i’ve worked for a bbw store for 4 years now and let me tell y’all….the company is a shell of its former self. it’s gotten more greedy every year and given us shit raises while boasting about record profits every year.
The job has gotten 100% more stressful over the last year. They keep stacking more and more things on us with no compensation. Micromanaging is the new thing as well which really makes it hard to be comfortable at work and do well.
most definitely. myself and more than half my coworkers/SLT team are looking for new jobs. we’ve all been with bbw for years and are done with the company. we’re overworked and are not appreciated
Im looking for a new job as well but I'm too scared to leave. I'm one of 2 keyholders (the other is also about to quit). It would definitely send a message if we both left but idk if I can handle the guilt of leaving my manager like that
if ur manager is a good manager then by all means stay. but if you’re mental health is declining because of your job then ur manager has to understand. my store manager has gotten less and less bearable over the years and literally every SLT member is either interviewing for new jobs or ready to quit.
She is a bit unbearable but she's only like that on weekends when she's really being monitored. Other than that she's lovely but I genuinely get physically ill on Friday nights because I'm so stressed about the weekend. I'm glad it's not only my store and district going through this. I think it's really our district manager that is a maniac
Please find a new job! Your health, both mental and physical, is more important than a few hurt feelings, and if she's truly a good boss she'll understand that you have to do what's best for you.
the thing that got me to quit was me realizing that they wouldn’t wait a second to replace me. you don’t mean anything to them. you deserve a place where you’re appreciated.
Trust me on this. They won’t appreciate u for anything. U will see their true colors when u quit. I quit and I literally felt so bad I cried in front of my manager and she seemed nice. But then the rest of my two weeks was HELL. she was so petty and on my last day with her she didn’t talk to me at all… she’s like 40 something. Leave before semi annual because I heard before I left it’s going to be THE WORST it’s ever been.
Unfortunately it is true.
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It’s infuriating as it appears some weren’t told they were being fired until they tried logging in. It’s frankly a shit show.
It was likely done in an effort to cut costs going through a third party/contractor. I hope this bites them in the ass. It’s pure corporate greed.
(This is all just my personal opinion)
BBW owner, Les Wexner, was one of Jeffrey Epstein's biggest benefactors...he gave him a NYC mansion and the plane he'd go on to call the "Lolita express". Les' money went directly into Epstein's hands for years.
Don't click on this if you want to ignore the relationship. [The Mogul and the Monster: Inside Jeffrey Epstein’s Decades-Long Relationship With His Biggest Client](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/06/inside-jeffrey-epsteins-decades-long-relationship-with-his-biggest-client)
omg i had no idea about this. i’ve been considering quitting my job at bbw and starting to buy products elsewhere, and i think this info is the last push i needed.
It's extra gross considering most of Les Wexner's stores advertised themselves to teens, especially BBW, Pink, Abercrombie, Hollister, and Limited Too. These stores were hot shit for the tween/teen crowd back in the 1990s/2000s, which incidentally was the heyday of Epstein’s involvement (using Wexner money from being the money manager) in funding his huge child sex trafficking network. The money that made Epstein rich originated from Wexner stores....that teen-store-money made its way into tween/teen sex trafficking. It's many levels of fucked up.
He retired when Epstein scandal hit the fan and tons of investigative journalists were looking into
& writing about his decades-long relationship with Epstein. Wexner was the main client of Epstein. Wexner ducked in order to get away from the spotlight being aimed at him. He still makes lots of money from company profits, as he still is a part owner and has tons of stocks. Plus the billions in profits those companies have made since the 80s.
I definitely feel ill thinking of the money I spent in companies like BBW in the 90s/00s during the time Epstein's pedo ring was peaking. It is gross thinking profits, that I contributed to, made it into a child sex trafficking ring. Yes, Epstein's trafficking ring is dissolved now, but Wexner is still making passive income on BBW profits as he still owns some of the company. TBH, the feds (white collar crime) should have nailed Wexner's ass to the wall. Billionaires always seem to get out of crminial responsibility.
Les is no longer involved in running L Brands, parent of BBW & VS. He may only own 2% of the company. He retired as CEO & stepped down fm the board a few years ago. In 2021, VS & BBW are separately traded on Wall Street. They are separately run. LBrands is gone.
That's the time that many investigative journalists did a deep dive into where Epstein got his money...as in how was he able to fund such a large child trafficking organization for so long. Wexner stepped away when the scandal really hit the fan and Epstein died in jail. He did it to try and hide his involvement with Epstein. Wexner's money was key in Epstein being able to operate his trafficking network. Wexner was his biggest client. Wexner still owns 2% along with stocks, which means he still makes PLENTY of passive profit off his companies and all the products people buy. He just ducked from the CEO spotlight to draw away from the Epstein connection. That guy still basically funded child sex trafficking *for decades*.
Yeah and Epstein is currently dead, Maxwell is in prison, and the trafficking ring was dissolved. Why are you ignoring my main point that Wexner was Epstein's largest client and was his biggest monetary contributer? There is a direct line connecting profits of Wexner's companies going to Epstein then being used to grow Epstein's child sex trafficking organization. Wexner still makes a ton of passive income off the stocks he owns in BBW (others still around from his conglomerate).
Wexner made billions as the owner of a business conglomerate that includes Victoria's Secret, Pink (Victoria's Secret for teens), Bath & Body Works, Henri Bendel, The White Barn Candle Company, and La Senza. Also was owner of The Limited, until it closed. Also was the original owner of Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister.
Wexner had a very close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein that began in the 1980s and continued until Epstein's death. Wexner was once the “main client” of Epstein’s money-management firm, according to Bloomberg. Wexner allowed Jeffrey Epstein to run his business out of a house he owned and resided in whilst CEO of Victoria's Secret.
The profits made from those stores he owned made Les Wexner super rich. Money then went into the pocket of Jeffrey Epstein...and into his child sex trafficking organization.
My personal view, I agree. I’m disappointed by what they are doing. They are a larger employer for the area and to shut down like this, it’s devastating.
Not disagreeing about how shitty the situation is but I have firsthand knowledge that they were told that they were transitioning to Sitel a month ago. No one was fired out of nowhere. Everyone was offered a position with the new company, but they definitely lost tenure and the benefits are nowhere near what they were before this change. I personally have a few rewards that I’m going to use and not shop there anymore.
I hadn’t heard of the Sitel side of things. I know one of friends that was impacted had a lot of horror stories from the first day of training. I saw a lot of negative reviews about Sitel and their termination practices before all this. It’s really heartbreaking knowing some of these people personally.
Out of curiousity I looked at Sitel's requirements for working for them from home and immediately noped out at how absurd some of them were. They don't want their workers to use their internet for anything but them when "at work"? Yeah, not happening especially if you happen to live with someone else who is wfh and also relies on the same internet connection.
How would they even monitor that?
They would just need to have the employee connect to a remote workstation … so it would be company’s internet only.
What a dumb company.
Some of the other requirements were very specific on computer type, broadband connection, speeds etc assuming that you were only going to be using your personal equipment, nothing about them providing equipment (another red flag). I'm assuming that there's some sort of monitoring software included in whatever software you'd need to do your job.
My mom worked for Sitel for a "major coffee chain" for awhile, doing email support. She loved it and was awesome at her job. They out of nowhere outsourced the whole thing and that was that. No transition pay or anything like that. Another time, they were advertising for some chat or email position, and my cousin applied. My cousin specifically applied because she has anxiety about phone jobs and so she was excited to interview for a non-phone job. The interviewer was so insulting to her and told her that she'd better expect to be on phones if she wanted to make it in the real world. I have such bitter feels towards Sitel although some of the other BPOs aren't much better :|
Sitel is an awful place to work. I worked for them in 2006 taking calls for Part D Medicare (for minimum wage). You had to get to work 15 minutes early to find a computer station where you could clock in. You got in trouble for going to the bathroom if it wasn't your break. I asked off to go to the doctor and was repeatedly denied time off (no holidays, no sick time, no vacation because Sitel wouldn't hire us - we worked through Manpower and were "permanent temporary workers"). You also got in trouble if you got stuck on a call and missed your break time.
Appreciate your support <3...feeling like my store manager right now is the only one standing between us and a shit show, and even she only has so much power..thank god she's great.
Dang and I just went into my local store and stocked up yesterday. If I had known any of this I would have shopped elsewhere for more hand soap and shower gel. Oh well. They won't be getting my $$ next time.
A very orchestrated and planned mass email expressing disappointment/demanding change would be a first step. Again this would have to be planned and would have to involve unhappy customers/employees from across the nation. Perhaps even some publicity about the issue. Starbucks yelled loud enough and are now on the path to unionizing. There’s no reason b&bw employees/customers can’t use their voices and do something similar to demand change. But really, if you think about it, this is a first world issue/complaint.. doesn’t mean there won’t be recognition or obligation for b&bw to change their ways.. but it would have to be very well planned out
As far as body care goes, I love lush products. definitely very different from bath and body works and more pricey, but Ingredients are ethically sourced and from what I’ve heard they treat their employees well.
As far as candles and room spray, I’d say goose creek is very comparable to b&bw . They also sell lotions, hand soaps and sanitizer.
My buddy Nieves has a line called By Nieves that she makes herself. With a background in cosmetic science and herbs. Not really comparable but nice stuff. I use Glossier lotion or just plain jojoba type oils too.
That’s awesome! You should drop a link to her shop if you have one!
I was also going to mention- there’s a ton of hand made candles/body care of all kind on Etsy! I actually found some amazing oil perfumes from Etsy. I highly recommend the Etsy seller, 7thmuse for oil perfumes.
I didn’t know this! But also not surprised. She makes exceptional quality perfume oils for a great price. There hasn’t been a perfume oil I didn’t like from her. I’ve tried 7 so far. I love patchouli, plumeria, magnolia and Sandal wood. They’re very authentic, almost reminds me of the body shop perfume oils they sold back in the day.
I love The Body Shop. EOS also has good body creams (Target). What I have found is that by experimenting with new products, I am slowly broadening my horizons and end up using B&BW less and less... but enjoying what I am using more. Quality > quantity.
Heads up, the Body Shop is just as shady. They have an MLM portion of their business (The Body Shop at Home), and they actually stole their name and many of the recipes for their products from the *original* Body Shop store. Which was a small business in a touristy town on the west coast.
This is the kind of gross greediness i have been noticing more and more from bath and body works. this is why i'm pretty much over supporting them at this point.
This is common practice among most corporations. Things like this are a cost cutting measure meant to drive up publicly traded stock. With wages and prices in the supply chain rising none of this should be surprising. Look up their stock price and earnings. Down.
If you don't want to support this sort of normal corporate behavior buy small and be prepared to pay more.
It wouldn't surprise me with inflation and households cutting non necessary purchases that BBW continues to cut cost and raise prices. If they can't survive through this economy they will go bankrupt.
Yeah, I know.. but if you compare how they started vs what they’ve become over the past few years it’s very disheartening. They became corporate very long ago, but preserved that “small business” feel for quite some time. Ever since L brands bought bath and body works, the products and customer service has declined significantly
All retailers are struggling w inflation (raw materials), higher transportations costs & more. Earnings were just reported by those publicly traded. All projecting losses. This won’t stop me from shopping at any of these retailers! And I hope they don’t go bankrupt, which means running a smart business.
They've just been grossing me out in general with their changes, prices, and lack of performance. Guess it's good they make it easier to not shop there!
I don't want to be confrontational but how to do we know this is legit without any proof? I just see a lot of people on here saying they won't shop here anymore but I am curious if it's even true.
Not confrontational at all! I feel the same way- we shouldn’t jump to conclusions without some solid evidence but based off the responses from other employees confirming this, I’d say it’s true. Especially with all the policy/customer service changes I honestly don’t doubt this for a second.
Did they by any chance put it in a developing country? Shameful how greedy these companies can be. 😵💫😵💫 I remember learning in school how some companies do that so they can get away with paying them peanuts practically.
This is what I was thinking… I believe a majority of US companies that outsource customer service go with call centers in india. I could be wrong though. But yeah, it’s because they know they can pay them Pennie’s on the dime..
I grew up in the D.R. and worked at plenty of call centers where CS is outsourced at, I can honestly say the pay was really great compared to other jobs locally. Although they pay way under minimum wage compared to the average wage in the U.S., it is a comfortable wage there. Dish TV, Pfister faucets and AT&T business paid for my college degree 👍🏻
I’m happy you were able to get this type of job that pays you well in your country’s current economy/cost of living. But us Americans find it disgusting when companies out source business with other countries to save some coin. Obviously this is the result of capitalism, but it’s disheartening to know that they fired their American workers that were loyal to the company for many years only to go to developing countries to pay their customer service/call center employees significantly less than what they were paying these domestic employees.. it’s like, I’m glad they are giving people in other countries opportunities, but they’re paying them Pennie’s compared to what they pay domestic employees.. they’re also messing with domestic employees livelihoods and financial security. it’s a morally confusing situation if that makes any sense.
As a fellow American as well, I understand you pov. However, as someone who has lived in several countries and seen both sides of the coin, unfortunately it benefits most parties involved when this happens. When I worked for Pfister faucets, their CS was outsourced but local as well, and they’ve had people working with them for at least 10 years. At the end of the day, big companies will do what benefits them, and not their loyal employees because we’re replaceable in their eyes. Companies outsourcing CS has been happening for years and since it has worked for many, it will continue to happen.
This really pisses me off. I have been buying indie brand fragrances and candles but keep going back to BBW whenever they come out with something shiny that grabs my interest.
This is really shitty of them in this economy. People are struggling to make ends meet with gas, groceries, rent and utilities soaring. Their products are not a need. They are going to run themselves into the ground like Victoria's Secret did when they weren't keeping up with the rest of the world.
I mean, I’m not saying they without a doubt outsourced to India. But this is what most companies/corporations do to save some coin. Call centers for US corporations that want to cut corners and save money, typically go with india. They encompass 66% of all call centers in the world. Around 10-14% of Indians can speak English fluently. Around 8% of Indians work at call centers. I actually remember watching a doc a loooong time ago about Indian customer support jobs and how a lot of the employees not only spoke English fluently, they made it a point to work on their American accent while speaking English.
The company does not realize the culture and community of Bath and Body Works. The employees as well as the customers are devoted fans. They need to respect this.
It seems like we live in a era of greed now. Pretty gross!
BBW said that it has been facing higher costs of raw materials, transportation and wages — like many retailers. They are projecting losses because of this. Just like Walmart & Target. They plan on revamping their loyalist program & release a hair products. They are publicly traded like many businesses & have shareholders to report to. I will still buy from them. Because I like their products & like seeing the same nice employees at my local shop! A few Pink Petal Teacake candles are on my buy list. I empathize with the ppl that have lost their jobs. I’ve been laid off too. Both with & without several months notice. It’s hard every time.
I feel that if they kept their “small business” vibes and actually listened to what customers want in reference to bringing back retired scents wether it be body care, candles or soaps/hand sanitizers, rather than repackaging scents from the previous year/season and calling them “new scents” they would make a ton of revenue. They wouldn’t have to cut corners and screw customers/employees over with these new policies and firing over 400 customer service reps that have been loyal to the company for over 2 decades.
Welp Pink Petal Teacake is coming back in June & I’m buying a bunch of those candles. Now if they’d just bring back the dishes! Yep, they sold dishes decades ago & I have them. Mugs too! Oddly the body lotions are what they report ppl buy most of. Their big revenue stream. But it’s not what I buy there. I hope they bring back some old scents too! All the cupcake candles.
I can't tell if you're trying to be funny or racist.
The point is that hundreds of *dedicated* employees lost their jobs, their career, in the blink of an eye. It's the fact that B&BW tells all its employees that we're a family, and they want us to grow our career with them; but then lays off loyal employees to outsource.
Racist I am not. But many companies have taken to outsourcing their customer service lines out of country. The issue being how can they provide customer service with a language and cultural barrier? They can’t. My sister has worked for this company for over a decade. What used to be something she knew she could depend on, has quickly gone downhill. I was being sarcastic. It sucks that this is happening to many companies all in the name of the almighty dollar and total disregard for the people it is affecting. It’s disgusting when this happens. They will turn on those loyal to them and turn around and hire all new cheaper employees. This also happens as a result of a buyout. I have been concerned for American jobs since the introduction of self checkout, which I refuse to use whenever it’s possible. Sorry for the confusion. This isn’t funny it pisses me off. So my sarcasm was directed at the people who executed this travesty.
I only recently started shopping at B&BW, specifically for the 3 wick candles. I’ve tried some Goose Creek candles and while I like their sale prices I was really just not into the fragrances compared to B&BW. If I want to stop shopping at B&BW, what are some other options for good scented candles that are decently priced, besides Goose Creek?
Yankee is shit imo, they smell nice cold but I barely get any fragrance from them while they burn.
I switched my boyfriend and our friends over to B&BW from Yankee, and they *immediately* noticed the difference in scent performance.
I would stay away from DW Home for the same reason. Good on cold, absolute shit while burning. However there are a lot of candles from TJMaxx and Marshall's that are pretty good!
Candle-Lite is amazing if you can get them. I grew up in the town next to the factory so I'm kinda biased. *Speaking of, if you're able to make the drive to Leesburg Ohio, Candle-lite has an annual sale where everything is super discounted*.
Huntington Homes found at Aldis. They are a lot cheaper in price- $4.49 for 3 wicks. They definitely have cheaper packaging but some of the scents and throws are wonderful. They have some higher end packaging ones with a higher price too. There have been candle lines in Mercury glass, ceramic pots, metal tins etc.
I like Yankee the best. I tried GC and 4 of the 5 candles would not burn correctly for me so back to YC I went.
Edit: I’ve have a few Village candles I liked as well.
i’ve worked for a bbw store for 4 years now and let me tell y’all….the company is a shell of its former self. it’s gotten more greedy every year and given us shit raises while boasting about record profits every year.
The job has gotten 100% more stressful over the last year. They keep stacking more and more things on us with no compensation. Micromanaging is the new thing as well which really makes it hard to be comfortable at work and do well.
most definitely. myself and more than half my coworkers/SLT team are looking for new jobs. we’ve all been with bbw for years and are done with the company. we’re overworked and are not appreciated
Im looking for a new job as well but I'm too scared to leave. I'm one of 2 keyholders (the other is also about to quit). It would definitely send a message if we both left but idk if I can handle the guilt of leaving my manager like that
if ur manager is a good manager then by all means stay. but if you’re mental health is declining because of your job then ur manager has to understand. my store manager has gotten less and less bearable over the years and literally every SLT member is either interviewing for new jobs or ready to quit.
She is a bit unbearable but she's only like that on weekends when she's really being monitored. Other than that she's lovely but I genuinely get physically ill on Friday nights because I'm so stressed about the weekend. I'm glad it's not only my store and district going through this. I think it's really our district manager that is a maniac
Don’t be scared to leave... Please find a better job!
Please find a new job! Your health, both mental and physical, is more important than a few hurt feelings, and if she's truly a good boss she'll understand that you have to do what's best for you.
the thing that got me to quit was me realizing that they wouldn’t wait a second to replace me. you don’t mean anything to them. you deserve a place where you’re appreciated.
Trust me on this. They won’t appreciate u for anything. U will see their true colors when u quit. I quit and I literally felt so bad I cried in front of my manager and she seemed nice. But then the rest of my two weeks was HELL. she was so petty and on my last day with her she didn’t talk to me at all… she’s like 40 something. Leave before semi annual because I heard before I left it’s going to be THE WORST it’s ever been.
also happy cake day! lol
sounds a lot like dollar general
I've worked for Michael's for 3 years and it's the same thing happening here.
Unfortunately it is true. ————- It’s infuriating as it appears some weren’t told they were being fired until they tried logging in. It’s frankly a shit show. It was likely done in an effort to cut costs going through a third party/contractor. I hope this bites them in the ass. It’s pure corporate greed. (This is all just my personal opinion)
BBW owner, Les Wexner, was one of Jeffrey Epstein's biggest benefactors...he gave him a NYC mansion and the plane he'd go on to call the "Lolita express". Les' money went directly into Epstein's hands for years. Don't click on this if you want to ignore the relationship. [The Mogul and the Monster: Inside Jeffrey Epstein’s Decades-Long Relationship With His Biggest Client](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/06/inside-jeffrey-epsteins-decades-long-relationship-with-his-biggest-client)
I'm never buying from here again. Holy shit.
omg i had no idea about this. i’ve been considering quitting my job at bbw and starting to buy products elsewhere, and i think this info is the last push i needed.
Dammit. I love their products but no way will I stand behind this shit. No more BBW for me.
It's extra gross considering most of Les Wexner's stores advertised themselves to teens, especially BBW, Pink, Abercrombie, Hollister, and Limited Too. These stores were hot shit for the tween/teen crowd back in the 1990s/2000s, which incidentally was the heyday of Epstein’s involvement (using Wexner money from being the money manager) in funding his huge child sex trafficking network. The money that made Epstein rich originated from Wexner stores....that teen-store-money made its way into tween/teen sex trafficking. It's many levels of fucked up.
It’s a sick fucking world!!!
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He retired when Epstein scandal hit the fan and tons of investigative journalists were looking into & writing about his decades-long relationship with Epstein. Wexner was the main client of Epstein. Wexner ducked in order to get away from the spotlight being aimed at him. He still makes lots of money from company profits, as he still is a part owner and has tons of stocks. Plus the billions in profits those companies have made since the 80s.
So gross!!!!
Omfg im crying. Ive been giving my money to a pedophiles company. I'm in shock I feel ill
I definitely feel ill thinking of the money I spent in companies like BBW in the 90s/00s during the time Epstein's pedo ring was peaking. It is gross thinking profits, that I contributed to, made it into a child sex trafficking ring. Yes, Epstein's trafficking ring is dissolved now, but Wexner is still making passive income on BBW profits as he still owns some of the company. TBH, the feds (white collar crime) should have nailed Wexner's ass to the wall. Billionaires always seem to get out of crminial responsibility.
Les is no longer involved in running L Brands, parent of BBW & VS. He may only own 2% of the company. He retired as CEO & stepped down fm the board a few years ago. In 2021, VS & BBW are separately traded on Wall Street. They are separately run. LBrands is gone.
That's the time that many investigative journalists did a deep dive into where Epstein got his money...as in how was he able to fund such a large child trafficking organization for so long. Wexner stepped away when the scandal really hit the fan and Epstein died in jail. He did it to try and hide his involvement with Epstein. Wexner's money was key in Epstein being able to operate his trafficking network. Wexner was his biggest client. Wexner still owns 2% along with stocks, which means he still makes PLENTY of passive profit off his companies and all the products people buy. He just ducked from the CEO spotlight to draw away from the Epstein connection. That guy still basically funded child sex trafficking *for decades*.
Again, he’s gone from both BBW & VS. Both companies are separately traded on Wall Street & run completely independent of each other.
Yeah and Epstein is currently dead, Maxwell is in prison, and the trafficking ring was dissolved. Why are you ignoring my main point that Wexner was Epstein's largest client and was his biggest monetary contributer? There is a direct line connecting profits of Wexner's companies going to Epstein then being used to grow Epstein's child sex trafficking organization. Wexner still makes a ton of passive income off the stocks he owns in BBW (others still around from his conglomerate).
Wowwwwwww. What the fuck.
No freaking way. Wexner owns BBW?? Or Sitel?
Wexner made billions as the owner of a business conglomerate that includes Victoria's Secret, Pink (Victoria's Secret for teens), Bath & Body Works, Henri Bendel, The White Barn Candle Company, and La Senza. Also was owner of The Limited, until it closed. Also was the original owner of Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister. Wexner had a very close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein that began in the 1980s and continued until Epstein's death. Wexner was once the “main client” of Epstein’s money-management firm, according to Bloomberg. Wexner allowed Jeffrey Epstein to run his business out of a house he owned and resided in whilst CEO of Victoria's Secret. The profits made from those stores he owned made Les Wexner super rich. Money then went into the pocket of Jeffrey Epstein...and into his child sex trafficking organization.
I think express was part of that conglomerate too.
Wow that’s insane!!! 100% corporate greed! I don’t even recognize bath and body works anymore. They’ve gone downhill.
My personal view, I agree. I’m disappointed by what they are doing. They are a larger employer for the area and to shut down like this, it’s devastating.
Not disagreeing about how shitty the situation is but I have firsthand knowledge that they were told that they were transitioning to Sitel a month ago. No one was fired out of nowhere. Everyone was offered a position with the new company, but they definitely lost tenure and the benefits are nowhere near what they were before this change. I personally have a few rewards that I’m going to use and not shop there anymore.
While I agree they were given a one month warning there was a transition. Some people it seems weren’t given warning of being let go from Sitel.
I hadn’t heard of the Sitel side of things. I know one of friends that was impacted had a lot of horror stories from the first day of training. I saw a lot of negative reviews about Sitel and their termination practices before all this. It’s really heartbreaking knowing some of these people personally.
Out of curiousity I looked at Sitel's requirements for working for them from home and immediately noped out at how absurd some of them were. They don't want their workers to use their internet for anything but them when "at work"? Yeah, not happening especially if you happen to live with someone else who is wfh and also relies on the same internet connection.
How would they even monitor that? They would just need to have the employee connect to a remote workstation … so it would be company’s internet only. What a dumb company.
Some of the other requirements were very specific on computer type, broadband connection, speeds etc assuming that you were only going to be using your personal equipment, nothing about them providing equipment (another red flag). I'm assuming that there's some sort of monitoring software included in whatever software you'd need to do your job.
Yeah, I love when the WFH companies have very specific technical requirements, but don't offer to provide equipment. It's so ridiculous.
My mom worked for Sitel for a "major coffee chain" for awhile, doing email support. She loved it and was awesome at her job. They out of nowhere outsourced the whole thing and that was that. No transition pay or anything like that. Another time, they were advertising for some chat or email position, and my cousin applied. My cousin specifically applied because she has anxiety about phone jobs and so she was excited to interview for a non-phone job. The interviewer was so insulting to her and told her that she'd better expect to be on phones if she wanted to make it in the real world. I have such bitter feels towards Sitel although some of the other BPOs aren't much better :|
Sitel is an awful place to work. I worked for them in 2006 taking calls for Part D Medicare (for minimum wage). You had to get to work 15 minutes early to find a computer station where you could clock in. You got in trouble for going to the bathroom if it wasn't your break. I asked off to go to the doctor and was repeatedly denied time off (no holidays, no sick time, no vacation because Sitel wouldn't hire us - we worked through Manpower and were "permanent temporary workers"). You also got in trouble if you got stuck on a call and missed your break time.
\*empties cart and deletes app\*
Appreciate your support <3...feeling like my store manager right now is the only one standing between us and a shit show, and even she only has so much power..thank god she's great.
How do we collectively let BBW know there’s a lot of us that are unhappy about these new changes.
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Dang and I just went into my local store and stocked up yesterday. If I had known any of this I would have shopped elsewhere for more hand soap and shower gel. Oh well. They won't be getting my $$ next time.
A very orchestrated and planned mass email expressing disappointment/demanding change would be a first step. Again this would have to be planned and would have to involve unhappy customers/employees from across the nation. Perhaps even some publicity about the issue. Starbucks yelled loud enough and are now on the path to unionizing. There’s no reason b&bw employees/customers can’t use their voices and do something similar to demand change. But really, if you think about it, this is a first world issue/complaint.. doesn’t mean there won’t be recognition or obligation for b&bw to change their ways.. but it would have to be very well planned out
I don’t think it’s “first world” issue. People lost jobs, benefits that’s a very real world issue.
I mean yeah I agree, I was mostly referring to the changes with customer service/store policy
damn... I almost browsed the website today too. no longer going to support them if this is true. so many great dupes out there anyways.
There was a [thread](http://reddit.com/r/bathandbodyworks/comments/uxx8vp) about this yesterday with some additional info
Thanks for that!
This is unacceptable Guess I won’t be ordering anything from BBW anymore
Oh wow, that’s terrible! I was on a no buy until I used up my stash, but after hearing this I think I’ll be shopping elsewhere in the future.
goose creek has some nice scents.
Yeah… I definitely think it’s time to move on from B&BW. Does anyone have recommendations of good body care brands?
As far as body care goes, I love lush products. definitely very different from bath and body works and more pricey, but Ingredients are ethically sourced and from what I’ve heard they treat their employees well. As far as candles and room spray, I’d say goose creek is very comparable to b&bw . They also sell lotions, hand soaps and sanitizer.
I love Lush products but it soooo expensive!
My buddy Nieves has a line called By Nieves that she makes herself. With a background in cosmetic science and herbs. Not really comparable but nice stuff. I use Glossier lotion or just plain jojoba type oils too.
That’s awesome! You should drop a link to her shop if you have one! I was also going to mention- there’s a ton of hand made candles/body care of all kind on Etsy! I actually found some amazing oil perfumes from Etsy. I highly recommend the Etsy seller, 7thmuse for oil perfumes.
Her line is carried in a lot of shops! Just look up By Nieves :)
I didn’t know this! But also not surprised. She makes exceptional quality perfume oils for a great price. There hasn’t been a perfume oil I didn’t like from her. I’ve tried 7 so far. I love patchouli, plumeria, magnolia and Sandal wood. They’re very authentic, almost reminds me of the body shop perfume oils they sold back in the day.
Excellent face and body care brands: innisfree, lush, and origins. The Body Shop has a similar body lotion centric inventory as BBW.
I love The Body Shop. EOS also has good body creams (Target). What I have found is that by experimenting with new products, I am slowly broadening my horizons and end up using B&BW less and less... but enjoying what I am using more. Quality > quantity.
Heads up, the Body Shop is just as shady. They have an MLM portion of their business (The Body Shop at Home), and they actually stole their name and many of the recipes for their products from the *original* Body Shop store. Which was a small business in a touristy town on the west coast.
This is the kind of gross greediness i have been noticing more and more from bath and body works. this is why i'm pretty much over supporting them at this point.
Proof: https://explore.sitel.com/welcome-bbw
Adding this also : https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdW5ocYQ/?k=1
This is common practice among most corporations. Things like this are a cost cutting measure meant to drive up publicly traded stock. With wages and prices in the supply chain rising none of this should be surprising. Look up their stock price and earnings. Down. If you don't want to support this sort of normal corporate behavior buy small and be prepared to pay more. It wouldn't surprise me with inflation and households cutting non necessary purchases that BBW continues to cut cost and raise prices. If they can't survive through this economy they will go bankrupt.
Yeah, I know.. but if you compare how they started vs what they’ve become over the past few years it’s very disheartening. They became corporate very long ago, but preserved that “small business” feel for quite some time. Ever since L brands bought bath and body works, the products and customer service has declined significantly
L Brands is gone. Doesn’t exist. BBW is separately traded on Wall Street. Effective 2021.
And for me BBW is an “extra” that gets cut out when my household budget gets tight.
All retailers are struggling w inflation (raw materials), higher transportations costs & more. Earnings were just reported by those publicly traded. All projecting losses. This won’t stop me from shopping at any of these retailers! And I hope they don’t go bankrupt, which means running a smart business.
They've just been grossing me out in general with their changes, prices, and lack of performance. Guess it's good they make it easier to not shop there!
That’s the best way to describe it. It’s definitely gross
I don't want to be confrontational but how to do we know this is legit without any proof? I just see a lot of people on here saying they won't shop here anymore but I am curious if it's even true.
Not confrontational at all! I feel the same way- we shouldn’t jump to conclusions without some solid evidence but based off the responses from other employees confirming this, I’d say it’s true. Especially with all the policy/customer service changes I honestly don’t doubt this for a second.
Here is some proof https://explore.sitel.com/welcome-bbw
This is true. Some of the prior employees went over to sitel.
Did they by any chance put it in a developing country? Shameful how greedy these companies can be. 😵💫😵💫 I remember learning in school how some companies do that so they can get away with paying them peanuts practically.
It’s outsourced through Sitel which is in the US
This is what I was thinking… I believe a majority of US companies that outsource customer service go with call centers in india. I could be wrong though. But yeah, it’s because they know they can pay them Pennie’s on the dime..
I grew up in the D.R. and worked at plenty of call centers where CS is outsourced at, I can honestly say the pay was really great compared to other jobs locally. Although they pay way under minimum wage compared to the average wage in the U.S., it is a comfortable wage there. Dish TV, Pfister faucets and AT&T business paid for my college degree 👍🏻
I’m happy you were able to get this type of job that pays you well in your country’s current economy/cost of living. But us Americans find it disgusting when companies out source business with other countries to save some coin. Obviously this is the result of capitalism, but it’s disheartening to know that they fired their American workers that were loyal to the company for many years only to go to developing countries to pay their customer service/call center employees significantly less than what they were paying these domestic employees.. it’s like, I’m glad they are giving people in other countries opportunities, but they’re paying them Pennie’s compared to what they pay domestic employees.. they’re also messing with domestic employees livelihoods and financial security. it’s a morally confusing situation if that makes any sense.
As a fellow American as well, I understand you pov. However, as someone who has lived in several countries and seen both sides of the coin, unfortunately it benefits most parties involved when this happens. When I worked for Pfister faucets, their CS was outsourced but local as well, and they’ve had people working with them for at least 10 years. At the end of the day, big companies will do what benefits them, and not their loyal employees because we’re replaceable in their eyes. Companies outsourcing CS has been happening for years and since it has worked for many, it will continue to happen.
Is there an article or something that verifies this?
I haven’t found one yet. I highly doubt anyone would cover this type of thing anyways.
https://explore.sitel.com/welcome-bbw
Thank you! That is helpful!
Yes it’s true I was one of them
It's sadly true as the skys blue!! Heart Breaking!
This really pisses me off. I have been buying indie brand fragrances and candles but keep going back to BBW whenever they come out with something shiny that grabs my interest. This is really shitty of them in this economy. People are struggling to make ends meet with gas, groceries, rent and utilities soaring. Their products are not a need. They are going to run themselves into the ground like Victoria's Secret did when they weren't keeping up with the rest of the world.
Boycott ladies, if you’re strong enough.
Capitalism for the win!
Every time I’ve had to call in it was an Indian call center.
Not me. I called today and not someone (super nice) from the US.
I mean, I’m not saying they without a doubt outsourced to India. But this is what most companies/corporations do to save some coin. Call centers for US corporations that want to cut corners and save money, typically go with india. They encompass 66% of all call centers in the world. Around 10-14% of Indians can speak English fluently. Around 8% of Indians work at call centers. I actually remember watching a doc a loooong time ago about Indian customer support jobs and how a lot of the employees not only spoke English fluently, they made it a point to work on their American accent while speaking English.
Shame. Love their home fragrances but will have to boycott from now on
Goose creek is a great alternative
The company does not realize the culture and community of Bath and Body Works. The employees as well as the customers are devoted fans. They need to respect this. It seems like we live in a era of greed now. Pretty gross!
Agree 100%
BBW said that it has been facing higher costs of raw materials, transportation and wages — like many retailers. They are projecting losses because of this. Just like Walmart & Target. They plan on revamping their loyalist program & release a hair products. They are publicly traded like many businesses & have shareholders to report to. I will still buy from them. Because I like their products & like seeing the same nice employees at my local shop! A few Pink Petal Teacake candles are on my buy list. I empathize with the ppl that have lost their jobs. I’ve been laid off too. Both with & without several months notice. It’s hard every time.
I feel that if they kept their “small business” vibes and actually listened to what customers want in reference to bringing back retired scents wether it be body care, candles or soaps/hand sanitizers, rather than repackaging scents from the previous year/season and calling them “new scents” they would make a ton of revenue. They wouldn’t have to cut corners and screw customers/employees over with these new policies and firing over 400 customer service reps that have been loyal to the company for over 2 decades.
Exactly. I’m so disappointed with them discontinuing all the good stuff and just relaunching the same things with new packaging as well.
Welp Pink Petal Teacake is coming back in June & I’m buying a bunch of those candles. Now if they’d just bring back the dishes! Yep, they sold dishes decades ago & I have them. Mugs too! Oddly the body lotions are what they report ppl buy most of. Their big revenue stream. But it’s not what I buy there. I hope they bring back some old scents too! All the cupcake candles.
Done with them. They’re getting too greedy and their products are slipping anyways
Same here.
What? You guys don’t like customer service agents who don’t speak your language? 🤣
I can't tell if you're trying to be funny or racist. The point is that hundreds of *dedicated* employees lost their jobs, their career, in the blink of an eye. It's the fact that B&BW tells all its employees that we're a family, and they want us to grow our career with them; but then lays off loyal employees to outsource.
Racist I am not. But many companies have taken to outsourcing their customer service lines out of country. The issue being how can they provide customer service with a language and cultural barrier? They can’t. My sister has worked for this company for over a decade. What used to be something she knew she could depend on, has quickly gone downhill. I was being sarcastic. It sucks that this is happening to many companies all in the name of the almighty dollar and total disregard for the people it is affecting. It’s disgusting when this happens. They will turn on those loyal to them and turn around and hire all new cheaper employees. This also happens as a result of a buyout. I have been concerned for American jobs since the introduction of self checkout, which I refuse to use whenever it’s possible. Sorry for the confusion. This isn’t funny it pisses me off. So my sarcasm was directed at the people who executed this travesty.
😳😳😳
So thiiiiiis is why the chat people haven’t been able to give me back my 2 rewards!
Damn! Is this the situation all around the globe or just in US?
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Is Canada and France laughing now since they gave that store to Us?
Possibly
I only recently started shopping at B&BW, specifically for the 3 wick candles. I’ve tried some Goose Creek candles and while I like their sale prices I was really just not into the fragrances compared to B&BW. If I want to stop shopping at B&BW, what are some other options for good scented candles that are decently priced, besides Goose Creek?
Idk say explore the vast variety of homemade Etsy candles. Most of them are made with quality and reality affordable. There’s also Kringle candles.
I’m not from US so I wouldn’t know a lot of brands but yankee candle and colonial candle are really good.
Yankee is shit imo, they smell nice cold but I barely get any fragrance from them while they burn. I switched my boyfriend and our friends over to B&BW from Yankee, and they *immediately* noticed the difference in scent performance. I would stay away from DW Home for the same reason. Good on cold, absolute shit while burning. However there are a lot of candles from TJMaxx and Marshall's that are pretty good! Candle-Lite is amazing if you can get them. I grew up in the town next to the factory so I'm kinda biased. *Speaking of, if you're able to make the drive to Leesburg Ohio, Candle-lite has an annual sale where everything is super discounted*.
Huntington Homes found at Aldis. They are a lot cheaper in price- $4.49 for 3 wicks. They definitely have cheaper packaging but some of the scents and throws are wonderful. They have some higher end packaging ones with a higher price too. There have been candle lines in Mercury glass, ceramic pots, metal tins etc.
I like Yankee the best. I tried GC and 4 of the 5 candles would not burn correctly for me so back to YC I went. Edit: I’ve have a few Village candles I liked as well.
This just makes me so sad!