H.Samuel Reviews

Pros

Nice customers Not like other retail - more sales like Nice rewards for good sales

Cons

Expected to work weekends Promo changes constantly, sometimes means you're changing tickets/decor more than selling on some days

Pros

I loved my time at H Samuel, the job was enjoyable with lots to learn and is much more one to one than usual retail jobs, which made it much more enjoyable than my previous retail jobs. You get to part of some of the most important times in customers lives and there's no better feeling than helping someone find the perfect engagement ring / wedding bands or special birthday gift etc. The training was good and staff discount is generous (10% off reduced items, 30% off full price). Some opportunities to earn commission but the goalposts are often moved on this and if you work in a smaller store it is much harder to earn commission. Commission is deducted if you then process a return on an item which would have qualified for commission, whether you are the one who sold it or not. The in store team I worked with was fantastic and from what I heard while I was there this was the case in most stores, with lots of friendly and understanding store managers. There is some opportunity for progression but it depends how seriously you take the job and how long you're there. I was able to undertake some extra training to pick up some management shifts to cover management holiday / days off and earn extra money doing this (not sure if they still offer this though). Occasionally an assistant manager job came up (although they have since replaced ASMs with supervisors) so some opportunity to progress there however store manager / upper management roles rarely came up. Overall I loved the job and the people in store.

Cons

Company lets customers walk all over you e.g. when you follow company policy regarding returns, all the customer has to do is complain to the head office customer service team and the company roll over and undermine everything you told the customer, even though you were following policy. This makes for unpleasant and uncomfortable situations as you know that if you get a complaint, the company will likely not back you up. Upper management couldn't be more out of touch with what it's like to work in a store. When I first went back to work after the first COVID lockdown, I was assured I could wear a mask the whole time (wearing a face covering was actually company policy after lockdown, even before government regulations came in regarding masks). Following a customer complaint I was then told by upper management that if a customer asks me to take my mask off I have to do it (in contradiction to their own company policy and the terms I agreed to before returning to work). I left the job not long after this incident, mostly due to a restructure in staffing which saw many hardworking employees made redundant / pushed out by cuts to pay and hours in order to replace them with cheaper but less experienced employees. While I appreciate covid hit the industry hard and the company needed to save money, the way this news was released to employees was very insensitive and out of touch considering the impact it had on them. It made me (and lots of others I spoke to) feel as though the company just saw us as a number and that we were disposable / replacable. In summary, I loved the job but the company needs to do some serious work on themselves.