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Report: #179766

Complaint Review: Schwans Home Service - Marshall Minnesota

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  • Updated:
  • Reported By: Edgar Wisconsin
  • Author Confirmed What's this?
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  • Schwans Home Service 115 West College Drive Marshall, Minnesota U.S.A.

Schwans Home Service Schwans steals, lies, cheats & is involved in illegal activity. Ripoff Marshfield Wisconsin

*Consumer Comment: Was about to contact Schwans for a job, but...

*UPDATE Employee: Read the post Bubble Boy...

*UPDATE Employee: I am not living in a bubble

*UPDATE Employee: Either you have been paid to state the untrue or you're living in a bubble...

*UPDATE Employee: Working for Schwans

*UPDATE Employee: Schwans is not what it appears..

*Consumer Comment: I'm glad I found all this info!!!

*Consumer Comment: I'm glad I found all this info!!!

*Consumer Comment: I'm glad I found all this info!!!

*Consumer Comment: I'm glad I found all this info!!!

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: It's a mixed bag.

*Consumer Comment: I Have An Interview...TOMORROW!!!!!

*UPDATE Employee: schwans does steal

*UPDATE Employee: schwans does steal

*UPDATE Employee: schwans does steal

*UPDATE Employee: schwans does steal

*UPDATE Employee: You All Must Read This

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: 100% correct..horrible company

*UPDATE Employee: Anti Employee Friendly/Anti Family Friendly

*UPDATE Employee: Enjoy your hourly wage

*UPDATE Employee: 6 year employee tired of hearing all of the crying

*UPDATE Employee: 6 year employee tired of hearing all of the crying

*UPDATE Employee: 6 year employee tired of hearing all of the crying

*UPDATE Employee: 6 year employee tired of hearing all of the crying

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: Schwan's is typical of most route jobs...a few cherry routes but that's not the norm!

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: you might want to get your facts right...

*UPDATE Employee: Try another job that you might be good at slacker

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: To Dom

*UPDATE Employee: Much to add about Schwans

*UPDATE Employee: My $.02

*UPDATE Employee: The Truth

*UPDATE Employee: Response to Steve and other ex-employees

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: To Dominic

*Consumer Comment: COMISSION JOBS SUCK

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: I don't buy the 8 hours

*Consumer Comment: I challenge your criticism of Schwans

*UPDATE Employee: Wrong again

*UPDATE Employee: Wrong again

*UPDATE Employee: Wrong again

*UPDATE Employee: Wrong again

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: What about all the time you don't get paid for?

*UPDATE Employee: Mostly false information reported.

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: Don't work for Schwan's

*Author of original report: the truth about what a hard working, dedicated driver will actually make for providing their 17-18 hour days to the Schwans company

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I began working for the Schwans Corp. in August of 2005 as a Route Manager. Upon hire, It was drilled into each and every person at NEO (New Employee Orientation) that we were governed by the rules, law & regulations set forth by the D.O.T (Dept. Of Transportation). We had tests which constantly repeated how important it was to continuously follow those rules.

Immediately upon coming to work, we are to "clock in" using a computerized handheld device referred to as our "HHC". Wisconsin D.O.T requires us to do so because a "driver" may only be on-duty for 14 hours max.

After "clocking in", we are required to verify our load, inspect the truck, complete any necessary paperwork for that day, speak to our supervisors pertaining to any issues that are planned or need to be addressed for that working day and at times, attend meetings.

Not on one or two ocassions, not on a few ocassions, but every single day, Schwans did not follow Wisconsin Law and conveyed to all employees that by "clocking in" while we are performing our daily duties prior to departure from the depot, we are taking away precious time which could be better used selling.

You see, the less time our trucks are out there, the less time we are out there pushing their products, and the less money they are making. I brought this very subject up to my supervisors on many ocassions and because of my wanting to follow state law and not get a ticket or violation (which I would be liable for myself), the management at the Marshfield, WI. depot began to act differently towards me.

At first, no "good morning's", then odd stares directed towards me, and then total shunning by not communicating with me about subjects which pertained solely to work practices.

Because I spoke up, I was placed on suspension for something which in no way was related to this topic. I was told that I was under investigation for "charging" which means that Schwan's customers cannot charge what they purchase unless they 1) Own a business 2) Own a farm 3) Have a State licensed daycare. The reasoning behind this is because quote "We can't trust they will pay us" and "they have something we can go after if they do not pay us".

I was called into the office this morning and interrogated by both managers in reference to a charge print off which was from my route system. Customer #1 - A business owner who allowed his employee to charge under his account was allowed to charge by me because the owner of the business allowe that employee to charge on his account because the employee did not have the funds whith which to pay me at that time. I would simply collect the charge when I returned to service that person in 1 month. Customer #2 - A business owner who had a personal account and a business account charged for product, yet was accidentally placed in her personal account as a charge. Same account, same customer, yet because it was placed on her personal account, the company thought there was enough room to cause a gripe. Customer #3 - A farmer whose business / income is in fact that farm. Is the farm a business? Answer-Yes! They have charged for years prior to me taking over their route, yet now it comes into question? Many more were on that sheet, and all of those exactly like the 3 I just mentioned.

Fuel surcharge! A few months back due to the increase in the price of fuel, the company implemented a fuel surcharge as many companies did when gas prices went up. Keep in mind, Schwan's buys in bulk, and runs on propane (less 1 truck in our depot which runs on diesel). This company sent out fliers telling their customers that they would be charging this surcharge until the price of fuel dropped. Well, the price did drop, but at $1 per customer multiplied by the amount of buying customers each day at Schwans, why did they not want to give that up.... money?

I was told that the customers who wanted to quote "be pricks and whiners about the charge could have it waved" because we want the money from the customer and rather take the $1 hit than lose them. Later, because corporate found out we had been waving the dollar fee on select customers, they buckled down and from the top, the crap rolled down hill finally coming to me. Another meeting between management and myself asking why I elected to not charge the surcharge.... my answer... because they told me to do so (management). They claimed they did not authorize that.

DOES IT SEEM like everytime big business is accused of something, that the person who pointing the finger is always wrong, misled, dillusional or anything other than lying? Come on...when is the last time we have ever seen a company say "You caught me, I was wrong and we will take whatever penalty we have coming"? MONEY, MONEY, GREED & MONEY is what keeps them lying.

Not to many years ago, Schwans was not under the rule of the D.O.T and could run their trucks 24 hours a day if the driver was willing or the management at Schwans wanted them out there. Now, because of the new laws, Schwans was forced to limit the time they are out on the road. Less hours on the road meant more money. So, they needed a few more tricks to keep the flow coming in as it once was.

Many things I have personally seen Schwan's do, which management has got to be aware of but chooses not to acknowlege are mentioned below. They cannot deny it, because if a truck is allowed to be out 14 hours per day and is out 16, that there is a clear indication of their choice not to follow the laws.

In an attempt to not be under D.O.T violation, many drivers were seen not signing in upon entering the depot, and upon leaving the depot not clocking in. The employee would have the paper D.O.T slip filled out in the event law enforcement pulled them over, but they had not yet logged into their handheld.

Other ways around the D.O.T were to take orders manually, writing the orders down with what a customer purchased, how much it came to and in what form the customer paid. Then, when the Route Manager had traveled to their sales area, serviced the customers they wanted to and felt they had a comfortable amount of time to make their sales and service existing customers, they would log into their handheld and punch in their orders from the customers they service off duty.

Meeting held at the depot's, usually bi-weekly are not paid. Paid solely on comission, we make money when we are selling. Unfortunately, management holds "required mandatory meetings" which we must attend, or face scrutingy by management for not being there or not being a team player. These meeting are still by law considered on duty, yet we never could clock in for these meeting because they were at times more than 1 hour in length and took away from our sales times.

I was told by the Wisconsin Dept. of Labor that if paid comission, by law you must still bring in minimum wage for each hour worked, regardless of your pay status. So, if you were to work 10 hours at Schwans, you would still be required to pull in at Wisconsin minimum wage ($5.70) for a total of $57.00 before taxes. If not, the company is required to still pay you the difference to bring it to the minimum wage requirements. Thought I would add that, as I know thousands of Route Managers are out there working 80+ hours per week and when their paycheck is weighed with their hours worked, it does not even come close. I will do some checking, and hope it is true, because in that case, Schwans owes a whole truck load of money to those who have given their precious life, family time and sanity to keeping them the company they are.

Well, enough for today, but more is to come.

Justin
Edgar, Wisconsin
U.S.A.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 03/07/2006 10:28 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/schwans-home-service/marshall-minnesota-56258/schwans-home-service-schwans-steals-lies-cheats-is-involved-in-illegal-activity-ripof-179766. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
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44Consumer
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#44 Consumer Comment

Was about to contact Schwans for a job, but...

AUTHOR: Ron - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Sunday, August 22, 2010

Thank you to those who took the time to post about their experiences while working with Schwan's.

Being currently unemployed, I scour the job postings in my area on a daily basis. Today I noticed a Schwan's ad for a CSM position, boasting of a guaranteed starting base pay of $32K during training, which becomes $38K after your route is assigned.

All looked very promising in the ad, and, having seen Schwan's trucks in my neighborhood on occasion, I thought this might be a good job to look into.

But I've learned the hard way never to take what a company posts about a prospective job at face value. Always research. Always.

So preparing for what I thought would be an hour or so of extensive research I entered "my experience working for Schwan's" into Google.

Right away I was presented with hit after hit of sites presenting stories of the great displeasure Schwan's employees have had while working for the company.

These are not comments from one or two employees. These are not simply posts from incompetent people or whiners as someone has suggested here.

The fact is I was easily able to find dozens of posts from people from all walks of life and various degrees of education and sales experience who have expressed their complete dissatisfaction with the company, it's policies, the long work hours and low pay.

Thank you to those who have opened my eyes and stopped me from making a huge mistake.

For reference I found more Schwan's stories here that positively confirm the negative postings presented above:
http://www.jobvent.com/schwans-job-reviews-C11193?PageNum=1

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#43 UPDATE Employee

Read the post Bubble Boy...

AUTHOR: Fabian - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, January 12, 2009

I'm not the one doing the whinning Bubble Boy! I stated my income which I am pleased with and yes I work the 14 to 16 hour days to get it as I also stated. All I'm doing is stating the truth and defending the new CSM's which are being lied to and cheated out of their income. Believe me if I decide to leave Schwan's I can have another position with another company ASAP! Also, Bubble Boy, I never said I was working for Wal-Mart pay but there are a lot of CSM's that are. And I see them in my depot as well as many depot's across the country including Bubble Land. I don't for a minute think that your income that you plainly stated is anything to write home about. I woulod be embarassed to bring that kind of money home to my family. You see, I have a lot of pride! My kids, yes all three of them are enrolled in additional activities. I spend time with them riding our horses, going to horse shows, traveling around the country with our 5th wheel, having sleep overs for my kids with their friends and doing the things that make my family happy! That's what I work hard for and I don't b***h about it. I b***h at all you morons making stupid comments you can't back-up and defending the naive that get suckered into Schwan's because they were lied to. I doubt very seriously you'll be there much longer anyway unless you are not who you say you are which is quite possible because probably 70% of Schwan's CSM's are full of crap anyway. We know who you are and we certainly know what your numbers are, if you want to call them that. I would be embarassed to show my face with your kind of production. Here's some advice, try working a little, you might make some money!!

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#42 UPDATE Employee

I am not living in a bubble

AUTHOR: Pokerqueent - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Sunday, January 11, 2009

I don't know about where you live/work, but around here in Western Washington, that's how it is. Yeah, the job is a lot of hours. But I don't have anyone bugging me all day about what I'm doing. I do what I'm supposed to do and my boss leaves me alone. I sell food, I service my customers, and I do it well.

If you your job you'd be making more than Wal-Mart pay. And if that's all you're making, then you should probably just go work at Wal-Mart and quit you're whining.

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#41 UPDATE Employee

Either you have been paid to state the untrue or you're living in a bubble...

AUTHOR: Five Year Professional - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, January 08, 2009

You actually have not read every thread posted. The reason why is so many of them will say how conditions vary amonst districts. District managers have about 95% control of their district. Like I have said as well as 100 other posts, the eastern half of the country is run completely different then the western half then the southeastern portion is entirly different then anything I have ever seen. If you go to the upper midwest you can pretty much "write your own ticket." Never have I seen the company allow you to float in around 9:30 am or 10:00 am as you stated and return any earlier than 9 pm. No one that I have ever seen is sitting in their truck on the phone or parked at home. Just how many routes have you ever been on that go close to someone's home? No one leaves the company when they are making money and happy therefore when someone leaves there is a route that needs attention. It takes time to build up a route to make it profitable. The new base that is offered in exchange for certain criteris verys again amongst depots but in no way is that a satisfactory income. The base is wal-mart pay. I made 1.5 times that when I first began almost 6 years ago! Oh, and by the way I would take a commision position over anything else during hard times. Maybe it's people like you that make me want to move on. I think Schwans is for the beginner. Of course if you're use to spam than I guess a hamburger would taste pretty good but when you are use to steak then you expect a filet!

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#40 UPDATE Employee

Working for Schwans

AUTHOR: Pokerqueent - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, January 08, 2009

I have worked for Schwans for about 2 1/2 years. I am at Presidents Club level.

I have read pretty much all of the rebuttals, etc. on here about Schwans.

Yes, you do work a lot of hours. I tell everyone that does their ride along that it's sometimes more of a way of life than a job.

They have just switched to base salary plus commission, taken away a few incentives, but that's what companies do to stay in business. Would you rather not have a job at all?

In the short time I have been with Schwans, there have been MANY people coming and going. I believe they switched to the new pay structure to get people to stay with the company and not have so much turnover. Would you want to work commission only in today's economy? I think not.

Base pay is now 32K to start and after 13 weeks you get a bump to 38K plus commission which varies due to sales. Yes, you may get a crummy route. But OH NO, you may actually have to work at it a bit to make it a better route.

That is what I am seeing here in these threads. People don't seem to want to work. I tell the newbies and possible newbies, does your spouse/gf/significant other know you will be working 12 hour days? Yeah, 18 hour days are not normal. If you're out 18 hours a day and have 60 or 70 stops, you're not doing it right. No one is out that long. It seems that when the wife is calling 400 times a day is when there's a problem.

In my depot, you show up around 9:30 or 10, leave, do your thing, and done around 8 to 10. If you're doing you're job, you're fine. If you're not, you will be questioned as to what you are doing all day long. We have people with 40 stops staying out 10 hours and coming in with $600 or $700 when in reality they were probably done at 6 p.m. and then pull over and talk on the phone for hours.

Usually what happens is after people quit is when you find out what they were really doing. Taking naps for 3 hours, going home with the truck and then going out on the route around 5 p.m.. Some guys have been caught selling food off the truck for cash - a felony - and then try to blame it on warehouse, inventories, etc.

I tell newbies, if you're nice, you're consistent, meaning you service the customers by stopping every time, they will buy from you. The job is not that hard.

Schwans is basically a good company. They are going through changes right now, which I am waiting to see if they will work or not. But at this point in my life and in the economy, I would rather stick it out to see what happens then go out job hunting. My 18 yr old can't even find a job here - we are near Seattle. I have worked for other big companies and this is what they do when times are tough. They cut back, make changes, and not everyone likes it. Then they complain, when in reality they need to adjust to make it.

Unfortunately, there are depots out there with terrible managers, co-workers that get preferential treatment, get away with stuff, but that happens in ALL companies.

I don't work Saturdays. Working holidays - which means a Saturday then - does suck. I think they need to change that, but so far Scott McNair hasn't called me to ask my opinion. I worked another job with just as many hours and made quite a bit less, so I'm pretty happy.

In my experience with the company, the ones that complain are the ones that shouldn'tve been hired to begin with. They interview well, but when it comes time to work, they don't take responsibility for anything. They whine and blame it on everyone else.

You make it what you want. If you slack, you're going to be out 12 hours a day and make $70 a day. If you do the work, you'll make some good $$$ in the same time period. It's that simple.

If you are considering working for the company, take a look at the depot and who works there. If you like what you see, you'll probably do ok. If you have doubts, especially about the hours, then don't even waste your time on the ridealong. If you have a family, depending out the support at home, it'll work out. If you're a woman with small children, unless you have super dad or husband at home, then forget it. There are plenty of people applying and they can fill the position without you.

Good luck!

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#39 UPDATE Employee

Schwans is not what it appears..

AUTHOR: Five Year Professional - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, January 05, 2009

It's obvious Schwans has an extremely high turn-over rate especially in the southeast. This is partially due to incompetent managers both District and Regional. LGM's are treated like dogs so the LGM treats the CSM like dogs. The only people making any money is the upper management in corporate. Sure, Schwans has gone to a base salary plus a bonus in most depots. However, don't be "blind sighted" by this. You pretty much have to walk on water to keep your base salary and believe me there is no longevity incentive here. It's basically a revolving door. Depots have old non-working equipment and trucks that won't pass DOT inspections yet they won't replace it or repair it. I was behind a truck the other night that had 1 tail light, no brake lights and a bald tire on the rear(1 of 4). It was also raining! Sound great but BEWARE!!!!!!!

For anyone looking for a career or a job with more than 6 months tenure this is not for you!! The person trying to decide whether to work for Schwans or UPS is most likely not with Schwans anymore if that was his decision. Long term money and benefit are mush better at UPS. They don't lie to get you in the door. Several months ago I ran across a long-lost friend that I had not spoke to in 15 years. It just so happens that he and his wife had moved within 40 miles of me. So we got to communicating via email and he asked me where I worked and I told him. Then he asked me about the company which opened up a huge can of worms. He had a lot of questions and I gladly answered everyone of them. Come to find out he was to start work with Schwans in another depot the following Monday. I wished him the best but informed him to watch his back and be sure to tell your family that you Love them because you won't see them for the first 8 weeks and then very little after that. I asked him who was going to take his little boy to cub scouts and to little league practice. He said he was. See, his lyeing manager told him he could arrive at 10 and be done by 6pm. He never should have believed it but that was the BS he was fed. Long story short, 8 weeks later I get an email telling me how right I was and how he wished he had listened to me. He had missed everone of his sons boy scouts meetings/outings and pratcices. He said with this new base program you have to be anle to walk on water to make anything. They charge you for everything including mileage on the trucks. Now I hear it is different in other depots when talking to them.

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#38 Consumer Comment

I'm glad I found all this info!!!

AUTHOR: Roger - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, December 04, 2008

I have had a phone interview with Schwan's and am suppose to have an interview with them next week!

I knew that they were long days and to make them even longer I live about an hour from the depot closest to me. So I was looking to find reviews from employees and I am sure glad I did. Even if they are 12 hour days, for me they are 14 hours because of my drive, and for the money......I've made twice as much money as they offer in 4 hours when at my job before my current one.

For me, considering the drive, all of the time lost, and the money...I would be insane to think about taking a job at Schwans even if they are a good company(and I'm not saying they are).


Thanks!!!! :)

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#37 Consumer Comment

I'm glad I found all this info!!!

AUTHOR: Roger - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, December 04, 2008

I have had a phone interview with Schwan's and am suppose to have an interview with them next week!

I knew that they were long days and to make them even longer I live about an hour from the depot closest to me. So I was looking to find reviews from employees and I am sure glad I did. Even if they are 12 hour days, for me they are 14 hours because of my drive, and for the money......I've made twice as much money as they offer in 4 hours when at my job before my current one.

For me, considering the drive, all of the time lost, and the money...I would be insane to think about taking a job at Schwans even if they are a good company(and I'm not saying they are).


Thanks!!!! :)

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#36 Consumer Comment

I'm glad I found all this info!!!

AUTHOR: Roger - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, December 04, 2008

I have had a phone interview with Schwan's and am suppose to have an interview with them next week!

I knew that they were long days and to make them even longer I live about an hour from the depot closest to me. So I was looking to find reviews from employees and I am sure glad I did. Even if they are 12 hour days, for me they are 14 hours because of my drive, and for the money......I've made twice as much money as they offer in 4 hours when at my job before my current one.

For me, considering the drive, all of the time lost, and the money...I would be insane to think about taking a job at Schwans even if they are a good company(and I'm not saying they are).


Thanks!!!! :)

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#35 Consumer Comment

I'm glad I found all this info!!!

AUTHOR: Roger - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, December 04, 2008

I have had a phone interview with Schwan's and am suppose to have an interview with them next week!

I knew that they were long days and to make them even longer I live about an hour from the depot closest to me. So I was looking to find reviews from employees and I am sure glad I did. Even if they are 12 hour days, for me they are 14 hours because of my drive, and for the money......I've made twice as much money as they offer in 4 hours when at my job before my current one.

For me, considering the drive, all of the time lost, and the money...I would be insane to think about taking a job at Schwans even if they are a good company(and I'm not saying they are).


Thanks!!!! :)

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#34 UPDATE EX-employee responds

It's a mixed bag.

AUTHOR: Richard - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Sunday, November 16, 2008

October 22, 2008

Dear Schwan's Home Service and whom it may concern,
I have recently finished my employment with Schwan's. I worked there as a customer service manager (route driver/manager) for the last 7 months. In some ways I finished as I started, covering routes for others and fumbling through it. In other ways my innocence was gone, my willingness to put my best foot forward day after day had waned, gone from me like my frozen breath on a cold and windy day. Where did it go you might ask? Maybe a more appropriate question is how could it leave, with our precious elders and mothers and fathers and children all clamoring in their own way to witness the Schwan driver on his appointed rounds. How could a compassionate person like the typical Schwan driver ever give up his part in the awesome responsibility of bringing good food and delectable desserts to the people?
When I did my ride along day with the senior driver of the depot I started out not knowing if this was the job for me. Within a few hours I was so taken with the procedure I was almost crying. This was no sales job. This was a service job. The relationships the customers had with the driver were amazing. And they were all so different. For some it was like a grandparent and grandchild. For others it was as siblings or friends. Others were more superficial but there was always a high degree of respect. Yes, some customers were ignorant and/or painful. But even those were shown a good example of respect and positive regard. Life can be so very interesting.
When I first started I was overwhelmed with the myriad emotions emanating from my customers. Many were hurt with the many changes in drivers. They expressed this in varying degrees of anger and frustration and even actual pain. I felt personally responsible for helping them to alleviate their pain by being dependable and trustworthy. I facilitated their process not quite realizing it was going to happen again and again, even as I became the focus of a healthy continuity I was also headed toward becoming a reason for more abandonment and suffering. I must admit I am carried away with the romance of my role in my customers' lives, but if you saw the tears and heard the fears it might not seem so grandiose.
The majority of my time with Schwan's I did a lot of math. There were times when fatigue won out and I just continued on automatic, much like I imagine a dog sled racer does in the far north when their endurance has reached a point where they continue to travel but the higher levels of consciousness fade to the point beyond exhaustion, the point beyond taking in the minute details of information and strictly concentrate on staying upright, staying in the race, staying alive. I imagine this is what happens with the drivers who stay. They shut off parts of themselves in order to survive the long hours, the constant fatigue which becomes almost a permanent part of their lives. I say almost because I do not wish to put into the world the thought of these drivers dying in the saddle, not ever realizing the joy that is present when mental/emotional/physical fatigue is not their constant companion.
The pain and suffering a Schwan route driver goes through is no joke. Whenever the long hours are mentioned to anyone in management the 1 person in 100 is brought up who somehow manages to not work too long of hours, maybe only 50 or 55 sometimes. Somehow they make their good money and don't sacrifice a big chunk of their life in the process, but they are not the norm. The average is nowhere in that ballpark. When I first met my regional manager I was just returned to the depot after a long day, one of many long days. I did not know he was going to be there and I was tired enough to just shoot from the hip. I told him that I did not ordinarily participate in pyramid schemes as too many people were left at the bottom and when he did not bat an eyelash I guess I knew right then what was what. As I was doing my paperwork I delved into what made him tick, as this was my chance to observe a somewhat upper manager in action. He was articulate and funny. I could not help liking him even as the hair stood up on the back of my neck. I managed to ask him the most important question in such a way as to that he actually responded to me with his own truth. He was getting his. I thank him for his honesty. With the addiction of greed running rampant in the world and this country today I guess I could have known, but this verbal confirmation hammered it home all the more.
When I watch television I see a world where what is best for the individual is to lie, cheat, steal and win the million dollars. What I know to be true is that what is truly best is when what is best for the individual is also best for the immediate family, the extended family, the community, and the whole world. Schwan's management has stepped over the line. They have gone down the road of repressing their fellow workers in the name of their own personal bottom line. I guess I am angry with this but most of the time it just takes too much energy to go around mad about it. If the long hours produced a reasonable income then I could have afforded music and martial arts classes for my daughter, at least some form of paternal endearment. Alas, I started Schwan's behind on my utility bills and I ended Schwan's behind on my utility bills. I miss it very much.

Sincerely,
Richard

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#33 Consumer Comment

I Have An Interview...TOMORROW!!!!!

AUTHOR: Tim - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, October 30, 2008

I've been reading all the comments here and it leaves me a little nervous about tomorrow because I have an INTERVIEW with Schwan's tomorrow about becomming a Customer Service Manager Trainee. The ad for the Schwan's job was found on CareerBuilder.com and it says that I will make $32,000 my 1st year and $38,000 there after. After reading all these posts, I feel like I should cancel my interview. I hope someone will read this and offer me some suggestions before tomorrow. I also have an Interview with UPS on Wednesday and I know for a fact that the pay won't come close to being as much as Schwan's is offering. Which Should I choose? Please, Help me out guys.

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#32 UPDATE Employee

schwans does steal

AUTHOR: Marc J - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, October 29, 2008

im an employee based in a maine schwans depot, i am familiar with all these charges and they are all true about schwans. they require a minimum of 12 hours sell time, this does not include any travel time to and from the depot at which you work... marc j

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#31 UPDATE Employee

schwans does steal

AUTHOR: Marc J - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, October 29, 2008

im an employee based in a maine schwans depot, i am familiar with all these charges and they are all true about schwans. they require a minimum of 12 hours sell time, this does not include any travel time to and from the depot at which you work... marc j

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#30 UPDATE Employee

schwans does steal

AUTHOR: Marc J - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, October 29, 2008

im an employee based in a maine schwans depot, i am familiar with all these charges and they are all true about schwans. they require a minimum of 12 hours sell time, this does not include any travel time to and from the depot at which you work... marc j

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#29 UPDATE Employee

schwans does steal

AUTHOR: Marc J - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, October 29, 2008

im an employee based in a maine schwans depot, i am familiar with all these charges and they are all true about schwans. they require a minimum of 12 hours sell time, this does not include any travel time to and from the depot at which you work... marc j

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#28 UPDATE Employee

You All Must Read This

AUTHOR: Dominic - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Alright, here's the skinny.

For all of you who are obviously bitter about your experience with Schwans, I don't blame you one bit. Because it didn't work out for you, it doesn't make you lazy, a slacker, not intelligent or anything else. Sure, exployees and management or your heart may make you feel that way, but it's not true. It just isn't for everyone, it's that simple.

Here I am, 16 months later, still working for Schwans. Now they've moved all of us in the depot to a brand new system that starts with a $39k base salary and if you hit certain sales goals each week (starting at $5850) you will get a percentage of your sales above the $39k.
So, for the rest of us who don't have the "cherry" routes, we're actually doing pretty good. FOr the guys who have those really cream routes that score big, I've heard they're actually losing some income.

Also, the system we're on that they're going to roll out to all of you, part of that salary does include some provisions. You don't get .50 cents for the feature item any longer. You have to sell a certain pre-decided amount every two weeks. You have to grow your routes now by plan. Pretty much, you have to do what you've been hired to do.
Also, here's the kicker. If you don't reach that $5850 per week in sales, which about half the guys do, half don't on average, you have to come in on a fifth day if you aren't already working five days. (most guys are on a 4 day system) On that fifth day, you have to build or do a sweeper route or something that gets you some sales on the handheld to show that you're trying to get to that sales goal. Most guys don't reach the sales goal but come back a couple of hours later with some sales of some sort and then you can head off for your weekend.

Putting it all to rest: you get plenty of vacation time. The benefits are good. You get huge discounts on food and tons of free food as well. Schwans makes it easy for you to sell since they're always rolling out new products and catalogs.

Alot of you have failed because you didn't do what you were hired to do. You didn't use your common sense. Taking naps in the park, really not building, not being very good salespersons (persistent yet very subtle), thinking about the negatives instead of focusing on the positives, poor depot management, using the tools that Schwans gave you are the reasons you failed. Like I said before. It doesn't make you un-intelligent, you just weren't very good.

Granted, there are alot of rural routes. Weather is a problem. Driving an hour or more out to a route area is a problem. You don't get support from your depot manager. Many of you get your pay messed with. Your trucks aren't loaded properly. You get handed really bad routes that in many cases, just can't be fixed to the point where you make any money. Some of you have simply been set up to fail, but thats where common sense comes in. Did you just blindly not factor anything into the equation before you stepped up and took it?

Sometimes when routes are offered to me, I won't take it because I can see how bad it is and what it would take to make it work and it isn't worth it. OR I'll run the route one time and come in and say that this one needs more help than I can give it. Please assign a builder to this route and help me or give me another route.

As for sick pay, etc. This isn't an office job. Its a sales job. IF you're a car dealer for Mercedes, do they give you commissions on the cars if you don't show up for work.

Simply put: it's a job. Is it perfect, no. Is it really bad, no. The economy is tough right now. If you can get better out there right now, go for it, but for most of us, this isn't such a bad gig and we've been fortunate.

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#27 UPDATE EX-employee responds

100% correct..horrible company

AUTHOR: Boognation - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, October 02, 2008

That man is 100% right about the illegal things schwans does. They are horrible and I wish I never wasted time with them. I lost so much time with my family.

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#26 UPDATE Employee

Enjoy your hourly wage

AUTHOR: Five Year Professional - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Enjoy your hourly wage. If you continue to do what you have always done then you will always get what you always got! Hope you enjoy driving your little yellow truck around. I certainly hope you're not a father. You'll never be able to provide for those children on a Schwan's income unless you move up to upper management. From the sound of things you are content with your hourly wage. I promise you I made more with Schwan's my first year then you did in your sixth. But you know what I can do better than that! Besides I am too honest, you know that "integrity" word to associate myself with such scum.

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#25 UPDATE Employee

Anti Employee Friendly/Anti Family Friendly

AUTHOR: Five Year Professional - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Justin- I support your comments as I could not say it better myself. Schwan's could care less about their employees. These so called "Safety" posters are a joke.

I just had my 5 year anniversary and believe me it was no celebration. The DGM's are as crooked as they come. When I joined this company I loved my job for years and like you I put in 89-95 hours over 6 days every week. The pay wasn't half bed unless you do the math. Then a CSM is being paid less than a beginning Wal-Mart worker or a McDonalds employee.

As a veteran CSM and one of the last, I have built my route just as fast as they leave due to the quaterly price increases, fuel charges and believe it or not, rude employees in customer service. If you're single and don't want a life than you might want to consider this outfit but it certainly is not for the Family Man! As a single person I just put up with the BS. I find the people who still like working there do so because they are just as crooked and are unable to be employed by any reputable company.

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#24 UPDATE Employee

6 year employee tired of hearing all of the crying

AUTHOR: Schwanman - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, July 17, 2008

Justin,

You have every right to cry, be mad, pout, whine, cry some more, etc...go right ahead. We at Schwans who absolutely love our jobs and the company that we work for would rather not have people like you work at the depots anyway. None of us could stand people like you anyway and would stop talking to you because you're a downer. We all just wanted to go out on our routes and make some great money. Sure...not everyone was going to make great money because they chose to take their smoke breaks every 15 minutes and an hour for lunch and just drive around aimlessly instead of actually talking to people. Someone else mentioned it....Its a SALES JOB. You're supposed to sell food. I don't know if it was you or not that mentioned realestate, but try not selling a house for a month or two especially in these times. People will never stop eating. And the $1.00 delivery fee. You got to be kidding me if you're crying about that. Have you seen UPS' 3-4 dollar fees??? Have you ordered pizza delivered lately? I just paid $3.00 for Papa Johns. When I started on routes Propane was about $1.25/gallon. Now its over $2.00 and skyrocketing.

You talk so much about the cherry routes, but if you had done any homework you would find out that those routes that were running great numbers also were crappy routes at one time. Its the CSM who made them great routes. People like you take over great routes and destroy them and give our company a bad reputation.

I will never disagree with the long hours and yes I know that there are managers out there who are doing the wrong things with DOT. However, I chose to work those longer hours because I made over $55k my first year and my wife did not have to work and could stay home and raise our daughter. I had two overnights a week, but on my days that I was going home I was done by 7:00pm. I ran the numbers, so my boss didn't give me too hard of a time. Sure, I could've stayed out longer and built NCs and made even more money. I found a happy balance. I won't lie and say that my wife loved my hours because she didn't.

With the new salary+ commission starting very soon and has already started in 10 depots, managers and CSMs are going to be held more accountable to their jobs. Unfortunately some managers were forced to keep people like you because of open routes.
Sure, I could have gone to McDonalds where you're probably at and made my $6.00/hour and then to my second and third jobs to make ends meet, but I looked to the future I had. Now, I've been promoted three times and doing great. I still love going out on routes and meeting great people.

I hope that you find the right job for yourself someday. Maybe you have, but given your negativity about Schwans, I doubt it. No sane manager would want an employee like you.

Good Luck!

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#23 UPDATE Employee

6 year employee tired of hearing all of the crying

AUTHOR: Schwanman - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, July 17, 2008

Justin,

You have every right to cry, be mad, pout, whine, cry some more, etc...go right ahead. We at Schwans who absolutely love our jobs and the company that we work for would rather not have people like you work at the depots anyway. None of us could stand people like you anyway and would stop talking to you because you're a downer. We all just wanted to go out on our routes and make some great money. Sure...not everyone was going to make great money because they chose to take their smoke breaks every 15 minutes and an hour for lunch and just drive around aimlessly instead of actually talking to people. Someone else mentioned it....Its a SALES JOB. You're supposed to sell food. I don't know if it was you or not that mentioned realestate, but try not selling a house for a month or two especially in these times. People will never stop eating. And the $1.00 delivery fee. You got to be kidding me if you're crying about that. Have you seen UPS' 3-4 dollar fees??? Have you ordered pizza delivered lately? I just paid $3.00 for Papa Johns. When I started on routes Propane was about $1.25/gallon. Now its over $2.00 and skyrocketing.

You talk so much about the cherry routes, but if you had done any homework you would find out that those routes that were running great numbers also were crappy routes at one time. Its the CSM who made them great routes. People like you take over great routes and destroy them and give our company a bad reputation.

I will never disagree with the long hours and yes I know that there are managers out there who are doing the wrong things with DOT. However, I chose to work those longer hours because I made over $55k my first year and my wife did not have to work and could stay home and raise our daughter. I had two overnights a week, but on my days that I was going home I was done by 7:00pm. I ran the numbers, so my boss didn't give me too hard of a time. Sure, I could've stayed out longer and built NCs and made even more money. I found a happy balance. I won't lie and say that my wife loved my hours because she didn't.

With the new salary+ commission starting very soon and has already started in 10 depots, managers and CSMs are going to be held more accountable to their jobs. Unfortunately some managers were forced to keep people like you because of open routes.
Sure, I could have gone to McDonalds where you're probably at and made my $6.00/hour and then to my second and third jobs to make ends meet, but I looked to the future I had. Now, I've been promoted three times and doing great. I still love going out on routes and meeting great people.

I hope that you find the right job for yourself someday. Maybe you have, but given your negativity about Schwans, I doubt it. No sane manager would want an employee like you.

Good Luck!

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#22 UPDATE Employee

6 year employee tired of hearing all of the crying

AUTHOR: Schwanman - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, July 17, 2008

Justin,

You have every right to cry, be mad, pout, whine, cry some more, etc...go right ahead. We at Schwans who absolutely love our jobs and the company that we work for would rather not have people like you work at the depots anyway. None of us could stand people like you anyway and would stop talking to you because you're a downer. We all just wanted to go out on our routes and make some great money. Sure...not everyone was going to make great money because they chose to take their smoke breaks every 15 minutes and an hour for lunch and just drive around aimlessly instead of actually talking to people. Someone else mentioned it....Its a SALES JOB. You're supposed to sell food. I don't know if it was you or not that mentioned realestate, but try not selling a house for a month or two especially in these times. People will never stop eating. And the $1.00 delivery fee. You got to be kidding me if you're crying about that. Have you seen UPS' 3-4 dollar fees??? Have you ordered pizza delivered lately? I just paid $3.00 for Papa Johns. When I started on routes Propane was about $1.25/gallon. Now its over $2.00 and skyrocketing.

You talk so much about the cherry routes, but if you had done any homework you would find out that those routes that were running great numbers also were crappy routes at one time. Its the CSM who made them great routes. People like you take over great routes and destroy them and give our company a bad reputation.

I will never disagree with the long hours and yes I know that there are managers out there who are doing the wrong things with DOT. However, I chose to work those longer hours because I made over $55k my first year and my wife did not have to work and could stay home and raise our daughter. I had two overnights a week, but on my days that I was going home I was done by 7:00pm. I ran the numbers, so my boss didn't give me too hard of a time. Sure, I could've stayed out longer and built NCs and made even more money. I found a happy balance. I won't lie and say that my wife loved my hours because she didn't.

With the new salary+ commission starting very soon and has already started in 10 depots, managers and CSMs are going to be held more accountable to their jobs. Unfortunately some managers were forced to keep people like you because of open routes.
Sure, I could have gone to McDonalds where you're probably at and made my $6.00/hour and then to my second and third jobs to make ends meet, but I looked to the future I had. Now, I've been promoted three times and doing great. I still love going out on routes and meeting great people.

I hope that you find the right job for yourself someday. Maybe you have, but given your negativity about Schwans, I doubt it. No sane manager would want an employee like you.

Good Luck!

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#21 UPDATE Employee

6 year employee tired of hearing all of the crying

AUTHOR: Schwanman - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, July 17, 2008

Justin,

You have every right to cry, be mad, pout, whine, cry some more, etc...go right ahead. We at Schwans who absolutely love our jobs and the company that we work for would rather not have people like you work at the depots anyway. None of us could stand people like you anyway and would stop talking to you because you're a downer. We all just wanted to go out on our routes and make some great money. Sure...not everyone was going to make great money because they chose to take their smoke breaks every 15 minutes and an hour for lunch and just drive around aimlessly instead of actually talking to people. Someone else mentioned it....Its a SALES JOB. You're supposed to sell food. I don't know if it was you or not that mentioned realestate, but try not selling a house for a month or two especially in these times. People will never stop eating. And the $1.00 delivery fee. You got to be kidding me if you're crying about that. Have you seen UPS' 3-4 dollar fees??? Have you ordered pizza delivered lately? I just paid $3.00 for Papa Johns. When I started on routes Propane was about $1.25/gallon. Now its over $2.00 and skyrocketing.

You talk so much about the cherry routes, but if you had done any homework you would find out that those routes that were running great numbers also were crappy routes at one time. Its the CSM who made them great routes. People like you take over great routes and destroy them and give our company a bad reputation.

I will never disagree with the long hours and yes I know that there are managers out there who are doing the wrong things with DOT. However, I chose to work those longer hours because I made over $55k my first year and my wife did not have to work and could stay home and raise our daughter. I had two overnights a week, but on my days that I was going home I was done by 7:00pm. I ran the numbers, so my boss didn't give me too hard of a time. Sure, I could've stayed out longer and built NCs and made even more money. I found a happy balance. I won't lie and say that my wife loved my hours because she didn't.

With the new salary+ commission starting very soon and has already started in 10 depots, managers and CSMs are going to be held more accountable to their jobs. Unfortunately some managers were forced to keep people like you because of open routes.
Sure, I could have gone to McDonalds where you're probably at and made my $6.00/hour and then to my second and third jobs to make ends meet, but I looked to the future I had. Now, I've been promoted three times and doing great. I still love going out on routes and meeting great people.

I hope that you find the right job for yourself someday. Maybe you have, but given your negativity about Schwans, I doubt it. No sane manager would want an employee like you.

Good Luck!

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#20 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Schwan's is typical of most route jobs...a few cherry routes but that's not the norm!

AUTHOR: Dmarblue - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, July 08, 2008

There are Schwan's routes that are cherry with drivers allowed to work 8-10 hour days, but that's not the norm. There are 2 major factors which affect how a driver will do working for Schwan's; First of all is the driver's dedication to work the program, if you sit in the park or just go cruisin' for hours on end you won't make any money. Secondly, is the demographic of your route. Contrary to popular belief low to middle income areas, and areas without a major grocer within reasonable distance will sell much better than areas with easy access to groceries.

Just like grocery stores, Schwan's routes are being ravaged by big box grocers like Costco and Sam's Club, and Super Wal-Mart which have altered the buying habits of long term Schwan's customers by providing 24 hour access to foods and offering them in bulk quantities squeezing out customer freezer space for Schwan's purchases. You can make good money if you try and chances are you will have to work 12-14 hours without holidays/O.T., or availability for your family.

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#19 UPDATE EX-employee responds

you might want to get your facts right...

AUTHOR: Steve - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, June 30, 2008

one...Schwans is not a Fortune 500 company

two...they did not start in 1947-try 1952

about your 60K..sure

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#18 UPDATE Employee

Try another job that you might be good at slacker

AUTHOR: Junior - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Saturday, May 03, 2008

Is Schwans a get rich scam? Of course not! Is the job for everyone, NO! But for you to say that a Fortune 500 company that has been in business since 1947 is a fraud is assinine. It takes a little time to make money at Schwans and sure the money isn't the greatest, however, with hard work, sweat, and a high energy level you can make very decent money with excellent benefits. I have been an employee for 1 year and have made about 60,000 by working hard, not complaining. Schwans food is very good, affordable, and a good experience for the consumer. Because you didn't make it or was unhappy with your experience as an employee doesn't give you the right to cry foul play. Put that in a pipe and smoke it. Had do ya like them apples slacker!

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#17 UPDATE EX-employee responds

To Dom

AUTHOR: Steve - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Saturday, March 01, 2008

Dom

two weeks paid vacation vs 50 weeks working 65hrs per week?

you call that good?

no sick days paid? no paid holidays?

you call that good.

does Schwans pay you for meetings on your day off?

the reality is, while I dont necessarily agree with the original poster on his points, the company is short changing you and stealing from you.

if you want to work for a company that does that fine, but most of us want more from the company we work for.

Schwans sucks.

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#16 UPDATE Employee

Much to add about Schwans

AUTHOR: Dominic - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, February 11, 2008

I see what many people are writing, negative and positive and as am employee who has been with Schwans since June of 07 I have to agree more with the positive.

Schwans offers paid vacations and if you can work it out with your depot manager, a newer employee will often run your route for you if you're sick. I haven't been paid soley on commission since I got there. I get a performance based salary more or less, which means if I follow the route growth that they give me, I get paid salary plus commission.
Yes, they pay for my uniform, including jackets, hats...they even buy you shoes...usually a $100 pair of nice ones of your choice from their catalog. If you choose to buy your own, like a pair of red wings, they'll reimburse you.

On top of my pay, by selling the news at the door, I receive even more pay in the form of a commission check once a month. On top of that, Schwans always has a contest cracking and you can choose from tons of prizes including ipods, gift cards, tvs, etc.

Yes, the hours can be a little rough but our guys are getting paid at minimum 40K per year and some guys there are getting more like 60-70K.

Build your routes, get some new customers and it all works out.
It's not a bad job.

-Dom

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#15 UPDATE Employee

My $.02

AUTHOR: Mulder - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, January 24, 2008

I've worked for Schwan's for just over a year now and while the job itself is not all that bad, the company is poorly managed and refuses to modify its business plan to adapt to the 21st century.

Like any job, being a route driver has its pros and cons. The long hours do suck, but what else would expect from a country where it is becoming more and more common for households to have 2 working adults. Most people are only home before 9 a.m. and after 6 p.m., which makes the bulk of your day unproductive. The pay can be awesome one week and bad enough to make you want to find another job the next. There have been weeks where I've made close $1000 and weeks where I've made less than $200. It's this instability of pay that usually the reason for the high turnover rate of Schwan's route drivers. Like I've said before I've been with Schwan's for just over one year I have seen 7 drivers come and go, all for the previously mentioned reason. Currently at my depot we have 4 open routes and only enough people to cover 2 of them. Of course, it all varies from depot to depot, but overall I have a feeling that my comments are not that far off the mark for the average route driver at any depot in America.

The sales supervisors and LGM have no idea why know one wants to stick around and work. They believe that route drivers make great money. Their proof of this usually in the form of stories and those stories start out with: "When I was a route driver..." and "Back in my day..." That's all very interesting but that was 5 to 10 years ago and every "manager" at my depot came from depots in cities that know one has ever heard of and states that the average American probably couldn't point out on a map. These guys all had great success running rural routes, where the nearest Super Wal-Mart was a 2 hour drive away. They sold food to people that almost solely relied on Schwan's for their grocery needs. 90% of the routes at my depot have a Wal-Mart within 10 minutes. Schwan's can't compete with Wal-Marts prices and quantity. Schwan's may have better food, but who wants to spend $16 on 2 pounds of chicken nuggets from schwan's when they could get 5 pounds for $5 at Wal-Mart?

Schwan's Website also leaves much to be desired. Granted, the average age of a Schwan's customer is "close to death" and elderly people are not the most internet savvy, but the Schwan's website borders on worthless. Existing customer can go to site and order food, but without their customer number and password, which can only be given to them from their route driver, the system signs them up as a new customer and, depending on how close they live to the geographic border of their route, it can place them on another route day and even on someone else's route.

Another flaw with their website is the ability for customers to place their orders on line and enter their credit card information so they don't have to be home for their route driver to drop their food off (in a freezer bag). Sounds like a good except large orders require more than 1 freezer bag, which cost $1.99 each. The default quantity on the website is only 1 and for whatever reason there is usually only one on your truck. So if the order is too large to fit in a single bag and you only have one bag, then you're out of luck. Not only is the bag situation a problem but the fact that people can enter their credit card info on the website when they place an order. That information is supposed to appear on your pre-order sheet that shows you who has pre-orders and what they ordered. With their card information on your list, you can charge their card after you give them their food. But for whatever reason, about half the time that info doesn't show up and when you ask the customer for payment, they say that they have already paid online, which is partially true. So for the next 10 minutes you have to explain to them what has happened, ait for them to either call 1-888-Schwans and talk to a service representative or wait for them to get on their bank's website to see if their card has been charged or not. This is more of a headache and waste of time than anything else, but time is money, especially in this line of work.

Feel free to post responses and ask questions. I'll tell it like it is. I have no loyalty to this company and nor do I have a grudge against them. To me it's just a job that is paying my way through college.


-A Schwan's CSM

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#14 UPDATE Employee

The Truth

AUTHOR: 4 Year Employee - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, January 11, 2008

I've been an employee of Schwans Home Service for over four years. I am still with Schwans because I enjoy my job and I make a lot of money. Let me tell you my history with the company.

When I was assigned to my route it was an unorganized mess. Sales were about $800 per sales day (on a 10 day route system) with a sales plan of $891 per day. Within 3 months my sales were around $1100 per day. Within 9 months I was at $1300 per day.

How did I fix my route? I organized it by putting my customers close together. Doing that cut down on my "drive time." I never got paid for driving the truck, but I did get paid for getting groceries into my customer's freezers. I always met my customers with a smile and a handshake and told them I was happy to see them. I listened and paid attention to them. I showed them products from my truck. When they bought nothing I still smiled and thanked them for their time. I also found new customers. Almost every person eats; therefore, almost every person is a potential customer. I got new customers by getting my butt out of the truck, not by hoping people would flag me down or materialize out of thin air. And when a customer quit buying I'd do my best to save him/her. If I couldn't save the customer I would go find a new one.

I'd like to add that I "sold off" 2 of my route days. This is where an employee immediately gets paid 1/3 the sales average of a route day for agreeing to build another route day. I won't go into too many details about it, but the employee can get paid $100% of the value of the "sold off" route day over time if his new route day exceeds the sales of the old route day. On the 2 days I sold off I only earned 2/3 of their value. That came out to a little over $1,200. Also, I earned some entries into a cash drawing. I won $1,000. Not bad for a guy who had been on the job for 9 months.

Yes there were plenty of hours. My first 3 months I'd start at 8:00 AM and be home between 10:00 and 10:30 PM. My next 3 months I'd be home by 9:30 or 10:00 PM. At 6 months I was usually home by 9:00. It takes some time and sacrifice to run a route business. By the way, they told me about the hours before I started the job. I think it was reasonable in exchange for them giving me the keys to a $90,000 truck, inventory to sell, uniforms, insuring the truck, paying for 75% of my health,dental, and vision insurance, paying for my training, paying for all of my marketing materials, paying for the fuel in the truck that gets 5 miles to the gallon, paying to load my truck, paying the mechanics to do maintenance on my truck, and God knows more than I can list here.

I am not handsome. I am no genius. I have no particular talent other than listening to people and trying to help them out. Believe it not, that was and is the secret to me being successful with Schwans.

There are only 4 things to do to be successful with Schwans:
1. See every customer
2. Carry a product to the customer's door
3. Get new customers
4. Organize yourself so that you can accomplish the previous 3 so that you
are able to consistently do what you say and say what you do.
That's it. Nothing more.

If you don't get the help from your immediate supervisor to do those 4 things, then you need to demand it in a professional manner. If they still won't give it to you, then go above them with a phone call. You know what to do.

Now, if you're too lazy to do those 4 things, then put in your 2 weeks notice and get out this company!

Sincerely,
A 4 Year Schwans Man!!!
leave!

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#13 UPDATE Employee

Response to Steve and other ex-employees

AUTHOR: Dominic - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Sunday, December 30, 2007

Steve and others, you can throw numbers at me all day and I'm sure you aren't wrong but hey, it's over 6 months and I'm still working for Schwans. No doubt, my best day doesn't come close to the guy who made $2500 on my ride-along, but Schwans has so far, treated me well. I am still making the same amount of money I was making the first day I got there. It's not even a commission but a performance-based salary.
Sure, I work 14 hour days quite often but I really don't feel them. I know that seems strange but it's true. It all becomes like a video game after while. I'm rolling around in a great vehicle. I can stop for a break when I want, have a cigarette when I want, have something to drink (like coffee or soda) and play games with customers (trying to get them to buy more). I meet up with associates and friends for lunch and BS about whatever we want and talk any way we want. I'm out there in the fresh air. In the summer, it's hot and in the winter, it's nice and cold but I'm not stuck in some crummy office tapping a calculator all day long and the guys I work with at the depot are tougher individuals so I enjoy dealing with real men and not a bunch of whiny wimps complaining about paper cuts. I work a job that requires alot of my time. I'm proud of myself. My wife is proud of me. In fact, I'm in the middle of 10 days off in a row...paid all the way through the holidays.
Schwans has taken care of me to date because my depot manager, Troy, can see me and others out there trying, improving the routes, making an effort and maintaining a good attitude.
My pay rocks. My benefits rock. My boss rocks. My job rocks. Anyone who is thinking about working for Schwans, keep in mind my experience. And I'm the sort of guy who loves to complain about job conditions, pay, etc.
It says I'm in Colorado or Montana or something but it's actually Minnesota.
One word of caution: not everyone is cut out for this job. IF you have to get home to mommy or your wife after 8 hours, forget it. If you don't like being hot or cold, forget it.

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#12 UPDATE EX-employee responds

To Dominic

AUTHOR: Steve - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Dominic,

for your ride day, Schwans did something very common..they sent you on a ride day with no doubt their very highest producer. This is to give you a positive view.

I can promise you, a $2500 day is the great exception, and not the majority.

you need to look at the division average, not the high you report, or the low of $500 reported as well.

Division average, which takes into account everyone, is about $1000 in sales. Do 11% of that, with a 13 hour day. The money is even less if you compare to a regular job which gives overtime. The Schwans commission structure does not allow for that.

the turnover rate at Schwans is over 90%, with depots I'm familar with having a turnover rate of 150%. Literally, they cannot hire people fast enough to replace those leaving.

there are substantially better opportunites out there-and substantially better companies to work for.

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#11 Consumer Comment

COMISSION JOBS SUCK

AUTHOR: Margaret - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, September 14, 2007

If a comission job has a salary attached to it, then that's ok, but unless someone is selling something like real estate, in which they will no doubt make money because everyone needs a dwelling in which to live, TOTAL COMISSION SALES just don't pay enough or offer the proper benefits of a regular career.

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#10 UPDATE EX-employee responds

I don't buy the 8 hours

AUTHOR: Steve - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, September 12, 2007

a claim here is a schwan man works 8 hours. which I find very suspect. How convenient that all 10 of this guy's routes allow him to go home inbetween deliveries.

because there is lag time that affords you the opportunity of being home for a few hours-you hardly can do what you want-you're still attached to the route. Can you go to a movie? No. Can you take off your uniform, and go to the park? No. You are still on the job-even though you are not delivering.

you worked to 945 PM then had to drive back to the depot, and do your deposit, and drop the deposit off-only then are you off work. You forget that.

on average, you work about 13 hours a day, no paid holidays last I looked, sick days, and paltry 2 weeks vacation. About 8 per hour on average.

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#9 Consumer Comment

I challenge your criticism of Schwans

AUTHOR: Dominic - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, June 14, 2007

Your comments regarding Schwans seemed odd to me as Schwans is such a large, successful company and from my opinion has well-trained, well-groomed, educated associates. I was considering a job with this company until I read your comments but, like I said, your comments seemed overly critical and so I went for my ride-along, which ended up being 12 hours. The sales that you reported were very inaccurate. The route manger which I rode along with made in one day what you said that they made in a week. His sales were nearly $2500 in this one day when you estimated that as weekly sales. And he's recieving 11% of that.

Your comments about people on the ride-along requesting to just be dropped off seemed strange as well. During my day, we met a lot of people, sold a lot of product, had some great conversation and really, it was more like visiting with friends all day than anything else. People were happy to see the Schwans guy and welcome them into their homes. He also had such a good relationship with his customers that he often knew that if they didn't answer their door, they were probably in their back yard and promptly walked through the garage to their back deck or around the house where he'd find them.

Sure, the hours were long. I was gone, away from my family for 14 hours but there was a lot of fiddling around and I estimate that this same job could be done in 10 and possibly less if the salesman I was with didn't come back to every house two or three times when they weren't home the first time. We also had an extended lunch and on half a dozen occasions, talked with customers for 10 or 15 minutes about whatever.
And these very long days aren't every day. It was explained to me that they had two long days and three half days where they split the route with someone else.

They were also offered many incentives for reaching sales goals, including, as a team, reaching reasonable goals for selling certain sale items. The employees were very competitive and understood their jobs. They understood the roles in which they played and understood the importance of getting that sale.

Your comments about sales, I feel, were highly inaccurate. 98% of the houses we past by were not Schwans customers. Are you telling me that all of those people don't want to buy Schwans? We only went to houses where people had requested Schwans, purchased online, called the driver or expected Schwans every two weeks or once a month. Our day did not even include getting new customers.

My overall opinion is that you get out of it what you put into it. If Schwans trained you, then they taught you how to properly sell their products and what sort of relationship to have with your customers. Just offering products from the bag that the driver carried to the door with sale products in it yielded an additional $500 in sales and that was above what people had purchased already.

The sales goal for that day that I rode along was for each driver to sell 6 bags of Brats (a new product Schwans offered). The driver I was with sold 17. I don't think that what Schwans asks of it's employees is unreasonable.

YOu have to put in time and energy to get ahead. I don't see lawyers and doctors getting rich working 4 hour shifts - or supermarket managers making 100k per year taking half days. Or a restaurant or bar owner working less than 12 hours a day. These are the things that are asked of us to get ahead in life, in America, in the 21st century.

I really believe that you have found every negative and embelished it and didn't find anything positive, other than the pay you received before your step-down. Sales are sales. There is no two ways about it. Instead of attacking Schwans, you may quite possibly want to look within yourself and decide that you weren't cut out for sales or just couldn't hack a hard days work.

In closing, I believe that Schwans is like any other company. You put in the time and effort, you get the bling. Without the time and effort, you get the minimum, which is true for everything in life.

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#8 UPDATE Employee

Wrong again

AUTHOR: Joe - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Just because YOU don't know of a Schwan's man who works 8 hours a day doesn't mean they don't exist. TRUST ME I have no reason to lie or stick up for the company I work for because because people will think whatever they want regardless of what I say.

But I can tell you that I do in fact work 8-10 hours per day and that includes Fridays. If fact all my customers that I have on Friday who are going to be at football games, just leave a list for me and I put their items in their freezer and they leave a blank check or their Schwan's Debit card, and I leave a receipt. Its not my fault that some other drivers don't have their customers trust, but maybe that says something about them.

As far as everything else you said. First of all I don't fuel my own truck at night, thats what the warehouse guys are for! If the depot manager wherever you may have worked at made you do it yourself then he was just a self serving jerk who didn't want to pay the hourly warehouse loaders the extra money to do it, so he could line his own pockets (Depot managers are paid a bonus for total net profit made year over year, thus the less they have to pay out to employees the more bonus they get) Second I don't have to check my load sheet in the morning because I know the warehouses guys loaded it, and if inventory is off 1 or 2 items then I just preorder it for next time. Third, paperwork at the end of the night takes AT MOST 10 minutes. If you can't count out $40 to put back in your wallet, then add up the remaining, and cross refernce 20-40 checks against a check list and fill out a deposit slip in less than 10 minutes, than you probably shouldn't be working at McDonald's either.

I'll give you an example. I started working today about 10:15 am. Got to all of my day customers without callbacks by 1:30. Went home and hung out until 5:15, got to all my night customers by 9:20. Went back and did my deposit and was done with work by 9:45. Just about 8 hours of work, and came in with $1245 worth of sales. That works out to about $17 an hour. And that is a pretty typical day for me. I used the carry to the door technique and sold 12 units of the item of the week. At $8.99 thats $108 worth of sales just from that item, so about $12 went into my pocket just for suggesting that a customer try the item, and it practically sells itself. This item was on top of the items they were already going to purchase.

Like I said, this is the easiest job in the world. Before I started with Schwan's I had practically no sales experience at all, all it took was a little motivation for me to learn how to sell. The Schwan's drivers who don't do well are that way because they have a negative attitude just like yours which believe it or not translates into no sales for them with customers. They are pissy because they aren't doing well that day and they walk up to a customers house without a smile on their face. Then they get no sold and cop an attutide with the customer, who probably won't ever buy again. You can see the cycle. Im no where even close to being the best Schwan's man, but im loyal to my customers, I do the things I have to keep my sales up, and I don't ever work more than I want to.

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#7 UPDATE Employee

Wrong again

AUTHOR: Joe - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Just because YOU don't know of a Schwan's man who works 8 hours a day doesn't mean they don't exist. TRUST ME I have no reason to lie or stick up for the company I work for because because people will think whatever they want regardless of what I say.

But I can tell you that I do in fact work 8-10 hours per day and that includes Fridays. If fact all my customers that I have on Friday who are going to be at football games, just leave a list for me and I put their items in their freezer and they leave a blank check or their Schwan's Debit card, and I leave a receipt. Its not my fault that some other drivers don't have their customers trust, but maybe that says something about them.

As far as everything else you said. First of all I don't fuel my own truck at night, thats what the warehouse guys are for! If the depot manager wherever you may have worked at made you do it yourself then he was just a self serving jerk who didn't want to pay the hourly warehouse loaders the extra money to do it, so he could line his own pockets (Depot managers are paid a bonus for total net profit made year over year, thus the less they have to pay out to employees the more bonus they get) Second I don't have to check my load sheet in the morning because I know the warehouses guys loaded it, and if inventory is off 1 or 2 items then I just preorder it for next time. Third, paperwork at the end of the night takes AT MOST 10 minutes. If you can't count out $40 to put back in your wallet, then add up the remaining, and cross refernce 20-40 checks against a check list and fill out a deposit slip in less than 10 minutes, than you probably shouldn't be working at McDonald's either.

I'll give you an example. I started working today about 10:15 am. Got to all of my day customers without callbacks by 1:30. Went home and hung out until 5:15, got to all my night customers by 9:20. Went back and did my deposit and was done with work by 9:45. Just about 8 hours of work, and came in with $1245 worth of sales. That works out to about $17 an hour. And that is a pretty typical day for me. I used the carry to the door technique and sold 12 units of the item of the week. At $8.99 thats $108 worth of sales just from that item, so about $12 went into my pocket just for suggesting that a customer try the item, and it practically sells itself. This item was on top of the items they were already going to purchase.

Like I said, this is the easiest job in the world. Before I started with Schwan's I had practically no sales experience at all, all it took was a little motivation for me to learn how to sell. The Schwan's drivers who don't do well are that way because they have a negative attitude just like yours which believe it or not translates into no sales for them with customers. They are pissy because they aren't doing well that day and they walk up to a customers house without a smile on their face. Then they get no sold and cop an attutide with the customer, who probably won't ever buy again. You can see the cycle. Im no where even close to being the best Schwan's man, but im loyal to my customers, I do the things I have to keep my sales up, and I don't ever work more than I want to.

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#6 UPDATE Employee

Wrong again

AUTHOR: Joe - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Just because YOU don't know of a Schwan's man who works 8 hours a day doesn't mean they don't exist. TRUST ME I have no reason to lie or stick up for the company I work for because because people will think whatever they want regardless of what I say.

But I can tell you that I do in fact work 8-10 hours per day and that includes Fridays. If fact all my customers that I have on Friday who are going to be at football games, just leave a list for me and I put their items in their freezer and they leave a blank check or their Schwan's Debit card, and I leave a receipt. Its not my fault that some other drivers don't have their customers trust, but maybe that says something about them.

As far as everything else you said. First of all I don't fuel my own truck at night, thats what the warehouse guys are for! If the depot manager wherever you may have worked at made you do it yourself then he was just a self serving jerk who didn't want to pay the hourly warehouse loaders the extra money to do it, so he could line his own pockets (Depot managers are paid a bonus for total net profit made year over year, thus the less they have to pay out to employees the more bonus they get) Second I don't have to check my load sheet in the morning because I know the warehouses guys loaded it, and if inventory is off 1 or 2 items then I just preorder it for next time. Third, paperwork at the end of the night takes AT MOST 10 minutes. If you can't count out $40 to put back in your wallet, then add up the remaining, and cross refernce 20-40 checks against a check list and fill out a deposit slip in less than 10 minutes, than you probably shouldn't be working at McDonald's either.

I'll give you an example. I started working today about 10:15 am. Got to all of my day customers without callbacks by 1:30. Went home and hung out until 5:15, got to all my night customers by 9:20. Went back and did my deposit and was done with work by 9:45. Just about 8 hours of work, and came in with $1245 worth of sales. That works out to about $17 an hour. And that is a pretty typical day for me. I used the carry to the door technique and sold 12 units of the item of the week. At $8.99 thats $108 worth of sales just from that item, so about $12 went into my pocket just for suggesting that a customer try the item, and it practically sells itself. This item was on top of the items they were already going to purchase.

Like I said, this is the easiest job in the world. Before I started with Schwan's I had practically no sales experience at all, all it took was a little motivation for me to learn how to sell. The Schwan's drivers who don't do well are that way because they have a negative attitude just like yours which believe it or not translates into no sales for them with customers. They are pissy because they aren't doing well that day and they walk up to a customers house without a smile on their face. Then they get no sold and cop an attutide with the customer, who probably won't ever buy again. You can see the cycle. Im no where even close to being the best Schwan's man, but im loyal to my customers, I do the things I have to keep my sales up, and I don't ever work more than I want to.

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#5 UPDATE Employee

Wrong again

AUTHOR: Joe - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Just because YOU don't know of a Schwan's man who works 8 hours a day doesn't mean they don't exist. TRUST ME I have no reason to lie or stick up for the company I work for because because people will think whatever they want regardless of what I say.

But I can tell you that I do in fact work 8-10 hours per day and that includes Fridays. If fact all my customers that I have on Friday who are going to be at football games, just leave a list for me and I put their items in their freezer and they leave a blank check or their Schwan's Debit card, and I leave a receipt. Its not my fault that some other drivers don't have their customers trust, but maybe that says something about them.

As far as everything else you said. First of all I don't fuel my own truck at night, thats what the warehouse guys are for! If the depot manager wherever you may have worked at made you do it yourself then he was just a self serving jerk who didn't want to pay the hourly warehouse loaders the extra money to do it, so he could line his own pockets (Depot managers are paid a bonus for total net profit made year over year, thus the less they have to pay out to employees the more bonus they get) Second I don't have to check my load sheet in the morning because I know the warehouses guys loaded it, and if inventory is off 1 or 2 items then I just preorder it for next time. Third, paperwork at the end of the night takes AT MOST 10 minutes. If you can't count out $40 to put back in your wallet, then add up the remaining, and cross refernce 20-40 checks against a check list and fill out a deposit slip in less than 10 minutes, than you probably shouldn't be working at McDonald's either.

I'll give you an example. I started working today about 10:15 am. Got to all of my day customers without callbacks by 1:30. Went home and hung out until 5:15, got to all my night customers by 9:20. Went back and did my deposit and was done with work by 9:45. Just about 8 hours of work, and came in with $1245 worth of sales. That works out to about $17 an hour. And that is a pretty typical day for me. I used the carry to the door technique and sold 12 units of the item of the week. At $8.99 thats $108 worth of sales just from that item, so about $12 went into my pocket just for suggesting that a customer try the item, and it practically sells itself. This item was on top of the items they were already going to purchase.

Like I said, this is the easiest job in the world. Before I started with Schwan's I had practically no sales experience at all, all it took was a little motivation for me to learn how to sell. The Schwan's drivers who don't do well are that way because they have a negative attitude just like yours which believe it or not translates into no sales for them with customers. They are pissy because they aren't doing well that day and they walk up to a customers house without a smile on their face. Then they get no sold and cop an attutide with the customer, who probably won't ever buy again. You can see the cycle. Im no where even close to being the best Schwan's man, but im loyal to my customers, I do the things I have to keep my sales up, and I don't ever work more than I want to.

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#4 UPDATE EX-employee responds

What about all the time you don't get paid for?

AUTHOR: Robert - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, February 08, 2007

You left out the hours each day that you don't get paid for like checking you load in the morning, pre-tripping your truck, fueling your truck if it didn't get fueled the night before, then cleaning out your truck and finishing paperwork at night. Also, in my nearly 39 years contact with Schwan's I have never known a Schwan man to only work 8 hours per day, so don't even try to sell that story. By 39 years experience I mean that the first Schwan truck to come to our house was in 1968. My Father went to work for them later that year, and I worked for them from 1973 to 1982. And I know people who work for Schwans now, so I do know what I'm talking about. Then there is the unpaid holidays, or you can work on the holidays while most normal people are off spending the day with their families. Sure, Schwan's is a great job if you don't care what you make from one week to the next. It's hard to sell to people on Friday nights in Texas in the fall when most of the town is at the high school football game. Or the Friday night basketball game in the winter. This is the 21st Century and people don't stay home like they did in the 60's and 70's. You also left out the part about when your truck breaks down and you have to work Saturday to make up the route. It's all fine and dandy the way you tell it, but you need to tell the whole story not just the juicy parts.
Like I said in my earlier post McDonald's pays more per hour than what a Schwan man will when you take into account ALL of the hours you have to work to make a decent living.

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#3 UPDATE Employee

Mostly false information reported.

AUTHOR: Joe - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, February 07, 2007

I have been an employee of the Schwan's Food Company for just about a year now. As I read this report it became clear to me the the original poster was another one of those employees that gives Schwan's its bad reputation for turnover. This is the type of employee who whines about everything and doesn't make the kind of money they want to, because they aren't willing to do what it takes to make it.

Now let me explain how the company works. The pay is based on commission and NO you don't have to work 14 hour days to make darn good money. The original poster cited having $500 average days on his route. If I came back to the depot after running average $500 for a week I would probably whine, moan, and quit too. But I have never done that because I made the effort to go find the sales. Now SOME Schwan's men do work 12-14 hour days but they do so by choice not because they are forced to. I work on average 8 hours a day, and typically average about $1100 per day in sales. At %11 commission that is $121 per day or $15 an hour.

Now let me tell you, 8 hours goes by REAL quick when you are driving to peoples houses and taking their orders. If I want to make more money that day I start earlier, work later, or both. IF I choose to stay out the full 14 hours I can easily bring in over $2000. Most of those extra 4 hours is spent doing what we call "callbacks" which is going back to peoples houses that are not home that you missed earlier. Typically on my routes I don't go back to people's houses unless they are fairly regular buyers, everyone else gets one shot every two weeks. But ALL of my customers have my business card which has my photo and my cell phone number on it. And often times someone I miss will call me and have me come back to service them which I absolutly do.

As far as building blitzes are concerned, we have never done that in our depot. We were told when we started if you wanted more customers then you had to go find them yourself. New customers are not hard to find at all. I usually have 2 or 3 people walk up to my truck every week and ask to become customers. Most of them have had Schwan's before maybe when they were younger and just never knew how to get on the route. Also we have referral forms which I hand out to all of my customers and tell them if they find me a new customer I will give them a free pizza which I pay for out of my own pocket once their friend orders $30 worth of stuff. This has brought me tons of new customers. Now some Schwan's people will keep 30-60 customers per day in their route system who very infrequently buy, yet they will still stop by every two weeks to see if they want something. I DO NOT DO THIS. If you want to know where all the time is spent and why you don't make money this is it. I only keep ACTIVE and buying customers on my route. That way I am not wasting time banging on doors and getting no sold all day. If someone doesn't buy from me for about 3 months, I make it a point to ask them if their is a problem, and then ask them if they want to remain a customer. If they do then I give them about 3 more cycles to buy after that they cease to be customers. I usually leave them a friendly letter telling them that I appreciated their business and if they ever want to start again to get ahold of me.

I made upwards of $35,000 in just base pay this year working pretty close to 40 hours a week which works out to about $17 an hour. There are tons of bonuses, prizes, and gifts that are were either given to me, or a I won as a result of numerous contests held throughout the year. Heck every two weeks we have 2 items that pay $.50 a unit on top of the normal %11-$13 percent commission you get. You sell 100 of these units thats and extra $50 on top of the $100-$250 worth of pure commission you get on these. And they are very easy to sell, all you have to do is mention them and then give a little product knowledge.

I could go on forever about what I good company this is to work for IF you know what you are doing, and don't have a crappy attitude. I would never continue to work for Schwan's if I was putting in 14 hour days, and I don't think there is one Schwan's man that has to put in that many hours if they would just get a little creative in the things they do.

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#2 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Don't work for Schwan's

AUTHOR: Robert - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Some of the things you missed are that you have to clean your truck out at night, do your paperwork, fill out a load sheet for tomorrows load, go to the bank on the way home, all of this after working 12-14 hours on your route. Don't fall for the line that the people that don't make it at Schwan's didn't try. Who in their right mind wants to go to 100 houses per day not knowing if someone is home or not, whether they have any money or not to pay for product, and knowing that if you don't sell anything you don't get paid. My Dad retired from Schwan's after 21 years for a measly $50,000 lump sum. I do know that they now have a 401k program, but part of that contribution comes out of your commision.

Also, you have to buy uniforms and pay for part of your insurance. Oh, by the way, if your truck breaks down and you can't work, guess what you have to run a day behind which means you have to work on Saturday to catch up. Boy, thats sounds fun. Granted I haven't worked for Schwan's in 25 years but from talking to my Schwan man, not much has changed. In fact with their recent price increases and the $1 surcharge I quit buying from Schwan's. I would recommend going to work for McDonald's before working at Schwan's. At least if you worked two full time jobs at McDonald's (40 hours) each you still would work less than you would at Schwan's and make a lot more money. Finally, at least when I worked at Schwan's, NO PAID HOLIDAYS. What a great company.

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#1 Author of original report

the truth about what a hard working, dedicated driver will actually make for providing their 17-18 hour days to the Schwans company

AUTHOR: Justin - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, March 30, 2006

For all those out there who have read the ad's placed by the Schwans Food Company (the big yellow refrigerated trucks) and have been drawn to their advertisement of beginning at $40+ thousand a year, please take my word for it and do not even inquire about the legitimacy of making that type of money. In this page I will let you know the truth about what a hard working, dedicated driver will actually make for providing their 17-18 hour days to the Schwans company.

The company generally starts you at what they like to refer to as a "guaranteed pay / step down program". Basically, you will be started at roughtly $32,500 per year they claim. What they mean is, we will place you at $600 per week for a 2 months, at which time, that will disappear. You will then be placed on the step down program when they assign you a route.

Now, let's say the route brings in an average of $500 per day in sales. You will be paid 11% of that $500 for a total of $55 plus a step down pay. Step down is a guaranteed amount they pay you each and every week, added onto your sales total. So, you make $300.00 for stepdown pay each week, plus 11% of your weekly sales. Lets say, you pulled in an average of $500.00 each day in sales Monday through Friday. Your sales pay would be $250.00 + your step down pay of $300.00 for a total of $550.00 in pay BEFORE taxes.

Are you with me thus far? I hope so, because they explain it so fast in the interview / hiring process, that you think "what did they just say", when in reality, whatever your thinking, is clouded by the quote "You will make BIG money".

So, not a bad weekly paycheck? I thought so too, until the step down pay amount begins to dwindle each month. Before long, your paycheck is solely based on what you sell, and there is no guarantee, no assistance, no step down pay anymore. So, what happens when your routes are at $2500.00 in sales per week? Your paycheck BEFORE taxes is $250.00 How can you live on it? Believe me, many Schwans employees make that statement each and every day. If you state, that it is not so bad, divide that $250.00 by 80-90 hours per week, and your making less than a 16 y.o working part-time at a McDonalds.

Now they claim that those who have not made it succesfully with Schwans did not try. Well, the management will try to put you at ease promising you to have people go out there and obtain new customers for you to increase your daily sales, assist you in boosting your buying customer level and so much more. I was promised during a "build blitz" (employees from other depots come out and assist you increasing your customer base / sales) that I would have someone riding with me to make my route better. Well, months of promises went unfulfilled and believe me, the end product is a angry, fed up, and burnt out employee.

Schwans has a higher turnover than McDonalds. For every 10 that apply, Schwans may consider hiring 1 or 2. But, because they consider hiring them, does not mean they have the job. They myust pass background checks, drug screenings, an interview, a ride along and NEO (New Employee Orientation).

The ride along which from the beginning until the end is usually 18 hours (sometimes an hour less depending on the driver). So, lets say those two candidates Schwans was considering hiring made it through everything but the ride along, and they both went out on that ride along, the truth is, there is a slim chance that one will actually return to the depot at the end of the night in the truck. What happened you ask? Well, most ask to be let out at the nearest gas station because they have had enough, only to have their wife, girlfriend or friend come and pick them up.

Schwans used to be a great company and the earning potential WAS there at one time, but not anymore. You may have 120 stops, but your paycheck depends on that customer actually being home, and if they are home, actually needing something. Even if they need something, is their purchase going to be so substantial that it will make a dent in that paycheck some are embarassed to cash each week? NO!

People used to always be home, but with the "on the go" world we live in, people are hard to catch! Managers at Schwans will do and say whatever it takes to get you out there and give your time, your sanity and the time which others use with their family to Schwans. Is the potential out there to make it at Schwans and bring in the paycheck? Yes, if you are willing to work 90 hours per week, and work like a slave for 10 years to get your customer base where it needs to be. Only 2 drivers in our depot of about 14 actually make enough money to say thy live somewhat comfortably. Those 2 have worked for Schwans since the tire was invented.

Schwans also cares little for their customers, regardless of the good PR and other smoke and mirrors they show you. They only care about money! When I began with Schwans, they stated that 1 new customer per day was the key to a sucessful route with them. That number was the magic number since Schwans began, but in the last 6 months, that number is now 6 new customers per day. Do you know how hard it is to service 100+ customers in a day, plus knock on doors to find 6 new customers? You will have to knock on a conservative average of 30 doors to get 6 people interested at best. Yes, you may get lucky and sign a few new ones along the way, but many will not sign on immediately.

If you do not come in with 6 new customers, you are considered the black sheep and feel the eyes of management looking down at you. They need those new customers to look good to their bosses and corporate, because they are on the chopping block. Yes they are doing their job because they want to stay employed, but it means pushing, taking advantage and explouiting you to their advantage at the cost of you, your health, your time with family and at the cost of your paycheck.

So, if you're intimidated, and must try for 6 new customers, you spend time trying to locate and sign those new customers. In the meantime, your existing customers who are already expecting you at a certain time are growing impatient, think they missed you or your not coming. The result, a smaller paycheck because you missed those who you were supposed to service at a given time, but did not because you were trying to find new customers. The companies explanation to this theory is that new customers will build your business and justify a larger paycheck. But the reality is a smaller paycheck this week, no guarantee those customers will buy next time or again if you already signed them. My theory is SERVICE THE EXISTING CUSTOMER because they are the ones that have kept you employed, and kept the company going all this time.

So, if you want to work ungodly hours for minimum wage or less, get burned out, have the wife or girlfriend leave you because your never there, alienate your children because they forgot what daddy or mommy look like because there always gone and want a job that leads nowhere, call Scwans now, because they are ALWAYS hiring.

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