Store manager - Anonymous employee Russell Cellular Employee Review

2.0
Feb 20, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great starting place for those with no prior sales experience. A good bit of freedom, especially if you're at a 2 or 3 person store. Hours aren't bad. Fairly easy to get into management, due to lack for valuable competition and high turnover.

Cons

Mostly everything else. First of all, a 2 person store is a dumb idea, all across the board. You work alone with no lunch break from open to close on their off days. If they are sick, need to call out or have to be away for training purposes, you're obviously expected to be there, regardless of prior plans. You will be grossly underpaid compared to others in the wireless industry (don't even talk to your friend at corporate about what they make....just don't). After promotion to management, you will be ineligible to receive any further raises on your salary, regardless of how well you perform from that point on. Communication with HQ is horrendous. You will receive chargebacks that you aren't deserving of and then it's basically a WW3 battle with AR to prove you deserved your measly 6 dollars. The commission structure recently changed and it sucks. Smaller, low traffic locations are suffering due to this change. Finally, you will be under unrealistic expectations 99% of the time, particularly as a store manager. The company does little to no marketing for you. It will be YOUR responsibility. When 5 people walk into the store during a 10 hour day, they will expect you to take the blame for that. My advice to the applicant is this: if you're working at a job making minimum wage, take this job. You will learn to sell and it'll be fun for a while. Then then take your skills elsewhere, where you can be compensated properly.

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