RadioShack Reviews

Pros

You'll learn alot about fuses and electrical equipment. It's a pretty kick back retail job and there is actual commissions. At least on cell phones back when I worked there. Most of my co workers were really cool too.

Cons

Your job will be cool or suck depending on your manager. I had three managers; one was good, one was ok, and one SUCKED. I hated my job when the new manager came. We didn't get along and he cut my hours from about 25-30 to about 5-12 for a few weeks. Luckily, I was working just so I could have some fun money so I didn't care and was braggadocios about it in front of him.

It's all about sales numbers meaning, cell phones. The system is very flawed because of this. Sell one cell phone = Sell 4 $50+ home phones with warranty.

Advice to Senior Management

Just because one is good at selling doesn't mean they are manager material. It's all about the numbers and stores often times screw over each other to get a sell.

Several times, I would sell an item my store didn't have, call the near by store, confirm they have the item, and tell the customer to go pick it up there and show the receipt. Several times, the other stores would lie because they wouldn't make any money on that and lose the item.

Pros

can get extra money if u sell a phone
if u dedicate ur life to radioshack nd upper managment likes you u can become a store manager

Cons

get looked down upon if u dont sell any warranties or phones
have to over sell with everything
have to set up planograms constantly nd change prices

Advice to Senior Management

Stop the planograms fix the price changes constantly
get some better advertisment on tv
better schedules for employees
and up the pay a bit

Pros

The only limit to the money you can make is time. It is fun to work with a small team to hit goals and to take pride in your work. It is great if you like new electronics and even better for the employee discounts and monthly prices on phones.

Cons

Long hours, and pay that is somewhat below the work demanded. The logistics at RadioShack can be horrible with accessories for products you don't even have, and no accessories for products you do have.

Advice to Senior Management

Purchase accessories mainly for things that you sell, especially when you pressure managers to sell accessories. Maybe cut 2 or 3 hours off per week for managers? 51+ hours a week is a lot to ask for the pay.

Pros

Decent compensation package. Reasonable opportunity to make bonus. Competitve prices.

Cons

6 days per week, 51 hours+ per week. High pressure. Lack of advertising at times.

Advice to Senior Management

Advertise to let people know we have the services that they need to buy their new phone.

Pros

Fast pace career advancement/ promotion.

Cons

Compensation compared to other companies is low.

Pros

If you are a student, the part-time hours are a blessing.

Cons

There are way to many to count. I will just sum this up by saying this: Middle management's incompetence infesters throughout the company and cascades to many front-line employees.

Advice to Senior Management

I suggest improving communication between middle managers and store managers. Personable skills have tremendously become an insignificant characteristic and have ultimately contributed to high turnover rates.

Pros

Target gives you 10% discount.
Radioshack gives you a discount also.

Cons

You don't ever get a day off! They threaten your job if you miss conference calls for any reason! I was told that even tho I was on my honeymoon I had to be on the conference call!!! They host big sales in the target ads and you don't get any inventory to sell! Through all this Iphone 4S business I have turned down over 200 sales and since October 14 I have only gotten 15 phones max. They force you to train your guests to go elsewhere and never come to target if you actually want something in stock! They can't keep people in the DM positions! I have had 3 DM's in the last year! Everyone of them has gone a completely different direction! They still believe in the old "you're less then nothing & Mad Dog Management" styles. Prepare to be belittled one day if you don't sell a phone, praised the next if you do happen to, and belittled again the next when you don't sell one. The worst part is getting all the phone calls and walk in's for the ad phones and having to send the guests else where. If you choose to work here you will be building someone else's commission check! Don't do it!

Advice to Senior Management

You all should be fired. Pay is very poor and you threaten your employees and expect slavery driven results. I'm willing to bet Radioshack has one of the highest turn over rates in the US. And I'm also willing to bet you know that, and have structured your business model after it. My advice? Pay your people more, leave them alone on their days off, and ditch the mean manager act. Also, supply your people with the phones to do the high sales job you ask. HR is a joke! They don't pay you and blow you off with no explanation! Stop stealing vacation and bonuses!

Pros

-The hours were fairly steady and the manager was willing to work with me if I needed a schedule change
-One of the less awful retail uniforms
-Product discounts
-Training was good for the most part
-Some nice people working there

Cons

As other reviewers have addressed, your pay depends on your commissions and there's extreme pressure to get high numbers in a variety of different areas (selling accessories, selling phones, selling batteries, selling warranties). Get a low result in any one area and you're in for the third degree, even if you did great in all the others.

I can't believe anybody finds shopping at Radioshack a pleasant experience, ever. We were trained to constantly nag and bother the customers throughout their entire visit, starting the second they walk in the door. The pressure to sell people crap you know perfectly well they neither need nor want is massive- otherwise you won't make any commissions and your manager will chew you out. Have fun getting lectured because you didn't manage to sell a cell phone and a new TV to the old granny who came in for a new hearing aid battery. I spend most of my shifts inwardly cringing at how I was told to treat customers- like they're sacks of money on legs, and if you just follow them around and bug them long enough they'll buy something they don't need.

Selling cell phones is pretty much the only way to make decent money. It took two months before my manager would show me how to sell them (as in, how to ring them up and activate them and all). So I spent two months doing all the work for the sales and essentially being forced to hand over my commission to the manager at the last second. How professional of him.

Advice to Senior Management

Obviously sales are important, but you'd probably make more money if you focused a little less on SELL SELL SELL SELL SELL IF IT'S THE LAST THING YOU DO and a little more on actually making your stores a place customers enjoy shopping. I have never bought anything from a RadioShack since I quit working there, because I think it's both irritating and a bit disgusting how customers are viewed.

Pros

-Base pay is minimum, but you make pretty good commission (mainly off of phone sales).
-Flexibility
-Easy to get time off (unpaid at least)

Cons

-They treat employees as indispensable. At least district managers do. They have no respect. They feel so many people want jobs, that they don't care what associates have to say.

-Seniority means NOTHING. I was with the company for 2 years, and was let go due to a disagreement with a manger who was with the company for 1 week. I didn't get the chance to sit down to talk to anyone about the situation, and still have gotten a formal reason through HR as to why I was let go. Like I said, indispensable.

-It's all about who you know within this company. Don't expect to move up in ranks unless you know a manager or district manager on a personal level.

-They're so focused on selling cellular phone because that's how RadioShack makes their money. They don't even care about the customers anymore. So they'll tell you to lie and manipulate customers to get into contracts. Even if you can tell the customer would probably be better off getting a prepaid phone and not being stuck in an expensive contract. They also have you lie to customers telling them certain accessories come with the price of the phone, when we're actually telling them the price of the phone WITH the accessories added on in hopes they don't take a good look at their receipt.

Advice to Senior Management

How about some appreciation for your employees and honest work ethics?

Pros

i enjoy the commision based job with it's sales perk's

Cons

all weekends are are never off even if asked in advanced, work a mid shift no personal life and hours are hard to get even if fulltime youll never get 40 hours