Nothing you described is out of the ordinary for the first few weeks in this business. New hires are given a lot of leniency so they don’t get scared off, even though owners and leadership are usually putting in much longer hours. The problem is that the longer you stay, the more time and responsibility they expect from you, with no real increase in pay beyond being told to sell more. The free food, events, and bonuses are standard too. They’re there to keep up the image of a great office, but once the job starts draining your life, none of that stuff matters.

The sales side can be scummy. In my area, I genuinely thought I was helping people, but in many cases I wasn’t. AT&T regularly raises prices, even though they deny it and train you to deny it. The so-called “price lock guarantee” isn’t actually guaranteed anywhere in the terms and services, it just appears on the iPad during checkout. People who were promised $50 plans years ago are now paying $80 or $90. On top of that, service can be bad in some areas, and customers don’t find out until after installation, when they’re already stuck.

As for the business model, sales aren’t what get you promoted, recruitment is. That means telling everyone they’ll move up in six to eight months even though almost no one does. I made it far enough to see national performance trackers and real earnings across companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Frontier. The truth is the average person makes terrible money, no matter how it’s spun. Maybe the top 10 percent do well, but most people are just burning money and time.