associate designer

delivery driver

retail sales associate

senior system engineer

design consultant

Room & Board

I first want to clarify that I can only speak for the Southern California Distribution Center. I have not worked for any of the other sectors or locations of Room & Board, and I would not make the assumption that their situation is the same as my own. 

If you value your self-worth and are looking for a true career, please do yourself a favor and look elsewhere. I speak from experience and would only speak so dreadfully to warn those who may make this career mistake. 

At the Torrance location, the leadership team are the epitome of Horrible Bosses. They are a walking contradiction of Room & Board's Guiding Principles and Philosophies. The leadership team cares very little of your personal life, and will use you for their own selfish needs; often times making subordinates perform their job functions. If you openly question their authority/decisions, it often results in disciplinary action. The Leadership team also makes it a point to hold down members of their location. The wage increases are minimal, advancement opportunities are nonexistent, and monetary benefits from the Central Offices are often withheld.

Beyond Management, the Torrance Distribution Center is still a poor career choice. The culture of the employees is sour and depression, and it continues to further decay. It permeates from most of the employees and follows you home. You will find yourself dreading the return to work shortly after you leave for the weekend. This results in many members of the Torrance location lacking motivation, desire, and the will to maintain this career path. Most veteran members of the Distribution center (myself included) are actively seeking employment in other companies and career fields. Unfortunately, this job presents few valuable transferable career skills. 

I came to Room & Board with high hopes, goals, and ambitions, and the promises of career advancement and growth. Those traits were stripped away slowly, and replaced with resentment, anger, and frustration. It leaves me now battered and worn, mentally aged beyond my physical years. If I can save you from the same damage, I will gladly do so.

I worked there almost two and half years as  service technician - perfect for me driving and complete repairs in client house. Two years by and of December ... I got maximum rise , I guess they were happy with my work. My most important work rule : be always professional, on time and do best job every time. Then new supervisor show up. It was good for some time, I even restore his private antique clock for him. But... one day when I was helping new coworker .... guy yelled at me - that supervisor was standing next to us and he ... just laughed out loud, I was totally shocked. Few small things happened later during a several weeks so I talk to boss about. When boss ask supervisor about what happened supervisor  said : " I don't recall that ".  But from then supervisor make his decision: to get me in trouble. There was a day when I comeback from my appointments and he with very angry face told me that I did ugly touch up on client table top .....? - never my project, nobody ask me to work on, there's two repair guys working full time on things like that...? A few weeks past .... next " set up " by him : six chairs reorder for this some client number of times , always with some damage. Again not my project, not my client,  I'm on the road all day long... : there was a note that I should inspect those chairs. I did , then I left note suggesting that chairs should be send back to vender - so many issues. Then I ask a guy who is in charge of new orders to come over and told him what should be done. Wrong.... a few days later first thing in the morning  I can see supervisor hiding behind door waiting when I finish conversation with boss . When  boss went back to his office supervisor come up to me told me how badly I handle that chair issue . Then he run to boss and told him that I never listen what I was told to do. And two days later I was let go for some unrealistic reason,  "This is not working.... ".  And liar supervisor said again and again on those issues " I don't recall that"........ - liar, liar, liar

Day starts off pretty smooth if you’re a driver. You clock in, and start loading pre-organized items assigned to your route onto the truck with your partner. Make sure everything’s good. When everyone’s done loading the their trucks you meet with the lead, quick group talk and then head out for the day. Some days the routes super easy and light, other days it’s heavy. If you’re not a heavy lifter or can at least carry half of a 150LB couch up flights of stairs, you’re going to have a tough time. When you’re seasoned enough to drive the 26FT truck they use, you’ll alternate days with your partner on the driving. Expect to get your partner switched. Not all the guys are good partners. Some are sloppy and/or lazy. It makes the day a drag. 
When done with your route, you return to the warehouse and help the warehouse workers finish their days work. Assembling, getting rid of cardboard, sweeping, etc. Some drivers get lunch and fiddle around for a bit to avoid getting back early. You get to learn pretty fast who avoids who. Environment is chill, it’s mostly married dudes. Most drivers have a chip on their shoulder, there’s some type of hierarchy system and older vet drivers don’t really open up or interact with newer employees. It’s weird but you’ll get to see that. Good luck. 

Delivering furniture can be difficult, physically and mentally. It requires physical strength, good problem solving skills, and an aptitude for customer service. You have to be able to carry a 250lb sleeper sofa up 3 flights of chicago stairs, give a demonstration of how it works, and answer any questions the customer has all before catching your breath.
   The company itself is great. The benefits are great. The pay is salary. They really look out for their employees and i cannot say this about any company I've worked for in the past. However, on a local level management does not follow the company's ethos, and seems to dislike a lot of company policies. They prioritize their goals and $$$$ over their employees. Youre looked at as nothing more than a number. You are expendable and they want you to know it. While that's typical of most companies/managers its very disappointing to learn its the case at room and board when the core of the company aims so high. 
   All in all, this is not the worst job ive ever had. The company is one of the best. Due to the nature of the work i would only recommend it to people with pretty extensive physical labor experience. 

I do not recommend working for an organization as backwards as this. Management micromanages and continually criticizes delivery roles. Management uses fear based tactics to maintain order.  Management actively promotes favoritism, and makes comments with racist undertones.  Company HR does not support those in delivery roles.  HR does not respect confidentiality.  There is no incentives for delivery roles, and there are no opportunities for promotion.  Customers constantly manipulate the drivers and take advantage of the liberal return policy.  Your decisions as driver are constantly overturned by management and customer service roles.  If a customer missed their appointment time,  management will force you to go back, deliver the items, and then go about your day.  This is a large problem since a lot of driving is required, and making exceptions will make you late for all future appointments.  This job has a high chance of developing back problems, even with proper lifting technique.  The pay is not worth it as a large chunk will be taken away for the subpar health insurance.

You either do transfers or receiving so either picking or putting furniture away. Almost all of it is heavy! And that’s the job in a nutshell. I wish I had enough time to really go into what it’s like here! No incentive for hardwork you just get rewarded with someone else’s hardwork that they couldn’t finish! No in-house H.R so good luck talking with someone in person if an issue arises with leadership. Coddle the weak and punish the strong! Here at R&B if you work your tail off you will be asked constantly to pick up the slack that people leave behind, this is daily! There are people that purposely go slow so hard workers finish their work for them. There is no accountability here. No advancement and regardless of what they say about P&M’s you will be asked to delete anything from this if it’s not what they want to hear. So any real truth about how the place really is will be deleted before they submit it to corporate  I’m sure it’s a great place to work if you work at Central but the warehouse is a joke. Once again no accountability for people that can’t complete their jobs. Stay far away!!

After reading review titled "Merchandise Quality of furniture." I had to write a review. Working in the position currently its obvious someone from management wrote that review. Coworkers are great. Management is not though. As far as the comment about there when you need them for support and questions. Yes, they are always at there desk just look at their internet history and their large checks they cash that they don't deserve for proof. We are supposed to "peer manage" so what you would go to them with questions or concerns for is beyond me. There are no monthly BBQ's either. Its more like once every year right while someone from Golden Valley headquarters is there so they can continue to pull the the smoke and mirrors routine.

The folks that you work with day-to-day are great but the company philosophy (Guiding Principals) are preached (but not practiced) by some in the the executive class.  Things can get gossipy, small-minded and as a result valuable time is squandered and working relationships can be tenuous. Not a company for the faint of heart!

You will learn many things, develop strong skill sets and then abandon them for the echo chamber of endless feedback - conversations and initiatives that go nowhere. 

If you are well read, like to chat and are exceptionally patient and resolute, this could be a good fit. If you are ambitious and driven, you will likely be frustrated working there. 

The story is that this was a great company to be a part of about 10 years ago. Now, not so much.

Leadership is a bunch of people that can’t preform the task themselves. Very unorganized and FAKE!

If you’re great and efficient at your job, they’ll expect you/guilt you into finishing other people’s jobs that are also unable to preform their job even if that means you’re working past your shift. While making smart remarks such as “oh you have 2:30pm fever.” Umm yes cuz that’s my shift and I didn’t ask to work extra. And they’ll say “you’re getting overtime”. 

The staff is a bunch of grumpy old men in the warehouse that think they can do as they please.

Very unhealthy place to work if you’re in the warehouse at any position. Beyond the warehouse I heard nothing but great things. Solely sharing my experience in the warehouse.  

The list I could make would take too much time. Hopefully this helps you STAY AWAY!!

Working for Room & Board was an incredibly interesting experience. For a while, the company was great, the people were great, and everything was good. Then one of my coworkers got promoted to a position that they were not suited for, and everything changed. I began to see just how ill equipped to lead they were, and things started rolling downhill, specifically onto those employees who were not interested in kissing up to our bosses. It became a culture of "my way or the highway" very quickly, and there was no room for questioning authority. While the pay and benefits were among the best I had ever seen, the way it was run was incredibly short sighted. You are just a number to these people, and can be easily replaced. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Associate designer 4 salaries reported	$37,684 per year
Delivery driver 1 salary reported	$27.65 per hour
Retail sales associate 2 salaries reported	$28.57 per hour
Senior system engineer 1 salary reported	$90,000 per year
Design consultant 1 salary reported	$64,875 per year

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