why do retail staff complain about "no staff"

I dare say customers will vote with their feet. However I’m pleased to hear shop workers are getting better pay. The big boys make plenty of profit for shareholders.

Staff are expensive but supermarkets make huge profits and can easily afford to pay for them, especially young ones on lower wages. No excuses, just money making . If there is a problem with shoplifting pay staff to stop it at the door or check everyone’s receipt like KMart and Costco do here.

There have been many discussions on tv about loss in business because shop lifting has gone out of control. If stores don’t employ enough staff to be on the shop floor who is to blame when their stock is depleted by shop lifters. I am sure the minimum wage is far less to pay out than the cost of the stolen goods being lost.

If there is a shortage of staff in general especially to help with customer enquires actually on the shop floor not at a customer service point three floors away. Potential customers will go elsewhere and who can blame them. I would sooner shop on line most of the time no worries about parking standing around waiting for help. There are less tills to go to apart from self pay tills that always seem to run into problems. It suits me and easy returns if there is a problem what’s not to like and much prefer.

Staff are expensive. I went into a large branch of Zara. You checked yourself into the changing room by scanning the price ticket and checked yourself out. I only spoke to a member of staff because at the self - pay I couldn’t release the magnetic security on an £11 t-shirt.

I was in our local M & S store some time before Christmas looking for a particular style of jeans. There were so many styles on display that it was difficult to determine 'what was actually what'.......close inspection of the individual labels was required which was quite tedious to say the least.
Not being able to find the style I wanted I looked around for a member of staff..........not a soul around apart from two females on tills who claimed they couldn't help because they couldn't leave their posts.
When I asked where the store supervisor was, they said they didn't know who that was.
M & S lost a sale that day!!

What is it that you don’t understand here OP? People are expensive, so virtually no business employs enough staff nowadays. There is no “slack” in staff numbers, and people are sick or have other reasons to be absent much more often.

My daughter works in a largish retail store and is often on the shop floor completely alone while her supervisor/manager is upstairs in an office. Customers complain when there is no one on the shop floor as she is on the till. Trade is slow early in the day more staff arriving nearer to midday but even so in my opinion it’s not good practice or safe for one person to be alone in such a large store. Management say they are only allowed so many hours for staff to work per week so its money driving this of course, makes me mad.

I complained to Maccas about one of their restaurants not clearing up properly and received an apology and a promise to improve. They actually did improve and next time we went things were fine. I would ring the manager and have a whinge, plenty of out of work youngsters would be glad of a job I am sure.

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