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I'm amazed Toys "R" Us isn't completely out of business yet, especially after what goes on at my store! In the past nine weeks, 16 people have either quit or been fired. The average salary for seasonal employees is $8.25 hour. Some of the customers are quite rude. Some of the policies employees are forced to follow are quite ridiculous. For example, employees can't have an "unnatural" hair color like cranberry. Employees also have to provide S.T.A.R. service (smile, talk, ask, and rapid). The first three parts make sense. The rapid part does not. Corporate expects us to spend only two minutes or less with each customer. That much time may work with most customers, but there are some customers who need more than two minutes of help. There isn't just one manager and an assistant manager for the entire store. There's eight managers and no assistant managers! The store is so old that there's cracked and mismatched floor tiles, gunk, rust, and who know's what else attached to the floor and displays in certain areas, the shelves are bent out of shape, the ceiling fans haven't been cleaned in forever, and the bathroom looks like it's never cleaned. It's just gross! Some of my coworkers are nice, but there are a few who aren't. The HR (Human Resources) manager is the one responsible for hiring, firing, and paychecks. The HR manager has yet to give most of us seasonal employees our last paycheck or two. Plus, there's a group of employees who like to try and bully and intimidate other employees and act fake in front of customers. When confronted about it, they try threatening to get the employee who confronts them fired or they just smile and let out a fake laugh when a customer confronts them. As a company, TRU is almost $6 billion in debt. Why? The CEO is running it into the ground. The store I work at and the company I work for are so bad, they deserve to be on their own reality TV show. They definitely needs a makeover because right now, they're an absolute nightmare to work for!
Pros:
- Some nice customers and coworkers are nice
- 6 holidays off a year (determined by Corporate)
- Snow and Bad Weather Days (store closed due to weather)
- 10% discount off everything in the store
- Some nice kids
- Lots of toys
Cons:
- The rude customers and coworkers
- Being on your feet all day (sometimes for up to 12 hours)
- Low pay
- The fact that the CEO is running it into the ground
- The fact it's now almost $6 billion in debt
- Annoying music (especially around the Holiday Season)
- No real life outside of work
- Too many managers at one store
- Not having most of what's advertised or what people want
- Some annoying kids
- Some inappropriate toys (examples: the You & Me Triplet dolls that swear, the My Pal Scout and My Pal Violet toys that tell you to do something to them if you're happy and you know it, the Fact or Crap? game, and the Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo action figure)
- Strange requests from customers for things we don't sell
- Constantly hearing "Customer assistance needed in...." blaring over the music
I really enjoyed working for Toys R Us. I knew I was a seasonal employee, but when I went to work the day before XMAS Eve, I was informed that if we are not on the schedule for next week, that means we were not accepted as working for the company past seasonal. One, when I signed my employee contract in orientation, I signed a contract to be employed until January 14, 2012, and Two, why would you use me for XMAS Eve as a gopher and me take time away from my family when you are going to keep my name on the schedule until Jan 14th, just not give me any hours.
Starting and Current salary is $8.85, 10% discount on mostly everything in the store.
Most of the customers are nice. Some of your coworkers are nice as well, but the management stinks. They barely train you. Corporate has been trying to hide certain information from employees, customers, and investors (that's called fraud here in the U.S.) such as the fact they're $5.5 billion in debt and the CEO, Gerald L. Storch thinks that if the company as a whole makes at least $8 million this holiday season, that'll save the company from completely going out of business come Spring. None of the employees wants to play Geoffrey because the costume is filthy, smells bad, and looks bad. Yet, the Geoffrey costume at the Vernon Hills store is fairly new. Pay stinks. You only make minimum wage. Cashiers are told to ask all customers if they'd like batteries or a Buyer Protection Plan (BPP) with their purchase, even if the customer is just buying some gift wrap or a gift card! It's like asking someone at a restaurant if they'd like fries with their ice cream cone. Management and Corporate will try to find silly things to fire you over like not punching in and out correctly or not offering a customer batteries and a BPP with their purchase.
Average employee pay is $8.25 an hour at the Vernon Hills store. Employees get a 10% discount on stuff in the store. The store is closed at least 6 days a year for certain holidays (may be more due to weather).
I started out as a seasonal employee, planning to pick up some extra money while on Christmas break between semesters. It's very important to me to attempt to be nothing less than awesome at whatever I do, so this job was no exception. As a reward, I was never let go at the end of the season. However, that does not mean I enjoyed this job at all.
The interview process was extremely long and slightly silly. There are no one on one interviews with this company. You are interviewed in a group with about 20 other people. The hiring manager neglects to tell you to make sure your afternoon and early evening is cleared for a FOUR HOUR "interview." We started by basically introducing ourselves to everyone and interviewing each other. We partnered with the person across the table from us, finding out information about them as if we were assessing their potential. We then had to stand up in front of the room and hiring manager, reading aloud why the person you just "interviewed" should be hired. We also split into two large groups where each had to make a toy using K'Nex, give it a name and "sell it." Finally, we were made to watch a video on what was supposed to be the safest car seat and later, would be asked to "sell it." That's a far as a got, as my irate mother had called the store, looking for me, since 3 hours after I'd left, I still hadn't come back with her car. Regardless, I left early but still had the job without question.
All employees here are trained in how to operate a register just in case they have to be used as backup. However, that training is only very minimal. It took a week for one of the managers to realize I'd never been formally trained yet and only then was I assigned to an employee to be trained. After that, I slowly began to realize that this company is really only about pushing credit cards, rewards cards and other store programs. You selling rates are tracked and every so often, you'll get fussed at for not selling enough credit cards, rewards cards etc. There's a list of about 8 things you must ask all customers wether they are purchasing furniture or a pepsi. Customers complain on a reguar basis that they don't appreciate the questions and feel harassed.
Scheduling is a major issue here. If you're not in management, you can forget getting lots of hours. Most of my shifts were 5 hours and maybe 3 times a week. There are no such things as 15 minute breaks and lunch breaks are 30 minutes whether you work 7 hours or 18. If you are closing, you may work up to 3 hours past closing time around Christmas. Basically, they hire lots of people, give a few hours to everyone and never have to pay anyone very much or give any breaks.
To sum it up, I could not get out of that place fast enough. If you're just looking to work maybe 10 hours a week or so, this is fine. But if you're expecting to make any money, look elsewhere. And if you don't want the stress, don't go here!!!
I started at 7.25 and ended at 7.75 an hour. You don't get vacation time until you've worked there over 1 year. The only tiny perk is an employee discount which can't be used on anything useful like laptops or games.
A good place to work overall but understand that the store manager can make it wonderful or horrible. The job has a very fast-paced work environment and you will do all kinds of different tasks that you might not do at other retailers.
Benefits are good and pay is avg. $24,000 a year