FYE employees are now given job warnings, are having their hours punitively cut back, some have been fired, and some are under threat to be fired, when their sales of certain trick incentive items fall below ever-increasing target numbers. Most egregious and lucrative for FYE among these are the so-called "free" subscriptions, which are automatically billed to the customer if they don't opt out in time to cancel.
Employees are literally instructed by managers-in a deniable way, of course-to withhold and/or parse out information (emphasizing the free and not volunteering any information about what's going to happen later) about how it works so that customers are lulled into giving consent and surprised by the (almost irreversible) automatic deduction later. Those who don't cooperate by being too honest with customers and/or consequently fail to meet the sales quotas are then pushed down the path to constructive discharge and out the door.
When the misled consumers come into the store to complain, employees who refer them back to the manager rather than give them the brush-off themselves are also subjected to negative review.
The Maryland Attorney General's office will not act without consumer complaints. If you are one of these customers or one of these fired employees, please file now: