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Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

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Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#141

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

notyourwork wrote: post #95
cliffordthedog wrote: post #86

Good timing, last thing Amazon will want right now is a battle with a union. Especially for a company they acquired so recently (shows that things got quickly worse with Amazon in charge). Good luck Whole Foods workers.

I'm not sure this shows things got quickly worse. It may just show Whole Foods employees lost control they used to have but I think you are jumping to conclusions.

They specifically mention that the equity program is only for more senior employees, where it used to be much more broad base.

Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#142

Post by HarryHirsch »

EpicEng wrote: post #122
deathanatos wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And that's part of the problem. I go to Super Duper in SF, and every time, the employee is forced to ask: "Have you been to Super Duper before?" If I say yes, "Welcome back!" if I say no, "Welcome!"¹. It is pointless. All I want is lunch. Want to see that I've been here before? You have my credit card number… ¹The exact words might not be right, the point is that there is no meaningful difference to the customer betw…

>"Welcome!"¹. It is pointless. All I want is lunch. Yeesh. If that bugs you then... just lighten up. Most people aren't anti-social to such an extreme. You're the odd man out here, not the rest of humanity.

You're the odd man out here, not the rest of humanity.

Really? People like the forced conviviality? In San Francisco, one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the country? With a sizable number of first-generation immigrants, unacculturated to the strange customs of the USA?

Why can't we have attentive food service, where they pour you fresh coffee the second you sign them to but not earlier, and where they don't intrude on the conversation every 3 to 5 minutes?

Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#143

Post by catach »

icebraining wrote: post #42
jblow wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do. I am a Prime member but when Whole Foods cashiers ask I say "no" because I just want to get the bullshit over with and get out of there.

That's not the point; you don't get awards for purposefully and repeatedly violating company policy on a hunch that the customers prefer it. And you're actually validating Amazon's policy: you're annoyed and yet you're still both a Prime member and a WF client, which means they lost nothing by annoying you.

For business "annoyance" is like a hidden debt that keeps accumulating until it reaches a threshold where they have to pay for the whole amount.

Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#144

Post by tomjakubowski »

nathansobo wrote: post #68

I miss the old Whole Foods. I feel like the shopping experience has gone downhill in a variety of ways.

Almost overnight following the acquisition, security at my local Whole Foods turned from the usual couple people wandering the store with walkie talkies to a team of "tacticool" guys in sunglasses staring down the aisles and muttering to each other with earpieces and lapel mics. It's creepy.

Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#145

Post by Buldak »

crazygringo wrote: post #14
kbd wrote: post #2

Figure this is an appropriate time to share this story: went to Whole Foods a little while back and the cashier seemed nearly terrified that she'd be terminated if she didn't make sure to ask before checkout if the customer was a Prime member. I'm pretty sure she said that other people had been for forgetting.

How is that any different from grocery stores asking everyone if they have a reward card, clothing stores asking if you have their credit card, McDonald's asking if you want to super-size that, or bartenders being required to offer to upsell liquor? It's extremely common for cashiers to be required to ask if customers are part of whatever program is relevant, if they would like the current promotion, etc. Nobody's go…

Presumably the difference is that Amazon is much more likely to punish you for it. I worked at a grocery store in college (Roundy's) and I was never "terrified" about failing to push memberships.

Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#146

Post by a2tech »

akudha wrote: post #138
notyourwork wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure this shows things got quickly worse. It may just show Whole Foods employees lost control they used to have but I think you are jumping to conclusions.

Not sure if things have gone bad for employees (not a surprise though), but as a shopper, things have definitely gone bad. Most visible one is empty shelves, which is becoming more and more frequent. Maybe they did some "optimization", doesn't help shoppers though

Yeah ours looks dingy now. It looks to me like either the employees have stoooed caring, management has changed their priorities, or the overall quality of goods has dropped in a short amount of time.

Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#147

Post by asntbqjkwbucaa »

srtjstjsj wrote: post #49
imagiko wrote: post #38

I have noticed that the cashier's have gotten pushy about asking about a Prime account, and very recently about a charity donation. It's a good way to 'make' people donate when asked upfront. I'm sure the probability of people donating increases. When I denied, I was asked if I'd like to round off my payment and have the balance donated. Honestly, it's very annoying. Whole foods is unfortunately becoming an REI store…

That's the new trend in many grocery stores. Someone on HN or Reddit mentioned that grocery charities are actually a tactic to estimate the sign of the derivative of e the customer base's grocery-discretionary income, as a hint of when to raise prices.

I always assumed the reason was to generate $XXX million in donations for a tax deduction for the grocery store chain.

Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#148

Post by JustSomeNobody »

lsmarigo wrote: post #73
imagiko wrote: post #38

I have noticed that the cashier's have gotten pushy about asking about a Prime account, and very recently about a charity donation. It's a good way to 'make' people donate when asked upfront. I'm sure the probability of people donating increases. When I denied, I was asked if I'd like to round off my payment and have the balance donated. Honestly, it's very annoying. Whole foods is unfortunately becoming an REI store…

Panda Express kicks this up a notch and has a little bell they ring whenever someone donates their change adding an element of social pressure/shame, super scummy

Ugh I hate that. I don't donate money so that I can stand around saying "Hey, Look what I did!"

Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#149

Post by jabits »

akudha wrote: post #138
notyourwork wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure this shows things got quickly worse. It may just show Whole Foods employees lost control they used to have but I think you are jumping to conclusions.

Not sure if things have gone bad for employees (not a surprise though), but as a shopper, things have definitely gone bad. Most visible one is empty shelves, which is becoming more and more frequent. Maybe they did some "optimization", doesn't help shoppers though

This seems to have been corrected at out local Whole Foods (Maui), but the upside is that the prices are much more reasonable, for still good quality. We used to just go there for "special" items, but are doing more general purpose shopping there now, and the tie-in with Amazon Prime is nice too.

Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#150

Post by p49k »

EpicEng wrote: post #122
deathanatos wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And that's part of the problem. I go to Super Duper in SF, and every time, the employee is forced to ask: "Have you been to Super Duper before?" If I say yes, "Welcome back!" if I say no, "Welcome!"¹. It is pointless. All I want is lunch. Want to see that I've been here before? You have my credit card number… ¹The exact words might not be right, the point is that there is no meaningful difference to the customer betw…

>"Welcome!"¹. It is pointless. All I want is lunch. Yeesh. If that bugs you then... just lighten up. Most people aren't anti-social to such an extreme. You're the odd man out here, not the rest of humanity.

rest of the US

Most of the world doesn’t have the bizarre forced scripted friendliness in customer service that the US has. People are allowed to be polite or friendly in their own personal way.

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