Retail Hell Underground

Server Rants On Ridiculous Write Ups

So, I've never posted before but I'm pretty upset still after what has happened in the past week. Why don't you all call me "Meat Man?"

I'm sure I'll have something else to report. I enjoy all your posts and was just waiting to join the disenfranchised masses.

I work in a very successful restaurant and was only hired a year or so ago. We give excellent service, great food, and lovely atmosphere, far beyond what people would expect for the price they pay. I'm definitely considered one of the top servers there for knowledge and my ability to deal with difficult customers.

In my twenty plus years as a service professional I've developed a no comp, no complaint policy. You have to "head them off at the pass" as it were, and take care of things before anyone needs to speak to a manager. Our management believes that even the smallest thing needs to be brought to their attention.

It's a great philosophy. Your server is listening, we care about you as a customer, etc. but it is not in my DNA to involve management for every-little-thing. So I have that going on. This week brought out some things that I have found myself more upset about. Small fault of my own.

Background; we have two different types of large parties here, some that are pre-sold by our catering person, and regular off-the-menu parties that are larger than just a normal six or eight top. The pre-sold parties need to be rung into our system in a different way than off-the-menu ones. News to me the first time I had one but I've been with the program ever since. We also started adding an extra gratuity to the pre-sold parties to compensate our seller. No prob. I get the same, they get something for bringing in the business. Win-win!

Back to this week,  I had one of the different type parties in my station. I had waited on this character before and knew him to be particularly persnickety. He was one of the worst complainers I ever have had to wait on. He and his "lovely" friends come in every two weeks or so.

I was not too surprised when he commented upon seeing I was going to wait on his large group " Oh! We got the best one!" Way to go, Meat Man, the crustys love you. Dinner goes very well, everyone happy etc. No Problems! Delighted host. Ask assistant manager (now AM) to add gratuity and expect he will look over the bill and make sure
all is right. Present bill on request and Mr. Complainy Pants comes up to the bar to complain to AM that he had paid a deposit and it hadn't been taken off.

"Oh, so sorry, I hope this didn't ruin your evening?" Asks AM. "No," says Mr Complainy Pants, "everything has been wonderful. Meat Man did a great job, everyone had a wonderful time." Mr Complainy Pants writes in an extra 25% on top of the gratuity.

Do you hear drums of doom now? I did not, but the hammer came down when I checked out after my next shift. Apparently, I entered the entire party into our system wrong and because I didn't credit him for his deposit I was going to be written up.

My first write-up, joy!

While I was entering the party, an employee who does a lot more of these functions than I do was looking over my shoulder and told me I did not need to do it this way (more difficult) but can do it this way now (easier.) I followed the lead given. That was not the way to do it though. AM now tells me she has to write me up for it. AM says it was embarrassing to have to credit the deposit after the check was given.

(I can not even enter payment from deposits myself, a manager has to do it, I was never told there had been a deposit made, we have to check with AM before presenting checks on these parties, I thought I had done the right thing when I asked him to do the auto-grat? just expected manager to look it all over.) Employee who told me to do it the wrong way is right there at check-out and explains why I did it
that way. Story done! No?

On another day, just soon after, I have a table that is assigned VIP. Our GM mentioned it in the meeting, said everything must be perfect. No prob. The waiter who should have the table asks me to do it instead. I'm excellent, right? I take the table, do my best presentation, they love me, timing, everything is perfect. GM tells me to give them extra sides and deserts. This is normal for VIP and I split it off onto a comp check no problem? right?

No! One of the party, while the other is in the lavatory, tells me they are running late and to just bring the desert and the check right away. No problem, this I do, with thanks, and hopes to come back etc.

GM takes check while I'm with another party (not unusual) and I return to clear the table to find a very generous tip there. Good, right? No!

Go to do my turn in with AM, he tells me I must go see GM. GM has been stressing all day so it's hard to tell if there is really a problem anywhere or not. GM tells me I should never have given VIP table a tab at all. First I heard. (Checked with other server at meeting, he never
heard, "no tab")

Tells me that it seems "I don't care?" That I'm getting a reputation for sloppy work. That if I don't enjoy my work I should reevaluate (the actual word he used) and find a better. fit. I've been here almost a year, my reputation is excellent, people ask for me, I have basically no problems. Management drops the ball twice that I don't catch and I'm the one with the issue?

Now, I'm used to making like $150 to $300 per shift at other restaurants I worked before I moved. Here, I get much less, like less than half, because of the low prices and enforced tip-out. The crappy economy (courtesy of my custys, I expect) has not effected us as much, as we're located in a well-heeled neighborhood. These people pay like 15% in taxes if you get my drift.

I'd love to go back in time to when I could sell exotic food on the prairie for a premium price, but we've gotten to the point where I'm anxious about preserving a job where I may make 1/3 as much per shift as I did when Clinton was in office. Oh, by the way, I make 1/3 as much and my rent has gone up 50%. You've got to love it. Every other
economic system in the world is worse than this? Competition HO! Race to bottom, more likely.

Enjoy your time, there's plenty more where that came from.

--Meat Man

 

Hellmart Manager Fires Pregnant Woman

From Former Hellmart Slave:

I used to work at Hell-Mart. I was coming up on my 2 year mark (which is 2 years to long). However, I was pregnant with my second child, and it was a very hard pregnancy on me. I mean, passing out, throwing up every day, kind of hard. The store I worked at had a HORRIBLE assistant manager. No one liked her, and tried to avoid her as much as possible. And, naturally, she was the manager of my department. And took a total disliking to me, for whatever unknown reason to me. I'll just call her NM (nasty manager.) 

When I first found out I was pregnant, I made sure to tell her that I was. NM decided she didn't believe me. I hadn't yet gone to the doctor, cause really, I had JUST found out. (5 pregnancy tests, all positive, I think was enough proof.) Well, the day I told her, she decided I had to move all the boxes of apparel from one side of the warehouse to the other. Big boxes of clothes, that weren't light. When I reminded her that I was pregnant she said there was no proof that I was and to do what I was told or risk losing my job. 

Awesome, right? I ended up improvising, managing to get them across by either kicking them across the floor or dropping them from the top shelf to the cart. But I was really pissed. Somewhere along the way I ended up breaking down and crying (I blame those silly hormones!) and my area/zone manager (he's lower than NM but higher than a department manager/supervisour) ended up saving me. He gave the job to one of the stronger, non-pregnant workers and sent me to the phones to answer. NM didn't like that too much, but when my ZM said it was because I was pregnant, she left, bitching about it.

Another thing to prove she was a Nasty Manager. Everytime I put in for a day off because of doctor appointments, she would purposely schedule me that day. Even when another manager approved my day off. I had a bunch of cool coworkers that would switch with me when they could. I did get in the habit of making my doc appointments around my lunch break, for those "just in case moments."

Needless to say, she found a reason to get me fired. In my 8th month of pregnancy, I had loads of backpain and shit. I would take smaller breaks, rather than the 15 minutes, to rest my feet or whatever. She used that to fire me. Fucking bitch. I got unemployment though!

Suck on that, Nasty Manager!

--Former Hellmart Slave

Target Cart Attendant Has Day From Bathroom Hell

From Target Slave: As a cart attendant, this is the kind of shit I have to deal with daily working at Target. Literally.

I covered up the mess for those of you who have queasy tummies or may be snacking or drinking while reading. If you'd like to see just how shitty this little Target piggy was click the pick or

CLICK HERE

 

 

 

 

Florida Restaurant Lobby Wants To Slash Server Minimum Wage By 50%

From Huff Po:

The Florida restaurant lobby is pushing a bill that would drop the minimum wage for the state's restaurant servers and other tipped employees from $4.65 to $2.13 an hour, creating the rare possibility of a legal wage floor being lowered rather than raised.

The bill under consideration by the state's tourism and commerce committee, SPB 7210, would allow restaurants to ditch the state's minimum wage for servers in favor of the lower, federal one, provided the businesses guarantee that their workers will earn at least $9.98 per hour after tips. If the bill were passed, servers would end up taking home less pay, and customers would be paying a greater share of the salary burden.

The state senate's website does not disclose who introduced the bill, though it appears to have the wide support of Florida's hospitality industry, including the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. Carol Dover, the group's executive director, said in an Orlando Sentinel article that the industry is saddled by rising pay and health care costs and "it's going to be a matter of time before the back of this industry breaks ... Minimum wage is killing them."

Worker advocacy groups are pushing back against the bill, arguing that the restaurant industry's dire talk is baseless. The National Restaurant Association, the foremost lobbying group for the industry, recently released its 2012 forecast, which predicted record sales and continued job growth.

"That's nationwide, and certainly Florida is no exception," says Saru Jayaraman, co-founder of Restaurant Opportunities Center United, which advocates for restaurant employees. "We think [the Florida bill] is both regressive and terribly immoral. To be reducing workers' wages at a time when profits are at a record high is pure greed."

According to the Sentinel article, one of the backers of the bill is Tampa-based OSI Restaurant Partners, owner of Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill and Bonefish Grill chains. OSI Partners gave more than $120,000 to 32 Florida Republicans -- and $500 to one Democrat -- during the 2010 election cycle, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics.

In most states, the minimum wage for waiters and other tipped employees is set lower than the minimum wage for other workers. Servers everywhere must be paid at least $2.13 per hour by their employer according to federal law, although many states opt to set that minimum much higher.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Extreme Coupon Hell: Crazy Custy Attacks Grocery Cashier Over Expired Coupon

The Last Archimedean gets a Retail Balls Award for taking on a Crazy Custy Bitch attacking a Grocery Store Cashier:

The Last Archimedian again. This time I was a customer.

This morning, I head to my local grocery store to pick up a few essentials. I'm standing in line behind a middle-aged lady who *appears* to be normal. Little did I know...

She hands over several coupons to the cashier [who can't be a day over 17, a young girl with a slight build.] The cashier processes the coupons, rings up her items and the lady bags them.

I think I'm about to be rung through when the lady gets her receipt. She says to the cashier after a quick glance at it, "You didn't ring up all of my coupons."

The cashier says, "Yes, ma'am. This coupon is expired [placing one copon back on the counter]. I rang up all the other ones."

The lady transforms into a raging maniac instantly. "RING UP MY COUPON, BITCH!" comes out of her mouth, very loudly.

The cashier is looking scared, but she manages to say, "I can't, ma'am. This coupon is two months expired."

The lady *reaches across and GRABS the cashier by her shirt*, lifting her halfway across the counter. "I SAID RING UP MY GODDAMN COUPON, BITCH! UNDERSTAND?"

I give the lady a death glare. "Let her go, you lunatic!"

A manager comes running over, attracted by the shouting. "Put my employee down, miss!"

The lady doesn't let go. "TELL THE BITCH TO RING UP MY FUCKING COUPON!"

The manager glances at the coupon. "This is expired, miss. Now let her go!"

Still holding onto the cashier, the lady glares at the manager. "NOT UNTIL SHE RINGS UP MY MOTHERFUCKING COUPON!"

I'm getting more than a little pissed off by now, as all I want is to pay for my groceries and go home. I reach out and pry the lady's hands off the cashier [not without a bit of a struggle, as she didn't want to let go], and security -- who must have been summoned by the manager -- arrives seconds later to escort the lady and her paid-for groceries out of the store. The manager looks at me and says softly, "Thanks, pal. If I'd laid a hand on her the crazy bitch probably would have sued."

He hustles off and I say to the cashier in as soothing a voice as I can manage, "Take your time. That was absolutely insane."

The really weird thing? I look at the discarded, expired coupon. It's for *25 cents* off. The crazy lady in front of me had made a giant scene over *twenty five ruddy cents*! I'd have gladly GIVEN her a quarter if it meant she didn't hold up the line and assault the poor cashier!

May all your days be good.

-- The Last Archimedean

 

One Dumbass N.A.T.'s Chaotic Escape Attempt

Hello, everyone. Tis I, Book Wench, back again to share more tales of Wastings. 

It's been a while since I last wrote in, for which I apologize. I've been dealing with a nasty wisdom tooth infection and all of the family arguments resulting from that, and combined with the utter soul-sucking grind of work, I haven't really had the energy to do more than go to work, come home, and fall asleep on the couch listening to Jon Stewart. (Note: nodding off to the Daily Show, coupled with a liberal dose of hydrocodone, results in very peculiar dreams. Try this at home!) However, we had a little incident a few days back which I really must share. An attempted robbery... with a side of carjacking!

Because our general manager has the short-term memory of a goldfish with Alzheimer's, problems that we bring to his attention are almost never addressed. He's very apologetic about it, and he will change things (poor scheduling, etc) if we nag him enough, but when it comes to anything that involves having to talk to corporate his powers of recall vanish almost entirely.

As a result, our security cameras have been in shambles for over a year, with no word from the head honchos as to when/if they will be replaced. We know this, the NATs know this, and we know that they know it. 

Naturally, one of the broken cameras is located directly over an area of highly valuable merchandise! And naturally, we are so short-handed that the lone associate assigned to this department  (which includes roughly a third of the store) can't spend all their time in that one corner of Highly Valuable Shit, even if they wanted to. We lose hundreds of dollars of merchandise every single month from this area, because GM doesn't have the balls to talk to corporate and get us another gorram camera. 

Last Friday, as I was tidying up the book department toward the end of my shift, I heard a ruckus coming from the front end. Walking up to the registers to see what was going on, I beheld half a dozen cops, an extremely angry Curmudgeon, and a woman holding an ice pack to the back of her head.

The story, as it fell out, was this:

Our awesome video manager, K-Pax, had noticed a skeevy-looking fellow circling around our corner of Highly Valuable Shit. K-Pax finds a reason to loiter in the same area, keeping an eye on him, but gets called away to assist a customer. The minute K-Pax leaves, skeevy guy pulls out an empty grocery bag, jimmies open the case, and fills his bag with HVS. He then attempts to leave the store, and here's where things got weird. 

We have three doors in our store. One opens up onto the mall, and by that point in the evening is closed and locked. One is the entrance, and only works as an entrance; consequently it is not equipped with any theft detectors. The third door can only be reached by passing by the front registers, and thus passing through a detector; it too only works one way. You can leave by it, but you can't come in.

Our would-be NAT takes off running for the entrance, only to smack face-first into the door and knock himself over.

He gets up and runs around through the registers, setting off the theft alarm, and drawing the attention both of the girl at the register and of K-Pax, who immediately recognizes him and vaults the goddamn counter in order to chase him. 

NAT gets outside, bumps into Curmudgeon returning from her dinner break, drops his bag of HVS and takes off across the parking lot, K-Pax in full pursuit.

Register Girl (she'll get a nickname if she survives a month here) tells Curmudgeon what's going on and Curmudgeon calls the cops, and all the while K-Pax is chasing after this NAT.

The NAT jumps into the backseat of a completely random car and starts smacking the driver on the back of the head, telling her "DRIVE, BITCH! DRIVE! JUST FUCKING DRIVE!"

At which point K-Pax shows up, drags the NAT out of the car, and tries to march him back to the store.

NAT tries to punch his way out, succeeds, and vanishes into the bushes across the street. K-Pax brings the driver inside, gets her an ice pack, and convinces her to file a police report. 

The best part?

When Curmudgeon opened the bag, it turned out that our NAT had inadvertently taken only used things from our case of HVS. He tried to rob our store and carjack a random stranger, for a total cash value of maybe $150.

The day after, of course, we all got a stern talking-to by the GM about how we must never, ever accost a customer, even if it is obvious that person is stealing from us... maybe we should just disable all the damn cameras, then, if we're going to let merchandise just walk out the door!

We have the dubious distinction of being the worst Wastings in terms of theft-related losses out of the entire chain, and we can't do anything to fix it. 

I need to find a job that lets me yell at people for being stupid, RHU.

--Book Wench

 

Mother's Assistant Hell: Fired For Protecting Herself Against Biting Dog

From LaughingBarista:

Lately I've been writing about my boyfriend and his experiences at Donuts but now I'm going to share a ludicrous non-retail story about my job.

I was fired on Wednesday. Yup, fired. I've never been fired before and honestly, this is probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

So to catch you guys up, I was working as a glorified mother's helper for a very rich family. I was mostly responsible for watching the kids, but I also had to do light house cleaning, run errands and help take care of the dog.

My biggest issues with this job were the oldest child (who was spoiled and pretty much undisciplined--the family didn't believe in punishing the children and he was allowed to do whatever he wanted, including making huge messes and not helping to clean them up) and the dog. The dog was a nine month old German Shepard.

As with most dogs of his breed, he required a lot of exercise so I took him for a lot of walks. I did not have any problems with this except for the fact that maybe five minutes into our walks, he would begin to bite. First it was the feet and then it progressed to him jumping up on me and trying to bite my hands and arms. I have bruises and scratches to prove this. He even made me bleed the other day.

This was a problem that was mentioned to the mother numerous times. Her response was to try a few things (yelling no, tugging the leash and pinching the bridge of his nose) but that was it. Nine times out of then when she would see him bite me or hear me say "stop biting" she wouldn't do anything about it. This was a problem pretty much the entire time I was there but got progressively worse as time went on.

So on Wednesday I was taking the dog for a walk and he started biting me. He jumped up on me so I pushed him down and bopped him on the head. Not hit, bopped. As in, an enthusiastic pat. She saw this (she was coming up the driveway) and was very upset.

She said, "LaughingBarista, I saw you bop him on the head and it really upset me. That cannot happen again." I apologized and then did some other things. A few hours later she came up to me and said that she needed to talk.  I will now refer to her as bosslady or BL for short.

BL: So we need to talk. What I saw you do before has been stuck in my head.

Me: I'm so sorry. He was biting me and I was trying to get him off.

BL: It just really shook my confidence with you and if I'm not 1000% confident and comfortable, I can't have you here.

Me: Ok, I understand that.

BL: So I'm sorry, but we're going to have to let you go.

She then proceeded to apologize profusely, telling me how bad she felt about this and that she really likes me as a person and thinks I'm wonderful, just that she wasn't sure about everything anymore. She then said that she had been thinking about this for a bit of time but that she wasn't sure. She proceeded to give me a check and I left.

In retrospect, I'm pretty sure she had someone else in mind and was looking for a way to let me go. She had a girl who was working for her for years but the girl got a desk job and left. Lately she's been creeping up a bit, watching the kids during weekend functions (I always thought that she wanted to see the kids, which I'm sure is true, but now it's looking a little weird). It would also explain the guilt that she expressed.

Either way, it's back to the salt mines for me!

Hope y'all are having a good new year so far!

--LaughingBarista

 

RHUer Fired For Complaints

Hello all minions of RHU. Amelia here with an update.

I got fired.

I had 4 customer complaints, and one said he would never shop there again, so I figured that was the end for me when I heard that. I guess the complaints weren't enough ammo for them to actually fire me, so they "discovered" that I was posting about the store, without stating the stores name, and that was in violation of the companies social media policy and that since I had signed a paper stating that I had read the policy, that I was fully aware of that I was in violation of that policy when I wrote those things.

I attempted to explain my side without blaming anyone but myself for my actions and he asked me to write a statement defending myself and my actions. I, being confidant of my prior statements to the issue, declined. That must have cinched his mind, cause I WASN'T going to beg for my job. I'm confident in my ability to provide good customer service, and my prior work should have been proof enough, but I guess it wasn't. He asked me to turn in my things so I did. Oh well. I'm trying to start my own business and this is just the push I need to follow through.

Be seeing ya!

Love, peace and chicken grease!

--Amelia

Note from Freddy: RHUer's, this is yet another reminder of being extremely cautious when writing about your hell on social media. Facebook is where employers start and it can be traced back to your name. As far as RHU goes, they get nothing out of me unless you reveal to friends that you blog on here (that is usually how employers find out, because many of them don't know about RHU - if they did I'd be getting a million hits and making big bucks off advertising -LOL) Never admit to posting anything on this site. Your employer has no proof that you wrote anything on here and I will never give up identities. There are thousands of stories on this site and even if the employer points out similiarities in a story, there are also thousands of Dollar stores all over the world. They cannot prove anything. I will also remove any material immediately at your request if you feel you have been ratted out by a coworker or management is checking you out. Keep up the fight and stay strong! Best of luck Amelia - you are right! This is the push you needed! You go girl! =D

--Freddy

RHUer Needs Advice On Surviving Complaint From 2 Different Customers

Hello RHU.  

Amelia here with a bit of a situation. I was working at my dollar store hell, at the register. The line was minimal and I was as cheery as I could be for being stuck on register. I haven't posted since it happened, but I got a small, semi-promotion, equipped with a raise and increase in responsibility, so register is not high on my list of things I like to do, what with the new title and all. Don't get me wrong. I'll run if that what I'm supposed to do, but when I'm considered the MOD, I expect to be on the floor mostly. Its a mind set.

Any who, suddenly, I look up at my line, and its like 20 people long. I try to page my backup, but since she doesn't have the paging thingy, she doesn't respond. Another employee had it. She is about 4 aisles away, so, yes RHU, I yell for her.

Give her 5 minutes of no show and yell again. By now customers are beginning to froth and moan about the long line and I'm doing my best to try to move it along, when she shows up to help. We get the line down and all goes back to normal.

Now we come to the meat of the situation. During my yelling for my backup, not 1 but 2! OMG, customers get in touch with my DM to inform him that I am rude and loud.

1 hour after this incident, my DM calls to tell me about the 2 custys that complained, and for me to clock out, go home and be back promptly at 8am and hope I still have a job, as he does NOT hire management that acts in such a fashion.

All I could do was meekly say "yes sir" and do what he said, crying the whole time.

I REALLY need this job, and he did not give me a chance to explain myself tonight. I do not know what lies ahead tomorrow, but ALL advice will be GREATLY appreciated.

Btw, I've never had any complaints before, here and only 1 or 2 at one of my other jobs, but that was because I was new and trying to follow serving size rules set by my boss, but was supposed to be ignored when it actually came down to serving (it was at a deli).

Thanks for any help...

--Amelia

 

Closing Time Nightmares In Grocery Hell

From Then Let Them Eat Crack:

Hello RHU, its been a little while since I sent in a rant.  

Did I fall asleep for a second and someone shoved the red pill up my ass when I wasn't looking and tripped me down the damned rabbit hole?  

I was doing my normal closing duties, and the girl running the check-yourself-out-demon-robot-baby-skynet machine had to pee (for about the tenth freaking time that night) so I go down to run the machine while she runs to potty.  

She is finishing an order in which some of the rednecks my town is famous for were buying...you guessed it, booze.  

I noticed the machine full of bottles of Day-go-better and one item still in the cart.  I wondered to myself if they had already scanned it but dismissed it.  

After they left I looked at their receipt.  They payed for $70 worth of liquor and then stole a $2 freaking pack of Solo Cups!  

Tonight while I was attending the machines again a lovely custy comes to the office and throws, literally throws, a bunch of fives at our floor supervisor (who politely informs them that I will return shortly and asks to help them) and says "I wan't some Fucking 20's, that piece of shit machine gave me all 5's."  

I've worked in Hell for over ten years, I shouldn't be able to be shocked by people but I'm continually surprised by stupidity.  

As always, if they have no jobs,

--Then Let Them Eat Crack.

Retail Hell Memories: Violent Discount Rat Encounter

The Last Archimedean here.

This is the worst experience I ever had in retail hell. I worked for this particular decent-sized individual store [not a franchise -- this is key, the store was actually mom & pop and had an owner] for 11 months before returning to school after saving up my money from working there.

I usually worked in the back of this store, but two of our front-line people were out sick so I volunteered to help handle the customers that day. Things were going decently [nothing more than the usual imbecility] until:..

Jackass Customer: "Where's [owner]?" [The owner wasn't actually in the store that day.]

The Last Archimedean: "He's not in the store today, sir. May I help you?"

JC: "Yes! You can tell him he's a... [lets out string of worst cursing TLA has ever heard, for 3 minutes straight, and TLA used to be in the Navy]

TLA [interrupting, since customer had no intention of stopping]: "I'm sorry you feel that way, sir. Can I help you find something?"

JC: [shocked by interruption]: "I want [product] for [about 15% of its normal price]! [Owner] told me months ago I could have it for that price and yesterday he broke his promise! [Begins cussing out owner again]"

TLA: "I doubt that very much, sir. [Product] is [price], but I am authorized to give two customers per day a 10% discount."

JC punches TLA in the stomach. HARD. I stagger backwards and try to get my breath back while JC begins cursing out the owner again.

TLA: "Sir, either buy [product] at [price], or please leave. I can give you a 10% discount. [Owner] will be in the store tomorrow if you'd like to come back then and talk to him."

JC: "Damn right I will!" [storms out]

[He never came back. When the owner heard from the 3 other employees at the other registers what happened, he called JC and told him he was lucky we weren't pressing charges for assault and he was permanently banned from the store.]

--The Last Archimedean

 

The Brit: Surviving Tough Times

It's been a month.  

A long, awful, penniless month.  

I have applied just about everywhere that I possibly can, and you know how many people have called me back?

Two.  Two businesses.  

This economy is balls.  My boyfriend works at Pasta Incorporated, where I had my first interview last week (it looks good but they haven't called for a second interview yet.  Ugh) and he's up for his yearly review today.  His hours have dwindled lately, and it's gotten to the point where he can either afford rent or food - not both.  He's been trying to get a second job but finds himself in the same boat as I.  He's had one call back, from a grocery store located too far away from the house to get to.  

I don't qualify for unemployment benefits in this state, and I'm sinking fast.  Does anyone have any advice about what I can do?  

Love, kisses, and a moth-eaten wallet,

--TheBrit

RHUer Needs Advice: Manager Expects Crew To Each Pay A Portion of Register Shortage

Hi everyone, Cookie Girl here, and I really need your advice.

I recently handed in my notice at work, and my last day is Wed 1st of Feb. (yay!) But I've noticed that my manager has been a bit cold to me since I handed in my notice, and today things got a bit... well.

I booked this weekend plus monday and tuesday off a while ago. Last night I checked my phone for messages at about 10, nothing. Then I get a text at 2:30 AM, from my manager, saying that the till was down a total of £36 over Thursday and Friday, and that he wants everyone who was in those days to pay £6 towards the total, by midday today (monday) I texted back this morning at a more reasonable hour, to say that I was not coming in on what was essentially my belated xmas holiday, while I was ill, to pay him this money, and got a passive aggressive response that I could pay him on Wednesday, when I'm next in.

Guys, I really don't think I should have to pay him. I know it's not a lot of money, but It's more than I make in an hour (I get minimum wage - £5.93 an hour), and money's going to be tight now I've quit.

I KNOW that I am really careful, especially since I work alone, to keep track of all the money. If I make a void, I follow the correct procedure, and let my superviser know when they come in.

I've asked my mum what she thinks, and she's outraged that he's demanded this. The thing is, I still have 6 more working days with him, and I'm not sure what to do.

I'm next in work on Wednesday, and I could really use some advice before then!

Thanks in advance,

--Cookie Girl

 

Golden Arches Hell: Hard Work and Dedication = No Promotion

Well, the time has come, people.

I, the Slave of Arch, am moving on.

I really didn't want to do this. For as many favors as my one manager, A, has done for me, I really don't want to blindside her by just...leaving. But the fact of the matter is that school is expensive and I need more money.

So the other store manager, J, tells me that if I want a raise, I need to learn the grill. Never mind the fact that I have been there twice as long as most of the other employees and work five times as hard, even going so far as to come in when not scheduled and wear spare uniforms that are 3x too big...Never mind the fact that I always show up on time, stay late if necessary, and never complain. If I want a promotion and a raise, I need to learn grill.

And I would be okay with that except for two things.

1. They won't put me on grill no matter how much I ask.

2. My coworker, E, who has been there half as long, works no harder than I do, and does NOT know grill, got her promotion today.

So I figure, if they aren't gonna help me out with this, I'm out.

As soon as I find another job, I'm leaving.

Wish me luck, all.

--Slave of Arch

 

 

Forever 21 Being Sued For Keeping Employees Waiting Off The Clock For Security Checks

From Huff Po:

Forever 21 is being sued yet again. But this time, it's not other fashion brands claiming copyright infringement -- it's the company's own workers, who say their employer systematically failed to pay them for hours worked.

On Wednesday in San Francisco Superior Court, five employees -- four former, one current -- filed a class action lawsuit against the company, seeking damages for the hours that Forever 21 made them work off the clock, and for the meal breaks that they were denied.

Jazzreeal Jones, Jessica Ramos, Shanelle Thompson, Alyssa Elias and Tiffinee Linthicum, represented by Norton & Melnik, APC, and Kitchin Legal, claim in court filings that they were frequently kept at stores during lunch breaks and after the ends of their shifts while they were searched for stolen merchandise. Because the employees had already clocked out, this amounts to unpaid labor. Moreover, these unpaid hours could add up to millions in damages should other employees turn out to have suffered the same treatment.

According to court filings, employee bag checks are part of Forever 21's loss prevention policy.

In an email, a Forever 21 spokesperson said the company could not comment on pending legal matters, but did note that Forever 21’s policy requires the employees to submit to bag checks before clocking out.

"We believe the practice is very widespread," attorney Patrick Kitchin said of bag checks after employees have clocked out. "We've spoken to individuals from a number of [Forever 21] stores across California and all report the same thing," he told The Huffington Post.

Kitchin wouldn't disclose exactly how many employees his team had contacted, but noted he expects the case to be even larger than the one he helped bring against Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. The Polo Ralph Lauren class action, which involved 6,700 California employees, was settled out of court for $4 million in 2010.

The Polo Ralph Lauren case also involved un-clocked hours where bag checks were performed on employees. According to Kitchin, the settlement ended up changing the loss prevention practices of many retailers around the country.

But not Forever 21, apparently. Tiffinee Linthicum, a current employee who began working at the company in 2008 when she was 16, has worked in two different Forever 21 locations -- Valencia, Calif. and Palmdale, Calif. -- both of which failed to pay her for the time it took to search her bag, according to court filings.

"Sales associates at Forever 21 stores are often still in high school and under the age of 18 when they begin their employment," Geoffrey Norton, one of the workers' lead attorneys, wrote in a statement. "These young people are vulnerable and often do not understand their employment rights. This lawsuit is meant to give these young people a voice about how they were treated while employed by Forever 21 in California."

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Hilarious Text-to-Movie Animation of Walmart's Worst Custy

True story, this really happened. --Walmart's Bitch

 

 

So true in all forms of Retail Hell...I had this at The Big Fancy as well...what can you do but laugh about it at the end of the day! --Freddy

 

 

Game Store Hell: Dad Saves Daughter From Propositioning Custy Creep

Call me Gamer Girl (or "GG" for short), as I work in a small video game store.

Being the only female employee, I get my fair share of attention and good-natured ribbing from the customers. 95% of them are polite and respectful. However, "CC" (or Creeper Customer), is not one of them. He comes into the store on average 4 times a week (almost always on the days I'm working), and makes sexist, disparaging comments to me.

It's gotten to the point where the manager will shoo me into the back room when Creeper Custy is coming. However, he spends lots of money and hasn't said something bad enough to get barred, so I suck it up and deal.

The other day I found myself the only employee working in the store. The manager was on vacation and I couldn't get anyone else in. Luckily it was a slow day and my Dad (who's also a gamer), stopped in to say Hi. I was feeling pretty good until who else but Creeper walks in.

My stomach drops.

My dad notices him and steps away from the counter to browse. CC looks around and asks "You the only one working today, sweetie?"

I grit my teeth and say yes, then try to change the subject by asking if he was looking for something in particular. He leans in and gives a creepy smile. "Well, I was going to buy some games, but since your boss isn't here I think I want you to have the money instead. But you're going to have to work for it."

He raises his eyebrow and nods his head toward the storage room. It takes me a few seconds before it clicks. He's propositioning me! My face flushes and I stammer out "If you're hinting at what I think you are, then you have to leave. Now." He scoffs and says he was only joking and not to be such a prude.

I'm about to call my manager on his emergency line when I see my dad, who I completely forgot was in the store, walk up behind Creeper and tap him on the shoulder.

Now, my dad is 6'3, a former rugby player and very intimidating. When CC turns around, my dad grabs him by the collar, gets right in his face and growls "You piece of shit, did you just proposition my daughter? You're going to apologize to her and then leave or we're going to have a problem."

Creeper turns back to me, pale as a ghost and mutters "sorry" before running out of the store.

I call my manager and tell him what just happened, figuring this was going to be thing that would finally get CC banned. Nope. Manager says I handled things well and says he'll have a talk with Creeper about his behavior when he gets back.

Are you shitting me? While I appreciate that my manager is taking steps to make things right, the fact this asshole offering me money for sex WHILE I'M WORKING isn't enough to warrant a ban is infuriating.

My dad isn't too happy either and says he will be having his own talk with the manager, so we'll see what happens.

--GG

Donut Shop Management Gets Told For Requiring That Only Men Take Out The Trash

LaughingBarista's BF gets a Retail Balls Award for standing up to sexist management:

Hey guys! LaughingBarista here after a long hiatus!

I was so busy with my new job, grad school finals (which kicked my ass but I wound up doing well!) and Christmas stuff so I haven't had a chance to post anything recently. But boy, do I have a doozy for you guys.

So my boyfriend has been at Donuts still this whole time. He's been slaving away (pun intended), especially around the holidays, and was realizing just how much he was unappreciated. He was getting real sick of it but it really started coming to a blow a few weeks ago.

The week of Christmas he took off Christmas Eve because he switched shifts with someone after covering a bunch of theirs, this way he could spend time with his younger siblings. They were closed on Christmas. He worked that Monday and that Wednesday he went in. He was doing his job, assembling for drive-thru while another coworker rang up (someome was making sandwiches but everyone else was screwing around in the back) when the shift leader asked him to take out the garbage.

He politely asked if someone could please do it since he was in the middle of an order or if someone could take over for him so he could do it. The shift leader said no, that he had to do it and that was that.

Like I said, he was in the middle of an order so he went to finish it when Jane (you all remember that bitch) came up to him and asked him what his problem was. He said there wasn't a problem, that he was just doing his job when the shift leader asked him to stop, wouldn't get someone to replace him, so he could do other people's jobs (since everyone else was bullshitting in the back).

You want to know what Jane said? "Well we're women so we don't take out the garbage."

My boyfriend was PISSED. He said something along the lines of this is 2011 (as it was at the time) in America, not 1811. She sent him home.

So when he went to get his paycheck on Friday the manager (who wasn't there) asked for his side of the story. He tells her that he was doing drive-thru, the shift leader asked him to do that while there were many capable people to do it, and that he was sent home because he wouldn't stop helping the drive-thru, even though no one was sent to cover him to take out the garbage. He also shared what Jane said. The manager agreed with him and told him that she knows that he's claned the bathrooms and that's a "woman's job" so why can't they take out the garbage? She takes out the garbage herself so she didn't get it.

Fast forward to yesterday. Boyfriend goes in and is furious because he gets his check and it's really low. It's the check from that week. Now manager has agreed that he should not have been sent home and even Jane apologized for it. Boyfriend thinks that he should be reimbursed for the missing hours of pay. I agreed with him but warned him that he would not be reimbursed as Donuts is an even corporation with no soul at its core. He said he figured as much but that if that was the case, he was going to quit. He felt that it was completely unfair for him to not get paid for hours that he really should have gotten paid for.

So he goes in and talks to the manager and the assistant manager and airs his grievances. They tell him that HE was in the wrong that day and that women aren't supposed to take out the garbage because that is a man's job and as one of the only men there that day (there was another one but oh, he doesn't take out the garbage) it was HIS job to do it, even if it meant leaving the drive-thru. They told him under no circumstance would they give him the money because he was in the wrong.

He quit on the spot, telling them that he worked way too hard to get paid so little and to be treated like shit.

I fully supported his decision and am glad to be rid of those scumbags. I seriously could not believe that one.

Here's to hoping that you guys don't have to deal with stuff like that!

--LaughingBarista

 

Douchebag Custys Film Themselves Throwing Food At Taco Bell Slaves

 

From Cosmetics Hellhound: Guy starts throwing Taco Bell at McDonalds employees because they started serving breakfast burritos ... Ugh, people suck.

Written Up Without Literacy