Working over the christmas period

[anthony263]

Thought I would start this thread to see what others think of their experiences working during the run up to and over the christmas period. I know some of you on this forum work in retails so will have some understanding of my comments.

Now as some of you know I currently work as a home delivery driver for Iceland normally working 25 hours per week however accoridng to my rota the week before christmas I am working up to 40 hours including a 12 hour shift on the saturday. Christmas eve I am working 8am-12pm with the last delivery slots being 1600-1800.

Iceland have recently started doing online shopping which is causing some problems as the drivers just have a printed out receipt with the customers address but no contact number for the customers in case there are any problems. Tesco's do ask for a copntact number which is something I have requested our head office do as it makes life easier for us drivers and for the customers

Last night there were problems in which the planned routes me and my collegue had chosen were thrown in to problems as we each had a delivery to make in the Garw or Ogmore valleys as welkl as doing deliveries to Porthcawl, Pyle and Pencoed, Pontyclun etc.

Traffic last night out of Brigend was so bad it took me 35 minutes to get to my 1st delivery in Porthcawl from the store which normally takes 20.

My last delivery slots were supposed to be 1900-2100 however thanks to the delivery in the Garw valley and the terrible traffic I did not get back to the store til 2000 and left at 2015 (Which is a very fast turnaround) with me finishing the last delivery at 2120 much earlier than I was expecting although the lack of traffic and little very slow drivers to follow helped.

 

[trentside]

Last year, I worked an 11 hour shift on Christmas Eve (normally 12 hours, but we closed earlier than normal) and found it a stressful experience at times. Most people were fairly jovial, but the volume of people was quite an eye opener - I also had a few people trying to get from the Midlands to the far South West, and given the flooding that had taken place down there, it was a difficult journey for them. I also did my back in, helping a customer out, so was in pain for most of the Christmas period.

Personally, I find the lead up to Christmas can be very stressful, as changes to train times or planned engineering works can drastically change people's plans and lead to folks getting upset or angry. The cost of travel also seems to go up quite dramatically as the lower tier Advances go quite quickly, especially for journeys heading southbound towards London. So it can be a frustrating time in the run up!

 

[anthony263]

After last nights experience I can agree with what you are saying and I suspect things will be gettng worse.

Iceland are supposed to be offering home deliveries on the 27th December which I have little doubt I will be asked to do.

 

[starrymarkb]

Our office is usually open 7am-10pm 7 days a week...

We close on Xmas day, and reduced hours Boxing Day/New Years day (9-5) - last year the lines didn't close like they should and we had 200 missed calls on Xmas Day! :roll:

 

[Butts]

Thought I would start this thread to see what others think of their experiences working during the run up to and over the christmas period. I know some of you on this forum work in retails so will have some understanding of my comments.

Now as some of you know I currently work as a home delivery driver for Iceland normally working 25 hours per week however accoridng to my rota the week before christmas I am working up to 40 hours including a 12 hour shift on the saturday. Christmas eve I am working 8am-12pm with the last delivery slots being 1600-1800.

Iceland have recently started doing online shopping which is causing some problems as the drivers just have a printed out receipt with the customers address but no contact number for the customers in case there are any problems. Tesco's do ask for a copntact number which is something I have requested our head office do as it makes life easier for us drivers and for the customers

Last night there were problems in which the planned routes me and my collegue had chosen were thrown in to problems as we each had a delivery to make in the Garw or Ogmore valleys as welkl as doing deliveries to Porthcawl, Pyle and Pencoed, Pontyclun etc.

Traffic last night out of Brigend was so bad it took me 35 minutes to get to my 1st delivery in Porthcawl from the store which normally takes 20.

My last delivery slots were supposed to be 1900-2100 however thanks to the delivery in the Garw valley and the terrible traffic I did not get back to the store til 2000 and left at 2015 (Which is a very fast turnaround) with me finishing the last delivery at 2120 much earlier than I was expecting although the lack of traffic and little very slow drivers to follow helped.

Have you met Malcolm Walker ? that was a great mini-series about Iceland on BBC2 a few weeks ago.

 

[anthony263]

Not met him and I have not watched the mini series as I was out working at the same time it was broadcast.

 

[455driver]

On the 22nd I am going to suffer with a bad dose of flu and so wont be able to work until well into the New Year, shame really as I 'enjoy' all the happy, smiley commuters at that time of year!

 

[Welshman]

For the past 39 years, I regularly worked every Christmas Eve from about 1500 to approx. 0030 Christmas morning, and then again on Christmas Day from 0800 to about 1300, almost always standing-up in cold, draughty buildings. And if the day after was a Sunday, I worked very nearly the normal shift then, too.

I found it very exhausting but also enjoyable, and a great chance to meet people I wouldn't normally see from one year to the next.

And all for no extra pay - no overtime or time and a half.
Still, they say you don't enter the Church for the money.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Christmas in England is so tedious that I'm moving to Scotland for the duration. Hope all goes well but doubt it will be as lively as Amsterdam last year

 

[Techniquest]

I'm glad I'm not the only retail guy on here then! Sounds like my store's Home Shopping system works far better than Iceland, although all of our drivers would love the extra money Iceland pays!

Christmas Eve is, by far, the busiest and most stressful day of the supermarket calendar. The lead up to Christmas is bad enough, but 24th December is normally the hardest across the board. Takes a LOT of work to keep everyone fuelled up with their booze requirements, followed by their desire for tons of fresh produce, third worst being soft drinks. On the plus side, I get help with that stuff, one of the only days that ever happens!

I did manage to find my Christmas spirit last Saturday, although by the end of the day it and my will to live had gone. Payday weekends are evil...I got my Christmas jumper though as we're allowed to wear them on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at the moment. I also got my Christmas shirt for the other days of the week now, so I am getting there with it now!

So in summary, please do be patient and understanding of us in the shops, it is a stressful time of the year and it takes it out of all of us!

 

[anthony263]

Yes and think of us delivery drivers as well (Some of us would love to strangle some of the in store staff when they go crazy booking in deliveries and then realise we havent got enough room or send us of crazy routes like what happened last night) .

Iceland's delivery drivers are currently on £7.50 per hour for the 1st 16 weeks then its £8.30 although this is due to be increased again.

Because it is so busy now at the end of each shift we are supposed to bring the vans back to the store to unload the empty crates for the in-store staff to use the next day before we take the vans home or park them up.

The store in Bridgend is supposed to be open on boxing day although I havent heard whether deliveries are going to be offered. Some of my fellow drivers are going away for christmas with their families so if deliveries are offered on boxing day I suspect it will be just myself like it is on sundays.

 

[fowler9]

I have worked in Social Housing for a good few years and the call centre was open 24/7 365 days a year. On the plus side the people who called on the likes of Christmas Day were for the most part appreciative that we were working, also the call volumes were lower because people assumed we weren't open. On the downside it was very hard to help people with serious problems as there were no housing officers and naff all contractors working. The call centre were in fact just about the only people working.

As for other jobs, my mum was a nurse and of course they didn't stop for Christmas and New Year.

 

[Donny Dave]

So in summary, please do be patient and understanding of us in the shops, it is a stressful time of the year and it takes it out of all of us!

And for us guys who supply the supermarkets !!!!

If the live intake guys at our factory decide not to work Boxing Day (and New Years Day), then that means in the day or 2 before, we have to produce an extra days worth of chicken so it can be packed, stacked, picked and labeled ready for despatch. With the volumes we're currently experiencing, it isn't going to be a pleasent sight!

 

[Harlesden]

My best Christmas gig was way back in 1977.
£135 - for 14 hours working solo on Christmas Day - deep cleaning the Southside (M4 westbound) Granada Motorway Services Restaurant at Heston
(£135 was a lot of wonga 36 years ago)

 

[fowler9]

My best Christmas gig was way back in 1977.
£135 - for 14 hours working solo on Christmas Day - deep cleaning the Southside (M4 westbound) Granada Motorway Services Restaurant at Heston
(£135 was a lot of wonga 36 years ago)

Its a lot now, nearly 2 weeks of JSA.

 

[DarloRich]

There are plenty of people working very hard on the railway (and many other professions) over Christmas in conditions much harder than you will ever experience in retail.

 

[notadriver]

There are plenty of people working very hard on the railway (and many other professions) over Christmas in conditions much harder than you will ever experience in retail.

Yes but they will get a lot more than anyone in retail too.

 

[GatwickDepress]

Yes but they will get a lot more than anyone in retail too.

It's the contracted security staff on a low wage in a freezing grim portakabin that I feel for.

 

[anthony263]

I have nothing against railway staff in fact I know they do a very good job a lot of times under a lot of pressure although there may be times where I dont think things have been done as well as they could have been.

I can say this about retail as well yesterday at work example where the staff in store made a screw up of co-ordinating deliveries forcing the drivers like myself to try and come up with an alternative plan which thankfully worked although I ended up working 35 minutes later than I should have done but customers deliveries take priority since they keep me in a job.

With Christmas coming up I can see there being more problems probably on reason why I think I will be in early on christmas eve to help take the pressure off my collegues who will be working til 6-7pm since customers will be trying to get all their shopping delivered before the big day.

 

[notadriver]

Anthony do you wish you were back on the buses in a warm cab rather than doing this right now ?

 

[anthony263]

When things go wrong yes although you have similar issues when driving buses such as congestion and stupid slow drivers who you want to scream at.

When things go well my current job can be quite enjoyable since you dont have passengers etc and are free to plan your own route.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

I've got two Christmas' at home left, before I will be working on all of them for the foreseeable future, so I intend to enjoy these ones!

 

[fowler9]

Yes but they will get a lot more than anyone in retail too.

I doubt the call centre staff like me got a hell of a lot more than the retail staff if any more, we also don't get tips. As for nurses they have to study for at least 3 years to get the job and it is a lot more messy and high pressure than retail.

 

[Crossover]

Working in the manufacturing industry, we finish on 20th December and start work once again on 2nd January - though I have little doubt I'll be kept busy with other things in those days off!

I had half planned going in for a day as I did last year to get some work done whilst production was shut down, but given there isn't anything specifically to do and that work are getting a bit jittery over the amount of holiday I still have left to take before the end of March, I probably won't be this year

 

[Ploughman]

10 Christmas's on the trot.
Initial onsite start about 02.00 in the morning.
No warm cab anywhere near where you actually work.
Any type of weather you would care to mention we had it.
Thick Snow, severe frosts, Howling gales, driving rain and fog. Just like a normal site only it went on a lot longer.

10 hours or more outside uplifting old track usually a knackered junction somewhere, digging out the spoil and then relaying.
Job rolling on day after day between the 24th and the 2nd of Jan although our part was usually done by day 5

We might have been paid a reasonable amount, Treble for the main days and double for the rest but I think we deserved it.
However we were not the highest paid on site that accolade belongs to the contract digger drivers with treble time throughout and a 4 figure bonus.

 

[notadriver]

Wow what about any drivers driving the engineering trains connected with the renewing work ?

 

[fowler9]

10 Christmas's on the trot.
Initial onsite start about 02.00 in the morning.
No warm cab anywhere near where you actually work.
Any type of weather you would care to mention we had it.
Thick Snow, severe frosts, Howling gales, driving rain and fog. Just like a normal site only it went on a lot longer.

10 hours or more outside uplifting old track usually a knackered junction somewhere, digging out the spoil and then relaying.
Job rolling on day after day between the 24th and the 2nd of Jan although our part was usually done by day 5

We might have been paid a reasonable amount, Treble for the main days and double for the rest but I think we deserved it.
However we were not the highest paid on site that accolade belongs to the contract digger drivers with treble time throughout and a 4 figure bonus.

Ha ha, best thing you can do at school these days is sack off the A Levels and going to Uni and learn to drive a specialised piece of machinery. Get your A Levels and Degree and its a free pass to get a call centre job. Learn to drive the machinery and you can name your own price for over Chrimbo and the bank holidays.

 

[Roverman]

What annoys me is when we try and organise rotas so that hardworking people can have some kind of break over Christmas or New Year and this might leave us a bit shortstaffed in places, the first people to whine about it are those who get almost 3 weeks paid leave.

They haven't got a clue.....

 

[Bald Rick]

My best Christmas gig was way back in 1977.
£135 - for 14 hours working solo on Christmas Day - deep cleaning the Southside (M4 westbound) Granada Motorway Services Restaurant at Heston
(£135 was a lot of wonga 36 years ago)

That's about £700 in today's cash by RPI. Good gig!

In the late 80s early 90s I used to do split shifts in the local hospital kitchen cleaning and washing up; 0630-1430, 1700-2030. Double time Christmas Day and Boxing Day, (from £3 to £6 an hour!), great excuse to escape the (extended) family, and as much Xmas pudding as you could cope with. (and possibly some left over brandy).

Now I just watch the phone to see which job is going wrong, then start making the calls, and head to site or control as necessary. No extra cash of course, it's what comes with running the railway.
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Ha ha, best thing you can do at school these days is sack off the A Levels and going to Uni and learn to drive a specialised piece of machinery. Get your A Levels and Degree and its a free pass to get a call centre job. Learn to drive the machinery and you can name your own price for over Chrimbo and the bank holidays.

You'll have to trust me here, the best thing to do is to go and learn to be a signalling tester. The cash this year is astronomical.

 

[notadriver]

A Virgin train driver is on about 55k driving one of fastest and most sophisticated trains on network rail metals.