sales associate

delivery driver

sales representative

commis de bureau

warehouse associate

Leons Furniture

During my short lived tenure at Leon's in Owen Sound, I learned one very valuable lesson: be careful what you say and who you say it to.  In fact, saying as little as possible should be the goal, because it'll only be used against you later on.  Only speak briefly, and to the point.  Don't make the mistake of discussing your personal life or anything not relating to Leon's or sales in general.  It is 100% commission, so your salary is entirely in your hands.  There are plenty of customers coming in to purchase furniture and appliances.  You are encouraged by management to sell customers on the extended warranties.  This can be done but isn't always easy to do, since the customer is already a little wary of spending $3,000 on a sofa that was made in Saigon.

     A typical workday begins with signing your name into a book and then putting your card in and waiting for your turn to take the next customer that walks through the door.  The hours can be quite long and draining, especially during VIP days and other special events.

     The management at the Owen Sound location is rather excellent.  The Store Manager as well as the Sales Manager in particular are very helpful and will assist you in any way they can to help you become a successful Sales Associate.  The Sales Manager is a veteran Sales Associate himself and is an excellent trainer and a tremendous resource of information.

     The darkest and most disturbing aspect of this job would have to be the rivalry between Sales Associates, and particularly the hostility towards new hires.  Recently there has been a high turnover of Sales Associates at this location, and it isn't difficult to see why.  The attitudes among many of the salespeople are sour.  A lot of backstabbing occurs also.  Someone will be nice to your face, then the moment you leave the sales post, they'll be talking badly about you to the person next to them.  This is, of course, something that pervades every workplace.

     That being said, there are many salespeople there who will help you out and give you advice when you need it.  There were even a couple of Sales Associates that performed split sales with me so that half the commission went to each salesperson on the same deal.  You need to sell $750,000 of merchandise a year in order to keep your job here.  That works out to $62,500 per month.  My last sale at this store totaled nearly $7,000, so it can be done.  That sale took around two hours to close.  A few good days like this under your belt, and you'll have the required $62,500 for the month.  The Front Office staff are also very helpful and I had a great time working with these people.

     Because it is 100% commission, job security is very low.  It is entirely in your hands.  You have to know when customers are in there to buy.  If they are tire kickers, it is your responsibility to convert them into paying customers.  Also, you're going to have to contend with salespeople that would like nothing more than to see you get terminated.  This is because the newbies are obviously competition.  Also watch out for people trying to scoop your sales and sabotage you.

    Ultimately, I would have liked to have worked here longer, but the job isn't really what I expected.  I would recommend it to anyone looking to start out in commission sales.  It is a good place to learn how to sell.

Again, watch what you say!

Worth the read if you’re considering working here:
Let’s start off on an ok note. The hours for customer service were the only great part about my personal experience and some of the staff. And when I say some I mean very little.
The turn over rate is extremely high.
People either get fired all of the time or quit. 
Management is extremely unorganized. They tend to manipulate the staff into thinking the employees are doing horrible when really they are not trained enough for such a dated system or cared about by management. You are just a number. 
The return policy is non existent. Which it makes it extremely difficult to handle customer complaints. The technicians are swamped and the parts take forever to come for customers who have paid thousands of dollars to have broken furniture from the start. If you don’t turn it away at the door upon delivery then you are stuck with it. Especially for appliances. Good luck with that.
The front office works as hard as they can with little appreciation from management. You are never told good job or that you’re doing things right. You are only ever told when your doing things wrong. 8/10 customer calls or walk ins are complaints or wanting updates about their damaged furniture, when the front office can’t do anything without managements approval for almost everything. Returns are next to impossible to get approved which leaves you with 20+ open cases for customers that you must deal with i top of getting 20+ more daily with new problems. 
At the end of the day you really learn how to multitask and balance high work loads but it simply is a broken system. 
Don’t get me wrong. Multitasking and balancing high work loads can be challenging but I enjoyed a changed and arrived to be my best. Always working hard and showing empathy towards the customers!!! The work load is too much for one persons capabilities due to the lack of training, positivity, motivation and care from management. They only focus on what you do wrong and take managements word over yours. They never do reviews or ask YOU how you’re doing or what you need to be successful while working. 
If you make suggestions they get defensive and you end up feeling like garbage for even saying anything. 
If you have an issue with someone especially management you feel like you can’t speak up without getting fired. 
Bullying, manipulation and belittling was a huge part of my experience. 

There were some good moments but that was with my personal and EMPATHETIC relations to employees and customers. 
Leon’s is about the money. All money. Not about you, the customer, your rights or opinions, or feelings. 
I always treated others with respect and listened to their concerns and tried my best to balance everything quickly and efficiently.
I could go on but anyways, I hope you know how to swim very well!! You’ll be drowning in the work load with little to no help. 

I always thought meetings and open suggestions with everyone would help but it never happened. Brainstorming ideas off each other with no judgment. Simply just figuring out where people are struggling and how to improve. 
No one cares... because they push people out and find someone new who they can manipulate.
Part of the family? 
Part of nothing but hard work that goes unnoticed.

As a delivery driver/ helper your earnings are 100% Commission based, meaning you don’t earn unless you deliver the product.

Leon’s has a “1 for 1” policy which means we had to remove the old item of whatever we delivered. This is very literally twice the work, and some items exceed 300lbs, even 400lbs... that you’re expected to remove with only your partner.

You’re also personally liable for damages you cause. It’s understandable in the sense of being accountable, but it’s straight up unfair to workers when a worker is put into a situation where they pretty much know damage will be caused to the home, but they have to try because the store will make you go back later in your day. So, a customer orders items that are FAR TOO LARGE for their home, then when you have to shoehorn them into the home, the customers WILL complain and you wind up actually paying money for doing said stop.

Also important to note regarding removals: you will without a doubt be strong-armed by management to remove items that are straight up hazardous ie old mattresses with blood/ feces/ urine, old freezers with mold and animal blood or even items that most would have to use a machine to lift.

The equipment they provide to do these insane jobs and lift these massive items will straight up cripple you if you aren’t VERY physically fit and accustomed to proper lifting techniques. For example, a 4-wheel cart with a long strap that you wrap around your wrist. This cart is put under fridges (many over 300lbs) then you walk BACKWARDS, up stairs usually, into peoples homes. This work is generally done in your socks as well, because customers usually won’t let you wear your safety shoes (even when you show them they’re clean AND explain the personal danger of the situation)in their home. Most of your duties are completely ridiculous and unreasonable to ask a person to do.


These are things you DON’T Get paid for.

- The time it takes to load/ unload your truck (which you do every day)
- Exchange pieces (you get paid for the delivery item, but not the removal, so these types of deliveries are literally 2x the work.
- Drive time, sometimes the last stop of the day can be up to 2hrs away.
- Returns/ pickups. Extra stops and physical exertion added to your day with zero compensation. You’re working for free during this time and you can’t say no.

Stay away, seriously. It’s not worth it.

After my interview, I was extremely excited to work for this company. I was told that it didn't matter that I didn't know the industry, they would teach that to me, all I needed to do was bring a positive attitude and a willingness to learn. Six months later, they terminated me using a garbage excuse that the company wasn't doing well enough to sustain another full time worker (meanwhile I learned from an inside source that they had hired two new people not long beforehand). They had had record months for sales, and were consistently bringing in more than 100 grand every weekend. So you can imagine.
Their training was nonexistent, but yet you're demonized for not knowing or understanding what to do with all the information you're told to collect from people. There is zero structure to that company aside from whatever management says goes, and you're not allowed to ask questions or clarify. You don't have the power to make any decisions when assisting customers, but management doesn't want you to bother them to make those decisions, either. Basically, unless you're lucky enough to be socially accepted by the people who work here, you have no hope. They're passive aggressive and apathetic to customers as well as employees, and expect you to have some magical, telepathic wavelength with them to be intuitive enough to understand exactly what you need to do as soon as you step up to that computer.
You're also dealing with a lot more than just Customer Service. You're handling extended / normal warranty claims, escalations to manufacturers who almost never get back to their customers, and starting service claims within the store itself for a "service department" operated by one person (two if you count the customer service manager who is constantly busy with service rather than training CSR personnel). You're required to write these detailed reports in an archaic and buggy system, and heaven help you if you don't know the ins and outs of every part of the furniture in question.

DON'T LET THE WAGE FOOL YOU

I did this job for exactly one day, and refused to return. I found it to be an extremely dangerous job with no real training or safety protocols.

Arriving in the morning, I helped the driver who was supposed to be training me to load our 5 ton truck with furniture and other items for delivery. He planned the delivery route without showing me how or why he did it the way he did (which wasn't a big deal, I could have figured that out). We set out for deliveries - no time limit, we were to work until our truck was empty.

We would be paid a flat rate for the day no matter how long it took. This caused two problems: 1. The management required us to deliver a huge amount of furniture because they didn't have to pay for overtime, and 2. The driver I worked with thought it best to get done as quickly as possible, since working less hours wouldn't reduce the pay. This culture made the job dangerous. Because of the desire to rush and beat the clock, things had to be done as quickly as possible (also because we were required to deliver such a huge amount of furniture, we had to rush to get done in a reasonable time). There was no time for safety, proper lifting, helping each other out, etc. Imagine one person carrying a love seat up 3 flights of stairs while the other carried the recliner. A two-man carry would waste precious time. Try humping a queen sized mattress up to a second floor apartment by yourself. Not fun. The day was filled with the potential for injury because of the way the job had to be done. Again, safety would have been nice, but the driver didn't want to take double the time to do things and work that much longer, so safety was thrown out for speed.

I would only recommend this job if you are extremely strong and fairly large, and only if you don't care about your body. I couldn't imagine doing this for even a few weeks, let alone years. If you take the job, demand safety procedures be followed. You have the right to refuse unsafe work. I was young when I tried it, and I didn't know my rights as a worker.

This company is many things and none of those are positive. There is no support system as people are thrown into the job with zero training, the owner has zero ability to run a business the only thing he cares about is the money.

Sales people are VERY POORLY paid they run on a draw system which due to the Kingston team forcing Brockville team to spew lies of when stock will arrive, several orders get cancelled which means you've dug your self into a hole with an hourly wage that you will never escape due to the fact that you can never deliver products. 
No products delivered = No commission = Your continually in the hole and indebted to this horrendous company. 

On top of that if you are over 2 thousand into the draw you will be terminated as you "aren't capable of selling" Even if you are the worlds best sales person, you can't sell someone empty promises and thin air. 

The turn over rate is EXTREMELY high, I am talking over 20 managers in the past few years and COUNTLESS other employee's. 

If you are a manager or behind the desk there is no support, no direction and you are punished if you make a mistake for things you were demanded to do without ever being shown how, to make it better you also do not get your lunch breaks. If you are sick or miss a day nothing will be done as no management is trained to take payments or problem solve, they are simple placed there as useless pawns for the upper management to **** on. 

The pay of ANY position in this store will never be enough to make up for all of the lies you have to tell people and the amount of displeased customers you will have to deal with and when you go searching for answers you are simply replied to with an "I don't know" 

There are several things that should quickly turn you away from this business and the turn over rate should be a big enough indicator if my words weren't enough. 

Save your self the hassle and go work at a fast food restaurant, trust me "Do you want fries with that?" seems WORTH it after spending even a month working for this company.

I worked for Leon's Kingston a couple of times.  Most recently I was fired for pointing out some safety concerns around the warehouse and with the trucks.  You should be able to approach your employer with legitimate concerns without fear of retribution.

Being responsible for damaged product straight out of packaging is ridiculous.  Paying for your own tow trucks I can understand.  Especially if you try to drive under a mousehole bridge.

Storing used customer beds and sofas etc in the warehouse is a high risk for bed bug infestation, probably a health code violation.
4 trucks total, about 8 or 9 proper unclean moving blankets available.
One or two straps at most, loads are frequently unsecure. 

Fabric protection is rarely done properly if at all, as a delivery person you are expected to lie to the customer about such things or lose your bonus.  Or just take an extra $1/hr which makes no sense mathematically.  The weekly schedule is almost never ever done properly.  Often a day or two prior to the date.

  Nobody around there wants to take criticism and make changes, rather point fingers at others and place blame on those not responsible.  One guy had a 1000+ lb battery almost destroy his leg, A managers first comment was something about it shouldn't be done on a Sunday. Rather than be concerned about his well being.  

I have done moving most of my life and might even know a thing or two about how to do it properly and safely.  Shame they didn't recognize that and take my verbal advice about making changes for the better.   At least put some winter wipers on the trucks.  It does not cost that much and could save lives.

Also they probably should not have people with a G2 license behind the wheel, somebody isn't doing their job during the hiring process there ....

In my opinion, the Ministry of Labor and the Health & Safety Board should give them a visit.   Perhaps ask a few of the employees that are left there if what I have said has any merit.
That is all .... for now

Worked at Leon's for quite some time.

A Typical Day at Work: 

Show up for an unpaid meeting before my shift for 15 minutes if its a weekday, 1 hour if its a Saturday and 15 minutes - 1 hour if its a Sunday depending on recent sales performances.

Go to sales room, look over orders check for messages from customers, start taking 'ups' and helping customers.

What I Learned:

I learned how to talk to people, how to sell and deal with people.

Management:

Varied greatly over my time at Leon's, I loved some managers and not loved others. Mostly, people accepting management positions are low-mediocre performing sales people that can be manipulated easily by higher management.

Workplace Culture:

The corporate culture is that management doesn't care what you have to say, they tell you this and its part of the company slogan : One Voice, One Vision, One Direction. Salespeople will try to rip you off and screw you into quitting when you first start as more salespeople = less money for everyone. Once you stick around for a while you will make good friends. Depending on you, you will fight with other salespeople for more sales or forfeit some income. As far as Leon's is concerned they care about the sale, not who gets it, not who deserves it. The more sales someone has the more they can get away with. The company will look at you as your numbers on a spreadsheet, they really don't care about you and are indifferent when someone leaves the company.

Hardest Part of the Job:

The hardest part of the job was going home after a 12 hour shift and having no sales or little sales for the day.

The Most Enjoyable Part of the Job:

Hanging out with other sales people, having fun and closing big sales were the most enjoyable parts of the job. 
.

Working on the showroom meant keeping track of the inventory of various furniture pieces and room items (lamps, rugs, etc.) to complement warm and inviting living/dining room conditions. This also meant rearranging furniture pieces to coincide with recent sale promotions and keeping tabs of current pieces for a modern home as they arrived in store to present to the customer. My job involved the assembly and transportation of any and all furniture from the warehouse to the showroom floor and vice versa when showroom pieces were sold from the floor if they were not available newly packaged in the warehouse to deliver. In those circumstances I had to wrap and protect the pieces as well as relocate them in our inventory system to the warehouse where they would be collected for delivery. I was trained to drive Leon's flatbed truck to transport those pieces to vacant warehouse shelves and replace those missing sets on the show floor with brand new sets according to their location in our inventory system in the warehouse. I enjoyed the assembly of furniture and appliance sets and appreciated the responsibility bestowed upon me to make sure everything was organized in such a fashion that quick retrieval of these individual items could be done easily. When I worked in the Mark down department I had new tasks assigned to me though I was often bombarded with so many deliveries at once, that it was difficult to maintain the pace I had acquired while working in my previous position and many times felt short-handed. It was and still is a working experience that I gained a great deal of knowledge from and I have learned more skills as a result of my time spent working there.

This Brantford corporate store has ongoing ads running for salespeople, but when I went in and spoke to the store manager and the sales manager, I was told that their recruiting 'strategy' is to advertise 'job openings' on an ongoing basis even though/when they have no openings so as to collect more resumes. I don't call this a strategy, I call it misinformation that is inconsiderate to the unemployed, the poor, and inconsiderate to potential employees and for all concerned an inconsiderate waste of their time. If I were truly dedicated to becoming employed at Leon's - which I was - I would watch for their ads like a hawk, waiting for the day they appeared when I could "strike while the iron was hot" and impress them with my enthusiastic zeal. Now as a result of their misinformation strategy, their ads mean nothing, reducing their employment landscape to a uniformly gray and uninteresting tableaux. They might collect more resumes this way, but most will be 'stale-dated' as no potentially enthusiastic potential employee will hold off of other opportunities to entertain the possibility that today's ghost-ad just might be the real deal. Consequently their 'strategy' will result in interviewing only the "luck of the draw," i.e., only those people who happen to be unemployed at the moment Leon's has a real opening, rather than a salesperson dedicated to working at Leon's who is willing to wait 90 or 120 days, watching for a bona-fide opportunity only to learn Brantford Leon's dupes you, crying wolf every single day, job or no job.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Sales associate 37 salaries reported	$65,325 per year
Delivery driver 15 salaries reported	$20.76 per hour
Sales representative 8 salaries reported	$54,480 per year
Commis de bureau 3 salaries reported	$16.50 per hour
Warehouse associate 9 salaries reported	$17.93 per hour

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