Archived Is guest service going out the window?

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So is it just my store or has Target dramatically shifted over the last year? When I first started as a Cashier and quickly promoted to GSA I felt like all we talked about was Guest Service. Make it right for the guest and always ensure they are having an amazing front of store experience, but lately I feel like our store has just stopped caring about actual service. All they want to know is if we made RC goal and that OPU is getting done.

I understand the importance of Red Cards and as a front end team we have been crushing it and for the first time in a while our YTD is been positive most of the year. But every little thing they've tacked on has made it harder and harder to service guests. OPU is great except when no one is scheduled for it. During this time of the year Guest Service is flooded with guests returning items and trying to orders and they are usually the backups for drive ups. So while they're busy and the lovely horn starts a honking the responsibility for drive ups falls on to the GSA. Honestly I enjoy it, it gives me a second to get fresh air, however realistically this is terrible because I need to be up front helping guests and all of the new seasonal cashiers who need help.

In addition to that now GSAs are expected to carry the SFS devices at all times with a printer to help check guests out. Helping get guests out quickly is awesome but while I'm doing that, I'm now frozen from getting to a team member who needs help or answering a phone call in the seemingly 20 seconds before the call starts ringing again and that guest gets upset because we're busy helping another guest.

Couple this with all of the responsibilities of GSAs and GSTLs that we normally had I feel like the front end is getting swamped with all of these new expectations that cannot be realistically met. I became a GSA because I enjoy helping people but now it seems like I've turned into a glorified cash register with legs, so we've been tasked with picking uo the slack since we've been incredibly understaffed up front since the summer. We've hired plenty but no one is getting hours. Guests are stressed, cashiers with seemingly endless lines are stressed and making mistakes, the front end leadership is stressed as well but nothing is changing. This time last year everything was running much more smoothly and guests would always compliment us on our service. Nowadays its quite the opposite and our upper-management or district doesn't seem to care one bit.

And don't get me started on how often mobile checkout or MyDriveUp freezes.

It seems to me that fun fast and friendly has just turned to fast*
*As long as you placed your order online 2 hours in advance

Are any other stores dealing with similar issues. Does anyone have any advice? I've been a GSA for almost 2 years now, but these last 2 months have been really testing my patience.
 
Pretty much. They tell us that all of our logistics processes will move to the day so we can focus on guest service, everything is guest service, guest service is priority #1. Except it's not.

My GSTL/A team hasn't watched the lanes in 2 months. All we do is ship or back up at guest service, or push freight. The service desk is now expected to answer phones, do drive up, photo, opu, zone and push onespot, fold and hang style reshop, ensure the desk looks like a freakin hotel lobby at all times, do defectives, rewrap items, explain how to use a cellphone and cartwheel to tech illiterate guests, fix issues caused by cashiers who have no one available to assist them when something goes wrong, help guests order things online, assist with registries, ALL WHILE GETTING PAID LESS THAN MOST OTHER AREAS.

We're drowning. Guest service, with the addition and increasing popularity of online pickups, has a never ending line on a daily basis from open to close. We are spread entirely too thin and it's not sustainable. Guests are getting pissed because they aren't being helped the way they always have been. One guest said the other night that we have less cash registers open than Walmart, and that we seem to have forgotten it's the holidays since there were only 2 cashiers.

At this point, though, while it's frustrating and exhausting, I also just don't give a shit anymore. If Target wants to penny pinch and talk a big game about guest service while forcing us to do the jobs of 8 people with 1, then fine. I will do what they ask, and when people stop shopping with us and sales go down and the stock drops even more, I won't care. They have chosen to drive us into the ground to increase their earnings. I won't care when their actions cause them to lose it all. If they don't want to take the actions to ensure the business succeeds, then I sure as hell am not going to do it. I'll follow their rules and do as they want us to do, but I'm not going to go above and beyond anymore trying to make it all work. If things get sacrificed, then so be it. If I can't guest service properly because they want me running product out the door to someone's car, then guest service will decline. If they want me to forego all tasking that ensures we run smoothly in order to focus only on guests, then fine. I won't do any tasks and we'll fall apart that way. The leaders of this company are trying to turn a cruise ship into a submarine by forcing it underwater. The ship is submerged and we're all drowning. I've accepted it and I'm not going to kick and scream trying to prove to them that they're wrong. We're already beyond the point of saving. I'm just going to try to do as they say until I can find a lifeboat off.
 
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It is a shit show at guest services now a days. We have a line 10+ people deep all day long, the daggers we get shot by guests as we are trying to keep up with the OPU/STS picks is killing us on the SFS/OPU side. I have been yelled at cause I haven't dropped the two carts I am trying to clean up and get into hold to get their order. Guest service is a mess, we have taken over most of the ETL offices cause we are long out of hold space. The Guest service peeps are just dumping reshop into repacks rather than carts cause you can't have a cart of reshop since there is no one to actually work the reshop.

It is a fucking shit show.
 
It's almost like the stores would function optimally if people-people were allowed to concentrate on serving guests in person while the things-and-tasks-people (of which I am one) focused on merchandise. We should totally try it sometime.
How true. We used to do that and it worked very well. TMs were happy, guests were happy, and Spot wasn’t a constant shitshow. Three bits of advice for Spot: If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and cheaper isn’t always better.🙄
 
The service desk is now expected to answer phones, do drive up, photo, opu, zone and push onespot, fold and hang style reshop, ensure the desk looks like a freakin hotel lobby at all times, do defectives, rewrap items, explain how to use a cellphone and cartwheel to tech illiterate guests, fix issues caused by cashiers who have no one available to assist them when something goes wrong, help guests order things online, assist with registries, ALL WHILE GETTING PAID LESS THAN MOST OTHER AREAS.

We're drowning. Guest service, with the addition and increasing popularity of online pickups, has a never ending line on a daily basis from open to close. We are spread entirely too thin and it's not sustainable. Guests are getting pissed because they aren't being helped the way they always have been.[/QUOTE]

This!! I will add one more thing...returns!!!
 
The service desk is now expected to answer phones, do drive up, photo, opu, zone and push onespot, fold and hang style reshop, ensure the desk looks like a freakin hotel lobby at all times, do defectives, rewrap items, explain how to use a cellphone and cartwheel to tech illiterate guests, fix issues caused by cashiers who have no one available to assist them when something goes wrong, help guests order things online, assist with registries, ALL WHILE GETTING PAID LESS THAN MOST OTHER AREAS.

We're drowning. Guest service, with the addition and increasing popularity of online pickups, has a never ending line on a daily basis from open to close. We are spread entirely too thin and it's not sustainable. Guests are getting pissed because they aren't being helped the way they always have been.

This!! I will add one more thing...returns!!![/QUOTE]
F YES!!! This is horseshit!

Beer on me, Frontlanegirl. Hit the nail on the head.

My desk looks like shit because the 60 seconds I get guest-free an hour are spent doing reshop. I run out of gift cards, merch cards, receipt paper, Zebra paper, and I gotta go down to my closet myself bc the GSA or GSTL is covering OPU breaks or self checkout breaks.

Shit is stupid.
 
This!! I will add one more thing...returns!!!
F YES!!! This is horseshit!

Beer on me, Frontlanegirl. Hit the nail on the head.

My desk looks like shit because the 60 seconds I get guest-free an hour are spent doing reshop. I run out of gift cards, merch cards, receipt paper, Zebra paper, and I gotta go down to my closet myself bc the GSA or GSTL is covering OPU breaks or self checkout breaks.

Shit is stupid.[/QUOTE]
I’m sure I can add other things, but will leave it at this. I will say, usually there is only one person scheduled to deal with all this.
 
We have 2 working at our busiest times, particularly since we process shiptostore. It's busy, but doable. Some processes need to be streamlined better.
 
It's like how flow became dayside because MUH GUEST SERVICE but now the guests can't get to the product because vehicles are in the way and most are too polite to ask us to move, and the lines at the front are longer because salesfloor can't really back up when they also have 50 other tasks to do.
 
I watched as a guest service TM took the last 2 carts on the GM side to sort strays in, leaving zero carts for guests. I think guest service as a concept is changing. "The old way" of catering to every guest is becoming more self service by the customer, and these younger TMs attitudes, and Target's coporate decisions are a sign of the times. The retail chains that are surviving the E-revolution are the discount stores, whose shelves are a shitshow, and have lines a mile long at checkout. They're giving guests what guests say they want, cheaper prices at the expense of everything else.
 
I watched as a guest service TM took the last 2 carts on the GM side to sort strays in, leaving zero carts for guests. I think guest service as a concept is changing. "The old way" of catering to every guest is becoming more self service by the customer, and these younger TMs attitudes, and Target's coporate decisions are a sign of the times. The retail chains that are surviving the E-revolution are the discount stores, whose shelves are a shitshow, and have lines a mile long at checkout. They're giving guests what guests say they want, cheaper prices at the expense of everything else.

I agree with this. It's all about the lowest price. Then great, that's what you get. But nothing else.

I straight up walked away from a guest the other day. I was picking a drive up when she stopped me in infants. She asked if we had any Christmas socks for men. I told her they would be in the men's area. She said there weren't many over there. I walked away. I don't have time to help her. And frankly, I didn't care to even watch her mouth move.
 
we have been having such a hard time keeping up. just yesterday we had three at guest service (including me) and a gsa coming to back up and the line was still at least 9+ long and near our exit door.

the walking to get order pickups that have been constanty in wrong hold locations, incomplete, or damaged is too high. plus they don’t put things in the closets closest to us... even with some space at the current moment. they’d rather fill up the backroom location and our back up location on the other side of the store because they don’t want to be bothered to walk to the front of the store.

the other night i was alone at guest service and was probably obnoxious, but i don’t care. i hit the “additional asst to guest services” button four or five times in the about 45 minutes while the gstm i was covering was on lunch. lod did walk by and tell me i needed to try to pay attention to the lanes as the lines were getting a little back up over there while staring at my line of 10+ and walked away.

i knew no one would answer my back up call, but i needed to prove the point - that no one in the store cares about guest service.
 
we have been having such a hard time keeping up. just yesterday we had three at guest service (including me) and a gsa coming to back up and the line was still at least 9+ long and near our exit door.

the walking to get order pickups that have been constanty in wrong hold locations, incomplete, or damaged is too high. plus they don’t put things in the closets closest to us... even with some space at the current moment. they’d rather fill up the backroom location and our back up location on the other side of the store because they don’t want to be bothered to walk to the front of the store.

the other night i was alone at guest service and was probably obnoxious, but i don’t care. i hit the “additional asst to guest services” button four or five times in the about 45 minutes while the gstm i was covering was on lunch. lod did walk by and tell me i needed to try to pay attention to the lanes as the lines were getting a little back up over there while staring at my line of 10+ and walked away.

i knew no one would answer my back up call, but i needed to prove the point - that no one in the store cares about guest service.
Sounds like some of the issues we are having in my store. I have moved past the point of caring and I hit the button or get on the walkie as needed. I will say the ETL's in my store will help out.
 
My store has some of these problems. With a lot of new members things are bound to get get messed up. I'm in hardlines and I usually defect and do my own rewraps so I don't add to guest services load. My front lanes are pretty good when it come to sorting and keeping the team up to date on what go backs are ready. Bueaty has the whole A block. Electronics help with the toys when they can and softline has their stuff.market has their stuff as well. Hardlines is left with b,c,d,e, and seasonal. But as long as we keep up on it we only get small carts after we get caught up in the morning. My LOD's are still guest first mind set. Make sure we greet all guests. If backup is needed at front or guest service then we stop what we are doing and help the front.
 
It's like how flow became dayside because MUH GUEST SERVICE but now the guests can't get to the product because vehicles are in the way and most are too polite to ask us to move, and the lines at the front are longer because salesfloor can't really back up when they also have 50 other tasks to do.

Except I've noticed very few flow (inbound?) TMs actually helping guests...it's more freight focused, and I wonder if overnights weren't so bad...

My store has some of these problems. With a lot of new members things are bound to get get messed up. I'm in hardlines and I usually defect and do my own rewraps so I don't add to guest services load. My front lanes are pretty good when it come to sorting and keeping the team up to date on what go backs are ready. Bueaty has the whole A block. Electronics help with the toys when they can and softline has their stuff.market has their stuff as well. Hardlines is left with b,c,d,e, and seasonal. But as long as we keep up on it we only get small carts after we get caught up in the morning. My LOD's are still guest first mind set. Make sure we greet all guests. If backup is needed at front or guest service then we stop what we are doing and help the front.

I also do my own defectives, etc. at GS. Often, I get stranded at the service desk trying to help them catch up. I don't mind usually, but it's just frustrating.
Slightly nervous now for the service desk shift I picked up next week...
 
Yeah, it's almost like the type of person who can get freight pushed quickly and is good at backroom tasks isn't the same type of person who is friendly and likes harassing guests to buy things they don't want/need.

Oh, wow, I must really be bad at my job then...I never harass anyone to buy anything! :D
 
It sounds like I left at the right time. I have a friend and former TL tell me that she was at our old store a few weeks back and no one said hi or anything to her. When she mentioned it to a group of them standing around chatting it was like a bunch of dear looking into car headlights. She even said there were at least 2 or 3 ELTs that said nothing.
 
I just watch the people pile up at the service desk...it's a mess. Back in the day (now I sound old), GS used to do rewraps, tickets, etc. and now I don't know what to do with things I don't have time to take care of. (The operator used to do that too, but now I don't think it's one person doing that position.) So if something needs tape or a new handle, I bring it up and wonder if it ever makes it back to the floor...I'd take care of it myself, but lately there's barely anyone on the floor to answer calls, zone, and back up at the lanes.

Too bad they can't schedule one additional person at GS to help with order pickup, etc. You'd think...
 
Target was never about cooperation. It’s always been independence, and independent-problem-solving; and don’t misconstrue that by saying “oh, but we have walkie-talkies and they’re always in use...” because they’re always in use due to the lack of physical cooperation apportioned.
 
I just watch the people pile up at the service desk...it's a mess. Back in the day (now I sound old), GS used to do rewraps, tickets, etc. and now I don't know what to do with things I don't have time to take care of. (The operator used to do that too, but now I don't think it's one person doing that position.) So if something needs tape or a new handle, I bring it up and wonder if it ever makes it back to the floor...I'd take care of it myself, but lately there's barely anyone on the floor to answer calls, zone, and back up at the lanes.

Too bad they can't schedule one additional person at GS to help with order pickup, etc. You'd think...

If I'm running the desk by myself and it's not a shitstorm of 900 guests returning 37,000 items each, I manage the defects, rewraps, clearance ticketing, etc. pretty well.

With the holiday season upon me, it takes me forever, but, again, if I'm by myself at the desk, it'll be slow, but stickers will go on the right items.

It's the newbies coming up to do backup that fucks it all up for me. I have designated piles for "will salvage," "will clearance sticker," and "will rewrap" but if I turn away for 10 seconds, the shit is all taken out to empty lanes for reshop and the Zebra printers have 3 mile-long sticker tape; now I can't realistically go back out to the lanes and find everything, so I close my eyes, pray to the Target gods, and hope the respective departments defect it out themselves (HAHAHAHA as if).

The shit will come back eventually to the pile of "things other departments are too lazy to salvage themselves" so I'll have fun doing that at the end of the night.

That is, if I have more than 15 minutes if it's not for No Receipt Gary and Crumpled Up Clearly Stolen Receipt Karen coming in 5 minutes before the store closes to get store credit or cash for shit that stinks of cheap cigarettes, that I also now have to salvage before I close my cart.
 
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