Quidsi Reviews

I have been working at Quidsi full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Quidsi is full of a lot of opportunities. Just looking around my department of nearly 30, almost half of either been promoted, have transferred in from another department/function, or have taken on a new suite of responsibilities within the last 18 months or so (and most of the rest were recently hired into newly-created roles). You get opportunities to take on projects and scopes of work that you likely wouldn't get elsewhere. The people are also awesome - you couldn't ask to work with a higher-caliber yet still fun and down-to-earth bunch. There is also a sincere effort made to make Quidsi really a great place to work - the calendar is constantly full of fun events, interesting trainings, sports and clubs, you name it.

Cons – With rapid growth comes growing pains - things that once worked won't work so well anymore, and it does take some time and creativity to come up with new, better solutions. But just like those awkward couple of years we all hit growing up (I'm talking to you, 6th-8th grade...), you emerge better for having gone through it. So Quidsi is still a bit of a gawky teenager - but a well-intentioned, ambitious, fun-loving one at that. The workload can be heavy at times too, there is no denying that. At the same time, I know that I've accomplished so much more in my 3 1/2 years (and counting) here than I would in the same amount of time elsewhere.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Quidsi full-time for more than a year

Pros – Affordable insurance since Amazon take-over

Cons – Lack of communication within management. Lack of communication between management and employees. Constant and erratic changes of processes and procedures. Complete lack of thought for application of new procedures. Employees are essentially treated like cattle. Point system is a joke (website says paid vacation and holidays. If you don't earn the time off, AND have it approved, you get no time off. Sick days? Same pool of Paid Time off, and it's a complete joke). HR couldn't care less about employees. Pay grade is poor. Turnover is super high. Absolutely no care for a degree in any way. Promotions based on attendance, NOT performance or longevity of employment. Typically useless coworkers. "Mandatory" overtime without any notice. "Final Written Warning" for any breach of rules and regulations, without prior warnings or coaching of any kind.

Advice to Senior Management – Quit screwing around. The people in the office run the building, yet they don't know anything outside their 4 walls. How do things actually work on the warehouse floor? If ANY member of management had any real idea of employee conditions (application of procedures, typical hurdles, etc), things might change. Favoritism is an extreme.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Quidsi full-time

Pros – Snacks, Insurance and Benefits, fantastic Co-Workers, discount on websites

Cons – poor management, schedules are a joke if you haven't worked for the company for 2+ years, you are graded on your calls and emails which is stressful and grading system is biased, barely compensated for doing a great job, there is a point system so if you are late or if you give a last minute notice you will not be able to come to work because you are sick, you get points (6 points and you are fired).

Advice to Senior Management – Quit

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Quidsi full-time for more than a year

Pros – Free/promotional stuff, great offices, and that's about it.

Cons – Quidsi's going through an awkward growth spurt. Not quite a start up, not quite a mid-sized company, they're struggling with how to remain efficient. The overlap of roles and responsibilities is ridiculous. Often you'll find three people in different verticals all working on the same things and there's nothing being done about the redundancy. Why? It boils down to the fact that there's zero leadership in the company. Instead, HR has handed down processes and checkpoints that make it even harder to get things done. People are promoted or hired who have no previous leadership or online experience. You will be micro managed and sit in meetings where basic marketing concepts need to be explained to someone in a senior position.

Advice to Senior Management – Focus on cleaning house internally, then hire people who can actually lead a team.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Quidsi

Pros – The company tosses silly little incentives your way such as free snacks, games etc to keep you in line. Fun atmosphere.

Cons – As a customer care representative, you will be treated not like a valued member of the team, but a disposable Quidsi commodity. Just about every week there is an “Announcement” email from HR notifying the remaining employees that so and so is no long employed here and that they are “wish[ed] well in their future endeavors.” Management pretends to care about you, but in reality is a team of actors who are just out to make sure you don’t expend your 18 month Quidsi shelf life. You have to be an animated, overly enthusiastic clown to even be recognized as a person here. Soon after being hired you will begin to recognize that this position is far from how it was advertised.
You are not getting anywhere in this company, certainly not out of customer care unless you yield from an ivy league college and you are under the age of 30. In fact, prior to Quidsi being acquired by Amazon, the company description that accompanied its online job postings read something along the lines of “we are a team of young, enthusiastic individuals.” Isn’t that age discrimination? Even so, this is just one of the company’s many hidden pitfalls.
Perhaps you’re reading this and saying, “but I graduated from a top 50 university and I have a Masters degree in my field, certainly I can be an asset to Quidsi!” Nope. Sorry. That will get you nowhere as far as HR is concerned. This company does not practice equal opportunity hiring. The African Americans and Hispanics are corralled into Customer Care no matter what qualifications they may possess, with no chance of moving up in the company. Yes, even with a Masters Degree in Merchandising, if you are African American, you are automatically tossed into Customer Care while someone of a different race, hailing from community college enjoys the benefits of a full time merchandising position, a normal schedule and a sense of self worth.
 As a Customer Care Representative, if you express interest in moving to other departments/positions, management and HR will interpret this as dissatisfaction with your job. They will then scrape up some seemingly unrelated reason to fire you.
In customer care, you are hired for a specific schedule which will include weekends and evenings. You are promised the opportunity to change your schedule after 6 months, but if your manager favors you, you can bypass the red tape and score a better schedule sooner.
 Representatives are encouraged to report gossip about other employees to management. On the same token, management is constantly fishing for information about employees in order to determine who may be dissatisfied with their position. It is not long before a hardworking rep is shuffled out of the Quidsi doors because of something that was perceived and then whispered to a manager.
You are judged, not by your skills and abilities, but the depth with which you can regurgitate the phrase ‘I’m so sorry your order was late.” without sounding robotic. If only the customer on the other end of the phone knew that with every word you utter, you have the gun of unemployment pressed against your head. You do not have an assigned seat or your own space to keep your belongings. If you leave something in your workspace after your leave your shift, it will either get trashed by management or stolen by other employees. If you say something about it to management, this will be interpreted as insubordination and you will become another Quidsi casualty…for something completely unrelated of course. It’s best to keep quiet altogether around these parts.

In reality, there is not enough space for all of Customer Care, they overhire and execute Quidsi cleansings from time to time.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Quidsi full-time for more than a year

Pros – The only pro is that the facility has a set schedule 99% of the time. Cheap benefits that people can afford.

Cons – No job security.. If they do not like you, they will not promote you. They promote people who are not with the company for a long period of time. The pay is horrible for the type of work you do. One hand doesn't know what the other is doing.

The fulfilllment center is disgusting. Nothing is clean. Food products are in bins next to soap products and or pet food. How is that sanitary

There is no motivation whatsoever for employees to do their job. Promotions are not based on how long you've been there, it's based on an attendance point system.

Advice to Senior Management – My advice to management is to look in the mirror. Are you satisifed with the pay check that you are getting/ This company is getting worse by the minute... You guys are collecting a pay check and not earning one. Try getting dirty for once, work with your employees. They are the ones who are making the company operate and meeting the company's goals. Try being a people person. Don't talk down to the employees as if they were a 5 year old. Treat people with respect and you might get some in return.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Quidsi full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Well-stocked kitchen
Nice view of the Hudson

Cons – Very high turnover due to:
Senior management who doesn't communicate down well, and then later places the blame on those subordinates
More emphasis placed on where your degree is from (Ivy) rather than if you are smart or likable to work with
Too many in senior management positions who have a chip on their shoulder
Sweatshop hours - no work/life balance - try to leave work before 6pm (to go and work at home) and get the stink eye

Advice to Senior Management – Stop hiring/promoting people who are miserable people

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Quidsi for more than a year

Pros – Great culture, great people and great customer service. An environment where you are surrounded by smart, dedicated and passionate people who are customer focused. People work hard but there is a strong sense of fun. The senior executive team shows its appreciation in multiple ways. I was amazed at the number of negative comments posted since it is one of the best companies I have worked for.

Cons – If you are working on a launch of a new business it can be very demanding in terms of hours as you ramp up.

Advice to Senior Management – As part of a larger organization, amazon, and as they grow larger you hope they do not lose their culture. Besides having great people, what makes quidsi fun is the lack of bureaucracy, autonomy it gives it's people and it's willingness to take risks.

I have been working at Quidsi full-time for more than a year

Pros – The other employees are great to work with and a few of the managers actually do care.
They always need help so overtime is no problem.

Cons – Low pay for the area.
The managers only see what they want to see.
There's no follow through with anything.
No actions are taken on people who don't follow the rules.
Carbon copy yearly review process.
Unless you're a "popular kid" with the managers than you're going no where in the company.
The managers don't care what you have to say unless your nose is brown.
The office area is like a playground; they're always throwing stuff at each other and playing games.

Advice to Senior Management – Leave your offices and watch how hard some of your employeess work. Stop judging the employees as a whole and realize that we are individuals. Stop catering to your "favorite" employees.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Quidsi full-time

Pros – -The people you work with are truly unique and fun
-The office likes to have fun with competitions and planned sports activities

Cons – -The work that you do counts next to nothing if you want to advance
-Management has it in their heads that degrees from ivy schools are the way to go. If you don't have one then good luck trying to get an interview.
-The office is like high school all over again. Lots of drama and the more popular you are in the office the more you're probably going to advance.
-The pay is not enough since management keeps adding responsibilities without adding to your pay
-The work is sometimes mind-numbing and repetitive
-Temps are overworked and exhausted. Once they see you're used up you'll be replaced and the process happens all over again

Advice to Senior Management – -Notice talent when it's presented to you

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company