Folks, I am merely following in the foot steps of other employees that have written about this egregious company. There is no other word to describe them. I was unceremoniously fired after only two days of training. I pleaded with my boss, "Susie" to give me a tangible reason, and all she kept saying is: Eets yust my eentooeeshun--I know such tings...jou are not goeeng to be hahppy 'ere." I said: "How do you know I'm not happy? Why would I ace the test, and do a thorough demonstration of my sales presentation that I spent countless hours working on?" Which BTW, I utilized the same methods at my last sales job which culminated in me being the top sales person the entire time I worked there. It's called "hard work" "study, study!" and "practice makes perfect." The other trainee told me she was intimidated at my smooth succint presentation, mainly because her's was not as polished. Probably only because she didn't spend as much time on it. (Doubtful that anyone would be as neurotically compulsive as I am.)
Any how, I'm glad now I was fired because I've read so many horrific reviews about them--some by doctors that say they are prohibitively overpriced and even dangerous 'cause they are prefrabricated and not a custom made orthotic made by a cast of the person's foot. One doctor said he even went as far as "posing" as a typically hapless customer, just to see what kind of ridiculous things the sales consultants would say. He was not disappointed. He essentially said the so-called "orthotic consultants" had no idea of what they were even talking about, and made some absurdly false claims, claims that could never be backed up by a real doctor. He laughed at the ink foot print, saying that tells you nothing, absolutely nothing about a person's foot. Another doctor said there are many better orthotics out there in the 30 dollar range. He said these 300 dollar orthotics were no different from their cheaper competitors.
They gave me three pairs, and I gotta tell you folks I have no idea if they really work because out of nineteen pairs that I own, they only fit into two pairs of shoes I own. Even putting the thinnest one of the bunch, the "Relaxers" they claim can be worn with high heels, and slippers, or just socks I experienced either one of two things: they made it impossible to get into my shoe. You must own a pair of shoes that are very deep, else they won't fit in your shoe. That is why they fit you with the Tenevis tennis shoe they carry because they are deep enough to accommodate an insert. Secondly: in the two pairs they did fit in, they slipped and slided. and would obstinately not stop sliding, even with the ridiculously cheap velcroe they give you to keep the insert from, well, HELLO! slipping.
And as with all slipshod companies, a peculiar phenomena occurs: the less legitimate the company is, the more rigid standards they old their employees to. Probably to shift the blame and guilt on the ostensibly weaker employee to assuage their guilt. It's called "Projection" in psychology vernacular. This place I worked was absolutely "kafkaesque" surreal and nightmarish, and "Orwellian" as in "Big Brother is Watching." They had microphones everywhere and if you said anything remotely negative in what you thought was in private to another employee, you'd run the risk of them playing it back and most assuredly firing you! I did mention something the first day to the other newbie when asked what I thought so far. I said: "I don't know, I'll have to wait and see...I did see a lot of bad reviews that made me nervous, but then again, you never can tell." I also stated I wasn't sure about the owner. Jim, ( Which, BTW, never gave me his business card, or told me his last name, a real red flag I've found only from my personal experience.) He asked the most bizarre interview questions and made obscenely absurd comments. Like: "I don't know about you...You don't seem to be desperate enough. We find that the really desperate ones that have to feed a family today are the ones that make it" He was way too intense and scared me. The manager, Susie, was even more scary. Obviously, something happened from the first day to the second day that made her dislike me. She started the second day off asking me with disdainful concern" RR jou OOkei? Jou look really taiierd" I almost got the impression she was implying I was on drugs. Which I am, but only anti-depressants and non-opiate pain killers which I take everyday. I'm in recovery. Then she tore apart everything I said or did the entire day. I also noticed she was downright mean to the kindly old man salesman. A real bully. When I was trying to help the other newbie out by saying; "Don't forget to have the customer fill out the paperwork." She bellowed: "JOU Doan 'ave to peeek on 'er." What? I said it very gently to the girl, just trying to be helpful and supportive. She told us to never interrupt or make noise during another salesperson's demonstration and fitting 'cause it can possibly distract the customer from buying. I agree. But then about two hours later when the kindly 'ol salesman was doing his pitch, she most def distracted the buyer by screeching very loudly at a guy outside purportedly littering intentionally. She went on a very angry rant, addressing the customer in the store saying stuff about how she "hated people that do things like that," and was it not dreadful and horrible ad infinitum, ad nauseum. It was positively scary. And the customer looked, frankly. shocked by her unprofessional temper tantrum. She also got very angry I was using an electronic cigarette that she praised me wildly for the first day she saw me smoking it. Huh?
The other employees had a slightly paranoid look on their face I noticed the first day and thought: Hmm wonder what that is all about?
Look, it is resoundingly clear you gotta be a professional liar to work there. It's shocking to hear the lies that come out of their mouths. Say stuff like: Our inserts were invented by an podiatrist." When it clearly states on their website, he was only a "doctor." Don't you think if it was a real podiatrist they would add that as well to add more legitimacy to their dubious product?