Sears emplyee for almost 7 years, straight comission appliances sales, I'm getting out!!!

Appliances sounds better than Home Improvement... the outside sales jobs that sell windows, siding, doors, kitchens and heating and cooling. After the Kmart merger they limited pretty much every benefit there was like tuition reimbursement, paid vacation, sick time, you name it. You could work there 100 years and still won't get a single paid day off of work. The average rep in our department made about 35k a year and has to drive 40,000+ miles at their own expense to obtain it (sears doesn't reimburse their employees anything for mileage expenses either). The only way they get people to work there is by telling them that they're going to make $100,000 per year which is a lie... the whole business is based on lies- telling the customer they don't use subcontractors when they DO use subcontractors to install every product.. telling customers it's satisfaction guaranteed or your money back and then tricking them into signing something waving that right.. Swearing up and down that sears makes their own products when they're really just buying their siding from Alside, windows from Simonton, doors from Precision.. they really don't make anything at all... They buy from a regular manufacturer that the general public could buy from, mark it up 400-500% and call it their own.

hisalterego in Fort Worth, Texas said:

I would not refer anyone to work for Sears, for any position...

I have to admit, being in straight commission sales starting in my early 20's till now has afforded me some great things, I have made $45,000 each of the last 3 years and never made below 40k except for my first year, when I first started, the day you get hired full time you got 2 weeks of paid vacation, 1 week of personal holidays and other benifits. Since the K-mart merge, it has been an ever changing company and Sears is not what it used to be, now they don't hardly ever hire full times and you have to work a year just to get your first week of vacation and 5 years to earn your second week. It is soooooooo not what it used to be and I can't wait to get out..

I must say, if you must work for Sears, the appliances department is probably the only department worth anyone's time because of the earning potentials and the freedom you get with a straight commission job, technically, they're not paying you a dime to work there and you have a lot more wiggle room and leniency from the managments but the guys already works there (in appliances) can be very harsh to new comers just because more ppl = less money for everyone and they're sole purpose is to drive you away.... straight commission isn't for everyone but if you have to work for Sears, there's nothing else worth doing and is a company going down the drain....

right now, I am more than willing to take a 10k or more paycut a year just to do something I would like a lot more than Sears..

agian, it's a falling company, don't do it

Is this the part where everyone is supposed to pile on and trash Sears to make you feel better about the decision you've made?

"If you're going to shoot, shoot.....don't talk." - The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.

Wah! Wah! Wah! Thousands of people have had long and prosperous careers with Sears. Here's the catch. You have to WORK. The people who fail in sales are simply people who are destined to be complacent, average, and bitter. I have sold for Sears for over a decade and I make it clear that Sears has NEVER manufactured anything and we will not allow a customer to be dissatisfied with our products or services. We have manufacturers make our products to our specification and we furnish and install them for the customers so they will never have to deal with a chain of middle men. The customer wins but they pay a little more than if they were to hire "Bargain Basement Billy Bob's Home Improvement Company." Don't blame Sears just because you don't have the discipline to be a sales professional.