This new strategy of running a business on bare-bones staffing is nuts. I thought it was bad at Partsource when I was often running retail alone all day, or if the commercial manager wasn't in, running that alone because no one else would touch it. Towards the end I was getting 3.5-4 hour shifts as well, even though they knew I was coming from the other side of Toronto and had been with the company for 3 years. The day I walked out of that place was one of the best days I've ever had, and I haven't gone inside of a Partsource since.

My very short-lived position at Sport Chek was even worse - all employees, except for about 4 or 5 full timers, only got 3 hour shifts. Apparently it was to conserve money for the upcoming min. wage increase. I quit after a month and a half after I was offered a non-retail hell job.

But I'm still seeing this - I've needed assistance finding something at Staples, or Canadian Tire, or any corporate store and it's nearly impossible to find anyone on the floor, or trying to check out with a single register when the line is 10-15 deep because there's only a single cashier (that was the way at Sport Chek.)

They might be saving money but they're driving away customers. I'll pay the extra dollar or two to go somewhere else that doesn't piss me off every time I go there.

Posted by shadowedsmile This new strategy of running a business on bare-bones staffing is nuts. I thought it was bad at Partsource when I was often running retail alone all day, or if the commercial manager wasn't in, running that alone because no one else would touch it. Towards the end I was getting 3.5-4 hour shifts as well, even though they knew I was coming from the other side of Toronto and had been with the company for 3 years. The day I walked out of that place was one of the best days I've ever had, and I haven't gone inside of a Partsource since. My very short-lived position at Sport Chek was even worse - all employees, except for about 4 or 5 full timers, only got 3 hour shifts. Apparently it was to conserve money for the upcoming min. wage increase. I quit after a month and a half after I was offered a non-retail hell job. But I'm still seeing this - I've needed assistance finding something at Staples, or Canadian Tire, or any corporate store and it's nearly impossible to find anyone on the floor, or trying to check out with a single register when the line is 10-15 deep because there's only a single cashier (that was the way at Sport Chek.) They might be saving money but they're driving away customers. I'll pay the extra dollar or two to go somewhere else that doesn't piss me off every time I go there.

another aspect of this is that these place, particularly parts stores, do not attract knowledgeable staff due to the low pay. I have literally had to shove a parts goon out of the way at an advance auto and find the damn part myself.
how much professionalism can you expect for $8.20 an hour?

Posted by Samurai another aspect of this is that these place, particularly parts stores, do not attract knowledgeable staff due to the low pay. I have literally had to shove a parts goon out of the way at an advance auto and find the damn part myself. how much professionalism can you expect for $8.20 an hour?

I've heard the same complaint from my dad at his local Partsource - apparently you have to get the right person to check the 3rd party vendors for older VW parts, etc. I've had to use old logins and contacts to get him the right info because half of the staff doesn't know what they're doing or how to look beyond the Partsource system. The way I learned to do that job was to exhaust every resource available - and I still did it for just barely over min wage for almost 3 years.

The amount of bullshit from managers and corporate, the shitty pay, the endless shit from male AND female customers because I'm a female parts person, etc. makes me never want to go back. I don't particularly like my part-time job right now, but I wouldn't go back to Partsource for any reason. I mean, it would probably be worth their while to pay a decent wage to draw in knowledgeable staff at a decent wage, but what do I know? I'm just a girl. (/end bitter female in auto industry ramble)

Posted by shadowedsmile This new strategy of running a business on bare-bones staffing is nuts. I thought it was bad at Partsource when I was often running retail alone all day, or if the commercial manager wasn't in, running that alone because no one else would touch it. Towards the end I was getting 3.5-4 hour shifts as well, even though they knew I was coming from the other side of Toronto and had been with the company for 3 years. The day I walked out of that place was one of the best days I've ever had, and I haven't gone inside of a Partsource since. My very short-lived position at Sport Chek was even worse - all employees, except for about 4 or 5 full timers, only got 3 hour shifts. Apparently it was to conserve money for the upcoming min. wage increase. I quit after a month and a half after I was offered a non-retail hell job. But I'm still seeing this - I've needed assistance finding something at Staples, or Canadian Tire, or any corporate store and it's nearly impossible to find anyone on the floor, or trying to check out with a single register when the line is 10-15 deep because there's only a single cashier (that was the way at Sport Chek.) They might be saving money but they're driving away customers. I'll pay the extra dollar or two to go somewhere else that doesn't piss me off every time I go there.

Having just worked a 30 hour weekend for some Moron owner that decided he is the best person ever and everyone who works for him should be a slave.
On friday night we had a line out the door of pizza pizza, there was only two of us working in the entire place, so between the two of us we had to do all the prep, deliveries, take all the orders, make all th pizza. I got physically assaulted by three drunk guys on sunday - what did my boss do? NOTHING.

The story goes like this;
Three wasted guys come into the store. Im serving a female customer - The one guy comes up behind the girl and grabs onto her boobs, she freaks, i apolidgise to her profusely , and i tell the guy to leave, the guy jumps the counter and goes to push me, i push him back, and he goes back to the lobby - his friends start telling him to take me down and stuff, so i go to the kitchen to tell my boss about it, he goes Just tell them to leave i go i tried that, he goes make them leave then and I'm like thanks for that tip, he goes just kick them out, so i go to the front and i end up having to physically remove three big guys from the store.

Or how about this
6 hours into a shift in which i got physically assaulted by three guys i had this exchange :

Hey uh, we're out of paper bags at the front where are they kept?

boss> Why don't you know where they are?

Because you never trained me on ANYTHING?

boss>You should know where they are!

Okay thas, next guy that wants a bag ill tell him that he has to ask you for one.

boss>No! Go get the bags off that shelf.

Thanks *Name*

and it was the same story with napkins, forks, more toilet paper for the bathroom.

And even better:

So if a customer orders a slice it takes 1:30, if they order Onion signs its a 1:45 so you have to have onion rings in for 15 seconds before the pizza, so i did this, and my boss interrupts me dealing with the customer asks me why the pizza slice isn't in the oven i explain the procedure to him, he asks why there not in the oven again, i explain again, he asks me "do you se the oven' i go YEs thasean, i see the oven, he goes so then why are they not in, i ask him to think about it.

Then he tries to push me out of the way (the customer is waiting and we have a line out the door)

He then tries to tell me onion rings need to be cocked first, to which i respond basically with what the fuck man, own up to your mistakes.


Then after all of that and much much more! Including getting told to go Fu*ck myself because i asked a customer to speak clearly and not slur all his words together and stop talking like a hill billy.

Or How about getting 4 pizza boxiest WITH PIZZA IN THEM thrown at you by said customer.

What does my boss do when i ask him about why i have no shifts posted on the schedule? Tells me I'm surplus employee - WTF MAN You barely have enough people to even have the store be open,.

So where I work, some of us use rider jacks (if you don't know, they look like this: http://i.ytimg.com.../maxresdefault.jpg .) They aren't assigned to anyone specific... first come, first served. Well, the one I've been using last week had throttle issues and since my bf works in maintenance there, he said he'd take a look. Long story short, he's fixing up a few other issues to make it easier for me to use (or whomever else wants to jump on).

In the meanwhile, I randomly selected another jack of a similar style (we have a mix of old and new Raymonds and Crowns... I'm used to the Raymonds) to use. Monday, use it, no incident. Today I grab it and go off about my work. An hour later, my trainer comes back to ask if I'm trying to make enemies. I look at her puzzled and say "No, why?" "Well, (coworker...I'll call him 'R') came to me and said he talked to you yesterday about taking his jack and that you told him you almost wrecked it. And that apparently you don't give a shit what he said because you took it again today." Mind you, I didn't even know at that point WHO R was...I hadn't probably spoken 2 words to the man since starting 6 months ago. I explain this to the trainer, that 1: I don't know the guy, and he's never said "boo" to me; 2: No, I did NOT "almost wreck" the jack, nor did I say ANYTHING of the sort to ANYONE there; and 3: I was told the jacks weren't assigned. She proceeds then to tell me I'm on a newer one and as a novice jack rider, she doesn't want me on the newer ones because the are faster (bullshit as well...she NEVER told me this either). I tell her when I came in that morning, only 2 people who ride equipment were in the RF room ahead of me and there were only 5 keys. 5 keys out of 26 jacks. Yes, 3 are down right now... it still doesn't add up.


After she gets through with me, I go to my manager to complain about being falsely accused of bad driving and to settle this situation. They agreed with me, told me not to worry, that, NO they ARE NOT assigned to specific people. They promise to talk with both the guy and the trainer. 20 minutes later, here comes the trainer, trying to tell me she was making it a joke because she thought it was funny that he said I said I nearly wrecked. I told her I didn't see the funny and was quite miffed about getting a scolding for following the rules. She was trying to backpedal and say "No we all have ones we prefer, but no one is assigned, I told you that from day one."

The funny thing to me is, had he only come to me and stated his preference for that jack and asked me nicely if he could use it again, I'd have probably GLADLY gone and used another one. It doesn't really matter to me. But now he did get one thing right: I don't give a fuck. I give even less of a fuck since he had to be a passive-aggressive douchewad about it.


Tomorrow I'll have "my" jack back so the whinebaby can have "his" back...except, funny story. It seems to have developed some electrical issue. Probably going to be down for several weeks while they wait for parts. Too bad, so sad.

Last week I started having some issues with the newest version of the app that I need to do my job (I take photos for a well known corporation that does used cars), I can't upload anything above a 1500 sized pickup truck, and even some of the Rams aren't uploading. I sent my manager a text about it in the middle of last week. I'm in a rural location so big trucks are a major part of my inventory that I photograph. Especially my most remote location who basically does only big trucks, and the place I had to go on Friday.

So Friday comes around, still no word from my manager. I get in touch with my colleagues in neighbouring territories and tried to figure out how to downgrade to the old version, attempted all of the links to the old version, etc etc. No luck. So I called tech support and they checked with their manager and said that since the latest version of the app has completely rolled out now there is no going back, but it's a well known issue that certain trucks/commercial vehicles can't upload. WTF? So...you all know that there is a critical issue with an app preventing me from doing my job and you still go ahead and release it??!!

Explained the issue to the big truck guy on Friday (and missed capturing a bunch of inventory at other dealers last week) and do as much as I can. Apparently he doesn't listen because I got a text yesterday from him asking where his trucks are. D'oh.

Finally this morning my manager gets in touch with me and I end up having to use his login info to go into a 3rd party program to download a previous version.

I didn't get so much as a "I got your message" for four business days on a critical issue that was literally making me unable to do my job.

WTF?

And then they wonder why the employee satisfaction survey results are so low.

I strongly dislike my job as it is, but stuff like this just...there are no words.

Ha! Sounds like where I work... Managers here constantly hit us with the old tried and true "first I've heard of it"... I want to punch someone in the mouth when I hear that.

YMNK Brunswick is totally exiting the bowling industry... all retail centers (Brunswick Rec Centers, Brunswick Zone, etc.) are now owned by two-time bankruptcy champions BowlmorAMF as of about a month ago... and holy FUCK it took just a couple of weeks for me to hate their shit. No more vacation, still don't have health insurance through them, and hours are already cut to the point where I feel like I'm back at Macy's. Only reason I'm able to stay ahead is because I'm not dumping huge sums of $$$ into repairing the Fiero (it's the toy, now - I daily drive a newer Charger) every few weeks or so.

Plus my scheduling leaves me closing every Thursday-Sunday nights; ranging from leaving anywhere between 11:30pm and 1:30AM with a 20-30 minute commute, followed by 4-6 hours of inability to sleep. Being able to deviate from that schedule is nearly-impossible, especially trying to get a Saturday or Sunday off - which usually means working a double (8am to 11:30pm-1:30am) the day prior, and the other guy working a double the day I need off because they refuse to hire another mechanic and my boss can't work weekends due to his family (and it's worth mentioning that I was stuck at work on the last weekend I could have spent with my dad a couple of years ago - it haunts me to this day).

It is literally destroying me, mentally... I'm either sleepy or angry all the time (I never take it out on people but holy fuck I hope nobody finds me in the back when tools and bowling pins are flying) and have little motivation to do anything else because I'm so damn tired.

Exit strategy in the works... I'm applying for a job at a Coca-Cola distributor - at least there I'd be working for a brand I actually like (thank you, SURGE) that won't be extinct in 5 years.

Posted by jonrev It is literally destroying me, mentally... I'm either sleepy or angry all the time

welcome to my life for the past four or five years. I have no place to go, though. You, at least, do.

So apparently asking for clarification on what is happening with my position at work is grounds to be fired.

I was told over and over again that I would be training for a specific position for my first week and a bit. I even confirmed last Wednesday night that it was still happening. Then on Thursday I was told something different, so I approached my manager and explained my confusion. Then they pulled me into a meeting twice to deny ever saying that and they weren't hiring in that department (but the guy that was hired after me went over there....and was doing what I was told I would be doing...). So I clarified the job and said I would continue on with it.

Then this afternoon I got pulled into the office again and told that I no longer will be working there.

I was professional and courteous the entire time when I asked for some clarification, and didn't whine or be rude. But I guess when you want to do stuff like not let anyone have 15 min breaks (I understand it's not the law, but almost every job I've had that was a full day you get a lunch and at least one 15 min break) and whatnot, you probably don't want an employee that might speak up.

Yesterday I finally got disgusted with the snackbar to the point where I brought a 12'er of Dr Pepper and supplies to make burritos in the microwave today and from now on. Never purchasing anything from the snackbar again unless it's pre-packaged or sanitation gets a complete overhaul... swear to fuck, even the fountain soda gives me diarrhea.

Posted by jonrev Yesterday I finally got disgusted with the snackbar to the point where I brought a 12'er of Dr Pepper and supplies to make burritos in the microwave today and from now on. Never purchasing anything from the snackbar again unless it's pre-packaged or sanitation gets a complete overhaul... swear to fuck, even the fountain soda gives me diarrhea.

every other department in the mill I work at has a full kitchen for a break room... we've got a tiny cubby with a little microwave, refrigerator and george foreman grill. fuck, we don't even have a bathroom in our building! We have to run next door and use the day shops' shitter. After 5 years, it's wearing thin.

Apparently we had a dedicated employee breakroom years ago... now it's storage for redemption prizes and we either eat in the bar or the office. I'd eat in the back but it's too cold right now (heat broke and space heaters only do so much back there).

New rant: When a potential employer asks why I'm looking to leave Brunswick, my response - with a perfectly straight face - will be: "two words: Kidz Bop". They're playing more and more of it as of late... as if current pop music wasn't terrible already.

My work laptop is old enough to be in grade 1. It's old and slow but the last two weeks have been jam packed with freezing, blue screens, temporary profile with the inability to log in as myself, 10.5 gig of missing email (ya ya, too much, I know), a encryption program that tech support doesn't even know what it is, helpdesk who puts you on hold for ten minutes and then hangs up. To top that off, my work goals are due and I've had no access to the work I've done because of the computer, but still gotta get them in. Ok rant done.

Let`s see.
1) Wrong or incomplete addresses.
2) Wrong parts despite the WRITTEN report that tells what parts are needed to repair deficiencies.
3) Unqualified morons telling me how to do my job when they can`t even do their own job.
4) Last second crap dumped on me and expected to keep with the original schedule.
5) Gas card that is not working AGAIN!
6) Having to answer the same question four or five times because the twits in the orifice don`t talk with each other and they`re sitting in the same room.
7) Driving to a site and getting a call from an orifice twit who figures I can somehow look up a file on the computer while driving and at the same time remember specific details of a building that I`ve never set foot in before.
8) Getting freaked on by the manager for going to the wrong building even though the address given was incorrect.
9) Sent out on a run and then being asked to check to see if I have enough extinguishers on hand. Why ask me when I was at the office when I can be asked when I`m on the road. Yup! Makes perfect sense.
10) Wrong task written on the schedule, hauling a ton of parts to the site, offloading them myself and then finding out that the tasks that are to be done are totally different and therefore the parts with me are not needed. Reloading same parts MYSELF, bringing them back to the office and then offloading them because the manager is too busy flapping his gums to help me offload the parts.
11) Expected to keep my personal vehicle loaded to the teeth with company property 24 7 and expected to refrain from personal use of my own vehicle. How I was able to refuse that order without a direct `go fuck yourself`, I`ll never know.

Driving an hour each way, to make slightly above minimum wage, in 5-6 hour shifts.

So that's 8 hours of driving for about 20 hours of work.

That works out to about 1/3 of my paycheque going to fuel, and I drive a diesel Jetta.

Getting up at 6:30am to drive to my shitty job that I hate and is barely making me enough money to cover my expenses is really starting to piss me off from the instant I wake up.

Well today I came in and found whoever put the food order away in the kitchen fridge threw away three days worth of beef and tortillas that I make burritos for dinner with (the food and water at my center gives me the shits). Supposedly it was our company's district manager who did it, too. Ass.

Oh, then I got a tick on my back without even leaving the sidewalk. Go-figure.

Soviet Bowlmor's "People's Radio" was implemented at work, today. Gone are requests, song searching, and all the playlists for different genres of music; in their place are three playlists: Day (kids fluff), Evening (mix), and Night with all the shitty twerk anthems every radio station already plays. All heavily monitored by BowlmorAMF's corporate AV department to make sure we're playing them.

Fortunately the company's music setup at every center is just a Windows desktop connected to an amp - so bypassing the system with an iPod on a RCA cable while corporate thinks we're actually playing that crap is really easy.

Software vendor tells you 'how this works' when they clearly have no fucking clue how it actually works.

You complain you aren't hitting your numbers. Yet there you sit, bullshitting with another coworker for 10 minutes straight. I try to keep your ass out of trouble when I see the manager wandering around, just saying "Heads up, here comes (boss)." Meaning: I don't give a flying fuck you are talking, but here comes the manager, who might. You now have time to get back to work or corroborate a story with your coworker about what you were talking about (I.E.--asking a work-related question). I, as a trainer, am somewhat obligated to keep you moving, but I'm not going to be the fun police, either. I'm not your babysitter, but I don't want to see people getting in trouble for dumb shit.


How do you thank me? By bitching to the other trainer that I'm a "slave driver". And copping a salty fucking attitude with me ever since. Also by being shitty with me in front of my brand-new trainees. Yes, I, too, am new to the trainer gig. You've been here less than 60 days. Calm your fucking high-n-mighty attitude if you want to stay.

Keep lipping off to everyone, bitch. I guarantee they'll walk your ass at your 6 months.