u/Oralyn124

So… I quit Burlington today for my own sanity. 😭
The funniest part is that even on my last day, they somehow still managed to waste my time. I walked in with my badge and resignation letter, asked if I could speak to a manager, and was told to wait. I waited around ten minutes before asking again if there was anyone I could speak to, whether it was a manager or a shift lead, because I didn’t feel right handing my badge and resignation letter to a regular employee.

I held up the badge and the letter and said, “I just need to give them these.”

She looked at me and asked, “An envelope?”

Girl… no. 😭 I was standing there with my badge in one hand and a resignation letter in the other. I don’t think I was there to hand deliver someone’s mail.

The second I said, “I need to resign,” suddenly a manager was available.

Anyways… my Burlington era lasted approximately four shifts. On to bigger and better things. I already have another opportunity lined up, so here’s hoping this next chapter is a much better fit.

I wanted to share my experience because I’ve only been here a short time, and somehow I’ve already experienced half the stories I’ve read on this subreddit.
For some context, I left my previous retail job because I was basically being starved of hours. I wasn’t scheduled for two weeks, then on the third week I got one shift, and I realized I couldn’t keep doing that. My mom suggested I apply to Burlington because we shop there all the time, and every time we’d go in it looked like they desperately needed cashiers.

I applied, got hired, and during my interview they even told me they eventually wanted me to become a Customer Service Lead after I got trained. I thought, “Sure, why not?”

While I was waiting to start, I joined this subreddit. Every other post was people complaining about being thrown on the register with no training, impossible cashier expectations, management issues, etc. I honestly convinced myself that Reddit was probably just showing me the worst experiences. Every job subreddit is full of complaints, right? I figured maybe it just depended on the store.

Nope.

Before I even worked my first day, everything was already disorganized.

My background check cleared, but I never got the email I was supposed to receive. I had to keep calling the store, and eventually I went in person because nobody seemed to know what was going on.

Then I finally got an email…telling me my orientation had been a week earlier.

I called again, explained what happened, and they told me to come in on Sunday instead.

After orientation, I wasn’t put on the schedule at all. I waited, called again, was told the schedule probably hadn’t updated, waited again, called again…and didn’t actually work my first shift until two weeks after orientation.

Then came my first day.

No badge. No register numbers. No cashier login. Nobody told me I needed to download the app to clock in beforehand, so I had to write my time on paper.

And then they just…put me on a register.

Honestly, it felt like the training was, “Just figure it out.”

Then I started getting comments about my speed.
My second day honestly wasn’t any better. I was left on the register again, still barely knowing the system, and expected to keep up with the same speed metrics as everyone else. At one point I had a customer come through with two completely full carts. Clothes. Home decor. Random oversized items. Some things had to be wrapped, some had sensors, some needed bags, and I’m still trying to remember where buttons are on the register because it’s literally my second day.

I also was working from 4:45 until a little after 8 before I finally got a break, and I had to keep asking because nobody ever sent me. At that point I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and still trying to learn the register.

How exactly am I supposed to maintain a streak during that?

That’s the part I genuinely don’t understand about Burlington. Their cashier metrics seem completely disconnected from what actually happens at the register.

Why doesn’t the system account for the size of an order?

Why doesn’t it account for wrapping breakables?

Why doesn’t it account for customers who take forever to pay, need price checks, ask questions, split transactions, or have carts piled to the brim?

Half of my speed isn’t even determined by me, it’s determined by the transaction in front of me.

I’ve been a cashier before. I know how to cashier. I’m not expecting to be perfect overnight, and I’m definitely not asking for weeks of training. But I am expecting enough training to understand the register before I’m judged on my speed.

I really wanted to believe this subreddit was just highlighting the worst experiences.

Instead, I’ve only been here a short time, and I’ve already experienced so many of the same things people have been talking about for years.

At this point, I honestly don’t understand how Burlington expects new cashiers to succeed.