Cheapest Company You Have Ever Worked For?

[dj_patm]

I dare you to top the sports store I work at. Dare You.

I have some real stories, but I don't want to get anyone in trouble as it seems like a company that might have Head Office staff on this site.

Lets just say

- Pay extremly low wages (I've worked there for 2 years part time and 1 year full time before starting school and I barely make more then minumum wage) yet they expect their staff to be dedicated and loyal while paying no comission and rarely pay bonus (set goals extremly high, outside of xmas (didn't even get there in xmas '08) it usually takes an anomoly to hit budget)

- Tend to run out of staff come popular days off because they will not allow more man hours (I once worked 11 days straight and 16 out of 17 days but didn't even make a penny of overtime or bonus)

- (At my location) They refuse to buy the following: Mop, Vacuum, hole punch, scotch tape or stapler and make their employees go store to store asking to burrow the needed items (never have had anyone come ask for any supplies from other stores)

- Have no lighting in the backroom (too expensive?),

- Took months of convincing to replace phone with a $25 cordless option (hard to help customers over the phone when attached to till)

- They sold stickers/tattoo's that cost them .02 cents each for 1.00 to families that were buying hundred dollar items at a recent big event.

And most importantly, they treat sales staff like absolute garbage. If you don't work in the head office, you can forget any sort of favors being done for you by the company. Even if you have worked there for years. Something as simple as telling there staff if they will ever bring in a certian product is apparently to hard to do let alone donations for staff supported charities or stuff like that. (Basically if they can't plaster there logo everywhere where their target demographic will see it, they won't donate a cent. This happend to someone who's worked for them for the better half of a decade)

Oh and to put my rage in perspective, I have worked at Calaway Park, Tim Hortons, Footlocker and Shell (Head office not gas station, that was an awesome job, made a lot of cash)

Every single one of those places was 10x better then were I work now in terms of treatment of staff and frugality. Yes the store I work at now treats me worse then when I was a 14 year old CALAWAY PARK GROUNDSKEEPER. The first 3 all payed roughly the same if you adjust for the times....


Could this get me fired? Even after working for them for 3 years when the average retail turnover is like a couple months I wouldn't be suprised. So if you're reading this, I'm sure you know that I'm talking about you.

Luckily I only stay there for the people I work with and the exposure to sports.

P.S. Yes I know its retail and what should I expect but its a medium sized company with high profit margins that relies so much on its sale staff and considering at the location I work at, almost everyone has been there for more then a year and a half you'd think they could treat there staff better.

</rant>

[Winsor_Pilates]

Is the job market in Calgary good or bad for jobs like this right now?
I remember a couple of years ago, retail was overpaying everywhere and hiring 15 yr olds if they had to. Not any more?

And to answer the question, my cheapest employer would have been HMV about 7-9 years ago when I worked there. For my 3 year service award, they gave me a $15 gift certificate for HMV which I took as a bit insulting. Could have atleast been a different store.

[troutman]

Chi Chi's Mexican Ristorante would not allow me to eat left-overs brought to the dish-washing pit.

[dj_patm]

It's hard to judge because we're not hiring due to the fact that we have had the same staff since pretty much this time last year but we do get resumes at least a couple times a day so I'm guessing its not.

However most of the resumes we get are from guys and guys have very few options working in retail. So if you want a flexible job outside of the fast food or department store, we're one of the few options. Not the best sample I guess.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by dj_patm

I dare you to top the sports store I work at. Dare You.

I have some real stories, but I don't want to get anyone in trouble as it seems like a company that might have Head Office staff on this site.

Lets just say

- Pay extremly low wages (I've worked there for 2 years part time and 1 year full time before starting school and I barely make more then minumum wage) yet they expect their staff to be dedicated and loyal while paying no comission and rarely pay bonus (set goals extremly high, outside of xmas (didn't even get there in xmas '08) it usually takes an anomoly to hit budget)

- Tend to run out of staff come popular days off because they will not allow more man hours (I once worked 11 days straight and 16 out of 17 days but didn't even make a penny of overtime or bonus)

- (At my location) They refuse to buy the following: Mop, Vacuum, hole punch, scotch tape or stapler and make their employees go store to store asking to burrow the needed items (never have had anyone come ask for any supplies from other stores)

- Have no lighting in the backroom (too expensive?),

- Took months of convincing to replace phone with a $25 cordless option (hard to help customers over the phone when attached to till)

- They sold stickers/tattoo's that cost them .02 cents each for 1.00 to families that were buying hundred dollar items at a recent big event.

And most importantly, they treat sales staff like absolute garbage. If you don't work in the head office, you can forget any sort of favors being done for you by the company. Even if you have worked there for years. Something as simple as telling there staff if they will ever bring in a certian product is apparently to hard to do let alone donations for staff supported charities or stuff like that. (Basically if they can't plaster there logo everywhere where their target demographic will see it, they won't donate a cent. This happend to someone who's worked for them for the better half of a decade)

Could this get me fired? Even after working for them for 3 years when the average retail turnover is like a couple months I wouldn't be suprised. So if you're reading this, I'm sure you know that I'm talking about you.

Luckily I only stay there for the people I work with and the exposure to sports.

P.S. Yes I know its retail and what should I expect but its a medium sized company with high profit margins that relies so much on its sale staff and considering at the location I work at, almost everyone has been there for more then a year and a half you'd think they could treat there staff better.

</rant>

Hmmmm . . . . . if they're publicly traded, sounds like a good stock to buy.

Seriously, in a former life I once had a manager threatening to withhold a Christmas bonus of $25 and a bottle of Cologna Red. It seemed to upset him that I did not consider that to be much of a threat.

Cowperson

[dj_patm]

Originally Posted by fotze

That crappy treatment is awesome because nothing encourages going to post-secondary more than that. If they paid you 30 bucks an hour why would you bother.

Santa Fe Grill on Macleod Trail is what did it to me. I credit the greasy manager there with my post secondary education motivation, I think he owns Moose Maguires now.

Oh I know!
Im a business student and I have made it my goal in life to buy this company out one day or open up a rival store and make it go out of a business. However if they keep up their management they'll do it without my help.

[You Need a Thneed]

Working for $7 an hour for a landscaping company installing irrigation systems, 12 hours a day, plus 4-6 hours on Saturdays (65ish hours a week), banked OT (so not even 1.5x pay for for OT hours), no coffee breaks (illegal) and only a half hour unpaid lunch. Considering the 45 minute drive each way, I'd leave home at 6:15 in the morning, to be at work at 7, work until 7:30 in the evening with only 1 lunch break, get home at 8:15, and have to shower and eat supper before getting to do anything that evening, but you can't do a lot because you are exhausted and have to get up again at 6 the next morning.

Worked for $5.25 an hour at a car wash, had to show up at 8 am, but couldn't punch in until they actually needed you (i.e. if the day wasn't busy, sometimes you sat there for an hour or more unpaid). I worked there 6 weeks, in which time, nearly the entire staff had turned over. I showed up for an interview, and they put me to work - I was not dressed properly for working in a car wash.

[Temporary_User]

Originally Posted by troutman

Chi Chi's Mexican Ristorante would not allow me to eat left-overs brought to the dish-washing pit.

haha I think this is a joke post (??) but nonetheless, just so everyone knows--this is actually standard policy at the majority of restaurants.
Most people of course aren't going to eat others left-overs, but countless times the wrong product was made and simply has to go to waste. If everyone were allowed to eat these, the amount of "wrong" products made would go up.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Temporary_User

haha I think this is a joke post (??) but nonetheless, just so everyone knows--this is actually standard policy at the majority of restaurants.
Most people of course aren't going to eat others left-overs, but countless times the wrong product was made and simply has to go to waste. If everyone were allowed to eat these, the amount of "wrong" products made would go up.

No joke - I was called into the officino.

[VladtheImpaler]

I had an employer cancel a bonus program 5/6 of the way through the year, so I was out a 5-figure bonus on a whim. I will say no more on a public forum.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by dj_patm

Could this get me fired? Even after working for them for 3 years when the average retail turnover is like a couple months I wouldn't be suprised. So if you're reading this, I'm sure you know that I'm talking about you.

You're fired! Pick up your final cheque tomorrow afternoon

[Locke]

Greyhound, hands down.

[blankall]

Earls. I was in the kitchen.

Staff discount: 50% up to $10. Once per shift. Did not apply if I was not working.

I was paid .25 above minimum wage and told I would get a .25 raise for every new station I learned. I had to twist arms to get that raise.

I was constantly put on split shifts... ie work for 2 hours get a 3 hour break and then come back and work for 4 more hours. What the hell am I supposed to do in a three hour break? That is barely enough time to get home and back on transit.

The kicker was they expected me to be responsible for my own uniform. I was only given one chef's jacket, which was expected to be clean. At the time I was not living in a place with access to a laundry machine. So I had to go to the laundramat 2 times a week to wash this thing.

We also had "staff parties" that the kitchen had to work during.

Edit: I should probably ad as disclaimer some people have had good experiences with this company. I think policie vary from restaurant to restaurant.

[worth]

I worked at Canadian Tire in my youth and they were cheap in the fact that they would put every POS item back on the shelf no matter how mangled by the customer. They would just scotch tape it back up and put it back up for sale.

Places like that have so much turnover, and there really aren't any benefits to the job. just get paid your wage and that's it. I probably got 2 or 3 phone calls a week to come in for more shifts because I was the only responsible one around who would actually show up for work or come in when I wasn't scheduled. Stupid me being responsible.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by Dion

You're fired! Pick up your final cheque tomorrow afternoon

[dj_patm]

Originally Posted by Dion

You're fired! Pick up your final cheque tomorrow afternoon

Well hey, if my manager wanted to fire me chances are that means one of the main reasons I work there still (co-workers) is no longer a factor so... Hurray!

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

Lame. There's no way you can outgif the mighty gifman!

[Yeah_Baby]

nm

[Locke]

Originally Posted by worth

I worked at Canadian Tire in my youth and they were cheap in the fact that they would put every POS item back on the shelf no matter how mangled by the customer. They would just scotch tape it back up and put it back up for sale.

Places like that have so much turnover, and there really aren't any benefits to the job. just get paid your wage and that's it. I probably got 2 or 3 phone calls a week to come in for more shifts because I was the only responsible one around who would actually show up for work or come in when I wasn't scheduled. Stupid me being responsible.

Oh yeah, I worked there too. I remember those idiots. I used to work in autoparts and the people in Customer service took back everything.

I remember a customer buying a case of oil, returning it because they 'didnt need it anymore' when really they just refilled all the bottles with water.

Or a time that someone did plugs/cap/rotor/wires and just put the old crap back in the box and they took it back and put it on the shelf. Ditto with an air filter once.

Idiots.

[gordo67]

Originally Posted by troutman

Chi Chi's Mexican Ristorante would not allow me to eat left-overs brought to the dish-washing pit.

Oh how I loved Chi Chi's wings, and the dollar tequila shots when the Flames scored.