I would normally not take the time to write this but after my experience with working at Harbor Freight I think its necessary! I was a customer service manager for 3 1/2 years for a large retail chain (hardware store) prior to working at Harbor Freight, so I was excited and ready to bring my experience and learn and grow within the company, unfortunately,. It didn't take me long to realize that this wasn't the type of work environment I would be able to tolerate. My assistant manager was completely un professional would talk rudely to me and distract the cashiers with conversations not pertaining to work. I went to my store manager about the issue he said that it would be addressed and than 3 days later he walked out in the middle of his shift. The managers would tell us that we were doing horrible at selling protection plans and ITC but would offer no tips on how to turn it around. The only times I would see the management out of the office was when the DM was there. I believe the company could be A LOT more "Customer Focused" 1, By ensuring there is enough staff to take care of the customers needs in a timely manner, 2. TRAINING staff ( customers will have a better experience if the employees know what there doing). 3. Management should be on the floor ( how will you know what's going on or what area of the store needs improvement or where employees need more training). The work environment is stressful to say the least (if your not a manager), as assistant head cashier I felt like I was constantly failing, most of the time I was the only one on the register closing, so my interaction with the cashiers was minimal and when I did get a chance to work with some of the cashiers it was on a weekend when we were super busy.
I will say this, we were a brand new store and were all in the learning stages, and the assistant store manager that had been with the company for awhile was very hands on I rarely ever saw him in the office and when he was he was doing schedules, he spent most of his time with the warehouse crew and sales floor and helping customers, he would do as much training with people as he could, Unfortunately, this wasn't enough, They should of had management (All levels) training at stores nearby prior to opening this store. That store was a mess, obviously the support wasn't there, the turnover was insane people were quitting left and right and it didn't help when the store manager walked out in the middle of his shift... I left after 3 months of working there, I could handle growing pains and I could of handled being short staffed and would of continued to work my tail off if it wasn't for the disrespect I would receive from the assistant manager, and the lack of communication, and the lack of support I felt from the company. An HR representative should of been in that store when the store manager walked out, and than the overwhelming amount of people that quit should of been a hint!!!!!!!!!!
