Laura Ashley reviews

The training when you start should pre empt the whole experience. It scares, bullies and doesn't reflect any real experiences you will have on the shop floor- a number of employees at my store have quit after a week of training, isn't that saying something in itself? The pay is poor- under 18s are on £3.87 an hour and expected to put in just as many hours and just as much work as the over 24s who are now on £7.20 almost double what the under 18s earn! Unsympathetic managers and especially the further up the working chain you get- regional managers who won't allow more than 2 weeks holiday at a time, even when you get employees are taking exams and really shouldn't be having to come into work for long shifts! Poor communication from head office to stores, often resulting in embarrassing moments when customers know more because they've been sent an email containing information that stores aren't even aware of yet- so unprofessional! The till systems are incredibly slow and old fashioned, with no PIN verified refunds making the whole refund process long and complicated leaving queuing customers frustrated and flustered. No CCTV or security of any kind, so sometimes working can feel quite unsafe, especially when customers begin to get nasty and all you are told is to "please the customer", but when you are told by the manager to put through refunds or discounts that head office haven't authorised it often and easily ends up as a disciplinary matter. Some of the products that come in are of dire quality and extremely highly priced for what they are, and this is shown by the constant sales that are going on- starting to get a reputation for it! If you can afford to reduce products to less than 20% of their original price, why price them at that in the first place? Quality products need to be invested in so as not to tarnish the brand name. Laura Ashley Mastercards also need to be reviewed, as many of the customers don't want to open a credit card and the only selling point of the card is the initial 10% off when you open it, and the privilege points you will earn to come and spend in store. Most customers cut up their cards and cancel the agreement after this, because there are no other perks to being a cardholder- if you want loyal customers invest in a better loyalty scheme to draw them in, a credit card isn't a very enticing way to attract regular customers!

Easy to see why staff turnover so high as bullied and intimidated by managers on a daily basis and threatened with 'disciplinary' action for the slightest (and often imagined) misdemeanours. Impossibly high standards and targets are set which seem to be in place to install fear rather than inspire hard work. The training videos bare little resemblance to what happens on shop floor as team are expected to complete (often nonsensical) tasks to the detriment of good customer service. Pressured into selling the in store MasterCard which is time consuming and ties up the tills (queues build up and sales are lost) Threatened with disciplinary action if accounts not opened. Locked in each night to spend further 20 minutes 'tidying', expected to go over shop with fine tooth comb, everything to be examined for perfection five times over. Utter madness. Customers are greeted at front door in an effort to deter shoplifting as tight fisted company won't install CCTV or employ security meaning staff are unprotected and open to suspicion. You will be expected to work any hours and days you are given, including most weekends, often at short notice. Most of the staff were working 50% extra hours than stated on their contracts, perhaps this was deliberate and to avoid paying extra holiday pay and uniform allowance? The uniform allowance and staff discount seem generous but products are expensive and my personal opinion is that the clothing range is very overpriced, though the sales are good. Staff expected to hand their life over to the company to the detriment of their family responsibilities, health and welfare.