Stay away - Store Manager Russell Cellular Employee Review

1.0
Sep 9, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

•Work in air conditioning. •Not physically demanding •overall relaxed dress code

Cons

•HIGH STRESS •Very poor work life balance •expensive healthcare options •poor benefits •very poor commission structure that constantly changes (for worse) •unrealistic sales targets •commission heavily based on store rather than individual performance •managers are also required to sell •your quality of work-life heavily depends on your District manager --understaffed? You will work open to close alone several days a week. --Someone might have covid? Send DSMs to every store in the district for in store visits anyway even though results of test are pending. --managers are supposed to set schedules, but it's mandatory that every employee work Monday and Friday. --have kids? Better hope they don't get sick or act like kids at all cause you're coming to work anyway. --No down time allowed. You are required to make cold calls and harass people to come to the store to buy something. Even during a pandemic. --coaching tools could be really great if they weren't overused and monotonous. The method is nice. "because I know -(insert personal reason for motivation)-, I need you to -(insert expectations given from mgr)-". Followed by "-(saying you believe in them)-" Because you want this, I need you to do this. I believe in you! Seems great. But turns into: --"Because I need you to exceed all sales expectations, I need you to behave like a robot and obey every command exactly as I say. You got this!" •Constant emails from home office •nothing is audited by other departments --late taking a deposit to the bank? You will get an email asking for the deposit slip. Ok sure. Makes sense. Don't email in the deposit receipt? They will take it out of your check. AR/AP does not audit bank statements but instead will send out several emails to harass you about it instead of taking care of it themselves in 2 minutes. --is there a sku for a spiff that was rang out incorrectly or something bugged out during the transaction? You will be charged back. No investigation is done to figure out what happened. It's just taken out of your pay. --Cover your own back and audit everything yourself. •required to have formal documented meetings with employees. •requirwd to document that you documented having those meetings •required to sell but also required to step back from sales floor so you can document what your reps are doing and if they are also behaving like robots and doing everything exactly the way your dsm says. •DSM expects something a certain way? They will tell you not to tell your reps that they said so. You are supposed to tell them that it's what you want. (Is the store manager managing reps or is the dsm managing every store manager and rep?) •is store traffic low due to several outside circumstances? That sucks. It's your fault for not marketing. (Marketing team doesn't market at all, that's also only your job) •Environment is horrible. •Atmosohere is hell •Pay is awful --not worth it at all •You will hate your life •because it's always understaffed, you will probably have the option to move up, but it will not be worth it and.. •you will hate your life.

Explore other reviews about Russell Cellular

5.0
Feb 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

alot of good people at home office

Cons

alot of stress from Higher ups

1.0
Jul 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It's relatively easy to learn the software involved, and the company mascot is cute. The customers are like any industry, hit or miss- but I enjoyed helping them with their phone troubles and understanding the technology we all rely on now.

Cons

Literally everything else. There's no clear pay scale or raise structure, and HR is not forthcoming with this information, either. The commission structure makes little to no sense, changing mid-month in a point based system, random spiffs for anywhere from a day or two to a few months. It's so confusing that there's regular trainings and quizzes on how the structure works to make sure employees come even close to understanding it. The median monthly earnings in commission are only earned by 38% of employees, not the average or majority. The training is almost useless, and focuses on convincing you you can make good money rather than teaching you anything. They push ethics and "honest sales" in preaching, but not in practice; and punish you for "underperforming" if you don't slam account with extras, lie to customers, or commit blatant fraud. They actively discourage you from helping in any capacity if it doesn't create a sale of some kind, and push extra fees onto customers for something as simple as paying your bill in person. Regional supervision isn't required to follow the same standards as company policies, and there is very little hierarchy accountability. They expect you to answer a call at a drop of a hat even off the clock, but will actively ignore you or hang up if you need something when they're off the clock, even salaried. On top of that, upper management and the C-Suite is rife with nepotism, and even Verizon thinks they pay their employees too little. Not a great look.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All