Custom Ink reviews

2.9

30% would recommend to a friend

(703 total reviews)
avatar

David Doctorow

23% approve of CEO

23% positive business outlook

Custom Ink has an employee rating of 2.9 out of 5 stars, based on 703 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Custom Ink employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.4 stars).

Reviews by job title

703 reviews
4.0
Aug 25, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great people, great atmosphere, awesome benefits, interesting subject matter for sales

Cons

Mandatory OT/Weekend shifts, slight micromanaging when it may not have been needed

3.0
Aug 20, 2016

Follow the Golden Rule

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-My co-workers have also become friends. They are creative, fun, energetic people with big hearts. -There's always food somewhere. -Amazing health benefits -Discounts to cell phone bills -Ability to work from home (if really needed on certain days) -Flexibility (this seems to be tightening up though) -CustomInk does a lot of volunteering and charitable work -CustomInk has multiple locations with the opportunity to move between them if you foot the bill -Great holiday party -Cool game rooms (if you ever have time to use them) -You can have your personal packages delivered to the office -Nice employee discounts on orders

Cons

-LOW. PAY. (I see here that CustomInk is an Engaged Employer, so I'm sure that whoever is reading this has seen this comment time and again. Please fully consider how many people are leaving this complaint- our expectations you give us as employees are astronomical and we get yelled at by customers and have to smile through it, so please give us a little more money or lower your expectations). -Mandatory OT that barely makes a dent in your paycheck and seems to come up at the last second or is canceled right before you arrive to work early (you need to constantly check your work email while at home or you'll have no idea what is going on) -The CustomInk Blacklist feels like a real thing. Management does not want to hear feedback unless it is glowing, positive, and covered in smiley face stickers. They ask for your opinions and ideas and shoot down every single one (although some will mysteriously appear as new policies or "something we're trying out" a few months later, but of course you don't get credit- it is now considered management's ideas. This is very Golden Rule, of course.) Once you give your opinion about things, you mysteriously never get promotions and end up pulling sucky tasks randomly. Weird. -Have a serious health problem? We say it's all well and good until you have to take time off. If you run out of Paid Leave while you're in the hospital, well... goodbye! -Expectations for quality, accuracy, attitude, productivity, and other categories are very hard to hit. When you mention this to managers they tell you they did 5,000 studies about it and you're actually wrong- you aren't overworked. But when was the last time they were in your shoes? -Be prepared to be graded on absolutely everything you do. While feedback is good and keeps employees accountable, this is ridiculous. We are graded monthly on calls, emails, chats, attitude, productivity, time available, overall attitude while you sit at your desk and eat popcorn, how many breaks you take and for how long- everything. You will be constantly scrutinized and you have to take it all with a smile, otherwise you have an "attitude problem" if you try to defend a choice you made with a customer. -They tell you there is no script for being on the phone, but there is a secret one. Customers who have been loyal to us for years are starting to notice this. -Company is becoming profit-driven rather than people-driven, as it once was. STOP. Stop thinking about how you're going to take over the t-shirt world and focus on your customers (who are starting to notice a dip in quality) and your Inkers, who are starting to get very upset with how they are treated. -Do you live in Nevada or Texas? Then forget ever working in a cool department or having a job that isn't order operations. You'll also be working late shifts forever. - STRESS. If you are a person who is easily stressed, don't do this. There are several employees who are now on anti-anxiety meds just to get in the front door of the office, and at least two people I know have had panic attacks.

1.0
Aug 19, 2016

Decent money but mind-numbingly boring, stifling atmosphere

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You are essentially paid by the order, so you can make a fairly good salary if you work hard. Also, there is usually some form of free food available in the cafeteria. There are a LOT of employees, many of whom are extremely talented and bright. The friends I made here are absolutely wonderful people.

Cons

The social atmosphere resembles that of senior year in high school. Every promotion opportunity is essentially a popularity contest and actual competence is given minimal consideration when promoting. Many people in management have absolutely no history or experience in management. To make matters worse, there is very little room for upward mobility. You might go up one or two positions, but that's it. It definitely isn't a place for long term growth. Face to face interaction is generally discouraged. Employees are instead encouraged to contact one another via instant message only, or to give good or bad feedback through their intranet system. Thus, actual human contact is kept to a bare minimum. I imagine this might be a pro for you if you are a true introvert? Every order you touch is graded, and if mistakes are made money is deducted from your paycheck. Productivity is also calculated (you must complete a set amount of orders per day). Failure to do so may eventually result in termination. Company bills itself as "innovative," but most process improvement suggestions from bright, experienced employees are discarded. The pay structure is unnecessarily complicated, with different tiers for each level of productivity and mistakes and how much each correlates to in terms of dollars. It makes for very unpredictable pay checks. The physical atmosphere is okay (cubicles), although the desks and chairs are notoriously uncomfortable (most people start seeing a chiropractor within six months of starting due to the poor ergonomics). Frequent seat changes, sometimes to high traffic areas where it is difficult to concentrate, or you may move to extremely cramped quarters. In 4 years, I changed seats almost a dozen times. Overall, to me it was eventually not worth the stress and lack of long-term development opportunities.

Viewing 595 - 597 of 703 Reviews

Glassdoor has 732 Custom Ink reviews submitted anonymously by Custom Ink employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Custom Ink is right for you.