store manager

deputy manager

retail store manager

retail manager

test engineer

Cards-Direct

The best thing about working for Cards Direct is the colleagues you will meet, if you’re lucky.

What is bad about Cards Direct is a long list. Within the store, management is poor, lazy, demotivating and corrupt. Management fail to take on busy shifts and schedule themselves out of open hours, leaving the hard work for the likes of deputies and key holders. They then have the audacity to not take accountability for their actions and blame problems on staff members. 

In terms of senior management, including area managers and those above, the companies store managers and deputy managers drop like flies due to unfair pay and lack of recognition. Because of this, the company latch onto any managers they have trying to prevent them from leaving, without paying them adequately. This results in complaints against managers not being dealt with correctly, or even being acknowledged correctly.

In my time at Cards Direct, I knew of and spoke to 3 Deputy Managers, all of whom never received their pay rise when appointed the role, despite working in the role for over a year. The company presents false promises of perks of promotion, when in reality the company try to pay as little as possible and put deputy managers on the same wage as key holders and normal sales assistants. In addition, bonuses only go to store managers, who aren’t even in the store the majority of open hours because they schedule themselves out of working hours without actually coming in and replenishing the store. So the team who work hard to push sales, meet targets and drive the store forward receive no recognition or bonus. The company continuously talk about implementing a bonus scheme, just as they continuously say to deputy managers they will receive their pay rise soon, yet nothing comes into fruition.

If you’re looking for a job with no recognition, no prospects, corrupt seniority, where you might meet some nice colleagues then this is the job for you. If you have respect for yourself you might realise you can meet good colleagues at any job so you might seek a job elsewhere.

I worked at Cards Direct and had a very negative experience. I wasn’t contracted any guaranteed hours, and although I started with around 20 hours a week, this quickly dropped to just half a shift. It felt like they hired more people than they had hours to offer, leaving many staff with barely any work and no stability.

The rota was extremely last-minute — usually posted on Sundays for the week starting the next day — and only ever one week at a time. I was regularly contacted outside of my stated availability, making it impossible to plan around the job.

There was clear and obvious favouritism from management. Certain staff were consistently given better hours, easier tasks, and more leniency, while others were overlooked or treated differently. It had a noticeable impact on team morale and fairness.

Training was almost nonexistent. I was expected to complete tasks I’d never been shown how to do, and most learning came from observing others or being corrected mid-shift. Management was condescending and unhelpful, and concerns were often dismissed or ignored.

They didn’t take medical notes seriously, and there was no understanding or support for mental health or general wellbeing. The work environment felt tense and draining — nearly everyone I worked with spoke about quitting within their first week.

This  job left me feeling anxious, undervalued, and completely unsupported. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone looking for fair treatment, reliable hours, or a healthy work environment.

Worked at the company for four years before moving on to a different career. For what is expected of you and the hours you have to do, the pay was poor as you didn’t get paid any over time. 
Higher management weren’t always the greatest,  but I did get on well enough with them and established a way of handling matters.
Wasn’t given a lot of hours to have staff in with so everything was left to me. I left because I felt stuck and that I had no life outside of the store. 
I’m mentioning the negatives but overall I did enjoy my time here; I still use my balloon art skills today! If you play your cards right (lol) and work on building strong relationships with a variety of members within the company, you can get on just right. My main tip is to be open minded and learn everything you can about the job because once you do, you can back up anything you do differently! 

Would I work for this company again? Probably not but that’s just because my life has changed and I’ve moved on. But with a few years past to reflect on my thoughts and feelings of my time here, I can only but thank you for helping to establish my confidence and allowing me to develop as an individual to prepare me for the career I was meant for.

Everything is great for the first few weeks however the work load is unrealistic for the staffing hours allocated. They pay just above minimum wage and expect you to work your days off and evenings for free to just get on top of the tasks. Minimum training given with the area manager coming in on your day off and changing the store around then get a phone call to say your not working hard enough. Not a professional company at all they dont ever supply toilet paper or hand soap as a store manager I was expected to buy. There is a strong culture if blame and no one takes responsibility for anything if your face fits your be ok if you dare to have an opinion or speak up your days will be numbered. Save yourself the bother and go and work somewhere else. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The only positive thing about working for Cards Direct was that it was local for me

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
There were not enough staff to adequately cover busy periods as the company operates on zero hours contracts 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The staff rest room/break room were unsanitary and no time was built in for cleaning. Our particular store was without any form of heating for weeks on end during the recent cold weather, but the company insisted that both doors remained open. In my opinion the company did not care about the wellbeing of the staff.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Varied work, till work, putting away deliveries and taking/preparing balloon orders.

Nothing good about this job, management is rude and  manipulative, treating you kind and acting like they care for a few weeks... then things change and you have no choice but to quit. They treat you with 0 respect just as a person in general, and when other workers add verbal assault management does nothing other then saying “forget about it”, The manager has been known to talk behind employee’s backs. And even lie right to your face about work place bullying, personally would never in a million years would have worked here if I knew what I was getting into... avoid at all costs if I was you. Pay is awful, hours are even worse however. Even after requesting hours that’s I was promised... nothing. As I said I would never work here again in a million years.

I worked at Cards direct for a year and three months. Most days tidying cards and products and serving customers on the till. I learnt how to inflate balloons and make balloon bouquets. The management seem to be flying by the seat of there pants. Everything is last minute. The training for keyholder is rushed and not thorough enough as is most training. Work culture is ok if you like banter, and discrediting former employees. The hardest part of the job is learning the balloons. The most enjoyable part of the job is looking at the faces of the children when they get a balloon. 
The hours are inconsistent, rotas change many times in one day so you can't arrange anything outside of work.

The problem is if you don't fit the look or don't stay silent about everything you get punished for it. Bullying is a real problem at this company and it comes from the higher ups so it's just covered up and ignored even if you report it. As soon as you do you are labeled a problem and the plan to get rid of you begins. There's no support from higher ups after store managers. Training doesn't really happen unless you fight for it. Budgets are so tiny for store hours christmas is a horrible time to work. All staff apart from management are zero hours so hiring good people is hard to find. Just an unhappy place to work.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The customers were the only best part of working at the company.  Zero hours contract. Unreasonable hours. Confidence destroying staff.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Never knowing how many hours you are working each week. Financial instability.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The first year was good but then drastically changed. Bullying is quite common and management don't intervene. I wrote a formal grievance and the area manager said to the store manager not to forward it to HR and to bin it.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Constant worry about staff being unkind.

I worked here for two months and by worked I mean stopped by for a couple days, I hardly got any shifts at all because I was “too anxious” on the till and wouldn’t work “fast enough” so I’d push the schedule behind which makes no sense when you learn that I only worked 2-4 hours at every shift. I only worked a total of 7 hours in a month and the only reasoning for this is that I was too overwhelmed. Doesn’t make sense because how do you expect me to feel comfortable doing work when that is your outlook on me and the way you treat your employees lol honestly doesn’t surprise me though I’ve heard from past employees that it was similar for them. Unless you’re absolutely desperate for a job I’d skip this place and avoid it altogether

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Store manager 70 salaries reported	£27,775 per year
Deputy manager 38 salaries reported	£12.47 per hour
Retail store manager 1 salary reported	£23,000 per year
Retail manager 1 salary reported	£22,500 per year
Test engineer 1 salary reported	£31,204 per year

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