Undercover Boss - General Discussion

[teebax]

There is a Marco's across the street from the school I work at. In fact, they give our students a discount (I think it's a 10 inch pizza and 20 inch soda for $5.) The manager of our location came in the school to tell the staff they were going to be on UB. They even had little discount cards with an encouragement to watch the UB episode, so I figured it probably went well.

 

What their employees said about marketing is absolutely true. If there weren't one near my work, I'd have never known they existed. I don't see anything about them - no local commercials, no ad stuffers in my mailbox, nothing. In fact, the person I watched this episode with told me she's never heard of Marco's Pizza, and we have several here.

 

Also, they came in the school on Thursday to promote something airing on Friday, which seems like it was a last-minute marketing idea for them. 

 

I thought the boss came off no worse than any other bosses on the show. I agree that highlighting the security issues was a bad idea. I was also surprised that the boss was completely unaware that so many of their locations had been robbed.

Edited January 31, 2016 by teebax

[jmonkey]

There is a Marco's across the street from the school I work at. In fact, they give our students a discount (I think it's a 10 inch pizza and 20 inch soda for $5.) The manager of our location came in the school to tell the staff they were going to be on UB. They even had little discount cards with an encouragement to watch the UB episode, so I figured it probably went well.

 

What their employees said about marketing is absolutely true. If there weren't one near my work, I'd have never known they existed. I don't see anything about them - no local commercials, no ad stuffers in my mailbox, nothing. In fact, the person I watched this episode with told me she's never heard of Marco's Pizza, and we have several here.

 

Also, they came in the school on Thursday to promote something airing on Friday, which seems like it was a last-minute marketing idea for them. 

 

I thought the boss came off no worse than any other bosses on the show. I agree that highlighting the security issues was a bad idea. I was also surprised that the boss was completely unaware that so many of their locations had been robbed.

Yes, it boggles my mind how aloof and out of touch these CEOs are about what's going on in their company. Why didn't this boss know that a few of his locations had been robbed? That seems like something the CEO should know. And, better yet, why does it take appearing on UB to get security measures in place for the truck unloaders who are alone at Marcos locations at night? Lack of safety precautions, training, and gear for employees out in the field seems to be a recurring theme on this show. I don't get why they wouldn't already have safety measures in place to protect or prevent employees from criminal acts or from them hurting themselves on the job, which could result in workers comp or a lawsuit. Of course I think the CEOs know more than they lead on and they don't have the safety measures in place because they're not cost-effective. My hunch is that they chose to make changes on UB to save face and because they think exposure on the show will increase business enough to cover the costs of adding a new security system or POS system (or whatever issue that needs to be addressed from the episode). It's much better for the CEOs to come on UB and pretend to be ignorant to issues so they can be the hero and save the day. If the CEOs claim to have known about an issue previously, then the question becomes why didn't they do something before UB put a camera in their faces? It amazes me about how many of these issues should've been addressed years ago when these companies were in their infancy. The issues exposed on UB are usually pretty basic and it wouldn't take the show to expose them if the CEOs just did their jobs to begin with.

 

As far as Marco's goes, I don't have any in my city, but there's one where I grew up. In my state they are attached to a Family Video and you can rent movies with your za. My brother told me that their pizza is pretty good, but I've never once seen an advertisement for them. I wonder why they didn't advertise prior to UB. Were they just banking on adequate word-of-mouth business? Apparently that wasn't working out too well. It's too bad for Marco's that they couldn't get on UB earlier like Season 1 or Season 2 when UB was still popular. Season 7 UB isn't going to drum up as much business as earlier seasons. Crap, I forget the show is on most weeks.

 

I don't understand the CEO having 8 kids given how dedicated to his career he claimed to be. Why would he keep having kids just so he could ignore them in favor of his career? And we have yet another CEO without a formal education (a.k.a college degree). I agree that a formal education isn't necessary to be a good CEO, but during the rewards segment, the CEO certainly shelled out a lot for education. He clearly values the education he doesn't have himself.

 

I liked all the Marco's employees. The truck driver, delivery driver, manager, and short girl were all deserving and you could tell it meant a lot to them to have someone invest in them. I was just glad to have UB feature a restaurant again. The food ones are always the better episodes. At the very least I get food porn and get hungry watching.

Edited January 31, 2016 by jmonkey

[Lonesome Rhodes]

The conceit of this guy is as off the charts as most any of the jerks on this show.  He knows good and damn well he would not have been made an executive, and that he would not have been promoted, unless he committed most of himself and his energy to the company.  Consciously.  There really is no other way, especially for someone who lacks credentials!  And now he is gonna be about encouraging his peeps to be more family-oriented?  Well, what about those who really do sacrifice more and create more value to his company?  You jump the others who insist on a life oriented away from the company?  Not on this universe, dude.

 

Tyler is the model.  Same as that sous-chef last week.  Those are the guys any company would, and should, be grooming for higher levels.  It's so obvious that he had already been identified within the company for advancement, hence the appearance on the show.  Good for him.  Good for Marco's.

 

One thing I share with this guy is I got my start at a Holiday Inn, too!  A hotel with food and beverage is a fantastic place to learn about business, and especially people. 

 

Finally...the dude knew utterly that his biz suffered from a lack of  consumer awareness.  I bet he had to stifle himself from saying, "What the F do you think we are here doing this stoopid show for??!!!"  when the employees begged for exposure for their stores.  This guy was very aware of most of what he encountered.  He is more savvy then most on this show.  Didja notice he had a clue when it came to putting dough on the cooking trays?  He'd worked at stores before.  No doubt.

Edited January 31, 2016 by Lonesome Rhodes

[Fostersmom]

I wonder why the do a butt ton of advertising up here, near Cleveland, where they've been for years, but none in new markets. I see and get their ads all the time.

 

As for his lack of formal education, I don't know if he thought it would make him look more man of the people or what, but he's been in executive positions since 1992. Let's just say he had a Harvard MBA before he started on the executive track, that education would be pretty outdated now, 25 years later. Looking at his LinkedIn page, he's anything but some inexperienced rube like he tried to paint himself. 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

 

The president and COO struggles while mounting giant tires on a Jeep.

 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Another shoe drops on Ovation.  73 stores closed yesterday!

 

http://www.wtvm.com/story/31142723/ryans-buffet-in-columbus-73-other-us-locations-closed-thursday

[Brian Cronin]

While the part with the brother was pretty adorable, it was also a bit weird, in the sense that he sort of had to make his brother beg for it. I mean, I obviously don't know what they've been through in their lives, but it seemed a bit off-putting. 

Edited February 6, 2016 by Brian Cronin

[Fostersmom]

I've never heard of them, but I'm not driving a monster truck, so why would I? I Googled and apparently there is one in the Cleveland area if I ever decide to trade in my Jetta for a vehicle I'd need a step ladder to get into. 

 

The dynamic with the brother was just plain weird, as was the way he talked about his brother in the backstory. I was sure it was leading up to the brother having passed from an OD or being in prison or something. The whole "black sheep" of the family idea is just off-putting and always gives me a which came first, the chicken or the egg kinda vibe. And it did almost feel like he was making his brother beg for it. 

 

I did like the first place all knew exactly who he was and their issues with the warranty repairs. I've had this exact discussion with the sales person for my office. She sells these bogus extended warranties to customers, making them sound like everything will be covered, but in reality they cover us going out to clean their product once a year and if anything breaks because of our install. She tells them it covers any parts they might need, but it doesn't. And just like the first guy was saying, it's a lot of time and effort away from my techs actually installing stuff and just not time or cost effective. Yeah, my guys do get paid to do the work, but when we make literally $125 to do this crap when I could have them installing something that's going to be $2800 at the low end, it's just ridiculous. Especially since we aren't doing something that's going to be anything more than basically dust. 

 

The woman in the warehouse seemed to know her stuff, but in the latest set up of this season, no one would train a person for 5 minutes and then walk away to go do something else. Her commenting on how sweaty he was was kinda funny. How the hell thick were those jeans?

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Maybe a first???  When he was loading the tires into the truck, there was maybe one or two awaiting final placement.  The coworker comes in and upbraids dude for being slow.  Well, the task was essentially complete.  They were behind?  Well, maybe that was due to the IT issue?  Anyway, point being, the "Boss" really wasn't doing such a bad job.  Of course and obviously, the coworker was being egged on by a producer.  But, this once, the Boss was getting it done.  Do better, producers.

 

Overall, this ep is most definitely the weakest on the "work" required by the "Boss" I've seen.  The first job was real enough, but the others seemed like throw-ins.

 

The IT issue was already going to be handled with the $10 MILLLLLLION upgrades.  I hate how a worker "thanks" the company for doing something so basic, and something which will result in greater efficiency and more profits...for the company.

 

Is this the last ep of the season?   Ever?

 

Now, the new compensation for ALL the techs throughout the company on the warranty work?  That is a huge deal.  It is likely the single best fix I've seen on the show.

 

Pretty good ep, for the most part.  I'm pleased we got a minimum of emotional tugs, at least until the reveal.      

[jmonkey]

Meh. I'm not too interested in tires for monster trucks so I just had this on in the background. I'm not surprised when the boss gets his cover blown. The camera crew, horrible disguise, and encouragement by producers to spill your guts to this game show contestant are a dead giveaway it's UB. But I couldn't tell you the name of my CEO (I could look it up I guess) and wouldn't be able to pick him out of a lineup, so I think it kind of speaks highly of this CEO that the first guy knew by name who Greg Adler was right away. That suggests that this UB cares enough to at least be a visible presence at his business. Of course nobody else found out his identity until the reveal.

 

It seems like some CEOs, such as mine, don't want to be known because they're ashamed about what their business has become and what they've done to the employees to make it that way. I believe that if you can't show your face as a CEO at your business, that's a direct reflection of how healthy your business is. It's CEOs like mine who would make the best candidates for UB, but they wouldn't be caught dead exposing how shady they are or jeopardize any leverage they have by appearing on a show designed to demonstrate weaknesses in the company that the CEO is pretty much required to fix to save face.

 

The first guy was right on about the warranties, and good on the CEO for ensuring compensation companywide for the techs who do labor for warranties. It sounds like the techs will get their lunch breaks too. Everyone loves a lunch break. Greg sure was a sweaty beast stacking those tires into that truck. I don't mean to sound sexist, but I find it hard to believe that the woman, Erin, who ran the warehouse was able to physically perform that work of stacking the tires 3 rows high at a much quicker pace than Greg did. I'm sure she can. I just needed to see it. The $10 million improvement to the IT system was long overdue and should've been corrected years ago. It boggles my mind how every company preaches efficiency and then saddles its employees with inefficient equipment to do the job. Waiting 10 minutes for a reboot a few times a day is unacceptable. I have similar issues at my job and that downtime can result in a pay decrease for me even though it's not my fault the equipment is garbage. The guy with dyslexia was cool and seemed smart. He had a good point about hands-on training needing to be included in addition to written training. Society seems to be geared towards people who learn via reading and writing rather than doing. The kid that Greg is going to mentor also seemed like a good employee. I can't imagine having to disown your own mother.

 

The scenes with the brother were touching. I'm sure it was really emotional for them considering that the brother has probably had several close calls with death given his sordid past. I hope that UB represents a new beginning for Greg and his brother and they can work on the family business together. The brother may be the black sheep, but he seemed like a nice enough guy and he's fortunate to have the family business as a safety net. A lot of drug and alcohol addicts don't have that luxury.

 

All the rewards seemed appropriate and this was a well deserving bunch even though I have a minor issue with rewarding people who have kids they can't afford. UB is still doing okay in the ratings, but it kind of seems like this could be the end anyway. Most companies are just using it for exposure and potential revenue rather than introspection. Yes, maybe they'll make the changes, but the primary reason for being on here is publicity for the business. Everything else is secondary. The companies people would actually want to see have already passed on being on UB. It seems like it's all been done on UB and each episode is like the previous one only with a different company. Yes, there will be an occasional Armando or Doug "Boobies" Guller, but usually it's a relatively unknown business with seemingly decent CEOs who use the show to make basic changes and reward employees to make themselves feel better and look good in the public eye.

Edited February 8, 2016 by jmonkey

[Jaded]

I'm not sure if last Friday's episode was the season finale or not. Amazing Race is in it's slot now though. 

[ChicagoCita]

A restaurant chain near me (Hamburger Mary's) was apparently on UB! The owners are holding a viewing party on May 15th, so that's apparently the next episode.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Great news!  I was just reading that UB was teetering on cancellation, but it appears they have some new eps to air.  Perhaps the ratings for these eps will tell the tale.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Nice to see that business, in the end, is business.  You'll find the very same characters regardless ownership, trends, styles, cuisine.  

That Long Beach franchisee must be a real jerk.  I'm glad s/he lost Melissa.  It was very difficult, however, for me to believe that the new HM ownership was unaware of the risks and rewards of the "club" element of that store.  I note there was another in West Hollywood mentioned in the interview section.  Such an obvious revenue-producer simply had to be part of their decision to buy the company - and there were only what, four other stores besides theirs?  

Tristen was very good with the customers.  When she fought for time at those awesome POS terminals, she was fighting for better service for her customers.  It's a beautiful thang when a client's interests so fully mesh with a provider's.  I note that Joe's Crabs just recanted their attempt, with much fanfare, to eliminate tips.  To paraphrase Gordon Gekko, "Tips work."   

[zoey1996]

Hamburger Mary's Bar and Grille co-owners Ashley and Brandon Wright work undercover at their LGBT-friendly restaurants.

Do people really get fooled by bad disguises?  I guess not everyone watches UCB, but it boggles the mind that they are still able to go undercover and nobody suspected a thing!

Interesting episodes - one of the best I've seen for a while.  Not sorry to learn that Tristan is no longer with the company.  Other two workers were decent, but only one stayed with the company.

[Diane Mars]

A very good one ! Seemed really organic.

FU, Tristen, and good luck !

[Fostersmom]

Boy, Tristan was a massive bitch. So, she was just a bitch because the cameras were there? I'm going with a no on that one. She didn't even hesitate in her nastiness, it was her default setting, not something she was putting on for the show. None of her regular coworkers even batted an eye, so it makes me sure they weren't seeing something unusual. 

I liked all the rest of the employees. The episode did seem really organic. So many times it's obvious the problems were already well known, but they pretend they aren't or the CEO type is just completely an idiot. This time, I genuinely believed they of course wanted publicity and really wanted to see what was going on. 

Was there a follow up on the dancer? 

[Diane Mars]

4 hours ago, Fostersmom said:

Was there a follow up on the dancer? 

She was looking for her name change and see it in lights in La (something like that ^_^ )

[ChicagoCita]

Wow, they're really burning the episodes quickly. Doesn't speak well for the future of the show. They're creating their own binge-watch.

[friendperidot]

I watch this sporadically when nothing else interests me. Watched 2 episodes, Der Wienerschnitzal and Golden Crust. It seemed to me that the bosses knew what the problems were and the stores and employees were selected to showcase those. 

An episode I would love to watch, the CEO of AT&T at a call center taking calls from customers who hate AT&T and do not hesitate to tell them why.

Edited May 23, 2016 by friendperidot

[Fostersmom]

The burning off of these last episodes 100% confirms these companies paid big advertising money to be showcased. CBS took their money and had to pony up an actual show.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

It would be a shame if this show went out with the Golden Crust ep.  What a total mess.  Not that I would ever choose that cuisine, but wow, this may have been the biggest restaurant mess evah on UB.

What a choice for Jerger!  Being a store manager in this horrid system or being a nurse?  Does he have any corporate stores in her area?  We saw only (worthless) franchises.  I note that the blurb on her at the end had no mention of her being a store manager.

I love the irony that the best tasting food he ran into was off the books, but it now became a cornerstone item precisely because the now chief chef (for four whole units!) ignored the books, or never saw them.  

Odean, the first cook we saw, was great.  But, would his outsize passion translate well to his employees, who have no big dreams and are not as motivated (as with pretty much all quick service restaurants)?  Would he be able to handle those frustrations?  

Oh well.  This show had a nice run.  As cheap as it had to be to make, I think it just may reappear.

[WescottF1]

This one's on again on Oprah's network right now.  Prompted me to see how they're doing.  Looks like back down to one single location.

[Jaded]

5 hours ago, WescottF1 said:

This one's on again on Oprah's network right now.  Prompted me to see how they're doing.  Looks like back down to one single location.

That's the best news I've read in awhile.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

FYI:  A brand new season begins tonight, Wednesday, at 8 PM on CBS.  It's a 2-hour extravaganza. 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

The Build-a Bear ep seemed to not be as ambitious as the previous seasons eps' were.  That's a good thing.

The big "change" or re-branding by that company does not seem to offer customers any advantages.  They certainly took away a very popular "bonding" process and replaced it with something far more efficient, requiring less interaction by employees.  Pretty stupid, if you ask me.  It's just the type of thing a process MBA would choose to do.  Speaking of which...

It was quite telling how devoted she was to her sacrosanct operations manual.  What is this place?  Disney?!  It is no coinkydink whatsoever that her best moments undercover were when she was winging it as a sales person with a couple of customers.  It was unscripted and it was a win-win-win.  

I'd bet anything that Solomon took the after-tax $20K intended for a better domicile and put it to other uses.  What's he supposed to do after when the increased rent of at least several hundred dollars/month runs out in a couple or three years?  

Finally, the one real piece of intel she gleaned - the seemingly inefficient random loading of pallets - was ignored in the reveal.  That is precisely the type of thing corporate ought to be using their post-graduate knowledge on.  My guess is the fix would be very expensive and would not payoff for a very long time.  

Oh well.  It's nice to have the show back.  I'm pleased we saw a reasonably successful and mature company after all the farces last season.  

[Jaded]

I have the two episodes on my DVR. Thanks for some details regarding the BAB episode. I've read online about that lady being a bitch. I'm just hoping that this season won't have anymore "breasturants" or scheming criminals that do infomercials especially about real estate.

I looked up that Bikini's "breasturant" a few months ago because I wanted to see how it was going for that asshat owner. Apparently they are down to one location which was the original one.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Gary, Indiana.   Hoo boy.  The armpit of the state.

Back in the day, we would drive past the steel plants on the way to/from Chicago and the filth and stench they would belch out?  Truly horrid.  I have to admit seeing the flames coming out of the stacks was pretty awesome.  It ain't like that now.  EPA regulations and such, along with a ruinous steel economy, has reduced the pollution overwhelmingly.

I was a hotel manager at one point in the town next to Gary.  A notorious neighborhood called "Black Oak" was close by.  My car was stolen and stripped of most everything and deposited in Black Oak.  Crime is still ridiculous.

The city/county government there has been a farce for decades.  Certain projects were corruptly funded and the basics were ignored.  Check out the "Genesis Center" boondoggle, if you dare.  They were warned about the impossible situation they would be putting future generations in and kept right on.  We saw the vestige of some of this in the ep.  They are hopelessly in debt, so they can't bond/borrow their way into fixes.  The state government is averse to bailing out the bigger cities in Indiana, as well.  The Mayor talked about her goals, but aside from the cop car purchases, almost all of the potential fixes and hopes are just that - hopes.

They did get one of the first casino boats when Indiana first legalized them.  It did pretty well for a time.  But, competition from surrounding casinos since created have really hurt it.  There is still some steel processed there, as well.  But, that industry in the USA is in dire straits due to global dumping of subsidized steel.   Then what will Gary have?

Oh well.  I have great respect for any worker there who does the job.  I wish them all the best.

[ShaNaeNae]

I didn't see the episode but this is in my area in Texas. They're all closed now. He bought a small town in our Hill Country near Luckenbach, Texas and actually named it Bikinis, Texas. He's now selling it and it's already defaulted back to its original name of Bankersmith, Texas. Guys a piece of work. 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

The last three eps. ending with Coffee Bean, were pure marketing opportunities.  How much did these companies pay to be seen?

I'd love to know why the CEO for Coffee Bean was separated from Johnny Rockets.  His idea, or theirs?  He was certainly trying to make huge changes to the traditional JR units.  That has ended.  He was certainly a hypocritical tool as he soulfully talked about how the mooooooossssssst important thing in the company was to take care of the employees.  The young dude straight up explained all about the 28-hour part time rule (which is pretty much universally applied in quick service places) and nothing was done about the policy.  So much for taking care of his peeps!

There haven't been many, if any, old school UB shocks this season.  Decent companies with decent financials and decent folks working.  Where's the fun in that?!

[silverspoons]

I was reading an article on Flip or Flop and it quoted Armando saying he was coming back with a show called Flipping Nightmares to be the king of flipping shows. The article was dated 2 months ago so I went searching for this new show. I can't find it on any channel and their are many people asking on social media where it airs. I found it on youtube. It seems like maybe Armando has made the show himself and is only streaming it? His original A&E show is a good part of why he has been able to scam so many people with these seminars. It seems like a good amount of viewers of the new show were surprised that he has a new wife, life, home and family. Has anyone else seen Flipping nightmares? on TV or am I right that it is made by Armando and just thrown on youtube?

[OoogleEyes]

OMG, this Taco Bueno guy is such an asshole. This is why we need the ACA. 

[kathyk24]

I watched the Yankee Candle episode on CNBC yesterday. I've actually bought them and been to the flagship store in Deerfield. I liked the CEO but seeing him get misty about his father was dull. Spend more time on the employees.

[ChicagoCita]

On 4/29/2017 at 0:42 PM, OoogleEyes said:

This is why we need the ACA. 

I know! It made me think that they need to install a Taco Bueno franchise at Lourdes and send employees there for treatment. The ones who didn't make it on UB, that is. 

[auntieminem]

What is with the bad wigs (especially on the men) that are obviously wigs?  Surely they can invest in better make up and hair as their disguises are awful. Tonight's was one of the worse. It just draws more attention to them.   

[ChicagoCita]

Aside from the bad wig, I have (amazingly) got nothing to snark about in the Associa episode. The UB seemed like a genuinely good guy, and the people were fine (I did laugh at Franco saying that he didn't think the undercover persona was very bright). The only bitchiness in the whole episode came from the French(?) lady who got snotty that the concierge stand-in, who had never seen her before, asked for her ID. Good ep. (I wonder if the fact that it was a company that he had started himself, and was still in charge of, led to the heightened appreciation of the workers?)

[Carolina Girl]

12 hours ago, ChicagoCita said:

Aside from the bad wig, I have (amazingly) got nothing to snark about in the Associa episode. The UB seemed like a genuinely good guy, and the people were fine (I did laugh at Franco saying that he didn't think the undercover persona was very bright). The only bitchiness in the whole episode came from the French(?) lady who got snotty that the concierge stand-in, who had never seen her before, asked for her ID. Good ep. (I wonder if the fact that it was a company that he had started himself, and was still in charge of, led to the heightened appreciation of the workers?)

He was also incredibly generous - especially Queen.  I was tearing up right along with her.   

[JocelynCavanaugh]

I'm still mad at the Taco Bueno guy. He said their sour cream chicken enchiladas are what made him love the company, so why aren't they still selling them? They were so good! Taco Cabana got rid of them, too. Only Rosa's is smart enough to keep them! Ugh. I basically didn't absorb anything in the episode after that. 

[Jaded]

Taco Bueno guy was another boss who I found to be incredibly creepy.  Instead of making major changes chain wide it came across like the only employees who would be benefiting anything extra from Taco Bueno would be ones he encountered. It was another episode that left me with that empty and annoyed feeling at the end. I haven't watched the Associa episode as of yet. I admit to still being happy that one of the "Breasturant" "chain" owners had his company go belly up. 

[ChicagoCita]

2 hours ago, Carolina Girl said:

He was also incredibly generous - especially Queen.

I kept thinking that there must be some kind of government compensation program for caretakers of disabled adults. I hope Queen and her husband look into that option. Even the best caretakers need some time off for their own sakes.

In my mom's hospice, they had a couple rooms called respite rooms. They were for people with caretakers to stay when the caretaker needed some time off.

[kathyk24]

I also wonder if when they pay for training they also help the employees pay for childcare? Many employees work opposite shifts from their spouses in order to save money. If their spouse has to take time off it really doesn't benefit the family. I agree the CEO should donate money to charity rather than have the employee do it. I watched some reruns on CNBC last night. I liked the Alfred Angelo CEO I didn't like the Oriental Trading CEO. He has a huge swimming pool yet his company won't pay for sports drinks for his employees? That's awful

[OoogleEyes]

On 5/7/2017 at 2:27 PM, Jaded said:

Taco Bueno guy was another boss who I found to be incredibly creepy.  Instead of making major changes chain wide it came across like the only employees who would be benefiting anything extra from Taco Bueno would be ones he encountered

Right? If I were an employee of any of these companies, I'd be incredibly pissed off after watching these episodes if no changes were made 

[kathyk24]

I caught a repeat of this episode and I was so upset at how the employees were treated. They convinced Michael to stay and then they closed the plant that's awful they should have been honest with him and the other employees.

[Diane Mars]

Just watched the "Taco Bueno" ep and I don't get the comments made here, because it has always been the same : the rewarded people are always the ones on the episode... So what did I miss ? Additionnally, I didn't found the boss a nutjob, so... I'm kinda lost on that one :D

Edited May 28, 2017 by Diane Mars

[Diana Berry]

They actually gave Darius Rucker decent makeup.  Nice episode.

On 5/28/2017 at 3:44 AM, Diane Mars said:

Just watched the "Taco Bueno" ep and I don't get the comments made here, because it has always been the same : the rewarded people are always the ones on the episode... So what did I miss ? Additionnally, I didn't found the boss a nutjob, so... I'm kinda lost on that one :D

Same here. I liked the Taco Bueno boss.

[chenoa333]

I often wonder if some of the employees at any of these businesses are wise to the fact that this tv filming could actually be for an episode of UB? Thus, they know they should play up the sob story of their lives to get something. 

[kathyk24]

I read in the Boston Globe that Alfred Angelo went bankrupt leaving some very upset brides. I think certain employees are chosen to work with the CEO based on shared experiences. If the CEO has a military background they will be assigned to work with someone who does as well.

[chenoa333]

I'm always baffled by some of these CEO's reactions to all of the b.s. that goes on in their franchises. These people need to fire all of their lazy ass corporate employees who haven't been doing their jobs and running the companies as they were hired to do. 

[chenoa333]

I just watched an episode (another rerun from who knows how long ago.) She was the CEO of Lush Cosmetics. I don't know why they call it "cosmetics" when it's bath and body products. But I was shocked at how little she rewarded the hard working employees she met while undercover! I think $5000.00 was the most she gave to one of them! I'd be ashamed to be that cheap! I've only shopped at Lush one time but I will NOT be going there again after seeing this. 

[auntjess]

On ‎6‎/‎7‎/‎2014 at 2:07 AM, backformore said:

The massage company show bugged me.  The woman was CLEARLY wearing a "costume" along with weird makeup, like she was playing a character onstage.    AND -she was giving MASSAGES.  While the others there talked about going to massage therapy school, where they studied and trained for years, she can actually do the same jobe with no training?  Yeah, I wouldn't be going to that franchise for a massage.

Looking for something to watch, I saw the Massage Heights one also.  The woman must have a really low opinion of her staff, and "mid-western housewives," because that getup was indeed Peg Bundy as one of the staff said.  I'd been thinking Carol Burnett's Eunice, but gee, you don't come to the real world much, do you?
Some got decent gifts, but the guy who wanted to go to college only got $10k, which certainly wouldn't get him much beyond the first semester.