24 hour drive each way? I wouldn't do it.

No - 24 miles each way - wow, I actually did write 24 hours LOL. I must be really dreading the drive. It's down the freeway (although I am scared of the freeway and it can get really jammed). I live say a mile or less from the freeway. The local roads would take longer distance wise although I might take local roads home to escape my tension of freeway driving.

I would go tomorrow and see how bad the drive is and how tension inducing it is, too. If it seems doable, you could try it for a week and if you don't like it or it seems as though it won't be profitable enough, quit!

Three, to me you seem not to thrilled with it. Do you really need the job now, or can you wait until something you'll like comes along? Do you get paid at all if you don't make a sale? Have you checked if this company belongs to the Better Business Bureau? Have you investigate them at all?
I'm just concerned for you is all. There are so many scams out there.

Eileen you asked 2 very different questions; should I try this and what would you do if this was you? It's interesting that you have 2 sets of people who 'know' you giving you different advice - kids say yes and friends say no. I'm not sure what to make of that - why do you think that is?

I don't have a successful selling bone in my body other than a bit of retail. Beyond that I failed miserably with following leads and cold calls so I would pass on this type of job. It takes a very strong constitution (you know the kind I mean!) to face rejection repeatedly and come up smiling for the next potential sale and let's be honest, we know there will be rejection + with this type of sales job.

So those were the long answers. The short answer is, what is your gut telling you to do? (sorry for that reference - again, you know what I mean!)

When I have a big decision to make I make a pro/con chart. I know this sounds risky, but what have you got to loose? Do you have to pay to go to the training session? If they want ANY money from you, turn and run.

Besides the training, how often do you have to go into the office?

Personally, I don't like the sounds of this company -- no pay unless a sale is made -- while you also have to pick up the daily expenses of the job. Sounds more like self-employment, with some leads, if you are up for that. If that sits alright with you, then I might try the job for a short amount of time. If it is tough to make sales in this economy, I would not continue giving them my time, the use of my car, and absorbing the cost of phone or other expenses on behalf of their company.

Can you obtain any sales data from or on the company before spending your money on this venture? Can they give you a framework for the amount of time from lead to sales contract? People may sit for months on these decisions. What happens to the commission if you no longer work for the company but your customer eventually buys.

Have you seen the quality of their products yet?

I would also estimate how much the car and phone expense is going to cost beforehand.

I'm surprised they are not required to pay minimum wage. Thought that was Federal law.

This place does most or all of Home Depot's cabinet refacing. I would be wearing a Home Depot badge and driving to people's home to measure and sell them the doors and veneers and countertops too including granite. I would have all the samples with me in the car.

No sale - no pay. Now, if I want to move up in the company that is possible. The CEO started as a salesman years ago too.

The office does have the official Home Depot sign on it. It's a large national company.

Training is 3 or 4 hours each morning for two weeks if I remember correctly. I think someone goes with me to the first few appts - I don't remember if he said this. There are benefits like 401K and health insurance but that is what I need to hear more information.

The manager said the typical income is $60,000 a year. It's one of those things you would have to see it to believe it. And I have to see how pushy I have to be to make a sale. If I have to become some obnoxious used car salesman type of person, that ain't me. If the products are good and the customers are serious then maybe sales will happen without me having to become a jerk.

It is not my dream job because I do not like driving all over the place. And there is no money for my time.

That's why I keep applying elsewhere. Now if I do start making good money I will still be looking for a job but I can afford to be much pickier.

I have already done the drive - for the interview. But that was not during rush hour and there were no accidents. The furniture store I had applied to was also down that way but I took the local roads down there. I ended being 5 minutes late because of all the road construction and red lights and traffic. I think he wanted someone younger. But I think my age might be an advantage with this refacing job going to people's houses. I might be about the same age as many of the customers.

Thanks for your opinions.

Speaking only as someone who took a real estate course (at own expense) and started working in it when interest rates soared to 20% I would not again do anything like that. My DH to this day almost 30 years later refers to it as Lucky's expensive hobby. I would have done better flipping burgers. I don't regret doing this as consider everything to be life experience but it wasn't a financially viable choice in careers at that time.

I think it's wise to know as much about the choices we need to make as possible. I really was not well informed. No harm done but did cost me money I could have used elsewhere.

Make a list of pro's and con's to help clarify for yourself. You'll know what is best.

And, yes, do some googles or other research on the company, for any employee or customer complaints.

Sounds like it could be a scam or self-serving setup. Being that, they use 'free' people to line up some customers, the turnaround is slow, employees give up because it doesn't pay, maybe the customer eventually buys, and then they don't have to pay commission, either, because the sales rep no longer works there. Find out what the contract terms are on that aspect!

Squirrel, that is another thing - I have to go into that office everyday to pick up my appts and they may be very far away sometimes. He said he would try to give us appts near our houses. But sometimes we have to go far way. No sure I could do this.

It does seem to be many jobs are in Tempe area. I keep applying for places closer too. I don't even look at jobs in Chandler, Gilbert, Surprise or Mesa. Way too far out. Phoenix is a huge place - we are #5 in size in the country plus it is very spread out. Our traffic is not nearly as bad as LA or NYC but I have tried to stay off the freeways.

Eileen, does the training session have anything to offer you? Would it be a chance to pick up some new skills or polish some old ones? Would this lead to good contacts or a wider network? At least this would be something to put on a resume. It's not good to have long gaps of unemployment.

I assume the people you'd be dealing with have contacted HD because they're interested in looking at products, so it's not like you'd be walking in cold & pushing a product on someone who isn't the least bit interested. I'd trust someone like you with your good eye for design and sensible nature -- maybe you'd do better at this kind of work than you think.

Not sure what your financial situation is, however, this seems like a lot of work for a limited income. I would need more information before "signing up". The up side is that it would get you out of the house and learning a trade. Who knows what could happen. If this isn't a passion of yours, is school an option? There are a lot of certification programs with community colleges.
Trying something new is a great thing. If it costs you money an money is already concern, think carefully.
Best of Luk to you.

I would be interested in the sales training because although I have had 35 years or so of retail experience I still could use improvement on my sales skills. This manager says they teach you how to deal with customer's objections or hesitations.

I did look at the BBB site. The company gets a B+. But I did find two complaints about the company (not my area's office) that had a story from a customer who at first thought that the cabinet refacing people actually worked for Home Depot or that the installers worked directly for Home Depot. I know that this is not true when I worked at Lowes. The installers, the granite people, all are subcontractors/ I think they have to wear Home Depot badges or hats or shirts. I guess this customer was not happy with the quality of the installation work but he said they came back out each time he complained. A 2nd complaint was from an installer himself that said he had little experience but others he worked with had a lot less than him. Plus I guess the prices are pretty high. The customer was complaining also about the "smooth talking salesman." That would be me. This customer said he had no intention of signing a contract but did anyway. Well, if he had no intention of signing a contract why did he even have the company come out?
I have to deal with sales rejection all the time. I do not take it personally. But I will have to examine the quality of the items. If it is crap, I do not want to sell it.

Yes, the leads are names of people who have called Home Depot and asked for someone to come out.
Thanks again.

I'm wondering about the "typical" sale for $9,000 in cabinet refacing -- I priced new door and drawer fronts (about 40 pieces total) and the estimate was for about $1,000, not including installation or stickum facings.

Was this the job that DIDN'T call you back so you called them and THEN the guy said yes, you're hired? I wonder if they "hire" lots and lots of folks knowing only a small percentage stay with the job, since it sounds kind of brutal.

Sugar, I have worked as a custom home designer and a kitchen and bath designer too. Refacing is not real design, ya know?

I have gone to architecture school and have my BS plus I went to all of graduate school but no thesis. There are NO architecture jobs unless you have like 10-20 years experience. Once the architecture firms start hiring again I would be going there.

Finances - I live on a low unemployment that does not even pay my rent. My son will have to help me pay for July. I hope to file for bankruptcy soon as soon as I can afford to pay the attorney.

Thanks so much

Well, that sounds more encouraging. I was going to suggest maybe trying the HD or Lowes for one of their kitchen designer positions instead.

Can you talk to any of the reps to see what the drill is like and how well their investment pays off? I'd also try to find out what the turnover is and if it's high, why.

Around here, Lowes seems to be a much more reputable company than HD, and with happier customers. HD is terrible. Maybe Lowes has a sales program to check out also. Sounds kind of like the people the big boxes send around for window sales.

Is this part of their Home Services division? They used to go back and forth between using in-house training and outside contractors.

I did work at Lowes as a kitchen designer. I left them pretty quickly when I found a job at a high end kitchen and bath design shop. But that place I left too because the manager ripped me off and it was so much work. I had to work the showroom, go to customer's house, measure, come up with a design, pick out items for customer like the granite, the floor, etc., price that all out with markup of say 35% or more, figure out installation costs - that I never could do, present the project to customer and have them sign contract. Then you had to keep going to customer's house to check on project. I did enjoy the designing a lot plus picking out the materials. It was a $10 an hour which was subtracted from your commission.
Then I found a job as a custom home designer that paid a salary. That took the commission stress off. The owner though was an egomaniac. In fact, last time I looked at his website, the only people left there that were there when I worked at the company was the owner and his sister in law. Even his business partner had hightailed it out of there.

Yes, this refacing company is part of the Home Services, I think.

Lowes had the employees install all the steel shelving in the 1st store built in WI. We worked 6 days a week, like 10 hours a day for a salary, no overtime. People were getting hurt a lot. We all had to wear hardhats during that time. Then the best part is that I was trained in 2020 software and we had reps training us in granite and appliances. That part was good. Wearing that idiot red vest was horrid. And I could not wear earrings or skirts even though i was a designer. We still had to mop the floor and climb ladders which is not what I wanted to do. Plus we had to do the Lowes cheer each morning during construction - Give me a L, give me an O, yuck - that's too much for me at 6am. Our area manager was a jerk too.

It was hard to go back into Lowes to shop - brought back bad memories.

Strict commission sales can be one of the most lucrative type of jobs to have.

Many times the top salespeople can earn more than their salaried managers (not counting pyramid sales, here). However, you won't be having any repeat business so it would help if you knew how to get your own leads and the resulting 20%.

Home Depot still has more cachet with the public than XYZ Refacing & Granite would.

Good Luck.

Typical sale is $9,000, typical income is $60,000. That comes out to 66 sales a year or more than one a week.

What is the tax liability on commissioned employees? Is it better than being self-employed?

I would at least show up for the first session.

ThreeD, I wish we all had the answer for you, but you know you're the only one who can say for sure if this is the right thing for you. I'm an optimist though so I tend to lean towards trying things as opposed to walking away from them. I've had that "I don't want this job" feeling on almost every job I've ended up getting and subsequently loving. My personal opinion is that with this sucky economy, people need to start learning how to think outside of the box and be more creative with their talents because as time passes, things probably aren't going to get any easier, I love real estate and after moving to the midwest, I invested in becoming a Realtor. Like you, I didn't have any other prospects and I felt I should give it a try. Like the saying goes, "it takes money to make money". The investment was hefty, but 3 years later, I'm doing "ok" financially but more importantly, I've never been happier mentally. I'm self employed out of my home, which was a personal goal.

For every one of the negative reasons you are thinking this job won't work, isn't there maybe a be positive side to it as well? For example, when we lived in SoCal, traffic was horrible, but that 45 minute drive home was the "me time" I needed to relax with my thoughts before getting home. Working on commission can mean having a more flexible schedule so it's easier to work around family issues and in essence you are your own boss, and in charge of your own success. And if they are willing to train you, at least you will be learning something that you may not already know about. Since you haven't gotten any other offers as of yet, what do you have to loose?
People do have less money to spend now than they did a year or two ago. Whether that means they are refacing more, I don't know, but the Kitchen Designers at your local Home Depot Stores can probably give you some insite. If it were me, I would start the training and during the process, do some research. Give the job a trial period to see if you're right for the job and if the job is right for you. And last thing to consider: If you don't at least give it a try, will you have regrets?
--Lukki

I had a sales job for a few years, commission only. Did really good - got to the be in the top 2% of a national company. However - and this is the reason I left - it took a LOT of time. Remember, you are driving around (which takes time, and obviously you don't enjoy), you have to meet people on their own time schedule (which is usually not 9-5), and you have to deal with re-scheduling when your potentials have something 'come up'.
It sounds like you have the know-how to do this job, I don't think it's a scam at all, and yes, salespeople do very well if they PUT THE TIME INTO IT!
I personally would not go into sales if I just wanted a 'job'. If I wanted 'money' at the expense of a life, then I would do it again. Hope this helps you. It's hard to understand unless you've been in the sales field before. Good luck, whatever you choose.

When I got my HD windows, it was through Home Services. After the nightmare installation, I checked the BBB. They were headquartered down in Atlanta, as I recall. They were flagged for having more than the normal amount of complaints -- something like 342. Most were not taken care of. I had a ridiculous and inexcusable experience with them. Took nine months for a one-day install to finally end. Even the regional supervisor that came out said it was the worst installation he'd ever seen and ripped them out and started over. The guy didn't re-cap, he just caulked the shutters to the building! Never did the inside trim that was to be included (I didn't care at that point). They even had to order 3 sets of windows because they couldn't get the order correct.

Holley, thanks. The appts are set at 10am, 2pm or 6pm and the presentation/sales pitch is 2-3 hours long. Most couples would want a 6pm appt. Plus I think the company want both husband and wife to be there to make the decisions and sign the contract.

I really need some kind of job - I have been out of full time work since mid August 2008. But if I found a steady architecture job not too far away I would take that over this. I might do this (if I can make good sales) until I find something better.

The days I don't have appts., the manager says the salespeople set up a table at the Home Depot they are assigned to. You then try to get leads that way. Again, no sales, no pay. Yes, it does seem you have to put in a lot of hours and effort to make the money. I will have to see if this job is for me, I guess.

wow squirrel. that is not good.

I don't think there can be any harm in going to the training and seeing what it's all about -- you can always quit if you don't like it.

I wonder though...do you have an IKEA near you? IKEA offers great benefits (I believe they used to give health insurance even to part time people - don't know if they still do that) and they're a progressive and fun place to work from what I've heard.

They have a great kitchen department with nice cabinets at a cheap price, and while it wouldn't be full-fledged design, your background in it would certainly help when you're trying to help people figure out what doors to get and what size stuff they need to order. I bet you'd be great at that. Our IKEA is always hiring - you might try applying there if you have one (and I have to think that Phoenix must have one).

Good luck with whatever you decide!

HD employees have said it's a terrible company to work for, like you describe Lowes, but that it's great training ground.

I've heard IKEA, however, is a really great company and fun to work for.

Does sound like this is a bird in hand, for the time being, if you want to invest.

I see two red flags.

1) This may not apply to your job, but dh has said before that painters he knew worked out of HD with their vendor program and it was a really bad deal. They had to pay a yearly fee in addition to HD taking a big chunk out of their labor fee.

2) This may be more important, I know it would be to me, because I too have bathroom problems that have continued after a surgery. I HAVE to know where a bathroom is and have access to it at any time. Being stranded somewhere is just not an option. And not eating only makes it worse when I finally do eat.

The only Ikea is about 1 to 2 miles away from the cabinet refacing place (and within sight of the furniture store where I had interviewed two and a half weeks ago). I can stop there and pick up an application tomorrow after training if I go.

But unless my unemployment gets deposited into the debit card before I am ready to go tomorrow morning, I won't be able to get gas and my gas light came on this past weekend. Also I have to see how the bathroom situation is. I tried to only eat breakfast today but I got hungry this evening and made mashed potatoes. I was trying to make sure my whole colon was empty before morning.

Thanks everyone!

Are you unable to eat cheese? That's great for stopping things! As is blood pressure medicine (I take a low dose for migraines).

Eileen, I'm so sorry about your health problems and this job situation. I've been thinking about you and praying for all evening. If you are one to pray I'd recommend doing so and "seeing" what He says. He has never failed to let me know what's best. The right feeling about whatever I've asked about just comes to me. God Bless, Becky

I'd take it!!!! I've never had a job I actually liked, but I've always been employeed and always had money because of it! So just buckle down and do it! I love Lowes and Home Depot, never worked for either.....but why not...? Right?
Just try to make the best of it.

I am sorry to hear of your medical problems....this sounds promising!!! Money makes a huge difference in our lives if you can just survive the job.....smile.....wishing you the best...

Thanks all. Well, UE came through and the dog and I took a drive up the road about 3 miles (I drove) to get to the gas station with the better prices. This gas station was 6 cents cheaper a gallon than the closer station. Geez, I have not bought gas for quite a while. The prices are going back up. The price was like $2.73.9 a gallon for unleaded. Some days I have not even left the house except to water the plants, feed the birds and get the mail. What are you all paying in your part of the country?

So if my body behaves tomorrow morning I will head on down the road. I am not sure if I should take the freeway since that might be jammed up. I will listen to the radio before I leave the house. They give the traffic report so you know what's stopped up. Oh, and the weather channel local on the 8's and its website show the road slowdowns too.

Ok, if I make it there I will report to you all tomorrow and let you know how my 1st day went.

Another thing to worry about - health insurance. I have to make sure I ask about that tomorrow. Oh, and I have to remember to stop at Ikea for an application.

Best of luck to you today! Please let us know how it goes!

PS The doors on my kitchen cabs in my previous home were from HD and we were soooo pleased. I believe it was like $1500 to purchase them and it made my kitchen look brand new. We bought thru HD and installed ourselves.

Still praying Eileen! God Speed.

Good luck today ThreeD, looking forward to hearing how your new adventure went!

I had Home Depot come out and give me an estimate. I said okay but I had three days to change my mind. I did a little more research and discovered that Home Depot charges a lot of kitchen refacing. I found someone who did it with better doors for over $3,500 less so I canceled my order.

Are you going to be the one actually doing the refacing or are you just selling it? If they train you to reface and you get good at it and enjoy it, you can always go out on your own and be your own boss.

Eileen... let us know how today went. Praying that things work out for you.

And if you are going to let the dog drive... make sure he wears a seat belt and stays under the speed limit!

Take care,

June