Story time ladies and gents! About how almost got screwed over by a job offer yesterday. My current job pays a little above $15 an hour (minimum wage in California) and lately my coworkers and I have been looking for new jobs because quite a lot of places are starting to offer close to $20 an hour.
Come a few days ago when I get a notification on my phone from a recruiter app for a position offering $19.50 an hour for a retail sales position that's essentially what my job currently is but for selling ebikes instead of lingerie. Oddly enough on the job posting it didn't save the location of the business or what the business was in general, apparently they were using some kind of temp agency to hire. I found this weird but they were offering $19.50 an hour I wasn't going to question it.
A few hours later after I apply and I get an email saying they want to set up a phone interview with me I of course oblige and it goes very smoothly. They even want to set up an in-person interview the following day. I go and they were very impressed by me and gave me a phone call a few hours later after the in-person interview to offer me the job.
I was ecstatic! I told my current boss who I have a very good relationship with and he was very happy for me he knows that corporate doesn't pay us enough and has been encouraging us for a bit to try and find better paying employment.
I of course tell my friends and I also mention that nearby to the place I was hired there is one of the retail stores that they work at. They ask where and when I tell them their attitude completely changed. Apparently they had covered a shift of this location once and after a long 8 hour shift they were greeted with a $40 parking fee when exiting the parking garage and there was no employee parking or employee validation for this either, and this was universal for most of the stores there.
I thank them for warning me and immediately send an email to my future boss asking them about the parking situation and if I was going to get some kind of employee parking from it when I started working there. They informed me that there was not and I would have to either pay the $40 per shift or by a monthly parking permit instead.
Now for anyone wondering some quick math gives us that $19.50 an hour for 8 hours is $165, -40 gives us $125, and divide that by 8 gives us $14.50 an hour. Below minimum wage! I am now deeply distraught and have been sent into a mild depression over this for the next few days. I immediately texted my boss and told him to hold off on changing schedules and explain the situation to them they were equally distraught by this.
TL:DR was offered a job at $19.50 an hour only to be told by my friend that to work at that mall during there is a $40 parking fee everyday which would essentially pay me $14.50 an hour instead.