Hi,
Former casual employee of 2 years at MYER. There are always questions lurking about with MYER on OzBargain and I'd like to answer as many as I can. Currently on my way to work, so I can answer as many as I can now and when I get back home :)
Woops forgot to note: Worked in Small appliances and Home entertainment.
Definitely, not many customers at all. Only during peak times (the actual sales) is when there are lots of customers. Gets boring for the staff members.
Rents are high and hence, non-premium stores have mostly closed. With that budgets for the managers are so low that 1 to 2 staff members are placed each department - ridiculous, (at least in my store) so please don't put your anger towards the staff in that situation. Can't be helped.
What was it like working there? It always seemed to be skeleton staff to me. Impossible to find help. Even during sale times it seemed staff were MIA.
Was your impression that it was always understaffed?
Side Note: The thing I hate most at Myer is the checkouts being in those square or dual sides booths format. It was never clear where to line up to pay because you could chance your arm lining up on the shortest queue but it might have some nupty doing 15 returns or exchanges, and the other sides could process 5 [people before you even if you were there first. Also finding somewhere that's actually staffed to be able to pay was always a nightmare.
I liked it. Staff were kind, supportive and always there for you. That's why you always see chatter along with staff when it's empty and there's nothing to do. If you don't see us, we are most likely getting stock in the back to put on the floor, or returning ALL THE RETURNS from different departments that were dumped on our registers. Or simply, the other person is on lunch break. Also, we are probably already helping another person so if you see them walking really fast, it's probably that. The worst for me was the entire floor by myself - scary.
Staff member suggestions don't matter to management and your problem with registers is exactly that. "Card only" registers is to help with cash management so we don't have staff members MIA doing banking. You always line up where there is a staff member serving someone. Never start a new line because you're not going to get served - unless the staff member remembers you were next, but that causes even more confusion.
:)
Whats the best way to negotiate on price?
You simply don't. Managers won't allow us to unless we are price matching and make it 1 dollar cheaper than the competitors. Then again, you have cost price and staff can't make it go below that such as Dyson - MYER staff cannot and will not EVER price match Dyson products.
Sucks, I know. Staff want to, but they simply can't.
Lol this is reaching for an AMA. Casual employees are like mushrooms.
You ain't going to get that many managers at Myer that know their technology or even know how to use a computer properly. And full timers? They don't have many and they're trying to get rid of them. So I guess only casual employees can answer questions :( unless someone steps forward.
Questions about… their computer systems? lol.
IMO you’ve already answered two questions you can - what’s it like working there and can you haggle with floor staff. No big insights there as I could have guessed your answers. Manager may not know the computer systems but they would have a better idea of future direction, pricing policy, sale schedules, etc than a casual employee.
Sales schedule, is predictable, always on the weekend. Never on a Monday to Friday, unless it's stocktake (Friday is usually online only).
I.e. Bose is always 10% unless stocktake and bigger events where it is 15%
Dyson always gets matched with Dyson's website.
Pricing policy, not up to the store and it is always RRP. Casual employees that work there for at least 2 years know nearly as much as a manager.
Future direction. They have lots of plans but fail to execute. Lose heaps of money doing renovations but cut it short cause it ain't working out and is a big mess. Big frustrations on staff.
Do most of Myer's problems come down to having Kris Smith as it's public face?
Wait. Who is he? Is he another person that MYER keeps hiring to fix their problems?
He's Dannii Minogue's ex who has been Myer's male ambassador for years despite being perpetually overweight and puffy and has a worse voice than David Beckham.
I'd suggest writing a formal complaint or put it on Facebook :) They'll look into it ;)
Did you send people to your competitors like David Jones if the customer didn’t have what they were after?
Yep. If I can't help you get the best prices then I'd send you to another store. Even if it meant getting it off eBay or going through the online system (online only offers). But yes, I have sent people to DJs, Harvey Norman, JB, Good guys.
Whats the hourly rate during Christmas period ?
You don't get higher rates during Christmas unless working overtime or on public holidays, just more hours if your mananger likes you (I worked in David Jones for almost eight years)
Yep. The bias during Christmas period is real.
Depending on how old you are… I'll give you what I can remember on top of my head.
Under 20 years (I started at 19 so not sure about below 18):
Usual hours with casual loading: about 20 dollars
Sat: 21 dollars
Sun: about 30 dollars
20 years and above:
Usual hours with casual loading: about 24 dollars
Sat: 25 dollars
Sun: 36 dollars
Public hols: 50+
Why do people still call it Myers?
Hasn't been called that for 50 years at least, maybe longer
I think everyone calls it that because of the Ad - Myer's My store (pretty sure they made it sound like Myer's). Now it's Myer My Store.
Because that's where they bought their Legos.
myer stores use to have extra 50 percent off reduced prices or even 75 off reduce prices
have these disappeared since they have outlet like stores (rose lands in nsw)
also any patterns? I use to love picking up work shoes for 20 bucks
Yeah they did do that, and now it looks like they minimised to little to nil, same with David Jones I reckon.
They emphasise clearance now I believe, so a big hint is to go on the Myer website and search, 'reduced to clear XXXXX' where X is the thing you want, i.e. chinos. Or just 'reduced to clear' for the entire list which you can filter.
Clearance is where the good shit is.
David Jones still does it (max 40% off reduced prices at times)
I guess MYER couldn't keep up with the loses and stopped doing it. They probably do it by using codes/online only to restrict the loses.
The Canberra store in Belconnen was 3 levels, they have emptied out level 3 and now are only in the bottom 2 levels.
no info on whether its for a reno, or if they are reducing the size of the store.
I think the days of large department stores like these are coming to an end, they nearly always seem too expensive.
On occasion there has been some really good deals, but at other times, just not worth it.
I dislike the clearance tables as most of the stock has the original price sticker on it and no real indication of the reduced price, or the price while discounted a bit does not make me want to buy it.
I must say though that I have had some really good price beat experiences and some staff really helping to make a purchase worth my while. Most staff have been helpful, polite, professional etc.
The stores always seem to be very sparse of people. Rents must be high, as well as carrying all that stock. How do they make any money? Are there lots of people shopping or is it quiet most times?