Comments on: 3 things you should know before shopping at GNC.

By: insider

insider — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:35:45 +0000

I work at GNC, yes most things online are cheaper but most customers admit not wanting to buy online. we do have to push multi’s and it sucks but its our job and im not certified person but i do know what i am talking about i have faithful customers who buy gnc products without me pushing them. im straight up and tell ppl what they like. hey ppl its just a job and i need t put myslef through school

By: Christina

Christina — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:58:58 +0000

Employees do make commission, but the funny thing is that they don’t make commission(or barely any) on any of the things that they are required to sell to keep their jobs-ie:vitamins, gnc product, and gold cards. As for the lack of knowledge, this can be chalked up to the head hunter mentality. Employees are a dime a dozen and if they don’t make their percentages they are fired…No one is there long enough to be an expert and if they are an expert they won’t last long because instead of selling the best product they will be forced to adhere to the GNC sales quotas of their own product.

By: Gena

Gena — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:10:23 +0000

For the record, not everyone working at GNC is an idiot or uneducated. I’m a certified dietician and I work part-time at GNC for the discount. Unfortunately, I’ve found that I’m more knowledgeable about our products than anyone else I’ve met working at a GNC, including my store manager and regional sales director. There actually are intelligent, educated people at GNC who know what they’re selling– I’m one of them. Just plan your shopping carefully and do your own research.

By: chris

chris — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 19:44:31 +0000

Thank God the GNC where Im at doesnt push vitamins or certain products on me! I have to say that the people that work there know pretty much nothing about the products they sell and NEVER give any good information about them. If I ask a question they just look at the back of the bottle (like I already didnt do that before asking) haha. I do respect them for not lying just to make some sales though. It would be nice if they had extra information on the products to be more helpful/knowledgeable.

By: Once one of the troops, now free

Once one of the troops, now free — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:17:13 +0000

I was a GNC employee for sometime. I was a store manager for sometime. Most of this is true! Now, instead of giving you what you need, they push their P3 program… which is a combination of high-priced, 30 day or less products which require you to come back every month. Then they will sell you a gold card, because now they have you in their everymonth.

The training you recieve is not much, and its hard to retain. They want you to get as much in vitamins, GNC product and gold cards as you can… or else you will probably be terminated, or shunned. Conference calls consisted of talking shit about the managers that did bad, and hardly ever pointing out the good parts.

Some of the things you get are worth it at GNC.. if they are marked down enough (due to being close to expiration). But if a product can be on the shelf that long, its either because it sucks, or because the employee is busy pushing other product because corporate tells them to.

INTERNET IS CHEAPER!

They will leave you alone if your sales figures are decent, but I ran a small store that was really relaxed. YOu get no support from ur superiors, no training, just lots of negative feedback.

By: Joleen

Joleen — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:33:34 +0000

I managed a GNC for 4 years!!! That place is a joke, a ripoff, a scam to the CORE!!! You want to know why GNC sells their HORRIBLE products like robots? I’ll let you all in on the “inside” workings of GNC… First of all, there are contests that each salesperson is required to participate in (actually…threatened to participate in), which means whatever products the company wants to “feature” that month has to be sold in numbers that can’t possibly be ethically sold without scamming people. These are of course their “high margin” (worthless) products, meaning they cost nothing to make and they charge you $30 for it! Not only does GNC force these contests on the salespeople, they have about 15 quotas in different areas of sales that you have to hit and none of them have anything to do with customer service. Dictating what has to be sold means you ARE NOT selling the right products to people. You have X amounts of this you have to sell (or a percentage), so that’s not “lifestyle” selling like they like to call it.

GNC does work on commission, that they do. Now they don’t pay any on GNC products, only selected 3rd party stuff. They require those poor employees to sell nothing but GNC garbage, so they can’t make any money….and here’s why. IF YOU DO NOT SELL THE PERCENTAGES OF CATAGORIES THAT THEY DICTATE, YOU WILL LOSE YOUR JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GNC RSD’s and DSD’s (not to mention your SSM) will threaten your job regardless of how well you are doing, the profit you turn, how hard you work….you don’t hit those numbers, you’re FIRED!!!

GNC is the nastiest company I have ever worked for. They over work their managers (salary of course), don’t give employees the materials to operate correctly…they are a joke. I ultimately lost my job over those things….when I expressed to my RSD that I was achieving the ultimate goal of profiting, but doing it it without making the numbers THEY wanted…he gunned for me and later fired me. I told him how I felt about having to sell nothing but GNC crap, that I had to get a second job because they wouldn’t allow us to sell the third party products that we actually made money from…and that I would try my best to hit the numbers, but I didn’t like it.

Six weeks later I was fired. The funny part is that the whole purpose of GNC having these “quotas” is to increase profit. Well, out of 30 stores at the point where I was fired, year to date I had the highest profit margin percent in the region. And guess what? I was the completely honest GNC manager that told you to go to the grocery store and look for answers to weight loss…. I didn’t have to push their BS on people to keep a profitable store. I respected my customers more than GNC did. I didn’t sell out and that’s why I am not there anymore.

By: matt

matt — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:57:26 +0000

Kinda funny now that you think about it! Recently got let go from GNC and gonna be honest. I loved my job treated everyone individually but the corporate “jerks” have some un ethical business practices. First of all GNC has their gold card discounts the first week, great, but if you come in the second half of the month the sale prices are pretty much the same. They r commission paid and have to maintain a certain percentage of gold cards, multi’s and “p3’s” which is there “best” products. The employee’s get commisson for each gold card they sell or renew. So if someone tries to renew your gold card they get paid for each one. They will suggest certain products that r GNC because they get secret shopped and must met certain criteria. So when you go in there tell them to save your breathe and grab me ON protien and forget about the Wheybolic 60 and Centrum vitamins are good enough for me. I may be bitter about losing my job but I would rather work for a company the is ethical and not JUST the bottom dollar.

By: Megan

Megan — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:22:44 +0000

Yep, everything you said is true. I’m currently an employee at GNC, and it’s totally miserable.

I unfortunately work at a GNC where if you’re not cramming Vitapacks down people’s throats, then you’re on the grounds of getting fired.

It’s depressing. People come in there wanting to buy “miracle weight loss pills”, and I have to tell them that they will work. I just want to grab their faces and yell, “ESCAPE WHILE YOU STILL CAN!” I’m actually going to be quitting soon because it bothers me so much to lie to people.

By: puahashopgirl

puahashopgirl — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 22:26:46 +0000

So much truth spoken here!
I am a GNC store manager that is pulling good numbers in spite of the current economic trend. I have a background in Nutrition and Diet counseling of the massively morbidly obese and a Bach. of Science degree. I just wanted a part time job to pay a few bills now that the kids are grown and somehow got sucked into the GNC machine.
I listen to my customers and do not twist their arms about any purchases….that is the problem….while this store has moved up in category under my loving care and the numbers are 30% over last year— I am getting severe pressure to sell these P3s, gold cards and multis and get higher percentages from the RSD….
I am due to get a bonus in just a few weeks and she is threatening to move me to a low volume store…write ups…. etc…. because she is getting calls from her boss….etc…..You know what turds do, right? they roll downhill.Too bad I am at the bottom of the hill. I am hanging on by my fingernails for the bonus I have worked so hard for. Just gotta hang on a few more weeks and then GNC will lose another manager….and someone who actually understands the chemical process that goes on in the body when you take alpha ketaglutarite or arginine or why l-lysine eases a herpes breakout, why the andro-effect should be prevented with certain test boosters and the differences between standard whey, cassein, egg protein and what an isolate does that others don’t…blah blah blah….their loss….but more sadly the nice customers I care about who have come to appreciate being reminded they are on a medication that will not mix well with 5-HTP or whatever.
Live Well is the motto but….oh heck…. don’t get me started on the products people buy to pass drug tests..the ‘toxin’ removers….Aaaaarrrgggh!
I just hope a few of you can have a happy thought for a manager who cared, listened, and tried to help with her lifestyle selling instead of looking to send a corporate big shot’s kid to college….since I will be out job hunting in my golden years instead of hugging fat grandchildren and popping a few vitamins.

By: Billy

Billy — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:25:13 +0000

First of all, my name is not Billy. I’m not putting my real name, because with my luck, my manager will read it and I’ll get fired. Ha! Anyway, I just started working at GNC 2 weeks ago. Luckily, I was already very knowledgable in nutrition, weights, and supplements before I started working there. I know the key to reaching your goals is a solid diet, and simple consistent workout routine. I have been trained to say a lot and sell a lot that I know isn’t true. I basically have my “lines” for each sale memorized and I can repeat any of them without a stutter. GNC is all about making money. I am a business student, and I know how to sell. Go into a GNC tomorrow and start looking at any protein. I guarantee that you will get pulled toward another protein, which is probably twice as expensive. That’s probably because that is what we get the highest comission on. Yes we get the comission! Yes I push a whey protein that costs double of what Optimum Nutrition costs, even though I know O.N. is just as good! The other day, a guy came in for a $10 bottle of Vitamin C, he left with $90 worth of vitamins and $50 worth of whey protein. Did he need it? Probably not.

The truth is, people need to do their research before the go out buying anything. I have no sympathy for people who are willing to take everyone’s word for it. I never shopped at GNC before I worked there, and I never will after I work there. Because I do my research.

(All that being said, GNC does have a better multivitamin than your every day Wal-Mart stuff. Seriously, do some research if you think Centrum can come close to comparing to GNC’s multi.)