Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Holding it down solo.

From the comments on yesterday's post:
"I am the only one who works in our studio. Yup. No Assistant manager...and 2 other girls who are flex. yeah...I work a lot. I would love for them to fire me; they would be so screwed. No one wants to work here. Guess how much I make as a manager? Come on...guess: I am probably the lowest paid. 9 bucks...YUP...9. Why? Because technically I am not the manager. Our manager quit and the AM did too. I should have when they did."

I was going to ask the community what does happen if someone like our submitter quits, but I suspect that I already know the answer: one of those flex people or a integral part of another studio would be picked to take over in her/his place.

I'm not sure how SPS plans to survive if they're working managers 6 and 7 days a week until they quit. But perhaps SPS isn't planning on surviving and is just holding out as long as their current plans dictate.

45 comments:

Anonymous said...

i know i am an asst mgr in my studio and help out another in the area one day a week. the mgr is no longer there and the asst mgr is on maternity leave. the only other person working there is barely out of training. they put an MIT in a couple days a week but she is mainly in another studio right now. (and of course me one day a week) the rest of the time is the new girl. its not much different than many of the studios in my area with one or 2 employees. we are worked to the bone either overloaded with sits or tasks involving call lists.

Anonymous said...

i read recently that CPI is expecting to take a huge hit in this lawsuit against them and has stopped spending money because photography studios are the second worst investment in business now.(i know that part is true because i researched it on the labor websites) I think they will probably try to specialize the business before shutting the doors. If you think about it, anyone can get a digital camera and a program to edit them when they come out all messed up.

Anonymous said...

What is this lawsuit all about? I have not heard about it-just curious!

Anonymous said...

I am the commenter who is always working. I put in my 2 weeks notice today. I am sick of this. I can go work at a gas station for pretty much the same amount..and less hours. My husband makes decent money and we can take the hit on the lost wages. I am sure my kids have forgotten what I look like and my husband forgot what "real" food tastes like. My house is a wreck and I am too tired to do anything but just sit.

Customers are complaining too. I have had many complaints about the wait..and the leaving the camera room/sales table multiple times to help other customers.

Try installing a motorized background by yourself..it's not easy.

Try talking to tech when the server is down, and answer the phones, and help customers, and when the DM finally decides she wants to show up.. no one is available to work that day *cause it is last minute* and they have other jobs. Yesterday I told her that if I can't hold employees responsible for their crappy sales if they haven't taken WGTP all the way through..how can I be responsible for the studio when I have no idea how to even do inventory? Or cash control? Or figure the formulas? Is it EVEN fair that I get wrote up for this crap? Studio snap shot score....23....ya...I was in tears. I should have just walked out and FORCED the DM to cover the day..that would be something..considering she hasn't been in the company long and her photography sucks. Let the Store manager complain to HER about how unhappy the customers are....not me.

Anonymous said...

The DM would have made another studio cover it instead of them working! How many times has your DM called and told you that YOU needed to send someone over to another studio ASAP.. and knowing how it felt to be "abandoned", you did it? Over & over again.... best of luck to the one who gave notice! Keep us posted.. success stories when you leave is something I love to hear about... gives us hope there is something else out there.

Anonymous said...

What is this lawsuit all about? I have not heard about it-just curious!

Not giving employees the coverage needed to take rest and lunch breaks, and not paying the required by law extra hour when we worked over 8 hrs with no break.

Anonymous said...

On my days off and after I clock out.....I turn off my phone. I gave fam and friends my daughter's number if they wanted to get a hold of me.

No one "forces" me to go in and work another studio.

LOL!s

Anonymous said...

im sick of it just sick......tired of being treated like an old soccer ball. my stitches are ripping.

boothis said...

"Not giving employees the coverage needed to take rest and lunch breaks, and not paying the required by law extra hour when we worked over 8 hrs with no break."

Wow, that's amazing! I had no idea there was a lawsuit going on!
Perfect timing, I guess, because just two days ago we got an email from our DM stating that
"... if a customer comes in at 1:55 you HAVE to take them...!" (we take lunch at 2. is that everywhere?) I think this is complete and total bullsh*t!!! I'm not going to do that and I don't give a FLIP if they fire me! I love my manager & (most of) my customers, but I can't take this much longer!

Anonymous said...

We are also to say "absolutely yes" to all appointments. So if you are solo...and you get a walk in and then another appt. shows up on the scheduler within 15 mins of each other...and you are booked every hour..you are going to be running around with your head cut off like a chicken.
Hungry? Better get some of those appetite control pills. NO one should be over weight working for CPI...they never get to eat.

Expect bladder and kidney problems too..cause you'll be dehydrated as well.

Anonymous said...

is anyone else getting fake calls EVERY day from another district to book the LAST appt of the day...just to make sure you are saying yes to everything?

boothis said...

"is anyone else getting fake calls EVERY day from another district to book the LAST appt of the day...just to make sure you are saying yes to everything?"

YES! It makes me nuts! Our DM also informed us that we MUST make that last appointment even if it's a 20 subject! eventhough the computer doesn't allow 5+ subs at close. >_<

Anonymous said...

The DM's and Regionals use the fake calls all the time at Picture Me. It is funny in a way because I need the money so I keep the studio open a little longer and then here comes a walkin customer and I am open 1-2 hours later than closing.

I positively will not clock out until I get ready to leave the studio. I gotta stand in line to get a stupid money order for 20+ minutes on company time. Then the DM comes in bitchin about my hours being over.

Oh well. Let'em fire me. They owe me for 2 weeks vacation that I have not taken yet. I do have full vacation pay because I am over 40+ hours a week.

Anonymous said...

Better start using that vacation time- you will lose it when they fire you.

Anonymous said...

There is one catch to their vacation policy at Picture Me. You can use pro-rated vacation time but if they fire you or you quit they will make you pay it back.

Whenever I find the right place to go to I am going to use my vacation and then on the day I am supposed to come back I might just call in sick. Then I will quit later on. I figure it will be payback for all the hell they have been putting me through.

When they are firing you they don't give you two weeks notice so I can quit without notice. It is a fire and hire at will state as far as I know.

Anonymous said...

When I quit, I still had 5 vacation days, but I only got paid for 3 because of some catch in the policy since I didn't give 2 weeks notice. This was over 2 years ago, and perhaps the policy is even worse now (which I can only imagine). Definitely use all your vacation time before you quit or give notice.

Anonymous said...

you have to use what you have earned. they allot you so many for the years but you earn it as you work throughout the year. there is accrued and what you could have if you work the entire year. so as long as you use your accrued you dont have to pay it back as long as you give your 2 weeks notice.

Anonymous said...

Yup... the only vacation time you would have to "pay back" is when they have let you take your vacation BEFORE it was actually earned (or accrued) 2 week notice will possibly leave the door open for rehire.. but without a 2 week notice, or if you up and quit you are NOT rehireable. BUT if you quit like that, are you really EVER going to consider coming back? I think NOT!

Anonymous said...

So... what does everyone think about the new Go Portraits. More work for us to do..... not just the "Go Photographer"
Am anxious to see how it affects our payroll... tho I think on the browser it said something about the hours get put in when they order???? I will have to read it again.... And having to have the MAX on car insurance.... can't figure out how you'd make more $ while having to put out more every month for more insurance if you didn't have ALOT of events to photograph. I know they'll have training for these "specialized photographers", but if they quit, who is going to train new ones if the managers haven't been trained with lighting, depth field etc.? Gonna send them to St. Louis? Yeah, right!!!!

Anonymous said...

Picture Me has this Go Portraits as well. I don't think I want to join that team at all. It seems pretty wish washy to me, especially about the pay. I will hang on until something else comes along. They are also wanting us to change the greeting on the answering machines as well as do phone solicitation for it as well.

It is making me think that they see some profit having employees take up this new specialty since they know a lot of their own former X managers now do this work and make money at it. I can say this though the employee doing this for CPI will not make much money. Just CPI if they can get them to do this.

Anonymous said...

This GO Portraits crap, are they using our current associates for this or is this another group they are going to hire for this.

Are us managers going to be responsible for the actions of these associates and their sales or no sales.? I don't need anymore headaches, I have enough on my plate now.

As a studio manager am I getting a slice of the pie as in bonus money out of the sales of this Go Portraits stuff or am I just doing this for free?

I don't like the way this sounds. Sounds like a lot of freebies out of me as far as telemarketing and such.

Burntoutmgr said...

Sounds like they are wanting us to do more and more for nothing. I read some of the info on it and it sounds like they are wanting to make business on the outside of the studio with the studio being the outreach for them.

I think they are really overestimating what photographers are willing to do for the kind of money they are paying these days. The kind of work they are wanting to do means they are going to have to have real photographers not button pushers.

If this is the direction they are wanting to go it will have really bad retention problems. Employees will see how easy it is to make money on their own so why work for a fraction of the money.

Without getting a take on the sales for the Go Portraits I am not going to try very hard to sell it and nobody else will either.

The way I read it the studios set the shoot location up and then we schedule a photographer to go out and do the rest. Then what??? Do they bring the customer to my studio and the photographer sells them to the customer? or do I sell them and get the extra money and does it go towards my monthly bonus monies?

Burntoutmgr said...

The GO PORTRAITS is for both the SPS and PMPS.

Anonymous said...

I can't believe what I'm reading! The home office must be on a continuous acid trip to come up with these things. Sounds like everyone is understaffed, plus I would suspect, undertrained as well. What a joke!

Anonymous said...

From what I understand,associates can apply for this go portrait position by letting the DM know... Once the team is selected, they shoot at events (which studios are to promote) and then the customers come to the studio within 2 weeks to do their ordering. Anything sold ABOVE the pkg. they previously paid for goes to the studio, % to salesperson & % to photographer. Not sure yet on if they pay ahead of time @ studio... do know there are pkg. codes to use as to which pkg. they select...(like the collections). I would think they would have the managers in on how to do it.... but as a studio manager, I am still not clear on it all. Poking around the info on the browser hasn't answered any questions for me yet..... lots of forms, contracts they have to use.. sorry, I have enough to do already!! Like I really want to have more to track!

boothis said...

My mgr told me that all the employees are going to be hired outside the studio. No current associates or mgrs are allowed to participate.
Also, they said something about having a certain number events per week that the studio is responsible for getting.
It all sounds very confusing... At first we were excited about it, but not now! Also, thankfully, we were told that our area wasn't going to participate.

Anonymous said...

You people are CRAZY to stay with this company-I put up with the CPI bullshit for 15 yrs. Go on FMLA, use your pto up, then come back after 12 weeks(feeling very refreshed) and give notice. You'll be glad you did. And since it's new hire time for Christmas...well you get the picture.

Anonymous said...

today i had a woman instruct me not to speak to her children. she first said they werent good with strangers then told me she didnt want them to learn to get friendly to strangers who are friendly to them. then proceeded to yell at me throughout the sitting because i wasnt trying to make her children laugh. then i had to calculate labor and prs and my crappy sales for the day, and outreach and session plan, and check in new photos, and deliver photos and answer 20 phone calls about are my pics in yet (though the pickup date is right in front of them) then answer 50 phone calls for various other depts of sears, then i had to type an email explaining my crappy sales and what ill do to make them better, sign it in blood and promise my firstborn if i dont do better. someone please tell me why i still work here.

Anonymous said...

I was in the traveling division when they closed it down. to me it sounds like they are trying to get that going again. the pay sucked. you got crap for perdiem and had to stay in roach motels and no money to eat, Its not worth what you would make. company gets biggest part of the pay. Better off going out on your own as a freelance photographer. But you better know your shit. Button pushers wont make it. Its good for us old salts that have been doing photography for over 24 yrs.

Anonymous said...

I live in California.. you think I am going to go on a shoot at a park
alone? NO FRIGGIN WAY! "On a shoot" here can mean you get shot! So someone pays $100. deposit and $179. for their pkg. robs the photographer of their camera w/ zoom lens and the lap top.... THAT is what seems feasible to me! (not to mention maybe your cell phone, car and your life)

Anonymous said...

Yeah, and then you will be terminated for "failure to protect company assets".

Anonymous said...

Weddings by the sheet? Are they crazy?

http://www.goportraits.com/

I agree with the recent posts. I can do this on my own.

Anonymous said...

Just checked my paystub on line I have about 3 weeks of PTO earned. I've been told I can't have any time off because there is nobody to fill in for me.

My associate can only work 2 days because she works another 2 days at another studio.

I like how they don't call it vacation any more and call it PTO. I guess if you quit or get fired you lose it even if you left under good terms since it is pay for time off. The way they see it if your not employed there how can you have time off.

I guess I could file an FMLA and get my time that way since my brain is scrambled for working 6 days a week forever.

Anonymous said...

OMG! It's getting worse. I am soooo glad I quit. Had the entire summer off, and now have a nice job (in retail) where I don't have to get pee'd on, pooped on, thrown up on, yelled at, AND...I get to take a break and EAT. Whoa.

Anonymous said...

So I am the manager who quit awhile back who opened my own business. I average out 150 dollars an for an hours work, and I have paid for my kid's back to school clothes, bought my daughter her own lap top, and got them school supplies..went on a very nice vacation.

I send out a monthly email and that is all the "Outreach" that I do.

I have lot's of word of mouth, get people stopping me at the grocery store, and at the fair, gave out my number and I am booked for next month for back to school pics. I bought my own photo printer and pretty much paid for my stuff the first few sits.

I work when I want and I have a full time job on top of it. Yay me!

Anonymous said...

I'm finally free!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

GO PORTRAITS... WHAT A FRIGGIN FIASCO! We've all been instructed to try and get our customers to book a Go Portrait even... "great for those Dad's that don't want to come into the studio and have to wait" and "the child that does SOOO much better at home in their own enviroment" and "ESPECIALLY the customers who have pets and want them in their family portraits" BUT the kicker is, YOUR customers that YOU have such a great relationship with, CANNOT request you or your associate (whoever is your GP photographer). One is assigned the event according to who the main photographer is for which area where the event is. But wait til you understand about the zones... not necessarily the the GP from your store because she may NOT be the primary photographer for that zone, only a "back up" but they will pay someone to drive an hour instead. Now I know I would want to meet my photographer first and to see their work.. ESPECIALLY for my wedding!!! Be curious to see how much revenue is brought in from this division vs all the expense to start up. So this is where our raise (that no one got due to losses in company) went.
I am selling my CPI stock first thing in the morning!!!

Anonymous said...

thats it im aplying to be a checker at the nearest grocery store, ill get the same amount of money but more hours a break and less chaos.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a death nail in the coffin for CPI. I hope they had a little fund stashed away for this fiasco or we are all going to be toast. I am taking my PTO now before it is thrown away.

Anonymous said...

You know it's bad when someone who worked for SPS for over 11 years marches out into the Sears store into the HR department and ask if they are hiring. And gets hired on the spot.

Anonymous said...

Ohio's unemployment rate rose to 11.7% in July. I wonder how the smaller cities are doing with a SPS nearby. Are they even making their goals? Cause if it were me and I was in a house hold that had someone on unemployment...I would not be buying portraits.

Ashley Wise said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

To the above, that is why we are constantly being packaged. Our studio is in the hardest hit area in Ohio.

Everytime i try to talk someone into something more, i get the "I/ My Husband just got laid off...."

Anonymous said...

California is the same... studio prs for today was under $10. ALL sittings were pkgs.. not a SINGLE extra sheet, proof sheet...or enhancement... not even same day print. But heh, at least I didn't get just the "free 8x10 for ss card" today, so I guess it could be worse. Figure my write up is coming tomorrow!

Anonymous said...

I completely understand! I am one of three employees that work at my studio, one is a manager and one is a new associate thats not even trained yet. Thankfully Im getting 40 hours a week but pushing overtime and they refuse to pay me overtime, so how does that make sense? Im the one that works the most hours, therefore does the most sits, and has the worst PRS. Why??! Because I don't have time to sell and am made by my manager to take back photoshoot after photoshoot, so she can do all my sales and get the credit! So in return, I get crap from my DM and manager for a low PRS and get threatened to be fired! Also on top of all that, I was asked to take on all the assistant manager tasks, since she got fired, without a pay raise. Stupidly I agreed, then one day I realized just how dumb I was, so I stopped doing all the extra tasks that they werent paying me for. And for the record, I just received a $25 gift card from CPI after working there 5 years! Thats what Im worth?!! I was so offended! Id rather not get anything. So I spent that gift card on a pair of black dress pant, which are going to be destroyed in about 2 weeks from crawling around on the floor with the kids and getting on my hands and knees scrubbing all the backdrops with bleach! What am I, Cinderella?!! Get some fricken cleaning people! Yes, Ive been there 5 years, this will be my 6th Christmas, and Im making $9 per hour!!! What am I thinking?!