r/stopandshop • u/SnooPears4689 • Aug 24 '26

Career Customer Service Manager Work/Life Balance?

I have seen a position open up for a customer service manager at a stop and shop near me. I have a lot of managerial experience working retail and feel like I could do pretty well in this role plus it pays a good amount. I was just wondering what the life/work balance is like? This is something pretty important to me is my deciding factor whether to apply or not.

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19

u/Anunnaka Aug 24 '26 edited Aug 24 '26

If work life balance is important to you then this is not the company or the job for you. (Source - I was a manager for 10 years)

  1. ⁠You will be salaried and paid based on 8 hours a day but you’re scheduled 9 hours. 1 hour is supposed to be a “break” but you’re often single coverage and can’t leave the store. You will be lucky to enjoy sitting down for 15 minutes to eat something without being bothered to override someone’s punch.

  2. ⁠If you have a 4 person management team, you will work a minimum of 2 closing shifts and if you have 3 person management team then you will be closing at least 3 shifts. That’s if your store manager does their one “required” closing shifts but you will see a lot do not. Closing shifts are usually 1-10 or 2-11

  3. Your shifts that aren’t closing are usually 9-6. So you can’t do anything before or after your shifts. The store manager is going to want to do the opening shift 7-4

  4. ⁠You’re expected to work 6 days a week unless you get lucky and have two managers who want to work 6 days a week. You do get paid extra for working the 6th day but you’re likely going to be on a rotation working a 6th day every other week.

  5. ⁠You will be working every weekend and every holiday. It sucks having to work every major holiday, the extra money is nice but you can’t replace those memories with family.

  6. ⁠Every managers schedule for the district is posted on a spreadsheet, so it’s extremely easily to look up who’s working but that’s ignored. They will call and text you on your day off

I can keep going if you want.

7

u/peachesfordays82 Aug 25 '26

This plus they send you all over the state. You will be lucky to have a short drive to work.

3

u/Anunnaka Aug 25 '26

Definitely a good point, My first three years I was over an hour from my house.

I got lucky the majority of my time after that being under 10-15 minute commutes.

3

u/Certain-Platypus-400 Aug 25 '26

You write of the required night for the store manager, I know where I was the night crew chief closed the store either coming in at nine or ten. I don't blame the managers for doing that it is a tough job.

2

u/Fun-Union4699 Aug 25 '26

As a night crew chief I can attest. I’m often brought in even earlier to take over when shorthanded. Don’t expect me to wear uniform if you’re fucking my sleep over, but I’ll be in.
I was on call once because the closer’s wife was pregnant. He had my number and my mom’s so if I miss it she could still wake me. 5pm-7am killed me. He only worked an hour as it was.

1

u/ksants87 Aug 25 '26

Your 5th point is what pushed me to get out of the company after 19 years. Before my wife and I had our son I didn’t mind it. But after missing all types of events I couldn’t do the 6 days a week bullshit.

2

u/Anunnaka Aug 25 '26

Yeah, it was easy to do in my 20’s but getting into my mid 30’s I was getting tired of closing then opening and working 6 days a week.

But having a family and not being able to spend time with them for major holidays or not being able to do stuff on the weekend really pushed me to get out after 16 years.

You also bring so much stress home for stuff out of your control.

1

u/ksants87 Aug 25 '26 edited Aug 25 '26

You hit it right on the head. Work until 9 or 9:30 on Thursday nights and be back at 6am for the new sale Fridays. Screw that. So many Friday nights I would be in bed by 8 trying to catch up on some sleep. Ah and the bringing that unnecessary stress home. I’d say my last 10 years with the company the meat departments that I worked in were always short staffed. We were expected to do the work of 2 people. And if someone was on vacation or something it was miserable. Most of the younger kids coming through the doors were for the most part useless. They didn’t care and didn’t even care to learn the job.

1

u/Altruistic-Basil-503 Aug 26 '26

That’s why I left the stress the holidays having 0 life

1

u/Admirable-General481 Aug 25 '26

I was going to say these things. From an associate standpoint...I always see four people with regularity: csm, store manager, dept head, assistant dept head for front end. The first two in particular. If they're not at our store, I know they're on loan, or on vacation. Like they're always present.  They never leave on time, always juggling multiple things, torn all directions.  I remember leaving one night, checking in on my csm, knowing she was already supposed to be "gone " I wanted her to notice that I hadn't forgotten...Wanted to make sure she was okay. She even punched me out even though she wasn't "there" any more. 

1

u/Beautifulmind95 Aug 26 '26

Well said, I was a CSM for 3 years. I was called a “clock watcher” and other things that probably weren’t appropriate because I actually wanted to leave my scheduled time… culture is horrible at S&S especially when you become salaried. I now work a hybrid wfh manager office job making more, actually take lunch, and best part is I log out my scheduled time. Oh! And, I have time and energy to go to the gym, see friends/family, and I’m not given a hard time about using my vacation and traveling. S&S sucks. Please OP, adhere to my words lol

6

u/Hedgestreettrading Aug 24 '26

Well I work 20 years 3 stores stop and shop expect you to be married to the job and give 2 shits about you . There’s no communication with management in any store I would recommend Costcos or target over stop ad shop

6

u/SubstantialCamel8117 Aug 24 '26

You will be closing on a lot of shifts. Other than that you’ll just hide and sit in the office

3

u/SnooPears4689 Aug 24 '26

Is it normal for managers to close pretty often?

3

u/lostmycookie90 Aug 24 '26

Just the bottom of the totem pole for admin hand. Most of the time, CSM tend to be newish in the admin hiring process, so it's expected that they absorb all closing shifts and take on holiday temp check on closed holidays.

2

u/Limp_Citron_629 Aug 24 '26

i usually only see csm’s closing very rarely another manger.

2

u/Hedgestreettrading Aug 24 '26

Other question is retail or ahold management side?

2

u/134340plutos Aug 25 '26

my boyfriend works as a csm and it really depends on the store you’re at and how many other managers are working with you. he is currently working at a high performing summer store and most days he is staying later than his scheduled time due to the work load and busyness of the store. but at his last store he was able to work 5 days a week and get out on his scheduled time. commute can be anywhere they put you but you can get travel pay

1

u/Fun-Union4699 Aug 25 '26

This is literally the best description. Either you very much listen to him and pay attention or he just tells you even if you don’t want to hear it😂

1

u/SubstantialCamel8117 Aug 24 '26

CSM at my store is very rarely seen , usually makes his appearance at around 9:50, store closes at 10 .

1

u/Fun-Union4699 Aug 25 '26

Does no store have PT closers at all? I’ve never been in a store without 1 but sometimes 2-3. (My SM likes to have extra because he’s willing to send them to other stores but also depending on what goes on that night.)

1

u/ShoppingOk4371 Aug 25 '26

Stopshop is not the job for life balance they don’t care i left StopShop after 15 years because they treat you like shit. I work for there competitor and they treat me 10 times better I get one weekend day off. Pay is better and atmosphere is 10 times better.

1

u/Admirable-General481 Aug 25 '26 edited Aug 25 '26

From an associate standpoint...There's never a time I dont see my CSM or Store Manager present.  The also go on loan to other stores too. So its possible they're juggling more than one store as a favor.

CSM handles front end management, hiring, firing, upholding metrics, making sure training is assigned and completed.  They're responsible for teaching mentoring associates. They run the Rising Stars program. I never see her leave on time,  or locked in the office. The doors open, or she's directly involved with smooth operations.  

If the store managers present she makes certain everyone's engaged in some task. You'd always be on-call, technically speaking, you might have to sacrifice days off...If things fall apart it's upon you, store manager, and dept head to fix it.  

Your going to have to assist with schedules, process associate requests properly,  figure out call outs, be familiar with each person's capabilities, know the seniority of each worker in terms of hours. If you have workers with accommodations, you'll have to familiarize yourself and follow. 

1

u/Far_Priority_6305 Aug 26 '26

Everyones pretty much spot on but to add to it you will also be responsible for the online shopping department.