AXIS Advertising Group Inc. Disrespectful, Unlawful, Unprofessional, Illegal Tempe, Arizona

8th of Dec, 2011 by User409506

So, I was applying for jobs on Jobing.com because I just moved to the area October 1st of this year (2011). After about 50 something odd applications, I got a call from this company called AXIS. They said they were trying to get ahold of me, even though I never got anything from them (no call, no email, nothing...). They said they'd like to set me up with an interview for that day before 4pm. It was like 2:15pm... With such a short notice I wasn't able to, so luckily they let me come in the next day for a preliminary interview. I went in for the interview, which was like 5 minutes long. Craig Hinshaw, the president, told me to come back the next day for a second interview. I was like YES! I finally got a job! Even though it seemed like it took little to no effort whatsoever. By the way, I checked my email for the email they said they sent me... It was in my spam folder. That should have been a red flag but I was desperate. Went back for the second interview, it was a sales job. I was okay with that. I was okay with anything really. Basically I was giving away a free in home designer for Kitchen Cabinet Refacing. No big deal... I had to talk to 100 people to get like 2 or 3 "leads" a day. A lead is an appointment made with the customer. We walk around Home Depot for about 7 hours a day and talk to as many people as we could to get our numbers up. They used a "Law of Averages" approach. As in, the more people you talk to, the better the chance of getting a lead, which made sense. The training was three days long, but only an hour long. Or so I thought. I only got PAID for an hour... I was supposed to be there from 11-12. Craig told me to show up at 1045, so I did, assuming there was stuff that needed to be discussed before "class" started. Not so. I was only there early to be there early. Craig wasn't even there. Nor were any of my trainers. Then when the actual training began, it was okay. I trained with Tim, who was a wonderful and funny family man. wonderful motivator and even better teacher. Training was a blast! However, I was there until about 12:30pm. I didn't mind staying late. Never have. When my actual in-store work began, we were supposed to work 12-8. They asked me to come in at 11:45 am, any later I would be considered late. So I came in as asked. I worked the day in the store and ended my day at 8. However, I was required to go BACK to the AXIS office to turn in my leads and drop off my clipboard and badge as well. This usually took about half an hour to get back to the building and then there was a breakdown of my day after that which took about half an hour. So I never usually got out of there until 8:45pm or 9pm. Sometimes I didn't get out until 9:15pm when I was supposed to be out at 8pm. When the timesheets were brought around, I put in 1145-915, as I wrote down my actual times and Kris, one of the managers, handed it back to me saying we only get paid for 12-8. I looked at him in shock, explaining that I was there 15 minutes early and left an hour and fifteen minutes late. He said we don't get paid for the extra time. I went to Craig and asked him why we're not paid for the extra time even though we're required to come in early and come back to the office after we leave Home Depot at 8. He said it was for extra training to reach management. Not the straight answer I was looking for... At all... In essence, he never really answered my question but instead pitched me how awesome the job was and that I needed to focus on getting leads. Understandable yes, but we get paid hourly or commission, whichever is greater. If I don't make enough leads in a week to get greater than hourly, I wanna know I'm getting paid for all the hours I actually worked... Then, there was situation where I was in what they called the Impact Room (which is where training and practicing the pitch took place) and I was talking to Stephanie, my leader, about my goals for the day. Craig walks in (keep in mind, the room is packed with about 30 people) and starts telling me that I need to dress more professionally. Dressing for the position of manager I want. He walks me across the room and points at a tall, skinny girl dressed quite professionally, telling me I need to dress more like her. First off, I'm pretty self conscience about my appearance and secondly, there was no need for him to discuss what changes I needed to make in front of an entire room of people that noticed because he was pointing at the chick he wanted me to look like. He had me in tears for the way he handled the situation. I thought I was meeting standard because I was dressed in dress code and thought I looked fine. Apparently not. He never did apologize for his actions. Then, I proceeded to find out that I wasn't being compensated for my gas mileage, driving, on the clock, to the Home Depot that was usually half an hour from the office. My car was on empty and I was on my lunch and I needed to make it home that night. It was towards the end of my boyfriend's paycheck and we were broke (I moved in with my boyfriend, so we're surviving off of his income). Knowing that I was required to go back to the office at the end of the night, but wasn't getting paid for the extra time, I told Craig the situation and asked if it was all right if I just went home after I finished at Home Depot that night. He came back with, go back to work and we'll figure it out at the end of your shift. I proceeded to tell him I was on lunch and was looking to resolve the situation before I had to go back to work. He said, we don't go home, we come back to the office. Focus on your work and we'll figure it out at the end of your shift. If I had to go back to the office that night, I would've had to sleep in the parking lot of AXIS. SO didn't wanna do that. My boyfriend had to borrow money from a friend, take the bus to get to my home depot, fill up the car and take his autistic son out way past his bedtime just because my boss wouldn't allow me to drop off my leads the next morning. Which he has allowed the other employees to do. The straw that broke the camel's back was when I was on my lunch on December 1st, 2011 and was curious about my benefits so I asked Craig, "Hey, I'm on my lunch. I was curious about my benefits. I need to get my wisdom teeth removed pretty soon. Do my benefits cover dental as well?" He said, no, I don't offer benefits, you will need to get your own benefits. This is what his website says: "Yes we offer benefits that are available from the start. The major benefits are promotion within, training provided and job security. Other benefits such as Medical, Vision, Dental are available once a person holds a management position." http://axisincorporated.com/faqs/ He then called me up and said, "You think of the stupidest, most random SHIT when you should be working." Taken completely off guard, I asked him to repeat himself and he said that exactly, no exaggeration. I explained I was on lunch and was simply curious about my benefits. He said, "I don't offer benefits my employees. I never have and never will." I asked why because all the companies I've ever worked for, (a whopping three) have offered benefits at some point in time. He repeated himself. I told him that didn't answer my question so I asked why again. He said he didn't need to explain himself to me. This completely baffled me. I was only asking an innocent question and was getting disrespected and insulted for it... I tried once more to get an answer and he still refused to give me one, so he decided, "I don't like your attitude, go ahead and take the rest of the day off as well tomorrow and only come back Monday if you have the right attitude that I'm looking for." Completely clueless as to why I was being sent home, I tried to ask, but he again told me he didn't need to explain himself to me. Except the second time I got an answer out of him. He said, "You don't have the right attitude to represent my client (Home Depot)." Seeing as I didn't have a way to argue, I dropped my stuff off at the office and went home. I came back Monday and sat down with Stephanie and Tim, my leaders and had a discussion with Craig. I told him that I felt thoroughly insulted by his behavior last Friday. I felt completely disrespected and he didn't handle it professionally at all. He gave me a half a** apology for his actions and said he wasn't interested in going back and forth about that afternoon. I asked him what he meant. He told me he didn't wanna discuss it any further and wanted to move on from it. I asked if there was ever going to be a repeat of Friday. He said that during the day he was busy with interviews and that when I was bugging him with stupid questions such as those, it was a hassle to him. Okay. He gave us ALL his number in case we ever had an questions. He never said there was a timeline when we could or could not ask questions. I explained to him that I was asking him questions on my breaks or lunchs, and never when I was working, so I wasn't wasting time. He proceeded to tell me that he doesn't count lunch, that I should be focused on work during my entire day. Asking about benefits is not work related? WHAT?@! Everything this man says is such a waste of time. He came across as a slimy salesman in the beginning and that should've warned me that this was a bad thing this job.... The fact that the request for an interview email went to spam, the tiny office when it was supposedly "world class", the fact that he didn't tell me what I was actually interviewing for until the SECOND interview, the fact that there were 10-15 interviews a DAY for the job.... This company is such a waste of time. The opportunity is a good one, but there are so many things playing against it. Craig wants to build himself a great company he's going to have to become a better leader. He asked me what I wanted to see from him and I explained that I would simply like for him to treat me with more respect and professionalism and actually treat me like a valued employee rather than expendable. He didn't like that, so he let me go. His loss in my opinion. One of these days I'll make more money than he ever dreamed of and everyone I know will be reading this post thinking, wow, this man is a terrible person. He runs a company illegally, unethically, unprofessionally, treats his employees like expendable lab rats and thinks he's the king of the world when in reality he's the scum of the earth. In all, avoid AXIS ADVERTSING GROUP INC. It will cause you only grief. However, if you're masochistic, or rich and have plenty of time and money to waste, go for it!

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