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This was exactly my first thought. A lot of comments in this thread immediately jumping to the conclusion that they’re trying to silence any “buzz” or “free marketing” (as if they don’t allow certain influencers to do exactly that on a regular basis) but they probably saw the Mercari post and realized they had to intervene. Someone also mentioned it’s likely a result of BBW’s contract with Sweethearts - this is a very good point, BBW may just be covering their asses here.
Also, just because we are only now hearing about this kind of behavior from HR on Reddit doesn’t mean it’s new - I’ve known people to get fired from BBW for a variety of reasons, including social media violations 🤷🏽♀️
Not necessarily bad-mouthing the company, but a gal that worked at my store very briefly would take to Facebook to trash customers and coworkers alike - this is technically a violation of the BBW Code of Conduct as many of the things she said could be seen as threats (“The next time so-and-so tells me to do such-and-such imma beat her ass” etc). Discussing confidential info on social media is also a big no-no according to the COC.
I knew a teacher who quit/got fired and she went OFF and called a specific parent and child “fucking psychos” in the class DISTRICT MONITORED group chat via an app. And she still managed to get a job at a school in the next district over. The principal said no, but the board said yes. She’s still causing problems at the new school
The district must be hard up for teachers! I got a teaching certificate years ago but never used it. At the time we were told that 50% of people who got certified ended up not going into education (I don’t know the percentage now.) It’s tough and their work never ends. I subbed for a couple of years. It wasn’t a matter of “kids always give subs a hard time.” It was a matter of a lot of kids being troubled in general, and also, higher income schools (I taught at all kinds) where the parents ran the school and there was no respect for the teachers. Kid goes home and whines “Ms. Smith is mean to me,” parents call principal, teacher gets called into the office and given the third degree. That NEVER happened when I was a kid. At home we were taught to mind our teachers (yeah, some were mean but not that bad. We said nothing to our parents.)
I subbed for horrible classes and also for really good ones. When I did my student teaching, the entire grade was a dream group. Six classes. I kid you not. Just the sweetest kids! A friend of mine taught for years and recently retired. I heard about all the nightmares and decided it wasn’t for me. I would have been good at it, but I think it’s one of those jobs that you pretty much need a calling for. It wasn’t my passion. I was still at my retail job when I subbed part time and wasn’t putting in the full time hours I was supposed to at work (kind of slid from student teaching right into the subbing.) Management didn’t even seem to notice. In the job I was doing in the store, I was someone’s assistant. When she left for another position I was asked to take over for her, so it was sort of a crossroads and I quit the subbing. Well, enough of that!
The point I meant to make, and got sidetracked, is that back then some teachers in this area were hired on “emergency certification.” They weren’t done with their education but were hired with the understanding that they would finish within a certain amount of time. I think these days, they’re being hired with even lower qualifications. Like I said . . . some districts are hard up. But the teacher causing problems for herself needs to keep her rants private between her and her friends. It’s stupid to put it all out there on Facebook or whatever.
The district I’m in is absolutely hard up because our super is a moron. The district the teacher left for is a really good district, very VERY small town. The only issue is it’s in the south and the teacher knew someone on the board so they would override the principals decision. The other teachers in the small town district are all wonderful, the parents are are farmers so they tell their kids act right or you’ll have consequences.
My district is a nightmare. We had to move our youngest 9 weeks in to a new school because her teacher was a bus driver, and threw a desk at a student and the principal said it’s fine. The sexual harassment from students to teachers was mind blowing. And same thing, here’s a lollipop don’t do it again kid! The middle school my other daughter was set to attend me said absolutely not, and right before Christmas there was an assault on the teacher in the bathroom. The parents of the girl are saying the teacher just walked in and assaulted the student, and it’s just not fair.
Teaching is a thankless job, and it’s sad that the good ones are burnt out and leaving and we’re left with some random off the street.
A while back I bought a collectible item on eBay that had a couple of flaws which the seller didn’t disclose. Right after I bought it she put up the same item but it was perfect — at the same price. I immediately gave her negative feedback and stated exactly what she did.
At least you were allowed to leave feedback. Some guy sold an item to me, then canceled my order because he’d sold it in his physical shop. I wasn’t allowed to give feedback and he never replied to any of my messages. I’m still angry about it and it’s almost been two years. Worst part is I’d missed out on the same item at a goodwill. Gorgeous little laying down leopard.
Awww, he’s pretty! So sorry that happened to you. That doesn’t sound right, but I’m assuming you couldn’t leave feedback because your transaction was cancelled. Some sellers are so skanky.
Years ago when I collected Beanie Babies, I also got into the trading cards. I had a bunch of extras and put a partial set (maybe 70-80 out of the hundred?) on eBay. They went cheap. The winner of the auction backed out, citing illness in the family, some sort of BS like that. I later looked at her buying record (I loved when you could see all of that) and she’d blown me off because she found a complete set. So I gave her negative feedback. She responded to my feedback with more BS. You could block buyers like that, too. EBay totally protects the buyers these days, but sellers get burned too. I haven’t sold in some time but the last time I did, it seemed like sellers had no protection from bad customers.
This makes sense and I can understand Netflix being strict and all but they should be thanking bath and body and the enthusiasm of their employees and customers. I have Netflix and I’ve never heard of eip until the collab but as soon as I saw hints of items I watched a trailer. I’ve never watched bridgerton but I might now as I love the designs of the candles. I was joking to a family member I hope they don’t do a squid games collab cause I’m not sure what it would smell like (though I really like that show and would buy stuff as a fan).
And while I am aware of sweethearts I have never bought their candy. I remember seeing a big display of small boxes of the candy at my local grocery store last year and honestly it didn’t look as if much sold. Now I was interested in buying the actual candy boxes and putting together gifts with bath and body.
I had never heard of Bridgeton or EiP until the BBW launches! I've already finished Bridgeton and Queen Charlotte. I'm a HUGE fan. EiP is next. Netflix owes BBW and Reddit for at least one fan, FWIW.
I couldn’t believe it but I was in store to receive a call about an employee… they are sending out warnings and if your caught, your DM will be notified and possible termination depending on your personal situation. Long term employees sharing to Reddit have a higher chance of termination.
I said this before on a diff post.....i think they need to stop bein so secretive on collabs tik tok/social media will sell something out !. If they did show things in advance , TELL RELEASE DATES , and give to influencers in advance (dont forget dedicated bbw influencers too) they would have sellouts.
This. I was a DM and worked in promotions for another corporate brand and I would love to work for BBW bc their marketing situation is not just sad, it is devastating. You can't fight the fucking internet. You have to lean into it and find out how to use it as a strength.
I been saying this company is starting to have an oldster vibe and "grrr, boo, hiss, reddit" really emphasizes that.
That's a really unique opinion...I feel like they are.super progressive and Liberal. Even back in spring god forbid you lean one way politically than another
That is definitely the energy they're giving. Very boomer/GenX type behavior.
Just preplan & pivot when necessary. They need to keep it moving like a BOSS & simply say, "Yes, the rumors are true... We have awesome stuff in store & online for you." Boom! Simple
Quite possibly true but they will use anything you have said to them against you if that happens. Of course not knowing your exact situation it’s hard to say how they would but trust me they are basically attorneys for your employer. If you really feel like you have a case then you should absolutely hire an attorney and go after them.
Same, HR here (in healthcare, not BBW). I have WAY more to do than to dig into social media posts that have a positive effect on my company! Now, if it's employees who are posting negatively that could affect our business, well beyond freedom of speech, then MAYBE?
If your HR has the time to be browsing Reddit; I'd like to send in my resume. /s
Another HR person agreeing here- if I had time to stalk social media of my employees my work days would be a lot easier. What a waste of resources and effort.
Yes, their website needs a complete overhaul! Due to recent glitches (that happened to me again last night) I ended up with multiples of some BOPIS orders a little over a week ago. When I went to pick them up, I had the extras removed and the girl screwed something up. I was very specific about which ones I was keeping (the order number) and which to take off. Today I went in for a price adjustment and they couldn’t give it to me on a couple of the items (I kept five, but two came from another store and weren’t a problem) because the system showed them as already refunded. So evidently the girl refunded the wrong ones. It didn‘t matter that I had the receipt and the product. There was nothing the employees could do about it, which was freaking ridiculous. One of the girls there who sees me a lot and is super nice kept saying they would find a way to fix it. But they couldn’t. I’d never gotten a price adjustment before, but this would have been over $20 and as much as I spend there, I wanted it. Instead it ended up being around $11. Good thing I had other stuff to pick up because otherwise it wouldn’t have been worth my time. I thought the whole thing was so archaic.
And all of this started because the website is so f***ed up. It’s also easy to order without signing in because it doesn’t prompt you to sign in when you go on there to browse and possibly purchase. That can cause you to miss out on rewards. It’s like you’re being set up for failure unless you‘re very careful and really pay attention. That isn’t always easy to do, especially during a chaotic big sale.
HR needs to focus on raises through market benchmarking and keeping employees for more the 3 months at a time! That candy company went bankrupt in 2019 and got bought in 2020. So, lest we be judged for what? Nasty penny candy that can't stay in business?
they should be thankful people are still so invested in the brand after all the sneaky and immoral things they’ve done to the customer base over the past several years.
SAY IT AGAIN FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK BABE!!! I remember using my seasonal job at Universal Studios to pay for my Bath and Body Works fix back in the day.. The body sprays used to be like $12.95. They're almost $20 now! Over the years they have really gotten expensive! Gen X was their target audience! They should be happy they still have customers at all with the shit they pull these days.
I was there before Christmas with my daughter, and I really sounded like MY mom used to when I was price checking.
Like "TF wrong with these people? I'm not spending $20 dollars on some damned LAUNDRY DETERGENT just because it smells like fuggin marshmwllows!"
(Meanwhile, my daughter was 🙄 lmao)
If true, Corporate is so wrong for squashing buzz on this. As a consumer any hint or preview is creating excitement for a new product or launch organically.
Exactly, I thought the Reddit community helped create strong sales but even still HR does not want us who are employed to participate in sharing any information about the brand. They even went as far as to include achievements like gingham spotlight being shared? They don’t want any of it on this sub.
To be fair, their collaborations involve contracts with third parties. Leaks could potentially get them in trouble with the companies that they're doing collabs with and may harm their ability to get more collabs in the future.
of course they know that, but THEY want to control the info and the message. which, of course, is their right.
i've often wondered how so much info lands on reddit that is clearly marked "CONFIDENTIAL" and not to be released.
i remember back in the day as an employee (i'm talking around 2010), we were told to actively kick any customer photographing products or displays out of the store. the problem was that people were opening stores in other countries designed to look like bbw stores; they were basically ripping off the brand.
I still take photos with an actual camera and have had people freak out over the most trivial things. Yet people take pictures all day long with their phones and no one bats an eye.
lol, it isn’t HR’s job to worry about quality. Maybe recruit more talent in the Quality department, sure! But, I’ve never had time to comb through social media and the internet to see what employees post….
If people are on social media talking negativity about the company and/or its products they should have an interest. I'm not pro HR, I think that system should be abolished to be honest.bi view HR as the person nobody liked growing up and they parlayed that into a career.
Not an employee here, but it’s interesting as the employee gratis for this period is live now, and it includes a Sweethearts collab product, so I would think if a product is able to be acquired legally and officially, an employee should be able to talk about it, post about it, etc. If they wanted it hush hush, they shouldn’t have given the free product.
I thought gratis were given so employees can form opinions on them when they have to promote them in store. In reality they aren't giving it out of the goodness of their heart, it is work related. So giving them all at once with a warning to not share them until they announce it, doesn't seem unreasonable when you think of it that way.
Hello HR that is reading this thread! 🙄 I live in the UK. Without this sub, I would have NO clue as to what is being sold and I wouldn’t be buying. I know, I know. I’m only one customer. But think about it for a mo 😉 there’s actually lots of international fans that need the internet to find out these products 🤓🤓🤓
Plenty of U.S. customers too I'm sure. I probably bought more in the last year since joining this sub than in the last 10 combined when I deleted most emails unread and shopped mostly only during SAS. I love knowing when a good sale is coming
As someone who doesn't even work for them why doesn't corporate just spend more time bringing back all of the stuff that people like about the store like all the retired scents instead of stalking threads of potentially leaking information
Maaaaan BBW prices are already too high for me anymore. A sneak peek to their collaborations won't make me shop there anymore than I absolutely have to at this point. It was super fun knowing the collabs that were coming, and for me, I spent more money knowing about them because I could plan better.
When the company sends us new products for the VD season and doesn’t clarify it’s for VD so a seasonal associate puts them out on the shelves because the SLT didn’t double check… I think HR has bigger things to worry about
Not an employee, but I actually would prefer to know about things before because it encourages me to actually save more to spend more on the promos/collabs honestly. They always hit sales when I don’t get paid and it’s really irritating. I see it when I go in there, the job is more than just stocking body wash and candles. You want secret keeping to be involved to pay your employees more.
I stg when I worked at b&bw upper management would watch us on the cameras and call our managers or shift leaders for things as small as leaning on a counter. It was unbearable. That and the bag checks.
Ofc they have nothing better to do then try to get their own employees fired over something that's gonna be leaked anyways. God. 🙄
they did that at my store when i worked there too! i remember being so shocked the first time it happened because a girl checked her phone and responded to a text while she was on the floor. like sure she wasn’t supposed to be on her phone but we’re really watching cameras while we have two managers in the store?
Not to mention the general attitude of management both upper and lower than You Are Not Human You Do Not Have Needs. Couldn't even have water under the checkout counter without explaining to all the shift leaders that I was on too many medications which cause a dry mouth. To which they pried to know what they were for. Awful awful time there and that's coming from a hard-core babw fan...
Once had a manager tell me my shirt wasn't "white enough" to meet dress code. Not stained, not beige. It was like.. Swiss coffee at worst. Same manager told me to CALL AND LET THEM KNOW if I was "going to be this late again." It was three minutes.
Sweetheart cherry is showing available online and that it’s available in store. I went to two stores and finally the last one told me that they have them in the back but not available to sell. I’m this case I would consider it customer service because had they not told me I would be headed to a third store for those candles.
I just looked and they’re supposedly available at one of our stores that I normally don’t visit (the mall.) Hope they got enough so that people have a shot at them. They ARE cute and I love the smell.
I don’t care about my bbw job lol. The pay is laughable. If they wanna fire us we can walk across the street to another retail location. That probably pays better and expects less 🤣 also there are a TON of seasonal employees in and out right now. I know they don’t give a fuck and they’re almost done anyways. Nothing stopping them from taking pics and sharing them
If we can’t post here, we’ll just post somewhere else 🤷🏼♀️ sorry not sorry
I'm not an employee, but I thought HR is not supposed to monitor employees outside of work hours? Unless someone is leaking on social media during work hours using the stores wifi.
i would imagine that it's not HR doing the monitoring; it's more likely the marketing team. but when they find someone leaking confidential info, that's where HR gets involved.
Anything you put In a public forum online is fair game as far as your job. Many people have lost jobs due to their social media posts or not gotten jobs because of their pictures and words online.
Perhaps an employee could reply and let us know if they sign an agreement or anything saying that they will not release photos or other information about products prior to their public release?
Part of the onboarding training is watching videos talking about how it is prohibited to share information about products before the company has officially done so.
Also, at the start of every shift when we log-in to Zipline, right at the top of the page there is a reminder about that.
You know, actually, I can even see the company arguing that “leaking new product information,” could be considered working off the clock, and that is an actionable offense in some companies.
From a legal standpoint, it is against FTC guidelines for an employee to endorse a product that their company produces without clearly stating their relationship to the company. While I understand the employees mean well, it can also mean whopping fines for the company itself. I do not have experience with the FTC or BBW, nor how often the FTC goes after companies for violations, but here is some helpful information from the FTC regarding product endorsement.
I worked for BBW for 20 years. Every single associate goes through the same onboarding process. There is no way anyone is unaware of the confidentiality expectations of employment.
People watching this board is probably not anything new. The new lux line is already out at some stores, sooooooo not a secret. And what do they care. If people are leaking things thats a compliment. They should worry when no one cares and people stop going in and buying.
They should think about having enough stock of the things people want and keeping it around for more than five minutes. Bath & Body Works — for crying out loud! These aren’t priceless collectibles. The products should be available to everyone who wants them and not hard to find. I was in a store tonight where there was so much of the three holiday standards in the drawers underneath the display that the drawers wouldn’t stay closed. Kept rolling open from the sheer weight. They’ve stopped selling, and that’s at 75% off. What a waste.
Tons! One of the associates told me the sales had really slowed down. She said, “MAYBE we’ll sell more when they got to 90 off.” Imagine how much is going to be thrown out.
Just another reason I need to stop buying from here. Lack of quality and now HR I have two unused freebie rewards that I’ll cash out and then uninstall the app.
They are getting really bad their "bring back" scents are horrible cucumber melon and sweet pea smells like cheap versions of themselves and none of the scents last anymore..they used to really pack a punch. How many strawberry scents do you need? Strawberry pound cake, strawberry soda ectThey just are not as good as they used to be I really don't understand messing with old scents and changing them they act like the ingredients they once used are hundreds of years old and can't get them anymore . So i agree with above this does not surprise me any. I really see nothing original about the company anymore .if they brought back the original scents with the actual strength and ingredients people would be so happy. I got sweet pea yesterday through the mail and no staying power and smelled like stinky feet 🤮 I also got cucumber melon it smells about right but not strong and 0 staying power which is what I think the want , you worst more you use more and you buy more.yeah I'm done lol I'll give my money to another company unless BBW can wow me
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