courier driver

patient care coordinator

account manager

cake decorator

deli associate

Vons

• Morning shifts, 5 AM to 1:30 PM, a second person comes in at 9 AM and leaves at 5:30 PM. So many orders sometimes, it would be best if there were three people to a shift.

• LITTLE TO NO SUPERVISION, just you and your cart, walking, searching, scanning, asking other departments if they've seen these items. Managers come in once in a while to drop off some printed emails or the store metrics.

• If you're leaving at 5:30 PM, you would give the work phone to a front-end manager who would take out the orders from then on (DUG pick up time closes at 8 PM)

• TRY TO LEAVE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. You could try to be a good co-worker and take out as many orders as you can before you go... but just leave, you did your work for the day. People always arrive in swarms at the end of shifts, 1:30 PM and 5:30 PM, so either prepare to stay longer or clean up FAST.

• CALM MORNING SHIFTS, but I kinda feel bad for ruining displays because people just worked on them and here I am getting everything off the shelves already (but I understand that that's the job). Trying to fix the displays will lower your PPH so pick your poison. Get disliked by your co-workers or get constantly told to do better by the managers?

• LOTS OF OVERTIME (if you're slow). This could be because some orders dropped before you leave (you can't leave when there are still orders to be picked) or because you're in the middle of picking, or because people keep arriving to pick up.

• ALWAYS PUSHING FOR LOW OUT-OF-STOCK (OOS) PERCENTAGE. They always want you to substitute when you can. Just do it or managers will bug you. Customers might get mad that you "messed up their orders" even if they allowed for substitutions. I thought subs meant getting another size or brand, but if you think the customer won't care, just sub different flavors or anything close enough. Just take note of customers who don't like flavor subs.

• Me and my coworkers have only been here for a month and they want our pick speed to be 90 and above...

• GET GOOD SHOES, averaged 15,000 steps a day, probably 20,000 and more if you're really swamped

• CALL A MANAGER FOR HELP, they might try to find someone in another department (who knows how to pick) to help out, but help is not guaranteed.

• 3 ORDERS PER HOUR (unless they open up the system for more orders), no matter the size of the order (could all be small, big, or a mix) and answering calls and texts of customers who've arrived then taking out their orders

• ORDER HAND-OFF 
1. Customer calls: "Hello, this is Vons Drive Up and Go, *NAME* speaking, can I get your name and stall number please?"
1.2. Customer texts, the texts show up a few minutes late
1.5. Finish what you were doing in the aisle you were in (if there's not a lot) (Most people are on their phones and don't notice that you take a while)
2. Scan totes out of zones, double-check to make sure you didn't forget anything (I have multiple times)
3. Roll up to the car window, they might show you the code or not (the code they show should be the last 4-digits of their order number)
4. Give them their receipt (they got one online though) or put it in one of their bags 
5. Load the bags carefully enough so that the customer doesn't think you're too careless, but fast enough so they don't think you're slow (and so you don't spend too much time in the heat)
6. Confirm the order hand-off completion before you tell them you're done
7. "Alrighty, that's everything. Have a nice day!"
8. Ask if you should close their door (some people want to check their groceries)
9. Go inside, take off stickers, and put totes away

• FORGOT TO GIVE AN ITEM, a bag, or multiple things? Call the number as seen on AcuPick under their name, tell them its Vons Drive Up and Go and that you forgot to give them *ITEM NAME(s)*, seem stressed and realllly sorry (they might go easier on you). Tell them to call back and give them the choice of coming back to the store to pick up the things or just giving them a refund. 

• NO SHOWS. If someone didn't show up to get their order the day after, you can either put them anywhere to the side (chilled and frozen can go to the least used side of fridge and freezer). You can keep them for like AT MOST 3 days, then if they still didn't show up, refund their whole order and put back the things that are still good onto the shelves. Watch out for produce and fruit flies!

• LITTLE TO NO ORDERS you can either clean, print out and pre-pick orders that haven't come out yet, or bag groceries upfront.

• When it gets BUSY ON THE WEEKENDS it's hard to maneuver your fat, heavy cart through the aisles while trying to find the items then looking over the side of said cart to scan them into the tote. 

• BREAKS. If you have the morning shift, try to take your first break at 7, which is before people start calling. I've missed many of my breaks because there were too many orders for me to be relaxing.

• NOT VERY FLEXIBLE. I asked for fewer hours 'cause I want to focus on school, I got 40 hours a week...

It is jarring how much drama and passive-aggressiveness there is, not between the other young employees and me, but with management. My immediate boss, the front end manager, is very immature. She holds grudges, acts out on her emotions, and is blatantly fake to certain employees. She puts up a nice act whenever she wants a favor, but will ignore your presence entirely if you aren't of any use to her. I recognize that it's just a meaningless minimum wage job, but that is not how management should act in any workplace. A toxic work environment will spoil any job, regardless of the work. 

Besides the dramatic and unsupportive managers, I can't really complain. It's a job. The union is nice because you can't get fired just because they don't like you (and based on all the trash my boss talks about other employees, that would definitely be the case without the union). Working in minimum wage customer service, you very quickly become accustomed to being treated like dirt from both customers and management. A good sense of humor works wonders in coping with the overt verbal and emotional abuse. 
That being said, I still find and focus on the positive aspects of my job. I love being able to help people and socialize with customers. This job has given me the opportunity to have some truly positive and memorable experiences. Some of my coworkers feel like family to me, and whenever I think of quitting I do realize how much I would miss those people. 

The work is repetitive, but it's a fast-paced environment that keeps me focused and on task. There are days I love my work and days I can't imagine working there for another hour. I will say that when customers leave used sanitary pads stuck to the walls of the bathroom, I refuse to touch it because I do not get paid nearly enough for that. 

Long story short, it's work. If I had to do it all over again, I would still decide to work there, because the positive bond I have developed with some of my coworkers is surprisingly worth the abundance of unnecessary negativity. However, I cannot wait to get out of here and move on to a more fulfilling career. Please do not make this your lifelong job - it may result in either insanity or suicide. But for a part-time job just until I finish college, I can't complain.

I enjoy working with people, and this job involves being in contact with every type of person there is, from big time CEO's to struggling families to shoplifters.  

My favorite thing about this job was learning so many new things.  I learned a lot about time management and efficiency.  Every shift was an opportunity to challenge myself to grow.  As a veteran, the idea that I could gain anything from this job came as a shock to me.  In fact, I was initially very disappointed that after 10 years of serving my country, the best Vons could give me when I first started was about 10 bucks an hour and a job bagging groceries and getting carts from the parking lot.  I could not even afford housing with that pay.  Not in San Diego.  Eventually I moved into a position where I looked forward to my next shift.  I looked at it like, who wouldn't pay money for job satisfaction?  I was given the opportunity to manage my own department from the ground up, which was the most rewarding and eye opening experience I have had since the military.  If you are someone who likes challenges and solving problems, this job is nearly perfect, and fun!  

After about 4 years, I hit $13 an hour.

Working as a team comes with inherent challenges in any place of work.  From a leadership perspective, the workplace culture is stagnate and borderline toxic.  It would be helpful if the company provided training about core values such as comaraderie and motivation, and character traits such as initiative and self-reliance.  Most employees tend to want to meet at least the minimum expectations, so if you raise the expectations, you end up with better and happier employees, which results in better work place culture.  

Sometimes it's the little things that matter the most.  No one wants to work at a low paying job that also has a toxic culture.  

Vons to do list:

1. Hire at least one security guard because shoplifting is a huge problem.

2. With the money you save by doing that, pay your employees more. 

3. Take the time to do real core values and character trait training as a team (not on the computer).  Elect a different team member every month to prepare a 30 minute period of instruction on an important core value and character trait.  Have them present it twice so that all team members are able to get the training.

4. Enjoy watching your business transform into a place people like coming to and where employees are proud to work, instead just another low paying and meaningless grocery store job.

I was an employee in the Service Deli Clerk. During my time at Vons, I was a full-time student. Outside of school, I volunteered in my local Boy Scout Troop as an Eagle Scout and I volunteered at my local church. Because of my outside commitments, I reasonably requested 15-20 hours a week. This is where the problems started.

The management at this store would always give me 20+ hours a week, usually around 28 hours. Every week I would fight this, to no avail. Every week, I would have scheduling conflicts. I would constantly talk to my manager regarding my schedule but no changes came. 

Fortunately, my employees helped me with my schedule. Most of them were happy to switch or even cover for me. They cared about me. They wanted me to succeed. Most of them were shocked to find that our management did not want to work for with me, regarding my busy schedule. Because of this, I became very close to them. I am still in contact with some of them to this day.

Eventually, I discovered the favoritism at my store. The management favored other employees over others. This was brought to light in many ways. One way this came to light is when they transferred me to other stores. The first store that they transferred me to was the Redondo Beach location, which added 10-15 minutes to my commute time. My second time I was transferred, I was sent to their Torrance location, which added 15-20 minutes to my commute time. This was my weekly schedule:
9am to 3 pm - school
3pm to 3:30pm - going home and changing
3:30pm to 10:00pm - work
10:00pm to 11:00pm - dinner and shower
11:00pm to 3:00am - homework.
3:30am - 8:00am - sleep

There were two main reasons why I decided to quit. 1) Because of their terrible scheduling and management (my Deli Manager and my Store Manager) 2) Because they transferred me without my will or permission. 3) My Store Manager (at Hermosa) told me that I should PRIORITIZE Vons over anything else. That I should prioritize Vons over school. That I should prioritize Vons over Boy Scouts. That I should prioritize Vons over my church. That I should prioritize Vons over every single one of my commitments. The next day I decided to put in my two-week notice.

Where to even start. First, during the interview, they don't tell you much about the job. What they told me was, customer service, cooking, and cleaning dishes. Which is fine by me. I understood it would be a lot but they didn't say to what extent. Not only all that, we have to clean/deep clean the fryers and ovens, (those aren't quick to clean), clean the meat and cheese slicers (also not quick), sweep, mop, sanitize etc,. We also had to be in charge of the sandwich bar, which wasn't mentioned at all during the interview. If I wanted to make sandwiches I'd apply at subway. Also the soup and wing bar. Stocking was also part of the job which wasn't mentioned. Dumping out the old food, oil, the trash, cardboard, plastic etc., It's a lot considering pay was just above minimum wage. 

Pay really is not enough for the amount of labor one has to do here. Union dues take up a bit of your salary so it's basically like being paid minimum wage.

If your part time, expect to be put at just under full time so they don't pay you any benefits but over work you. Overtime is also very annoying here. It's a lot of work that it's hard to get done at the end of your shift so overtime happens a lot here, they don't want one leaving without having their work done, yet if we stay overtime, we get in trouble. If we arre cleaning the machines in order to be able to leave on time, and there's a customer, we have to stop what we are doing to go to the customer, which also takes up our time and causes us to not be able to finish our job on time, but somehow it's out fault we don't finish.

Some coworkers also call out a lot. Yet don't get in trouble for it, so us who don't call out are stuck not only doing our work, but theirs as well, yet we don't get paid for doing twice the work. And then we do overtime to finish, because if it doesn't get finished, we get in trouble, but then we also get in trouble for the overtime.

The only good thing about working here is the coworkers, (for the most part).

There are some decent managers here, but some talk to you like you're incompetent.

Employee benefits and discounts aren't even worth it here. 5% discount on most items but 10% on the store brand items, which isn't a lot.

Overall, the job itself is okay. However, the location you work at will make all the difference from what you’ll experience while working there. This review is for the Herndon & Fowler location.

You might be stressed out by the amount of work expected of you but if you can mentally handle the stress, it’s okay. It’s mostly management that makes your job an absolute nightmare. It gets to the point that you hope that you get a shift when certain management is NOT working. It makes the job actually bearable. They will micro-manage and nitpick any tiny imperfection or will get angry at you if it isn’t done their way, regardless if you were trained otherwise (or lack thereof). To ask for any accommodation, time off, or call in sick to management is a terrible experience. They will gaslight you into coming into work, even when you are sick, or get mad at you for asking to change your availability. In most departments, people are usually under-scheduled and overworked, 99% of the time they will ask you to stay later or come in on your day off because of the terrible scheduling. They will exhaust you mentally and emotionally if you let them. They don’t see you as a valuable employee, just as a human taking up payroll. When you inevitably resign, they immediately take away your cashier privileges, and will not give you a new schedule. Management treats everyone poorly, so the store has a high turnover rate. Please be cautious before you decide to work at the company. Human Resources doesn’t seem to care either, as the store has high profits. One of the only good things about working there are your co-workers. Most are very friendly and understand the frustration of working under this management. Working with these people are amazing, and none deserve the treatment they get while working there. Another good thing is the benefits: health insurance, 10% off, a lot of hours, etc. 

In conclusion, stay AWAY from the Herndon and Fowler location, however I’d also advise against working for Vons. It’s a job that will drain you and have you wanting to leave for a better job.



The hours are inconsistent regardless of how many years you've worked there. The top out pay is competitive for the industry, roughly 50 percent above minimum wage. The pay starts at minimum wage and you get small raises every 500-1100 hours worked, typically taking more than 6 years before you get close to top wage. The health benefits are very affordable but you have to stay with the company for 6 years before you earn the good tier. The pension is 1/4th what it was before 2003 $18 dollars per year worked and there is no 401K matching. You have every opportunity to promote so long as you work hard and become a yes man/woman, the promotions don't pay much better though until you make store management and when you do that the health benefits then become much less affordable. The people you work with are typically very nice at every store I've been to but it is common to hear everyone not recommending others should come to work here. If you're a student management will usually work around your schedule, You can make a career here if you move up to management and become Store Director or one of the lateral positions. The people I've worked with who worked their way up typically take 7 years to promote to store director after first promoting to assistant store director, usually taking at least 3 years to become assistant store director to begin with. If you do not wish to move up to management the pay for top out food clerk is fair and the health benefits are very affordable currently pay is $22.50 and HMO health benefits are only $16 dollars a week for you and your family. The job is mostly customer service, stocking shelves, cleaning, cashiering. There are specialized jobs depending on which department you work in but mostly what you would expect in any retail store.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part of working at Vons is that I've been able to have more autonomy but it has taken several years.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Overworked and understaffed consistently and constantly. No real appreciation from some higher ranking managers. Many unreal expectations. Feeling under appreciated for hard work while others skate without consequence. I must say for the record that this is common among many professions around the world and a major concern for many people.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment can be chaotic and redundancy is common. Practices and procedures vary, meaning there may be a procedure that is extremely important to follow them the concept will be abandoned and replaced by another only to reappear at a later date and the circle continues as if it is a project lead by a team to produce results that only matter for a period of time and we don't fully understand why that cycle continues.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Stressful. I/we often feel behind on procedures before we even clock in for the day. Two people working to complete tasks that could be done more effectively with three or four workers. The quality of performance would be much higher obviously with more help.

Working at Vons is understandably very simple.  You show up ready to work, you clock in, do your job, clock out, and go home.  Working at Vons is a great way to improve communication skills as well as build a solid foundation for any future jobs you may apply to later.  Management is okay at best but probably the weakest side of the company.  Communication on work related issues is of course top tear but when it comes to a problem at work or with your health it feels like they rather not talk to you at all.  Overall workplace culture can be fun however it can also be quite toxic as well considering my above comment on management.  Favoritism is a huge part of the company and any attempt to better yourself that reflects negatively on management or their favorite will be punished in one way or another whether that means being consistently scheduled a shift no one wants to work or having your hours cut.  Coworkers are honestly the worst part of this job however they're not all bad either so keep your chin up.  Hardest part of the job would have to be ignoring any hostile comments and getting through the day, it's really not a difficult job at all.  The work is fairly simple and you're overall just trying to keep busy until your shifts over.

I enjoyed working there, made many memorable bonds but the higher management above the specific department leads were extremely difficult to lean on for support in the work force. They did not address any concerns that I and many other employees have had with either other employees who either come in but don’t do their job, or when your co workers did call out, management decided best to have you work your whole department by yourself with no attempt to call someone in to assist, not even for a few hours. I started as a front end clerk, bagging groceries and running the carts, but eventually made my way up to the deli department. I really enjoyed the deli and my department’s lead was very helpful and considerate. He made sure that his deli crew always had what they needed, even on the days I had to close alone, he worked day shift but stayed a little longer to assist me in preparing to close. Now at Vons the department supervisors(Leads or managers, depends on location for the title), get paid salary, so even with his extra hours he stayed to help his employees who were alone, had no affect on his check. But above them, if you had any issues that needed the store manager’s or general manager’s attention, you were SoL, and HR was an even bigger hassle. I definitely would work there again, but if I was able to work with the same supervisor and crew I had back then. 

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