my friend and i have worked for the company for 6 and 4 years,which is 10 years of lifeage!!! we were a small store that closed thanks to constant uniform changes,blinking pos chaning all the time, dudes think before u act..its a shocking firm 2 work for we had no cctv,no heating,no air con and our doors didnt even close yet they re-fit other stores while we freeze,sweat,get mugged..its a sad time for everyone and its guna get sadder we will miss u all and love cheese..peace xxxxxxxxxx

I NOTICE IN PETERBOROUGH (HEAD OFFICE IS BASED THERE) BOTH STORES IN THE CITY STAY OPEN, ONES A NASTY LITTLE HELL HOLE WHICH CANT BE MAKING MUCH YET THEY CHOOSE TO KEEP IT OPEN..WHY?

Black widow? is that who i think it is? sounds like my store that just closed. mmmmm deaf old shouty guy

having worked for what was -supposedly- a rental focused store, we spent a year(/s) Never having enough copy depth of the titles customers actually wanted.... so they went elsewhere. supply & demand guys, eh? eh?? cheers for sending us 10,000 copies of The Guardian though; that was such a good renter.

don't even get me started on Memiors Of A Geisha!!
mmmmmmm memiors

the business might have struggled slightly less if certain managers had spent less time squiralling away items of stock in the celings of their stores : O

widow,
you forgot the printer! remember? up to an hour a day spent trying to print out a single sheet of A4. hand-feeding the fu**ing thing until it kinda sorta worked.
mmmmmmmm feeeding

coffee, big D?

p.s. 'someone' has almost been forgiven for his lack of judgement regarding distance of your store from the nearest train station. Almost.
p.p.s Morecombe!
p.p.p.s. don't fear the reaper.

shelley?
jim??
pete???

the business might have struggled slightly less if certain managers had spent less time squiralling away items of stock in the celings of their stores : O

i appear to have posted that twice. bastard.

mmmmmmmm......something that should be said alot more. Can anyone beat this...? My Assistant manager and i lost our jobs twice in a week...The same job mind. mmm Administrators....it'll be ok, when customers come in asking for 300 to rent, you can decline politely but tell them we have other great titles such as Liar Liar or Dial m for murder. Maybe choics are to become more of a classic film rental company

we ain't shut yet but agree with all points, and dvd's in the ceiling ooo we've had that too. Ooh and Ant Bully we got it in its 100's NOW!!

Has everyone received their redundancy pack yet? I received one for the wrong person along with their paysllip, not mine. Anyone know who Mrs Marilyn Evans is please come forward, you may have mine...I liked the fact that in on particular store a member of staff stole lots of money and was re-hired only to do it again twice more and still taken back on board TWICE.. it was likeworking for fawlty towers (flowery twats)

taken back on by the store manager - careful who you blame

I think half the problem with having a 100 copies of ant bully etc comes from the fact that publishers pay big bucks for coices to sell that shit. And whats wrong with the printers? user error I think!

I haven't received a redundancy pack yet either - in fact, I haven't even been informed in writing that I'm redundant. Since I doubt I'm getting paid for sitting around reading the (largely useless) jobs section of the local paper, perhaps somebody dealing with the redundancies needs to pull their finger out.
Re: The Guardian film - I feel sorry for the store who received all our stock. They're probably drowning in it now!

To comment 16...i do blame the manager but find it most amusing. No offence intended. And comment 17??? I worked in that store...trust me, it was the printer. we may have been treated like idiots but it doesn't take a rocket scientist OR a choices worker to know the difference between user error and completely fecked... mmm The guardian :-)

not user error with printers actually run out of blu tac.

RE 14-EX and 4300 series printer.
did you not like the blue tack under the rear paper guide?
if there is a gap at the front of the paper tray, the rubber roller that feeds the paper, can't reach the paper, so it won't feed.
As for user error, the cause of the rear paper guide moving backwards is caused by the user slamming the paper tray into the printer, the momentum of the paper forces the paper guide backwards. So yes, I think the user can be blamed for his one. The Blue tack stops the paper guide from moving backwards. I know.. I came up with the bodge.,

whoopee..how could a company close when it has managers that come up with wonderful, blue peter like, solutions to printer errors...sounds like your many talents were wasted, you should have been head of retail ops.............

why did my name get censored? mr xxxx???
i just discovered that there are different message threads depending on what news article you've selected : (
or is there a way i can get All the messages displayed at once?
i am applying to the computer helpdesk department.
"just turn everything off ..... then turn it all back on again"
i thank you!
mr tibbs xxxx

i like the fact that the title subject keeps getting reused and therefore repeated : )

I HAVE OUR DAILY PLANNER!
sticking it to the man : O

do we know if Jackson is still writing the kids books?
how about "The Little Rental Chain That Couldn't" for a future titile? full of laughter and tears i tell ye!

mr tibbs xx

Some advice for some people out there who found themselves offered no alternative employment at the time of redundancy with there being jobs advertised at the time.On the intranet and on choicesgroup website.



-What if my employer offers me another job?
In order to overcome a redundancy situation an employer would have to offer an employee "suitable alternative employment". If this is offered and is "unreasonably refused" by the employee then the employee cannot make a claim for a redundancy payment. The question of suitability will depend entirely on the job the employee did before and what is now on offer. Important questions relate to pay, prospects and location, as well as the type of job itself.

Even if the alternative job is deemed to be suitable the employee may still refuse to accept it and claim their redundancy payment, if they can establish that their refusal was reasonable. This relates much more to their own personal circumstances eg health, family commitments, status of the new job.

To help an unsure employee decide whether to accept the new job on offer there is a trial period of 4 weeks in the new job allowed, during which time they can leave and still claim redundancy.

Another point is:

Employers are also supposed to consult with employees on an individual basis before making them redundant to consider whether there are any other options available such as redeploying them elsewhere in the organisation.

The emphasis on individual basis not a group sacking whilst reading from a sheet. If you were to come across date stamped photos of the intranet or choicesgroup website advertising jobs that would help your cause. Good place to look would be websites that archive snaps of websites daily.

Were any of you given a list of available jobs at the time of your redundancy?

Were you individually consulted?


These are some faults that you could claim if any of the following were unsatisfied.

When is redundancy an unfair dismissal?

Redundancy is a potentially fair reason for dismissal. However the dismissal itself (and the procedure leading up to it) must still be fair and reasonable in all the circumstances. This means an employer must show that:

the employees concerned have been given as much advance warning as is practicable
the employees concerned have been consulted individually
selection for redundancy has been made against a set of fair and (wherever possible) objective criteria
alternative employment has been offered if possible
volunteers have been released wherever possible

A dismissal for redundancy may be unfair because:

there was no genuine redundancy situation
the employer failed to consult (ie meaningfully, properly and genuinely)
the employee was unfairly selected
the employer failed to look and/or offer alternative employment.

A tribunal looms....help is offered if anyone needs any advice.

and how are you going to take a company to a tribunal that no longer exists?

All you will get is a payout from the RPS fund for unfair dismissal which is equivalent to your notice period and you have to appoint a solicitor to do that

Mmmmmm Stophie & Mr Tibbs
My internets been down - how you getting on???
We still open - but looks like shop gonna sell food soon :-(
Apologies for distance from station - bout 4 miles

Big D xxxxxx

Have spent the last 5 weeks trying to get info from PWC (the administrators)but still waiting for an answer (any answer) so phoned around and have got number for office dealing with R1 claims for ex-Choices staff. Apparently it is the Watford office that is handling claims(was told it should have been Birmingham but too many claims!!!!) anyway, the phone number is 01923 210 700 and if you call with your national insurance number they can tell you how you claim is progressing. Hope this is a bit of help to everyone as I know how frustrating it is when no-one will give you any answers. Good luck to all of you finding new jobs and hello to all from Liverpool stores.

got my stuff from pwc through post today

big d!

hello : )
we're all doomed!
'cause Stophie says so

mr.tibbs xx

I worked at a store as manager for four years and left due to silly decision making by the head office team. Re-branding, followed by stupid stock numbers followed by not enough stock numbers. I used to get angry when they made a big deal about getting "Loads" of ps2 consoles for christmas only to find out this meant one per store!!!
I find it ironic that every company that Graham Jackson (Smithers) has worked for has been rebranded and sold off or gone down the pan.
He interviewed me once and at the end told me I spoke about my self to much......Its a bloody interview.
My wife (against my wishes) worked for the company and handed her notice in a week before the announcement was made. Her old co-workers are now redundant.
I was informed that they would be back in store for compensation, what ever that means.