Pros
“Free” catered lunches during in-office days and flexible hybrid structure (3 days wfh)
Cons
SMOKE AND MIRRORS – This is without a shadow of doubt the worst job I’ve ever had. To start, I will say that the Glassdoor reviews are all smoke and mirrors just like everything else at Relay; pretty on the outside, toxic on the inside. This company is the embodiment of “white teeth, rotting gums.” Everything you can see publicly about Relay is strategically contrived to make outsiders believe that Relay is something it’s not (from the reviews on public forums to the talking points about Relay’s culture on LinkedIn). I drank the Kool-Aid, so I’m warning others not to. HORRIBLE PRODUCT– I will try to make this as brief as possible, but I owe it to others to issue a fair warning, especially those joining the Customer Experience (CX) Team. I’ve worked for more reputable companies in the past, and I’ve had several client-facing roles over the course of many years, NEVER in my life was I spoken to the way the clients at Relay spoke to me. For starters, the product at Relay is trash, the app is glitchy, there are constant security issues, the platform (web and mobile) is not intuitive, and customers' accounts get frozen without explanation at an alarming rate, all of these factors combined make it such that every day at this company involves putting out fires. The customers are angry and you can hardly blame them because the product doesn’t even work (though I'm sure they’d contest this by citing their “glowing” Trust Pilot reviews, which are also manipulated to deceive the public). HOSTILE CUSTOMERS & NO SUPPORT FROM LEADS - Every other call is someone yelling about not having access to their money, not being able to log onto the platform, or someone complaining about processing delays (it takes about 7 days to get funds in or out of Relay using most methods, so you can only imagine the frustration). Furthermore, you are left out to dry on the front lines. At least 80% of the calls are about issues CX specialists cannot fix, so you’re left to take all of the heat, and the most you can do is send an email to the appropriate team and wait several days for a response if you get a response at all. To make matters worse, senior team members and team leads also don’t want to deal with the heat from customers. If someone wants to speak to a manager you’re told not to accommodate that request unless necessary. If you get a lead willing to go on the line, rest assured it will take at least 40 mins before someone musters up the courage to step in. EVERYONE IS BURNT OUT – More tenured CX specialists have been safeguarded by having the luxury of dealing with support emails all day, and newer reps are left on the phones and are expected to take a continuous stream of contentious and hostile calls. Many team members are completely burnt out, report having mental breakdowns regularly, and spend time crying after calls. “CX Trauma” is something they joke about but refuse to fix. They’d rather shift blame to external partners or “dumb” clients before taking accountability. Personally, I sufferred through the “Sunday scaries” every weekend, I had knots in my stomach at the thought of having to sign on in the mornings, and my first few weeks were spent crying at least once a week due to a traumatizing call or lack of support until I learned to “shut my soul off” and stop caring. I had every classic symptom of burnout and eventually made up my mind to leave with or without a job – my mental and physical health was suffering too much to endure it anymore. LOW PAY, BAD BENEFITS, HORRIBLE OVERALL CULTURE – They make you go through four rounds of interviews for minimal pay, and even worse benefits. For a tech company, some very basic benefits are lacking even after the most recent revamp. If you currently have good benefits or dependents, don’t leave your job to come here, they’re very stingy. I left a very stable job with good benefits and immediately regretted it. Also, when you first start you think you’re joining an organization that values people, only to find out that people get fired at Relay for nothing at all. They dont give verbal or written warnings, they don’t offer Performance Improvement Plans, and they don’t have comprehensive performance conversations during 1-1’s, but this is all intentional so they can blindside people with bogus terminations whenever they feel like. Leadership will explain away terminations by saying there were “performance issues” or they will sidestep the conversation entirely. Don’t believe the lies. If you speak the truth, or you’re not a part of the “in crowd” you’ll be gone before you blink. They claim to love feedback, but there is a lack of accountability on every level. To stay at Relay you either have to be a coward (unwilling to disrupt the culture of blame), a brownnoser (willing to compromise your integrity to get in good with higher-ups), or just plain desperate (you can’t get a job elsewhere). Everyone else will either quit or be let go, because most people will realize quickly how toxic this environment is. HIGH TURNOVER, NOT FOR MINORITIES – Every week someone either quits or is fired abruptly, they love to flex that they’re a fintech that hasn’t done mass layoffs, but they don’t even need to do layoffs, when I was there they were hemorrhaging staff like I’ve never seen before in such a small organization. I’d be surprised if they’re still standing in the next few years. Also if you're a racial minority, this isn't the place for you. I could say more, but I'll leave it there.
