-No work/life balance, basically you’re a slave to the stores if you want to make real money (which is okay), you’re forced to work major holidays and there’s a blackout period so you can’t take any vacations, you have 2 weekdays off (you must come at least one of those 2 days or do double shifts the rests of the days if you want to make your goals)
-Ver strict, some rules make sense, others make you feel like you’re in a first-world country, such as Cuba, which makes sense because that’s where 90% of the employees are from, for some this is normal, for others it’s a bit distasteful
-Even though there’s a Customer Care Department, you’re in charge of dealing with your customers, they make sure to call you even if you’re in your vacations or days off to ask for your help in most cases that belong to one of your customers
-Cashiers or as they call them Customers Care Associates have literally the worst job on the planet, horrible pay, therefore most of them don’t care much about the job, while others do. There’s a huge turn over rate for this particular position as well as porters, for this reasons there will be days where you find yourself wrapping mirrors and frames, taking out Floor Samples, etc. while taking care of your own orders as well as trying to keep up with the customers you currently have on the floor
-They constantly use the word “family”, yeah no. Unless they have a whole other concept, I’m not sure what they refer to, you do meet the owners and they are amazing people (my goal is not to take away from them because they’ve accomplished a lot) however, stores are a whole other deal, some Leaders are clueless, while others are strictly by-the-book, which is good at times because you have a path to follow, but at times this stops you from closing certain sales due, they get paid regardless, you- not so much.
-You have to, literally, treat your “Leaders” as if they were some kind of God if you want to be looked at for a promotion (also non-existent, I’ll get to that too) or just to be able to work your Sales better, it’s tough if you’re not a kiss-up, prepare to feel like you’re one step below the rest of the team that are on top of their leaders and bring them stuff 24/7
-The chance of getting a promotion are minimal! Basically the only position you could move up to is Sales Leader, first of all you take a huge pay-cut (if you’re mildly good), you also have to relocate very far, usually to a brand new store that’s about to open, which forces you to move, or change your life around
-Thankfully they provide training, however it’s really light, and they don’t have any kind of training on certain collections that are worthy of explaining to the customer thoroughly. If you like to be hands-on and learn things by yourself, this will not by an issue for you (as it hasn’t been for me) however, if you’re the type to need someone explain you things then this will be tough. You’re not taught in materials (except leather), or cleaning procedures, or the “Protection Plan” as they call the insurance they offer, then you receive customers complains that were told that it won’t cover them anything, that’s on you.