Bunnings is as much a part of the Aussie way of life as beaches, barbies and cold brews.
But while the hardware behemoth is adored for their huge product selection and unbeatable sausage snags, Aussies seem a little more divided when it comes to their hiring choices.
It should be law that all bunnings employees have a trade. If I were in HR I'd only hire ex tradies with shot backs
In a Reddit thread, Aussie user u/brokebee420 said: "Please get rid of the subconscious expectation that Bunnings employees are qualified tradies."
In the comments, other Australians shared their thoughts on the debate about whether it is reasonable to expect a certain level of trade expertise from Bunnings employees.
Here are some of the best responses:
1. "Ironically, most of the times I've asked a Bunnings employee a simple question like 'where can I find X?' they always ask what I need it for, then suggest specifics or even alternatives. Maybe I just look fucking clueless."
—u/9D_Chess
2. "I went to Bunnings with my neighbour today to get a few things, who tried to crack a bad joke with the cashier, but he was tired and said he'd had a long day. In the car, my neighbour said it was bad service (because she didn't get the fake upbeat response she wanted), but I told her that we're not entitled to get that."
"Poor kid looked about 16, working on Sunday. Why should he fake it? His job was to register up our stuff and take our money, which he did. He's not there to perform for us."
—u/OnesieWilson
3. "I don't think it's unreasonable for customers to expect you to have some knowledge of the products you're selling, even if you're just floor staff. However, Bunnings should be giving you training on that — maybe bring it up to your supervisor that you'd like training on the things that customers are asking about. When I did retail, we constantly had e-learning units on new products and their features."
4. "I think it has something to do with what Bunnings has done to the local trade store. I used to be able to go to the local hardware store and talk shop with the people there. They all knew the stuff as they'd been in the trades. However, the store couldn't survive once a Bunnings popped up nearby."
"Bunnings prices were just impossible to beat, besides the obvious buying power, I would say it's also because they employ the younger generation — who haven't had the chance to build the trade skills, whereas the local shop was basically paying ex-tradies.
But in general, people expect far too much from retail staff, especially fast food places. Go easy on the workers, people."
—u/BurstPanther
@noplaceforsheep @StrayMutts I'm annoyed Bunnings is practically my only choice for hardware etc since they destroyed every small business hardware shop in the country. Yeah, I'm old enough to remember the corner hardware shop my dad used.
5. "I feel for the people on the floor — generally teenagers — because it's not your fault that Bunnings hasn't spent the time training you on general areas of DIY knowledge. But I will say I find it frustrating whenever I go in and ask for some very top line advice (e.g. what paint finish I should use indoors) and the employees just brush me off and say 'I can't help you'. It's one thing not to have trade expertise, but there is some expectation of general knowledge and advice."
—u/wllj
6. "This is honestly why I like Australian customer service. In the US, there's basically two kinds of service: 'I am working for tips and/or my manager is monitoring my every micro-expression, so I am going to be excruciatingly fake', OR 'This is one of three sub-minimum wage, zero-hour-minimum casual job with no benefits and you're lucky if I acknowledge your existence'."
"In the UK, it's more 'Serving you places me in a lower social class than you, which means I am required to be deferential, but in a way that makes it clear I am picturing myself sliding a knife between your ribs while I do it.'
But in Australia it's 'This is a job I'm getting paid for.' If you treat the person serving you like a human being, they'll probably give you the same treatment. If you don't, bets are off. Which is why I'm always suspicious of anyone who says they get consistently bad service at Bunnings."
—u/carlfish
7. "Don't blame the customers, blame your employers. If customers complain to you, you should be passing those complaints on to your manager. Bunnings basically made proper hardware stores disappear, but didn't fully replace what they did. There used to be three proper hardware stores within around me, now there is just Bunnings."
—u/underthingy
8. "Bunnings employees are not legally allowed to give you plumbing or electrical advice. There are so many signs up in those aisles saying so."
9. "I sympathise, but your problem is that Bunnings ads claim that their staff can offer 'the right advice', so it's hardly surprising that some customers expect that to cover rather more than it does!"
—u/TassieBorn
10. "The only experts at Bunnings are out the front with the sausages. And even that's a stretch these days."
—u/Citizen_13
11. "I collected trolleys at Bunnings while in high school, but was also on the registers. Could not believe full-grown men, who were seemingly dressed as tradies, were asking me advice about drill bits or plumbing fittings. Mate, I'll be in English class tomorrow morning, what the fuck do you expect me to tell you?"
—u/mjdub96
12. "I've received the best help and product recommendations from retirees who are shopping in Bunnings. I had one interrupt the conversation I was having about an item the employee had helped me to choose. He recommended a slightly different item and I bought that. Have been thankful he did that, because I would have regretted the one the employee recommended."
—u/ilikechooks
13. "Serious question: Is there some special training that goes on so that from the moment you step on the sales floor, you know where everything is? I've yet to meet a staff member who didn't know where something was. Like, how the fuck do you know where every item is and what number aisle?"
—u/littleday
14. "Bunnings used to hire many ex-tradies who couldn't physically or didn't want to practice their trade anymore. Now Bunnings are completely dominant, the knowledgeable/helpful staff are harder to find. But Bunnings never advertised any transition to untrained staff with no knowledge of what they are selling — so take it up with your management about why customer expectations aren't being met."
"However, no customers should be rude to retail staff regardless. Though the urge to yell 'what the fuck?' gets pretty strong when you ask someone 'where can I find X?' and they give you a wrong answer or say 'dunno' and turn away."
—u/dmk_aus
15. "The loud minority make everyone's life a misery, I see it nearly every day where I am. So hats off to all the Bunnings legends out there."
—u/Gav5825
16. "I get more annoyed at all the people who take their dogs to Bunnings for attention."
—u/wosdam
Foxy went to Bunnings today
17. "I didn't know Bunnings had any employees. When I go in there and I have a question I only ever see shoppers and the person at the exit making sure you aren't stealing a girder."
—u/Elriuhilu
18. "This is the American system of retail. The store is supposed to do the selling (along with some advertising support). The employees are there just to do the manual stuff that the store can't do, like getting stuff off shelves and collecting your money. But the staff are about as de-skilled as possible. And now, with Amazon working their way, the stores are very marginal as to effectiveness or not. Malls are closing, big chains are closing, all because they went in one direction that turned out to be the wrong one. Looks like the Aussies have caught the same disease."
—u/Jim-Jones
19. "Bunnings used to be good, but they lost their way about 20 years ago. Now I go there because they are convenient or they have a good warranty and returns for me to 'use and abuse' later on. If I need specific tools or staff with good product knowledge, I find there are far more competitive places to go for them."
"Wesfarmers has owned Bunnings for close to 30 years and they got rid of all the knowledgeable people when Bunnings was restructured and they shifted the Headquarters from Perth to Melbourne."
20. "[As a Bunnings employee] yeah, it's completely reasonable and is expected of us to have a basic understanding, or at the very least ask someone for help if needed. It would take way too much time and money to educate every employee about most of our products. We do get trained to our specific area, for example I work plumbing, so I'm taught basic uses for certain fittings etc. However, there are a lot of times where I'll get dragged to another area by a customer and be completely in the deep end, only to cop it because I don't know how to help them."
—u/brokebee420
21. "My total expectations for Bunnings employees: Help me find stuff in the store. Like, not even expecting you to know what aisle or anything, just the general area or maybe what label to look for in the aisle signs."
—u/Echidnahh
22. "I preferred going to Bunnings when it used to be full of retired or semi-retired tradies. At least they could point you in the direction of particular products. Maybe getting older tradies isn't an option for Bunnings anymore, but I personally do know a lot of young hobbiest DIY-ers who can't even get a foot in the door at Bunnings. And it's not like it's impossible, every Jaycar I've been to has been a prime example of staff who know their shit."
—u/perrino96
23. "I've never had this issue in a Mitre10 and curious if that's a shared experience? Their staff are always incredible helpful and full of really sound advice."
—u/wllj
24. "Gone are the days where retail staff had to actually know about a product. The moment I step into a Bunnings, I expect nothing more from staff than to point me in the direction of a product. Even that can be challenging at times. I applied to Bunnings back in the day — I know my way around tools and have a background in making stuff. Never got a look in."
—u/twwain
25. "I think part of the misunderstanding customers might have is Bunnings has a tonne of installation services, plus some on-site services, which do require some knowledge or expertise. It's wrong of people to assume any random they come across working in the shop is one of these people, but aside from asking, there's no way to tell who knows."
26. And finally: "We don't expect the 17-year-old kid to know everything, which is why — when we have specific project questions — we look for the middle-aged guy who is overly cheery on the outside, but hiding decades of emotional trauma."
Where do you fall on the debate of training retail staff in the relevant area of expertise? Should we expect more of floor and cashier staff, or just leave them alone? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Reddit responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.