Sterling Jewelers Complaint

Ex Kay Associate

Reviewed by exsterlingworker
Please Improve

I am a former employee of a Kay Jewelers store. I have to say I have no idea how the company keeps winning awards for "a great place to work". I was there for a short six months. All in all, the people were great to work for as far as my boss and co-workers. The company does give great dental and medical benefits and 401k. when I was hired I was told that this is not a high pressure sales job. I was very hesitant to take the position, since I had worked in retail sales before and I hated having my DM on my case on a daily basis. I was assured that Sterling was a "different breed" of retail stores. They claimed to value their employees and give constant tools to become a great sales person. The first couple of months were good. I enjoyed it. Then I attended a district meeting with my boss. At first it started out positive. Then the regional manager stated " If you cant be 5 for 5 with your standards every day, week month and for the year, you cannot work in the ____ district." we were all pretty much in shock. So much for no high pressure. They were basically telling us to have perfect sales standards every day. At first we kinda didn't take it too much to heart, figuring they are trying to shake people up since the Christmas season wasn't too hot. We were wrong. They started really comng down on us. You could not mess up. We were actually told at one point that if we didn't get a certain number of poeple to open up credit applications in a day, we would not be allowed to go home until we did so. Yeah, that's just a tad illegal. My poor boss is only in her mid twenties and was at the point of a nervous breakdown when I left. She was being yelled at almost on a daily basis by our DM, sbout the store perfomance. even if we had a good day, he would still find something to complain about. The manager's were working 60+ hours a week, were frazzled and tired. We were starting to constantly get written up. If we had a big event, and you didn't make your "expected numbers", you got written up. My boss told her boss that she didn't want to write people up for this because she knew how hard all of us prepared for these shows. She told him that we can't force people to buy, and we can't force then to come to these shows. We did our part. we are in an aweful economy right now. The higher up's didn't care what we said. They told us if we were better sales people or standards would be up. They basically blamed us for everything. Now, Sterling does offer to pay for you to go to college. My boss decided to look into this to better herself. She called headquarters to find out how this all worked. She then heard some dissapointing news. They told her that since she had been written up, they will not do any type of tuition reimbursement....ever. She explained to them that she had been a faithful employee for four years and this was her first write up. Which I may add was for her "Not making her expected sales goal for December". The funny thing is you can get writen up for ANYTHING. If you forget you jacket, they can wirte you up. One wirte up and this can affect promotions,tuition reimbursement ect. That's how they get you. So all in all, I would say Sterling is just like all the other giant corporations. They suck. They could care less about their employees, they use you until you are sucked dry of life and ambition, then they get rid of you. And by the way, their jewelry repair shops are run like sweat shops. They have about 5 people who can't speak english, they are being paid dirt, and forced to work long hours and make certain "numbers" as well.

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Comments - Consumers and Companies Connect by Commenting

duped2 says: (1 week ago)

I worked for Sterling in many locations across the country and found it at that time to be a great company... that was before I went to work at their newest creation... you know... "he went to..." I've never been in a store so poorly run, with a staff of complete thieves who have no moral standards. I was once proud to say I worked for Sterling, but not anymore, in fact I'm more than embarrassed. I have lost all respect that I once held for this company and will tell everyone I know to not shop, at least not at a non mall store.

Athena says: (3 months ago)

Well, I am so glad to see I am not alone. Seriously, this is a terrible place to work and you are all correct they will and CAN write you up for anything and everything. It is total politics. I worked for Kays' for five years and then quit because if I had not I would have be fired. Blah, blah, blah...same ol' crap about standards. I devoted a major part of my life to this company and it was devastating to be treat with such disrespect. I can't imagine if I had worked for them for more than five years. Kay Jewelers is a crap shoot!

jeweler86 says: (4 months ago)

I am a sterling employee and have been for a little over three years now. I work in the repair shop and have been on the bench for about two years. First off in response to statement that many of the jewelers didnt speak english and were working in a sweatshop, many amazing jewelers are coming out of countries like vietnam and thailand and while some would imply they are being treated like second class immigrants, they are in fact highly valued and talented people who are making just as much as everyone else. Also, this is retail! If you cant take the heat get out of the kitchen. You are expected to make your sales standards because thats your job. And you should want to, its your paycheck. If good health insurance and stock options and 401k and paid vacations and ample sick time are not enough for a little hard work then maybe you should be working at walmart. See how that treats you.

breegirl says: (4 months ago)

I can just about top the standard rules for our store. We actually had to walk out on the lease line and pull people in the store to get the credit applications to meet our monthly goal of 200.
IT was insane.
The managers took a lot of shit from the D.M.'s Our manager quit to work at a local Walmart and our DM ripped on the people who work there (being a different class of people than her). SHE WAS DREADFUL~

They also LIE about the quality of there merchandise. It is mostly imported crap.
Promotional quality at best.

I was on "paid" sickleave and was "informed" through my customer that I was fired...... HUH? They actually called me and told me I was fired and I didn't even know it. I was still under a doctors care....
So, yeh they are appealing my unemployment right now.

I do appreciate the benefits they offer there employees, but the hell you have to go through on a day to day basis is NOT worth the hell.

avoavo says: (5 months ago)

I must agree 100% and more. I am also a ex-kay associate and have experienced the same thing. We had to be 6 for 6 tho. When we weren't we were harrassed and intimedated with threats of losing our jobs. if we were not up in credit apps, we had a mandatory 7am morning meeting and if we were late or did not show up, even tho we had to close the nite before, we were written up. In my short employment, I witnessed 1 manager and 2 assistant managers nearly having break down due to the long hours and unrealistic demands. I have seen ppp's being automaticly being put on customers credit when the customer was either not told about it or said "no" to it and it was done anyway. Customers have complained about this and have named the person involved. I think this is illegal. They say, "sign here and here with no explaination to the customer. Comments were made that the company would like nothing better than to hire "YOUNGER LOWER PAID PEOPLE". Sounds like age discrimination to me. Holiday pay and sick pay, trying to get them was like pulling teeth. Asking customers to fill out credit apps when the customer clearly states that the already did and got turned down. It did not matter that it was affecting the persons credit history. The targeted groups were young kids just getting started or ethnic groups. Am's being told if they were 6 for 6 they would be demoted and then no room for full time sales, and the list goes on and on. They tell you you can go to the TIPS LINE, but nothing gets done about anything. You are right, they they suck the life out of you and then they have a way of getting rid of you as they NEVER PAY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION. They are very crafty. My advice to anyone thinking about going to work for Sterling is to run like Hell, or you will be in Hell if you dont!!! I feel like I got duped!

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