FORMER EMPLOYEE AT HOME BARGAINS SPILLS THE BEANS ON HORRIBLE CUSTOMERS

Have you ever wondered what it’s like working in one of your local convenient stores such as Home Bargains or Wallmart, and knowing that some of the customers can be, well, the devil themselves?

Then look no further as a former Home Bargains employee has spilled the beans on what the job is really like serving customers. She also shared the secrets you need to know to hunt down the best deals.

Former employee, Grace Payne, was employed at the popular discount store for two years. In her time working at Home Bargains, she revealed that she experienced shoplifters regularly trying to pinch condoms, as well as unsavoury toilet disasters.

On her first day of work, Grace made a shocking discovery when she was shown CCTV footage of banned customers who were regular offenders. She revealed that she was stunned to see that many of the "banned" customers who were breaking the law were "moms, to teens and even grannies" themselves.

"If we spotted them we had to run to the front of the store and press a button. They included 'flower lady' who always had massive flowers in her hair, a mum who would sneakily put things in her basket, and other people as well – all nicking things. I didn't know what I was letting myself in for."

Grace even continued to explain how a days work on a Saturday was like. She added that, on Saturday shifts, a bell which alerts staff members of a shoplifter would go off about six times a day before management will react, and could be seen sprinting through the store trying to catch them as they raced out into the street.

That is where Grace also made the discovery that the most shoplifted item was condoms stolen by teenagers, and items such as chocolate were high on the list.

But shoplifting was a breeze comparing to another event she had to face. She explained how she once walked into the staff toilets to find "poo absolutely everywhere". And, by everywhere, she also meant that it was smeared across the walls by a suspected customer who had sneaked their way in to do it.

Not only did she revealed what horrific acts customers pull off, which she had to either clean up or endure, she also had to put up with angry customers yelling at her on a regular basis. Customers would also try to bag items for free by breaking it themselves and claiming it was faulty.

Even though there was a lot she had to endure, she never felt like she was put in any danger at work.

"It was cheap and people were in a rush, so you would get people really, really frustrated with you." After the "dramatic two years", Grace said that she learned a lot and still shops at the store to pick up the great deals on offer.

Her tips on how to find the best bargains, she claims, is "if stock has been in the store for a while, it often gets discounted if the shop decides to discontinue it, so sometimes it's worth waiting to see if the price will be slashed to as little as a penny".