I was hired as a part-time worker and told I would get between 20 and 30 hours a week. Hours ended up being between 10 and 15 with low pay and little training or possibility of advancement. The store manager had poor interpersonal skills and used unflattering nicknames for workers.
I worked in the cafe and the mangers rarely every helped us, I think they helped us once within my almost year of working there. I didn’t learn anything, I applied to work on the floor and they stuck me in the cafe. The managers rarely ever spoke to us regarding anything within the store. Felt like an outcast.
Very cliquish. If you aren't a friend of the store manager or her assistant, you won't do well here. No matter how much you do for the store sales, if they don't like you, you had better start looking for another job. Great group of baristas and booksellers. Awesome discounts
They always say they are “customer focused” but this isn’t true at all! They are super sales and number focused, pushy on “big sellers” and memberships. They track you, and you get called out if your numbers aren’t good enough. Also, heaven forbid if you spend more than a few minutes helping a customer and not make an absolute sale of whatever book you’re supposed to be pushing that week. And tell someone honestly what you think of a book? Yeah right! Talk about getting in trouble. I love, love, love books and I love to help people discover the joy of reading. Unfortunately, this is not the place for either of those. Oh yeah- and the pay absolutely s—s. $9.50 and hour for someone with 10+ years retail experience?!! Burger King pays better
There is no room for advancement. If you aren't a favorite amongst management then there's no chance of getting any kind of promotion. Due to favoritism, hard work is hardly ever recognized even if your work output far exceeds others.
You do WAY too much work for the pay. They start you at 9.00 and they don’t give you hours.
You get about 16 hours MAX a week. You only get four hour shifts, sometimes they’ll give you an eight hour shift, but you’ll be missing a day of work.
Managers absolutely do NOT care. Someone had a death in the family, and the store manager said “I understand that, but I have a business to run.” Managers don’t care how customers treat their employees. They will let the customer have their way with employees. Only work here if you need money until you find a new job.
I worked as a server in the cafe at Boston's Prudential Center location. Absolute nightmare. They justified paying us almost nothing with the promise of tips, but there was no tip jar, so "tips" were usually just pennies a customer shoved at you when they were in too much of a rush to put them in their wallet.
There were never enough people working. Someone called out almost every shift (understandably, because it's an awful place to work). There were many shifts where I was left alone to work the cash register and make drinks/food during the morning and lunch rushes.
Management treats everyone like they're disposable and does not see employees as human beings. They prey on people who are desperate for work and assure you that career development is possible. But it isn't, because the workplace is so chaotic and toxic that you'll quit within a few months like everyone else.
Hostile Environment
Very little pay for the hostile environment provided by both customers and management. Lean staffing and unsafe Covid working conditions create extreme amounts of stress. No room for upward mobility in terms of job improvement, and very little recognition of achievements.
You will HATE working for the women in this company, particularly this company's management team who spend more time making your life miserable than they do actual work to increase sales! The District Manager and Store Managers are not to be trusted. They should have been fired years ago. If they are nice to you, do not trust them, they will stab you in the back and write you up a day later. I've never seen a place where the women are so vicious and evil.
If you want to be thrown into an extremely stressful work environment, then by all means, work here. There is little to no training, then when you try to learn and get better, the other employees will get annoyed because you're "too slow". Then you're stuck on register for 8 hours without learning how to make drinks.