A dreamer examines her pillow
So um yeah, this link pretty much sums it up. My lovely company that I work for (J.C. Penney's), and their obsession with their store credit cards. It permeates every level of the corporation, and the people at the low rungs of the ladder tend to get stomped the most. The corporation has made getting credit applications their bottom line, so much so that whenever a member of management walks by, they are obligated to inquire and guilttrip us "customer service" peons because we can "always do better"! They've even added a clause into our signed job contract that employees can be terminated if they don't acquire a minimum of 2 credit apps a week (generally this isn't hard, but my god, the gall).
In the meanntime of course, they are constantly adding restrictions and various obstacles to the discounts given to the card holders. This, of course, effectively makes the credit app a harder sell. "I can give you a 10% discount if you get approved all day, but um, not on the $60 of jeans you have because they're classified as Value Right, sorry." The definition for Value Right (etc.) items is rather oblique, so explanations rarely go over well with the customer who tries to use any sort of coupon on them. Clerks are forced to utter some gibberish about Value Right items being locked at a certain price because their distributors wished it. Don't even get me started on the "2 or more" disqualifications! Anyway...
Today it seemed like I was staring into the gaping jaws of retail Hell more than usual (except, of course, at Christmastime). Within the first hour, I was informed that our store manager/owner (a nice, dear, caring man) was finally retiring. Everyone was happy for him, but increasingly worried about our own futures (management turnover in this store is amazing). He will be missed, to say the least.
The second incident occurred when my department manager (a late 20's man with a chip on his shoulder, who generally still feels obliged to exercise his authority on the most petty of details--machismo at its finest) passed by my cashwrap center for the fourth time that day, and inquired if I had gotten more than one credit app for the day yet. I told him no, sadly I had not, and gestured at the complete lack of customers in my area of the store (a typical day). He took this as a challenge and told me he should send the star credit app employee of the store over, and indicated that he believed she would get several apps there. This is probably true. Said employee has well over 200 credit apps for the year already, even though she is a part-time employee (150-500 by December 31 is more typical for the fulltime employee).
However, the main difference between her "outstanding credit app performance" and my more meager one is her cheerful amorality. She has no qualms about offering illegal discounts as incentives to apply, and even uses her daughter's SSN to reapply for a JC Penney's card every month. The daughter is 17. She's going to love her credit rating once she's older. ;/
Loss Prevention and management have caught her red-handed offering the illegal discounts, and have monitored her register transactions vigilantly. However, she still remains employed at Penney's, and is lavishly praised for her ICAP total. In my time at Penney's (having seen more than one of this sort, retail employment being what it is) I've come to understand the rationale for this two-faced behavior on the behalf of management. Credit apps, as I've said, are the bottom line for this company, and our store is desperate for them, so they're happy with any sort of application, illegal or not. Secondly, it's probably risky to fire an employee on those grounds without very damning proof, due to lawsuit issues. Corporate retail practices are rife with those sorts of double standards/credit fraud/sweatshops/etc. I try to avoid the issue (since I don't have to deal with it directly) and the managers do their best to, as well.
The fact that my own manager threatened me by using her, however, completely blindsided me. We both know what she's up to, we overlook it, and all's well. But using her as some shining exemplar that I don't have a chance of living up to is complete bullshit.
Really, I must escape this place. Someone overlook my inadequate resume and hire me! :(
P.S. Finally finished Carl Sagan's Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science today! It was compiled in the late 70's. However, since it was mainly looking into science's future potential, it's still very timely. We know a lot more about neuroscience than we did at that point, but there are many areas of astronomy where it seems we haven't achieved a great deal...at least in terms of experimental science. Mainly due to lack of funding, of course. Our future is clearly better served by harassing the Middle East. >
In the meanntime of course, they are constantly adding restrictions and various obstacles to the discounts given to the card holders. This, of course, effectively makes the credit app a harder sell. "I can give you a 10% discount if you get approved all day, but um, not on the $60 of jeans you have because they're classified as Value Right, sorry." The definition for Value Right (etc.) items is rather oblique, so explanations rarely go over well with the customer who tries to use any sort of coupon on them. Clerks are forced to utter some gibberish about Value Right items being locked at a certain price because their distributors wished it. Don't even get me started on the "2 or more" disqualifications! Anyway...
Today it seemed like I was staring into the gaping jaws of retail Hell more than usual (except, of course, at Christmastime). Within the first hour, I was informed that our store manager/owner (a nice, dear, caring man) was finally retiring. Everyone was happy for him, but increasingly worried about our own futures (management turnover in this store is amazing). He will be missed, to say the least.
The second incident occurred when my department manager (a late 20's man with a chip on his shoulder, who generally still feels obliged to exercise his authority on the most petty of details--machismo at its finest) passed by my cashwrap center for the fourth time that day, and inquired if I had gotten more than one credit app for the day yet. I told him no, sadly I had not, and gestured at the complete lack of customers in my area of the store (a typical day). He took this as a challenge and told me he should send the star credit app employee of the store over, and indicated that he believed she would get several apps there. This is probably true. Said employee has well over 200 credit apps for the year already, even though she is a part-time employee (150-500 by December 31 is more typical for the fulltime employee).
However, the main difference between her "outstanding credit app performance" and my more meager one is her cheerful amorality. She has no qualms about offering illegal discounts as incentives to apply, and even uses her daughter's SSN to reapply for a JC Penney's card every month. The daughter is 17. She's going to love her credit rating once she's older. ;/
Loss Prevention and management have caught her red-handed offering the illegal discounts, and have monitored her register transactions vigilantly. However, she still remains employed at Penney's, and is lavishly praised for her ICAP total. In my time at Penney's (having seen more than one of this sort, retail employment being what it is) I've come to understand the rationale for this two-faced behavior on the behalf of management. Credit apps, as I've said, are the bottom line for this company, and our store is desperate for them, so they're happy with any sort of application, illegal or not. Secondly, it's probably risky to fire an employee on those grounds without very damning proof, due to lawsuit issues. Corporate retail practices are rife with those sorts of double standards/credit fraud/sweatshops/etc. I try to avoid the issue (since I don't have to deal with it directly) and the managers do their best to, as well.
The fact that my own manager threatened me by using her, however, completely blindsided me. We both know what she's up to, we overlook it, and all's well. But using her as some shining exemplar that I don't have a chance of living up to is complete bullshit.
Really, I must escape this place. Someone overlook my inadequate resume and hire me! :(
P.S. Finally finished Carl Sagan's Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science today! It was compiled in the late 70's. However, since it was mainly looking into science's future potential, it's still very timely. We know a lot more about neuroscience than we did at that point, but there are many areas of astronomy where it seems we haven't achieved a great deal...at least in terms of experimental science. Mainly due to lack of funding, of course. Our future is clearly better served by harassing the Middle East. >