Family Video reviews

They expect a LOT from you right from the beginning (even the application process is ridiculously long and tedious for what the job actually is). There is not enough training provided. They talk down to you if you ask for help doing something you've never been shown how to do. There is no consistency in the schedule, especially because of on-call shifts. I hated not knowing when I was going to be working. There are no breaks. The store is open every day of the year, so you have to work on Christmas Eve, Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve, New Years, Thanksgiving, etc. Customers can also be extremely frustrating, and they treat you like the slave that your managers expect you to be. Way too much emphasis is placed on up-selling and bothering customers about promotions until they get super frustrated with you, which made me feel like a horrible person. There just is not enough time to get everything done that they want you to do, and even if you're super busy, you get in trouble for not completing their tedious tasks. This one is location-dependent, of course, but the manager and the majority of the employees were intimidating and rude at times. The manager was constantly in a bad mood because of all the tasks upper management had her doing day in and day out without proper time allotted Once you get used to the job, most of this stuff isn't quite as bad, but it can still be pretty rough and discouraging.

-If you work at an American store, you will not get breaks at all. If you work at a Canadian store, you will only get breaks if you are a part-time staff member (and that's only because they were taken to the Labour Board). -If you are full-time, you will be expected to be on your feet for 8-12 hours and you will be chided if you do decide to sit down -The top-heavy management do not understand how the company appears to a part-time staff member -- and how it could look like they don't care about them -- when store hours get cut and people are forced to work on their own, but then all of the DMs and RMs get to go to Mexico for a "retreat" and at this same time, employee commission earnings get cut. "The DMs work really hard." Oh, and the part-time staff don't? -DMs and RMs say that they have an open-door policy and you can speak to them about anything, but this is untrue. They will make your work life intolerable and you will be left with no choice but to be treated badly or simply quit. -Mileage is only paid out at 22 cents/km. Most companies pay at least 38 cents/km. 22 cents/km doesn't even pay for gas, let alone wear-and-tear on your personal vehicle. -You are expected to use your own vehicle to take deposits to the bank during working hours, and you are not reimbursed for any mileage at all. -Store Managers have to work a minimum of 44 "open hours" per week, but RMs expect that you will work 50 hours per week. Time spent at the store before it opens or after it closes does not count toward the "open hours." -They expect that your spouse will help you to maintain the store for free (doing repairs, etc.). Actually paying someone to come and do something is a big no-no.