I am tired.
I have a million things to do for all my deadlines next week, yet I am sat here watching sex and the city, wanting to write, needing a nap and a good moan.
My chosen subject? My old job at Clinton's Cards in Stafford.
I walked past earlier today hoping to see some old friends, as I am luckily still friends with some of my old work friends who, some, happen to be the mum's of my primary school friends. Yet I was met with the sight of my old manager at the till looking miserable as sin as always.
She should be the one to know yet looking straight faced behind the till is the number 1 rule of what NOT to do when you work for Clintons. As she used to tell me many times that even when no one is entering the shop/in the shop or even just walking past you have to have a fixed, false smile at ALL times! Even if it meant smiling to yourself - which is perfectly normal..
No, this wasn't the Victoria Beckham department in Selfridges, this was a poor Card shop in a small town.
Working at Clintons was my first ever job, I had spent a good year and a half trying to find a job after a really awful year I had had. My confidence and self esteem was already extremely low, to the point where I couldn't pay for anything myself and would always make my friends do it. My best friend worked at Clintons and told me to bring a CV in, which I did and it went from there, I had a good interview and had secured my first ever job!
I was very nervous as Clintons is in the middle of town and I didn't have any confidence. On my first day, a busy September Saturday, I was given only 5 minutes on the till before being let loose on my own which was sooo scary as I had never dealt with tills or money before and had made that very clear. I quickly made friends with the other staff who helped me and supported me incredibly, especially Trish and Lynn, the mums of old school friends.
I was contracted to two 4 hour shifts, Saturday and Sunday. This may seem easy, however, I would be put on the till for the whole four hours. With pretty much no one to serve as who on earth wants to buy £6 cards when your next to card factory who do the same cards for 99p?!
You were not allowed to leave the till, there were no chairs, hard floors, no quick loo breaks, no chance to drink, no talking at ALL even when no one is in the shop! No coughing, no yawning.. and when a job is that boring it is sooo hard not to yawn if you cant drink or talk to keep your energy levels up! 4 hours is easy until you have to stand in one spot doing nothing on hard floors.
We had official rules that you couldn't be on the till for the full 4 hours as you couldn't keep the enthusiasm up - which is very very true. But the two managers in Stafford didn't care! As long as they were ok it was fine! They would spend all their days in the office drinking coffee and chatting and one of them, Jacky, constantly having a cigarette outside - which surely isn't in the rules.. Very unprofessional indeed.
Within my first few weeks it was Christmas season. I was on the till from 830 in the morning til 6 at night with only a hour and 20 minutes break. The queue was right to the back of the shop and people were getting frustrated and I had a CL warning pop up on my screen.. however.. putting the customer first like I had been told many times I waited until the queue was abit more manageable until I rung for the manager. I had told another manager on the till I had a CL but she said ring her in a bit. I did and she came and asked me how long it had been on for, I replied with 40 minutes. With a shop full of people and my low confidence what happened next put me off working for life. I was shouted at, at the top of her Cannock voice for leaving the CL on, which meant they were only insured for a certain amount of money and they had to take the extra out. I had never ever been told this at all. I was prodded in the back and exclaimed that this was a sackable offence. I then was back on the till for another 5 hours. I could not speak to anyone I was so shocked what had happened I had tears rolling down my face.
Between shocking offences she had caused, they was constant unprofessional bitching about other staff members when they had done nothing wrong. I would over hear her bitching about me when I had to ask a basic question cause I was given no training and only learnt things by asking or teaching myself, which is very hard when you aren't allowed to get anything wrong.
On one occasion I had a 9.30 start, which I had taken a picture on my phone so I didn't forget. I came in like to normal at about 9.10. I was shouted at for being late as I was meant to start at 9.00 however when I last checked the rota on Sunday night which is the last night I would be in until the following Saturday. I went in and checked the rota and she had changed the rota, knowing I wouldn't see it for 9.00!!! She had stitched me up?! I don't know why she hated me so much? I worked there for a year and never called in sick, I was never late, I did all the upsells (selling stupid pens to £2.50 for cancer with only FIVE % going towards cancer) I always did over time, though she would just put you down out of contract hours and not even ask you but if you would tell her you couldn't do it she would go mad at you.
Clintons in Stafford is a women based shop.. which is very strange when we had at least 20 male CV's with the year I was there. But within the year absolutely no males were hired at all, which doesn't add up, but i'll let you do the maths..
On the last occasion, the last, most disgusting, straw for me, was in October 2013. I had been put down for a full day on the Saturday (not asked again) and had so much work to do for my Uni course which they already knew. I didn't say anything and just went along with it, later in the day I was asked to cover a shift the day after as Lynn, a good friend, was, to the fault of Jacky put down for 12 days in a row and wanted a day off. I at first said no, as I had so much work to do, however it wasn't left there. The two managers came down and cornered me into the wall and pestered me with questions until I gave in. I eventually did, forgetting I had the full day, and I hated them both by this point so I was not going to allow them walk all over me anymore. I went back and said if you put my hours down to normal on the Saturday then I will do the Sunday. Nope this was refused. So I refused to do the Sunday.
The week following this, my full Saturday, I was again, put again on the till for the full day. 5 minutes before my lunch break I was called into the office. The other manager was told to stay. I was shocked on what I had done to deserve two managers in the office with me. I felt like I had stole something. Then, to my disbelief these two inhumane managers came at me like literally dogs, shouting at me that they would never ever do me any favours ever again and blaming my parents for being pushy and thats why I had to do so much work.. Absolutely ridiculous I wanted to do the work to get good grades so I didn't have to spend my life in such a shitty downgrading job!!
I began to get so upset as I could not get a word out, they would continually speak over me in their loud brash Cannock voices and not let me say my point of view. They are both 50+ mothers of two who you would think would actually have a heart and a mother instinct making a 18 year old girl cry. I don't get emotional much but they caused me to have my first ever panic attack. They used all my lunch up and I had to go to the staff room to stuff my lunch down myself in the two minutes I had left. I was then met by Lynn who I told what happened and apologised to her deeply for not being able to cover her shift. I was so shocked and upset that I made her cry with anger.
I was then expected to go back on the till for the rest of my shift and serve customers all happy and smiley. Jacky did not once apologise.
That night I wrote my notice letter and gave it in the next day. Jacky did not once say goodbye to me or write in my goodbye card, which I am glad of as I wont have to look at her name but it annoys me how a 50+ woman, with children, who is meant to be the manager can act so childish. She has since been PROMOTED to Area Manager even after my 8 page complaint letter. The service I have had since then has been absolutely appalling, I know 3 memebers of management have joined and left because of her and wrote in their notice it was because of her yet she still gets a job?!
Clintons is nothing but a money making scheme who actually don't care about any of their customers, despite their policies, and only want their money. Not their custom.
You would think such a high end shop, that they try to be, can let themselves go so down hill because of this manager.. she spoke to the customers very rudely and swore loudly.
This woman does not deserve to have a managing job where she has to deal with the public. She is a heartless inhuman human being. The other sales assistants there are so lovely and they don't deserve to have such a bitch telling them what to do when she sits outside smoking all day anyway! Disgusting!!
I am luckily enough to have an absolutely brilliant job now with a lovely, lovely manager, though this experience has left me scared to ever work in retail again.
p.s ALWAYS double check your cards from Clintons especially if it has jewels, 3D pieces on there, as if it ever fell off, or a strap of a bag came out they would just glue it back on or sellotape it down.. not very good service when your paying £5+ for a product.
