warehouse/driver

sales associate

handler

chauffeur livreur

ouvrier d'entrepôt

Dufresne

Do not waste your time with this company. First, the cost of living wage is determined by Winnipeg's standards, not Alberta's, which is higher in Alberta. Secondly, there are no raises. In my interview, It was printed in my contract that I would get 50 cent increments for the first 3, 6 and 12 months, and annually thereafter;however, that was never fulfilled. I later found out the guy they hired AFTER me with the same or less qualifying "experience" was bumped up 2 extra dollars an hour because the manager liked him. TDG is not an equal opportunity company.  I wish the HR department was concerned about these issues, but like management, they do not care. They make these third-party survey's a couple times a year mandatory, but nothing is ever followed up with the low moral inside of the company.

The hours are not guaranteed. They say 11 hr days 4 day weeks, but that could be less than 11 hrs and 3 or 2 day weeks, depending on how managements feels about you because favoritism trumps seniority. No overtime until after 11 hrs. Your work day starts at 7AM and ends when you're done,so don't make any weekend plans :) . If your appointed co-worker doesn't show up for work, which is a probability, then you are scheduled to work with a temp. that often looks like someone that is working to support a serious drug addiction.  So, now you have to deal with the work made for 2 people.

There is not really any training. You are expected to run as soon as you're hired. If you're an ambitious, hardworking person who wants to build the company and do the best job you can possibly do, your co-worker is likely telling management how useless you are and how you haven't became up to speed with how everything is done already. In that case, which is usually what happens, management will terminate you within the 3 months of your probation and hire the next poor soul.  Ask yourself if you feel comfortable with the fate of your employment in the hands of a degenerate.  

Most employees have injuries that last greater than 6 months and are on WCB. Not sure if they're legitimate injuries but its a common occurrence.

sales people will promise the world to customers. Mostly which is against company policy, but we are told to do it.  

Furthermore, you are micromanaged. They have people in a completely difference province that will determine the allotted time you should be completing deliveries. The times are based on best possible scenarios, and you need to record the time it has taken you to complete the delivery, which is then added to a set of statistics that lets the company think how incompetent you are. They have GPS on the trucks and have a minion called a team lead watch you from a computer and will call you and ask why its taking so long, instead of offering solutions.

Do yourself a favor, and find a company that will value you for the 19/hr they slave drive you for.

The sales culture is toxic.  

First sales managers sell also, so you compete with the people who review your performance, do your scheduling, and if their sales or income is down, guess whom they target to remove competition?  If you guessed newcomers, you're right.

Appliances and Mattresses are a complete dead end. If you're in appliances you can easily go an entire shift with only 2 or 3 "ups".  Unless you're a favorite you can't sell furniture which means any overflow in that area goes to the Sales Managers, not you.  Don't worry though, you can ask the Sales Manager to sell furniture too and they'll say whatever they need to, to keep you from competing with them. In other words, it's not not going to happen.  The organizational structure ensures that it's in a Sales Manager's best interest to keep staffing low so that they can sell too.  Advertising dollars go to Furniture.  Appliances are the lowest margin items in the store.  Frankly, I don't know why they bother.

Furniture is a revolving door with a few established people who do well.  Corporate requires a minimum number of employees to ensure that there's enough people to cover the traffic.  There's no real factoring in if your store is surrounded by Restaurants and has multiple people coming in just to browse while they wait for their table.  There will always be constant pressure however, that the store is not succeeding and the problem is you. You're not selling enough.  You're not selling protection plans .  You're not generating enough financing.  You're taking too long breaks.  Sales are never enough and you're never good enough.

There is no real training.  You sit in the staff room and read a manual and later do some modules online.  There is no Face-Time with a trainer. You're thrown to the wolves and its sink or swim.  Sales Managers have no real incentive for you to succeed.  If you're gone they get more opportunity.

I've sold furniture, appliances and mattresses for many years.  Some of these elements can be said in general of any place.  However, Dufresne Furniture is the only store I've ever seen that sets employees against Sales Managers to directly compete with one another.  They'll smile while they turn the knife.  They'll laugh with you, cry with you and tell you they're puzzled why it's not working out for you.  They'll cry all the way to the bank.

Lest any think these are sour grapes, I've worked multiple other stores and never seen this dynamic.

The sole positive is that they do control your hours.  You won't be asked to work overtime here.

Stay away.

I worked here for little over 2 years and I feel extremely disappointed writing this. 

The place is like a big family, management listens to everyone and the approach is very friendly but sad thing is that no one values your opinion. I started with lots of energy and excelled in performance, but at the end I couldn't see any scope of career advancement or any recognition. I applied at numerous positions within the company, even after being qualified for the position, didn't end up any interview opportunity. People are nice but while at work everyone is involved in so much manipulation. Customer service agents concentrate on gossips and snitching on each other and interfering in other people's personal life than concentrating and assisting customers. 

People who pretend that they care for you, don't actually care, but I mean that's how life goes which this place has taught me. 

Typical day of work beings with taking calls and ends with taking calls, you are assigned more work during your shift other than taking calls, you are sent mistakes that you make and mistakes that other department in the company make, no one stands against it. You are expected to do overtime, even if you pull your work load because your team is struggling, you often will miss your break or will be asked to delay it because "there is a call in queue".

I didn't learn anything that will help me advance in my career or will improve my skills, but this place has surely taught me life lessons and how people can be.

At the end 2 years is a lot for a call center, and I am glad I am out, made some friends that I will miss but at least life is stress free and happy. 

Once every 6 months they had free pizza which is good as we all know pizza tastes great especially when its free. And as a furniture company I am pretty sure they can provide their employees with better chairs to sit which they don't. 

And some day they will have bigger and better bathrooms.

Working at TDG is a high stress job, the demands change daily and the process and procedures are not followed throughout the company leaving any and every task very fragile as there are special requirements for each region and area we work in.
Company expectations are changing constantly and are not the same across the board one employee can severely under preform and one employee will over preform and there will be no recognition on any part. They will only recognize you if they so choose to based on personality it would seem not on performance.
There is no repercussions from one not following standard operating procedure, as well everyone like to play pass the buck ( not there job and say its someone elses to do)

Very judgmental place to work as well, people from all over work here but its the work ethic that is judged, and don't be sick or late you only have 3 sick days for the whole yea and if you use them make you feel sick as well by shamming you about being sick.

Best part of the job is the odd giveaways they have to boost moral. Very hard to win these as well as the staff is rotating all the time sometimes there will be 50+ people then next could be 30 people, try to find a senior member that has been here longer than 5 years ? maybe this will tell you something about TDG.

As well the company is very divided for example our home office in WPG will get paid for certain holidays that we are closed while the other locations like the distribution center close without pay..... How can one half get paid but not the other.

A typical day at Dufresne Furniture & Appliances was unpredictable, high-pressure, and lacked support. The turnover alone is a major warning sign. Most sales associates don’t last a year, managers cycle out every couple of years, and even district managers seem to rotate constantly. After working there, I understand why.

The workplace culture often felt tense and hostile. One coworker openly blew up on me on the floor and management didn’t address it at all. It made it clear that unprofessional behaviour was tolerated as long as the store kept running.

The building itself was also a big concern. Parts of it regularly smelled damp or musty, and there were clear recurring moisture problems. The place felt neglected and poorly maintained, especially for a business selling “premium” products.

The hardest part of the job was the lack of job security. People were let go very quickly and often without much warning, creating a constant feeling that anyone could be next. The most enjoyable part was dealing with customers and the few coworkers who genuinely tried.

Overall, this was one of the most unstable and unsupportive workplaces I’ve experienced.

day @ work: Come into work log into the phones take a call find your assignment on your daily email the automated calls are called out to guests guests call back complaining they didnt get their requested time frame educate guest we do not guarantee time frames get told thats not what the store said or they call about warranty and issue is not warrantable but the sales person said it was at time of sale

what I learned that sales is king and we are all ants compared to them they get the most benefits and we are there to sell the lie

culture probably the best part is working shoulder to shoulder with your fellow people who know and understand what you are going through as they are experiencing the same thing

hardest part of the job is most calls you are not able to provide the resolution your customer is calling about no you cannot pick your time frame like the store said you could no you cannot get a new piece of furniture we need to repair and even if you get an exchange you have to tell the guest it will take 6 weeks for the replacement product to come in

best part of the job the supervisors and management understand your problems and dont blame you for the poor guest experience that the sales person promised they do listen to your concerns even if they are not always able to resolve them

What is the best part of working at the company?
Witnessing first hand how NOT to run a business in a small market.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Trying to make clients happy while the head office actively tries to make their lives worse.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Avoid it like the plague.  There is nothing redeeming about it.  There is no support for clients, and as a manager, your job isn't to "fix" the clients issues, it's to make them be okay with being treated terribly.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Telling the Area Manager that "no, customer's cant carry their own fridge out of our basement so that we don't have to pay for a second stock person...because that would be an insurance nightmare."

Getting yelled at for using a third party delivery service to get goods to a client because our in house delivery system wouldn't go out to their town until they had a full truck, likely six months later.  Being told it was not my job to get the client their furniture earlier, but to make the client okay with waiting 6 extra months because our service was "so much better than a private delivery".

Aside from management and the pay and lack of care for the workers. Delivering furniture was a satifactory job. Dufresnes not so much.. The warehouse workers and warehouse manager were the only thing that made going to work everyday worth it. My driver and co-worker were the best part of the job, and even though lifting heavy furniture and appliances all day was tough, he made it enjoyable. I found moving furniture to be fun for the most part but having a manager such as the owner of duresnes in Thunder Bay it was near impossible to enjoy work life at the shop itself. Very disrespectful, unfair and careless to your health and safety and he was bad at shorting hours on your paycheque. Ive learned a lot about delivering and moving furniture after nearly 2 years of it and would do it again shoud the  pay be better. its a tough job and not for everyone. The hours are very irregular and impossible to have a social life with

Like most employments there’s ups and downs here. The people I’ve gotten the pleasure to work with in my more than 5 years employed have been amazing! Management is lacking severely and could use a serious overhaul-such as hiring those who have earned it rather then bringing in fresh blood with no people skills. 
There is lots of room for advancement here however they tend to hold back the better staff because they don’t want to lose good people- hard to come by in the customer service industry. 

They try hard to create good morale and a decent environment but unfortunately not hard enough as things are lacking in this department. The guest care department is the scum of this entire company and you can tell by the way execs treat the guest care staff. 

At the end of the day, customer service isn’t for everyone and it’s a call center - call it what it is. 


I have been with Dufresne for almost 6 years, and have had the opportunity to fine tune my customer service skills. I get to meet all kinds of people and help them make educated buying decisions, which makes for a happy customer when they receive their products into their new/ existing home. My fellow employees have become like family to me. The Dufresne group is always trying to find new ways to keep their employees feeling appreciated / motivated. They do an employee satisfaction survey every year, and so far every year they have listened to the results and made positive actions to make working for them even better! There are opportunities to move into management roles, some locations more than others. The wages are certainly above average, and so far all of the management I have had the pleasure to deal with have been friendly and appreciative of my work. It is a growing company that can provide you with great job security!

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Warehouse/driver 26 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Sales associate 4 salaries reported	$17.60 per hour
Handler 3 salaries reported	$22.00 per hour
Chauffeur livreur 1 salary reported	$20.50 per hour
Ouvrier d'entrepôt 4 salaries reported	$18.31 per hour

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