Toolstation Employee Reviews

What is the best part of working at the company?Customers are great and the job is simple What is the most stressful part about working at the company?Management don’t treat staff fairly What is the work environment and culture like at the company?Toxic environment not all staff are treated fairly What is a typical day like for you at the company?If your busy with customers it’s great if not boring

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Worse company I've ever worked for your overworked and underpaid

Supervisor (Former Employee) - Isleworth - 26 September 2023

Management lazy Staff members always offDouble shift Lone tradingHardest part is customers being rudeSolo trading No time for breaksHr useless No bonus

Pros

None

Cons

Long hours

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Insights into Toolstation

Based on 437 survey responses

What people like

Ability to meet personal goals

Areas for improvement

Sense of belonging
General feeling of work happiness
Energising work tasks

Regular customers make it worth it

Supervisor (Current Employee) - High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire - 24 September 2023

Great company to work for but can be VERY stressful, working 14 hours when there's no one available to cover sickness but the customers make the job well worth it - pay isn't great though for the amount of stress you go through

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Chill work place and easy to find things

Customer Service Advisor (Current Employee) - St Albans - 24 September 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?Nothing best but I have some good managers and some of my team is good What is the most stressful part about working at the company?Not have a staff member being respectful to me and rude to a customer which is my family What is the work environment and culture like at the company?Nothing really to say about the company What is a typical day like for you at the company?Slow or busy in couple of days

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Are you very toxic work environment?

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Maidenhead, Berkshire - 22 September 2023

One of the most toxic places I’ve ever worked in the store managers and ABBA management are inside each other’s pockets matter what the store managers do is overlooked but if you’re a SSA a SA or supervisor you will get the book for about you over the slightest little thing

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Challenging culture, not for the faint hearted

Retail Supervisor (Former Employee) - Hampshire - 18 September 2023

A fairly typical trade counter working environment at first glance. Underneath, there is very unfortunately, a raft of issues that make things way harder than they need to be.Paper work, red tape, endless checklists for tasks, constantly moving goal posts and unachievable goals.The fact that a lot of the processes really do not work in store seems to escape upper management.There is ridiculously high staff turnover and has been for a long time but this doesn't raise the right questions. No one seems to want to address the core reasons why people do not stay.If you're like me and easily frustrated by problems that you know the answer to, without any power to change those things, you'll go slowly mad.The generic responses from recruitment to these reviews are just buzz phrases. The snide "this might not be the right job for you" comments are supposed to make you feel that it was your issues that made you not want to stay.That should tell you everything you need to know.The final straw for some this year was the constant drive for sales and "multi line transactions" fired by an email from head office about falling sales and a difficult climate, coupled with a charity promotion AND an internal world cup style competition for sales. All the while managers were laughing it up at an all expenses paid, free bar, hotel stay, travel and accommodation paid knees up over three days disguised as a conference.What a kick in the teeth for the non managers left to run the stores.The distribution centres are not fit for purpose. Constant errors, bad packing and shocking attention -

Pros

Staff

Cons

The rest.

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Poor life balance, overworked, underappreciated

Sales Assistant (Current Employee) - Nottingham, Nottinghamshire - 18 September 2023

This job at first seems easy enough, with the job being serve customers, even learn things along the way. You typically get welcomed in with open arms, with promises of flexible times, teamwork, bonuses etc. And at first, this happens. With your mindset being do a good job, and make the people you are working for proudAs time goes on however, these fake walls will come crashing down, with the mindset being unappreciated and sometimes even picked on for it. You are commonly overworked, with people running off behind the manager’s area or canteen the moment more than 1 customer shows up. Leaving you on your own with customers getting frustrated. Sometimes they will even walk right past customers, ignoring them and leaving them for you to deal with because they simply can’t be botheredDeliveries are terrible, with the documents and items being mixed up, most of the time not the right quantity, or missing entirely. Sometimes items even come in damaged as they’re just shoved in the tote with zero cares. And I’ve even dealt with paint tins that had been damaged and leaked all on products.Supervisors who do Rota’s if they don’t like you will deliberately give you shifts that make it impossible for you to do your own hobbies, and will normally stick you on morning shifts for almost an entire week, sometimes multiple weeks if they choose to do so. And will also stick you on lates, then early morning starts the next day. Don’t try to negotiate times in advance either. It’s rare you’ll actually get listened to, and unless you have a good reason which they will hound you for, they -

Pros

Funny customers, sometimes nice staff you work with

Cons

Everything else

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Just a number

Supervisor (Former Employee) - Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear - 12 September 2023

At toolstation you are nothing but a number, all the extra shifts you put in, bending over backwards for your staff (I was a supervisor) means nothing when it comes down to it, management looked for some to blame for there mess ups and that person was me, there is no loyalty in the management or above. Really enjoyed working here felt almost betrayed by most staff members.

Pros

Great place to work

Cons

No loyalty, Just a number, don’t care about staff

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Excellent

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Romford - 31 August 2023

Great place to work, great team work, great team work, great team work, great sales experience, good working environment, overtime available, would recommend

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Productive

Sales Assistant (Full-time) (Former Employee) - United Kingdom - 30 August 2023

It's hard work and some things are heavy. But you get to know your regular customers to help them with the things they need to get. Can be really busy at times when sorting out deliveries to helping customers and keeping store clean and tidy.

Pros

Cons

Long hours

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Jobs at Toolstation

Terrible Place to Work at

Store Assistant (Current Employee) - United Kingdom - 25 August 2023

I joined on a 15 hours contract due to my outside committments which I made clear during the interviewing phase. Since I joined (under a year ago) I've had maybe a month in total (not a consecutive one) when that was the case.Staff retention is terrible. In the store branch that I have been in, since the end of last year, only people are left from the original team (including myself). Despite my committments I was guilted into helping out the store, with the promise of staff shortages being sorted out being dangled in front of me, it still hasn't been fixed. A lot of shops are in the same situation, even regions. At some point I was made to work 4/5 days a week, despite having the contracted hours that would make me work for 2-3 days in a normal situation.Most of my shifts recently were closing (starting anywhere from 12:15 to 15:15 and staying until closing) which effectively cuts you off from any socialising outside of work.There are so many better things you can do and be actually properly rewarded for it unlike it's the case here. If you enjoy retail or dealing with people in general, just get an office based/hybrid remote customer rep job to save yourself the headaches.Teams are close knit more often than not which creates a good atmosphere to operate in but the job itself annoying and it does build up resentment.The customers are often rude and very frequently operate under a delusion that you know everything about your product range, including its actual use which you are not trained for nor contractually obliged to learn or even renumerated adequately to -

Pros

Wagestream, Close Knit Teams

Cons

Long hours, Antiquated Techniques, Incompetent Management, Rude Customers, ROTA Constantly Changes, Chaotic Deliveries, Redundant Corporatism

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A fairly good place to work but you will never get support or career progression, just more work on the same pay.

Customer Service Advisor (Former Employee) - Bridgwater - 17 August 2023

A fairly good place to work but you will never get support or career progression, just more work on the same pay. It can be really hard with a high volume of calls of upset people which you are never trained for. Unsupportive culture.

Pros

Most of the people you work with are lovely

Cons

Not vert flexible, especially with health issues

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Not employee focused

Store Assistant (Former Employee) - Bridport - 17 August 2023

Not much training provided when first started, just learn on job as you which was difficult at times but it was interesting. Job is fast paced and feel under pressure most of the time. My presence was not valued and I was mostly made to feel as if I was expendable. Only part time hours offered so you'd be more likely to pick up overtime if anyone is on holiday or sick. This left me with financial unsecurity.

Pros

Great staff discounts and benefits

Cons

Pay, lack of training, not enough financial security for my needs

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Great place

Assistant Store Manager (Former Employee) - Sevenoaks - 15 August 2023

It’s a good company to work for if you want to progress. The benifits with the company is better than other places I have worked previously. The pay it’s self is not brilliant. But if your a SM or ASM then I would recommend to find a busier and bigger store to work in you get paid more. All in all its good especially when you can get qualifications out of it to. I will also say bigger stores have the better ability to cater for needs and in house training is provided but looking to progress from an SA then bigger store is a lot better.

Pros

Progression, annual pay increase, fun and friendly

Cons

Unpaid breaks, bank holiday working

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Okay

Warehouse Operative (Former Employee) - Middleton, Greater Manchester - 15 August 2023

Wage good management also good, health and safety improvements, upper management woeful, operations support women brings her issues to work and takes it out on others , great leading by example

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Lovely team, shame about higher management

Store Supervisor (Former Employee) - Shepton Mallet, Somerset - 13 August 2023

Amazing time working with the Shepton Mallet team. The higher management is the problem (area manager and above). They are so out of touch and have no sympathy whatsoever. When you find a good team, it could definitely be a job for life!

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Terrible, unmanaged, evil

Assistant manager (Former Employee) - Saffron Walden, Essex - 11 August 2023

HR are terrible, management don't care, and all centres are understaffed. No structure or hierarchy just many people hiding in the back room avoiding work. Terrible company avoid like the plague.

Pros

Sometimes you get a little money

Cons

Literally everything

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Progression, Slower paced retail dynamics, work life balance.

Senior Store Assistant (Current Employee) - Selby, North Yorkshire - 9 August 2023

Having been with the company for around eight months now, I feel it is time to put up the all important dreaded review. My overall experience working for Toolstation has been positive with a few minor hiccups along the way. In terms of progression, I'd say there is active progression routes if you wanted it. I was soonly promoted to Senior Store Assistant around the six month mark. So I'd say it's relatively easy to progress if you possess the willingness. I'd say that there is a decent work-life balance even as an SSA within the company. The minimum you'd work would be 5-hours a day over 4 days, if a 20-hour contract has been offered, so it's more than ideal for a student, parent/guardian or those looking to soon retire but not quite ready to leave their working life behind. The most you'd probably work would be a 9-hour shift. Like most jobs in retail, you are expected to work weekends, for us in our particular branch we work 1 in every 3 weekends, with having one full weekend off. The nitty gritty:I do often find the job to be on the slower pace, and in some cases stale. That however is my personal opinion from previously working in fast-paced chaotic industries such as hospitality. Although it is nice to have a given change of pace. In terms of day to day jobs, they get pretty repetitive, sometimes script like. But I believe all jobs have that in nature and cannot be helped. You are often on your feet for the entire shift, so invest in some good insoles/boots. So it's definitely isn't a job for you if you expect to sit down for longer than 20 - 30 minutes. Despite -

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Official response from Toolstation

15 August 2023

Thank you for leaving your review. I am so pleased that you can see there are clear routes for development and progression. I am surprised to see that you find the pace quite slow compared with other retailers as most of our colleagues think the pace is really quick and the days fly by. I guess it depends on the store that you are in. Great shout out on the boots...My feet were hurting after a day in them. Thanks again. Adele - Talent Attraction & Recruitment Manager

Productive

Store Assistant (Current Employee) - Leyland, Lancashire - 3 August 2023

Great place to work. Nice colleagues, my store is very quiet so can be boring if there’s nothing to do. Rota is good and manager always works Rota around our needs

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Fun workplace

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - New Malden - 2 August 2023

Enjoyed working there. Team was excellent. Very easy work nothing crazy. Can be busy at times but it’s easily manageable. Can learn a lot whilst on the job

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expectations are set too high for shocking pay rate

Assistant Manager (Former Employee) - Hampshire - 2 August 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?Some of the people were great , others not so muchWhat is the most stressful part about working at the company?Terrible regional manager support, always expected to work at full power even during scorching summer months with no form of air conditioningWhat is the work environment and culture like at the company?toxic, if your face didnt fit there was no chance of job progression. Their retail development plan was an absolute jokeWhat is a typical day like for you at the company?constantly being undermined, expecting blood out of a stone

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Official response from Toolstation

15 August 2023

Hey there, thank you for leaving your review. Your feedback is important to us. Our stores can be cold in the Winter months and hot in the Summer and we are very clear about that in the recruitment process, however I will pass on the feedback on your behalf as it is important to make sure that our colleagues are safe and well when the temperatures occasionally rise. As for your perception of our culture and our development pathways, I am sorry you feel that way. We have worked hard and continue to develop a people centric culture where our colleagues feel valued, supportive and cared for. Over the past 12 months, we have launched a number of family friendly policies to even more perks and benefits to well being initiatives. It sounds as though our culture was not best suited to you though and I really do wish you the best in your future careers. Adele - Talent Attraction & Recruitment Manager.