Pros
- Commission was ok in the old days (has decreased every quarter since) - Benefits are ok (you pay monthly deductions for them though so…) - Good diversity (note: they will often literally just hire you for your diversity — expect a lot of coworkers who you don’t understand how they got the job if not for…well, you know. Sorry but the truth has to be said). - Company used to really care about the customer when I first started the job
Cons
- First, the pay is horrible. I started at $4 less than minimum wage for my base hourly pay. You have to earn a lot of commission just to hit minimum wage. The way that Telus makes so much money is basically exploitation of their employees. If you want to earn any sort of decent money I strongly advise you look elsewhere. - If you do retail you will stand for 8 hours straight — even with doctor’s notes they did not let us sit. My hips are damaged from this job. - Managers are very arrogant and cliquey, they will treat you like you’re beneath them. One called me peasant, another did not let me use the washroom at all until my shift was over, and no drinks were allowed anywhere (even water). The rules are ridiculous. The managers are exempt from these rules, woo. - Coworkers will be pessimistic from the toxic work environment, overall morale levels of your team are very low nowadays. Everyone looks depressed, jaded, and burnt out. The negativity will seep into you. - They will overwork you to death but not increase your pay. Instead you get “shout outs” and Tim Horton timbits and doughnuts. Raise my pay please, I don’t need these pointless treats. - Forced to sell horrible products like “Smart Home Security” on 3 YEAR contracts with huge cancellation penalties for customers — you will be pressured to sell or get reprimanded by managers if you do not hit your their crazy targets - Forced to sell device warranty that scams customers and doesn’t let them get replacement devices due to fine print - Forced to sell internet security products that are pointless in this day and age - Forced to make customers pay a $60 connection fee to buy things in-person — they will visit in person, then change their mind upon you telling them about this fee, and end up just buying online, meaning you will lose a ton of commission as a result - Btw, it’s $60 PER line. Yes, signing up a customer for 4 lines in person would mean the customer has to pay $240 just on SERVICE FEES ALONE. Would YOU pay $240 for someone’s “superior customer service” or $0 to do it yourself online? Lol. - (Note: there used to be no connection fees but that time is gone) - Telecom in Canada is on a horrible downward trend and will continue for a very long time to come. Less revenue = less pay and benefits for employees. There is a lot of pressure for telecom in Canada to lower prices (good for Canadians, bad for employees — less commission) on virtually everything since Canada’s telecom prices are so much higher than the rest of the world. - They keep offshoring all of our customer service and technical jobs to third world countries. This means when you need help (tech support), you end up speaking to someone who can’t speak English and doesn’t know what they’re doing. Customers will get very angry and let their rage out on you even if you can’t do anything about it. If you like being sweared at 24/7 for no extra pay this is the job for you. - no upward advancement opportunities. in fact, the better you are at the job, the more likely you will not get promoted because the mentality here is they need you in that position then. if you somehow manage to score a 1 year contract job (marketing, business analysis, account exec, etc.) against the 1,000 other Telus employees applying for that same role, first, they pay horribly (as low as $40k/yr), second, no one I know of ever got their contracts renewed for another year, so you end up back in retail the year after lol - the only advancement you can realistically get is assistant manager ($45k) or store manager ($60k) — keep in mind some people have been working 7 years+ as a sales rep to get these jobs, you will have stiff competition just to get an assistant manager job (that pays no bonus commission btw)
