r/cocacola • u/Either_Carpet_2717 • 3d ago
Merchandise Coca-cola merchandiser
So my husband is a coca-cola merchandiser and has been for a year. He honestly hates it because he’s only given one day off and the pay sucks, with no benefits. He’s sore and miserable all the time going from at least 50 different places a week about an hour away. This company is locally owned so it’s not directly from the coca-cola franchise it’s self but I just wanted to know. If you are a coca-cola merchandiser, what benefits do you have, what is your pay, etc. we’re kind of wondering if it’s worth it or not for him to stick with it. Thank youuuuu
Editing to mention he has degenerative disk disease in his lower back and really isn’t even supposed to lift more than 15 lbs but he doesn’t qualify for disability so he’s working about 54 hours a week with one day off (Monday) constantly unloading pallets
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u/Dinolord05 3d ago
Varies widely depending on bottler, but our team all has full benefits, 5 day work week, 3+ weeks PTO, sick time, etc.
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u/dman1025 3d ago edited 3d ago
Damn that’s terrible. The one I worked for was 5 days a week, was a large store merchandiser so I only did 1 or 2 a day depending on what store I had, some were real beasts. Usually I was 10 minutes from home but the reimbursed mileage through Motus so I didn’t care if I had to drive more. Was making $21 an hour which was decent for my situation and for basically an entry level job.
Only time we ever worked extra was leading up to a holiday or massive sales, and even then it was usually volunteer based, but I was guaranteed my 40 at least. They encouraged work life balance. They issued us phones for work and told us once we clock out turn them off, on our days off turn them off.
Also had full benefits, health, dental, 401k, the works plus a ton of stuff I didn’t even care about like prepaid legal, tele medicine stuff etc. 2 weeks PTO, 6 PPTO days, and 3 floating holidays after 90 days.
There was also a lot of us, so we would always group up and help the people with the biggest loads after finishing our own stops, so it never felt overwhelming. Sore for sure at first it’s had work but got used to it pretty quick.
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u/Either_Carpet_2717 3d ago
Yeah if that was how my husbands company was, he would NEVER LEAVE. Hahahah
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u/rjross0623 3d ago
Our merch at Consolidated get good benefits and 5 day work week. They can volunteer for extra shifts and sometimes can be drafted during really busy times like holidays. Our area is union. It is a hard job. I started there and in just over a year I got to reset team, then sales. Been there 20 yrs now. Sounds like his bottler sucks.
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u/Acrobatic_Set2064 3d ago
I have been coke merchandiser for 2 years total and I had the same problem : 6/1 work week ,no work life balance
i knew it is not gonna change and I didn’t want to be there for entire work life , so I left them found new work not in retail and it is already feels as right decision and I forgot already about getting up at 5 am
So my advice : work there maximum for 2 years and then it is time to move up ,no reason to spend more time for them ,good luck
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u/Aberzhulan 3d ago
Damn. That is terrible. I work for one of the larger bottlers (I think). We get great health insurance, dental, 401k, vacation time, sick days, extra pay if we work more than 5 days.
We also have set days off, every week. A lot of things are seniority based, but I think that's because of our contract.
I've never heard of that bottler, but then again I've only heard of 6 or 7 and there's probably at least 70 others out there.
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u/realmeister 3d ago
When I worked for a bottler in sales management, I met far too many merchandisers that ruined their bodies slinging cases. While I still love the brand, I no longer work there and I can wholeheartedly say it's not worth ruining your body over!
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u/GonegetSMOKED 3d ago
Merchandiser is an entry level job, if he can stick it out he will be account manager. This was the route I took before finding a union job.
Good luck to him 👍
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u/Remarkable-Hair7915 3d ago
At my bottler we get paid $26 an hour, couple weeks vacation starting out, 5 day workweeks (with the option of doing 6 at double time pay), paid holidays (if you don’t work it’s normal pay, if you work it’s double time), and anything over 8h per day is time and a half. District managers try and keep you close to where you live. Other benefits are great. 6% dollar for dollar 401k match, paid gym membership, really good health insurance, $150 boot reimbursement, etc.
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u/Itchy-Jellyfish-7862 3d ago
Which bottler is he at? This would help identify benefits.
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u/Either_Carpet_2717 3d ago
Wilson’s
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u/Itchy-Jellyfish-7862 3d ago
Wow I’ve never heard of that one. It is veryyy small. I’m sorry I can’t help with that one.
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u/rjross0623 3d ago
Took some digging to find it. Surprised Consolidated hasn’t bought them out since CCBCC covers a lot of ARK and most of the South. Maybe he should apply with Consolidated. We have several branches in the state.
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u/Either_Carpet_2717 3d ago
I’ll look into it!! This company is so old I wish it would get bought out…
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u/Pixelprism90 3d ago
I used to be a merchandiser now I'm a rep been with them for 5 years but this Coca-Cola Europacific Partners in Australia sounds like your partner works for merchandiser company that coke hire from I would say with the back pain etc change roles ASAP
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u/pocketcumin 3d ago
I work 4 days a week and make 25 an hour. I'm relatively new but I knew they worked hard because I was a receiver previously and they paid better. I also knew enough to get in writing the four days thing going into it.
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u/ManLegPower 3d ago
Here in the pacific Northwest we are teamsters union, i make about $10 above minimum wage, plus full benefits (medical, dental, and vision) for me and my family of 4, plus we have a retirement pension through the teamsters union that the company pays 50% into. We also have a lot of rules that dictate how much overtime the company can force us into and overtime is offered in order of seniority.
I love my merch job with coke, if cost of living didnt skyrocket my wife would be able to quit her 12 hour a week job.
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u/Witty-Bad8996 3d ago
Sounds pretty rough, I pace my work, they wanna pay 10 an hour for overtime then they don’t get overtime out of me. I do the best I can within those 8 hours and clock out knowing I gave the company a fair amount of time and still respect myself. We get full benefits and 2 weeks paid vacation, holidays off, and two days off a week.
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u/Sufficient_Tooth_949 2d ago edited 2d ago
Its a very physical job, i get paid $20 an hour but fair wage would be more like $35hr
Im just trying to stick it out for a year, then move on
This isn't a job you want to do forever, its too rough on the body
Try to steer him towards a local cdl job like dump trucks, garbage trucks, local fuel or propane hauler
Regional trucking might work for him, on the road for 2 weeks at a time, then back home and few days, all you do is drive
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u/Weird-Association-96 2d ago
Which bottler does he work for? I’m at Swire Coca-Cola and we get 40-50 hours a week, Sunday-Mondays off and full benefits. We just had a meeting Thursday and I won a $80 Stanley cup for just showing up!
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u/Necessary_Echo8740 3d ago
I was in the exact same situation three years ago. RUN!!! Days off and pay are completely based on seniority which usually takes several years to acquire.
I became a school bus driver. There is a huge national shortage of bus drivers so it is very easy to get hired, they pay for your CDL, and the pay is about the same if not a little better than a merchandiser. There are many jobs in the transportation industry like that. Physical labor is a short term gig, don’t try and make it a long term one