6 month anniversary, laid off by netshops

So its been 6 months. I know I've moved on to bigger and better things. More opportunity with [shock!]actual potential to move up in a company[/shock!]! Hope everyone else in the Netshops Layoff Class of '07 is moving on in a similar fashion. (Maybe that'll be the theme for Doug's next sync meeting...)

A special message for Doug, Tina, and all the other management who participated in the layoffs - both here in Omaha and those that took place in Duluth:

Simon's identity?!? Netshops shill trying to get ahead.

I've heard that "Simon" - the person defending Netshops for so long was really Joey S. (However you spell his name. Whatever. It is what it is.)

Poor Joey. Always passed over for promotion - not even good enough to be made Andrew's assistant, dealing with transportation issues. Y'know, just my opinion, but I think it was your sh!tty attitude that held you back. If you didn't have such a big head and had actually been open to criticism, you might've have moved up.

Maybe sucking up to management by causing trouble on this blog was your ticket to moving up? I sure hope so - you need something to justify your sad existence...

Response from transition team member - Temps running Thralow.net sites

Kind of a lengthy response, but I can understand how they might be upset. Keep in mind, to my knowledge, I've never heard from this individual before, whereas I have heard from the other person/persons providing info on Netshops - thus the reason for my belief that this individual was someone spinning the story for Netshops. (Wouldn't be the first time someone from the company has tried to stir the pot here, right 'Simon'?)

Anyway, here it is:

I can assure you that I am not a Netshops shill. Please do not assume that because I said that the information you received from your previous source was
incorrect it means that I am from NetShops and want to cover something up. I have very few positive things to say about NetShops and am very happy to be back in
Minnesota. I am most upset by the fact that you made assumptions on my legitimacy based upon unsubstantiated information you received from your previous source.

I would be interested to know who gave you that information and how they can "prove" that it is true. Of course I do not expect you to give me that information but I would suggest that you ask them to prove it.

There are still quite a few previous Thralow employees who still cannot let this go. We were all very lucky to work for Dan. Blaming the loss of their job on him
and giving out false information is not going to get their jobs back.

We all know that NetShops is not going to be able to run our sites like we did...come on, they have temps doing our jobs! Three weeks of training as compared to years and years of experience with the reps we had
running the show, having supervisors from other departments come to oversee things when they had less training than the temps that were on the phones did...the list goes on!

I would prefer that if you had any questions that you ask me directly before posting assumptions on your blog. I am happy to be truthful with you!

This individual is right about a couple of things.

I have no way of knowing that any of this information is true. All I'm doing is relaying info that is passed to me. Consider this a gossip/rumor blog if it makes you sleep better at night.

Also, it isn't Dan Thralow's fault those of you from MN lost your jobs. I'm sure Doug shook his hand and said something like 'we'll keep your people and take good care of them, blah blah blah' - he kept you for all of 6 months to get through the holiday and then let you go when he needed the lift for his bottom line. Doug and Netshops is who you should be upset with - not Thralow. Once he sold the company, it was out of his hands. (Of course, some would say he shouldn't have sold the company to Netshops, based on Doug's previous history of laying people off, but that's a different story....)

Another interesting piece of information was revealed in the above email. Temps are running the Thralow sites. Now, I don't know if that means they're handling the customer service calls or they're actually managing the sites themselves. I suspect they're only in call center roles. Regardless, weren't temps part of the problem last holiday season? Lack of knowledge, lack of enthusiasm, and just there to make a quick paycheck - those aren't the Netshops employee qualifications I remember. Maybe cheaper labor, fewer benefits to provide and more profit as a result is worth the loss on customer service related issues.

Course, that could be why Netshops loses so much money from the call center end of things. Or it could just be the call center management doesn't know what they're doing....

Update - Thralow.net sites not struggling? Netshops warehouse for sale?

I received an email from someone saying they were part of the 'transition' team and the information about Thralow was not correct.

Unfortunately the individual did not go into details. If they'd like to provide some additional information, I'd be happy to correct any misinformation. (I've received another email from the original person saying they can confirm the info though... so is this in fact true? Maybe the person on the 'transition' team is again, a Netshops shill trying to put things in a positive spin?)

Another email I received this week states the Netshops warehouse has either been sold or is up for sale. Again, I don't know if this is fact or not - just relaying what I've heard. Supposedly it comes from someone higher up the chain who was impacted by the layoffs.

So, the warehouse - Doug's jewel and a bragging point when talking to potential vendors "We have our own 10 bajillion square foot warehouse with 12 docks to handle product on a seasonal basis" could be up for sale. Wonder why?

Thralow sites may or may not be doing well. Optics versus wine racks. Which do you think is going to take more time to learn about? Which do you think would be a more technical sale?

Here's how I'd imagine a Telescopes.com customer service call would go:
Customer 'I'd like to look at the Netshops Nebula in quadrant alpha delta beta zed. Will this telescope let me do that?'

Netshops rep 'Ummm... let me submit a product question and we'll get back to you.'

Now the Wineracks.com call:
Customer 'I need a wine rack to hold 26 bottles.'

Netshops rep 'I've got one here - it says it is MDF'

Customer 'What is MDF?'

Netshops rep 'Ummm... let me submit a product question...'

Funny story - Netshops pay sucks

Man walks into a bar with a leprechaun on his shoulder...

Wait.

Wrong story.


Waaaay back when, I was interviewed and hired by Netshops, I negotiated for a number of things - higher pay, more vacation, etc. Regarding pay, I was told they couldn't match what I was currently making, but if I was with the company for a year and was promoted, they'd bump me up to what I'd been making pre-Netshops.

Silly me, I believed them.

When it was time for my review, I met all of the requirements discussed in my interview. I got a raise, but it was well short of what I'd been making in the past. I convinced myself (and my family) that it was ok, because the benefits and the 'fun' of working at Netshops outweighed the pay I wasn't getting.

Then I got laid off.

As you know, I've had a new job for quite a while now. Funny thing is, I'm making more now than I was before I started at Netshops. So I guess I owe Netshops management a thank you. Thank you for lying to me about my future pay increase, thank you for laying me off. I'm better off now for the experience and I no longer have to worry about being laid off once every 6 monhs.

Current members of management still have to though...

Karma's a bitch.

Quick update - Thralow.net site sales down, Netshops letting Thralow reps go

Just want to pass on a very interesting email I received the other day:

Thralow site telephone sales are down 80% since Netshops took over. Dan Thralow was fired by Netshops. They also fired one of the Thralow transitional employees without cause and he had to sue them for his severance. They have only one Thralowite left down thereand that took a six figure severance to buy his loyalty.

Wow. If this is true, I can just hear the spin coming out of Doug "Well, its taking some time for us to understand the product and the market. We've never done optics before, so it might be a while before it is profitable for us. We started out with just Hammocks and turned it into 150+ stores - and we can do it with these stores too. It will just take time. We knew that going in and expected it." While behind closed doors, upper managers are very carefully answering questions, for fear they'll hear Doug utter those famous words "We need to go in another direction" and they'll be packing a box before the day is thru. (Kind of like he did with Vince and Dale....)

Another reorg?!?

Wow. That didn't last long.

Is another layoff on the horizon? Buyers on the chopping block? Hmm...