front desk receptionist

delivery driver

customer service representative

warehouse associate

marketing specialist

Albert Lee Appliance

The work itself isn’t bad if you enjoy delivering and installing freestanding appliances. The delivery team is made up of hardworking people who do their best every day. Unfortunately, management is where this company falls short. I worked here for over a year and never received a yearly performance review or any meaningful feedback, despite that being something employees should reasonably expect. It feels like there’s very little opportunity for growth or advancement. The job posting advertises 40 hours a week over four days, but my hours were reduced because more work was being outsourced to third-party contractors instead of being given to company employees. Another major concern is the condition of the work trucks. Many of them are poorly maintained and don’t always feel safe to drive. When mechanical or safety issues are reported, management often fails to address them in a timely manner. Instead of resolving the problem, the response can come across as dismissive or unprofessional, with the expectation that employees simply figure it out and keep working. Overall, the job itself is straightforward, and the delivery crew is excellent to work with. However, inconsistent hours, poor communication, lack of employee development, and concerns about equipment maintenance made it difficult to recommend this company as a long-term place to work.

The culture of the company was very focused on the customers. The employees that thrive are those that already have family in the company. They feel like a tight family and expect people to not last very long. In my time as a receptionist they had gone through 25 receptionists in 3 years. The management is not direct in what they tell you to do and you will get a lot of contradictions between locations on how the job is to be done. They pay the seattle minimum wage for a lot of administrative duties including managing the in store financial transactions and receipts, keeping track of all incoming and outgoing appliances between your store and the others, calling every customer about their items after delivery and to notify them of pickup, keep track of all office supplies and order missing supplies, and making your own schedules with all other receptionists with the lowest priority in scheduling because multiple receptionists are family to people in high management. Expect to be their scapegoat in anything that goes wrong with any order, any transaction, or any instore mishap with customers. Always greet a customer or they will blame you for a loss of a sale.

The customer service department is under appreciated and under paid while being over worked. Management doesn't give the proper attention to the issues faced or give consistent support to escalated issues. Training was less supportive than the interview implied. You are quickly left alone with coworkers to train you (on top of having the same workload as before) and a manger that is hard to reach. The management style of being fairly hands off is fantastic and would work much better if there was  more consistency in the way solutions were reached. The policy of how to resolve issues and how no two issues being handled the same way is preached as "shades of grey" which leaves you at loss for how to handle situations when you find yourself having to make quick calls with no one available to talk to. 

Overall it’s a pretty good company to work for. Especially if you don’t mind lifting heavy things. Best job in my opinion for entry level workers, training/trainers could be a bit better but you pick up on it the longer you stay. Co-workers are great, to an extent. Pay kinda sucks when you start out on delivery but gets better with time and experience, there’s also the Install team which pays very well. I felt like management cared more about the customers than their own employees in most situations. Long days are expected sometimes. Management was decent. Install team manager was the best manager I’ve probably ever had. Would have stayed but had better job offer.

There are some really great jobs at this company; sales, customer service, purchasing, accounting and marketing are all treated reasonably well with good opportunities for advancement. 
Distribution is a mess and is managed very poorly, communication is poor and feedback is inconsistent. The current managers on the distribution side are not very good at their positions, they're all great employees with good skills that have been peter principled into positions they aren't well suited for.

Everyone works 4 10s except during Sales when you bump up to 5 10s 

It's hard work, dragging people's fridges up their stairs but it pays okay, and I understand that management has changed since I worked there and they actually let injured people stop doing deliveries until they heal. 

If I'd been able to spend a month in the office or something, I probably would still be working there, but I kept re injuring my shoulder trying to do deliveries before it healed so I eventually just quit.

Working for Albert lee wasn't entirely what I expected it to be, but I was positive about learning a new trade and delivering to customer homes as a whole.
The co-workers and warehouse personnel were a great team, well rounded comradery. Some didn't get along with others but they welcomed new hires with open arms, the job wasn't the easiest but the guys knew that, they said it deters new hires who have never delivered appliances. 

Group punishments. One person does something wrong, they don't pull them aside to speak to them about it. Instead, all of a sudden, seemingly without reason, everyone is punished for it. Don't even think about being absent for medical leave. They'll fire you. Not to mention that reception is the personal punching bag of ALA. There's a reason why they've had 6 receptionists leave within the span of 8 months.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Fellow employee's, customers, weekends off

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Instalation time and delivery locations

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Not good, not training learn as you go

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Get work, get your assigned partner and route for the day, do deliveries and installs, come back to warehouse, off load old appliances, clean truck and go home

Co-workers are always complaining. 
Co-workers never do what is needed they'd rather depend on someone else to pick up the slack.
Management people are not really good at answering clarifying questions when bosses are not around. 
People are rude and don't care.
People are under the influence of drugs. 
You don't really get the lunch and breaks that are needed and deserved.
You become a tool. 
They take uniform deductions out of your paycheck on top of government tax deductions. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Front desk receptionist 4 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Delivery driver 1 salary reported	$27.50 per hour
Customer service representative 1 salary reported	$27.00 per hour
Warehouse associate 5 salaries reported	$19.60 per hour
Marketing specialist 7 salaries reported	$70,000 per year

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