Pros
40% off after 5 years; additional 15% off (with cap limit) for the holidays for regular employees (not sesaonal); most coworkers are nice
Cons
management incompetent - there are always problems with the schedule, no matter who is in charge of it. annual review is always late, not just days or weeks but months - they are not on top of things. employee longevity - i was not even notified to attend the event and received my gift a year later. favoritism - it's not what you know but who you know. i have seen so many people "targeted" with petty things; many have quit or have been let go. many have been working for C&B for a long time and have great knowledge of products. it seems if you are not "in" with the manager, then you are out (similar to what Heidi would say on Project Runway). they will pick on you, make your life miserable so you would quit; or they would pick on everything you do and when you make that one mistake, you are out. Examples - * there are many times when i was asked to be a runner (stock backup), assigned kitchen duty, recycle duty, restocking merch on floor - often more than my share - everyone is supposed to rotate but some people are NEVER on the list and i would end up having these duties 2-3x a month. * management make up their own rules when they want to target people - for example, one person had told me i cannot stand on a step/stair in the store. it's not a C&B rule, it's his rule and he only applies it to me. * i get reprimanded for speaking to my coworker instead of customers (when they are no customers around). i get reprimanded for standing behind the counter (when the seasonals are glued behind the counter). i was yelled at for my being in my assigned zone (even thought i was there assisting a customer). * more than once i had switched my shift with someone and was questioned why i didn't show up for work. i told them about the switch and instead of apologizing to me, i was told they have no record of it (and i know they do because i was there when the master was marked) and i have to do their job - provide the proof (paperwork/emails) and once i checked with my coworker and was told they did show up for work. when i told the manager that, all she said was "oh". management does not know how to manage and they lie - told all regular employees to fill out a holiday availability form in the Fall; told we must commit to whatever we put down.; told if we (regular employees) want more hours they will hire less seasonal. i gave up travel plans to go home for the holidays and requested more hours. came November i notice i did not get any extra hours on my schedule. when i asked a manager about it, he has no answer. he tried to find out for me, but of course was given some textbook answer which he passed back to me. he was actually later fired because he is not "in" with the store manager. by then i couldn't go home since the airfare were way too expensive and i didn't get the extra hours (extra pay) i was counting on. they hired way too many seasonal workers who does not know what they are doing (probably due to poor training or just C&B hiring folks not qualified for the job) so they just slow down transactions and hence long lines would form at registers counters. hours - used to be flexible but not anymore. there are people with busy jobs (90%+ are part-time with a real job) or folks taking classes so they might want less hours. then there are others who wants more hours. management crack down on those who cannot commit to 2 weeknights and 1 weekend day, instead of giving those available hours to those who want them. so many good people have left due to just scheduling problems. Most workers are disgruntled. If they are not, either they are "in" with the manager, or they are in la-la land. Most of the good workers have left. The running joke is how long will the rest of us last. Will we quit first or be get go of something stupid?