Another Lego Employee goes off the reservation...

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

Went to a Lego store the other night to pick up an Ewok Village with all the VIP points I had. I have been to this store quite a bit so most of the people know me pretty well. Its funny because a lot of the people on here talk about Lego employees accusing people of reselling, etc. (Like Willy's insane Lego store manager story), but none of them have questioned any of my ridiculous purchases, nor my stupid amount of VIP points.

 

Either way, they were training a new guy while I was there. Now, I generally don't let on when talking to people that I know what I am doing - don't want anyone to know I am checking out stuff to resell later. I told him I had a coupon and asked him if there was anything it didn't work on (hoping as he was new he wouldn't know since it just says the employee reserves the right to deny a set). He said "It doesn't work on exclusives". I went on to say "How do I know what's exclusive".

 

Here is where it got interesting. He went on to talk about how exclusives are only at the Lego store and they are awesome and very expensive and then several years down the line they are worth like 800-1000 dollars so you should buy them now! One of the other older employees came out and kind of chimed in to this effect.

 

As I went to the register, one of the guys saw I was purchasing a good $350 worth of stuff and mentioned - "I guess you are like me and buy all this stuff and leave it sealed for a long time". Really? Lego can't even control its employees - my store is encouraging me to buy to resell.

 

I am not going to complain. Just seems like if you are going to have a policy - you should train your employees to not say things directly against it.

[akohns]

It's call reverse psychology. They are trying to get everyone who walk into their store to becoming an "investor" If everyone buys an extra something...

[Diabolos80]

I've been told the same on numerous occassions. Some of them like to brag about buying sets with their discounts and then selling on ebay. Even the store manager is willing to discuss resale strategies. It's not really uncommon for infantry to go against the grain of corporate thinking. They're in the trenches, they add up receipts at night, they know that a sale is a sale, and what it takes to get one. The millionaires in their cozy offices at TLG think Lego is invincible and people are fighting over $240 toys. Store employees know better.

[Darth_Raichu]

They are in sales. They will say anything to get you to purchase one more set.

 

In any case, how did this particular employee go out of line ? There was an interview with some higher up TLG person who alluded that TLG was not necessarily against smaller resellers, ie. people buying 2 sets and selling 1 down the line. This article/interview is buried in the "Lego banning resellers" thread.

[Anakinisvader]

If I was working for minimum wage your darn straight I'd be using my discount and selling anything I could buy to supplement my income.  Good for them.  Young entrepreneurs starting out small and learning the ins and outs of business.  Now to just get one of them to let me use their discount card.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

They are in sales. They will say anything to get you to purchase one more set.

 

In any case, how did this particular employee go out of line ? There was an interview with some higher up TLG person who alluded that TLG was not necessarily against smaller resellers, ie. people buying 2 sets and selling 1 down the line. This article/interview is buried in the "Lego banning resellers" thread.

 

Well mostly meaning a line Lego seemed to set. From those letters they had sent people and some other members stories. I definitely agree with your sales points - but they don't work on any kind of commission although I am sure there are perks for managers.

 

But I am surprised to hear other people say this. TLG has indicated its larger resellers, but not really where the line is drawn.  I've bought 15 Orc forges from that store - I would think the line was before that if it were buying 2 sets and holding 1, lol.

 

But I kind've thought it was a weird thing to hear from other's stories. lol

[lowillsw]

Not kosher and unprofessional. It's fine and dandy they profit from their employee discount but definitely need to keep your mouth shut and be on the D about abusing it. It's not prudent to be bragging to the customers, esepecially TLG monitor what the employees are buying. That insane manager Willy got into the scuffle with showed up and cleaned house a few weeks later.

[akohns]

Not kosher and unprofessional. It's fine and dandy they profit from their employee discount but definitely need to keep your mouth shut and be on the D about abusing it. It's not prudent to be bragging to the customers, esepecially TLG monitor what the employees are buying. That insane manager Willy got into the scuffle with showed up and cleaned house a few weeks later.

I'd like to hear this story. Can someone link to that thread?

[MartinP]

Wow. That is a very interesting story. I was surprised at first when the employee told you to invest in these sets. IMO, I do not think that TLG would allow something like that to happen. For all we know, the Ewok Village could become the next Death Star.

[sadowsk1]

So you were trying to take advantage of a new employee by trying to use a coupon you knew exactly what it shouldn't work on?  Doesn't seem very wholesome.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

So you were trying to take advantage of a new employee by trying to use a coupon you knew exactly what it shouldn't work on?  Doesn't seem very wholesome.

 

Coming from you thats pretty funny since most people have questioned your views.

 

Actually if you look back, the coupon says (Mine was a different one than the magazine one) that it "does not work on certain items" and "employees reserve the right to deny a set". I ASSUMED that meant exclusives, but if an employee was going to let me that was following the exact rules on coupon. If Lego cares enough, they should spell it out on the coupon - especially since "exclusive" is a load of sh#t anyway because these are all sold other places. It should say 10XXX, or not valid on these items. Its their ambiguity causing this, not mine.

 

If you would like to start questioning morals though, I would be happy to go back and quote you several times on other issues where you clearly paw the lines of decency and sanity.

[boliramirez]

Calm down guys, leave the egos aside,  we are here to learn, not to critcize........  now, what sets were you allowed to use the coupon on?

[Jackson]

Do LEGO store clerks get commission for sales?

[Quacs]

Do LEGO store clerks get commission for sales?

 

That's a good question.  I don't think so based on the way the employees are deployed on the floor - usually 1 greeter/floor person (more at busier times), and 1-2 people behind the register.  I have never had anyone ask for the clerk's name that helped me, and I doubt the cashiers make any commissions.

 

That said, I could be wrong.  I honestly don't know fo sho.

[kvasir]

Do LEGO store clerks get commission for sales?

I believe they do. Until last year or so the cashier has been asking me if I've been helped by anyone. Or would write down his/her name on the receipt and encourage me to go online and vote on my LEGO store experience.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

I believe they do. Until last year or so the cashier has been asking me if I've been helped by anyone. Or would write down his/her name on the receipt and encourage me to go online and vote on my LEGO store experience.

 

Hmm, I have never had anyone worry about this at all. I can't imagine they do. The one in Nashville one person is working the register and they just funnel you to them. The one I normally go to I flat out asked a guy and he said no - because someone else had "helped" me.

 

Now, maybe its a manger discretion to how they run their store, but I doubt it.

 

You think somewhere there would be one lego employee on this site? Lol

[legofreeman]

I have struck up a casual friendship of sorts with a local LEGO employee.  I've never heard him mention anything about commissions for individual employees. 

 

However, employees of a store do receive bonuses if the store reaches certain quarterly goals.  There may be monthly goals, but he has never talked about those, so I doubt they exist.

 

There are also prize bonuses.  Earlier this year they had a bonus for the store that sold the most Master Builder sets during a window.  The employees of the winning store would be given iPads.

 

Also, the customer service surveys are important for bonuses.  I don't know if they are a separate bonus program or if they are part of the quarterly goal bonus. 

 

Personally, I think the surveys are skewed to screw the stores.  I remember a time when I recieved exceptional service (above the call of duty) at my local store, so I filled out the form.  I put 10s on everything relating to the store and service.  The only non-ten I gave on the entire form was for the VIP program.  In the notes I even explained that I gave the program low marks because 5% off is useless in practice, because I practically always find LEGO sets cheaper elsewhere.  I suggested they have a scaling program that rewards AFOLs who spend higher amounts on LEGO...but I digress.

 

In the end, they marked down the store because of that survey!  The one 5 (having nothing to do with the store), put me in the ambivalent category.  That's either an intentionally designed "you can't win for trying" or just intellectually lazy programming of that algorithm.

[Anakinisvader]

 

I have struck up a casual friendship of sorts with a local LEGO employee.  I've never heard him mention anything about commissions for individual employees. 

 

However, employees of a store do receive bonuses if the store reaches certain quarterly goals.  There may be monthly goals, but he has never talked about those, so I doubt they exist.

 

There are also prize bonuses.  Earlier this year they had a bonus for the store that sold the most Master Builder sets during a window.  The employees of the winning store would be given iPads.

 

Also, the customer service surveys are important for bonuses.  I don't know if they are a separate bonus program or if they are part of the quarterly goal bonus. 

 

Personally, I think the surveys are skewed to screw the stores.  I remember a time when I recieved exceptional service (above the call of duty) at my local store, so I filled out the form.  I put 10s on everything relating to the store and service.  The only non-ten I gave on the entire form was for the VIP program.  In the notes I even explained that I gave the program low marks because 5% off is useless in practice, because I practically always find LEGO sets cheaper elsewhere.  I suggested they have a scaling program that rewards AFOLs who spend higher amounts on LEGO...but I digress.

 

In the end, they marked down the store because of that survey!  The one 5 (having nothing to do with the store), put me in the ambivalent category.  That's either an intentionally designed "you can't win for trying" or just intellectually lazy programming of that algorithm.

You just burned that LEGO store out of bonus money. Anytime you mark a survey less than top score, whether its a store issue or not, it will cause the bonus structure to fall. That's why many times surveys are given to friends and such to fill out.

[Mos_Eisley]

LEGO store employees do not get commission. If the store reaches its goals, which are not only monetary, then everyone at the store gets a piece of the bonus. For regular associates their part of the bonus is based on hours worked during that period.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

LEGO store employees do not get commission. If the store reaches its goals, which are not only monetary, then everyone at the store gets a piece of the bonus. For regular associates their part of the bonus is based on hours worked during that period.

 

That was more along the lines of what I was thinking. So selling more gives them an advantage, but encouraging people to buy to resell seemed to go against what TLG was against. But maybe not from other's stories.

 

I feel like too there are a lot of selling techniques that work as well as "you might be able to sell it for more later". Lol

[nbaisfantastical]

I believe they do. Until last year or so the cashier has been asking me if I've been helped by anyone. Or would write down his/her name on the receipt and encourage me to go online and vote on my LEGO store experience.

 

From my conversations with employees, they were only writing down the names on the receipt to remind you of who was helping you out so if you filled out the survey online, you could mention that employee (at one point the survey would ask if you'd like to recognize anyone in particular and that's where you could mention the employee).  It was basically used as an employee recognition tool within the store.

[sadowsk1]

After reading the topic line of this thread I wasn't aware of Lego actually having any policy in place about what an employee can or can't say about sets.

[JoshTX]

Can't imagine the store employees make all that much. I'd be pushing for bonuses and such if the opportunity were there for me as well, especially if I was making minimum wage. I'm going to venture a guess that they make more than the federal minimum, but not much more.