I'm FIRED!

[wirednuts]

You're really not supposed to do something like that. While technically its the right thing to do, a lot of problems can come to your boss by you going around doing stuff on your own like that since you still work(ed) for him. What if something goes missing at one of these unscheduled stops or something goes wrong and someone gets hurt? Litigation. Lawsuits are the reason why we can't have nice things anymore because a few bad apples hurt the whole crop.

When you are in a management position you'll understand over-zealous employees are not the best to have when you are in a customer facing position.

i really dont understand though. im not trying to argue, please dont take it that way if thats how im coming across. i just dont see how if its different if i get hurt when im on a service call? if the insurance doesnt cover it, i have to pay for it....

and, why have i never had this issue in the past? why were every other boss i had extremely happy that i would go out of my way for the company like this?

 

[moonbogg]

Who cares is he treats his employees bad. This shows that you don't know your place. Employees are a tool for someone to use as needed, thats it. You are like a hammer, a chisel, a pen, a drill press or any other tool. Employees only exist because the owner or founder can't do everything themselves. They act like they care to keep you happy sometimes, but really you are an expensive, argumentative, complaining TOOL to be used as needed. So am I, but at least I know it. Had the same job 3 years so far.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

i really dont understand though. im not trying to argue, please dont take it that way if thats how im coming across. i just dont see how if its different if i get hurt when im on a service call? if the insurance doesnt cover it, i have to pay for it....

and, why have i never had this issue in the past? why were every other boss i had extremely happy that i would go out of my way for the company like this?

Because you cost him money. It is his business and his customer. Get your thick skull around that. When you have your business running are you going to be okay with the hired hands calling the shots?

 

[Fritzo]

Doesn't sound like a place you'd want to make into a career anyway.

 

[purbeast0]

sucks you got fired, but to me you were clearly in the wrong. maybe now this guy will expect free work in the future since you did him a favor.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Wow sounds like an asshole. So you wanted to go above and beyond with customer service and you get that? Wow. I did something similar when I was on the help desk. Normally for residential internet it's self install, but this one client was handicapped and unable to, and I forget the exact situation but guess he did not know anyone else who could help, so I went to his house to set it up and make sure his internet works. I actually got a customer service award for going above and beyond. The customer was not charged anything for it. The company actually got a nice letter from him.

Sounds like this boss is a power trip type of guy. His way or the highway. Not somebody you want to be working for. Hopefully you can find another job soon, or start your own business.

 

[Farang]

I wouldn't be so sure about unemployment. It varies by state but from what you've described that could be insubordination. You clearly broke the rules, and when the boss confronted you, you told him his attitude was crap. In my state I do not think you would get benefits.

You can't talk back to your boss like that. And you can't do things like work on your own time. That puts them in a bad situation. You are a hired gun, if you don't like the way they treat you then find another place to pay you or make money on your own.

 

[DaWhim]

theres only one other tech, and he runs the consumer side of the shop. he has a 3 year no-work/disclosure clause though. i dont know why he signed that... but i think it says even if he gets fired he cant work in the city doing that stuff for 3 years.

we just talked last friday about starting our own shop. he is good at what he does, but he is scared of the legal issues if he does it. i try to tell him not to worry about it, becasue a judge isnt going to stop someone from working.. but this boss is loaded with money so the guy is just flat out scared of him.

dont be silly, have him in the shop and forward u any businesses and you can give him kickback. win-win for you guys! 😎

 

[Gunslinger08]

You're really not supposed to do something like that. While technically its the right thing to do, a lot of problems can come to your boss by you going around doing stuff on your own like that since you still work(ed) for him. What if something goes missing at one of these unscheduled stops or something goes wrong and someone gets hurt? Litigation. Lawsuits are the reason why we can't have nice things anymore because a few bad apples hurt the whole crop.

When you are in a management position you'll understand over-zealous employees are not the best to have when you are in a customer facing position.

If I were a small business owner, I don't think I would punish my employees for trying to do right by the customer and gain a good reputation for my business. The liability would be worth it, in my eyes.

OP, you should start your own business. It sounds like you've got the right attitude to succeed as an owner - make your customers happy and your business will grow. You just need to figure out a way to get it off the ground with an initial customer base.

 

[MaxPayne63]

OP: I think you'll find that at most employers insubordination and telling off your immediate supervisor are both effective ways to get fired.

 

[ViviTheMage]

DING DING DING!

you won the thread. i just talked to dad two days ago about doing this. he said he is going to try to finance me $10k to start up in my garage.

boss knew i wanted to run a business someday too.. it was part of the reason he hired me. he wanted someone to run his business so he didnt have to be there all the time. i showed that i was more then capable of that, but like this argument showed, he was constantly far more worried about being "right" then he was about making money.

this guy treats his other employee like shit too. way worse then he treated me, and part of the argument was me standing up for the other guy- which i think is the real reason he fired me. he said i was turning into the other guy, which i snapped back "thats completely insulting. nobody effects what i do. i do the job i do because i chose to be that way. YOU are the one who is effecting me. YOUR attitude is completely unacceptable".

and thats what he held onto. 5 months of great work and he fires me becasue i told him something nobody ever does, yet there wouldnt be a soul in the world that disagrees with me. whatever! he just gave me a green light to start my own thing!

Hey .. now you can snipe his employees too 😀 Is this an audio install shop?

 

[purbeast0]

If I were a small business owner, I don't think I would punish my employees for trying to do right by the customer and gain a good reputation for my business. The liability would be worth it, in my eyes.

dunno, if i was a business owner and had an employee doing free work for a paying customer, i don't think that would fly over well with me.

 

[wirednuts]

its not insubordination when he disrespects his employees on a daily basis. we had one argument in 5 months, and it wasnt even that bad of an argument. and i continued to work after that and all was fine the rest of the day.

besides, it was his mother, who works for FREE 3 days a week mind you, is the one who told me to go to the guys house for no charge.

she told me she will deal with her son, and i told her not to get involved because i was the one agreeing to the suggestion. the boss even said that he knows his mom authorized the trip, but i stopped him and said it was my decision to go. i didnt want his poor 73 year old mother treated any worse then she already had been through the months.

 

[wirednuts]

Hey .. now you can snipe his employees too 😀 Is this an audio install shop?

electronic repair shop.

the boss works on broadcast equiptment, so his margins are extremely fat. tons of wiggle room, and pretty much easy to make money off of.

the consumer side is much tougher though. at least the way he does it. he takes in broken dvd players for a $30 estimate and gets it turned down almost every time because the repair is never below $100. even if its just one bad cap on the power supply that took 20min to diagnose and fix, thats 2 hours labor and $10 for the cap. $186 repair bill. every. single. time. he has no idea how much money most people make.... he just got this business a year ago, and its certainly not going well for him.

so, needless to day, im not worried about him being my competition. i could undercut him 50% and still make good money because i would have 5x the volume.

 

[Krazy4Real]

Sounds like it was a good thing. Good luck with starting up your own thing.

 

[Farang]

its not insubordination when he disrespects his employees on a daily basis. we had one argument in 5 months, and it wasnt even that bad of an argument. and i continued to work after that and all was fine the rest of the day.

besides, it was his mother, who works for FREE 3 days a week mind you, is the one who told me to go to the guys house for no charge.

she told me she will deal with her son, and i told her not to get involved because i was the one agreeing to the suggestion. the boss even said that he knows his mom authorized the trip, but i stopped him and said it was my decision to go. i didnt want his poor 73 year old mother treated any worse then she already had been through the months.

He represents whoever is paying you. So yes, it is insubordination if you do not accept what he says and do what he says. If you find anything objectionable about that you can refuse further work and move on. As long as you accept being paid by them you need to do what they tell you to do

 

[wirednuts]

dunno, if i was a business owner and had an employee doing free work for a paying customer, i don't think that would fly over well with me.

first, the customer did pay. $160 for one hour of service. he WAS a good paying customer. i went back for 15min to help him figure a couple things out, and when i was there i sold a $150 bulb which is roughly $80 in more profit. there is only one boss on the planet who wouldnt do what i did, and i worked for him.

 

[nageov3t]

that sucks, but I can kind of understand his POV if you're doing stuff for free that the company would collect money from.

happens with my clients occasionally... I usually just paint my company's Sales/Billing department as the "bad" guys and tell clients I'm not authorized to do things without their sign-off.

 

[dabuddha]

No kidding, totally unreadable.

If you can't read that, you should go back to Elementary school. My 5 year old was able to read it with no problems.

 

[lxskllr]

I'm with you, but as others have said, it's his business, and his business choices. Good luck getting a new job.

 

[purbeast0]

first, the customer did pay. $160 for one hour of service. he WAS a good paying customer. i went back for 15min to help him figure a couple things out, and when i was there i sold a $150 bulb which is roughly $80 in more profit. there is only one boss on the planet who wouldnt do what i did, and i worked for him.

well you keep changing your stories. first you said you went to do him a favor. then you said he bought some bulb for $150. now you are saying the bosses mother told you to go there for free.

so not really sure wtf really happened. but all i know is that if i ran a business and you did work for free instead of getting the hourly rate, i'd be pretty upset. even though it is $80 profit, it should have been that + the $160 rate (if you all have 1hr minimum). not saying i would fire you, but i wouldn't act as if it did not happen.

 

[wirednuts]

He represents whoever is paying you. So yes, it is insubordination if you do not accept what he says and do what he says. If you find anything objectionable about that you can refuse further work and move on. As long as you accept being paid by them you need to do what they tell you to do

this was a 2 man shop, and i joined as a future partner. it was agreed that my wage will be determined by how much money we make, and i was to have the responsibilities as a manager so he didnt have to run the shop. i was getting paid to make these sort of decisions, and his argument was to lose profit. that directly effects my wage, so i had to say something.

i even explained to him that if he makes me do things that arent profitable, i wont be happy about it. he totally agreed, and he even said he knew why i was getting upset. i thought we settled it, but apparently it was stewing in his mind all night. i can tell he is someone who has been abused in the past, because he could never take a single sliver of critisism. he was always right, even if proven wrong there was an excuse to his answer...

 

[wirednuts]

well you keep changing your stories. first you said you went to do him a favor. then you said he bought some bulb for $150. now you are saying the bosses mother told you to go there for free.

so not really sure wtf really happened. but all i know is that if i ran a business and you did work for free instead of getting the hourly rate, i'd be pretty upset. even though it is $80 profit, it should have been that + the $160 rate (if you all have 1hr minimum). not saying i would fire you, but i wouldn't act as if it did not happen.

im not lying about any of it. heres the timeline

guy calls back (already did service call for him) with questions that cant be answered over the phone.

i put him on hold and talk to the bosses mom (who doesnt get paid, but is in charge). we both agree i should just go to guys house and spend 15min with him on my way home to make sure what i did was still OK.

when im there, i noticed his tv would take a few cycles to turn on. i said "your bulb is getting weak and will need to be replaced soon". he asked if i could sell him one because i did such a good job for him.

the next day at the shop, i told the boss i sold him a bulb and thats where it went south.

 

[zokudu]

You've now changed your story twice. Now someone told you to go after hours to this customers house and the guy paid for the visit? Which is it?

 

[Farang]

this was a 2 man shop, and i joined as a future partner. it was agreed that my wage will be determined by how much money we make, and i was to have the responsibilities as a manager so he didnt have to run the shop. i was getting paid to make these sort of decisions, and his argument was to lose profit. that directly effects my wage, so i had to say something.

i even explained to him that if he makes me do things that arent profitable, i wont be happy about it. he totally agreed, and he even said he knew why i was getting upset. i thought we settled it, but apparently it was stewing in his mind all night. i can tell he is someone who has been abused in the past, because he could never take a single sliver of critisism. he was always right, even if proven wrong there was an excuse to his answer...

Cool.. none of what you are saying matters. It is not your business. You decided to become an object the moment you accepted the position. Everything you are saying may be right but it does not matter, you are not being paid to make decisions like that.