Company is litigious with employees - Professional Clothier Tom James Company Employee Review

1.0
Mar 4, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You can make a pretty good living.

Cons

The company threatens employees. During the height of the pandemic a lot of the moms in the company we’re not able to work very much because they were home with kids and did not have daycare. In a straight commission sales job this had a serious impact. Many of them filed for unemployment/pandemic relief. Rather than utilizing compassion and empathy the company responded by having them each get on zoom and while they were being videoed they were asked to read a legal document stating that they would get off unemployment or no longer have a job with Tom James. I’m still not sure to this day how the company got away with this but they have a lot less employees as a result! The company makes 60 or 70% profit off of what you sell but you make about 17%. The company touts having outstanding values but when push comes to shove it’s all about the bottom line. The salesforce is 99% white. The company and encourages sales people to utilize their time between 8 AM and 6 PM doing income generating activities. Therefore any detail work, responding to emails, signing off on orders, gets pushed to nights and weekends. There is a cult like raving fan culture (See other posts) that in the last couple years has turned into “You’re either for us or against us.” There is zero accountability for management in this company. With the pandemic the company has been down by a lot. No one is wearing work clothes and everyone is at home in yoga pants!

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Tom James Company Response
5y
As a company that really strives to build and develop people, we're sorry to hear you had a negative experience. If there are any situations that you would like to discuss privately in more detail, we are always open to talking—just email careerdivision@tomjames.com. If there are any scenarios where we haven't upheld our principles and values, we would want to know and address immediately. Without being argumentative, we do like to take the opportunity when relevant to point out to any potential readers feedback that is factually incorrect. While we appreciate feedback of any variety, it's also important to be factual: - Unfortunately, we did have challenges with a few employees simultaneously claiming unemployment with state governments while remaining employed and selling with Tom James on a monthly basis through the pandemic. Tom James could not honestly verify to the governments when they reached out to verify the employees' unemployment claims. Since testifying that the person was in fact employed with us would subject the employee to the potential for unemployment fraud, we had a responsibility to notify the employee that they would need to choose—employment with Tom James or unemployment. - While we wish that we had 60-70% profit margins, this is categorically false. Typically, 10% profit is what we average. Meanwhile, the 17% commission rate mentioned is accurate and happens to be at or very near the industry's highest level. - The salesforce is not 99% white. - The pandemic did cut our sales heavily at the outset. However, at present our per person sales average has recovered fully to 2019 averages. Fortunately, the casual line we developed to pivot has begun getting traction and we're focused forward on a great year again. Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts. Again, please reach out if you have specific scenarios that you think we should be aware of. We take our culture and employees' health and job satisfaction very seriously.

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5.0
Jun 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

Fun and good people to grow

Cons

A lot of hours and grinding

5.0
May 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Not only is there unlimited opportunity/commission, but there’s unlimited personal development. The leaders constantly are challenging me to think with principles, think big for my goals, and giving me resources to achieve those goals. The people I get to serve for my clients are to top division makers, influencers, and income earners in Austin and I’m honored that they trust us to serve them.

Cons

Building a business requires thinking big, thinking strategically, and getting out of my comfort zone. As with any business, the better you do the more problems you face and are challenges to solve.

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Tom James Company Response
1mo
Thank you for taking time to write a thoughtful review! It is important to us that each person at Tom James Company has the opportunity to build a long-term career for himself or herself. Feedback from current and past employees allows us to continue to grow and develop our opportunity for everyone.
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