Don't believe the lies fed to you at interview. - "Customer Service Operative" Lie TLA Employee Review

1.0
6 Oct 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-Lovely office -Nice views -They occasionally buy food Thats pretty much it, I cannot think of one more pro of this company. This is based on the sales team, to be honest, the rest of the company seems like a nice place to work.

Cons

Where do I begin... -Training (or so they tell you) They attempt to train you by making you sit next to a team leader and listen to his/her calls. That is the training, that is how they expect you to learn product knowledge (we'll come back this) as well. The feedback you receive is shocking, I had two meetings in the time I was there, both times I was given positive feedback and the day after both I was then given negative contradictory feedback by management (being told I wasn't good enough after 9 days and my dismissal). There is also a hand book "quality control rules" I think it was called, you may or may not be shown this, if you are lucky enough to see it you may have a fighting chance at keeping your job. The handbook states what is expected of you during certain periods of your so called 'training' for example, week 1-2 you have a £0 target, weeks 3-4 you have a £250 and so on. A similiar expectation on your quality score is also on there, e.g. week 1-2- 60% quality week 3-4- 75% etc. I wasn't made aware of these rules until the day before I was dismissed, I hadn't even heard of the quality scoring system. -Team leaders and managers The team leaders are snakes, that is the only way I can describe them, they will lie blatantly to your face then go and tell a higher level manager what they actually think of you. They essentially treat you like a lamb for slaughter, feeding you lies and positivity before passing you onto someone at higher level to give you a dressing down. They never speak to you directly about any concerns and you'll often see them having a group chat which again can result in somebody getting disciplined. My first 2 weeks I was always improving, and each day I got more money on the board than the day before, I even asked to be put on the phones on my second day. I had one bad day in those 2 weeks, and I was told I wasn't good enough then put onto something called the lead recovery team... this is your death sentence. This involves calling people who have already rejected 9 calls and will continue to do so, if you do make contact with someone, good luck getting them to stay on the phone. They set you up to fail. -Hiring policy They will essentially hire you if you act a bit money hungry, most people will probably walk into this job and the reason being... because you'll just as easily walk back out the door. During your interview you will be told lies about how you are calling warm leads, this is the first thing you will encounter that will make you doubt the job. You are cold calling, not one person who answers the phone to you is expecting your call... that is cold calling. If they truly believe what they are calling are warm leads then they are delusional. They ask you if you have any knowledge on cars, and to use me as an example, I responded with 'a basic knowledge'. They will tell you that's ok you won't really need any, again this is a lie, you have to pitch cars to people that are similar to the one they want. I implore you not to apply for this job unless you are an elite sales person, they are not there to help you, and you will be dismissed as soon as they realise you aren't the elite. This is not a lead generation job, nor is it a sales job, it is something in between which leads to very mixed messages on how you are supposed to be. Be wary of the expectations they have of you and know that you do not matter to them, I was there for 3 weeks and some one was sacked every week. I am not in anyway saying I am brilliant at this job but they knew who they where hiring and did not give me the slightest chance of trying to improve or develop my skills. Three months probation? Another lie.

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TLA Response
8y
Thank you for your recent review. The company believes in offering staff full support and training, so it's surprising to hear you don't feel that was the case. In addition, the team continues to review the hiring process to ensure the right people are identified to join the team - both in terms of attitude and capability - and the role requirements are well communicated. Thank you again for taking the time to post. We wish you well for the future. Keith.

Explore other reviews about TLA

1.0
24 Nov 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Some amazing people within the business. You do get looked after with items such as annual bonus, pay reviews and the opportunity to take part in a number of fitness activities etc.

Cons

Where to start, a smaller business of around 20-30 employees, very top heaving with a number of 'Heads of / Senior' titled roles. The leadership within the Development/IT function is non existent with a distinct lack of trust. Leadership within this area would regularly backstab team members behind their backs, favoritism and if they didn't like you, they would make sure the CEO knew. As mentioned the leadership in this area is poor, and only progressed into this role by telling the CEO what he wants them to hear and also due to mediocre technical knowledge. A number of amazing team members have left this department over recent years, some of their own choosing but a number exited with redundancy as their face no longer fitted, however there is one constant that always remains the same..... Use of technology for team members is questionable to ensure the team have the right tools for the job. If you don't use AI, then this isn't the place for you unfortunately.

2
1.0
11 Nov 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There are some lovely and talented people here (or at least at the time of writing they'd not yet been given the boot). In particular the product team are great to work with. I had some good days out in my time at TLA, in this regard at least they go all in. The office is in a nice location and has incredible views across the city.

Cons

Cut Throat Nature - TLA is a hive of political machinations, plotting and backstabbing. As a TLA employee you will have all the job security of a snowman in a Swedish sauna. During my time at TLA I saw a parade of dedicated and long term employees being lined up for "redundancy" - often with the victim being the only person who didn't know the axe was about to fall. In particular I was disgusted by the treatment of a junior developer being brought in, given no real work or support to speak of and then being cast out. The real piece de resistance however was a long term, dedicated and talented employee who was bundled out just weeks after returning from parental leave. You stay classy, TLA. Technical Leadership - I use the words "Technical" and "Leadership" only in the loosest possible sense. First the technical; the tech leadership at TLA has worked only at TLA. This isn't necessarily a problem, but if that's what you're going to do I would expect you to have a keen interest in what goes on elsewhere, so that you can learn and grow. Nope - if it wasn't invented in TLA, its of no interest to anyone. Generally speaking the systems are very poor, and there seems to be no interest in improving that. The technical acumen however is positively Einsteinian compared to the leadership skills. I've never seen technical leadership so clearly out of their depth. That would be forgivable if it was coupled with a willingness to learn and cooperate. It is not. Blame is cast around daily. Everyone is trashed behind their backs. Goalposts are moved. Promises are made and rowed back on. Any hint of success is perceived as a threat to be eliminated. Lack Of Trust - I guess if you've read this far then this comes as no surprise, but serious professionals are treated like potential thieves. You will be monitored. God forbid you get ill and have to take a day to recover. Questionable Hiring Practices - I won't say much here but I will say that the phrase "just not a good cultural fit" was heard way more often than I'd like. In general I'd advise anyone to think extremely carefully before applying for a role at TLA, but if you do then make sure you speak entirely uncritically about AI - its practically a religion. Ironically the AI adoption is very poor - if you treat it like a productivity tool it has real value, if you treat it as a magic employee replacement then its fairly useless.

5
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TLA Response
6mo
Thank you for taking the time to post your review. We appreciate that you’ve chosen to share this feedback as someone who states they are a current employee and we take all such perspectives seriously. We're pleased to hear your positive comments about the talent within our teams, your collaboration with the Product team and the office and company events. That said, we’re sorry to hear that your experience with us doesn't reflect the culture we work hard to build. While we recognise that no organisation is perfect and that people’s experiences can vary, the picture you describe is not one we want anyone to have. We also understand that from any individual perspective, it may not be possible to see the full context behind organisational decisions, including restructuring, role changes, or performance-related actions. These decisions are never taken lightly, and there are often factors - personal or confidential, that can't be fully visible to everyone. In the absence of complete information, such situations can sometimes feel unsettling or be interpreted differently than intended. Regarding comments on the technical leadership; we take feedback seriously and we will continue to invest in our people, our systems, and our ways of working. We're sorry if you don't feel that this is effective; we're committed to strengthening a culture of respect, transparency, and professional growth and we are actively reviewing our practices, including, management development, decision-making frameworks, and how we adopt new technologies. As an award-winning company, we're committed to continually improving and evolving, and feedback like yours helps that ongoing effort.
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