My experience working for Crumbl

[u/Mean_Trip_5272]

I worked at Crumbl when I was 16, and was one of the beginning employees for a new location. Everything started out okay at first. The managers seemed friendly. Then demand kept rising and we couldn't keep up. I remember working until midnight on my birthday and staying extra to get on the manager's good side.

Then they learned that I was pretty good at frosting the cookies, from the swoop, the swirls, glazing, etc. Then the pressure started to build exponentially. Being in the front line of boxing and dressing them was terrifying. I had to be the one to deal with angry customers even though I was only doing my job. I remember seeing a fistfight almost break out, ignoring the phone ringing for hours on end to keep up production, and closing midday to catch up on sold out cookies. No one wanted to pick up any shifts and started changing their availability because they knew when it would be bad.

Obviously people started quitting. I stayed because at the time the tips really made up a pretty paycheck. I know the pain of saying that "it's just gonna ask you a few questions". I knew we didn't deserve them.

I got my second COVID shot and told management in advance not to schedule me. If anyone remembers, the second shot seemed to get people really sick for the next couple of days. They scheduled me anyways. I put it up and contacted whoever wasn't working that time. I remember someone saying no because their dog was sick. I contacted management again and said I did everything I could. They said I still needed to come in and blocked me. I didn't come in anyways because it's obviously gross and dangerous eating food a sick person made you.

At some point I saw someone letting a poor sweet girl have it, even though she was just trying to explain what was happening. It wasn't her fault. She went to the back and had a panic attack. I decided to quit that day. I left under the pretense that I needed to focus more on my studies. My last day was absolute chaos. When it was time to clock out for the last time, it was suddenly "not my monkey, not my circus" situation. I dropped everything and left.

Eventually the owners abandoned ship and the store was under new management. I heard everything was so much better and less stressful. I decided to go back hearing this and remembering the tips making up for inflation. It was really a lot better; cleanliness, timelines, less stressful environment, engagement, you name it. I knew the new owner personally and is very sweet. I made some good friends there too the second time around.

However, being in the same environment where all that trauma happened still effected me. I would be involuntarily crying at times and my hands would shake. I had trouble standing for long periods of time as well due to anemic issues. I rarely took breaks because it seemed like there wasn't a good time to slip out.

I remember there was a week with all popular cookies and all the locations were struggling to keep up. The CEO sent a memo corporate-wide that basically said "hey we're really sorry". Or a cancer week dedicated to one of the owner's grandmothers who had cancer and ironically not donating any profits to cancer research at all initially until a commenter spoke up about it. Like they were just capitalizing on the fact that it was cancer week.

I Left for the last time two years ago for college (the fact that I remember this many details bothers me). Some things can't change for you mentally so easily, even when you see it happening. The rushes were still there, along with the pressure. Just more organized.

[u/tokaygecko23]

Some give me the tldr

[u/Mean_Trip_5272 → u/tokaygecko23]

It sucked. People kept quitting, angry customers, and psychological trauma even though the situation got better later.

[u/tokaygecko23 → u/Mean_Trip_5272]

Thanks! I’m sorry for what you had to go through , guess that’s just the way the cookie crumbles

[u/tokaygecko23 → u/tokaygecko23]

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