PSA: Don’t work for build a bear
I cannot stress enough how much this post has been a long time coming. The company does not care about you, your managers do not care about you. 2 months into being a bear builder I was promoted to Sales Lead and expected to run the shop by myself with little to no training. My manager was one of the most condescending and rude people I’ve ever met. She consistently shouted at customers who weren’t buying stuff or who were stood ‘in the wrong place’ when getting their bear made. Multiple reports were made about her and what did BAB do? Absolutely nothing. She made multiple members of staff cry and quit within weeks of starting with the company.
Now that I’m leaving the company, a new assistant manager has started who is just like her and has been gunning for me for day one. The last thing that sent me over the edge was accusing me of theft of a bear that I had bought with employee discount. I was asked for proof of purchase (this was never a policy in my store) and I didn’t have my receipt so I showed my bank statement and this still wasn’t enough and a full blown investigation was started.
I have done nothing but do my job and this is how I’m repaid? The company wants ur money, that’s it. Everyday I was shouted at if we weren’t hitting green in our stats and was consistently picked up on for minor details that I may have missed. This is my 3rd supervisor position I have ever done and I can confidently say it was the worst by far. I was given so much responsibility whilst also being a full-time student and scrutinised for not doing it correctly.
This post is mainly just a rant so I can get my feelings out because I’ve never felt so upset and angry over leaving a job. I truly love all of my co-workers and all the regulars that would come in our store. But I just can’t do it anymore.
EDIT: I appreciate all the kind messages that have been left. I’m aware that my store isn’t the same as every other store!!!!!!! The company is very big but at the end of the day the bottom line is they want your money. We consistently are told to upsell at every station and will be hold responsible if our store isn’t ‘performing’ well. I wanted to work for a company that cared about the experience and was only shown the complete opposite of that. This post was also just me ranting more than anything. If you enjoy working there I’m very happy for you but I did not :(