supply box, which could have been hazardous. It could have blown the circuit breakers and put our refrigeration out of commission. It would have been a devastating financial loss to the company. Why was this leak not tended to for almost a year? Oddly enough, store procedure is that floors must be kept clean and dry at all times for costumer safety. Taking care of the roof would have been a step in the right direction. 8. There’s a loss of spirit throughout the store with all levels of staff. Three customers have confided in me about how pleased they were that I greeted them in a pleasant, positive way, and that it was unusual to see someone so attentive at this store. She said she had complained to someone at the courtesy desk about disinterested staff. We never heard about it, which leads me to believe that there was no effort to correct the situation. At the time, when the customer complained to me about the staff, I suggested she call Parsippany headquarters, because in my mind I knew that nothing would be done by talking to someone at the courtesy desk. Only corporate would react, if told. 9. The staff is warned in advance of the mystery shopper and pending inspections from the corporation. It undermines the accuracy of the inspection when it is not unexpected. It should be inspected without any warning, so that the customers can expect to have a well run, safe, sanitary store maintained consistently, and a staff that’s maintaining it’s highest standards every day, not just inspection day. That’s what I thought we were about. 10. Employees have been found doing inappropriate activities while on duty at the courtesy counter. I have witnessed eating of sub sandwiches, candy apples, drinking, filing nails, excessive length of time on the phones, and cursing. I have been spoken to in a nonprofessional manner. People occasionally speak ill-mannered and rudely and down to workers. I feel it is due to the laxness of management in training of these people and the type of people being hired. With so many people unemployed, only people with the best work ethic should be hired. People that make an effort to better the store and accommodate the customers. There’s no team leadership, no team effort or enthusiasm, which diminishes our store‘s high image.. I would appreciate your time in hearing or reading this. It is all written with respect. Cordially, John S. Wood
Posted on: Sun, 08 Sep 2013 10:26:15 +0000
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