Palasad

I worked at Palasad on Wonderland rd in London, ON. I had one job already, working at a wedding venue but their hours depended on how many events there were. So when I got the interview for Palasad I took it as a second job, and they just wasted my time completely! 

First off, I never said I wanted to work with kids (they have bday parties) and that was never in the job description. I was hired as a server, food and beverage. Not a baby sitter or food runner. But apparently that's what they get the new people to do. First they have you run food and then they have you babysit kids b-day parties even if you never signed up for that. They also never did a background check on me, which is strange since I would be working with children. When I worked as a crossing guard I had a police check. I wouldn't take children there for parties since they don't even vet their employees... seems untrustworthy. 

Another problem is the attitude and bullying I got from other employees. They tried to force me to carry a tray that was very heavy over my head. Sure, I can carry that tray normally but I never agreed to carry up to 50 pounds OVER MY HEAD. That is completely different. BUT I tried it even though I know my own strength and I knew I was not strong enough. So I started carrying the tray normally and I was harassed by the other girls and told I HAD to carry the tray on my should or over my head. I finally snapped, since they were harassing me after I had been polite many times, and I told the girl that I tried my best but if I carried it like that, I would drop it. AND I wasn't even hired to be a food runner!! I was hired as a server and that was the job I agreed to, not lifting heavy trays or babysitting. I never did the b-day parties but I was told that was the next step when you're in training. It was just ridiculous. I signed up to be a server or bartender, that was my experience and that's what I agreed to, nothing else. They can't just throw whatever lowly job they want you to do and expect you to just take it for min wage. Next they'll be asking me to fix the sink and tile the roof for 14$/hour no tips.

Then, when I finally got to serve (with a trainer), I worked for a couple hours, then was promptly fired. They told me it was because some other girl employee complained about me because of the whole tray carrying issue. I told them what happened and they didn't care. They said I had an attitude problem (which I didn't, I had a problem being harassed and asked to carry something heavy over my head, which is dangerous and I was unable to do it) and also that I didn't smile enough. I don't see how employers can fire people for not smiling enough. I never had a customer complaint. I was nice but professional. Apparently that is not good enough for them. They want you to make friends with and talk about personal things with the customers, it's even in their training videos. As a customer, I would not like that. It's just bothering them. If a customer wants to talk with you, then you'll know, if not then back off and let them enjoy their evening with their friends. At my other job I never had any complaints from customers or employers. 

Another thing-- I did 5 hours of pathetic training videos just so they could fire me a couple days later! It was such a waste of time. They shouldn't have made me complete the videos so soon into the training if they were unsure about keeping me on. That's 5 hours of my life wasted, and I'm pretty sure they only paid me 4 hours for it. 

Another thing-- they never gave me any tip outs, nor did I get the tips from the few hours of serving I did with the trainer. He said he would send me the tips but never did. 

Finally, they stole 20 dollars off my pay for "uniform." They never gave me a uniform. All they gave me was an apron, which I returned to the guy who was training me. I didn't hand over the apron right away because it had personal things of mine in it, like my note book, hand sanitizer, and tissues. So I put those in my bag and as I was leaving I handed the apron to the co worker. It should have all been on camera, and yet they said I stole the apron and they stole the 20 dollars off my pay. I emailed them about it and they just called me a liar. Ridiculous waste of my time.

Also they don't give legal breaks to the employees. I asked about breaks before, and the manager said that you only get put on break when it's not busy because "it's not fair if you're just sitting there while everyone else is working." Yes it is fair actually, and it's the law. You can't just work people to death with no breaks, that's why we have them. But all these people just think they can do illegal stuff and break the law and get away with it.

The only reason this entire experience wasn't absolutely awful was because of the coworkers. A lot of the servers and kitchen staff were stressed often, but very kind, even when mistakes were made. The management were nice people, but I question if they knew what they were doing sometimes. If you asked for more hours as a Food Runner, they were unlikely to give them to you. They would also train you for other positions and fail to give you any shifts in those positions, but I was told that was quite common. I saw the regional manager come in once every few weeks and he was honestly a horrible person. He constantly yelled at people even when they were doing everything right, and not a single server I knew in that building liked him. There was no way to move up in the company. Even when I asked about becoming a sever, I was told that was the "long term plan" for me, and of course it never happened. This was the worst job I ever had and I'm so happy they laid me off when they did because it gave me the chance to get a much better job directly afterward. 

The environment at Palasad is very family like, the staff all bands together and gets along really well. However these great relationships were the only reason to stay working in the establishment. The management team was weak and unorganized; there was little-to-no communication between managers and staff and when it did occur none of the managers would have the same information. This made it very stressful and regularly caused staff to look stupid in front of customers. The building is either painfully overstaffed or such a ghost town that you may not see anyone else for hours. Don't expect to receive a break, even during a 10 hour shift and don't expect to get to eat either. If you like to handle large, rude crowds of customers, crazy screaming kids, long hours, uninformed managers, and very little appreciation then this is just the job for you!

It was a great place to work, the people there were great. I usually worked by myself on pizza's with a wood oven, making pizza's cooking pizza's as well as making dough from scratch every day. I learned how to put out 40 pizza's in under 20 minuets when the oven could only hold about 10 and it took 7-10 minuets to cook. I trained 4 people while working there.

Working at Palasad can be difficult, It's not the best management I've received. You don't get any breaks, and you're usually working multiple areas by yourself. If it's dead you spend hours alone, and if it's busy you spend hours flustered trying to please all the customers which you can't possibly do by yourself.

Working at Palasad has been extremely rewarding. I have gained new skills, and learned what it takes to be in the Marketing Field, even when I am in school for something else. I have met amazing people and attended private events.

managers on duty are very fun and personable.
able to rely on these managers for anything (ie help run food, take tables if my section gets too busy, talk us up to our customers when receiving good reviews)

Great team to be a part of.  Shifts can get hectic but staff pull together am everyone pitches in. Some people complain that they don't get a lot of shifts, but hardest working people seem to get plenty.   Money is good, managers are good, free play is nice.

Prep work is easy to learn. The staff are friendly and open to answer questions.
Great place to work. The management is great. the hours are great. A typical hours can range from 5 hours to 8 usually from early morning to afternoon.

Absolutely loved working here. Amazing managers and co-workers. Fair wages and opportunity to move up if wanted. Really great employee benefits and staff parties. Would highly recommend working here.

Working at Palasad: company overview and reviews

Palasad

Palasad ratings

Salary satisfaction

Job seeker tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected