I left a year ago on good terms and I ran into my old store manager a few days ago who said they were hiring. I told him I’d think about it but honestly, when I think about how bad it was there I’m a bit hesitant. I wanted to ask him if things have gotten better in terms of environment and politics that were in play but I’m not sure he would’ve been honest with me. Have things changed in a year or is it the same as always?
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Don't do it. I have worked for this company for way too long and I can say that Walgreens corporate has done nothing but push more work on us. They NEVER do anything that will make our lives easier. They do not give a sh-t about anyone who works in the store. Our staff has dwindled down because they don't want to give us hours and they want to sc--w our best people out of their compensation. We manage the work day by giving average to poor customer service because we don't have time to help people for more than a minute before we get called away again.
Since I started they added:
- The Balance Rewards, now MyWalgreens card, a sh---y rewards program that pretty much only benefits couponers and holds up the line because people don't know which phone number they have attached to it or what their zip code is. MyWalgreens card is even d-mber than the original card because people don't know what you mean by cash reward. They think a cash reward is cash off not points. Some fu-----d in corporate thought the term cash reward would make the program better. Wrong. Fu-----d. Oh and enough trying to grab for people's emails like Gollum grabbing for his precious. If someone doesn't want to give you their email, they aren't going to give it up.
- A thousand different photo products that we have to know how to make and have available in our inventory. The photo department is jam packed full of inventory for this cr-p and they never stop making new products. At least two more are coming. Training people in this department is very difficult. There is simply too much to learn and building the products well takes too much skill for the pay to be minimum wage and for it to be done by a different person every day.
- Fedex. We have to take in people's packages and find packages they have sent here. We are also supposed to make labels for Fedex returns, but half the time we can't even get it to work and it is WAY too time consuming for our understaffed store. We have to be careful not to do it for the wrong companies as well because companies like AT&T have to be done at a Fedex office. Most of the time we tell customers that we don't make the labels because fu-k that sh-t. People come up to us with no box, no label, no tape, just the product and expect us to do everything for them. Fu-k corporate and their stupid ideas. This garbage doesn't drive sales, it only burdens our already understaffed store with more work.
- Western Union. Another useless service that takes up our time, makes us go to the safe to grab money to put in a loan, and some people want us to help them at the kiosk. We have driven away Western Union customers that want our help on the kiosk because we do not have time for them. People sometimes ask us to call the Western Union customer service number to help them.
- We do bus card reloads as well and sometimes we end up being customer service for the fu----g bus.
- Curbside. I was pi---d when they put this in place. I admit that it is much better than the previous pickup they had, but it is still very annoying. How during Christmas am I supposed to walk away from the numerous calls for customer assistance to go bring people's orders outside the store? We have three and sometimes only two people during different periods of the day. We are not fu----g Wal Mart. We don't have a hundred people on staff. Fu-k corporate.
- We are going to be selling credit cards. As if we don't have enough cr-p on our registers and enough work on our plates, we now have to add something else. We now have to deal with people signing up for credit cards on our pin pad and pi---d off customers waiting in long lines telling us to fu-k off.
Getting worse every day. Now they want us in headsets. Corporate needs to take their headsets and put them where the sun doesn't shine. Customers are complaining about all the new garbage from corp. The curbside is a total wreck. People buy everything because no limits and leave nothing for anyone else. Couponer's know they also get discount for curbside. 16 toothpaste or hand soap for curbside.. Also was told that curbside can change coupons to match amount spent. The system they are using for keeping track of stock is a joke. Whoever set it up probably can't add 2 plus 2.
Everyone's situation is different but if you already worked for Walgreens then you know how bad the environment is. Why would you go back? I work in a call center for Walgreens and its pretty much the same awful culture that it was over ten years ago when I started. People keep expecting it to get better but it doesn't. Fortunately, I'm am nearing the end of my work life so I won't have to put up the garbage much longer. Your former boss's perception of Walgreens may be different than yours. Also, its their job to drink the Kool-aid and sell Walgreens. If you think its going to be better the second time around, you may be disappointed. Besides, Walgreens is a revolving door (people always quitting or getting fired). You can most likely get a job there later if things don't work out at another employer.
It’s gotten worse.
The fact you said in your own words that “I’m not sure he would’ve been honest with me” says a lot.
Would you want to work for a manager that is going to tell you anything just for the sake of the business?
You need to evaluate what is more important to you and make a decision from there.
If you love being dominated with the promise of a promotion hanging over your head, by all means go back to Walgreens.
If you value yourself and your mental health, I’d advise you to stay away from Walgreens.
They are ran by people who are filled with nothing but greed. Not only the same greed every other company has from its CEO’s, but worse.
For example, even Walmart closes on Christmas while Walgreens would rather separate families so they can make more bank.
He-l will be really hot and is patiently waiting for the “top dogs” of Walgreens. They deserve it.