It was fun at first... - Sales Teammate The Buckle Employee Review

At first, they pull you in with their great 40% discounts, working off commission, easy scheduling, great people, and fun work environment, and its great for maybe the first couple of weeks. Then, that's when you get out of your honeymoon phase with your new job and witness the reality of what is The Buckle. ---Sure, you get 40% discounts on the clothes, but they don't mention that A. You can NOT return it, you have to make sure you try on the clothing and you are for sure in need of it, or else you lose your discount privileges. Same goes with cancelling layaways. B. In many of the videos you watch in training (which I will add is very extensive, and slightly brainwashing) it sounds as if this discount can be used to help out a single mother who is working there, or person that works there who needs it for holidays, but you can ONLY use it for you. Even if you are the one buying it for your friends or family, if it is not your size (which the manager will learn during training) you pay full price. C. You are pressured to buy and wear their clothes. they will definitely comment on it if you arent, and a lot of your pay will go to your wardrobe. C. Even with the 40% discount, a lot of the clothes are still pretty expensive, which sucks considering what you get paid. ---Which brings me to working off commission. I was making the minimum base pay, which was a little over $4, plus 3% commission. I worked my butt off, many shifts as long as 12 hours, and you were criticized and pressured if you took longer than a 30 minute break, because you weren't being a "team player." I rarely had a day off, and worked every single holiday, because management "forgot" I requested off, and since I wasn't out of town, was pressured to go to work. I was pretty much never late, and the times I were, it was only by a couple minutes. I was constantly cleaning other team mates who were focused on solely sales' messes, and still had to try and reach my minimum selling price goal for the day to make AT LEAST $8 an hour. I never received any type of raise or promotion in the half year I worked there, while teammates who worked for a shorter time than me, and worked entirely not as hard as me, got one because they were personal friends with the manager. There is also one day out of the year they use to do inventory check--you can work a full 10 hour shift, but still HAVE to stay after close until 2 in the morning or later with no break, and are expected to come to work to open the next day. Oh, and before I forget, if anyone returns a sale, or cancels a layaway, ALL that work you put in to it, is lost, and you lose the commission. ---The easy scheduling is somewhat true, but they will definitely make it seem like work is more important than anything else in your life, and pressure you to not take off. ---There are awesome employees with great personalities, but then you have your Buckle Brainwashed ones, who live and breathe Buckle and take it too seriously. They will be over-enthusiastic, always talking about the store, always positive about anything related to the job, and shame you if you have one complaint about it. It gets exhausting and annoying after a while. Then youll also have your "Impact Team" weeks, where MITs from all over come to your store and change EVERYTHING for the week, constantly judging you and how you do things, only to have your manager change everything back the next week when they leave. Not to mention, there is a HUGE turn over rate. We would lose a team mate every week, and get a new one every 2. ---This fun work environment they speak of is not so fun. You are pushed, and I mean PUSHED to make a sale. You have to step farrrr out your moral zone, and constantly annoy these people to look at a bunch of different product that you have to shove in their face. And God forbid you let them look around. Management and leaders try to tell you that everyone who says they "just want to look" is a potential shoplifter, and if the shopper gets mad because you still keep shoving things at them after they said no, that its only because they are trying to shoplift. Not at all because they may not have the money, or they truly just want to look. And leaders and management will constantly be on you and watching you too. If you havent talked to someone in over 1 minute since the last time you talked to them, they will ask you why you havent mentioned this or that to that person, and make you go show more product. You have to creepily follow every customer all around the store, about a table away, and keep showing things to them, which many times just makes the person offended or uncomfortable, and makes them cut their shopping short. Also, leaders will steal your customer. You can show as much product and throw as much product in a room. Then a leader will see that this person is getting a lot, and "impact" you. Next thing you know, theyve taken over the sale, ask you to go get something, and when you come back, theyre checking that person out, and their excuse is that they "showed more product." They also push you getting Buckle Cards, and even advise you NOT to tell customers that its a credit card, which is so wrong that they are willing to screw with a persons credit just to make a sale. And speaking of the customers, they will be rude as in every retail environment, but because Buckle customers are "spoiled" to extensive customer service, they will be extra demanding of you and your work. I had one lady yell at me to measure her waist size to know what size she is, when I couldve told her off the top of my head. They will make you their personal slave if theyre a regular, and treat you like dirt, with no thank you afterwards. Over all, as you can see, there is a lot of stress, and weariness, and belittling, and work, for pay barely above minimum wage. I had to get detailed, because many of the negative reviews did not explain into exactness what makes this job a negative experience. I had to quit because of the amount I was being paid just wasnt enough to support me any more.