retail sales associate

assistant manager

store manager

warehouse associate

janitor

Wild Bills Tobacco

A typical day at the store I worked at was fast paced really enjoyable customers i really loved my customers and my associates. Something I learned from this job was how to be a manager and to trust in my abilities because you will be left to survive on your own my district manager left me alone in my first 2 months of being a manager he didn’t visit the store for almost 3 full months just because it didn’t cross his mind even though they’re supposed to have a visit schedule. The culture can be very great depending on who you are around the manager of K1 phenomenal great culture great teacher. You look at the K3 manager he can be very disruptive to the culture you are building. Workplace can be decent as long as you are a favorite staff member and you cannot file a complaint against peers or anyone higher than you because it is looked down upon. I really did love my job I excelled fast within the company I started out as part time and within a year I was almost a store manager. With that being said though this company has a tendency to hide things and hold people to different standards. You may be held accountable but someone else may not be held accountable for the same kind of behavior. This company will also not be forgiving you can be on no correctives and be terminated because you may be ruffling feathers. My district manager was great person like really good at talking but at the same rate he did not have my back when it came to anything regarding my work even though I busted my butt for everything. The most enjoyable part of working for wild bills is the connections you are able to make with your coworkers and peers I invited so many of them to my wedding and I am still friends with most of them even after my departure. I have thought well and hard about my time with this company and I would give it a 3 out of 5 rating just because it did pay my bills I was there for 2 years and the connections I built are irreplaceable. The missing 2 stars come from the last 2 months with the company where it appears they just started acting like a total different company than before. The way they started acting within the past 2 months led me to finding new jobs before I was ultimately let go. Read the handbook and become familiar with business laws because you will be expected to know them even if you aren’t trained in them the company will lie to protect themselves if they need to. If I had to describe Wild Bills Tobacco in 3 words it would be CONNECTIONS FAVORITISM LOYALTY.  

Former employee here.
Do. Not. Work. For. Them. I would absolutely give zero stars if I could.
And here's why. 

- HORRIBLE management, both corporate and in-store. They will try to pep you up with empty emails and area manager meetings that say "great job! you're doing good! keep going!" and then run you into the ground and treat their employees like property. Expect to be treated like you're 4 years old. 

- They do not offer ANY breaks or lunch periods and you're usually working between 8 to 11 hours in a day. Sometimes longer.

- They push you to sell their cheap products (cigars, vapes, etc.) and you get absolutely nothing out of it in return. And you're reprimanded and yelled at if you don't sell enough or "mention a GREAT deal they have going on".

- Want stability with a schedule? Forget about it. You're treated as an on-call employee and they expect you to drop everything to come in on your day off, even for asinine reasons such as "we could use the help", etc. They will also change the schedule on a dime.

- I was promised a FULL TIME JOB when I applied, and was lied to about that. My first week there was 40 hours, and then immediately cut to 36 because they will not give benefits. 

- Want a raise? It won't happen. They conveniently "forget" to raise your paycheck, even after being with them for 90 days. And reminding them was a constant chore and a wild goose chase.

- Ultimately a shady, seedy business. They do not trust their employees with ANYTHING and you're watched 24/7 via cameras. Not that that's a problem, but we were not even allowed to take the trash out by ourselves because we could be "taking something out of the store". 

- The weekly store cleaning list is daunting and unrealistic. Be expected to clean a massive glass room or vape juice wall by yourself on a busy Saturday afternoon on top of many other things and you're yelled at if it's not done. 

- They love write-ups. You're probably going to get 3+ your first 90 days with little to no warning. 

- A dead end job in it's entirety. You will "advance" in the company by getting a title (shift leader, assistant manager, etc.) but they don't mean anything. Your pay is effected very little and the only way to get promoted is if corporate asks you to jump, you have to reply with, "How high??" You can't make any decisions on your own accord or you'll be written up, suspended from work or demoted.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. I am saving trouble for the next person that applies to the Mount Pleasant location - they'll have your life by the short hairs.

Working with Wild Bills Tobacco was a huge learning experience for me. Starting out as a retail sales associate, our tasks, job responsibilities, expectations, and etc. were only communicated to us verbally. It is only very recently that Wild Bills Tobacco has developed a training program for its' employees that is standardized across the company. Another new feature of the company is PTO, and insurance. It was 2 years into my tenure there, and 28 years since the company's inception that these benefits were finally introduced. Introduced at a rate where most anyone with a dependent in their life would not be able to afford. This is due to the fact that all positions on the store side of the company are severely underpaid. A typical day of work consists of being understaffed, with far too much foot traffic for management to be able to get any tasks done. Each store is given the bare minimum amount of hours allotted so as to make it as profitable as possible. They do not take into consideration how much stress being understaffed can put on a store team, and as a manager throughout your time you are constantly handed more responsibilities without compensation. Workplace culture was great because each store is able to maintain their own culture and environment. Management culture is overwhelmingly positive to the point where they ignore critical issues within the company, such as a mass exodus of staff. The hardest part of the job is trying to balance every task required of you while also being tasked with constant development of your team, communication with corporate, flexibility to adapt to a change at any time, and no respect for what your time may be being allotted to. From the bottom to the top, everyone is overworked including the District Managers. We were regularly supposed to see our District Managers every 2 weeks, and often months would go by without any visits or personal contact. The most enjoyable part of the job was interacting with customers and the store team, which through time bonds are formed that make the day to day stress worth it, if only for a time.

This place treats their employees like cattle. You don't get breaks (even if you work 11 hours) unless you demand one (this includes lunches). You don't get to sit down for a few minutes (even on 11 hour shifts)... and if you DO sit down, they will call you out to help customers. Sometimes, you can get a good manager who understands, but they are few and far between.
Corporate is hypocritical in their policies. They expect YOU to uphold the policies while they, themselves (within the store) do not. 
This place offers zero benefits (and barely any semblance of an employee discount - which they monitor on a monthly basis) and barely above minimum wage pay. 
In addition, they change plan-o-grams on you every other day (literally) so you will have just finished rearranging the store and they will give you new plan-o-grams and have to change it again. Then they reprimand you if it's not done right away. 
Corporate soaks in all the cash while the actual workers get sh-t on and treated like rubbish (there's a reason there's a very high turn-over). 
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: The vast majority in the company are dog-eat-dog back-stabbers who will do whatever it takes to climb the ladder. Trust no one in the company above Sales Associate. I've seen them write people up for no reason just to save their own posterior (literally seen them fire people who weren't at fault for the sole purpose of self-preservation). 

I highly recommend not working for this company. They are the epitome of corporate. If you absolutely, positively need a job ASAP and this is an option, take it... but DO NOT STOP JOB SEARCHING in the meantime. 
This company is horrible.

The pay isn't enough to live on unless you're a manager, and if you are a manager, they act like a 50 hour work week is reasonable, so you're even more overworked and underpaid. The way the company is structured, they have too many stores and not enough employees to staff them, so some stores have one employee working from open to close every day,  and they send employees to several different stores throughout their 'career' with wild bills, and each store is its own 'separate company' so not only will you get a W-2 from each store you spend even one day at (which doesnt even make sense unless theyre forging W-4 forms), you also have no chance of filing for unemployment if they've tricked you into working at multiple different stores (with that extra dollar per hour, give me a break!) The corporate oversight borders on micromanagement, but don't let that fool you into thinking they'll ever support their staff if there's a problem, because to them, you're the perfect scapegoat, they'll just throw you under the bus and replace you with another sycophantic yes man. Additionally  ever since they've rebranded, their training methods are the stuff nightmares are made of. You don't get a lunch break when you work for Wild Bill's, you get to sit in the office scarfing down your food as fast as the heartburn will allow, while watching the monitors in case more customers come in than the other person working can help at once, and if you're the only person working, that's tough, and you should've thought of that before being human and working for this company 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Serving the customers, building a report with regulars 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Lack of accountability by staff that weren’t very nice, actually made me feel bullied and the atmosphere created a intimidating work environment that I was made to feel like I had to accept bc I’m guessing seniority wasn’t on my side .  This bullying is the reason I left. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Company culture was as expected the DM and RM were great very supportive, made me feel like I mattered and was a valued employee.  The work atmosphere was tense and uncomfortable from day one.  I worked at several wild bill locations and had a very welcoming experience.  Staff and management at these locations made me feel valued and heard.  My location not so much and if I complained and my manager worked with me on improving the situation based on my concerned I’d be treated worse by one co worker and she would go to district manager to complain about me.  I’m still trying to figure what she could have to complain about?   When we worked together she did nothing but sit in the back and watch me working and than pick apart my performance , I was constantly talked about behind my back was like being in high school all over again. It was awful.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Coming serve customer keep busy with stocking and cleaning repeat .  And being belittled and and tattled on by a co worker for letting her do nothing but sit down and I didn’t all the laboring work without complaint.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The work isn't physically demanding and the customers are great.  We are there to help feed their habits.  You get to listen to music while you work, and
It's a clean environment . If you are willing to travel to other locations, you can get a lot of hours and bonuses, depending on how far you travel.


What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
They do not value their employees.  If you are a male and/ or a favorite,  your life will be much easier. Communication isn't the best.  You'll get PTO after a year, but it mysteriously disappears from your bank and HR does not care and is not helpful. You are being watched on camera at all times by security and management.  They do not promote from within unless you are a favorite,  even if you are capable and qualified, and have been a hard working,  dedicated employee. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The company has a misogynistic culture.  They are quick to criticize, and try to balance it out with some "atta boys", and small rewards for making the company big money.  The customers are great, it's a smoke shop. They make you think that if you work hard and dedicate yourself, that you could move up in the company,  but the truth is, they do not return the loyalty.  


What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A lot of time at the cash register and assisting customers with sales,  helping them to make choices, and upselling. You will spend a fair amount of time restocking,  rearranging, and cleaning.  At least you get to listen to music, which is really nice.

I have worked at Wild Bills for a little under 4 years now. And truly you get what you put into it, if you are willing to put in the hours, the sweat, the elbow grease, there's not only room for improvement but room to thrive. If you prove you can consistently overcome challenges thrown your way, they do see value in their employees, especially the management team. 

Far from perfect though. As a manager the job description does consistently change and you have to be willing and able to roll with those punches with slim to no extra compensation for that. There can be a double standard between the field team and corporate when it comes to upholding expectations, where sometimes it does feel as if they hold us to a higher expectation than themselves. That's definitely that hardest part of the job to swallow and has been the hardest to try and adjust to. 

They most enjoyable part of this job will always be the people, customers, coworkers, corporate, they live and breath wild bills. You get 10 wild bills employees in a room and it looks like adult summer camp. So fun and energetic, definitely an environment I strive to be apart of continuing and bettering! You feed off of the pure energy and excitement of the staff here, it's honestly crazy. 

I believe I've learned a lot about myself as a leader, and definitely sharpened a lot of skills that will follow me wherever I choose to take my career, whether that be staying here or moving on. I've learned how to advocate for myself and my team in a way that is productive and effective. As well as learned so much about time management and delegation. 




I’ve worked here for a few years so I think it’s safe to say i’ve gotten to know this company. This job used to be amazing, I used to love it. Until as of 2023 corporate decided they were going to be more hands on and ruin the standards this company was built on. Be prepared for terrible communication and low expectations for associates, and high expectations if you’re a manager. The typical pay rate between an associate and management is now only a few dollars which is crazy considering you’re responsible for an entire location. They obviously don’t care about their store level employees considering there is no PTO, you can’t call off without being written up, and god forbid you ask for additional staff to maintain you store- they’ll just find someone who won’t speak up and have them take your place. They don’t offer pto and they require you as a manager to work 50-55 hours. The only pro was that you got paid 20-30 hours of over time each check. It left no time for a healthy work- life balance, which ultimately for me made me lose a lot of friends and grow more distant with my family due to time spent apart. If you care about your mental health and enjoy having a somewhat normal social life- I’d click off this application. I only wish I would have read the reviews before I applied.

The company has strong, successful management structures in place. For a business that is "small business" in feel; the HR department is well developed and relatively caring. 
Unfortunately, for whatever reason we get a fair amount of "bad apples". However, if you have strong work ethic and care about your personal quality of work, you will succeed. 
As long as you prove yourself fit to move up, movement within the company is very feasible. 
As long as you put in the effort to pay attention during your training, you can learn a lot in a short period of time. I have found that your experience at Wild Bill's is almost entirely based on your own perspective of the work. If you are optimistic and ready to learn; your area managers recognize this and only help you grow. 
Workplace culture depends on location and coworkers, of course. However, overall you will find positive environments of people learning to work together. 
The hardest part may include "tedious" protocol as you move up. However, for starting positions, I suppose some may struggle with task management. However, as long as you keep healthy communication with your manager, no slipping should happen. 
The most enjoyable part of the job is co-workers, positive customers, and the sense of accomplishment found in a hard day's work.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Retail sales associate 1 salary reported	$17.00 per hour
Assistant manager 5 salaries reported	$15.23 per hour
Store manager 1 salary reported	$45,000 per year
Warehouse associate 2 salaries reported	$16.50 per hour
Janitor 1 salary reported	$16.00 per hour

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