Matteo Reviews

Absolutely everything. Here’s the TRUTH about MATTEO. I was employed at this company for nearly two years. I applied to this company in hopes to work in the design portion of the company; mostly working with the development of the apparel and patterns. The design team consists of four individuals. I was the youngest employee working in the company at the time, however I had a degree in fashion design. I was able to drape a pattern (3D), I was able to draft a pattern with dotted paper and pencil (2D), I was able to grade patterns and sew nearly anything, I was able to create flat sketches and any development regarding apparel. That’s what I went to school for. The company does produce apparel, however almost all of the work is done outside of the company by random freelance individuals. Patterns. Grading. Nearly everything except for construction. The design team often confused me. The two youngest employees of the design team often performed unrelated work while being in a “design team”. They sometimes made and “designed beds” (simply choose the colors and fabric for a bed) sometimes they’re daily objectives were to babysit the owner of he company’s house, or walk his dog, or move furniture. All while being clocked in and receive payment. My position was retail and customer service. For a very long time, I was THE ONLY retail and customer service employee for the ENTIRE company. This meant my responsibilities included helping every customer who visited the store, and nearly every customer who reached out to the company through the customer service email found on our website which was for customers who need assistance and were always angry. Let this be told, and let this be informative. I NEVER was able to take a 10 minute break. Often I was always finding it difficult to take even a lunch break. I was the ONLY employee who managed the public store, so when I was to take my lunch, I would have to email, text, or call another employee to break me. Most often; those other employees would be “too busy” to break me out for my meal period. I usually always simply clocked out for lunch and went straight back to work whether it was dealing with customers via phone or email, and most often assisting customer who were in the stores. It was even difficult for me to use the bathroom because I was always so cautious that a customer would walk in, notice no one was there, and steal something. Lunch breaks were always a problem, especially on weekends when it was the mot busy. Also, I was making twenty five Cents above minimum wage when I first began. It was like that for my first year, when I requested a raise after my one year, i was told to wait about three months because a proposition was passed which requested a raise on minimum wage. I was patient and waited. When I got a raise it was still not what I was promised. I was the highest seller at the company. I would be able to sell literally $7,000.00 on a single shift. I was making the company $10,000.00 every weekend and so much more than any other employee. No commission. Not even a thank you. Another subject that really disappointed me was the CEO, or the owner of the company. Although I was employed through his own company for almost two years, he’s never said nothing more then a simple hello to me. He would walk by me at least once a week and only say hello, even though I worked hard to push sales and get our yelp review better grades. I really felt used and thrown away by this company. Also, the management belittled me all the time. I will not mention names, but they know exactly who they are. I always had my named yelled out or comments hurled at me. My name was once screamed across the showroom store all while assisting a customer. The customers face was in shock as well. My awful supervisor complained about everything. Absolutely everything. It was almost a joke. Like she was looking for something to complain about. But it was always towards me. My position required me to literally run the store and customer service and it was too much pressure and too much work for a single employee. I often went home and worked on most I my computerized work OFF THE CLOCK, just to keep up so I wouldn’t be scolded like a child during our weekly meetings. I never got compensated for my work at home. The comments you may also find on this review page may not be so honest. While working at MATTEO, management requested all production employees to write a review. Of course it was suppose to be “honest”; but when your a person of color who works in a company which is known to lay off 23 employees at once (yes this has happened often) it became a fear to write a bad review and be fired for it. Also, the company did not have any HR team or representative while my last many months employeed. So all of my missed lunches and working at home off the clock went unnoticed. The company also treats their production team who are a talented group of Spanish speaking people like trash. To save money, the owner and management once wanted to have the production team reapply to he company, not under MATTEO, but through an agency which was very sneaky and morally incorrect. I read one of the applications given to the production team, and one page was purposefully ALL IN ENGLISH, knowing the Spanish speaking employees would not be able to read the mot important page. The page required a signature and the page stated that any injury or sickness related to being employed at MATTEO would not be a responsibility of the company. It’s so obvious that that was intentional. Everything was in Spanish, except for one very crucial contract. I was paid $14.07 to manage a store. That means help every customer that walks in. That means performs physical inventory scans. I scanned every item in the entire store. I had to manage inventory, with transfers and stock orders, I had to assist all customers online as well. I had to create orders, perform returns, I had to push sales and keep the store looking spotttless. I had to take calls and listen to angry customers voice messages. I had to perform a millions tasks all alone. There was a production team, a design team, a management team and then the retail and customer service team was ONLY ME. I’m was impossible. So I was paid $14.07 and now a month after I left, any new hire who fills in my place will make at least $15.00 and hour as posted on the website. That’s a doller more than I made and I was employed for almost two years. This company will USE YOU. Please believe me. I have nothing against this company. I love the products but NOT the way it’s running and managed. I really fell in love with the company. I know the product was great quality. But the management and the opportunities to grow in the company are nearly impenetrable. It’s like hitting a wall. If you’re White, graduated from Harvard, and came from a rich family; then anything is possible. For other employees, who work the hardest and keep our mouths shut so the privileged can make their dream possible, it’s tough to excel in this company. I really wanted to help bring fashion and push apparel sales for this company, but maybe they weren’t as ahead as I was. In the end, I was told I was difficult to work with, but I feel as though I was a threat to the company because I was so young, so talented, and so adventurous in terms of taking leaps to open new doors for the company. I was a young Mexican American employee who was always too afraid to speak up. But now that I left the company, I know how talented and amazing I really am. It’s honestly their loss for taking advantage of me and assuming I wouldn’t want what’s best for me. Do not apply to this company. Find a better position and pursue your dream!