new system at work fails

[angel607]

i don't know how much more I can take. yesterday was a really bad night. I helped people in infant's furniture and I told the people we did not have the item in the back. they asked if I could take the display model and put it in a box. I said we don't sell the display for saftey reasons. they told me to ask the manager because he knows. um I already know the policy plus it says on the sign display models are not for sale. but what has been bothering me is working at night with the color and sizing system in clothing. monday-friday they have a area that needs to be sized and colororized in order. they have more people on the floor but no help doing returns. I was told by the manager I could do returns along with someone else and straighten the rest of the store. well there was nobody helping with returns. not only that but the fitting room was trashed with clothes all in the rooms when I came in. the returns at service desk nobody got all day when I came in at 4pm. jewelery went off at 8pm and I was asked to get it and I never knew I was covering it. some lady said her husband took a picture with the cell phone and asked me to find the ring. the lady had me price check all the rings for a hour until 9:00pm then decided she doesn't know which one it was. her husband comes in at 9:30pm and they finally found the ring but we don't have her size. I don't know what to do so me and a co-worker call the manager and he didn't know the procedure on ring orders to be sized. luckily nicole from service desk did jewelery and knew. so I thanked her for helping. I checked the fitting room after getting returns. I had 2 baskets but there were 2 more baskets of returns someone put there. the people in jewelery finally left at 10pm. I wasn't allowed to lock up jewelery which takes 15 minutes until they left. so 10:15 I finally handed the money bag in and keys and the superviser is complaining to me how she want's to get out of here. well that's not my fault kmart has no help in this place. I was mad how she threw a attitude with me. then she asked me where was jewelery's hundred. well nobody paged me for the hundred so I thought someone who covered handed it in. I mean really I can't begin to describe how miserable my night was because we have no help in the store thanks to this system. good news is after 2 in a half months I finally have hours next week. also I don't work night shift today thank god. I have 11-4 and I am out. but I have to deal with all the returns from last night. I am not looking forward to that.

[Beangirl]

Yuck! That's retail for you. Of all the departments offered at Wal Mart Apparel is one I turned down. Mens, womens, kids, shoes and jewelry Oh My!

[Phil]

I don't fully understand this attitude of 'it's past time'

You get that all the time in stores and some other workers.

If we are working on a repair and we don't finish it by 7am we don't just bolt and say 'oh well day shift will be there soon. We finish it. So the supervisor barking at Angel607 is out of line. When you're management you're the last to leave. Just like the captain is the last 1 off a ship.

[angel607]

i agree phil. it was beyond my control a lady pretty needed a ring size order that took nicole 30 minutes. I can't just say oh well no time to lock up the expensive jewelery. if I let it go security would scream at me. and beangirl sometimes I wonder if I made a mistake to do softlines. I like straightening because it's relaxing but kmart doesn't understand that colorizing and sizing all night monday -friday is not worth it. returns have been so bad it's crazy and I need help which I am not getting. it bothers me. if they keep this new system I am going to scream because people back to school shopping those returns I will end up buried under the clothing. even the lead in ladieswear told them it was a bad idea but they listened and didn't care.

[Blastgirl]

I work in the offices for the team Classic once played for. There is not really a going home time on game days. If a game starts at 6, and its perceived to be over at 9 but that doesn't mean the stadium staff leaves, you go when you're done not when the game ends.

As for the rest of Angel's post, that shows a totally careless attitude on the part of most of the K Mart staff. Its like they all hope someone else will just do their job and they'll whistle by hoping nobody notices they're logging up hours and not doing much of the job.

[angel607]

blastgirl that is exactly what happens at kmart. when diamond worked she gave excuses why she can't get her work done and asked me and my co-worker to do it. the reason she didn't get it done was because she was busy talking to people at the service desk or walking around the store. funny thing is she trained anna and anna does nothing at kmart. when she is in softlines she straightens the clothes instead of putting returns away which comes first. I don't think it's fair these lazy people get away with so much. the managers don't want to hear it about them not working because they now consider it complaining what is none of our buisness. I really think things need to change or were going to end up with slackers forever.

[Classicblast]

I don't understand the slacking mentality. My work was closed for the 4th of July. My boss had us come in Sunday to set inventory. I understand there's not much down time in a store like this so if you want to change things you have to do it on non hours and do it with a plan.

I was there so was another guy about my age I have not asked but I think that John is 35. Then there's these two kids about 18 and they're fresh out of high school. Work out go to the gym regularly and all kinds of like that.

They're tired after about an hour. They need breaks every few minutes to take a piss or to catch their breath.

Obviously I am a former pro ball player I am a little more conditioned than most people. I dont get this though. The other guy my age range didn't need to stop and have a snack every few minutes he wanted to move as fast as possible to get the job done.

[Phil]

They're not goal oriented at all. ITs all about how much are we getting paid and if someone else gets paid more.

There's no concept of who does more either.

They text message each other and as much as possible they watch you work. I have mentioned the 1 kid Brian the foreman told that if your friends are texting you at this hour they cant be very productive people. Anybody with a purpose in life is either at work or asleep at this hour.

He tried to complain to higher ups about Brian saying 'I have low life friends'
That was mildly misquoted. But the kid was not on the job most of the time and texting was his main objective. They did not keep him after his temporary service contract expired. Even the top manager of Penn-York said to this kid, 'its not wise to battle with Brian over something like this. If you're looking for a long term job with Penn-York or CSX who's recommendation do you think they're going to use to help make that decision?'

[angel607]

many times at work when I see someone texting I want to throw their phone across the floor so maybe they do some work. anna I want to punch in the face for never doing returns, spending time in the break room like diamond did, and mostly I am mad at the certain managers for saying it's not our buisness. pat complained about anna because we were so backed up with returns and anna refused to help. the manager told her oh pat it's time to go home. they are doing the same thing they used to do with diamond which is making excuses and keeping them on payroll. it's going to get harder to deal with this when back to school shopping starts. I am not in the mood to get stuck with returns by myself. I just thank god I am going on vacation soon so I won't have to deal with this. and classic I never understood why young people can't concentrate on their jobs. they complain because they have to work so many hours and they end up in the break room so many times though out the day. when I was young I worked in arbys which I think was a horrible place. but you were not allowed to slack there or call off. for 2 weeks I works 8 nights straight closing and I was wiped out. I retail last summer I pulled off alot of hours which was great for helping pay towards concerts. if more people would do their jobs and stop slacking alot more stuff would get done.

[Classicblast]

I just don't understand how satiated people are with being distracted at work. If they were at home or at a picnic and their work contacted them they're not so fast to respond.

[Phil]

I don't understand the priorities of people these days. I can be called by my work at anytime and be activated. If there's a train derailment or major problem where man power is needed I could be sent to work on the repair crews. It happens all the time. A couple months ago I got called on a Saturday afternoon that I had to go to Baltimore. It was just about a jump in my truck and drive to Baltimore situation not much to discuss.

They call and say "Ostrotkiewicz, you're needed in Baltimore. You're booked at the Super 8 in Burtonsville on US 1, you're in room 225 and leave within the next hour. Get receipts for gas."

That just about was the conversation. And "George Raimus of CSX Southern is leading the repair crew I'll text you his number call him when you get to Baltimore."

[angel607]

that is a very good point classic. there are people who actually refuse to come into work on their day off if they are called. one time we had a new teenage girl who just started work. I finally got a sunday off after 9 months straight with no weekends off. they asked her to come into work and she said no. the other girl said no so I got stuck even though I worked more hours then both of them. the one girl said to me can you belive they asked me to come in when I am not even scheduled to work. I wanted to smack her so bad. also what is bad is call offs. some people will do this over and over. the worst was the week before thanksgiving I worked 8am-10pm because 3 people decided to quit without a 2 weeks notice and not come back to work. it was at our busiest time to so I had to stay. there have been times when I did ignore them when they called me in. once I got called in but I was on vacation in new york or I made plans with someone to go wildwater kingdom at a water park. other then that I go in when called. 4th of july I had plans to go dorney park but I didn't go because work cut my hours for 2 in a half months and I needed the overtime really bad.

and phil I think it is great that you are very dedicated to your job. that does sound like a hectic schedule to drop what you are doing and just drive to another state on orders. not many people could do that. I don't think even I can do that. there are people at my job who called off and screwed people over because a party was more important. those people are just sad. you get money by going to work then you get to go places so I would think it's a good thing to work. but there are people who can't be bothered to do anything. today anna tried to go up to get my returns sign the papers and get credit for doing them like she normally does. only she signs them and leaves them at the fitting room for someone else. today I got up there and took the returns. she got called to layaway then came back. as I was signing she said jen I can do this for you so you don't have to stand here. I said thank you but that's okay I am almost done. I have learned that lazy people should stay away from me so I can get my stuff done. it's much easier that way.

[Phil]

It does seem that the people who do the least are the ones who complain the most about not having money.

Being up in arms that they asked her to work...

And yes it is an inconvenience when I get called and have to drive to another state like you said. Thats the make up of my job too. If a train derails in Kentucky and there's wreckage everywhere that's not a when you get around to it thing it had to be taken care of. And you have to get there fast.

They will end up needing hundreds of people to get it fixed and opened back up as quick as possible then it's a several day process to clean the area around it.

To clarify how it works, I work directly for Penn-York Division. However in an emergency CSX contacts all its divisions and has them dispatch man power.

CSX is the parent company. If there was ever a reason to abolish Penn-York I would be a CSX employee and they can assign me wherever they want. So when I have different start up dates. I joined CSX staff in May of 1990 and they officially assigned me to Penn-York Division in October of 1990.

Our division has regular assignments through Northern and Western Pennsylvania and Central to western New York hence the term 'Penn-York.'

In case anyone cared. But to work outside of that area the order would come from CSX.

It works the other way too. When the Susquehanna river flooded and ruined tracks that was too much work for Just Penn-York and East Penn to manage so CSX would sent help from various other affiliates.

Thats the way it is. I worked every holiday until I was about 35 too. If there was a disaster seniority doesn't mean a thing, it's all hands on deck.

Brian our foreman has no patience for slacking. The other day a new kid was ignoring the debris created by our putting in of a new ceiling. The kid was not doing what he was assigned to do. He's texting and eating everything except what he was supposed to do. He is new and isn't expected to do the construction of a job like this but he can sweep.

After what was probably 2 hours and little if anything was done Brian says to him 'Hey, assssholeee sweep this up before I pound you.'

[angel607]

i think Brian is smart for calling out slackers. if they realize they can't get away with slacking it usually drives them to work. at kmart they cater to these people and make excuses for them. it sickens me. today anna told me someone needed help when I am in the middle of doing rollbars. the customer needed someone to go in the back and check and see if they have t-shirts. that idiot anna won't lift a finger. I have caught her many times in the break room repeatedly when she shouldn't be there or the fitting room looking at herself in the mirror. next time she bosses me around I am going to tell her to shove it. and phil I think it's good you are dedicated to your work ready to go when they need you. I wish more people were like that. it seems like they don't want to be bothered with.

[Phil]

Or they take so long to do a job or do it poorly and figure that if they spend long enough on something easy the shift will end before they get made to do anything else.

[Classicblast]

That Brian sounds like my brother Thunderbird. Perhaps that's how you get when you have to manage people who aren't high on doing their job.

[Phil]

I think its universal if you're goal oriented to get annoyed with people who are just there to accumulate a paycheck.

[Blastgirl]

There's a lot of stupid in the Office but I'll save it for a time when I'm less tired.