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Hey Buds! We’re Now Live! 🎮
📼 Rewind 99: Demo Disc
🪄 Akatori Demo
🌊 Dave the Diver
🕹️ Retro Games21+ cozy chaos 💨
Pull up 👉 https://www.twitch.tv/checkpointvibes -
Hey Buds! We’re Now Live! 🎮
📼 Rewind 99: Demo Disc
🪄 Akatori Demo
🌊 Dave the Diver
🕹️ Retro Games21+ cozy chaos 💨
Pull up 👉 https://www.twitch.tv/checkpointvibes -
Hey Buds! We’re Now Live! 🎮
📼 Rewind 99: Demo Disc
🪄 Akatori Demo
🌊 Dave the Diver
🕹️ Retro Games21+ cozy chaos 💨
Pull up 👉 https://www.twitch.tv/checkpointvibes -
#BILDlügt, wo bleiben die Überschriften?:
- Russen-Michael: jetzt dreht er durch!
- #Ukraine-Chaos in der #CDU
- Jetzt kiesewettert es: "Michael, du verstehst die Lage nicht"
- Russen-Micha: "Chips OK, Taurus nee!"
- Ist Sachsen Russland? 🤔
- Kann die CDU noch NATO?
- "Ei verbibbsch, sind doch nur Chips": Ossi #Kretschmer will nur Geld machen auf Kosten der Ukraine
- Sachsen: die Zeit mit den #Russen war nicht nur schlecht
#Kiesewetter
https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/roderich-kiesewetter-zu-michael-kretschmer-und-taurus-dann-kannst-du-deine-wiederwahl-vergessen-a-8ab23de9-e66a-416f-992a-41aebab4118f -
@FotoVorschlag: #FotoVorschlag #Metall: Die demontierte, alte #Eisenbahnbrücke der #Hochrheinbahn über die #Wutach (kurz nach dem Abzweig der Sauschwänzlebahn am Bhf. #Lauchringen: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/37704893) nach dem Austausch gegen eine moderne Bogenbrücke.
Die alte #Brücke war zwar IIRC #denkmalgeschützt, aber der Bahnbetrieb ging wohl (auch im Hinblick auf die Elektrifizierung) vor.
Mehr Bilder von der alten ausgebauten und der neuen Brücke unter https://chaos.social/@xtaran/113142747991803375
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@FotoVorschlag: #FotoVorschlag #Metall: Die demontierte, alte #Eisenbahnbrücke der #Hochrheinbahn über die #Wutach (kurz nach dem Abzweig der Sauschwänzlebahn am Bhf. #Lauchringen: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/37704893) nach dem Austausch gegen eine moderne Bogenbrücke.
Die alte #Brücke war zwar IIRC #denkmalgeschützt, aber der Bahnbetrieb ging wohl (auch im Hinblick auf die Elektrifizierung) vor.
Mehr Bilder von der alten ausgebauten und der neuen Brücke unter https://chaos.social/@xtaran/113142747991803375
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@FotoVorschlag: #FotoVorschlag #Metall: Die demontierte, alte #Eisenbahnbrücke der #Hochrheinbahn über die #Wutach (kurz nach dem Abzweig der Sauschwänzlebahn am Bhf. #Lauchringen: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/37704893) nach dem Austausch gegen eine moderne Bogenbrücke.
Die alte #Brücke war zwar IIRC #denkmalgeschützt, aber der Bahnbetrieb ging wohl (auch im Hinblick auf die Elektrifizierung) vor.
Mehr Bilder von der alten ausgebauten und der neuen Brücke unter https://chaos.social/@xtaran/113142747991803375
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@FotoVorschlag: #FotoVorschlag #Metall: Die demontierte, alte #Eisenbahnbrücke der #Hochrheinbahn über die #Wutach (kurz nach dem Abzweig der Sauschwänzlebahn am Bhf. #Lauchringen: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/37704893) nach dem Austausch gegen eine moderne Bogenbrücke.
Die alte #Brücke war zwar IIRC #denkmalgeschützt, aber der Bahnbetrieb ging wohl (auch im Hinblick auf die Elektrifizierung) vor.
Mehr Bilder von der alten ausgebauten und der neuen Brücke unter https://chaos.social/@xtaran/113142747991803375
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Apple TV – podsumowanie premier #148
Zapraszam do 148. wydania przeglądu nowości i zapowiedzi platformy Apple TV.
Apple odświeżyło wizerunek czołówki Apple TVp
Na nowej stronie i we wszystkich aplikacjach TV pojawiło się nowe logo Apple TV, co stanowi kolejny etap trwającego rebrandingu poprzedniej nazwy platformy Apple TV+, która dziś nazywa się Apple TV.
Poprzednio:
Nowe intro Apple TV stworzone bez efektów komputerowych!
Ciekawostka – Apple zaprezentowało nowe intro Apple TV, które powstało w całości przy użyciu praktycznych efektów. Zamiast technologii cyfrowych, twórcy wykorzystali szklane wersje logo Apple TV, nagrane kamerą z użyciem fizycznych ruchów i zmiennego oświetlenia. Projekt zrealizowano we współpracy z agencją TBWA\Media Arts Lab.
Apple TV’s colorful new branding was built with glass and captured in-camera. pic.twitter.com/Y8T4jXHKH1
— Andreas Storm (@avstorm) November 6, 2025
Nowe intro pojawia się przed wszystkimi treściami Apple TV i ma trzy wersje: 1-sekundową (trailery), 5-sekundową (seriale) i 12-sekundową (filmy). Towarzyszy mu nowy motyw dźwiękowy skomponowany przez Finneasa.
Premiery
Jak zawsze na początku nowego miesiąca, Apple przygotowały swój własny, krótki materiał podsumowujący nadchodzące w listopadzie nowości.
„Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Lost” →
Na platformie Apple TV zadebiutował dokument „Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Lost”, w którym Ben Stiller opowiada historię swoich rodziców – kultowych komików Jerry’ego Stillera („Seinfeld”) i Anne Meary („Night at the Museum”).
Produkcja ukazuje ich życie prywatne i zawodowe, wpływ na kulturę popularną oraz rodzinę, w której granice między sztuką a codziennością często się zacierały. Stiller dzieli się osobistymi wspomnieniami i refleksjami, odsłaniając niepublikowane wcześniej historie.
W realizacji projektu udział wzięli m.in. John Lesher („Birdman”), Geoffrey Richman („Tiger King”) i Lizz Morhaim („The Super Models”). Dokument to kolejny efekt współpracy Stillera z Apple – jest on także twórcą serialu „Severance”, który zdobył rekordowe 27 nominacji do Emmy w tym roku.
Dostaliśmy także nowy serial kryminalny „Down Cemetery Road” od autora „Slow Horses”.
W rolach głównych występują Emma Thompson jako prywatna detektyw Zoë Boehm oraz Ruth Wilson jako Sarah Tucker – kobieta, która po wybuchu domu w spokojnej dzielnicy Oksfordu i zaginięciu dziewczynki rozpoczyna prywatne śledztwo. Trop prowadzi do spisku, w którym zmarli okazują się żywi, a żywi – szybko dołączają do martwych.
„Down Cemetery Road” zamyka tegoroczne jesienne trio thrillerów Apple TV, obok „The Savant” z Jessicą Chastain i „The Last Frontier” z Jasonem Clarkiem. Premiera nastąpi w dniu finału 5. sezonu „Slow Horses”.
„Pluribus” od twórcy „Breaking Bad” →
W końcu jest! Nowy serial „Pluribus” od twórcy „Breaking Bad”. W roli głównej wystąpi Rhea Seehorn („Better Call Saul”).
Serial już przed premierą zebrał świetne oceny wśród krytyków. Choć pełne recenzje objęte były embargiem, krytycy zapowiadali, że „Pluribus” to jedna z najciekawszych premier roku. Alan Sepinwall z Rolling Stone nazwał serial „porywającym i olśniewającym dziełem rozrywki”, chwaląc połączenie filmowego rozmachu z narracyjną precyzją znaną z wcześniejszych produkcji Gilligana. Serial ma imponujący budżet — 15 milionów dolarów na odcinek, a w centrum fabuły znajduje się postać Carol (grana przez Rhee Seahorn).
„Pluribus” to tajemniczy thriller sci-fi, w którym „najbardziej nieszczęśliwa osoba na Ziemi musi ocalić świat przed… szczęściem”. Fabuła owiana jest tajemnicą, a w obsadzie znaleźli się także Karolina Wydra, Carlos-Manuel Vesga i Samba Schutte. Serial nie jest powiązany z uniwersum „Breaking Bad” i stanowi całkowicie oryginalną historię.
Apple zamówiło od razu dwa sezony, a pierwszy liczyć będzie dziewięć odcinków. Serial promowany jest m.in. podczas San Diego Comic-Con, a pełny zwiastun pojawi się w nadchodzących miesiącach.
Apple TV wprowadza oficjalny podcast towarzyszący serialowi „Pluribus”
Z okazji premiery nowego serialu Apple udostępnia oficjalny podcast „Pluribus: The Official Podcast”, który będzie publikowany co tydzień – w każdy piątek, po premierze nowego odcinka. Podcast, prowadzony przez Chrisa McCaleba, montażystę serialu, przedstawi rozmowy z twórcami, aktorami i ekipą produkcyjną, odkrywając kulisy powstawania serii.
To pierwsza od dłuższego czasu autorska produkcja podcastowa Apple TV+, po wcześniejszych projektach takich jak „Foundation” czy „Prehistoric Planet”.
Zapowiedzi
12 listopada – trailer 2. sezonu „Palm Royale” →
Apple TV ogłosiło datę premiery drugiego sezonu komedii „Palm Royale”. Nowe odcinki zadebiutują 12 listopada 2025 roku, a finał sezonu zaplanowano na 14 stycznia 2026.
W obsadzie ponownie zobaczymy gwiazdy: Kristen Wiig, Laurę Dern, Allison Janney, Ricky’ego Martina, Josha Lucasa, Kaię Gerber i legendarną Carol Burnett.
Pierwszy sezon serialu, który zadebiutował wiosną 2024 roku, mimo mieszanych recenzji krytyków zdobył wierną publiczność i stał się niespodziewanym hitem platformy.
Drugi sezon skupi się na losach Maxine Dellacorte (Wiig), która po skandalu zostaje wykluczona z towarzystwa. Aby odzyskać pozycję w świecie Palm Beach, będzie musiała udowodnić, że potrafi nie tylko przetrwać, ale i rządzić w świecie pełnym sekretów, intryg i kłamstw.
14 listopada – trailer „Come See Me in the Good Light” →
Apple TV ogłosiło, że nabyło globalne prawa do uznanego dokumentu „Come See Me in the Good Light”, reżysera Ryana White’a, który w 2025 roku został wybrany na Sundance Film Festival i zdobył nagrodę Festival Favorite Award.
Po światowej premierze na festiwalu film był powszechnie chwalony jako „pięknie wykonany” i „wyjątkowy dokument”, który oferuje „wzruszające spojrzenie na kruchość ludzkiego życia”. Film zdobył również nagrodę publiczności na Międzynarodowym Festiwalu Filmowym w Boulder, Międzynarodowym Festiwalu Filmowym w Cleveland i Festiwalu Filmów Dokumentalnych Full Frame.
„Come See Me in the Good Light” zadebiutuje globalnie na Apple TV jesienią tego roku. Jest to przejmująca i niespodziewanie zabawna historia miłosna o poetkach Andrei Gibson i Megan Falley, które z radością, dowcipem i niezachwianym partnerstwem stawiają czoła nieuleczalnej diagnozie raka. Poprzez śmiech i niezachwianą miłość przekształcają ból w cel, a śmiertelność we wzruszającą celebrację odporności.
„Come See Me in the Good Light” wyreżyserował White („Pamela, A Love Story”, „The Keepers”, „Visible: Out on Television”), który jest także producentem wraz z Jessicą Hargrave („Pamela, A Love Story”, „The Keepers”, „Visible: Out on Television”), Tig Notaro („The Morning Show”, „Star Trek”, „Am I OK?”) i Stef Willen (»Em«, „Have Tig at Your Party”).
Film zawiera oryginalną piosenkę w wykonaniu zdobywczyni nagrody Grammy i nominowanej do nagrody Emmy Sary Bareilles oraz zdobywczyni nagrody Grammy, zdobywczyni nagrody Emmy i nominowanej do Oscara Brandi Carlile, napisaną przez Andreę Gibson, Bareilles i Brandi Carlile.
21 listopada – „The Family Plan 2” – hit Apple TV powraca w świątecznej premierze →
Apple TV ogłosiło premierę sequela swojego hitowego filmu, „The Family Plan 2”, który trafi na platformę 21 listopada, tuż przed Świętem Dziękczynienia.
W filmie powracają Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Monaghan, Zoe Colletti i Van Crosby, a do obsady dołącza Kit Harington. Akcja rozgrywa się podczas świątecznych wakacji, kiedy Dan (Wahlberg) i jego rodzina muszą stawić czoła tajemniczemu gościowi z przeszłości, prowadzącym do serii zabawnych pościgów, napadów i świątecznych przygód w Europie.
Holiday cheer, family chaos, and a little global chase — the Morgans are back.
The Family Plan 2 premieres November 21. pic.twitter.com/mwUSaxK4eq
— Apple TV (@AppleTV) October 9, 2025
Pierwszą część, „The Family Plan”, można oglądać już teraz na Apple TV.
26 listopada – trailer „Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age” →
„Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age” – nowy pięcioodcinkowy serial przyrodniczy od BBC i Apple TV zadebiutuje na platformie już 26 listopada.
„Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age” to nowa odsłona nagradzanego serialu przyrodniczego, produkowana przez BBC Studios Natural History Unit („Planet Earth”), z udziałem producentów wykonawczych Jona Favreau i Mike’a Guntona. Narratorem jest laureat Złotego Globu i Nagrody Oliviera, Tom Hiddleston („Earthsounds”). Muzykę skomponowali Hans Zimmer, Anže Rozman i Kara Talve z Bleeding Fingers Music.
Serial zabiera widzów w epokę po wymarciu dinozaurów, kiedy lodowce zdominowały świat, a walka o przetrwanie stała się niezwykle zacięta. To czas pojawienia się nowych gigantów – charakterystycznej megafauny.
Tymczasem polecam nadrobić poprzednie sezony.
26 listopada – 3. sezon „WondLa” →
Apple TV ogłosiło premierę ostatniego sezonu trylogii animowanej „WondLa”, która zadebiutuje 26 listopada 2025 na całym świecie. Serial powstaje w Skydance Animation i oparty jest na bestsellerowej serii książek Tony’ego DiTerlizzi „The Search for WondLa”. Showrunnerem i producentem wykonawczym jest Bobs Gannaway.
Finałowa odsłona składa się z 6 ekscytujących półgodzinnych odcinków i przedstawia gwiazdorską obsadę głosową, m.in.: Jeanine Mason, Brad Garrett, Gary Anthony Williams, Alan Tudyk, John Ratzenberger, Shohreh Aghdashloo i Maz Jobrani. Sezon jest współprodukowany przez DiTerlizzi, Gannaway, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy’ego Bella, Julie Kane-Ritsch oraz zespół Skydance Animation.
3 grudnia – trailer „The Hunt” →
Apple ogłosiło premierę nowego thrillera w języku francuskim – „The Hunt”, który zadebiutuje na Apple TV 3 grudnia 2025. Pierwszego dnia pojawią się dwa odcinki, kolejne co tydzień aż do 31 grudnia.
Serial opowiada historię Francka (Benoît Magimel) i jego przyjaciół, którzy w trakcie polowania stają się ofiarami tajemniczej grupy myśliwych. Gdy jeden z nich zostaje postrzelony, rozpoczyna się dramatyczna walka o życie i ucieczka przed bezwzględnymi prześladowcami. Wkrótce bohaterowie odkrywają, że niebezpieczeństwo dopiero się zaczyna.
Mamy też oficjalny trailer.
„The Hunt” dołącza do rosnącej listy francuskojęzycznych produkcji Apple TV, takich jak „Drops of God”, „Carême”, „La Maison” czy „Liaison”.
5 grudnia – „The First Snow of Fraggle Rock” – nowy świąteczny hit Apple TV →
Fraggles powracają w nowym świątecznym specjalnym odcinku! „The First Snow of Fraggle Rock” zadebiutuje globalnie 5 grudnia na Apple TV.
Gobo, Red, Wembley, Mokey i Boober czekają na pierwszy śnieg i tradycyjne świętowanie, jednak gdy spada tylko jedna płatka śniegu, a Gobo nie może napisać corocznej piosenki, magia świąt staje pod znakiem zapytania. Bohater wyrusza więc do świata ludzi, by odnaleźć muzyczną inspirację, a w zamku Gorgów pojawia się nowe dziecko w rodzinie. Fraggles odkrywają, że wyjątkowe chwile nie muszą być idealne – wystarczy, że są szczere i niepowtarzalne.
Specjalny odcinek został wyprodukowany przez The Jim Henson Company, twórców nagradzanego serialu „Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock”. Gościnnie wystąpi Lele Pons, która zaśpiewa duet z Gobo w kultowym utworze „Our Melody” oraz dwóch nowych piosenkach świątecznych.
Produkcja dołącza do szerokiej oferty Apple TV+ dla rodzin i dzieci, w tym do hitów takich jak „Snoopy Presents”, „Lovely Little Farm” czy „The Velveteen Rabbit”.
12 grudnia – „F1: The Movie” – premiera na Apple TV →
Film „F1: The Movie” trafi na Apple TV w piątek, 12 grudnia 2025 r. Reżyserem produkcji jest Joseph Kosinski, a producentami Jerry Bruckheimer i Lewis Hamilton. W głównej roli występuje Brad Pitt jako doświadczony kierowca Formuły 1, który próbuje powrócić na szczyt.
Film okazał się ogromnym sukcesem – zarobił 629 milionów dolarów, stając się najbardziej dochodowym filmem sportowym roku i rekordowym tytułem Apple Original Films. Po premierze kinowej 27 czerwca produkcja powróciła na duży ekran w sierpniu i trafiła do sprzedaży cyfrowej.
Więcej na jego temat, szeroko, pisałem w sierpniowym wydaniu iMagazine. Polecam zapoznać się z artykułem!
14 stycznia – sezon 2. „Hijack” →
„Hijack” miał premierę swojego pierwszego sezonu w 2023 roku i natychmiast stał się jednym z najlepszych thrillerów Apple TV. Serial z Idrisem Elbą w roli głównej powróci z 2. sezonem 14 stycznia i powie historię porwanego pociągu.
21 stycznia – „Drops of God”: hit Apple TV wraca z 2. sezonem →
Jedna z najlepiej ocenianych serii Apple TV, Drops of God, wkrótce powróci z 2. sezonem. Serial oparty jest na bestsellerowej japońskiej mandze o tym samym tytule i osadzony jest w świecie gastronomii i wyrafinowanych win.
Pierwszy sezon zdobył 100% w Rotten Tomatoes i 93% ocen widzów. Serial jest wielojęzyczny (francuski, japoński, angielski), co może tłumaczyć, dlaczego nie zdobył od razu masowej popularności.
Premiera 2. sezonu: 21 stycznia na Apple TV, z cotygodniowymi odcinkami do 11 marca. Fabuła sezonu 1: po śmierci Alexandre’a Légere, jego córka Camille musi zmierzyć się z jego protegowanym, Issei, aby odziedziczyć niezwykłą kolekcję win.
Pierwszy sezon (8 odcinków) można oglądać już teraz na Apple TV.
28 stycznia – 3. sezon „Shrinking” →
Apple TV ogłosiło datę premiery trzeciego sezonu Emmy-nominowanej komedii „Shrinking”. Sezon startuje globalnie 28 stycznia 2026 z godzinnego odcinka, a kolejne nowe odcinki będą emitowane w środy aż do 8 kwietnia 2026.
Serial opowiada historię terapeuty w żałobie (Jason Segel), który zaczyna łamać zasady i mówić swoim pacjentom dokładnie, co myśli. Jego niekonwencjonalne podejście prowadzi do dramatycznych zmian w życiu klientów… i jego własnym.
W obsadzie ponownie zobaczymy Emmy-nominowanego Jasona Segela i wielokrotnie nagradzanego Harrisona Forda, a także Christę Miller, Jessicę Williams, Luke’a Tennie, Michaela Urie, Lukitę Maxwell i Teda McGinleya. Gościnne występy powracają od Goldsteina, Damona Wayansa Jr., Wendie Malick i Cobie Smulders, a dołącza Jeff Daniels i Michael J. Fox.
Shrinking jest produkowane przez Warner Bros. Television we współpracy z Apple TV+ i Doozer Productions Billa Lawrence’a. Twórcami są Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein i Jason Segel.
Pierwsze dwa sezony Shrinking są już dostępne globalnie na Apple TV.
20 lutego – premiera „The Last Thing He Told Me” →
Apple TV+ ogłosiło premierę drugiego sezonu thrillera „The Last Thing He Told Me” z Jennifer Garner w roli głównej. Nowe odcinki pojawią się 20 lutego 2026 roku.
Choć serial pierwotnie planowano jako miniserię, sukces pierwszego sezonu – opartego na bestsellerze „The Last Thing He Told Me” – sprawił, że powstanie kontynuacja inspirowana nową książką autorki Laury Dave, zatytułowaną „The First Time I Saw Him”, która ukaże się w styczniu 2026 r.
W obsadzie oprócz Garner zobaczymy ponownie Angourie Rice, Davida Morse’a i Nikolaja Coster-Waldau, a dołączą do nich Judy Greer i Rita Wilson.
Serial opowiada historię Hannah, która wraz z nastoletnią pasierbicą próbuje odkryć prawdę o tajemniczym zniknięciu jej męża.
Początek 2026 – 2. sezon „Dark Matter” →
Serial science fiction „Dark Matter” powróci z drugim sezonem na Apple TV. Po sukcesie pierwszej odsłony, opartej na bestsellerowej powieści Blake’a Croucha, twórcy zdecydowali się kontynuować historię – tym razem bez literackiego pierwowzoru.
Nowe odcinki mają pogłębić losy bohaterów walczących o przetrwanie w świecie wieloświatów. W obsadzie ponownie zobaczymy Joela Edgertona i Jennifer Connelly, a do ekipy dołączy Chris Diamantopoulos. Za scenariusz i reżyserię ponownie odpowiada Blake Crouch, co daje nadzieję na spójny klimat i wysoki poziom produkcji.
Zdjęcia do sezonu 2 zakończyły się w lipcu 2025 roku. Premiera planowana jest na początek 2026 roku – prawdopodobnie między lutym a majem.
Pierwszy sezon „Dark Matter” można obejrzeć na Apple TV.
Jason Segel z „Shrinking” w nowym projekcie Apple TV pt. „Sponsor”
Apple nabyło globalne prawa do filmu „Sponsor”, psychologicznego thrillera z Jasonem Segelem (Freaks and Geeks, Forgetting Sarah Marshall). Reżyserią zajmuje się James Ponsoldt, który współpracował z Segelem przy serialu Shrinking. Obaj są także współtwórcami scenariusza i producentami wykonawczymi.
Fabuła filmu opowiada historię Petera (Segel), który po imprezie wsiada za kierownicę i spowoduje poważny wypadek. Staje przed wyborem: więzienie czy program rehabilitacyjny. Przekonany, że nie ma problemu z alkoholem, zaczyna uczestniczyć w spotkaniach grupy wsparcia i poznaje charyzmatycznego, enigmatycznego Jerry’ego – potencjalne rozwiązanie jego problemów.
Premiera filmu „Sponsor” nie została jeszcze podana – produkcja jest na wczesnym etapie, a pełny komunikat Apple znajdziecie tutaj.
Film „CODA” od Apple – zdobywca Oscara dla Najlepszego Filmu – trafi na Blu-ray i DVD
Apple ogłosiło, że nagrodzony Oscarem film „CODA” doczeka się fizycznego wydania na Blu-ray i DVD. To pierwszy w historii film z serwisu streamingowego, który zdobył Oscara w kategorii Best Picture (Najlepszy Film) – stało się to w 2022 roku.
Po latach dostępności wyłącznie w streamingu na Apple TV+, „CODA” trafi teraz do sprzedaży w trzech formatach 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray oraz DVD.
Premiera i wysyłka zaplanowane są na 4 listopada 2025, a zamówienia można składać już teraz. Decyzja Apple to część rosnącego trendu powrotu fizycznych nośników wśród platform streamingowych – coraz więcej widzów chce posiadać ulubione filmy na własność, zamiast polegać wyłącznie na subskrypcjach.
Apple TV+ wciąż rozwija swoją ofertę, w której znajdują się takie hity jak „Ted Lasso”, „Severance”, „The Morning Show”, „Silo” czy „Shrinking”. Subskrypcja kosztuje 12,99 USD miesięcznie i jest dostępna globalnie.
Apple udostępnia mecze playoff MLS wszystkim subskrybentom Apple TV!
Apple ogłosiło, że wszystkie mecze playoff Major League Soccer będą dostępne dla subskrybentów Apple TV bez dodatkowych opłat i bez konieczności kupowania osobnego MLS Season Pass.
Decyzja może mieć na celu przyciągnięcie nowych widzów do wykupienia pełnego Season Pass na sezon 2026.
Podobna strategia zostanie zastosowana w przypadku transmisji Formuły 1 w USA od 2026 roku – subskrybenci Apple TV otrzymają dostęp do F1 TV Premium bez dodatkowych opłat.
Lego w końcu to zrobi!
LEGO zapowiedziało rozszerzenie serii Speed Champions o nowy model bolidu zespołu APX GP, czyli tego samego, który mogliśmy oglądać w filmie „F1: The Movie”.
Premierę sklepową EGO SPEED CHAMPIONS 2026 77252 APXGP Team Race Car (F1 The Movie) zapowiedziano na 2026 rok.
★ Zobacz poprzednie wydania i więcej nadchodzących premier i nowości →
#Apple #AppleTV #AppleTV_ #debiut #news #PodsumowaniePremierAppleTV_ #premiery #streaming
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CW: Part 1 Wealthy right-wing extremists are trying to "buy" the racist, oligarchic, Christian nationalist country they want and dismantle public education, democracy and the separation of church and state. They are actively plotting and working to destroy our multi-ethnic, liberal democracy! “Parents Defending Education” is overwhelmingly funded by big donors’ dark money rather than by “concerned parents.” Tax Docs Link Right-Wing “Parents Group” to Leonard Leo’s Dark Money Network
Part 1
Wealthy right-wing extremists are trying to "buy" the racist, oligarchic, Christian nationalist country they want and dismantle public education, democracy and the separation of church and state. They are actively plotting and working to destroy our multi-ethnic, liberal democracy!“Parents Defending Education” is overwhelmingly funded by big donors’ dark money rather than by “concerned parents.”
Tax Docs Link Right-Wing “Parents Group” to Leonard Leo’s Dark Money Network - Truthout https://truthout.org/articles/tax-docs-link-right-wing-parents-group-to-leonard-leos-dark-money-network/
#GOPInBedWithTheRich
#Fascism
#RightWingHatesDemocracy
#TheyWantTheirSerfsBack"Right-wing operatives are increasing their attacks on U.S. public education with an expanding number of legal complaints to censor books and target teachers on an array of issues —preventing them from teaching U.S. history accurately, treating LGBTQ+ students with the respect they deserve, and forming support groups for kids and teachers of color. These attacks will likely continue to escalate through 2024 as wedge issues intended to feed the right-wing voting base and lay the groundwork for redirecting funds from public schools to private recipients.
One of the main players in these attacks is Parents Defending Education (PDE), a dark money nonprofit group launched in 2021 in the midst of the Virginia state election cycle. Over the past two years, PDE has become a central actor in the right-wing assault on public schools across the nation. The group has trained local agitators to grab media attention, sued school districts for supposed anti-white discrimination, and railed against the teaching of social emotional learning, accurate U.S. history, and even ethnic studies in schools.
Lawyers affiliated with PDE filed at least four complaints in January with the U.S. Department of Education claiming affinity groups for kids or teachers are illegal. These are just a few of the many complaints the group has filed over the past two years.
As dark money in education expert Maurice Cunningham has written, PDE’s “real goal” in filing lawsuits and complaints appears to be to “create media attention and promote chaos and disruption.” Then groups like PDE can claim the solution to the chaos is increased right-wing “parental supervision” over school boards. That supervision appears to involve a minority of vocal, politically motivated parents dictating what other people’s kids are taught or what they can read, based on whether such lessons or books are consistent with their right-wing religious beliefs and political opinions.
PDE’s speakers are often portrayed in the media as simply “concerned parents,” despite the group’s ties to the network of oil billionaire Charles Koch, far right politicians and school privatization efforts. Due to the timetables for the filing of nonprofit IRS forms, the amount PDE had raised to mount these attacks was unknown — until now.
PDE’s 2021 990 nonprofit IRS form shows that the group raised more than $3.1 million in its first year, even though many genuinely local grassroots efforts take years to raise that much money. That form does not reveal how much money PDE raised in 2022, during the congressional midterm elections; the amount it received to fuel its operations last year is likely even higher than 2021. The $3.1 million disclosed for 2021 also does not include any money raised that year by PDE Action, its (c)(4) advocacy arm.
What does the new filing show? First, it reveals that although PDE describes itself as a group of concerned parents, almost all of its funding came from major donors rather than dues from parents. Specifically, PDE raised only $77,272 from membership dues out of the $3,178,345 it was given that year by funders who were not members.
That is, only 2 percent of the group’s funding came from local parents who paid a $10 fee for membership. The vast majority of PDE’s funding comes from big secret sources underwriting the attacks on public education, sources that paid the group a lot more than $10 in membership dues.
PDE’s figure and its disclosed fee suggest that around 7,700 people have paid dues, which would constitute .01 percent of all of the parents in the U.S. It’s a case study in the squeaky wheel getting the grease..."
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SG zieht nach chaotischem Spiel in Hannover ins Final Four ein
Was passiert eigentlich, wenn man die Vorgaben des Trainers ignoriert? Bisweilen bricht dann das Chaos aus, wie zwischenzeitlich…
#Hannover #Deutschland #Deutsch #DE #Schlagzeilen #Headlines #Nachrichten #News #Europe #Europa #EU #DeutscheMeisterschaften #Europameisterschaften #Germany #hamburg #JuanCarlosVonSpanien #Kiel #Montpellier #Niedersachsen #SGFlensburg-Handewitt #Sportergebnis
https://www.europesays.com/de/998253/ -
RE: https://chaos.social/@derPUPE/116068109971116899
#Alles ist besser mit #Glitzer drauf:
#PRUEF 3D Druck Eskalation in unserem geliebten @C4NRN Hackspace .•g•
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RE: https://chaos.social/@derPUPE/116068109971116899
#Alles ist besser mit #Glitzer drauf:
#PRUEF 3D Druck Eskalation in unserem geliebten @C4NRN Hackspace .•g•
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RE: https://chaos.social/@derPUPE/116068109971116899
#Alles ist besser mit #Glitzer drauf:
#PRUEF 3D Druck Eskalation in unserem geliebten @C4NRN Hackspace .•g•
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RE: https://chaos.social/@derPUPE/116068109971116899
#Alles ist besser mit #Glitzer drauf:
#PRUEF 3D Druck Eskalation in unserem geliebten @C4NRN Hackspace .•g•
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Amy Sharpe from the Sunday Mirror contacted me on Facebook after I declined another Mirror Journalist’s request for an interview.
I declined her request as well, as I wasn’t ready for the press, and as I am still paranoid to be tricked and trapped like Pret did with the Development Manager I write extensively about in Open “Letter” to Lila Tighilt Warren. My experience in Pret is very complex and sounds like straight from a twisted Hollywood script, but I have it all in writing and confront Pret openly on Twitter, which in turn have them report me to get shadow-banned (secretly censored on Twitter & Co. which then hides my posts and accounts from public search). But I urged her to go undercover to see for herself and not just take my word for it, just like James Bloodworth did in Amazon. And she did.
My Facebook message after Amy contacted me, but I was not ready for the press:
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What I meant by Pret “infiltrating” the mental health club I was a member of, Pret knew about this club as I mentioned it in my last hearing. I write about Pret “infiltrating” the club in my open “letter” to the Pret Foundation Trust which is just a smokescreen to pretend charity to the public. Pret never responded when I AND an OPs manager asked if I could be placed under someone from the Pret Foundation when I became bereaved and then targetted. Pret never responded.
As I commented on Sathnam Sanghera’s Times article, I’d like to give my two cents also to Amy Sharpe’s undercover article. Both articles from very different perspectives as one from a customer and business point of view, the other from behind the scenes for a few days. But both are equally important and revealing how business works with the main goal of profit in mind.
I have to say that when I saw the undercover reporting yesterday morning (28.11.2018) linked on Twitter, after Amy has been very silent about going “under”, and rightly so, I teared up. I cried when I read her name on the report because not just did she follow my suggestion taking my ordeal serious, but someone from the outside saw what I and many others experience(d), but the public doesn’t want to know about unless it is the press poking into an organization.
It sadly takes deaths becoming public to show how negligent a company, in this case Pret, really is. I’ve been writing openly about my experience with Pret since May 2018 after my father died in March and I started to come to terms again of another loss… still recuperating from my Pret trauma that has “postponed” my grief for my brother. Regular readers know the story.
Some people criticize The Sunday Mirror’s report as being part of a witch hunt, but I don’t think that. The public is so used to be lulled in by a nice and shiny facade, free coffees and cookies.
Customers are so used to the smiles of staff, but no-one knows what really is behind it. The fear management via the Mystery Shopper, rewarded extra £100 if specially nice or told off by the boss in the office and threatened with job security if they didn’t smile non-stop in the highly stressful work environment. I mentioned this in a Tweet response to a customer who without any thought or empathy complained to Pret about a barista, even naming him, for not smiling and rushing the service:
Amy Sharpe’s undercover article to me is like someone understanding this and finally confirming my and the team’s ordeal. Some points I want to highlight as I don’t use the full article, just what I want to confirm and expand upon a little from what this journalist has experienced and witnessed. The article will be in black and my comments in grey. I added the bold to the text to highlight some issues.
Article:
A manager reacts in horror as I point out the mistake (of an Almond Croissant with a Jam Croissant label).
“Oh my god!” he cries as he switches labels on two trays of croissants – one containing jam, the other almonds.This is the typical PANIC reaction of a manager who either didn’t take the time or is too disorganized to do the MBWA (Managing By Walking Around) to check that everything is in its proper place, health & safety checks and so on. This could easily be improved by investing to have plenty of staff, instead of cutting staff to save money, so that the Manager On Duty (MOD) can concentrate on checking everything daily as well as throughout the day. It’s a very simple organizational issue. Very, very simple.
Article:
In the wake of two allergy deaths, he adds: “It’s really dangerous, especially with everything that’s been going on.”And yet, no-one steps on the brakes to put immediate, and what CEO Clive Schlee calls, “meaningful” changes in place. The problem with the word “meaningful” to me here is, it sounds too wishy-washy, “poetically” correct but shows no urgency, even though “it’s really dangerous”. The appropriate word should have been to implement “immediate” changes! As Natasha’s parents are in shock over Pret’s procrastination, ITV’s November report:
Article:
I am standing behind the counter in Pret a Manger … The pace is so relentless, the demands so constant – customers want serving super-quick – that I find myself under constant pressure. I sense that other staff feel the strain too.Ms. Sharpe does not give the time of day she was behind the counter, but mentioned having to dash to the toastie machine, so this may have been lunch time. But the strain can especially be felt when a Team Member does the morning shift from 5 or 6am till 2 or 3pm going through two intense rushes: breakfast and lunch. When I worked in Pret I made a decision to not meet with a friend or have an appointment straight after my morning shift having come out of lunch time. I was always like having come out of a tumbler, being shaken for hours and still on electricity. My friends commented on this, so I tried to get home first to clean up and rest and calm down before joining any events.
One staff review paints this very bluntly. This is why I wished Amy Sharpe would have also covered a week in the kitchen to really get the full Pret “blow”: “This job can annihilate every piece of humanity inside of you.“
Many kitchens I have seen with very small working areas for the Hot Chef in particular. Someone leaked a photo to Twitter.
Customer areas are increased to get as many customers / money in as possible; staff areas are decreased. This then creates multiple problems, not only on the mental strain of staff but customers lives as mistakes happen quickly as with labelling I collected in another post “Vegetarians Get Meat Products“:
Or a shop where I worked where there was only ONE multitask room: office, staff changing room with lockers, fridges, freezers, stock room, hot chef soup prep area, chemical room for cleaning materials etc and to top it all, illegally the rubbish room next to the food prep area! This shop was the worst shop I’ve worked in. This photo is from 2015 and after years like this, Pret was forced to expand the work space to separate the rubbish for health and safety reasons. This room was medium size and approx. 15 square meters max. A total nightmare.
Article:
I am at a central London branch, where 10 staff vie for space, muttering apologies as we collide and stretch across one another to grab pastries and bags.
I shout orders to a barista while dashing to a beeping toastie machine to retrieve a baguette.
I make green teas and filter coffees while my other drinks orders are prepared. It’s stressful and confusing and the queue makes it even more so.
All the while, staff must be alert to the issue of allergens.Yep. And as one customer on Twitter pointed out the chaos and stress on the staff and customers alike. I had to console Team Members many times over the years who held their tears back or just cried in the staff room after being shouted at by the manager. Another review: “Better salary than McDonalds or Costa as long as you keep your fake smile up. Staff with more experience cuts corners on Sanitary rules because otherwise it is impossible to finish your batch on time.
– The coffee calling system is broken. During busy times it is nearly impossible to keep up with the orders without hating everyone around you. A lot of people cry in the staff room especially in their entry period.”
I also shed many tears on my way home in the bus, especially during grief of course, but after a terribly depressing shift this was a common thing to let the tears finally flow.UPDATE Jan. 2019
I found a photo of the coffee area and it shows how cramped and small the work area is. And the barista/coffee makers are required to get PERFECT coffees out within 1 minute that the Mystery Shopper times to the second! It doesn’t get any more dehumanizing and mentally straining than this. I don’t know how I managed, but we worked a lot in mental and physical pain. Under the coffee machine where the silver jugs are, this working area is so small baristas switch on autopilot and just keep going. Hence, lots of stress, shouting and customers going to Twitter with complaints of half cups of coffees that are made so fast to satisfy the Mystery Shopper, the manager and the long queue.
Link by @terry_mcparlane Twitter
It is rare that a customer speaks out like this and it’s sad that most customers don’t care how stressful it is behind the counter. They see it, at times even commented about it to me, but they just want their coffees fast. Pret has spoiled them where they would be perfectly happy to wait 5-10 minutes in Starbucks, Pret made the service so fast to get the money circulation into the shops fast. Pret staff are expected to whip out PERFECT coffees within ONE minute and are timed to the SECOND by Mystery Shoppers, while customers think that staff is just happy working under intense pressure. They don’t realize what’s behind that happy facade!
Excerpt:
1 minute aim to serve and another 1 minute to have a perfect hot drink ready, checked by the MS to the second:
“I was served very quickly, after 15 seconds, very quick service.”
“I received my hot drink very quick, after 30 seconds, quick service.”
And then customers run to Twitter with pictures of half full cappuccinos, missing cream, lukewarm coffees…! There’s nothing more dehumanizing at a workplace that I have experienced. And should anyone suffer from boredom, do an experiment and just read through some Pret Tweets a few minutes each day for a week, with the same sweet-talk response from Pret veering customers away from public Tweets to private DM.
Some complaints are legitimate when a customer already spoke to the manager, and yet Pret has a DM button, but customers feel the public needs to be aware of their dilemma in Pret shops. I know, I know I respond a lot to some Tweets, and maybe it is because for 10 years I had to bite my tongue towards rude customers, I take the opportunity now to give my opinion. And Pret doesn’t block me as they collect my Tweets in case for court and certainly to learn some tips, as I have showered them with suggestions for improvement while I worked there. Be my guest, Pret.
Article:
Staff now repeat orders to customers to avoid any mistakes. Allergen enquiries are referred to the duty manager, who will show a list of ingredients.Which is good to repeat, but the pace is still kept high with all sorts of demands, especially for the “Misery” Shopper: always smile, eye contact, make some small-talk, serve within 1 minute, stand on your head, dance on one feet, bend your back, twist your brain, know all the answers, kiss their butts … and all this with a big fake Pret A Smile to keep a low-paid job! In other words you either develop superhuman abilities or mental illness. The pace is the same, the demand is higher, and life is still at risk including the lives of staff who suffer depression, mental ill health and at times become suicidal. But the public “just” wakes up once customer lives are affected. Forget the “slaves“.
A positive Mystery Shopper visit, excerpt:
“The staff member who served me made good eye contact and greeted me with a friendly smile. While remaining focused and efficient, she also took time to engage in a few words of conversation, which added a personal element to the exchange – enhancing the welcoming atmosphere of this store.”
A negative Mystery Shopper visit, excerpt:
“I was not greeted at the till or given a smile. The only conversation was what was necessary for the transaction. To be welcoming the team member could have greeted me and smiled and be engage(d) and positive, the team member could have given me a friendly remark or made small talk.”
— or —
“Team members should smile at customers and may not work when ill, as team member was coughing whilst serving me and was therefore not feeling cheerful to smile that day.”
I wish I could have told this MS that staff are not paid sick leave for the first 2 and 3 days depending on age. So one had to decide if to stay home sick and lose income, or go to work unwell and get a telling off from the manager like I did because I coughed when I happened to serve the MS.
I wonder if Amy Sharpe served the Mystery Shopper and how she would have felt reading a negative comment on her service while feeling the experience of the “overstretched staff” and it being “stressful and confusing and the queue makes it even more so.”
I even wished sometimes customers would just join us for a few hours, especially those who quickly complain about everything.
Just few of the countless Tweets, just from this week:
This customer had good service for THREE years, then one negative experience and the world has come to an end. I linked her to Amy Sharpe’s report to bring some perspective for her feeling so unwanted. But I deleted the Tweet again as I write too many Tweets and always like to de-clutter my Twitter feeds:
“Every time…”
“Oh no!…”
etc. etc.
So, companies like Pret have created a “nation” of complainers where the British were usually patient and polite, they now cry like babies whose bottoms haven’t been wiped in a while! And the money keeps coming in while Pret responds with “Oh no…” and “Oh gosh, are you okay?…” sweet-talk to keep the babies happy and the money rolling!
I responded, but since deleted as well to this baby who had no issues to call hard working people the “C” word because he was in the “teething” period having his day ruined by a hard avocado. Pret’s typical cut’n’paste response, apologizing while he is offensive, and as if they really contact each shop all day long for repeated hard avocados:
Article:
The mantra, I am told repeatedly, is “NEVER guess”.
But from what I witness, the speed at which staff often have to work could put these commendable new standards at risk.
On my second shift I find an orange juice two weeks out of date on the shelves.
The shocked team leader tells me: “You don’t need to tell anyone, otherwise we’re f****d. It is really bad… I’ll throw it away.”
One barista tells me the cramped service area is a “nightmare”.
He says: “If I’m next to you, you have to shout. If you don’t shout I can make a mistake. A person can grab the wrong coffee. Make mistakes and the customer gets mad. You’ve got to focus, stay calm.”
With soybeans and dairy prominent on the menu – and among the 14 allergens kitchens must legally declare – this admission is worrying.
On my last shift, stickers are introduced to distinguish between soya, coconut and regular milks. But one barista serves a coffee without a sticker – and a manager barks: “Where is the sticker?”
The £8.25-an-hour shifts are tough and I collapse into bed exhausted after eight hours on my feet, lifting boxes, mopping and dragging tables around.Nothing more to add except this Link
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Article:
Some staff do 12-hour shifts or work at other branches to earn more. To add to the intensity, employees are battling the cold due to its station location. I wear extra layers to stay warm – there are only two Pret fleeces to go round, so we share.Nothing more to add except that some staff even do 60-70 hour weeks assigned by the manager! I had to speak out about this as Team Members were exhausted, at times became sick from the amount of work, but were too scared to speak with the GM. Again, I did not make friends with my bosses. But neither did I care!
Article:
When the bustle dies down I clean the shop but a colleague urges me to skip certain tasks.
“You’re supposed to sweep and mop every day but don’t do that or you’ll never leave on time,” he says.This unfortunately is common in most shops that staff are so swamped with work they are not able to finish in time and are NOT paid for overtime. I fought for this with my managers in every shop. I would say to my teams who did their best and me as the Team Leader helping them, that if they can’t finish I will mark this on the cleaning rota with an explanation, instead of just ticking off the jobs as done like most do to keep the appearance that jobs were completed. I’d then take responsibility when the boss summons me in the office the next day. I let the team go on the dot when our shift finished at 9 or 10pm or whatever closing and cleaning time the branch had.
Coffee Specialist, London April 2018
Most Team Members have families with kids at home, not seeing their children all day as they are in school, and later the parent is working when they go to bed. So I made it a point to let them go when the shift finished. I was very organized and made sure that the important jobs, health & safety was taken care of and prioritized these. I structured my teams in this way and left the unimportant jobs unfinished if we didn’t have time or enough staff.
In the early times in Pret I would work and work, finish in time and also worked overtime unpaid. But then the time came where I drew a line. It is okay here and there to finish a little late, but it was the norm in Pret and it seemed a very calculated one as Teams worked extra for no pay every day. I struggled with my managers and communicated that if we have to stay longer to finish the job, I will pay them the extra time through the system as was part of my job. If my bosses didn’t want that, then I told my team to finish on the dot and we go home. Full stop.
This of course didn’t make me friends with my bosses, but neither did I care! My friends are not these kind of people who exploit workers for their own bonuses. One Pret staff reviews this as a common practice for managers to give them a job to do 15 minutes before the Team Member would have finished the shift. But the job would take 30 – 60 minutes to complete. I experienced this many times as well and was made to feel bad if I needed or wanted to leave. It took me some time to stand up against this. Pret staff in the UK should do what their colleagues in the U.S. did, a class action suit for not being paid overtime.
Full article of the Sunday Mirror
I have to be honest that I wished Amy Sharpe would have worked longer, a month or so like James Bloodworth did in Amazon. It would have been good for Ms Sharpe to cover the early shifts and weekends as well, including working in the kitchen, as each time and job has its own challenges. But I’m not complaining. She covered 1 or 2 weeks (?) really really well, while I have 10 years of “material” to share that almost literally killed me having survived bullying during bereavement.
So, I have to be patient and acknowledge the brilliant work by this journalist having been willing to do this, as well as Sathnam Sanghera’s article. And many more people will tell their story in time away from the typical PR that Pret does so well. I keep confronting Pret on a staff suicide in 2017 and who knows how many more are under the carpet when they could hide two customer deaths for two years and the other for 10 months! I know my approach and direct confrontation is full on, but I almost lost my life after having worked with integrity, honesty, very hard and with passion for my teams. I cannot be silent after having wasted 10 years of my life in Pret with the knowledge that staff continue to suffer behind the facade. And if any reader wonders if I went to court, I explain here.
Thank you for your time in reading this. And thank you to anyone in the press to have taken a closer look. Thank you to Amy Sharpe. Ironic and delighted to be calling a reporter a now former colleague of mine! Well done Amy!
Life is short, please be kind to yourselves and others.
expret.org
UPDATE: 14.12.2018 A rare observation from a customer regarding forced friendliness.
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UPDATE March 2019 – The first time I share my story verbally in one go in this interview.
Interview:
https://expret.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/workplace-bullying-an-intervie-683101e6895da.m4a
Above interview is with Adam from The Adam Paradox podcast on my experience in Pret A Manger.
We spoke about gaslighting (being from Germany, that word doesn’t exist in Germany except in its English form. I had to explain it to a German therapist), “shadow banning” and censorship on social media, as well as bereavement, trauma and mental health in general. I further talked about the significant timing of Pret CEO’s announcement of the £1000 Tweet for all staff. I also talked about a regular day in Pret and how staff have to cut corners, in order to fulfill the immense workload under constant pressure.
It is hard to squeeze my traumatic experience into a podcast segment, but we covered enough to get a good picture of today’s systemic stress environment for profit driven global companies.
Please visit his Podcast and Twitter @1AdamParadox.
UPDATE February 2019, my posts on “Why do Pret Staff continue under Harshness“
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I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather speak out to help others. For an overview of important blog entries of my experience with Pret, please visit My Ordeal with Pret A Manger. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post.An incomplete list on what other Pret staff say about Pret’s bullying environment Caught in the Act Bullying and What shop MANAGERS and HQ staff say about Pret incl. CEO Pano Christou.I tell my story for the first time verbally in below audio player interview on a podcast by The Adam Paradox, and wrote two articles in the Scottish Left Review as well as mentioned by the BBC.Please also see the MEDIA page for more.
NEW LinkTree
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Thank you for reading/listening.
©2017 – present expret.org
Interview:
(Please be aware that the player shows 0:00 as WordPress sometimes “messes” with my blog. Just press play or go straight to the interview on Adam’s page).
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https://expret.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/workplace-bullying-an-intervie-683101e6895da.m4a.
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.©2017 – Present: expret.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
https://expret.org/2018/11/29/undercover-under-pressure/
#000000 #0000ff #333333 #50 #99cc00 #AmySharpe #AmySharpeJournalist #AmySharpeTheSundayMirror #ExposingPretAManger #ff0000 #PretAManger #PretAMangerReviews #PretAllergen #UndercoverInPret #UndercoverReport
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Amy Sharpe from the Sunday Mirror contacted me on Facebook after I declined another Mirror Journalist’s request for an interview.
I declined her request as well, as I wasn’t ready for the press, and as I am still paranoid to be tricked and trapped like Pret did with the Development Manager I write extensively about in Open “Letter” to Lila Tighilt Warren. My experience in Pret is very complex and sounds like straight from a twisted Hollywood script, but I have it all in writing and confront Pret openly on Twitter, which in turn have them report me to get shadow-banned (secretly censored on Twitter & Co. which then hides my posts and accounts from public search). But I urged her to go undercover to see for herself and not just take my word for it, just like James Bloodworth did in Amazon. And she did.
My Facebook message after Amy contacted me, but I was not ready for the press:
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What I meant by Pret “infiltrating” the mental health club I was a member of, Pret knew about this club as I mentioned it in my last hearing. I write about Pret “infiltrating” the club in my open “letter” to the Pret Foundation Trust which is just a smokescreen to pretend charity to the public. Pret never responded when I AND an OPs manager asked if I could be placed under someone from the Pret Foundation when I became bereaved and then targetted. Pret never responded.
As I commented on Sathnam Sanghera’s Times article, I’d like to give my two cents also to Amy Sharpe’s undercover article. Both articles from very different perspectives as one from a customer and business point of view, the other from behind the scenes for a few days. But both are equally important and revealing how business works with the main goal of profit in mind.
I have to say that when I saw the undercover reporting yesterday morning (28.11.2018) linked on Twitter, after Amy has been very silent about going “under”, and rightly so, I teared up. I cried when I read her name on the report because not just did she follow my suggestion taking my ordeal serious, but someone from the outside saw what I and many others experience(d), but the public doesn’t want to know about unless it is the press poking into an organization.
It sadly takes deaths becoming public to show how negligent a company, in this case Pret, really is. I’ve been writing openly about my experience with Pret since May 2018 after my father died in March and I started to come to terms again of another loss… still recuperating from my Pret trauma that has “postponed” my grief for my brother. Regular readers know the story.
Some people criticize The Sunday Mirror’s report as being part of a witch hunt, but I don’t think that. The public is so used to be lulled in by a nice and shiny facade, free coffees and cookies.
Customers are so used to the smiles of staff, but no-one knows what really is behind it. The fear management via the Mystery Shopper, rewarded extra £100 if specially nice or told off by the boss in the office and threatened with job security if they didn’t smile non-stop in the highly stressful work environment. I mentioned this in a Tweet response to a customer who without any thought or empathy complained to Pret about a barista, even naming him, for not smiling and rushing the service:
Amy Sharpe’s undercover article to me is like someone understanding this and finally confirming my and the team’s ordeal. Some points I want to highlight as I don’t use the full article, just what I want to confirm and expand upon a little from what this journalist has experienced and witnessed. The article will be in black and my comments in grey. I added the bold to the text to highlight some issues.
Article:
A manager reacts in horror as I point out the mistake (of an Almond Croissant with a Jam Croissant label).
“Oh my god!” he cries as he switches labels on two trays of croissants – one containing jam, the other almonds.This is the typical PANIC reaction of a manager who either didn’t take the time or is too disorganized to do the MBWA (Managing By Walking Around) to check that everything is in its proper place, health & safety checks and so on. This could easily be improved by investing to have plenty of staff, instead of cutting staff to save money, so that the Manager On Duty (MOD) can concentrate on checking everything daily as well as throughout the day. It’s a very simple organizational issue. Very, very simple.
Article:
In the wake of two allergy deaths, he adds: “It’s really dangerous, especially with everything that’s been going on.”And yet, no-one steps on the brakes to put immediate, and what CEO Clive Schlee calls, “meaningful” changes in place. The problem with the word “meaningful” to me here is, it sounds too wishy-washy, “poetically” correct but shows no urgency, even though “it’s really dangerous”. The appropriate word should have been to implement “immediate” changes! As Natasha’s parents are in shock over Pret’s procrastination, ITV’s November report:
Article:
I am standing behind the counter in Pret a Manger … The pace is so relentless, the demands so constant – customers want serving super-quick – that I find myself under constant pressure. I sense that other staff feel the strain too.Ms. Sharpe does not give the time of day she was behind the counter, but mentioned having to dash to the toastie machine, so this may have been lunch time. But the strain can especially be felt when a Team Member does the morning shift from 5 or 6am till 2 or 3pm going through two intense rushes: breakfast and lunch. When I worked in Pret I made a decision to not meet with a friend or have an appointment straight after my morning shift having come out of lunch time. I was always like having come out of a tumbler, being shaken for hours and still on electricity. My friends commented on this, so I tried to get home first to clean up and rest and calm down before joining any events.
One staff review paints this very bluntly. This is why I wished Amy Sharpe would have also covered a week in the kitchen to really get the full Pret “blow”: “This job can annihilate every piece of humanity inside of you.“
Many kitchens I have seen with very small working areas for the Hot Chef in particular. Someone leaked a photo to Twitter.
Customer areas are increased to get as many customers / money in as possible; staff areas are decreased. This then creates multiple problems, not only on the mental strain of staff but customers lives as mistakes happen quickly as with labelling I collected in another post “Vegetarians Get Meat Products“:
Or a shop where I worked where there was only ONE multitask room: office, staff changing room with lockers, fridges, freezers, stock room, hot chef soup prep area, chemical room for cleaning materials etc and to top it all, illegally the rubbish room next to the food prep area! This shop was the worst shop I’ve worked in. This photo is from 2015 and after years like this, Pret was forced to expand the work space to separate the rubbish for health and safety reasons. This room was medium size and approx. 15 square meters max. A total nightmare.
Article:
I am at a central London branch, where 10 staff vie for space, muttering apologies as we collide and stretch across one another to grab pastries and bags.
I shout orders to a barista while dashing to a beeping toastie machine to retrieve a baguette.
I make green teas and filter coffees while my other drinks orders are prepared. It’s stressful and confusing and the queue makes it even more so.
All the while, staff must be alert to the issue of allergens.Yep. And as one customer on Twitter pointed out the chaos and stress on the staff and customers alike. I had to console Team Members many times over the years who held their tears back or just cried in the staff room after being shouted at by the manager. Another review: “Better salary than McDonalds or Costa as long as you keep your fake smile up. Staff with more experience cuts corners on Sanitary rules because otherwise it is impossible to finish your batch on time.
– The coffee calling system is broken. During busy times it is nearly impossible to keep up with the orders without hating everyone around you. A lot of people cry in the staff room especially in their entry period.”
I also shed many tears on my way home in the bus, especially during grief of course, but after a terribly depressing shift this was a common thing to let the tears finally flow.UPDATE Jan. 2019
I found a photo of the coffee area and it shows how cramped and small the work area is. And the barista/coffee makers are required to get PERFECT coffees out within 1 minute that the Mystery Shopper times to the second! It doesn’t get any more dehumanizing and mentally straining than this. I don’t know how I managed, but we worked a lot in mental and physical pain. Under the coffee machine where the silver jugs are, this working area is so small baristas switch on autopilot and just keep going. Hence, lots of stress, shouting and customers going to Twitter with complaints of half cups of coffees that are made so fast to satisfy the Mystery Shopper, the manager and the long queue.
Link by @terry_mcparlane Twitter
It is rare that a customer speaks out like this and it’s sad that most customers don’t care how stressful it is behind the counter. They see it, at times even commented about it to me, but they just want their coffees fast. Pret has spoiled them where they would be perfectly happy to wait 5-10 minutes in Starbucks, Pret made the service so fast to get the money circulation into the shops fast. Pret staff are expected to whip out PERFECT coffees within ONE minute and are timed to the SECOND by Mystery Shoppers, while customers think that staff is just happy working under intense pressure. They don’t realize what’s behind that happy facade!
Excerpt:
1 minute aim to serve and another 1 minute to have a perfect hot drink ready, checked by the MS to the second:
“I was served very quickly, after 15 seconds, very quick service.”
“I received my hot drink very quick, after 30 seconds, quick service.”
And then customers run to Twitter with pictures of half full cappuccinos, missing cream, lukewarm coffees…! There’s nothing more dehumanizing at a workplace that I have experienced. And should anyone suffer from boredom, do an experiment and just read through some Pret Tweets a few minutes each day for a week, with the same sweet-talk response from Pret veering customers away from public Tweets to private DM.
Some complaints are legitimate when a customer already spoke to the manager, and yet Pret has a DM button, but customers feel the public needs to be aware of their dilemma in Pret shops. I know, I know I respond a lot to some Tweets, and maybe it is because for 10 years I had to bite my tongue towards rude customers, I take the opportunity now to give my opinion. And Pret doesn’t block me as they collect my Tweets in case for court and certainly to learn some tips, as I have showered them with suggestions for improvement while I worked there. Be my guest, Pret.
Article:
Staff now repeat orders to customers to avoid any mistakes. Allergen enquiries are referred to the duty manager, who will show a list of ingredients.Which is good to repeat, but the pace is still kept high with all sorts of demands, especially for the “Misery” Shopper: always smile, eye contact, make some small-talk, serve within 1 minute, stand on your head, dance on one feet, bend your back, twist your brain, know all the answers, kiss their butts … and all this with a big fake Pret A Smile to keep a low-paid job! In other words you either develop superhuman abilities or mental illness. The pace is the same, the demand is higher, and life is still at risk including the lives of staff who suffer depression, mental ill health and at times become suicidal. But the public “just” wakes up once customer lives are affected. Forget the “slaves“.
A positive Mystery Shopper visit, excerpt:
“The staff member who served me made good eye contact and greeted me with a friendly smile. While remaining focused and efficient, she also took time to engage in a few words of conversation, which added a personal element to the exchange – enhancing the welcoming atmosphere of this store.”
A negative Mystery Shopper visit, excerpt:
“I was not greeted at the till or given a smile. The only conversation was what was necessary for the transaction. To be welcoming the team member could have greeted me and smiled and be engage(d) and positive, the team member could have given me a friendly remark or made small talk.”
— or —
“Team members should smile at customers and may not work when ill, as team member was coughing whilst serving me and was therefore not feeling cheerful to smile that day.”
I wish I could have told this MS that staff are not paid sick leave for the first 2 and 3 days depending on age. So one had to decide if to stay home sick and lose income, or go to work unwell and get a telling off from the manager like I did because I coughed when I happened to serve the MS.
I wonder if Amy Sharpe served the Mystery Shopper and how she would have felt reading a negative comment on her service while feeling the experience of the “overstretched staff” and it being “stressful and confusing and the queue makes it even more so.”
I even wished sometimes customers would just join us for a few hours, especially those who quickly complain about everything.
Just few of the countless Tweets, just from this week:
This customer had good service for THREE years, then one negative experience and the world has come to an end. I linked her to Amy Sharpe’s report to bring some perspective for her feeling so unwanted. But I deleted the Tweet again as I write too many Tweets and always like to de-clutter my Twitter feeds:
“Every time…”
“Oh no!…”
etc. etc.
So, companies like Pret have created a “nation” of complainers where the British were usually patient and polite, they now cry like babies whose bottoms haven’t been wiped in a while! And the money keeps coming in while Pret responds with “Oh no…” and “Oh gosh, are you okay?…” sweet-talk to keep the babies happy and the money rolling!
I responded, but since deleted as well to this baby who had no issues to call hard working people the “C” word because he was in the “teething” period having his day ruined by a hard avocado. Pret’s typical cut’n’paste response, apologizing while he is offensive, and as if they really contact each shop all day long for repeated hard avocados:
Article:
The mantra, I am told repeatedly, is “NEVER guess”.
But from what I witness, the speed at which staff often have to work could put these commendable new standards at risk.
On my second shift I find an orange juice two weeks out of date on the shelves.
The shocked team leader tells me: “You don’t need to tell anyone, otherwise we’re f****d. It is really bad… I’ll throw it away.”
One barista tells me the cramped service area is a “nightmare”.
He says: “If I’m next to you, you have to shout. If you don’t shout I can make a mistake. A person can grab the wrong coffee. Make mistakes and the customer gets mad. You’ve got to focus, stay calm.”
With soybeans and dairy prominent on the menu – and among the 14 allergens kitchens must legally declare – this admission is worrying.
On my last shift, stickers are introduced to distinguish between soya, coconut and regular milks. But one barista serves a coffee without a sticker – and a manager barks: “Where is the sticker?”
The £8.25-an-hour shifts are tough and I collapse into bed exhausted after eight hours on my feet, lifting boxes, mopping and dragging tables around.Nothing more to add except this Link
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Article:
Some staff do 12-hour shifts or work at other branches to earn more. To add to the intensity, employees are battling the cold due to its station location. I wear extra layers to stay warm – there are only two Pret fleeces to go round, so we share.Nothing more to add except that some staff even do 60-70 hour weeks assigned by the manager! I had to speak out about this as Team Members were exhausted, at times became sick from the amount of work, but were too scared to speak with the GM. Again, I did not make friends with my bosses. But neither did I care!
Article:
When the bustle dies down I clean the shop but a colleague urges me to skip certain tasks.
“You’re supposed to sweep and mop every day but don’t do that or you’ll never leave on time,” he says.This unfortunately is common in most shops that staff are so swamped with work they are not able to finish in time and are NOT paid for overtime. I fought for this with my managers in every shop. I would say to my teams who did their best and me as the Team Leader helping them, that if they can’t finish I will mark this on the cleaning rota with an explanation, instead of just ticking off the jobs as done like most do to keep the appearance that jobs were completed. I’d then take responsibility when the boss summons me in the office the next day. I let the team go on the dot when our shift finished at 9 or 10pm or whatever closing and cleaning time the branch had.
Coffee Specialist, London April 2018
Most Team Members have families with kids at home, not seeing their children all day as they are in school, and later the parent is working when they go to bed. So I made it a point to let them go when the shift finished. I was very organized and made sure that the important jobs, health & safety was taken care of and prioritized these. I structured my teams in this way and left the unimportant jobs unfinished if we didn’t have time or enough staff.
In the early times in Pret I would work and work, finish in time and also worked overtime unpaid. But then the time came where I drew a line. It is okay here and there to finish a little late, but it was the norm in Pret and it seemed a very calculated one as Teams worked extra for no pay every day. I struggled with my managers and communicated that if we have to stay longer to finish the job, I will pay them the extra time through the system as was part of my job. If my bosses didn’t want that, then I told my team to finish on the dot and we go home. Full stop.
This of course didn’t make me friends with my bosses, but neither did I care! My friends are not these kind of people who exploit workers for their own bonuses. One Pret staff reviews this as a common practice for managers to give them a job to do 15 minutes before the Team Member would have finished the shift. But the job would take 30 – 60 minutes to complete. I experienced this many times as well and was made to feel bad if I needed or wanted to leave. It took me some time to stand up against this. Pret staff in the UK should do what their colleagues in the U.S. did, a class action suit for not being paid overtime.
Full article of the Sunday Mirror
I have to be honest that I wished Amy Sharpe would have worked longer, a month or so like James Bloodworth did in Amazon. It would have been good for Ms Sharpe to cover the early shifts and weekends as well, including working in the kitchen, as each time and job has its own challenges. But I’m not complaining. She covered 1 or 2 weeks (?) really really well, while I have 10 years of “material” to share that almost literally killed me having survived bullying during bereavement.
So, I have to be patient and acknowledge the brilliant work by this journalist having been willing to do this, as well as Sathnam Sanghera’s article. And many more people will tell their story in time away from the typical PR that Pret does so well. I keep confronting Pret on a staff suicide in 2017 and who knows how many more are under the carpet when they could hide two customer deaths for two years and the other for 10 months! I know my approach and direct confrontation is full on, but I almost lost my life after having worked with integrity, honesty, very hard and with passion for my teams. I cannot be silent after having wasted 10 years of my life in Pret with the knowledge that staff continue to suffer behind the facade. And if any reader wonders if I went to court, I explain here.
Thank you for your time in reading this. And thank you to anyone in the press to have taken a closer look. Thank you to Amy Sharpe. Ironic and delighted to be calling a reporter a now former colleague of mine! Well done Amy!
Life is short, please be kind to yourselves and others.
expret.org
UPDATE: 14.12.2018 A rare observation from a customer regarding forced friendliness.
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UPDATE March 2019 – The first time I share my story verbally in one go in this interview.
Interview:
https://expret.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/workplace-bullying-an-intervie-683101e6895da.m4a
Above interview is with Adam from The Adam Paradox podcast on my experience in Pret A Manger.
We spoke about gaslighting (being from Germany, that word doesn’t exist in Germany except in its English form. I had to explain it to a German therapist), “shadow banning” and censorship on social media, as well as bereavement, trauma and mental health in general. I further talked about the significant timing of Pret CEO’s announcement of the £1000 Tweet for all staff. I also talked about a regular day in Pret and how staff have to cut corners, in order to fulfill the immense workload under constant pressure.
It is hard to squeeze my traumatic experience into a podcast segment, but we covered enough to get a good picture of today’s systemic stress environment for profit driven global companies.
Please visit his Podcast and Twitter @1AdamParadox.
UPDATE February 2019, my posts on “Why do Pret Staff continue under Harshness“
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I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather speak out to help others. For an overview of important blog entries of my experience with Pret, please visit My Ordeal with Pret A Manger. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post.An incomplete list on what other Pret staff say about Pret’s bullying environment Caught in the Act Bullying and What shop MANAGERS and HQ staff say about Pret incl. CEO Pano Christou.I tell my story for the first time verbally in below audio player interview on a podcast by The Adam Paradox, and wrote two articles in the Scottish Left Review as well as mentioned by the BBC.Please also see the MEDIA page for more.
NEW LinkTree
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Thank you for reading/listening.
©2017 – present expret.org
Interview:
(Please be aware that the player shows 0:00 as WordPress sometimes “messes” with my blog. Just press play or go straight to the interview on Adam’s page).
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https://expret.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/workplace-bullying-an-intervie-683101e6895da.m4a.
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https://expret.org/2018/11/29/undercover-under-pressure/
#000000 #0000ff #333333 #50 #99cc00 #AmySharpe #AmySharpeJournalist #AmySharpeTheSundayMirror #ExposingPretAManger #ff0000 #PretAManger #PretAMangerReviews #PretAllergen #UndercoverInPret #UndercoverReport
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Amy Sharpe from the Sunday Mirror contacted me on Facebook after I declined another Mirror Journalist’s request for an interview.
I declined her request as well, as I wasn’t ready for the press, and as I am still paranoid to be tricked and trapped like Pret did with the Development Manager I write extensively about in Open “Letter” to Lila Tighilt Warren. My experience in Pret is very complex and sounds like straight from a twisted Hollywood script, but I have it all in writing and confront Pret openly on Twitter, which in turn have them report me to get shadow-banned (secretly censored on Twitter & Co. which then hides my posts and accounts from public search). But I urged her to go undercover to see for herself and not just take my word for it, just like James Bloodworth did in Amazon. And she did.
My Facebook message after Amy contacted me, but I was not ready for the press:
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What I meant by Pret “infiltrating” the mental health club I was a member of, Pret knew about this club as I mentioned it in my last hearing. I write about Pret “infiltrating” the club in my open “letter” to the Pret Foundation Trust which is just a smokescreen to pretend charity to the public. Pret never responded when I AND an OPs manager asked if I could be placed under someone from the Pret Foundation when I became bereaved and then targetted. Pret never responded.
As I commented on Sathnam Sanghera’s Times article, I’d like to give my two cents also to Amy Sharpe’s undercover article. Both articles from very different perspectives as one from a customer and business point of view, the other from behind the scenes for a few days. But both are equally important and revealing how business works with the main goal of profit in mind.
I have to say that when I saw the undercover reporting yesterday morning (28.11.2018) linked on Twitter, after Amy has been very silent about going “under”, and rightly so, I teared up. I cried when I read her name on the report because not just did she follow my suggestion taking my ordeal serious, but someone from the outside saw what I and many others experience(d), but the public doesn’t want to know about unless it is the press poking into an organization.
It sadly takes deaths becoming public to show how negligent a company, in this case Pret, really is. I’ve been writing openly about my experience with Pret since May 2018 after my father died in March and I started to come to terms again of another loss… still recuperating from my Pret trauma that has “postponed” my grief for my brother. Regular readers know the story.
Some people criticize The Sunday Mirror’s report as being part of a witch hunt, but I don’t think that. The public is so used to be lulled in by a nice and shiny facade, free coffees and cookies.
Customers are so used to the smiles of staff, but no-one knows what really is behind it. The fear management via the Mystery Shopper, rewarded extra £100 if specially nice or told off by the boss in the office and threatened with job security if they didn’t smile non-stop in the highly stressful work environment. I mentioned this in a Tweet response to a customer who without any thought or empathy complained to Pret about a barista, even naming him, for not smiling and rushing the service:
Amy Sharpe’s undercover article to me is like someone understanding this and finally confirming my and the team’s ordeal. Some points I want to highlight as I don’t use the full article, just what I want to confirm and expand upon a little from what this journalist has experienced and witnessed. The article will be in black and my comments in grey. I added the bold to the text to highlight some issues.
Article:
A manager reacts in horror as I point out the mistake (of an Almond Croissant with a Jam Croissant label).
“Oh my god!” he cries as he switches labels on two trays of croissants – one containing jam, the other almonds.This is the typical PANIC reaction of a manager who either didn’t take the time or is too disorganized to do the MBWA (Managing By Walking Around) to check that everything is in its proper place, health & safety checks and so on. This could easily be improved by investing to have plenty of staff, instead of cutting staff to save money, so that the Manager On Duty (MOD) can concentrate on checking everything daily as well as throughout the day. It’s a very simple organizational issue. Very, very simple.
Article:
In the wake of two allergy deaths, he adds: “It’s really dangerous, especially with everything that’s been going on.”And yet, no-one steps on the brakes to put immediate, and what CEO Clive Schlee calls, “meaningful” changes in place. The problem with the word “meaningful” to me here is, it sounds too wishy-washy, “poetically” correct but shows no urgency, even though “it’s really dangerous”. The appropriate word should have been to implement “immediate” changes! As Natasha’s parents are in shock over Pret’s procrastination, ITV’s November report:
Article:
I am standing behind the counter in Pret a Manger … The pace is so relentless, the demands so constant – customers want serving super-quick – that I find myself under constant pressure. I sense that other staff feel the strain too.Ms. Sharpe does not give the time of day she was behind the counter, but mentioned having to dash to the toastie machine, so this may have been lunch time. But the strain can especially be felt when a Team Member does the morning shift from 5 or 6am till 2 or 3pm going through two intense rushes: breakfast and lunch. When I worked in Pret I made a decision to not meet with a friend or have an appointment straight after my morning shift having come out of lunch time. I was always like having come out of a tumbler, being shaken for hours and still on electricity. My friends commented on this, so I tried to get home first to clean up and rest and calm down before joining any events.
One staff review paints this very bluntly. This is why I wished Amy Sharpe would have also covered a week in the kitchen to really get the full Pret “blow”: “This job can annihilate every piece of humanity inside of you.“
Many kitchens I have seen with very small working areas for the Hot Chef in particular. Someone leaked a photo to Twitter.
Customer areas are increased to get as many customers / money in as possible; staff areas are decreased. This then creates multiple problems, not only on the mental strain of staff but customers lives as mistakes happen quickly as with labelling I collected in another post “Vegetarians Get Meat Products“:
Or a shop where I worked where there was only ONE multitask room: office, staff changing room with lockers, fridges, freezers, stock room, hot chef soup prep area, chemical room for cleaning materials etc and to top it all, illegally the rubbish room next to the food prep area! This shop was the worst shop I’ve worked in. This photo is from 2015 and after years like this, Pret was forced to expand the work space to separate the rubbish for health and safety reasons. This room was medium size and approx. 15 square meters max. A total nightmare.
Article:
I am at a central London branch, where 10 staff vie for space, muttering apologies as we collide and stretch across one another to grab pastries and bags.
I shout orders to a barista while dashing to a beeping toastie machine to retrieve a baguette.
I make green teas and filter coffees while my other drinks orders are prepared. It’s stressful and confusing and the queue makes it even more so.
All the while, staff must be alert to the issue of allergens.Yep. And as one customer on Twitter pointed out the chaos and stress on the staff and customers alike. I had to console Team Members many times over the years who held their tears back or just cried in the staff room after being shouted at by the manager. Another review: “Better salary than McDonalds or Costa as long as you keep your fake smile up. Staff with more experience cuts corners on Sanitary rules because otherwise it is impossible to finish your batch on time.
– The coffee calling system is broken. During busy times it is nearly impossible to keep up with the orders without hating everyone around you. A lot of people cry in the staff room especially in their entry period.”
I also shed many tears on my way home in the bus, especially during grief of course, but after a terribly depressing shift this was a common thing to let the tears finally flow.UPDATE Jan. 2019
I found a photo of the coffee area and it shows how cramped and small the work area is. And the barista/coffee makers are required to get PERFECT coffees out within 1 minute that the Mystery Shopper times to the second! It doesn’t get any more dehumanizing and mentally straining than this. I don’t know how I managed, but we worked a lot in mental and physical pain. Under the coffee machine where the silver jugs are, this working area is so small baristas switch on autopilot and just keep going. Hence, lots of stress, shouting and customers going to Twitter with complaints of half cups of coffees that are made so fast to satisfy the Mystery Shopper, the manager and the long queue.
Link by @terry_mcparlane Twitter
It is rare that a customer speaks out like this and it’s sad that most customers don’t care how stressful it is behind the counter. They see it, at times even commented about it to me, but they just want their coffees fast. Pret has spoiled them where they would be perfectly happy to wait 5-10 minutes in Starbucks, Pret made the service so fast to get the money circulation into the shops fast. Pret staff are expected to whip out PERFECT coffees within ONE minute and are timed to the SECOND by Mystery Shoppers, while customers think that staff is just happy working under intense pressure. They don’t realize what’s behind that happy facade!
Excerpt:
1 minute aim to serve and another 1 minute to have a perfect hot drink ready, checked by the MS to the second:
“I was served very quickly, after 15 seconds, very quick service.”
“I received my hot drink very quick, after 30 seconds, quick service.”
And then customers run to Twitter with pictures of half full cappuccinos, missing cream, lukewarm coffees…! There’s nothing more dehumanizing at a workplace that I have experienced. And should anyone suffer from boredom, do an experiment and just read through some Pret Tweets a few minutes each day for a week, with the same sweet-talk response from Pret veering customers away from public Tweets to private DM.
Some complaints are legitimate when a customer already spoke to the manager, and yet Pret has a DM button, but customers feel the public needs to be aware of their dilemma in Pret shops. I know, I know I respond a lot to some Tweets, and maybe it is because for 10 years I had to bite my tongue towards rude customers, I take the opportunity now to give my opinion. And Pret doesn’t block me as they collect my Tweets in case for court and certainly to learn some tips, as I have showered them with suggestions for improvement while I worked there. Be my guest, Pret.
Article:
Staff now repeat orders to customers to avoid any mistakes. Allergen enquiries are referred to the duty manager, who will show a list of ingredients.Which is good to repeat, but the pace is still kept high with all sorts of demands, especially for the “Misery” Shopper: always smile, eye contact, make some small-talk, serve within 1 minute, stand on your head, dance on one feet, bend your back, twist your brain, know all the answers, kiss their butts … and all this with a big fake Pret A Smile to keep a low-paid job! In other words you either develop superhuman abilities or mental illness. The pace is the same, the demand is higher, and life is still at risk including the lives of staff who suffer depression, mental ill health and at times become suicidal. But the public “just” wakes up once customer lives are affected. Forget the “slaves“.
A positive Mystery Shopper visit, excerpt:
“The staff member who served me made good eye contact and greeted me with a friendly smile. While remaining focused and efficient, she also took time to engage in a few words of conversation, which added a personal element to the exchange – enhancing the welcoming atmosphere of this store.”
A negative Mystery Shopper visit, excerpt:
“I was not greeted at the till or given a smile. The only conversation was what was necessary for the transaction. To be welcoming the team member could have greeted me and smiled and be engage(d) and positive, the team member could have given me a friendly remark or made small talk.”
— or —
“Team members should smile at customers and may not work when ill, as team member was coughing whilst serving me and was therefore not feeling cheerful to smile that day.”
I wish I could have told this MS that staff are not paid sick leave for the first 2 and 3 days depending on age. So one had to decide if to stay home sick and lose income, or go to work unwell and get a telling off from the manager like I did because I coughed when I happened to serve the MS.
I wonder if Amy Sharpe served the Mystery Shopper and how she would have felt reading a negative comment on her service while feeling the experience of the “overstretched staff” and it being “stressful and confusing and the queue makes it even more so.”
I even wished sometimes customers would just join us for a few hours, especially those who quickly complain about everything.
Just few of the countless Tweets, just from this week:
This customer had good service for THREE years, then one negative experience and the world has come to an end. I linked her to Amy Sharpe’s report to bring some perspective for her feeling so unwanted. But I deleted the Tweet again as I write too many Tweets and always like to de-clutter my Twitter feeds:
“Every time…”
“Oh no!…”
etc. etc.
So, companies like Pret have created a “nation” of complainers where the British were usually patient and polite, they now cry like babies whose bottoms haven’t been wiped in a while! And the money keeps coming in while Pret responds with “Oh no…” and “Oh gosh, are you okay?…” sweet-talk to keep the babies happy and the money rolling!
I responded, but since deleted as well to this baby who had no issues to call hard working people the “C” word because he was in the “teething” period having his day ruined by a hard avocado. Pret’s typical cut’n’paste response, apologizing while he is offensive, and as if they really contact each shop all day long for repeated hard avocados:
Article:
The mantra, I am told repeatedly, is “NEVER guess”.
But from what I witness, the speed at which staff often have to work could put these commendable new standards at risk.
On my second shift I find an orange juice two weeks out of date on the shelves.
The shocked team leader tells me: “You don’t need to tell anyone, otherwise we’re f****d. It is really bad… I’ll throw it away.”
One barista tells me the cramped service area is a “nightmare”.
He says: “If I’m next to you, you have to shout. If you don’t shout I can make a mistake. A person can grab the wrong coffee. Make mistakes and the customer gets mad. You’ve got to focus, stay calm.”
With soybeans and dairy prominent on the menu – and among the 14 allergens kitchens must legally declare – this admission is worrying.
On my last shift, stickers are introduced to distinguish between soya, coconut and regular milks. But one barista serves a coffee without a sticker – and a manager barks: “Where is the sticker?”
The £8.25-an-hour shifts are tough and I collapse into bed exhausted after eight hours on my feet, lifting boxes, mopping and dragging tables around.Nothing more to add except this Link
.
.
Article:
Some staff do 12-hour shifts or work at other branches to earn more. To add to the intensity, employees are battling the cold due to its station location. I wear extra layers to stay warm – there are only two Pret fleeces to go round, so we share.Nothing more to add except that some staff even do 60-70 hour weeks assigned by the manager! I had to speak out about this as Team Members were exhausted, at times became sick from the amount of work, but were too scared to speak with the GM. Again, I did not make friends with my bosses. But neither did I care!
Article:
When the bustle dies down I clean the shop but a colleague urges me to skip certain tasks.
“You’re supposed to sweep and mop every day but don’t do that or you’ll never leave on time,” he says.This unfortunately is common in most shops that staff are so swamped with work they are not able to finish in time and are NOT paid for overtime. I fought for this with my managers in every shop. I would say to my teams who did their best and me as the Team Leader helping them, that if they can’t finish I will mark this on the cleaning rota with an explanation, instead of just ticking off the jobs as done like most do to keep the appearance that jobs were completed. I’d then take responsibility when the boss summons me in the office the next day. I let the team go on the dot when our shift finished at 9 or 10pm or whatever closing and cleaning time the branch had.
Coffee Specialist, London April 2018
Most Team Members have families with kids at home, not seeing their children all day as they are in school, and later the parent is working when they go to bed. So I made it a point to let them go when the shift finished. I was very organized and made sure that the important jobs, health & safety was taken care of and prioritized these. I structured my teams in this way and left the unimportant jobs unfinished if we didn’t have time or enough staff.
In the early times in Pret I would work and work, finish in time and also worked overtime unpaid. But then the time came where I drew a line. It is okay here and there to finish a little late, but it was the norm in Pret and it seemed a very calculated one as Teams worked extra for no pay every day. I struggled with my managers and communicated that if we have to stay longer to finish the job, I will pay them the extra time through the system as was part of my job. If my bosses didn’t want that, then I told my team to finish on the dot and we go home. Full stop.
This of course didn’t make me friends with my bosses, but neither did I care! My friends are not these kind of people who exploit workers for their own bonuses. One Pret staff reviews this as a common practice for managers to give them a job to do 15 minutes before the Team Member would have finished the shift. But the job would take 30 – 60 minutes to complete. I experienced this many times as well and was made to feel bad if I needed or wanted to leave. It took me some time to stand up against this. Pret staff in the UK should do what their colleagues in the U.S. did, a class action suit for not being paid overtime.
Full article of the Sunday Mirror
I have to be honest that I wished Amy Sharpe would have worked longer, a month or so like James Bloodworth did in Amazon. It would have been good for Ms Sharpe to cover the early shifts and weekends as well, including working in the kitchen, as each time and job has its own challenges. But I’m not complaining. She covered 1 or 2 weeks (?) really really well, while I have 10 years of “material” to share that almost literally killed me having survived bullying during bereavement.
So, I have to be patient and acknowledge the brilliant work by this journalist having been willing to do this, as well as Sathnam Sanghera’s article. And many more people will tell their story in time away from the typical PR that Pret does so well. I keep confronting Pret on a staff suicide in 2017 and who knows how many more are under the carpet when they could hide two customer deaths for two years and the other for 10 months! I know my approach and direct confrontation is full on, but I almost lost my life after having worked with integrity, honesty, very hard and with passion for my teams. I cannot be silent after having wasted 10 years of my life in Pret with the knowledge that staff continue to suffer behind the facade. And if any reader wonders if I went to court, I explain here.
Thank you for your time in reading this. And thank you to anyone in the press to have taken a closer look. Thank you to Amy Sharpe. Ironic and delighted to be calling a reporter a now former colleague of mine! Well done Amy!
Life is short, please be kind to yourselves and others.
expret.org
UPDATE: 14.12.2018 A rare observation from a customer regarding forced friendliness.
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UPDATE March 2019 – The first time I share my story verbally in one go in this interview.
Interview:
https://expret.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/workplace-bullying-an-intervie-683101e6895da.m4a
Above interview is with Adam from The Adam Paradox podcast on my experience in Pret A Manger.
We spoke about gaslighting (being from Germany, that word doesn’t exist in Germany except in its English form. I had to explain it to a German therapist), “shadow banning” and censorship on social media, as well as bereavement, trauma and mental health in general. I further talked about the significant timing of Pret CEO’s announcement of the £1000 Tweet for all staff. I also talked about a regular day in Pret and how staff have to cut corners, in order to fulfill the immense workload under constant pressure.
It is hard to squeeze my traumatic experience into a podcast segment, but we covered enough to get a good picture of today’s systemic stress environment for profit driven global companies.
Please visit his Podcast and Twitter @1AdamParadox.
UPDATE February 2019, my posts on “Why do Pret Staff continue under Harshness“
.
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather speak out to help others. For an overview of important blog entries of my experience with Pret, please visit My Ordeal with Pret A Manger. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post.An incomplete list on what other Pret staff say about Pret’s bullying environment Caught in the Act Bullying and What shop MANAGERS and HQ staff say about Pret incl. CEO Pano Christou.I tell my story for the first time verbally in below audio player interview on a podcast by The Adam Paradox, and wrote two articles in the Scottish Left Review as well as mentioned by the BBC.Please also see the MEDIA page for more.
NEW LinkTree
.
.
.
Thank you for reading/listening.
©2017 – present expret.org
Interview:
(Please be aware that the player shows 0:00 as WordPress sometimes “messes” with my blog. Just press play or go straight to the interview on Adam’s page).
.
https://expret.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/workplace-bullying-an-intervie-683101e6895da.m4a.
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.©2017 – Present: expret.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
https://expret.org/2018/11/29/undercover-under-pressure/
#000000 #0000ff #333333 #50 #99cc00 #AmySharpe #AmySharpeJournalist #AmySharpeTheSundayMirror #ExposingPretAManger #ff0000 #PretAManger #PretAMangerReviews #PretAllergen #UndercoverInPret #UndercoverReport
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Amy Sharpe from the Sunday Mirror contacted me on Facebook after I declined another Mirror Journalist’s request for an interview.
I declined her request as well, as I wasn’t ready for the press, and as I am still paranoid to be tricked and trapped like Pret did with the Development Manager I write extensively about in Open “Letter” to Lila Tighilt Warren. My experience in Pret is very complex and sounds like straight from a twisted Hollywood script, but I have it all in writing and confront Pret openly on Twitter, which in turn have them report me to get shadow-banned (secretly censored on Twitter & Co. which then hides my posts and accounts from public search). But I urged her to go undercover to see for herself and not just take my word for it, just like James Bloodworth did in Amazon. And she did.
My Facebook message after Amy contacted me, but I was not ready for the press:
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What I meant by Pret “infiltrating” the mental health club I was a member of, Pret knew about this club as I mentioned it in my last hearing. I write about Pret “infiltrating” the club in my open “letter” to the Pret Foundation Trust which is just a smokescreen to pretend charity to the public. Pret never responded when I AND an OPs manager asked if I could be placed under someone from the Pret Foundation when I became bereaved and then targetted. Pret never responded.
As I commented on Sathnam Sanghera’s Times article, I’d like to give my two cents also to Amy Sharpe’s undercover article. Both articles from very different perspectives as one from a customer and business point of view, the other from behind the scenes for a few days. But both are equally important and revealing how business works with the main goal of profit in mind.
I have to say that when I saw the undercover reporting yesterday morning (28.11.2018) linked on Twitter, after Amy has been very silent about going “under”, and rightly so, I teared up. I cried when I read her name on the report because not just did she follow my suggestion taking my ordeal serious, but someone from the outside saw what I and many others experience(d), but the public doesn’t want to know about unless it is the press poking into an organization.
It sadly takes deaths becoming public to show how negligent a company, in this case Pret, really is. I’ve been writing openly about my experience with Pret since May 2018 after my father died in March and I started to come to terms again of another loss… still recuperating from my Pret trauma that has “postponed” my grief for my brother. Regular readers know the story.
Some people criticize The Sunday Mirror’s report as being part of a witch hunt, but I don’t think that. The public is so used to be lulled in by a nice and shiny facade, free coffees and cookies.
Customers are so used to the smiles of staff, but no-one knows what really is behind it. The fear management via the Mystery Shopper, rewarded extra £100 if specially nice or told off by the boss in the office and threatened with job security if they didn’t smile non-stop in the highly stressful work environment. I mentioned this in a Tweet response to a customer who without any thought or empathy complained to Pret about a barista, even naming him, for not smiling and rushing the service:
Amy Sharpe’s undercover article to me is like someone understanding this and finally confirming my and the team’s ordeal. Some points I want to highlight as I don’t use the full article, just what I want to confirm and expand upon a little from what this journalist has experienced and witnessed. The article will be in black and my comments in grey. I added the bold to the text to highlight some issues.
Article:
A manager reacts in horror as I point out the mistake (of an Almond Croissant with a Jam Croissant label).
“Oh my god!” he cries as he switches labels on two trays of croissants – one containing jam, the other almonds.This is the typical PANIC reaction of a manager who either didn’t take the time or is too disorganized to do the MBWA (Managing By Walking Around) to check that everything is in its proper place, health & safety checks and so on. This could easily be improved by investing to have plenty of staff, instead of cutting staff to save money, so that the Manager On Duty (MOD) can concentrate on checking everything daily as well as throughout the day. It’s a very simple organizational issue. Very, very simple.
Article:
In the wake of two allergy deaths, he adds: “It’s really dangerous, especially with everything that’s been going on.”And yet, no-one steps on the brakes to put immediate, and what CEO Clive Schlee calls, “meaningful” changes in place. The problem with the word “meaningful” to me here is, it sounds too wishy-washy, “poetically” correct but shows no urgency, even though “it’s really dangerous”. The appropriate word should have been to implement “immediate” changes! As Natasha’s parents are in shock over Pret’s procrastination, ITV’s November report:
Article:
I am standing behind the counter in Pret a Manger … The pace is so relentless, the demands so constant – customers want serving super-quick – that I find myself under constant pressure. I sense that other staff feel the strain too.Ms. Sharpe does not give the time of day she was behind the counter, but mentioned having to dash to the toastie machine, so this may have been lunch time. But the strain can especially be felt when a Team Member does the morning shift from 5 or 6am till 2 or 3pm going through two intense rushes: breakfast and lunch. When I worked in Pret I made a decision to not meet with a friend or have an appointment straight after my morning shift having come out of lunch time. I was always like having come out of a tumbler, being shaken for hours and still on electricity. My friends commented on this, so I tried to get home first to clean up and rest and calm down before joining any events.
One staff review paints this very bluntly. This is why I wished Amy Sharpe would have also covered a week in the kitchen to really get the full Pret “blow”: “This job can annihilate every piece of humanity inside of you.“
Many kitchens I have seen with very small working areas for the Hot Chef in particular. Someone leaked a photo to Twitter.
Customer areas are increased to get as many customers / money in as possible; staff areas are decreased. This then creates multiple problems, not only on the mental strain of staff but customers lives as mistakes happen quickly as with labelling I collected in another post “Vegetarians Get Meat Products“:
Or a shop where I worked where there was only ONE multitask room: office, staff changing room with lockers, fridges, freezers, stock room, hot chef soup prep area, chemical room for cleaning materials etc and to top it all, illegally the rubbish room next to the food prep area! This shop was the worst shop I’ve worked in. This photo is from 2015 and after years like this, Pret was forced to expand the work space to separate the rubbish for health and safety reasons. This room was medium size and approx. 15 square meters max. A total nightmare.
Article:
I am at a central London branch, where 10 staff vie for space, muttering apologies as we collide and stretch across one another to grab pastries and bags.
I shout orders to a barista while dashing to a beeping toastie machine to retrieve a baguette.
I make green teas and filter coffees while my other drinks orders are prepared. It’s stressful and confusing and the queue makes it even more so.
All the while, staff must be alert to the issue of allergens.Yep. And as one customer on Twitter pointed out the chaos and stress on the staff and customers alike. I had to console Team Members many times over the years who held their tears back or just cried in the staff room after being shouted at by the manager. Another review: “Better salary than McDonalds or Costa as long as you keep your fake smile up. Staff with more experience cuts corners on Sanitary rules because otherwise it is impossible to finish your batch on time.
– The coffee calling system is broken. During busy times it is nearly impossible to keep up with the orders without hating everyone around you. A lot of people cry in the staff room especially in their entry period.”
I also shed many tears on my way home in the bus, especially during grief of course, but after a terribly depressing shift this was a common thing to let the tears finally flow.UPDATE Jan. 2019
I found a photo of the coffee area and it shows how cramped and small the work area is. And the barista/coffee makers are required to get PERFECT coffees out within 1 minute that the Mystery Shopper times to the second! It doesn’t get any more dehumanizing and mentally straining than this. I don’t know how I managed, but we worked a lot in mental and physical pain. Under the coffee machine where the silver jugs are, this working area is so small baristas switch on autopilot and just keep going. Hence, lots of stress, shouting and customers going to Twitter with complaints of half cups of coffees that are made so fast to satisfy the Mystery Shopper, the manager and the long queue.
Link by @terry_mcparlane Twitter
It is rare that a customer speaks out like this and it’s sad that most customers don’t care how stressful it is behind the counter. They see it, at times even commented about it to me, but they just want their coffees fast. Pret has spoiled them where they would be perfectly happy to wait 5-10 minutes in Starbucks, Pret made the service so fast to get the money circulation into the shops fast. Pret staff are expected to whip out PERFECT coffees within ONE minute and are timed to the SECOND by Mystery Shoppers, while customers think that staff is just happy working under intense pressure. They don’t realize what’s behind that happy facade!
Excerpt:
1 minute aim to serve and another 1 minute to have a perfect hot drink ready, checked by the MS to the second:
“I was served very quickly, after 15 seconds, very quick service.”
“I received my hot drink very quick, after 30 seconds, quick service.”
And then customers run to Twitter with pictures of half full cappuccinos, missing cream, lukewarm coffees…! There’s nothing more dehumanizing at a workplace that I have experienced. And should anyone suffer from boredom, do an experiment and just read through some Pret Tweets a few minutes each day for a week, with the same sweet-talk response from Pret veering customers away from public Tweets to private DM.
Some complaints are legitimate when a customer already spoke to the manager, and yet Pret has a DM button, but customers feel the public needs to be aware of their dilemma in Pret shops. I know, I know I respond a lot to some Tweets, and maybe it is because for 10 years I had to bite my tongue towards rude customers, I take the opportunity now to give my opinion. And Pret doesn’t block me as they collect my Tweets in case for court and certainly to learn some tips, as I have showered them with suggestions for improvement while I worked there. Be my guest, Pret.
Article:
Staff now repeat orders to customers to avoid any mistakes. Allergen enquiries are referred to the duty manager, who will show a list of ingredients.Which is good to repeat, but the pace is still kept high with all sorts of demands, especially for the “Misery” Shopper: always smile, eye contact, make some small-talk, serve within 1 minute, stand on your head, dance on one feet, bend your back, twist your brain, know all the answers, kiss their butts … and all this with a big fake Pret A Smile to keep a low-paid job! In other words you either develop superhuman abilities or mental illness. The pace is the same, the demand is higher, and life is still at risk including the lives of staff who suffer depression, mental ill health and at times become suicidal. But the public “just” wakes up once customer lives are affected. Forget the “slaves“.
A positive Mystery Shopper visit, excerpt:
“The staff member who served me made good eye contact and greeted me with a friendly smile. While remaining focused and efficient, she also took time to engage in a few words of conversation, which added a personal element to the exchange – enhancing the welcoming atmosphere of this store.”
A negative Mystery Shopper visit, excerpt:
“I was not greeted at the till or given a smile. The only conversation was what was necessary for the transaction. To be welcoming the team member could have greeted me and smiled and be engage(d) and positive, the team member could have given me a friendly remark or made small talk.”
— or —
“Team members should smile at customers and may not work when ill, as team member was coughing whilst serving me and was therefore not feeling cheerful to smile that day.”
I wish I could have told this MS that staff are not paid sick leave for the first 2 and 3 days depending on age. So one had to decide if to stay home sick and lose income, or go to work unwell and get a telling off from the manager like I did because I coughed when I happened to serve the MS.
I wonder if Amy Sharpe served the Mystery Shopper and how she would have felt reading a negative comment on her service while feeling the experience of the “overstretched staff” and it being “stressful and confusing and the queue makes it even more so.”
I even wished sometimes customers would just join us for a few hours, especially those who quickly complain about everything.
Just few of the countless Tweets, just from this week:
This customer had good service for THREE years, then one negative experience and the world has come to an end. I linked her to Amy Sharpe’s report to bring some perspective for her feeling so unwanted. But I deleted the Tweet again as I write too many Tweets and always like to de-clutter my Twitter feeds:
“Every time…”
“Oh no!…”
etc. etc.
So, companies like Pret have created a “nation” of complainers where the British were usually patient and polite, they now cry like babies whose bottoms haven’t been wiped in a while! And the money keeps coming in while Pret responds with “Oh no…” and “Oh gosh, are you okay?…” sweet-talk to keep the babies happy and the money rolling!
I responded, but since deleted as well to this baby who had no issues to call hard working people the “C” word because he was in the “teething” period having his day ruined by a hard avocado. Pret’s typical cut’n’paste response, apologizing while he is offensive, and as if they really contact each shop all day long for repeated hard avocados:
Article:
The mantra, I am told repeatedly, is “NEVER guess”.
But from what I witness, the speed at which staff often have to work could put these commendable new standards at risk.
On my second shift I find an orange juice two weeks out of date on the shelves.
The shocked team leader tells me: “You don’t need to tell anyone, otherwise we’re f****d. It is really bad… I’ll throw it away.”
One barista tells me the cramped service area is a “nightmare”.
He says: “If I’m next to you, you have to shout. If you don’t shout I can make a mistake. A person can grab the wrong coffee. Make mistakes and the customer gets mad. You’ve got to focus, stay calm.”
With soybeans and dairy prominent on the menu – and among the 14 allergens kitchens must legally declare – this admission is worrying.
On my last shift, stickers are introduced to distinguish between soya, coconut and regular milks. But one barista serves a coffee without a sticker – and a manager barks: “Where is the sticker?”
The £8.25-an-hour shifts are tough and I collapse into bed exhausted after eight hours on my feet, lifting boxes, mopping and dragging tables around.Nothing more to add except this Link
.
.
Article:
Some staff do 12-hour shifts or work at other branches to earn more. To add to the intensity, employees are battling the cold due to its station location. I wear extra layers to stay warm – there are only two Pret fleeces to go round, so we share.Nothing more to add except that some staff even do 60-70 hour weeks assigned by the manager! I had to speak out about this as Team Members were exhausted, at times became sick from the amount of work, but were too scared to speak with the GM. Again, I did not make friends with my bosses. But neither did I care!
Article:
When the bustle dies down I clean the shop but a colleague urges me to skip certain tasks.
“You’re supposed to sweep and mop every day but don’t do that or you’ll never leave on time,” he says.This unfortunately is common in most shops that staff are so swamped with work they are not able to finish in time and are NOT paid for overtime. I fought for this with my managers in every shop. I would say to my teams who did their best and me as the Team Leader helping them, that if they can’t finish I will mark this on the cleaning rota with an explanation, instead of just ticking off the jobs as done like most do to keep the appearance that jobs were completed. I’d then take responsibility when the boss summons me in the office the next day. I let the team go on the dot when our shift finished at 9 or 10pm or whatever closing and cleaning time the branch had.
Coffee Specialist, London April 2018
Most Team Members have families with kids at home, not seeing their children all day as they are in school, and later the parent is working when they go to bed. So I made it a point to let them go when the shift finished. I was very organized and made sure that the important jobs, health & safety was taken care of and prioritized these. I structured my teams in this way and left the unimportant jobs unfinished if we didn’t have time or enough staff.
In the early times in Pret I would work and work, finish in time and also worked overtime unpaid. But then the time came where I drew a line. It is okay here and there to finish a little late, but it was the norm in Pret and it seemed a very calculated one as Teams worked extra for no pay every day. I struggled with my managers and communicated that if we have to stay longer to finish the job, I will pay them the extra time through the system as was part of my job. If my bosses didn’t want that, then I told my team to finish on the dot and we go home. Full stop.
This of course didn’t make me friends with my bosses, but neither did I care! My friends are not these kind of people who exploit workers for their own bonuses. One Pret staff reviews this as a common practice for managers to give them a job to do 15 minutes before the Team Member would have finished the shift. But the job would take 30 – 60 minutes to complete. I experienced this many times as well and was made to feel bad if I needed or wanted to leave. It took me some time to stand up against this. Pret staff in the UK should do what their colleagues in the U.S. did, a class action suit for not being paid overtime.
Full article of the Sunday Mirror
I have to be honest that I wished Amy Sharpe would have worked longer, a month or so like James Bloodworth did in Amazon. It would have been good for Ms Sharpe to cover the early shifts and weekends as well, including working in the kitchen, as each time and job has its own challenges. But I’m not complaining. She covered 1 or 2 weeks (?) really really well, while I have 10 years of “material” to share that almost literally killed me having survived bullying during bereavement.
So, I have to be patient and acknowledge the brilliant work by this journalist having been willing to do this, as well as Sathnam Sanghera’s article. And many more people will tell their story in time away from the typical PR that Pret does so well. I keep confronting Pret on a staff suicide in 2017 and who knows how many more are under the carpet when they could hide two customer deaths for two years and the other for 10 months! I know my approach and direct confrontation is full on, but I almost lost my life after having worked with integrity, honesty, very hard and with passion for my teams. I cannot be silent after having wasted 10 years of my life in Pret with the knowledge that staff continue to suffer behind the facade. And if any reader wonders if I went to court, I explain here.
Thank you for your time in reading this. And thank you to anyone in the press to have taken a closer look. Thank you to Amy Sharpe. Ironic and delighted to be calling a reporter a now former colleague of mine! Well done Amy!
Life is short, please be kind to yourselves and others.
expret.org
UPDATE: 14.12.2018 A rare observation from a customer regarding forced friendliness.
.
UPDATE March 2019 – The first time I share my story verbally in one go in this interview.
Interview:
https://expret.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/workplace-bullying-an-intervie-683101e6895da.m4a
Above interview is with Adam from The Adam Paradox podcast on my experience in Pret A Manger.
We spoke about gaslighting (being from Germany, that word doesn’t exist in Germany except in its English form. I had to explain it to a German therapist), “shadow banning” and censorship on social media, as well as bereavement, trauma and mental health in general. I further talked about the significant timing of Pret CEO’s announcement of the £1000 Tweet for all staff. I also talked about a regular day in Pret and how staff have to cut corners, in order to fulfill the immense workload under constant pressure.
It is hard to squeeze my traumatic experience into a podcast segment, but we covered enough to get a good picture of today’s systemic stress environment for profit driven global companies.
Please visit his Podcast and Twitter @1AdamParadox.
UPDATE February 2019, my posts on “Why do Pret Staff continue under Harshness“
.
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather speak out to help others. For an overview of important blog entries of my experience with Pret, please visit My Ordeal with Pret A Manger. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post.An incomplete list on what other Pret staff say about Pret’s bullying environment Caught in the Act Bullying and What shop MANAGERS and HQ staff say about Pret incl. CEO Pano Christou.I tell my story for the first time verbally in below audio player interview on a podcast by The Adam Paradox, and wrote two articles in the Scottish Left Review as well as mentioned by the BBC.Please also see the MEDIA page for more.
NEW LinkTree
.
.
.
Thank you for reading/listening.
©2017 – present expret.org
Interview:
(Please be aware that the player shows 0:00 as WordPress sometimes “messes” with my blog. Just press play or go straight to the interview on Adam’s page).
.
https://expret.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/workplace-bullying-an-intervie-683101e6895da.m4a.
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.©2017 – Present: expret.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
https://expret.org/2018/11/29/undercover-under-pressure/
#000000 #0000ff #333333 #50 #99cc00 #AmySharpe #AmySharpeJournalist #AmySharpeTheSundayMirror #ExposingPretAManger #ff0000 #PretAManger #PretAMangerReviews #PretAllergen #UndercoverInPret #UndercoverReport
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☝️ #mustread: All these various criminal projects aimed at destroying societies by destroying *trust* in them...
>> "...a systemic battle between autocratic and democratic countries"
...
"The effort was worth it for the cyber-mercenaries. Manipulating the truth has grown into a multi-billion-dollar business in which, according to experts, hundreds of service providers are active around the world alongside state actors."
...
"We provide tailor made services," Meidan says. Everywhere where governments are wobbling, where things could really explode if elections were to get out of hand. All the client has to do is define their goals or targets, and Team Jorge designs a suitable strategy and deploys the necessary resources and people, he says - veterans of intelligence and military services, specialists in psychological warfare, financial experts.
...
The fact that the leaders of Team Jorge were themselves formerly in the service of a democratically elected governments doesn't seem to bother them. There are only three rules at Team Jorge, emphasizes Nick: No assignments can be accepted in Israel or the United States, at least not in politics. And going up against Putin is off limits. <<Hostile #dictatorships need to be kept the hell out of "Free World townsquares" and all these sociopathic agents of manipulation given the full "crimes against humanity" treatment.
With all its warts, the modern civilization we're currently experiencing —esp. in open-minded and tolerant democracies — is the result of endless efforts of people trying to improve things in our societies, not sowing chaos and distrust in them.
And some #psychopaths go and make a *business* out of destroying our *civil* societies?
All these people are still walking free and enjoying the fruits of their crimes... Every single one.
@emmalbriant #disinformation #misinformation #electionmanipulation #russia #putin #ccp #china #maga #trump #democracy #hybridwarfare #autocracy #cambridgeanalytica #teamjorge #talhanan #nuremberg #interpol
-
☝️ #mustread: All these various criminal projects aimed at destroying societies by destroying *trust* in them...
>> "...a systemic battle between autocratic and democratic countries"
...
"The effort was worth it for the cyber-mercenaries. Manipulating the truth has grown into a multi-billion-dollar business in which, according to experts, hundreds of service providers are active around the world alongside state actors."
...
"We provide tailor made services," Meidan says. Everywhere where governments are wobbling, where things could really explode if elections were to get out of hand. All the client has to do is define their goals or targets, and Team Jorge designs a suitable strategy and deploys the necessary resources and people, he says - veterans of intelligence and military services, specialists in psychological warfare, financial experts.
...
The fact that the leaders of Team Jorge were themselves formerly in the service of a democratically elected governments doesn't seem to bother them. There are only three rules at Team Jorge, emphasizes Nick: No assignments can be accepted in Israel or the United States, at least not in politics. And going up against Putin is off limits. <<Hostile #dictatorships need to be kept the hell out of "Free World townsquares" and all these sociopathic agents of manipulation given the full "crimes against humanity" treatment.
With all its warts, the modern civilization we're currently experiencing —esp. in open-minded and tolerant democracies — is the result of endless efforts of people trying to improve things in our societies, not sowing chaos and distrust in them.
And some #psychopaths go and make a *business* out of destroying our *civil* societies?
All these people are still walking free and enjoying the fruits of their crimes... Every single one.
@emmalbriant #disinformation #misinformation #electionmanipulation #russia #putin #ccp #china #maga #trump #democracy #hybridwarfare #autocracy #cambridgeanalytica #teamjorge #talhanan #nuremberg #interpol
-
☝️ #mustread: All these various criminal projects aimed at destroying societies by destroying *trust* in them...
>> "...a systemic battle between autocratic and democratic countries"
...
"The effort was worth it for the cyber-mercenaries. Manipulating the truth has grown into a multi-billion-dollar business in which, according to experts, hundreds of service providers are active around the world alongside state actors."
...
"We provide tailor made services," Meidan says. Everywhere where governments are wobbling, where things could really explode if elections were to get out of hand. All the client has to do is define their goals or targets, and Team Jorge designs a suitable strategy and deploys the necessary resources and people, he says - veterans of intelligence and military services, specialists in psychological warfare, financial experts.
...
The fact that the leaders of Team Jorge were themselves formerly in the service of a democratically elected governments doesn't seem to bother them. There are only three rules at Team Jorge, emphasizes Nick: No assignments can be accepted in Israel or the United States, at least not in politics. And going up against Putin is off limits. <<Hostile #dictatorships need to be kept the hell out of "Free World townsquares" and all these sociopathic agents of manipulation given the full "crimes against humanity" treatment.
With all its warts, the modern civilization we're currently experiencing —esp. in open-minded and tolerant democracies — is the result of endless efforts of people trying to improve things in our societies, not sowing chaos and distrust in them.
And some #psychopaths go and make a *business* out of destroying our *civil* societies?
All these people are still walking free and enjoying the fruits of their crimes... Every single one.
@emmalbriant #disinformation #misinformation #electionmanipulation #maga #trump #democracy #hybridwarfare #autocracy #cambridgeanalytica #teamjorge #talhanan #nuremberg #interpol
-
☝️ #mustread: All these various criminal projects aimed at destroying societies by destroying *trust* in them...
>> "...a systemic battle between autocratic and democratic countries"
...
"The effort was worth it for the cyber-mercenaries. Manipulating the truth has grown into a multi-billion-dollar business in which, according to experts, hundreds of service providers are active around the world alongside state actors."
...
"We provide tailor made services," Meidan says. Everywhere where governments are wobbling, where things could really explode if elections were to get out of hand. All the client has to do is define their goals or targets, and Team Jorge designs a suitable strategy and deploys the necessary resources and people, he says - veterans of intelligence and military services, specialists in psychological warfare, financial experts.
...
The fact that the leaders of Team Jorge were themselves formerly in the service of a democratically elected governments doesn't seem to bother them. There are only three rules at Team Jorge, emphasizes Nick: No assignments can be accepted in Israel or the United States, at least not in politics. And going up against Putin is off limits. <<Hostile #dictatorships need to be kept the hell out of "Free World townsquares" and all these sociopathic agents of manipulation given the full "crimes against humanity" treatment.
With all its warts, the modern civilization we're currently experiencing —esp. in open-minded and tolerant democracies — is the result of endless efforts of people trying to improve things in our societies, not sowing chaos and distrust in them.
And some #psychopaths go and make a *business* out of destroying our *civil* societies?
All these people are still walking free and enjoying the fruits of their crimes... Every single one.
@emmalbriant #disinformation #misinformation #electionmanipulation #russia #putin #ccp #china #maga #trump #democracy #hybridwarfare #autocracy #cambridgeanalytica #teamjorge #talhanan #nuremberg #interpol
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CW: Albums the Fediverse Loved in 2025 (CW'd because it's a looooooong post)
Albums the Fediverse Loved in 2025
And here we have it: a list of 151 albums (plus a few artists/labels in general) that kept 64 of us going in 2025, nearly 75% of those 2025 releases and the rest earlier gems! Given our collective eclectic tastes, voting/ranking was not attempted, but bolded titles and post tags indicate albums that were submitted by multiple Fedizens. Genre tags are included as tasting notes (apologies if I got any wrong), each title is linked to its Bandcamp/Songlink when possible, and footnotes list who submitted each album along with extra comments they included (warning: comments may include MOAR ALBUMS; also note: footnotes look way better on the blog). So, click and listen away – perhaps you’ll find a new-to-you album that gets you through 2026!
Thanks so much to the Fedizens who joined in, it’s so nice to see familiar faces from the 1001 Other Albums project as well as some new ones! And, as always, it’s lovely to get a glimpse of how diverse our tastes in music are, and to see people trying something new solely based on a random Fedi recommendation. The Fedi music community truly is a bright spot, and I personally am immensely grateful for it. 🙏🏻
Band – Title (year released, place of origin; genre)footnote
Action/Adventure – Ever After (2025, US; pop-punk)1
AFI – Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… (2025, US; post-punk, gothic rock)2
Against Me! – White Crosses (2010, US; punk rock)3
Alkaline Trio – Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs (2024, US; punk rock)4
Am I in Trouble? – Spectrum (2025, US; avant-garde black metal)5
Ami Taf Ra – The Prophet and the Madman (2025, US/Morocco; Moroccan gnawa, gospel, jazz)6
An Abstract Illusion – Woe (2022, Sweden; atmospheric black/death/prog metal)7
Analog Africa (label, in general) (1960s-80s, Africa; reissues)8
Anna Tivel – Animal Poem (2025, US; indie folk)9
Archon Satani – The Righteous Way to Completion (1997, Sweden; death ambient/black industrial)10
Ashbreather – La Grande Bouffe (2025, Canada; progressive sludge/death metal)11
Au4 – …And Down Goes The Sky (2013, Canada; prog rock)12
aya – hexed! (2025, UK; electronic, noise)13
Bad Cop/Bad Cop – Lighten Up (2025, US; punk rock)14
Baghed – Smear Campaign (2025, US; punk rock)15
Bank Myna – Eimuria (2025, France; post-rock/metal, doom gaze, slow core)16
Belle and Sebastian – Push Barman to Open Old Wounds (2005, Scotland; indie pop)17
Benedicte Maurseth – Mirra (2025, Norway; folk, jazz)18
Bill Frisell – Harmony (2019, US; folk-jazz)19
Black Flower – Kinetic (2025, Belgium; Ethio-jazz, Afrobeat, dub)20
Bon Iver – SABLE, fABLE (2025, US; indie folk/pop)21
Brittany Davis – Black Thunder (2025, US; cosmic jazz, r&b/soul, singer-songwriter)22
CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso – Papota (2025, Argentina; experimental trap, hip-hop, EDM, jazz, Latin pop)23
Caroline Shaw / Attacca Quartet – Orange (2019, US; classical, ambient, folk)24
Castle Rat – The Bestiary (2025, US; fantasy heavy metal)25
Causa Sui – Pewt’r Sessions 1 (2011, Denmark; psych/stoner rock)26
Celeste – Woman of Faces (2025, UK; neo-soul, jazz, singer-songwriter)27
Charlie Hunter, Carter McLean featuring Silvana Estrada – s/t (2018, US/Mexico; jazz)28
Circuit des Yeux – Halo on the Inside (2025, US; singer-songwriter, experimental)29
Civic – Chrome Dipped (2025, Australia; punk)30
clipping – Dead Channel Sky (2025, US; hip-hop)31
Dan Mangan – Natural Light (2025, Canada; indie rock/folk)32
Daniela Pas – Spira (2023, Italy; singer-songwriter, electronic, experimental)33
Data Rebel – Single Cell (2025, UK; electronic, IDM, ambient)34
Dax Riggs – 7 Songs for Spiders (2025, US; blues metal/shoegaze blues)35
Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power (2025, US; blackgaze, metal)36
Degraved – Spectral Realm of Ruin (2025, US; death metal)37
Delobos – Cabal (2025, Spain; post-alt rock, post-rock, psychedelia)38
Devil ANTHEM. – Profound Rebuild (2025, Japan; J-pop)39
Die Spitz – Something to Consume (2025, US; punk, alt rock)40
Divide and Dissolve – Insatiable (2025, Australia; doom, drone, neo classical)41
Dödsrit – Mortal Coil (2021, Sweden; atmospheric/melodic black metal, blackened crust)42
Dool – The Shape of Fluidity (2024, Netherlands; rock, alternative)43
downy – 8th Album/Untitled (2025, Japan; math rock/post-rock)44
Drab Majesty – Completely Careless (2012-2015) (2016, US; darkwave, shoegaze, dream pop)45
Dropkick Murphy – For The People (2025, US; Celtic punk)46
Eikichi Yazawa – I believe (2025, Japan; rock)47
El Pino & The Volunteers – The Long-lost Art of Becoming Invisible (2009, Netherlands; alt country/folk)48
Elli De Mon – Raìse (2025, Italy; blues, dialect, garage, psychedelic)49
Eric Church – Evangeline vs. The Machine (2025, US; country)50
Ethmebb – Allo Babar et les Caramboleurs (2025, France; progressive melodic blackened death power metal)51
Ex-Vöid – In Love Again (2025, UK; indie pop/rock)52
EYES – Spinner(2025, Denmark; hardcore, noise rock)53
FACS – Wish Defense (2025, US; noise rock, neo-post-punk)54
Faetooth – Labrynthine (2025, US; fairy doom/stoner metal)55
False Aralia (label) – ALL the new 12-inch singles (2025, US; abstract electronic)56
Fever Ray – The Year of the Radical Romantics (2025, Sweden; experimental, electronic, pop)57
FOKALITE – Fokas, Lite & Four Shooting Riddles (2025, Japan; J-pop)58
Françoise Hardy – La question (1971, France; French pop, Brazilian saudade/bossa nova)59
Fust – Big Ugly (2025, US; rock)60
Geese – Getting Killed (2025, US; art/experimental rock)61
Gnome – King (2022, Belgium; stoner/prog/hard rock)62
Habak – Mil orquídeas en medio del desierto (2025, Mexico; melodic crust)63
Hallelujah the Hills – DECK (2025, US; indie rock)64
HANABIE – Bucchigiri Tokyo (2024, Japan; metalcore)65
Hatchie – Liquorice (2025, Australia; indie/dream pop)66
Hole – Live Through This (1994, US; alt rock)67
IAN – Come On Everybody, Let’s Do Nothing! (2025, UK; experimental, post-rock/metal)68
Igorrr – Amen (2025, France; experimental/avant-garde metal)69
Imperial Triumphant – Goldstar (2025, US; experimental metal)70
In the Womb of the Universe – Searching for Sunrise (2024, US; electronic, synthpop)71
In the Woods… – Otra (2025, Norway; avant-garde metal)72
Insomnium – Shadows of the Dying Sun (2014, Finland; melodic death metal)73
Jade Bird – Who Wants to Talk About Love (2025, UK; folk rock, singer-songwriter)74
JER – Death of the Heart (2025, US; ska punk)75
Jethro Tull – Thick as a Brick (1972, UK; prog rock)76
Judas Priest – Invincible Shield (2024, UK; heavy metal)77
Just Mustard – We Were Just Here (2025, Ireland; post-punk, noise, shoegaze, trip hop)78
Kaku P-Model – unZIP (2025, Japan; experimental, electronic)79
Kieran Hebden and William Tyler – 41 Longfield Street Late ‘80s (2025, UK; electronic)80
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Float Along – Fill Your Lungs (2013, Australia; psychedelic pop)81
Kostnatění – Přílišnost (2025, US; avant-garde black metal)82
Küenring – In Search of Paradise (2025, Austria; heavy metal/hard rock)83
L.A. Salami (artist, in general) (UK; folk, post-modern blues, acoustic, rock)84
Labyrinthus Stellarum – Rift in Reality (2025, Ukraine; atmospheric/cosmic black metal)85
Lorien Testard – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Original Soundtrack) (2025, France; soundtrack)86
Lorna Shore – I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me (2025, US; death metal/deathcore)87
Lucy Dacus – Forever is a Feeling (2025, US; indie rock, folk-pop, singer-songwriter)88
Maeror Tri – Multiple Personality Disorder (1993, Germany; ambient, noise, drone)89
Mark Ernestus’ Ndagga Rhythm Force – Khadim (2025, Germany/Senegal; mbalax, experimental, dub techno)90
Marshall Allen – New Dawn (2025, US; avant-garde jazz)91
Max Cooper – On Being (2025, UK; electronic, ambient, avant-garde)92
Messa – The Spin (2025, Italy; doom metal)93
Michel Legrand – The Essential Michel Legrand Film Music Collection (2005, France; soundtrack, compilation)94
MIKE – Showbiz! (2025, US; hip-hop/rap)95
Miynt – Rain Money Dogs (2025, Sweden; indie/bedroom rock)96
Modern English – Mesh & Lace (1981, UK; post-punk)97
Momma – Welcome to My Blue Sky (2025, US; alt/indie rock)98
more eaze & claire rousay – no floor (2025, US; experimental, ambient, avant-pop, sound collage)99
Moron Police – Pachinko (2025, Norway; concept album)100
Morris Kolontyrsky – Origination (2025, US; ambient, drone, experimental)101
Nærværet – Når Man Ser Inn I En Annens Hjerte (2024, Sweden/Norway; experimental, field recording, tape manipulation/loops)102
Nailed to Obscurity – Generation of The Void (2025, Germany; melodic/prog death/doom metal)103
Nicolas Gombert & James Weeks / Apartment House – G O M B E R T (2025, Flanders/UK; contemporary classical)104
Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman – Lady of the Lake (2023, US; folk)105
Nout – Live Album (2024, France; alternative, punk, rock, jazz, noise)106
Olga Anna Markowska – Iskra (2025, Poland; modern classical, ambient)107
Ozzy Osbourne – Ozzmosis (1995, UK; heavy metal)108
Pino Palladino & Blake Mills – That Wasn’t a Dream (2025, Wales/US; experimental jazz)109
Point Mort – Le Point de Non-retour (2025, France; blackened crust postcore)110
Plague of Carcosa – In The Dreamless Deep (2025, US; doomnoise, experimental metal)111
Population II – Maintenant Jamais (2025, Canada; art/prog/psychedelic rock)112
Primal Scream – XTRMNTR (2000, Scotland; experimental electro-rock)113
Priscilla Block – Things You Didn’t See (2025, US; country, singer-songwriter)114
Psychonaut – World Maker (2025, Belgium; post-metal)115
Queens of the Stone Age – Alive in the Catacombs (2025, US; rock)116
Radiopuhelimet – Kosminen Tiedottomuus (2020, Finland; alt rock)117
Rebecca Foon & Aliayta Foon-Dancoes – Reverie (2025, Canada; modern classical)118
Rivers of Nihil – s/t (2025, US; death/prog metal)119
Rogue Jones – Dos Bebés (2023, Wales; folk, indie pop)120
Shayfer James – Summoning (2025, US; noir-pop, dark cabaret)121
Shedfromthebody – Whisper and Wane (2025, Finland; doomgaze, [post-]metal)122
Shepherds of Cassini – In Thrall to Heresy (2025, New Zealand; prog metal)123
Silvana Estrada – Vendrán Suaves Lluvias (2025, Mexico; singer-songwriter)124
Silvana Estrada (with Charlie Hunter) – Lo Sagrado (2017, Mexico/US; singer-songwriter)125
Širom – In the Wind of Night, Hard-Fallen Incantations Whisper (2025, Slovenia; instrumental avant-garde imaginary folk)126
SKC & The Poem – s/t (2025, Belgium; alt/folk rock)127
SKLOSS – The Pattern Speaks (2025, US/Scotland; space gaze, post-metal)128
Soulwax – All Systems Are Lying (2025, Belgium; electronic alt rock)129
Spiritbox – Tsunami Sea (2025, Canada; metalcore)130
State Azure – The Light That Remains (2025, UK; electronica, ambient, downtempo)131
Stereolab – Switched On Volumes 1-5 (2024, UK/France; avant-pop)132
Steve Tibbetts – Close (2025, US; jazz fusion)133
Stick To Your Guns – Keep Planting Flowers (2025, US; hardcore)134
Suede – Antidepressants (2025, UK; post-punk, gothic rock)135
Summer Walker – Finally Over It (2025, US; R&B, singer-songwriter)136
Susan Bear – Algorithmic Mood Music (2024, Scotland; electronic, alt-pop)137
Swansea Sound – Twentieth Century (2023, Wales; indie pop)138
TDJ (artist, in general) (Canada; electronic)139
Terveet Kädet – Lapin Helvetti (2015, Finland; hardcore punk)140
Tool – Lateralus (2001, US; prog rock/metal, art rock)141
The Bug Club – “Have U Ever Been 2 Wales” (2025, Wales; indie rock)142
The New Eves – The New Eve Is Rising (2025, UK; avant-garde/art rock)143
Trio del Mango – Cómelo (2025, US/Puerto Rico; experimental, noise)144
Turnstile – Never Enough (2025, US; alt rock)145
UNIVERSITY – McCartney, It’ll Be OK (2025, UK; punk, noise rock)146
Water Damage – Instruments (2025, US; experimental psych/drone-rock)147
Weakened Friends – Feels Like Hell (2025, US; indie rock)148
Weirs – Diamond Grove (2025, US; trad folk, experimental noise)149
Wet Leg – moisturizer (2025, UK; indie rock)150
White Lies – Five V2 (2019, UK; post-punk)151
X-Cetra – Summer 2000 (Y2K 25th Anniversary Edition) (2025, US; sleepover core, dance-pop)152
Yara Asmar – everyone I love is sleeping and I love them so so much (2025, Lebanon; modern classical/ambient)153
Yugen Blakrok – Anima Mysterium (2019, South Africa; hip-hop)154
Yws Gwynedd – Codi/ \Cysgu (2014, Wales; indie rock)155
Footnote Number. Fediverse username(s): Comments
- poisonous ↩︎
- buffyleigh: My emotional support album of the year. I’ve been a fan of AFI since 2000 but haven’t liked an album since 2006. The second I heard the first single “Behind The Clock”, my expectations for this album skyrocketed, and they were absolutely exceeded. It sounds nothing like anything they’ve ever done, and yet it feels like this was the album they’ve always been moving towards. Song of the year goes to the entirety of side A, and Davey Havok’s unexpectedly different sound on this album is my overall favourite vocal performance of year. ↩︎
- Braininabowl ↩︎
- umrk: top album requested by my kids in the car this year ↩︎
- brh ↩︎
- RolloTreadway: The most gloriously unhinged album I’ve heard this year. Twists together ideas from everywhere without the slightest consideration of whether doing so might be normal or accepted. The kind of album where a classic French chanson or some deep filthy funk just appears out of nowhere and then is never referred to again. It shouldn’t work but it absolutely does. ↩︎
- gavin57: That last one is an all-timer. It’s astonishing. ↩︎
- platenworm ↩︎
- rachelcholst ↩︎
- 3rik: This has been a year for nighttime music and music for trying to sleep. ↩︎
- swampgas: definitely my most played this year. A sludgy, deathdoom concept album about greed and gluttony and corruption thats riffy and groovy af. These are driving rhythms that chug hard! ↩︎
- MichaelMcWilliams: The one album that tops my list this year also appears in the 1001 Other Albums list. Band website offering free download of the album: https://au4.ca ↩︎
- brh ↩︎
- poisonous ↩︎
- jake4480 ↩︎
- mbr ↩︎
- riff: Most “Wait why did i never listen to this band before ?” of the year. ↩︎
- keefeglise ↩︎
- eamonn ↩︎
- _slotek_ ↩︎
- onuryasar: My kind of, very balanced Indie Pop: just the right amount of Indie but not too much and just the right amount of Pop but not too much 🙂 ↩︎
- icastico ↩︎
- santialone ↩︎
- eamonn ↩︎
- burnitdown || MetalheadDana ↩︎
- cloudtripper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_e5kKzlFqU&list=RD8_e5kKzlFqU&start_radio=1 ↩︎
- nevar23 ↩︎
- debonaire: Recency bias is pushing me to three Silvana Estrada albums. I love her voice, I love the music, I love her with Charlie Hunter. ↩︎
- otherdog ↩︎
- fistfulofdave: Aussie punk in the vein of The Saints and Radio Birdman. ↩︎
- rothko ↩︎
- Chigaze: what happens when four guys to go a cottage in Ontario, find a flow state, and record an album over a few days. I got to see them play the album through at the Winspear in Edmonton and it’s way up there on my concert experience list. ↩︎
- evilchili: The Italian singer and composer’s debut is a hypnotic journey of loops, bloops, and dramatic and impassioned vocalizations. ↩︎
- nellie_m ↩︎
- fistfulofdave: Blues metal? Shoegaze blues? I don’t know or care, I like it. ↩︎
- tym || niels ↩︎
- jake4480 ↩︎
- santialone ↩︎
- Kingu ↩︎
- tym || demon6 ↩︎
- otherdog ↩︎
- MetalheadDana: I listened to this album when it first came out in 2021 but for some reason it didn’t click with me. But apparently 2021 Dana had horrible taste in music, because in early 2025 I randomly tried Dodsrit – Mortal Coil again and fell in love and have been obsessed with it all year, it’s the perfect blend of crust punk and black metal and I love it. ↩︎
- TG_Esq ↩︎
- rustynail ↩︎
- alicemcalicepants ↩︎
- Chigaze: nails it just as a solid Dropkick’s album but goes farther with songs made for the times. “Who’ll Stand With Us” and “School Days Over” are amazing workers songs while “Chesterfields and Aftershave” takes me back to my own grandfather. ↩︎
- thesinkingbelle ↩︎
- Braininabowl ↩︎
- riff: Most listened this year. ↩︎
- Mark52 ↩︎
- Moss ↩︎
- e (eva) ↩︎
- steveroyle: Leaving out Never Enough by Turnstile as I’m sure that’ll get plenty of votes. ↩︎
- fistfulofdave: Angular, noise rock, neo-post punk. Unsettling, laid-back, yet aggressive. And yes it was the last album Steve Albini recorded. ↩︎
- MetalheadDana || demon6 ↩︎
- soundclamp: Runner-ups – https://lineimprint.bandcamp.com/album/muzak-for-the-encouragement-of-unproductivity; https://myheartaninvertedflame.bandcamp.com/album/my-heart-an-inverted-flame-apparitions-split; https://timbarnes.bandcamp.com/album/lost-words-1 ↩︎
- buffyleigh: I’ve known of Fever Ray since first seeing the TV show Vikings, but I for some reason didn’t check them out further until this year, when their s/t album came up for a blog post. I was floored. As it happens, their kinda sorta live album was set to come out soon after my first listen of the s/t, so I got caught up on the full Karin Dreijer discography, got super duper obsessed with their spectacular ARTE concert (which is essentially the same versions performed on the new album), and proceeded to be immensely inspired – nay, awakened – by this artist. ↩︎
- Kingu ↩︎
- onuryasar: I’ve first discovered the song Apocalypse by Cigarettes After Sex (I know, late comer), which brought me to Greg Gonzalez’s Wikipedia page, that says “Gonzalez was heavily inspired by French singer Françoise Hardy and her album La question”. I remember this album being mentioned in my Fedi timeline recently, so I gave it a spin and it turned on and on for the remainder of the year. [Editor’s note: Also see the 1001 OA spotlight on this album from earlier this year!] ↩︎
- rachelcholst ↩︎
- mynameistillian ↩︎
- burnitdown ↩︎
- demon6 ↩︎
- donutage: I was a bit skeptical of this, and sure, in a 52-song project there’s some unevenness, but between the sheer audacity of the attempt & the frequent successes it scores, definitely one of the more remarkable records of the year. ↩︎
- Tak ↩︎
- e (eva) ↩︎
- Lizahadiz ↩︎
- mbr ↩︎
- brh ↩︎
- umrk: my fav album released in 2025 ↩︎
- superflippy ↩︎
- raisedfist ↩︎
- gavin57 ↩︎
- Mark52: Jade Bird has been by far my most listened to album this year. ↩︎
- poisonous ↩︎
- derthomas: I kept coming back to this album because it just fits every mood. It’s peak Jethro Tull if you ask me, it’s perfect in any way. Also the Steven Wilson Remaster sounds incredible. ↩︎
- burnitdown ↩︎
- jebeyer: a longer list is here – https://www.buymusic.club/list/whistlingkitty-some-of-my-favorite-2025-releases ↩︎
- thesinkingbelle: honorable mentions – Scare – In The End, Was It Worth It; Creatvre – Toujours Humain ; Guck – Gucked Up ; AVTT/PTTN – AVTT/PTTN; Saor – Amidst the Ruins ; Jessica93 – 666 tours de periph’ ; Deadguy – Near-Death Travel Services; LS Dunes – Violet; Aesop Rock – I Heard It’s A Mess There Too ; Fishbone – Stockholm Syndrome ; Dead Pioneers – Po$t American ; Ethereal Wound – Defile | Demise; Sci Fi Industries – Initial States ↩︎
- soundclamp ↩︎
- cloudtripper ↩︎
- rustynail ↩︎
- derthomas: My AOTY from a very underground Heavy Metal band from Austria. ↩︎
- platenworm ↩︎
- raisedfist ↩︎
- thesinkingbelle ↩︎
- t4s: Honorable mentions – The Halo Effect, Machine Head, Heaven Shall Burn, Spiritbox, Jinjer, Allegaeon ↩︎
- rachelcholst ↩︎
- 3rik ↩︎
- Wintergr33n: Percussion-driven music from Senegal on a self-released album: https://ra.co/news/82509. ↩︎
- platenworm: 5 things that ruled my world musically this year:
– The Analog Africa Label
– The Artist L.A. Salami
– The knowledge that you can have too much music
– The knowledge that you can make your solo debut album when you are 100 years old……Hail Hail Marshall Allen
– And that everybody loved Ozzy ↩︎ - nellie_m: The music project that somehow touched me most deeply was the result of two years of work by Max Cooper. „Powerful works of art have traditionally sprung from some source deep within an artist and, if they strike the right tone, resonate with an audience to leave a lasting mark. But what if that equation were reversed: what if an artist were to draw their inspiration from deep within their audience, and use that to reflect those ideas, emotions, hopes, fears, pains and aspirations back to us?…“ ↩︎
- niels || TG_Esq || sentynel || otherdog || umrk ↩︎
- eamonn ↩︎
- jake4480 ↩︎
- steveroyle ↩︎
- alicemcalicepants ↩︎
- BramMeehan ↩︎
- avi_miller: All three fall into the more ambient realm, and they all are absolutely phenomenal. I love music that is based more around textures and creating a mood than creating a melody, and this year had some really good ones. ↩︎
- niels ↩︎
- TG_Esq ↩︎
- 3rik ↩︎
- raisedfist ↩︎
- keefeglise: Compositions by Nicholas Gombert and James Weeks. Performed by Apartment House. Flanders/UK. Contemporary Classical (Debatable! Gombert died in 1560.) ↩︎
- evilchili: Two hipster kids from Brooklyn play 100 year old Appalachian folk tunes and make them come alive. Honest, reverential, and true. ↩︎
- riff: “Instantly burned in my brain” this year (well, it was actually their KEXP session from april that blew my mind, but since i have to submit an album, it’ll do nicely 🙂 ). ↩︎
- avi_miller ↩︎
- derthomas: I discovered this album this year on a metal journey (yeah, late to the party) and I loved it. It’s my favourite Ozzy album. ↩︎
- _slotek_ ↩︎
- mbr ↩︎
- tym: Oh and not a brand new release, but the remaster and new tracks for the 20th anniversary reissue of ‘Takk…’ by Sigur Rós are pretty great. That and ( ) are still what I listen to the most, this year and apparently every year. ↩︎
- Kingu ↩︎
- epu: I had all but forgotten party drug enthusiasm tracks like ‘higher than the sun’ from 1991, and it turns out they made so many albums since I last tuned in. This one really resonates with my reaction to USpol this year. It rekindled my love for this band; I bought Evil Heat import on CD, my first physical purchase since last year. ↩︎
- Mark52 ↩︎
- sentynel ↩︎
- Braininabowl ↩︎
- jiiruu ↩︎
- avi_miller ↩︎
- jiiruu || t4s || gavin57 ↩︎
- Steffi ↩︎
- superflippy ↩︎
- rustynail: most played ↩︎
- sentynel ↩︎
- debonaire ↩︎
- debonaire ↩︎
- TwoClownsEating: I discovered this band in 2025. Absolutely incredible, I’ve bought their entire catalogue and had the privilege to see them live a few months ago. Unbelievably good musicians. Magical music. ↩︎
- jomel: 2025 was a great year for Belgian music. Stef Kamil Carlens, co-founder of dEUS has released a gem with his new band The Poem. I have seen SKC twice this year, once in a solo gig, and the second time (in less then 2 weeks) for the “worst Case scenario” rewind from (and so with) dEUS, those two concerts were fabulous, and at the time, I wasn’t expecting this release.
Bonus Albums: The live album from Depeche Mode – Memento Mori: Mexico City; Arvo Pârt – Credo (released Alpha Classics label) which includes his “hits” – Credo , Fratres , Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten (my favourite one) https://outhere-music.com/en/albums/arvo-part-credo; 2025 Bryan Ferry release, with Amelia Barrat as female lead singer/speaker. Some of his material came from the 70’s and were updated, it’s a timeless album, and elegant as always https://soundcloud.com/bryanferry/sets/loose-talk-4 ↩︎ - jebeyer ↩︎
- jomel: (AKA 2manydj’s) Yep, those guys will make you dance, and rock, I guess they’ve listened to Kraftwerk & Front242. ↩︎
- Tak ↩︎
- nellie_m ↩︎
- cloudtripper ↩︎
- _slotek_ ↩︎
- t4s ↩︎
- Lizahadiz ↩︎
- slamma ↩︎
- e (eva): algorithmic mood music was my fav last year! but i’m still listening to it and i didn’t submit anything then. ↩︎
- Steffi ↩︎
- BramMeehan: I’ve listened to so much TDJ, though no one release in particular. ↩︎
- jiiruu ↩︎
- buffyleigh: There’s so many other albums I’d love to list here for exposure, but it feels more honest to list this masterpiece, my first obsession of the year, courtesy of catching their amazing set at the big Black Sabbath/Ozzy send-off concert. I mean, I even titled my AOTY list “Forty Six & 2”, since that was the first song Tool played there and got my attention. Said list is here. ↩︎
- epu: Ok, this one’s kind of a cheat, it’s an EP.
2024, my friend turned me on to Bug Club for its lo-fi production aesthetic, humor and infectious fun/dark undertones. Marriage from 2023 album ‘Rare Birds: Hour of Song’ was the hook.
You can get this band straight into your heart and mind with this EP. And it takes me back to that one time I did go to Wales. ↩︎ - jomel: This newcomer British female band has written the ultimate feminist anthem as opening track. || RolloTreadway: I don’t tend to be very much of a rock person, so for a big brash rock record to have such an impact on me must say something. It’s noisy and it’s loud and it has guitars and drums and punkiness. And, er, flutes. Harmonicas. Cellos. Weird interpretations of bible stories. All chaos and absurdity and celebration and being absolutely done with the patriarchy and above all else fun. So much fun. ↩︎
- soundclamp ↩︎
- santialone ↩︎
- steveroyle ↩︎
- jebeyer ↩︎
- donutage: far & away my number 1; an angry & desperate neo-grunge banger. Sonia Sturino is a force of nature. ↩︎
- RolloTreadway: In parts weird and experimental, in others traditional. Here there’s strange droney noise, and then there’s some light, old-fashioned fiddle playing. Electronic distortion, a choir recorded live outdoors singing a simple hymn. It’s an astonishingly creative and unique folk record. ↩︎
- donutage: not as jaw-dropping as their debut (my runaway 2022 fave), but with a lot of the same qualities. It’s dancy, smart, & sexy, without ever once being submissive. || slamma ↩︎
- alicemcalicepants ↩︎
- slamma ↩︎
- keefeglise ↩︎
- evilchili: Afro-futurist South African Hip-Hop Mysticism. Blakrok instantly became my favourite female MC. ↩︎
- Steffi ↩︎
#AOTY #AOTY2025 #CastleRat #Deafheaven #DieSpitz #Faetooth #ListenToThis #Messa #music #musicDiscovery #RiversOfNihil #TheNewEves #WetLeg
-
Emel Mathluthi - Kelmti Horra
My Word is Free
I am those who are free and never fear
I am the secrets that will never die
I am the voice of those who would not give in
I am the meaning amid the chaosI am the right of the oppressed
That is sold by these dogs (people who are dogs)
Who rob the people of their daily bread
And slam the door in the face of ideasI am those who are free and never fear
I am the secrets that will never die
I am the voice those who would not give in
I am free and my word is free
I am free and my word is freeDon't forget the price of bread
And don't forget the cause of our misery
And don't forget who betrayed us in our time of needI am those who are free and never fear
I am the secrets that will never die
I am the voice those who would not give in
I am the secret of the red rose
Whose color the years loved
Whose scent the rivers buried
And who sprouted as fire
Calling those who are freeI am a star shining in the darkness
I am a thorn in the throat of the oppressor
I am a wind touched by fire
I am the soul of those who are not forgotten
I am the voice of those who have not diedLet's make clay out of steel
And build with it a new love
That becomes birds
That becomes a country/home
That becomes wind and rainI am all the free people of the world put together
I am like a bullet
I am all the free people of the world put together
I am like a bullethttps://pitchfork.com/features/rising/9949-why-the-world-needs-emel-mathlouthis-anthems-against-the-dictatorship-machine/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emel_Mathlouthi -
Noch 10 Tage. Dann gibt es noch mehr Versprecher, schlechte Wortwitze, holprige Überleitungen und Audio-Chaos - und zwar live!
Die Jubiläumsfolge des Dresdner Piratencast mit so vielen Leuten wie noch nie! Am 13.12.2025 ab 14 Uhr als Videostream bei Peertube! Wir freuen uns auf euch.
Hier ein kleiner Zusammenschnitt aus 99 Episoden und Outtakes:
https://www.piraten-dresden.de/was-ist-die-geschmacksrichtung-von-piratenpolitik-piratencast-99-1/
#Piratencast #Podcast #Piraten #Dresden #StaDDrat #Livestream #Peertube @piratendresden
-
@musevg oh that needs a longer explanation, but the tl:dr is, that @todbot built a #MacroPadSynthPlug that adds a sound output feature to an adafruit numpad and I made a cheap version where I combined both.
Here's a thread on what I focused on while designing:
https://chaos.social/@davedarko/109769992013272902And then I got a broken casio keyboard and combined another key-test board thing with the LoKiPad here: https://chaos.social/@davedarko/109908178460110314
-
Jak skonsolidować konta i subskrypcje w iCloud (i nie zwariować)
Koniec roku to ten moment, kiedy człowiek patrzy nie tylko na kalendarz, ale też na swoje subskrypcje. A jeśli – tak jak ja – od lat żyje się w ekosystemie Apple, to bardzo łatwo wpaść w pułapkę „rozproszonego Apple ID”. Coś kupione dawno temu, coś założone „na szybko”, coś przypisane do dziecka, coś do żony, a coś jeszcze do zupełnie innego konta, bo akurat tak było wygodniej. Do czasu.
U mnie sytuacja wyglądała następująco: czteroosobowa rodzina (żona + dwóch synów), jedno najstarsze Apple ID (jakoś nie mogę się przestawić na „Apple Account”), na którym od lat zbierały się aplikacje, filmy i muzyka, do tego Chmura rodzinna oparta właśnie na tym koncie. Apple TV+ też było „tu”, ale Apple Music już na koncie starszego syna, a dodatkowy dysk iCloud 2 TB… na moim prywatnym Apple ID. Efekt? Kilka rachunków, kilka kont i chaos, który z każdym miesiącem kosztował mnie nie tylko pieniądze, ale i cierpliwość.
Postanowiłem to uporządkować. I wbrew pozorom – da się to zrobić bez utraty danych i bez bólu.
Dlaczego konsolidacja ma sens (także finansowo)
Zacznijmy od liczb, bo one działają najlepiej na wyobraźnię:
- Apple TV+ – 34,99 zł
- Apple Music – 34,99 zł
- Razem: 69,98 zł
- Apple Arcade – nie miałem wcale
- iCloud 2 TB – 49,99 zł (tego akurat nie da się „obejść”)
Tymczasem Apple One (rodzinny) kosztuje 49,99 zł i zawiera:
- Apple Music
- Apple TV+
- Apple Arcade
- iCloud+
Dysk 2 TB i tak muszę dokupić osobno, bo Apple One ma zbyt mało miejsca w standardzie. Ale różnica między płaceniem osobno a pakietem jest oczywista – taniej i czyściej w rozliczeniach.
Najważniejsza zasada: jedno główne Apple ID
Jeśli chcesz mieć porządek, musisz wskazać jedno główne konto Apple ID, które będzie:
- organizatorem Chmury rodzinnej,
- właścicielem subskrypcji,
- kontem, z którego wychodzi płatność.
W moim przypadku był to najstarszy Apple ID – ten, na którym od lat są zakupy aplikacji i multimediów. I to właśnie na nim wszystko postanowiłem skonsolidować.
Jak działa konsolidacja w praktyce (bez strachu o dane)
To ważne:
konsolidacja subskrypcji nie oznacza konsolidacji danych.
Każdy członek rodziny:
- nadal używa własnego Apple ID,
- ma prywatne zdjęcia, backupy i pliki,
- korzysta tylko ze wspólnej puli usług i miejsca w iCloud+.
Pliki się nie mieszają, nikt nikomu nie widzi zdjęć. iCloud+ działa jak wspólny „limit”, a nie jak jeden folder.
Krok po kroku: jak to uporządkować
1. Na głównym Apple ID (organizator rodziny)
Na iPhonie lub iPadzie:
- Wejdź w Ustawienia
- Stuknij w [Twoje imię]
- Przejdź do Rodzina
- Wejdź w Subskrypcje
- Przy każdej usłudze (iCloud+, Apple Music, Apple TV+) włącz opcję „Udostępniaj rodzinie”
To jest moment, w którym mówisz systemowi: to ja płacę i ja udostępniam.
2. Na kontach, które mają własne subskrypcje
Jeśli ktoś w rodzinie (albo Ty na innym Apple ID) ma:
- własny Apple Music,
- własny Apple TV+,
- własny plan iCloud (np. 2 TB),
to trzeba je anulować:
- Ustawienia
- [Imię]
- Subskrypcje
- Wybierz usługę
- Anuluj subskrypcję
Po zakończeniu okresu rozliczeniowego pojawi się opcja:
„Używaj pakietu rodzinnego”.
Dane nie znikają. System po prostu przełącza konto na wspólny plan.
Co z danymi w iCloud? (najczęstszy strach)
- Zdjęcia, pliki, kopie zapasowe – zostają tam, gdzie są
- Każdy Apple ID zachowuje swoją prywatność
- Zmieniasz tylko sposób rozliczania miejsca
Uwaga praktyczna:
jeśli ktoś miał więcej niż 5 GB danych i anulował swój plan, a nie przełączy się na rodzinny, ma 30 dni, zanim synchronizacja nadmiarowych danych zostanie wstrzymana. To spokojnie wystarczy, by wszystko ogarnąć.
Apple One – jak to włączyć
Na iPhonie lub iPadzie
- Ustawienia
- [Twoje imię]
- Subskrypcje
- Wybierz Apple One
- Zdecyduj: Indywidualny lub Rodzinny
- Potwierdź Face ID / Touch ID
Na Macu
- Ustawienia systemowe
- Apple ID
- Media i zakupy
- Subskrypcje → Zarządzaj
- Wybierz Apple One i potwierdź
Co dzieje się z istniejącymi subskrypcjami?
Apple robi to wyjątkowo sensownie:
- indywidualne subskrypcje (Music, TV+, Arcade) są automatycznie wygaszane,
- niewykorzystany czas jest rozliczany proporcjonalnie,
- playlisty, biblioteki, ustawienia – zostają.
Zmienia się tylko jedna rzecz: kto płaci i z jakiego konta.
Podsumowanie: porządek, spokój i jeden rachunek
Po całej operacji:
- mam jedno główne Apple ID,
- jedną płatność miesięcznie,
- Apple One zamiast kilku subskrypcji,
- rodzinę, która niczego nie zauważyła… poza tym, że wszystko dalej działa.
Jeśli – podobnie jak ja – przez lata „zbierałeś” usługi Apple na różnych kontach, to naprawdę warto poświęcić godzinę, a nawet mniej, i zrobić z tym porządek. Nowy rok smakuje lepiej, gdy zaczyna się go z czystym Apple ID.
#AppleMusic #AppleOne #AppleOneDlaRodziny #AppleTV #AppleID #iCloud #Konsolidacja #konto #kontoApple
-
Jak skonsolidować konta i subskrypcje w iCloud (i nie zwariować)
Koniec roku to ten moment, kiedy człowiek patrzy nie tylko na kalendarz, ale też na swoje subskrypcje. A jeśli – tak jak ja – od lat żyje się w ekosystemie Apple, to bardzo łatwo wpaść w pułapkę „rozproszonego Apple ID”. Coś kupione dawno temu, coś założone „na szybko”, coś przypisane do dziecka, coś do żony, a coś jeszcze do zupełnie innego konta, bo akurat tak było wygodniej. Do czasu.
U mnie sytuacja wyglądała następująco: czteroosobowa rodzina (żona + dwóch synów), jedno najstarsze Apple ID (jakoś nie mogę się przestawić na „Apple Account”), na którym od lat zbierały się aplikacje, filmy i muzyka, do tego Chmura rodzinna oparta właśnie na tym koncie. Apple TV+ też było „tu”, ale Apple Music już na koncie starszego syna, a dodatkowy dysk iCloud 2 TB… na moim prywatnym Apple ID. Efekt? Kilka rachunków, kilka kont i chaos, który z każdym miesiącem kosztował mnie nie tylko pieniądze, ale i cierpliwość.
Postanowiłem to uporządkować. I wbrew pozorom – da się to zrobić bez utraty danych i bez bólu.
Dlaczego konsolidacja ma sens (także finansowo)
Zacznijmy od liczb, bo one działają najlepiej na wyobraźnię:
- Apple TV+ – 34,99 zł
- Apple Music – 34,99 zł
- Razem: 69,98 zł
- Apple Arcade – nie miałem wcale
- iCloud 2 TB – 49,99 zł (tego akurat nie da się „obejść”)
Tymczasem Apple One (rodzinny) kosztuje 49,99 zł i zawiera:
- Apple Music
- Apple TV+
- Apple Arcade
- iCloud+
Dysk 2 TB i tak muszę dokupić osobno, bo Apple One ma zbyt mało miejsca w standardzie. Ale różnica między płaceniem osobno a pakietem jest oczywista – taniej i czyściej w rozliczeniach.
Najważniejsza zasada: jedno główne Apple ID
Jeśli chcesz mieć porządek, musisz wskazać jedno główne konto Apple ID, które będzie:
- organizatorem Chmury rodzinnej,
- właścicielem subskrypcji,
- kontem, z którego wychodzi płatność.
W moim przypadku był to najstarszy Apple ID – ten, na którym od lat są zakupy aplikacji i multimediów. I to właśnie na nim wszystko postanowiłem skonsolidować.
Jak działa konsolidacja w praktyce (bez strachu o dane)
To ważne:
konsolidacja subskrypcji nie oznacza konsolidacji danych.
Każdy członek rodziny:
- nadal używa własnego Apple ID,
- ma prywatne zdjęcia, backupy i pliki,
- korzysta tylko ze wspólnej puli usług i miejsca w iCloud+.
Pliki się nie mieszają, nikt nikomu nie widzi zdjęć. iCloud+ działa jak wspólny „limit”, a nie jak jeden folder.
Krok po kroku: jak to uporządkować
1. Na głównym Apple ID (organizator rodziny)
Na iPhonie lub iPadzie:
- Wejdź w Ustawienia
- Stuknij w [Twoje imię]
- Przejdź do Rodzina
- Wejdź w Subskrypcje
- Przy każdej usłudze (iCloud+, Apple Music, Apple TV+) włącz opcję „Udostępniaj rodzinie”
To jest moment, w którym mówisz systemowi: to ja płacę i ja udostępniam.
2. Na kontach, które mają własne subskrypcje
Jeśli ktoś w rodzinie (albo Ty na innym Apple ID) ma:
- własny Apple Music,
- własny Apple TV+,
- własny plan iCloud (np. 2 TB),
to trzeba je anulować:
- Ustawienia
- [Imię]
- Subskrypcje
- Wybierz usługę
- Anuluj subskrypcję
Po zakończeniu okresu rozliczeniowego pojawi się opcja:
„Używaj pakietu rodzinnego”.
Dane nie znikają. System po prostu przełącza konto na wspólny plan.
Co z danymi w iCloud? (najczęstszy strach)
- Zdjęcia, pliki, kopie zapasowe – zostają tam, gdzie są
- Każdy Apple ID zachowuje swoją prywatność
- Zmieniasz tylko sposób rozliczania miejsca
Uwaga praktyczna:
jeśli ktoś miał więcej niż 5 GB danych i anulował swój plan, a nie przełączy się na rodzinny, ma 30 dni, zanim synchronizacja nadmiarowych danych zostanie wstrzymana. To spokojnie wystarczy, by wszystko ogarnąć.
Apple One – jak to włączyć
Na iPhonie lub iPadzie
- Ustawienia
- [Twoje imię]
- Subskrypcje
- Wybierz Apple One
- Zdecyduj: Indywidualny lub Rodzinny
- Potwierdź Face ID / Touch ID
Na Macu
- Ustawienia systemowe
- Apple ID
- Media i zakupy
- Subskrypcje → Zarządzaj
- Wybierz Apple One i potwierdź
Co dzieje się z istniejącymi subskrypcjami?
Apple robi to wyjątkowo sensownie:
- indywidualne subskrypcje (Music, TV+, Arcade) są automatycznie wygaszane,
- niewykorzystany czas jest rozliczany proporcjonalnie,
- playlisty, biblioteki, ustawienia – zostają.
Zmienia się tylko jedna rzecz: kto płaci i z jakiego konta.
Podsumowanie: porządek, spokój i jeden rachunek
Po całej operacji:
- mam jedno główne Apple ID,
- jedną płatność miesięcznie,
- Apple One zamiast kilku subskrypcji,
- rodzinę, która niczego nie zauważyła… poza tym, że wszystko dalej działa.
Jeśli – podobnie jak ja – przez lata „zbierałeś” usługi Apple na różnych kontach, to naprawdę warto poświęcić godzinę, a nawet mniej, i zrobić z tym porządek. Nowy rok smakuje lepiej, gdy zaczyna się go z czystym Apple ID.
#AppleMusic #AppleOne #AppleOneDlaRodziny #AppleTV #AppleID #iCloud #Konsolidacja #konto #kontoApple
-
Jak skonsolidować konta i subskrypcje w iCloud (i nie zwariować)
Koniec roku to ten moment, kiedy człowiek patrzy nie tylko na kalendarz, ale też na swoje subskrypcje. A jeśli – tak jak ja – od lat żyje się w ekosystemie Apple, to bardzo łatwo wpaść w pułapkę „rozproszonego Apple ID”. Coś kupione dawno temu, coś założone „na szybko”, coś przypisane do dziecka, coś do żony, a coś jeszcze do zupełnie innego konta, bo akurat tak było wygodniej. Do czasu.
U mnie sytuacja wyglądała następująco: czteroosobowa rodzina (żona + dwóch synów), jedno najstarsze Apple ID (jakoś nie mogę się przestawić na „Apple Account”), na którym od lat zbierały się aplikacje, filmy i muzyka, do tego Chmura rodzinna oparta właśnie na tym koncie. Apple TV+ też było „tu”, ale Apple Music już na koncie starszego syna, a dodatkowy dysk iCloud 2 TB… na moim prywatnym Apple ID. Efekt? Kilka rachunków, kilka kont i chaos, który z każdym miesiącem kosztował mnie nie tylko pieniądze, ale i cierpliwość.
Postanowiłem to uporządkować. I wbrew pozorom – da się to zrobić bez utraty danych i bez bólu.
Dlaczego konsolidacja ma sens (także finansowo)
Zacznijmy od liczb, bo one działają najlepiej na wyobraźnię:
- Apple TV+ – 34,99 zł
- Apple Music – 34,99 zł
- Razem: 69,98 zł
- Apple Arcade – nie miałem wcale
- iCloud 2 TB – 49,99 zł (tego akurat nie da się „obejść”)
Tymczasem Apple One (rodzinny) kosztuje 49,99 zł i zawiera:
- Apple Music
- Apple TV+
- Apple Arcade
- iCloud+
Dysk 2 TB i tak muszę dokupić osobno, bo Apple One ma zbyt mało miejsca w standardzie. Ale różnica między płaceniem osobno a pakietem jest oczywista – taniej i czyściej w rozliczeniach.
Najważniejsza zasada: jedno główne Apple ID
Jeśli chcesz mieć porządek, musisz wskazać jedno główne konto Apple ID, które będzie:
- organizatorem Chmury rodzinnej,
- właścicielem subskrypcji,
- kontem, z którego wychodzi płatność.
W moim przypadku był to najstarszy Apple ID – ten, na którym od lat są zakupy aplikacji i multimediów. I to właśnie na nim wszystko postanowiłem skonsolidować.
Jak działa konsolidacja w praktyce (bez strachu o dane)
To ważne:
konsolidacja subskrypcji nie oznacza konsolidacji danych.
Każdy członek rodziny:
- nadal używa własnego Apple ID,
- ma prywatne zdjęcia, backupy i pliki,
- korzysta tylko ze wspólnej puli usług i miejsca w iCloud+.
Pliki się nie mieszają, nikt nikomu nie widzi zdjęć. iCloud+ działa jak wspólny „limit”, a nie jak jeden folder.
Krok po kroku: jak to uporządkować
1. Na głównym Apple ID (organizator rodziny)
Na iPhonie lub iPadzie:
- Wejdź w Ustawienia
- Stuknij w [Twoje imię]
- Przejdź do Rodzina
- Wejdź w Subskrypcje
- Przy każdej usłudze (iCloud+, Apple Music, Apple TV+) włącz opcję „Udostępniaj rodzinie”
To jest moment, w którym mówisz systemowi: to ja płacę i ja udostępniam.
2. Na kontach, które mają własne subskrypcje
Jeśli ktoś w rodzinie (albo Ty na innym Apple ID) ma:
- własny Apple Music,
- własny Apple TV+,
- własny plan iCloud (np. 2 TB),
to trzeba je anulować:
- Ustawienia
- [Imię]
- Subskrypcje
- Wybierz usługę
- Anuluj subskrypcję
Po zakończeniu okresu rozliczeniowego pojawi się opcja:
„Używaj pakietu rodzinnego”.
Dane nie znikają. System po prostu przełącza konto na wspólny plan.
Co z danymi w iCloud? (najczęstszy strach)
- Zdjęcia, pliki, kopie zapasowe – zostają tam, gdzie są
- Każdy Apple ID zachowuje swoją prywatność
- Zmieniasz tylko sposób rozliczania miejsca
Uwaga praktyczna:
jeśli ktoś miał więcej niż 5 GB danych i anulował swój plan, a nie przełączy się na rodzinny, ma 30 dni, zanim synchronizacja nadmiarowych danych zostanie wstrzymana. To spokojnie wystarczy, by wszystko ogarnąć.
Apple One – jak to włączyć
Na iPhonie lub iPadzie
- Ustawienia
- [Twoje imię]
- Subskrypcje
- Wybierz Apple One
- Zdecyduj: Indywidualny lub Rodzinny
- Potwierdź Face ID / Touch ID
Na Macu
- Ustawienia systemowe
- Apple ID
- Media i zakupy
- Subskrypcje → Zarządzaj
- Wybierz Apple One i potwierdź
Co dzieje się z istniejącymi subskrypcjami?
Apple robi to wyjątkowo sensownie:
- indywidualne subskrypcje (Music, TV+, Arcade) są automatycznie wygaszane,
- niewykorzystany czas jest rozliczany proporcjonalnie,
- playlisty, biblioteki, ustawienia – zostają.
Zmienia się tylko jedna rzecz: kto płaci i z jakiego konta.
Podsumowanie: porządek, spokój i jeden rachunek
Po całej operacji:
- mam jedno główne Apple ID,
- jedną płatność miesięcznie,
- Apple One zamiast kilku subskrypcji,
- rodzinę, która niczego nie zauważyła… poza tym, że wszystko dalej działa.
Jeśli – podobnie jak ja – przez lata „zbierałeś” usługi Apple na różnych kontach, to naprawdę warto poświęcić godzinę, a nawet mniej, i zrobić z tym porządek. Nowy rok smakuje lepiej, gdy zaczyna się go z czystym Apple ID.
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