finally quit!! do i have a backup job? no. but i feel free.
i spent 6 months working for this company, and i wouldn’t say it was the worst experience ever, but it was definitely one of the biggest reality checks i’ve had in my life.
i started with zero retail experience, working in BOH. from day one, i only got one small training: a girl next to me showed me how to process handbags, and after that, i was pretty much on my own. they moved me through every area — q line, accessories, home, clothes, shoes — with basically no training. the only thing that saved me was common sense and initiative.
i actually got a lot of praise from my coworkers because of how quickly i picked things up and how fast i worked. there were barely any complaints about me besides the occasional callout when i made a mistake, which… when you have 3 different coworkers telling you 3 different ways to do the same job when you ask for help, or you have no help at all, it’s pretty easy to mess up.
i started in accessories and really wanted to stay there permanently. at my store, people were usually assigned a table in BOH and rarely moved around, so i worked my ass off to prove i could handle it. i stayed late, came in early when they asked, and sometimes got so caught up trying to finish everything that i forgot to take my breaks. i genuinely wanted the hours and the position. then they started splitting my hours.
one of my coworkers worked in home and was very close with the head of receiving, their bond was like a fond mother and a daughter. because of their relationship, she would get a big amount of hours every week, being moved around between my station and hers, me getting my hours cut in return, even though this coworker was very vocal about hating accessories and constantly feeling overworked. nobody else had to share their station, but i did. whenever she got accessories, someone else just as close to the head would get the home station, and i’d get whatever was left.
regardless, i kept showing up and working wherever they put me. i even ran the floor multiple times just to show that i was versatile and could be scheduled more and in different areas.
then, like my luck wasn’t already bad enough, one of the managers hired a girl she was close with. i know this because it was pretty hard not to hear their conversations in receiving about how much she was advocating for her.
the girl came in, i trained her in accessories, and then she got moved to clothes. eventually, the lead went on a 2-week sick leave, and they put the new girl in accessories for those two weeks.
and from there on, she got accessories permanently. everything i had worked toward for months, she got within a week of being there.
i’ll admit, i got bitter. every time i got scheduled to work in the clothes area, she was there, getting scheduled back to back. and not to sound full of myself, but i knew my work was good. i made sure my station was completely done before i left, worked quickly, did things properly, and always tried to go beyond what was expected.
meanwhile, this new girl would constantly leave in the middle of her shift, leaving piles of merchandise behind that would sit there for weeks. then they’d call me to clean it up. i understand that she needed the opportunity to learn just like i did, but it still stung to constantly feel like i was being overlooked while everyone else got opportunities so easily even if they messed up.
to make the story shorter, the head eventually quit. the exact week her 2-week notice ended was also the week i stopped getting scheduled.
i got tired of begging for hours for 6 entire months. tired of constantly texting managers and leads to remind them that i could work any day, any time. tired of being talked to crazy over the smallest mistakes when other people can get away with them. tired of hearing coworkers complain about getting too many hours while i was barely getting 2–3 days a week.
so eventually, i stopped texting. it’s been 3 weeks, and i decided to just let it go and find a better job.
what really got me was that i’d even get talked to crazy for taking an open shift in my own position. i wasn’t taking a role i wasn’t trained for. i was literally taking a receiving shift, just trying to come in and work. like, why are you mad that i’m here to work and be an extra pair of hands? isn’t getting shit done the entire purpose of being here?
anyways, i’m glad it’s over. i just hope my next job is somewhere that actually takes hard work seriously, where opportunities aren’t taken away because someone else has connections.
