MBS Textbook Exchange Reviews

I worked at MBS Textbook Exchange

Pros – Excellent benefits, and overall a good company

Cons – Work always came home.
Pay for what you actually did, didn't always balance
Very old boy network
When leaving, people seemed hurt and really didn't support you after you leave

Advice to Senior Management – Ask peers before you promote

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at MBS Textbook Exchange

Pros – The company is very nice with time off and benefits if you work in the field. Each region is completely different and shows when they get together.

Cons – There is no uniformity in the company which shows the lack of management quality with senior management. Some regions have a ton of turnover, some dont have any. Pay is low but the execs get boat loads. Upper management creates evaluation markers but only use them when they want to get their way with getting rid of someone or not giving a raise/commissions.

Advice to Senior Management – Be honest and people will respect you more. fear is not a good motivator.

I worked at MBS Textbook Exchange

Pros – good co workers, good location, inside the building is very nice. good benefits

Cons – pay is horrible. No good training programs. turnover is very high. Managers are not very considerate

Advice to Senior Management – have more consideration for employees. do not take our pay for holidays. Their should be paid holidays like every other company

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at MBS Textbook Exchange

Pros – The HR department is the most professional, friendly and helpful of any I have ever worked with.
The location is great.
People are rarely expected to work overtime.

Cons – The salaries are extremely low for the level of experience, education, responsibilities and client contact required of many of the positions.

The vacation days are practically non-existent until you have been there for 5 years. Employees earn hours for every 40 hours worked, but then the company reduces the accrued hours for holidays and company snow days.

Upper management (with a few exceptions) are often rude and unprofessional to lower-level employees. The have NO interest in learning anyone's names, they stay hidden in their offices without ever taking the time to meet their own new employees, see what projects they are working on etc. I have NEVER worked in a place where when you pass someone in the hall and you say 'hello' they simply stare straight ahead and act like they didn't hear you.

There needs to be a much more organized internal training program.

Advice to Senior Management – Respect ALL of your employees. They are and always have been what makes the company successful. Respect is free and it just may allow you to retain some excellent employees.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at MBS Textbook Exchange

Pros – Good benefits. Columbia is a nice town to raise a family

Cons – No mentoring at all. Poor training. 3% annual raise limit

Advice to Senior Management – The failure to differentiate between skilled jobs with the 3% raise limit is going to cost you eventually. In the real world skilled jobs are experiencing about a 6% increase

I have been working at MBS Textbook Exchange

Pros – Decent benefits. 401k profit sharing and matching is on par with others. Health is okay although dental and eye are practically nonexistent. Habit of promoting from within up to a point.

Cons – Absolutely toxic work environment. I worked in both the warehouse and the offices and found the overall atmosphere to be just slightly less than openly hostile. Many managers and upper level employees treat those below them with barely hidden contempt and regularly talk down to those beneath them. Below average pay across the board keeps most qualified, educated people away or ensures they don't stay. The majority of people are treated as completely disposable and they make a point to remind you of this. Aging workforce combined with a tendency to hire those in the 40+ age bracket implies MBS will have trouble staying competitive in the future as physical textbooks become redundant and the market begins to shift. Employees are given limited time off and even then punished for using it. Women and minorities will definitely experience something of a "glass ceiling" professionally. Salary caps and yearly raise caps (3% max as of writing this) give little incentive to put forth much effort. On the other end you have too many pushy, overzealous management types who make up for their lack of ability by shifting responsibility and blaming others. There is a blatant double standard of what is allowed or expected of management employees and what is expected of everyone else.

Advice to Senior Management – A total overhaul of the most senior management would likely be required to change anything. If you don't understand why you should treat those who work for you with even a little respect by the time you're 50 there is little you are probably willing to learn. The way they treat lower level employees ensures that anyone with marketable skills or decent education doesn't stick around. Try hiring people based on education and ability, not ass-kissing skills or their relation to someone in a high position. The best leaders tend to lead by example which practically none at MBS do. The kicker to all of this is that the people that have the power to enact change prefer things just the way they are and have zero interest in listening to suggestions or criticism so all of this will fall on deaf ears.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at MBS Textbook Exchange

Pros – The benefits are good, but it still doesn't make up for the low pay and low respect environment that employees are expected to flourish in. They are good at what they do, meaning making profits by purchasing used texts at bargain basement prices, then selling them back at little under what a new book would cost for record profits. The Human Resources department is extremely helpful and probably the best department in the entire company.

Cons – No respect by management, lower or upper. No accountability for other departments when they make a mistake. Horrible management practices that demoralize rather than motivate employees. No communication between different departments making it an environment that is set up for failure. The only reason the company is profitable is because it has the cheapest labor in the mid-west, and especially targets refugee populations that have recently been located in the US. Despite what is commonly believed in the Columbia, MO community, there is little room for advancement in this company and the pay is not adequate to support oneself in this economy. Management does not listen to any constructive criticism that would make management and the company as a whole a better working environment. Most comments are never relayed on to the appropriate manager. MBS does not have high enough retention in client services to keep good working relationships with clients thus resulting in client dissatisfaction and eventually them leaving MBS for a competitor. MBS does not respect or acknowledge those individuals who have worked to gain educational degrees and does not compensate them for those accomplishments either. The company has a short organizational memory because of such high turnover thus causing greater problems with customer service, warehouse and shipment accuracy and employee satisfaction. Sexism is extremely obvious as extremely qualified women are passed over again and again for promotion and are not respected or taken seriously when they bring comments or suggestions to management.

Advice to Senior Management – Listen and respect your employees more. Communicate better with your middle management and lower employees. Require more accountability in the warehouse. Turn-over could be reduced easily just by respecting your employees and paying them what they are worth. The management structure has gotten too large and inefficient in the fast growing areas of the company. As a company grows, hiring/promoting more senior level managers seems to be a quick fix but only ends up causing more problems in regards to communication. Instead of hiring expensive consulting firms to tell you what you are doing wrong (and then forgetting about it weeks later), why not listen to your employees more, and work to implement proactive changes in the workplace.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at MBS Textbook Exchange

Pros – Good hours, 401 k, coworkers, ETO sick time

Cons – continualy cutting pay, bad work enviroment

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at MBS Textbook Exchange

Pros – Good benefits (health, supplemental, life, dental insurance, 401k)
Management easy to work for
Clearly defined job roles
Stable, competent leadership

Cons – Little chance for advancement / promotion in some departments
Moderate to below-average pay in some areas (especially in advanced degree fields)

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at MBS Textbook Exchange

Pros – The people, the benefits, the experience, the networking, the respect, the comradere, the growth potential, the Executives

Cons – Company has rapidly become the leader in industry...that coupled with the rapid decline of some key competitors sometimes results in a "all hands on deck" need. Strong work ethic required ...which is only a "con" for some.

Advice to Senior Management – It's a crazy time in this industry...keep being innovative and doing things which break the typical wholesaler mold. Always act like an underdog and this company will stay the leader!

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend