Finlay Fine Jewelry (2.83)
The problem with Finlay is that there is absolutely zero consistancy and they flip policies on a dime. Your experience as a shopper and most especially as an employee will depend on what branch you're in, what region you're in and what group you're in. Every single customer policy and employee policy depends on what store you're in and who you are and what the Finlay executive thinks they can get away with. I've seen good, honest people (customers and employees) be told the policy is xyz and that they have to live with it. I've seen liars, cheats, and lousy employees get every single thing they ask for and more! Finlay has a track record for rewarding the WRONG people. If you're a responsible, highly loyal person who takes great ownership in your job/branch, you will get screwed. If you barely do your job, don't know how to do your job but write angry letters to corporate, you'll get every special exception they can come up with just to keep you quiet. (If you're a customer, just go to the store's General Manager and they will absolutely use their leverage to get you satisfaction if you threaten to send a letter to their boss.) I've seen good employees and managers work far outside their model hours, go without meals and breaks and never get so much as a thank you. Yet the complainers will be allowed to close the department, or will have a regional come in and work or order an employee from another store to come in and work so they get their time off or meal breaks. I've seen computer illiterate BSM's who were the highest paid and in the highest volume doors (more commission $) rely on newer, lesser paid managers to tell them how to do their jobs and clean up their customer issues. (Seriously, they didn't even know when their Mother's Day ads started!) I've seen brand new managers thrown into departments without any training and with either no staff or known issues with staff and left to swim or sink. I've seen productivity counseling decisions change on a dime. When I left, they were trying to fire the ept because she wasn't selling. That changed when they needed her to cover my hours! They've let BSM's slide on total dept productivity while they were working 60 hrs a week w/o meals, then nail them to the cross as soon as they had a full staff and Finlay could afford to threaten them with productivity counseling and their famous "up to and including termination" remark. Why wouldn't Finlay uphold their written productivity policy when the manager was the only one to work the sales floor? Curious! There is no consistancy with Finlay. If you're a part time hourly employee and unphased by constant lectures about selling more $, more units of whatever is advertised, more repairs/batteries, more protection plans, more client cards, more special event appointments, more attention to your area of pride, more ability with the computer operations, more, more, more...then this can be a fun job with the one great perk of buying good jewelry on the cheap. If you're a full time employee or BSM, use Finlay as a stepping stone to get some experience and pad your resume, but get OUT the second you can. Believe me, you won't be appreciated and you are fully expendable and you will be the only one's held to company policy while the PT and OC's get all the best hours, all their time off requests and all the exceptions in the world typically at your expense! PS Cosmetic associates were making more per hour than Finlay's FT and sometimes even BSM's made per hour!