Our Work Experience at Prairie Berry

Things were a bit strange this summer due to the Scamdemic, but we worked from May 17^th to September 20^th. Our last day was supposed to be August 23^rd but our Fall gig was cancelled so we opted to stay another month and they were glad to keep us.

Our Leads were all amazing…each one with their own personalities that brought a different approach to the business. It’s nice to see that they are all allowed to do it their own way even when others do not agree with them. At first it was strange because of that , but once we learned each of their ways, we were just fine with all of them.

The initial part of the job was fabulous, it was fun giving tastings to customers, telling stories about the winery, but also our own stories and listening to the stories from the customers. Most customers were fun, only a few were difficult but we just kept smiling and having fun. We made some great cash tips but we are certain if we were able to have a tip jar out, we would have made a whole lot more, but they discouraged us from promoting tips.

Some employees were not doing their jobs so it was harder on everyone else, there were so many call ins which also made it harder on those that were there because they hardly got replaced, which only made it harder on the people that were there. Jerry had 100% attendance and I took 1 sick day off, but others took plenty of time off. They should find a different approach to handle employees who DO NOT carry the extra burden at all, while others are always going that extra hundred miles to pick up after them, they did not change at all throughout the season. It was frustrating for us because we both always go that extra mile and it got old really fast.

 

We gave a survey to each of our guests and they were tallied up monthly for our meetings. Both of ours were always in the upper 90 percent, so we were not only keeping our guests happy, we were also stocking shelves, cleaning, assisting others in other areas and doing it all with an upbeat, positive attitude.

During our interviews, we feel there should have been more emphasis on the HARD work, and doing much more than just wine tastings. We felt it was sugar coated just how hard it was going to be, especially because many of us had to make up for the several who just didn’t go beyond the one thing they did. Due to the hard work, on our feet the entire shift on the concrete floors with just a little cushion, we,  just after a month, went to 4 days, 32 hours instead of 5 days 40 hours for the rest of the season. There was hardly no time to ever just stand there and catch your breath, there was always something to fill, clean or help a customer. Absolutely no sitting at anytime during our shift, except our paid half hour lunch.

We had thought we would have a much more relaxing summer than it ended up being for us, but we met some wonderful people and even though our bodies got whooped, we made the best of it and had a great summer and did some exciting sight seeing. We received a VIP card that gave us some savings on local venues, we saved a few hundred dollars.

 

They gave us a stipend towards our rent, and they made a deal with a local campground for a lower rate, but it was not a well maintained campground. But, the alternative was to pay an exuberant price at any of the other resorts in the area, so we stayed there until the last two weeks when we used our membership for the stay.

We had a great summer, worked hard, played harder and would highly recommend it to others, but we will not be returning, due to us seeing all we wanted to see in the area, too hard of work and our accommodations.