One horror story could be about an employee being overworked constantly. For example, an employee might be forced to work double shifts without proper compensation. They are made to stay late to finish tasks like stocking shelves or dealing with a large number of customers during peak hours all by themselves. It's really tough on them physically and mentally.
Well, a common one is the lack of proper training. New employees are thrown into the job without sufficient knowledge about the products. So they often make mistakes and then get scolded for it. It's really unfair when they were not given the tools to succeed in the first place.
There might be cases of harassment among employees. In some stores, employees have reported that they were harassed by their colleagues either verbally or in a more subtle way like being given all the difficult tasks while others got away with doing very little. This made their work experience extremely unpleasant and affected their job performance negatively.
Overworking is quite common. Employees often have to work long hours, sometimes without breaks. It's like they are expected to be machines. Another common horror story is about unfair treatment. Some employees get the worst shifts or tasks assigned to them while others seem to get all the perks. It's not fair at all.
One horror story is about an employee who was constantly overworked. The boss kept piling on tasks without any regard for work - life balance. He had to work 12 - hour days regularly and was expected to be available on weekends too. Eventually, he burned out completely and had to take a long break to recover his health.
Another horror story was the lack of proper security measures in the store. There were instances of shoplifting that put employees in danger. They were not trained well enough on how to handle such situations, and sometimes they were blamed for the losses even though it was not really their fault. Some employees also had to deal with people coming into the store just to use the facilities and make a mess without buying anything, and they had no real way to stop them.
Perhaps there were issues with workplace bullying. A new employee at Lush might have been targeted by some of the more senior employees. They could have been made fun of for not being fast enough at serving customers or for making small mistakes. This created a really hostile work environment for the new employee, and they may have even considered leaving the job because of it.
Some employees have had to deal with unruly guests. There are cases where guests verbally abuse employees for minor issues like a ride being closed temporarily. An employee at a Disney store once shared that a customer got really angry because the item they wanted was out of stock and started shouting and using inappropriate language. The employee was left feeling very distressed but had to keep their composure as per company policy.
One horror story could be about the extremely long working hours. An employee might have been made to work 12 - 14 hours a day during peak seasons like Christmas without proper overtime pay. They were constantly exhausted but still had to meet high sales targets.
In a coffee shop, I was sitting at a corner table working on my laptop. A woman walked up to me and asked me to make her a special coffee. I was shocked and told her I was just a customer. She then said I looked like I worked there. I was so embarrassed. I think it might be because I was wearing a black shirt similar to the baristas' uniforms. But it was still a very uncomfortable situation that made me not want to go back to that coffee shop for a while.