More “special” behavior from GNC employees
I love my readers. They never fail to send me something that puts a huge smile on my face.
I just have a rant to get off my chest..and you might tell me that I'm being silly and that's fine. So I started almost two weeks ago on a diet and exercise plan: I consume about 1200 calories a day (I say about because it's difficult to measure 100% accurately on a college meal plan), I lift three days a week, and do a total of 6 hours of intense cardio per week. I've already started to see results. One of the things I've done is bought protein powder to drink in the morning after my weight training workout, for recovery and to double as my breakfast. I purchased Musclemilk from bodybuilding.com because my younger brother uses it and it's by far the best tasting protein powder I've ever had. The fat content is slightly high, and obviously the protein content is high, but it only has 150 calories in one scoop. Since this is my breakfast, not bad right? I'm counting my calories, making sure I'm in a deficit... So today, I ran out of protein powder and I decided to go to GNC to grab some more because I figured, hey, I won't have to pay shipping and handling. Well it was SO not worth the aggravation because the moment I walked in the people working there asked me what I wanted, I told them, and these huge muscle men looked at me and said, "What, are you trying to bulk up? That's what that's used for. Blah blah blah..try our GNC wheybolic crap wah wah lower calories fat blah blah.." SO they basically bullied me into buying this other stuff that was actually more expensive than what I wanted originally. I just bought it mostly because I was embarrassed. I trudge back to my room, pissed off, try said protein, and what do you know, it tastes like shit. It has 90 calories per scoop if you mix it with water, but to get it to taste good, I need to add milk, which makes it more calories than the muscle milk anyway!!! Am I nuts? Or are they?I am so SICK of these people who think that simply taking a supplement will make you gain weight instead of lose it, regardless of calorie intake...the same people think you can take a pill and LOSE weight. GRRRUGHHH. So I suppose I'm just looking for some reassurance that I won't put on massive amounts of weight by drinking muscle milk or mixing it into my oatmeal.
To answer the question at the end, no. No, you will not put on massive amounts of weight or muscle from eating oatmeal mixed with Muscle Milk. At least if you are not in a caloric surplus while training. If that was the case you could gain fat/muscle from chicken and peas.
I am very sorry for having to deal with the constant reminder of how much our society, trained and untrained, gets it wrong.
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Ryan | Lifegawker
I shop at the Vitamin Shoppe or online for exactly the reason mentioned above, my experience with GNC has been very similar. When I walk in to the Vitamin Shoppe and I get a “Hi, how can I help you?”, if I cant find what I am looking for, they look for it. If they cant find what I am looking for they apologize and work towards some resolution, with no pressure to buy some other brand I don’t want.
February 7th, 2009 at 10:46 pmJames
LOL!!!
That’s funny. I can’t say I’ve had shop assistants bully me into purchasing something, but they’ve certainly tried. I ended up catching one out when I asked if he actually uses it. He said he has tried the sample pack before and it was the best nitric oxide he’s ever used. (super pump 250) I then asked why he isn’t using it right now, and he shut right up. Literally.. he didn’t know what to say.
They’re obviously trained by their management team to push their supplements, and especially their specials or highest profiting products, but what you’ll find is that bodybuilding dot com will ALWAYS beat any brick and mortar store.
If you’re in Australia, go with Bodybuilding dot com for small legally shipped products, Mr Supplement dot com dot au for reliability and Hercules Supplement’s ebay store for price. They are unbeatable. Don’t buy from A1supplements (Hercule’s other store) because they have ZERO customer service and will rip you off like they did to me. It was only $15, but it was a Muscletech Shaker that I was buying as a present for my brother for Christmas. I got the powders, but no shaker, and no one at A1 would talk to me. Just buy from their ebay store because then you can give them negative feedback and they will be all ears. I’ve purchased from their ebay store twice and left positive feedback.
I’ve purchased from Mr Supplement about 15 times and was only unhappy once, when a powder came ripped open. They gave me 10% off my next purchase.
I’ve tried ultimate physique and they were good but expensive. ASN and supplement den are basically identical to mr supplement but they are a little more expensive. The others are all WAY too expensive.
Supermarket powders are high quality and often taste pretty good, but they are priced ridiculously high! I recommend buying Dymatize Elite Whey, or Optimum Nutrition WHEY. They are the best value for money in my opinion. (by the way, don’t go with dymatize vanilla flavour – it’s terrible!)
February 8th, 2009 at 1:05 amJC
This makes me laugh and cringe at the same time. When I was young(er) I fell into the trap of going to GNC, taking my time to look around at ALL of the supplements and then allowing the small guy behind the counter talk me into buying the most expensive protein powder in stock. I usually ended up walking out with a lame NO product that did nothing more than make a hole in my pocket.
Nowadays I rely on nothing more than protein powder, fish oils, and a few other vitamin/mineral supplements. I cannot be bothered with trying anything other than what serves an actual purpose(protein and food energy needs). I buy most of my protein from TrueProtein.com and have been very happy with their prices and product quality.
When dieting, the only supplement(s) in my arsenal are E and C, but that is for another article comment.
Take home message – protein powder is made to sell. If it has a big brand name on it, you are only paying for their advertising. There is nothing special about a BSN or (insert brand name of choice here) protein powder. The only thing special about them is the feeling the people get after making their commission for selling you an overpriced, over hyped product.
THE END
February 8th, 2009 at 9:06 amMissy
Hoo boy, this is a hoot. I used to work at GNC when I was like 18 and I can tell you, NO ONE had a clue. I had planned on a career of diet/nutrition at the time and I felt I knew more than anyone there. We were not coached to push the most expensive products or bully, but I can say there were a lot of nutrition myths pushed (but this was 20 years ago and I am sure different stores do different things). But then again, most workers were overweight – how does that look when you are selling a new weight loss plan each month? Never made sense to me! But I can say, we were clueless and I don’t remember anyone training me on solid nutrition information, just a bunch of hype. Best to just stay clear from there. I personally like JayRobb protein because he uses stevia and it is good in my opinion, but someone else may not think so. That is why there are many choices and we should be able to buy what we want without pressure, especially if we know we like a certain product!!
February 8th, 2009 at 10:35 amSean
Ha!
I usually find it easier to walk into places like GNC with a pissed off – “Don’t talk to me” look on my face. It works 100% of the time. Bros don’t like confrontation.
February 8th, 2009 at 12:31 pmJames
And they haven’t tried to sell you horny goat weed or anything?
February 9th, 2009 at 3:14 amMissy
James – I came so close to writing that HGW was about the only supplement I sold – especially to the sailors (I never understood that)!!!! That along with ginseng sold the most!!!!
February 9th, 2009 at 7:34 amCandice
I know that this article was aimed toward the intellectual prowess at GNC, but is no one a little taken back by the second line of, “… I consume about 1200 calories a day…. I lift three days a week, and do a total of 6 hours of intense cardio per week.”? Maybe 1200 cals with no exercise/lifting… maybe. But I can’t imagine any regular sized adult that weighs more than 90lbs who could exist on that. I mean, maybe I am wrong… I am so open to being wrong because I’m just flabbergasted that anyone who follows Leigh would eat so little. I’m hoping that there are some good reasons to back this all up that I’m missing.
February 9th, 2009 at 9:29 amDanielle
Candice, I couldn’t agree more! It was my understanding that at 1200 calories you’re setting yourself for metabolic trouble unless it’s really short term (say, for 30 days).
I also just read something by John Berardi where he talks about how 5-7 hours of training a week is optimal (with at least as much weight training as cardio) and that any more tends to bring diminishing returns unless you’re training for something specific (like a marathon). I’m interested to hear Leigh’s take on this!
As for GNC, their prices with the Gold card can be good but I completely ignore anything they try to say! It is complete bull. Walking in there knowing what you want is the key.
February 9th, 2009 at 1:54 pmPani
It’s kind of sad. When I was in the US, being a protein junkie, I had to go to GNC, and its like walking into a Muscle and Fitness magazine. Most of the stuff has no scientific basis, and people are spending $100’s dollars a month on crap promoted by juicers that don’t work. Good nutrition is what they need, and that’s where their cash should be going.
February 9th, 2009 at 5:37 pmJim Doolittle
This story along with my own experience will keep me from going again. I’ve been to GNC twice in recent history.
First time the guy tried to sell me the “special” creatine. I ended up getting the flavored creatine that was on sale. Not much sugar carbs but the flavoring is an additive I don’t need. I ended up burping blueberry taste for hours for the first sveral days I took it.
Second time I went in to see if they had hemp seed. I wanted to try it before buying 3lb bag from internet. They didn’t have any and the guy looked at me funny and wondered what I wanted it for. I told him. He asked me if I was sure whether it was legal.
February 9th, 2009 at 9:57 pmSheila | Live Well 360°
I have done the exact same thing. Walking in with a purpose, and walk out after buying something totally different, thinking what in the heck did I just do? Ha!
Sheila
February 10th, 2009 at 8:59 amSuper Healthy Diet
I had a similar experience while walking in a mall I had a shoulder spasm which was very painful. I walked into a GNC and was looking for Tiger Balm which works for me. I just needed a little to put on my shoulder and found a small container that would do the job nicely for $ 2.99. The sales clerk offered up another product which was a huge bottle at $ 39.99 from a different manufacturer.
February 10th, 2009 at 11:16 amI did not appreciate the “up sell” from this employee and stated I just needed a little to get me home and into a hot tub and some massage, and again it was just a spasm.
Justin
The GNC near me isn’t too bad. You still have your stereotypical douche bag guys that work there looking to sell you crap, but after you decline they usually get the point. I could imagine someone who wasn’t quite sure what to get or what they needed would probably have a much different experience. I don’t go in there much anymore unless I absolutely can’t wait a week to order off the interweb.
February 10th, 2009 at 1:51 pmKatie Nemargut
I really don’t like GNC! I think it is much different going in there being a girl. They really bully you.
February 10th, 2009 at 9:57 pmLeigh Peele
Ryan- I have to say, I love my local Vitamin Shoppe too.
James- I love Optimum Whey as well. Bodybuilding.com has great customer service too. Thanks for all of the advice
JC- Great Points and I couldn’t agree more, we only need to rely on a few supplements.
February 10th, 2009 at 9:59 pmLeigh Peele
Missy- The truth finally comes out. That is to funny.
Sean- I think everyone needs to follow this method.
James- …horny goat weed…
February 10th, 2009 at 9:59 pmLeigh Peele
Candice and Danielle- I am going to hit at this at the end.
Pani- Very true, many people need to focus more on actually nutrition.
Jim Doolittle- I had to write you entire name ’cause it’s too great. That story made me very uncomfortable
February 10th, 2009 at 9:59 pmLeigh Peele
Sheila- Ha! They are aggressive, but you can take ‘em next time.
Super Healthy Diet- I hope your shoulder is ok now, I am jealous you have a hot tub.
Justin- I imagine it would be different going in knowing what you want and being confident.
February 10th, 2009 at 9:59 pmLeigh Peele
As for the training with 1200 calories, it just depends. Sometimes this can be horrible, sometimes it is completely fine. The issues to be concerned with is…
-Your daily activities
February 10th, 2009 at 10:03 pm-Your general health
-Your endocrine system
Caleb - Double Your Gains
Ohmygod this is great.
I was killing time between flights at an airport in… Georgia I think?… and I’m walking around the GNC just wasting time because I wanted to look at all the new supplements, see what was hot right now, etc (got a fitness blog and my own supplement for crying out loud– I should know what’s going on these days!)
And the skinny, teenager dude behind the counter was like “what’s up man – you tryin to bulk up?” and you know that look you give someone, the smile when you know something they don’t?
And you know how when you give it to normal people, they feel ashamed they even talked to you and stop talking?
Well… I gave him that… but it only worked for another 30 minutes before he asked me what I was looking for or if I wanted to bulk up again.
It appears they give them a series of “conversation openers” for starting sales pitches. This must be how girls feel when they’re dancing in clubs and hear “I need your opinion…” openers from 100’s of guys each night who read Neil Strauss’ The Game. haha.
Hilarious!
February 11th, 2009 at 6:38 pmCaleb
jamie hale
Don’t be bullied do some research and be armed with some basic knowledge before you enter these type of Intellectual (ha ha)zones.
Expect this type of behavior when you visit supplement stores, health food stores, etc. As Leigh said don’t worry about getting huge unless you eat to be huge. Even when eating to be huge muscle accretion is a slow process and is utlimately limited by genetics
February 15th, 2009 at 9:23 ambobmutch
In Canada GNC salespeople are on commission. Their ISO Whey is a very good deal right now for their 1KG tub. First one $40, second one $20. But a lot of there stuff seems to be a bit expensive.
I feel more comfortable asking for advise from some one that is not commission sales.
Here is my comments on my GNC ISO Whey purchase.
February 18th, 2009 at 1:36 amhttp://morechristlike.com/02-10-09-exercise-thoughts-food/
Sue
The reason they try to pressure you into buying more than just a bottle of vitamin C is this: a store does not get credit for a profitable bottom line. They only get credit for the average sales they make that week. So someone spending only enough for an energy drink brings down the per customer average–a problem even if they are the most profitable store in the region.
March 6th, 2009 at 4:07 pmmatt
hey GNCEMPLOYEE im feelin you pain brotha. i currently work at a gnc corporate store as well, this p3 thing is horrible, ive been working there for almost 5 years off and on and until the last year or so i really enjoyed my job and the people i work with. my manager is awesome and we try our best to help everyone get whats good for there body, with this new p3 thing in place its a nightmare, i have this douche bad rsd who drinks waaaaay too much caf, lets just call him john for now, and he comes in with that shit eating grin like cares and then proceeds to right up the whole store for low p3 sales, dude all i can say is that its a tragedy they let numb nuts like this cat run part of the show, they care about the numbers too much, gnc products arn’t garbage but there not for everyone and there def not well priced, wheybolic extreme for example is ok, but by know means is it priced even near what it should be, john sits there and asks me what i think is a better protein than wheybolic 60 lol he asked the wrong guy, i was like: well monster milk has much higher amounts of the lucine that you guys are so proud to say that wheybolic has so much of lol please lol then he goes on to tell me that monster milk tastes bad, COME ON i have know idea what world he lives in but its def not this one, and one final thing he said that made me chuckle, was when he asked me what my favorite protein was, i was like dude do you really want to know cause i dont want to hurt your feelings, lol anyway i told him the probolic sr by mhp was not only my fav but def the best all around protein for the money, and then and then lol he went to to say how it wasnt a good night time protein lol well ill leave you with that cause i cant talk about this man for more than five min without feeling less intelligent. lol well keep your head up and dont quit. wait till they fire you and go on unemployment, if you quit they win!!!!! remember that.
March 16th, 2009 at 11:09 amshane
I know you all have this huge thing against GNC but I think you should keep your complaints store specific. I currently manage a GNC and it very clear to my associates to never bully a customer. We compare 2 to 3 products for them and let them choose with no hassle. You can get bad customer service at any retail store at any time, but to fault an entire company for a specific persons fault is unfair.
April 8th, 2009 at 2:48 pmmatt
Well Shane you see like a great guy, and probably a great store manager. But as a manager you are still on the low end of the totem, with that said i would like to take the time to give you a huge amount of credit for what you have to put up with from up above. Now this could play out two ways in terms of what kind of situation you are in because its obviously not the same as the rest of us, now it may be that you are in a great area in which you have a great rsd who cares about his managers and not just the numbers, in which case you associates do not feel pressured to sell things that are not useless attempts by GNC to boost sales. And may i say that i would really enjoy working in that type of atmosphere, however the more likely situation is that you live in the real world with the rest of us and are either brain washed into thinking what our corporation has become is a good thing, or you are too worried you are going to be fired from this meaningless retail position, that you overlook the stress being placed on all of us by our superiors. The only other thing that i can think of is that you are looking for a promotion and are kissing some serious ass. Now dont get me wrong im not labeling you as anyone of these things, but i’ve been around long enough to know that corporations are here to make money, bottom line, some of them do it in a respectful way and some do not, gnc is slowly becoming the later. What i would do is seriously think about your situation, and really think about how your employee’s feel about how you run your store, and most of all take a look at yourself and ask if what you are doing is what you want to do all your life and do you really believe in what your doing, now if your answer is no to either of those two questions, you need to lighten up on your guys, take a deep breath when your rsd is being a corporate ass and look him in the face and tell him how you feel. Now it may seem scary but i think it may do you wonders to realize how much power you have and how little they have. I dont feel that anything said in this blog was against our customer service, its more a reflection of our stressful work enviroments. So do us all a favor and think before you speak again, thanks.
keep it real
April 8th, 2009 at 8:55 pmBeezlebubba
Shane — it’s likely “good” stores are the exception and not the rule. GNC is harsh, and often has no good basis in the quotas they set. How much have the quotas… err, goals… changed for gold cards and multis in the past 5 years? Plenty. And P3 has made everything that much worse.
And how much has Gold Card PMs gone down? Several years ago it was $5, then it was $2… now it’s 50 cents. 1/10th of what you used to make to put up with the crap. All going to the bottom line, whil eyou get cussed out. You know what the Barnes and Noble quota for cards is? 2 percent.
Do we get PMs for anything else? Other than 3rd party products, I mean.
What if you are in a low volume store in a community area where 80 percent of the 20 customers you see a day already have Gold Cards. There are 4 customers that don’t have them, and it if you sell 1 a Gold Card, you get credit for selling 5 percent, not 25 percent.
Hell, I go into stores in other divisions and by the Ostrich stick just to bring down there sales average
April 21st, 2009 at 3:41 pmLyn B
I’m not surprised at the comments. My mom works there part time and is constantly talking about how awful the RSD is in the Jacksonville, FL. area. my mom said it use to be a fun job until this new RSD and his side kick were hired. She said he is a bully and is constantly herassing the employees about P3s and Gold card numbers. Some of the really great employees who have been with GNC in the Jax, area have either been fired or quit because of the RSD , who gets his kicks from bullying the employees. I’m not sure how he gets away with his behavior or why he was hired for this job when clearly there are other GNC employees who are more qualified. I guess it’s all about who you know in this business and not what you know. When GNC had to start paying the mandatory $7.21/ hr pay rate they took her 0.25 cent raise away from her………..lol. The only way to make any money there is to sell the high priced products like Muscle Tech, and they bitch about that because they want you to sell their junk that does not have any commission. So if you want to talk trash about GNC employees I think you need to start at the cooperate level, then work your way down. most of the employees are intimidated into some of these selling tactics espeacially in the Jacksonville area.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:30 amShay
This post made me feel so much better about a recent experience I had at my local GNC.
Basically, I popped in for a protein shake, when I happened to overhear a GNC sales jerk giving this guy a line of crap on some fat loss pills. The sales jerk was going on and on about how the guy would drop pounds without having to do anything, except take the pills.
When I walked over and mentioned to him, that I was a certified personal trainer and that there was no scientific evidence whatsoever behind the product he was pushing, I was asked to leave the store.
Luckily the guy he was bullying walked out with me.
I honestly feel that some of these GNC employees are reckless at best with their behavior and will do or say anything to sell a product.
Whatever happened to doing what’s right for the customer?
June 5th, 2009 at 12:33 pmmatt
Ok well i have an update for anyone that posts here or reads my posts. I have finally had enough i have QUIT the horrible mess that GNC has become. Just to let you all know i worked in Toms River NJ and every store in the area is now completely horrible to shop in. Every store in new jersey, baring the franchise stores is run by this fat waste of life John and his little ass buddy assistant Tim or as we like to call him “Tiny Tim”. Ill get to those two later. Like i said in my other posts GNC has slowly but surely turned into a horrible company. The reason i quit was more than just what was happening to me. My manager and assistant managers are two genuine people. They have been working in my particular GNC for over thirty years or in other words since it opened. They have been great members of both the mall and toms river community for this time as well. Well with all good things in this life there must be bad i suppose, because its been John’s mission since he became employed by GNC 7 years ago to see that they are replaced, it was very cunning what he did, he was so cowardly that he waited until my manager had to have a heart operation to send in a new manager to take her place, promising that she will always have a job with the company. Yea Right, he going to put her in a store 50 miles away from where she lives so she’ll quit. Thats was 25 years with GNC got her. I am so fed up with what they’ve done. As far as both John and Tiny Tim go i know for a fact that there is a special place in hell for these two. They’ve made so many people unhappy and ruined so much of what people used to call a good place to work, i hope that they are intelligent enough to realize one day what they have done and how many people they’ve effected, that they will promptly kill themselves. Im sure life is pretty tough on them as is with John being Fat and Still in the closet, and Tim lol well being so tiny and talking about taking steroids, well i can say one thing for tiny tim, he wont have to worry about his girlfriend ill take good care of her, because by the looks of it she was very into me last time she was in the store.by the way she slipped me her number when he wasn’t looking . lol well enough of my shit talking, i would just like to let everyone know not to shop in GNC in jersey because you will get a similar line like the person above was talking about, but if you do for some reason be polite and by one water or candy bar and leave. because its really not the store associates (well most of them) that are the problem, the problem is the management. I would like to extend a big fuck you to both John and Tim at this time and also the next time i see them.
June 7th, 2009 at 5:00 pmNicole
Replying to the original article: this happened to me once, but at a different supplement store. They asked me if I was “bulking” (I wasn’t) when going in to buy a post workout formula (closest thing to Biotest Surge I could find). I just said “YES” so they’d leave me alone and not try to sell me the “Whey TastesLikeAss-olate”.
June 30th, 2009 at 8:58 amj
I used to work ‘there’ and one mngr was great and retired , another ,s mother was ill and he had to relocate after he just started as then the real nitemare came in everyone quit besisdes me and I was planning on it . she played head games , but I lived across the street so convienient for me when she wasn’t there. I never had such a nasty mngr- told me I couldn’t go to church and put me on Sundays. But if I needed a problem solved – no manager available,even when calling other stores for advice. She wanted everyone bi-lingual. would leave soon as I came in but put full hours on for herself, even if she was there for 3, people complained about her to the main office. she was on leave for pregnancy and relocated to her area. I had people coming up to me said they would never come there as long as she was there or if she was in the store and ask for my hours to make sure they came in when I was there. I think I must have been written up to make a book and my other mngrs didn’t have a problem w/ me.. She was very sneeky and if she did something wrong others got written up for it, to cover here tail, even if it wasnt their shift. The hours were irratic- and when shorthanded, she had me on 10,9 and 8 days a week,before I finally got a day off. She’s flirt w/mngrs and they ate it up- a married and pg woman, w a big ego and paraded around ‘ I’m the manager’ People in my area – other store mngrs were not impressed w/ her at all and even invited me to work at their stores. When I got hurt and had to be on WComp , she tried to deny me from going to my appt and said I could only have the days off for appts when she decided to let me have them and enen though I put in on a calender I brought in for the store for everyone to use, and I had put my days off per my Drs appts , it disappeared and then I mad another one and that as well was gone and then she ordered me and well and eveyone there that no one was to write on the calender! My Dr gave me complete disability and I gave her the Drs note and she expected me to still come in. She wrote me up that I abandoned my job as I requested it from the main office. It would have become my word agaist hers when they finally decided to put hours in the computor as she would fake everything.
July 8th, 2009 at 2:14 pmThe RSD decided to believe her when she herself left the back door unlocked. I was on crutches and go near that door nor did I work that one day. RSD threatened one employee that has a low score on secret shopper but decided to keep her as she always had sold high in gold cards. The corp is very irratic and one has to learn as they go, although people think your an expert when they come in . I loved my job for my customers and conveinenbt to home as I have disabled sons at home I hope no one has to ever endure that and I hope she grows up!! Shre dosn’t realize that it takes the little cogs to make the wheel turn. I was offered the mngmt, but I have enough on my plate to handl, and I really wasnt impressed with it.
pissed
I went to the sawgrass mills store by my house and have found out first hand about all this. I went in to buy a pre-workout powder and the sales person just about forced me into buying a cretine pill as my pre-workout. I didn’t buy his line of crap and walked out and over to vitiman shoppe and got what I wanted.. infact what the person there told me to use was much better than my no-explode. I also got their card and didn’t have to pay $15 for it so they can say I get 20% off the first 7 days but if you go in those days than a week later the price is the same as the goldcard what a rip.
July 21st, 2009 at 7:20 amJosh
has anyone seen that the gold card is a crap program? they sell u it making you think if you come in the first 7 days of the month you get 20% off. What they do is change the sale and you may only save up to $1 than if you went later in the month. check the back of any of the sale signs with a small white box on the bottom you will see something that week may be 59.99 than your 20% but later in the month that item will be 44.99 it is a hugr rip
July 22nd, 2009 at 8:56 pmBilly
I am going to go ahead and agree with everything Matt has said. I work at GNC as well, and let me just say it is the worst corporation in the history of corporations. Yes it is true the gold card is a rip off, we jack up the prices on the first week of every month, yes it is true gnc employees try to sell you worthless shit to hit whatever numbers we have to. It’s pretty ruthless. I myself have sold tons of products that i knew i shouldnt have, just so my manager would get off my ass. But after working there a couple of years I dont bully anyone into buying anything, i ask if they need help then if they say no i say ok and let them go about their business, if they ask advice, depending on our numbers, i give them the best advice i can. This P3 thing is the most ridiculous idea ever, some stupid bald rich fat guys made up this little idea so that gnc employees would sell more gnc products. Instead of putting higher commission in GNC products they just force us to sell them otherwise we get written up or fired. I HATE selling gnc products, I recieve 1% commission off of gnc brand products, it might as well be 0 percent. So any chance i get i will recommend something better and cheaper. Just as long as we hit the multivitamin percents and Gold Cards, I usually sell what i want. Multi’s ARE important to take, so i dont feel to bad about recommending those to people, occasionally when i do. GNC is evil though, lately a lot of people in our region have been getting fired, so we are all paranoid that if we dont harrass customers to sell these ridiculous products we will get fired too, jobs being scarce at the present time we cant do anything but obey these overpaid RSD and vice president douchbags,especially Ron Hallock, the only time he comes to our store is to inspect DUST, ya i said it, dust. Or tell us to switch our store around, just so he feels that hes earning his six figure a year salary, what a douche.
August 9th, 2009 at 10:53 pmmolly
Woow..I whole heartedly agree with the gnc employees! I am a mgr @ gnc and this comp has become a crock of shit. The p3 program is the WORST thing I have ever heard of. The mystery shop is even worse. This is COERSION. People know what they want 2 buy; that’s it! Its true about the “saleprices”; the gold card. The cg is a joke. Just check the back of the sales tag; u will see that u aren’t saving jack! Gnc needs 2 go back 2 the way it was-decent not ruthless like it is now
September 18th, 2009 at 2:37 pmMr. Walther
So I am an employee @ GNC and also an ACE certified personal trainer, and a registered dietition. There is much info people don’t realize. Most GNC employee’s jobs depend on day to day sales. That is why it seems like people get bullied. It is extremely unfortunate that it gets played out like that. I know there have been some days where I had to be more aggressive than usual to get a certain sale and I feel bad about it. I always make sure to explain the refund policy for GNC to every customer that is trying something new or new customers coming in. You have 30 days to try something. If you don’t like it, call them out on it and return it for a refund or exchange it for something different. EVEN AFTER YOU OPEN IT!!!!!! As for the muscle milk thing at the top of this page: muscle milk isn’t a very good after workout protein. It is made out of a casein. Casein= slow digestion which is good for meal replacement and before bed. Probolic SR by MHP is the best for that one. After workout, Wheybolic extreme is really some of the best stuff to take, get over the taste, supplements are not meant to taste good. If you hate GNC brand stuff, go with Nature’s best brand isopure. Tastes even worse! lol.
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:24 amScott D
Yea.. WhAt u said above, muscle milk is only good like right before u go to bed, being made of casein.. The wheybolic is what u take right after ur workout.. Being isolated, u absorb alot more of the protein.. And isopure is about 8-9$ more thAn Gnc wheybolic.. Don’t ever buy anything at full price, wait til the 11th-like the 21st.. Best deals.. The P3 thing is crap.. But if u really know what u are talking about u can incorporate it in the sell.. So u can jus upsale a P3.. Not solely rely on the P3.. If the customer is not interested in the P3, we don’t even push it, we just recommend it.. Like the triple strength fish oil( good for a variety of things).. I work at a Gnc in Kentucky, jus until I get outta my last semester of college.. I don’t agree with it, but we have the same customers pretty much come back each month.. I do research and sell what I thinks the best.. I explain the products, and the customer chooses.. I don’t push anything unless a customer asks my opinion.. I even tell the customer who can’t make their mind up, to go home and do some research n when ur ready to come and make ur decision, I’ll be here.. If those greedy rich fools figured out that customer service is the most important, then they wouldn’t have to pressure employees to hassle customers to buy Gnc products, bc the customers would keep coming back and switch things up and eventually try different things and they can decide on what they like for themselves.. Rather than pressure someone with bad customer service and get 1 Gnc product out of them.. The only thing I mite mention for an upsell&P3 is the triple strength fish oil and a multi, bc I feel u need those..
December 12th, 2009 at 2:13 amPaul
Some people will say they pushed the AMP Wheybolic Extreme 60 because it’s a higher commission, some people will say it’s because they only advertise their own brand of product. However, here’s the actual reason:
Whey protein is a fast-acting protein molecule. It absorbs more quickly than any other protein molecule, and that can increase when it’s hydrolyzed. The AMP Wheybolic is a highly hydrolyzed whey protein isolate. Hydrolyzation is the process by which chemists shrink the size of a protein molecule. Most whey protein molecules weigh 2,000-3,000 daltons, which gives them about 50-60% oral bioavailability (or how much of it your body actually uses). The Wheybolic’s molecular weight is about half that, around 1,500-1,7500 daltons. This means your body can actually use 90-95% of the 60 grams of protein in your shake, and it acts faster than the protein in Muscle Milk.
Now, I personally like Muscle Milk a lot, I’m not knocking the Cytosport product line at all. However, Muscle Milk isn’t strictly whey protein, it’s actually a blend of two different kinds of proteins. Muscle Milk is 15% whey protein, and 85% calcium casein, a protein derived from egg products. For long-term nourishment, it is actually your body’s preferred source, but it isn’t fast acting, and is slowly metabolized over the course of two to four hours.
That being said, I would encourage you to continue taking Muscle Milk as a meal replacement, as the slower digestion rate of the calcium casein can stave off catabolism better than other proteins, but for immediately post-workout, the guys at GNC were right: the high absorbability of the protein isolate in the Wheybolic, combined with the amino acid and digestive enzyme profiles that particular protein has worked into it, when you’re done at the gym that IS in fact the superior protein.
And as a final note, Muscle Milk as a meal replacement is superior when made with milk, as milk naturally slows down your rate of digestion. Conversely, immediately post-workout you want to make the shake with water, to hasten the metabolic process.
Hope that helps!
January 5th, 2010 at 2:23 pm-Paul
molly
We have an rsd, in the deep south, that needs 2 go 2 hell expeditiously! His tactic of motivation is 2 threaten people’s jobs. He’s basically trying 2 fire ALL WMN mgrs n replace them w\men. I can’t wait 2 get another job so I can tell him 2 kiss my ass. Oh the DSD n DVP, too
January 20th, 2010 at 12:49 pmHe needs 2 go back 2 the 5th ring of hell frm hence he came!
I REALLY hate GNC..
You all are morons
Matt, monster milk does not have higher amounts of leucine than wheybolic. did you see in the fine print, “per 100 grams of protein” above the amino acid content?
February 2nd, 2010 at 8:55 am