territory sales manager

customer service representative

product engineer

commodity manager

software engineer

Springs Window Fashions

What is the best part of working at the company?
Freedom from going to an office each day, and to set your own schedule.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Their systems are so unorganized that it takes an unusually long time to complete minor tasks that are required. They seem to take no responsibility for any of these issues. The way they handle so many things is so wasteful, yet they are constantly complaining about how costs need to be cut. My laptop was sent to me and had to have 2 service calls before I could use it. (The fact that they didn't pay for the extended warranty held the process up by 2 weeks, as they had to 'submit a work order' to buy the warranty before any service could be requested). They are very cheap when it comes to most anything. Company vehicle was delivered to me and it was not only filthy, it had been in an accident that was never reported. When I told them, I was the one that had to get three quotes for the repair and then it took 2 months to get it approved. The FSRs have to order sample blinds to install in store displays and it's a regular occurrence that they send the incorrect blind. Wasteful. 4 months on the job. One week after the new hires were training at HQ, they coldly let the whole FSR and RSM teams go. I would NEVER recommend them as an employer to anyone. They say they are a "Best Experience Company", but I can tell you that in the 40 years I have been in the workforce, and out of the dozen or more employers I've worked for, they are the WORST EXPERIENCE I have ever had. 


What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
They are very unorganized and wasteful in the way they do things. At the main office they give the impression that that are one big family, but that is not the vibe I got in the field. I felt like an outsider except for the few other outside people I got to know a bit. After 4 months on the job, the new hires were sent to HQ for training. One week after returning, they coldly let the whole FSR and RSM teams go. I would NEVER recommend them as an employer to anyone. They say they are a "Best Experience Company", but I can tell you that in the 40 years I have been in the workforce, and out of the dozen or more employers I've worked for, they are the WORST EXPERIENCE I have ever had. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Get in the care and got to the customers you have scheduled. Go into the store and hope that there is someone working in the Blinds/Home Decor department so that you can train them om something. Maintenance of displays is a huge part of the job in previously neglected territories (as mine was). At the end of the day, you must complete your CRM and order any books or blinds for displays.

New CEO is only worried about numbers now and customer service is secondary. Take as many calls as possible and provide minimal assistance to get off that call and onto another. Sad to say if you do not follow this way of work ethics you will NEVER get a raise. With over 5 years seniority and maxed out in training, unless you meet quotas for volume, you will end up making the same as a trainee. Even with dozens of customer praise emails you not be rewarded with a raise. And sad to say many of the “leads” are horrible at what they do and aren’t qualified to do their function. It’s all about what click you are in and who is your buddy in management whether you will ever be promoted. The co workers are great. A few of the leads and managers are ok. The benefits are great. Pay is horrible. Dread working there now and feel like I am just a body to fill a seat. Started off at this job excited and excelled at all parts of the job, but as time rolled on they changed the rules (like attendance policies and earned bonus time) and pay stayed the same with exception of raises that kept you even with starting wages.  There is a reason for the extremely high turnover and trainees never coming back. And this is why. Reality is local leadership is worried about their jobs and will not convey real data and info to corporate management. This is the start of the downfall of Springs Window Fashions. Customer service is where they led the industry but now that is lacking. Consumers and resellers are seeing it now and without them we need to rely on the actual product. Hope Mexico (Manufacturing) can step it up and get orders correct and made well to fill the void. Rant over. 

I have given my all to this company for 10 years; and they way the new management is treating employees is horrible.  There are so many complaints and nobody is doing a thing.  You basically pull our commissions and give us some so called bonus that benefits you new management to make money not your reps.  We work 50+ hrs a week, emails, texts from dissatisfied dealers with quality issues, turnaround times, pricing.  We constantly screw up and we have to be the "bad guy" and tell our dealers, sorry no more discounting on your hardware that we've been doing for years.  We are disappointing what dealers that are left.  Most have gong to Alta, Hunter and Norman and Worldwide.  So the reps are left with not opportunity for growth, no bonus and we are suffering.  What kind of investment companies do not know how this company is operating and think it's okay to treat your employees this way.  We are almost half way into the next quarter and NO GOAL?  Do you guy's really think this is okay?  HMMMMMM legal action might turn this around.  You might be able to bully some but quite a few of us are standing up.  We want what we are owed; we work very hard for this company.  You hire new don't know this industry and expect us to train?  Really, again expectations but can't compensate us.  My goal was raised 8% but other teammates had 1%, 2% even decrease.  This is nothing but a bunch of nonsense and just isn't right.  So many people are gone that the ones that are left are taking on addition workload and it literally takes days to a week to even get an answer on a response.  From customer service to support in divisions product across the company everyone is overloaded, stressed

I will say the people at the PA offices are wonderful and friendly. However they say they want a team driven atmosphere, and want to create the best experience for customers and employees a like, I never found that to be the case. While in theory their strategy should work coaches are there to help, but you almost never hear from them.
The entire time I worked there I never once met my direct supervisor other than in passing, my supervisor never introduced themselves at all. 

While I did not find the job difficult to do, however there were long stretches between breaks on occasion it would be four hours. In some cases associates were being reprimanded for bathroom breaks,  you are expected to take call after call which is to be expected in a call center, be aware if you can not sit for long periods of time this job is not for you.

There is a distinct lack of communication, and I initially had no idea who to ask about certain questions I had. And I never really felt like the company cared about us, the people there truly did care. But the company policy is stuck in the stone age and not progressing. Initial training was A+ after that though you essentially get very little training even when training on different lines. I think most of these issues are standard in a call center. I would be told one thing by a coach and then other employees would tell me something completely different, again I don't think it's the individuals fault I think the company needs to figure out a way to better dispense information

This is an extremely profitable company and makes a surprisingly good product. This is due to its unique manufacturing process that is extremely difficult to manage and maintain. Having said that, the following have been my observations:
- Due dates for projects are fixed and determined without any realistic planning. Things like equipment needs, network/power cabling needs, software development, basically anything requiring preparation. The expectation is simply "get it done". Planning is essentially unheard of here.
- Employee retention is poor in key positions throughout the company leaving large gaps in basic knowledge of operations.
- New employee resources are sometimes forgotten about during the first month or two during minimal to nonexistent training. This leaves the initiated employee wondering what to do after repeated requests for work. Some employees hired for specific remote jobs sometimes get commandeered by local managers ending up doing work they weren't hired for.
- Work tends to be hoarded and done by some middle management people rather than properly delegated.
- Middle management is invisible unless they want something.
- Work/Life balance here is encouraged but realistically not possible for many employees due to the daily demands of unplanned projects, fire fighting and the simple lack of key knowledgeable employees in the right company positions when needed.

Corporate takes computers home to work at home at night and weekends. Lunchtime meetings. 5:45PM meetings. Night time meetings. Meetings booked over prearranged meetings. Corporate part of building renovated so beautiful but nearly no one comes in on the optional work-from-home days. Bait and switch: Multiple people hired for one role then have to perform a different role they weren't hired for. Usually because someone else quit or was fired. Associates age quickly, good looks fade, gain weight, smiles replaced with frowns. Associates sick from the stress. Some Senior Leadership yells at associates. Manufacturing has worked mandatory overtime for months. Have been told we can't hire more people because we pay so low relative to other employers. Too much time spent replacing tooling in machines to make individual orders of components, should combine multiple individual orders to produce all the parts in one run. Manufacturing area machines are old. Black dust settles on everything. Roof leaks. Tarps and hoses and buckets allover when it rains or snow melts. Water drips down wall onto stacked chairs and across main walkway. They just put cones around the flow but don't fix the problem. One part of factory is unusable, entry blocked. Company fundraisers are fun. Like chili cook-off, Fall auction, Habitat for Humanity build, outdoor events and food trucks.

you are not willing to get rich since they are very, very tight with their money more so any yearly raises NEVER to anyone over 3% EVER.  Whomever told supervisors that NO OVERTIME EVER is NOT allowed for hourly employees obviously NEVER has worked a day in their life.   Things come up that may require 1-2 hours tops per week to get workload done to meet deadlines, yet all us hourly employees hear back is WHY did this and that NOT get done and complain.  I am so sick of that, especially when some supervisors have NO clue on how to do our jobs, yet they become our supervisors somehow.  All supervisors should be able to learn and do their co-workers who are being supervised jobs plain and simple.  If NOT knowing how,  how can they complain and understand the process of WHY some things take so long to do?   The common sense old saying of sit in my shoes for a day before complaining obviously is lacking at Springs.  

Insurance keeps going up and up yearly more so than it should the past 2 years while raises of 2-3% at most are stagnant at best and hourly pay is below industry standards.  Vacation/time off is above average but if NO time to  take off since NO overtime allowed at times,  is hard to take off work when wanted without feeling the wrath of ''why did not this get done? while supervisors do not understand their co-workers job duties in the first place to complain in the first place.

I worked for them for 14 years.  About my 10th year with the company, things started to change.  I did my job the same as I always had, always got exceeds requirements on my reviews and minded my own business.  My 10th year started a snowball effect of negativity from my supervisors.  I could never do enough to meet their needs, was told I needed to do more (even though I was taking calls on 6 phone lines) and it seemed like every day they criticized something I did from the day before.  I was actually told one day that I took 13 calls an hour (goal is 9) but I still could do more.  REALLY???!!!  I finally called them out on what they were doing, and all of a sudden, the "bullying" stopped.  I told them that they were trying to force me out because I had been there 14 years and made a good amount of money.  They wanted me to quit so they could hire someone else to make $3.00 + less an hour than I made.  Of course they denied it, but I wasn't the only person they were bullying.  Seemed they were doing this with several people with seniority.  Well, in August they got their wish.  I was hired elsewhere and quit.  Best decision I have ever made.  Oh, and I was a work at home associate.  They should realize there is a problem when a person is willing to leave the comfort of their home.  But they don't care, I was just a #.

I have been with this organization for 7 years; and was a great company to work for up until 2 years ago.  It started out with micromanaging, actions selling, tracking pointing fingers etc.  I as most of my colleagues work 60 or more hours a week.  Our product quality is very bad and turnaround time even worse.  Then they want us to be robotic and report to dealers with scripted verbiage to use which they are becoming very defensive about.  This company is trying to be Hunter Douglas but we are far from it.  They do not have a relationship with their dealers like this and far exceed our product offerings.  We have been nothing close to innovative and  we have been giving feedback for years with no change in sight.  We are overpriced and our dealers are moving to Norman, Hunter because we are no longer the affordable company.  If we want to justify price increases we need a better product.  You then penalize us and basically pull our commission to a bonus structure.  To even get the 85% you would have to start delivering on a better timeframe from which you presently are.  Why are we being punished for your lack of quality, etc.??  We have families to support and cutting our pay by 30-40,000 is just horrific.

Overtime is mandatory more often than not, and you never know when you will be told about it. They had good perks but then they started taking everything away once they were acquired and established a new CEO.  They set new guidelines that do not make sense and they pit coworkers against each other, instead of working as a team.  People have worked there for decades and make a $1 more than a new hire.  They refuse to hire new people to replace retirees and people who have resigned, leaving the stress on the workers that are left, to pick up the slack.  Management- they all talk and hang out with each other but do not even say hello to the people they manage.  The HR person likes to use pretty words to make it sound like it’s not bad when they take something good away and replace it with something lackluster. 

They plan a Customer Service week but really it’s just to give management something to pretend to work on.  They literally spend months planning it, but it’s half assed every year. 


To wrap things up:

They play favorites.
They don’t communicate with employees.
They once were great, now they treat people like garbage.
They micromanage.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Territory sales manager 3 salaries reported	$74,333 per year
Customer service representative 3 salaries reported	$15.50 per hour
Product engineer 3 salaries reported	$83,333 per year
Commodity manager 3 salaries reported	$120,667 per year
Software engineer 2 salaries reported	$107,500 per year

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