I'm FIRED!

[wirednuts]

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.

his 73 year old mother works 3 days a week, 9 hours a day, for no pay. she handles all the phones and scheduling when shes there. and handles the money too.

 

[Imp]

Didn't they used to call that "going above and beyond" for your employer, and "securing a loyal customer"?

 

[wirednuts]

Didn't they used to call that "going above and beyond" for your employer, and "securing a loyal customer"?

it was that way for my entire life.

this is the same boss that has 10 cameras in the 1000sq ft shop, with a microphone. there is no signed posted that says everyone is being recorded 24/7 either, as he is legally supposed to.

this is also the same boss that LITERALLY, and i directly quote this 45 year old "man"- "is it even legal to have a camera in the bathroom?"

i didnt even know what to say. i just froze.

 

[tcsenter]

Well if its any consolation (and probably it isn't), here is something you might use to get all philosophical about it.

There was a time in my life when I was having problems. Undiagnosed medical condition was insidiously stealing my ability to function, which was then resulting in insidious depression. I did not know what was happening, really. But I was becoming overwhelmed, and started to be not very easy to be around sometimes. I would get into a disagreement and over-react, and didn't see that I was the one who was over-reacting. I always felt justified in my reaction, blaming the other person for it. I lashed-out several times at people, a few which permanently damaged the relationship or their feelings toward me.

When I finally realized it was me who had the problem, and how miserably I had failed to recognize it for so long, I was mortified. Devastated. And I can never really repair some of those damaged relationships or express to them just how awful I feel about it.

So maybe your boss is going through something similar. I don't know. Maybe you are going through something similar. It happens and it doesn't mean we are bad people, even if we truly did behave like royal assholes.

 

[Pray To Jesus]

Try to remove the plank from your eyes first.

 

[nageov3t]

Didn't they used to call that "going above and beyond" for your employer, and "securing a loyal customer"?

there's a line between going the distance and just giving away services for free.

personally, at least as a non-management, I wouldn't give shit away for free without the authorization in writing from the appropriate people to cover my ass.

 

[JACKIE]

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.

We could debate for hours business strategy surrounding customer service vs. profit. Usually the successful business finds the answer somewhere in the middle of two extremes.

As many individuals have pointed out, the insubordination that occured is what cost you your job. Unfortunately for you the owner's direction and strategy wasn't yours, and at the end of the day that's his call to make...not yours.

Hopefully you'll land on your feet soon...and hopefully in an environment that better suits your attitude toward servicing the customer.

 

[dr150]

My condolences on getting fired.

Go to the highest company boss (the boss of your boss at the minimum) you have some rappore with an have a 30 minute one-on-one with him about the situation and how your direct boss unfairly treated you and wrongfully terminated you. Tell him how much you love to work there, how responsible you are and that it was totally uncalled for to get treated in such a manner.

More likely than not, you should be able to get your job back if that higher boss is a stand-up guy. In tandem, you should go to HR and complain that that this guy wrongfully terminated you and thinking of making a case of it. Tell HR you had a one one one with a Sr. Boss about this situation so that HR will take this issue with teh people that MATTER....not your lowly boss.

In the end, if/when you get your job back, request that you get another boss as your current boss has it in for you and will never give you a fair shake.

Good luck! :thumbsup:

 

[wirednuts]

there's a line between going the distance and just giving away services for free.

personally, at least as a non-management, I wouldn't give shit away for free without the authorization in writing from the appropriate people to cover my ass.

customer already paid $160 for a trip charge + 1st hour of labor. the trip charge includes multiple trips to the house. and it is for anyone within 15 miles. this guy was 2.5 miles away.

 

[wirednuts]

My condolences on getting fired.

Go to the highest company boss (the boss of your boss at the minimum) you have some rappore with an have a 30 minute one-on-one with him about the situation and how your direct boss unfairly treated you and wrongfully terminated you. Tell him how much you love to work there, how responsible you are and that it was totally uncalled for to get treated in such a manner.

More likely than not, you should be able to get your job back if that higher boss is a stand-up guy. In tandem, you should go to HR and complain that that this guy wrongfully terminated you and thinking of making a case of it. Tell HR you had a one one one with a Sr. Boss about this situation so that HR will take this issue with teh people that MATTER....not your lowly boss.

In the end, if/when you get your job back, request that you get another boss as your current boss has it in for you and will never give you a fair shake.

Good luck! :thumbsup:

this was the owner of the 3 man shop. i was his parter in training. he always told me how much like him i was, and how good of work i do. thats why he was trying to let me manage the place, but every decision i made was the wrong one even if its exactly what he would have done himself.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I don't blame him honestly. You sound like a terrible employee.
When are you going to wrap your head around the concept that he is your boss and owner of the company. He told you not to do something and you blow up on him. What did you expect to happen?

 

[wirednuts]

UPDATE

just talked to the other tech. the boss just told him to come in whenever he can because of the weather.

thing is, the boss never lets the weather be an excuse. so we both think something is up. the other tech thinks hes getting fired too, and i agree. the boss is likely letting the consumer side of his shop go under. what a fucking idiot. but good for me!!

ill post back when the other firing happens.

 

[wirednuts]

I don't blame him honestly. You sound like a terrible employee.
When are you going to wrap your head around the concept that he is your boss and owner of the company. He told you not to do something and you blow up on him. What did you expect to happen?

if he tells me to do something that will make us lose money, i will say something because if i dont the company will fail anyway. isnt that why businesses have employees? to do smart things? this wasnt a broom pushing job...

 

[FelixDeCat]

No kidding, totally unreadable.

Cant read it? You're fired!

 

[dr150]

this was the owner of the 3 man shop. i was his parter in training. he always told me how much like him i was, and how good of work i do. thats why he was trying to let me manage the place, but every decision i made was the wrong one even if its exactly what he would have done himself.

UPDATE

just talked to the other tech. the boss just told him to come in whenever he can because of the weather.

thing is, the boss never lets the weather be an excuse. so we both think something is up. the other tech thinks hes getting fired too, and i agree. the boss is likely letting the consumer side of his shop go under. what a fucking idiot. but good for me!!

ill post back when the other firing happens.

a.) If he's firing people to cut his losses and is making various excuses for the firings, then it is what it is. Nothing you can do about this.

b.) If you figure out that he ONLY fired you b/c he felt you were an ass to him, then you can eat some humble pie and go into his office for a 30 minute meeting and discuss how much you like the job and how responsible you are, blah, blah blah and how sorry you are and how you have personal issues at home which explains for your behavior of late.....and hope you get a sympathy rehire. Manipulate him for the short-term money until you find something else.

...Keep working while you interview for jobs somewhere else. In that manner, you have steady income coming in with the asshole boss until you seamlessly transition into your next job.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

...Keep working while you interview for jobs somewhere else. In that manner, you have steady income coming in with the asshole boss until you seamlessly transition into your next job.

He should be eligible for unemployment, so he'll still have income while looking for work.

 

[veri745]

if he tells me to do something that will make us lose money, i will say something because if i dont the company will fail anyway. isnt that why businesses have employees? to do smart things? this wasnt a broom pushing job...

If my boss tells me to do something stupid / unprofitable / inefficient for the company, I call him out on it, calmly, and provide justification. If he disagrees or tells me to do it anyway, I do it, because guess what, he's the boss.

I don't blame your boss at all for firing you. A direct call-out like will never go any better than calling out one of the mods here.

 

[wirednuts]

a.) If he's firing people to cut his losses and is making various excuses for the firings, then it is what it is. Nothing you can do about this.

b.) If you figure out that he ONLY fired you b/c he felt you were an ass to him, then you can eat some humble pie and go into his office for a 30 minute meeting and discuss how much you like the job and how responsible you are, blah, blah blah and how sorry you are and how you have personal issues at home which explains for your behavior of late.....and hope you get a sympathy rehire. Manipulate him for the short-term money until you find something else.

...Keep working while you interview for jobs somewhere else. In that manner, you have steady income coming in with the asshole boss until you seamlessly transition into your next job.

this is really good advice, honestly. even though i should get ui, i hate relying on it.

this guy is not the sympathetic type though. he is ocd and paranoid. he wont even let me back into the shop, i can promise you that. he freaked out when the owner of the rival repair shop came in once. he thought the guy was in there to spy, when all the guy wanted to do was meet and greet.

 

[wirednuts]

If my boss tells me to do something stupid / unprofitable / inefficient for the company, I call him out on it, calmly, and provide justification. If he disagrees or tells me to do it anyway, I do it, because guess what, he's the boss.

I don't blame your boss at all for firing you. A direct call-out like will never go any better than calling out one of the mods here.

i didnt talk to him any differently then he talks to us every single day. its like someone at occ choppers show being fired for cussing.

 

[NFS4]

i didnt talk to him any differently then he talks to us every single day. its like someone at occ choppers show being fired for cussing.

But he's the boss and you're not. That's just the way it goes. Know your place... :whiste:

It's like when I was kid; I found out easily that I could diffuse my dad in an argument by talking rationally and in a calm manner no matter how angry he was. If I raised my voice and basically got into a shouting match with him (basically me acting like a little shit), it never ended well -- usually resulted in me getting grounded.

I've found that hard lessons learned early come in handy later in life.

 

[PowerYoga]

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?

It's all about liability. When you own a business you'll understand why you don't want rogue employees going about doing stuff that you don't sanction, no matter how good their intentions are. ESPECIALLY for customer facing engagements.

What if some guy says you came in, beat him up and stole all his money and he's going to sue the hell out of you and your boss? You have to prove you didn't do it, but all signs will just point to you being there at the time of the "beating" and all your boss can say is "well he wasn't supposed to be there". He'll still be responsible for the suit most on top of yourself and no matter what happens, you both lose and are out a ton of money and he'll most likely have to close up shop.

He's probably too paranoid and he sounds like an asshole, but this is common practice across all businesses, big and small.

 

[ShawnD1]

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

I can't imagine how much the world would suck if engineers thought like this. Someone hands you brutal design that absolutely does not work, and you go ahead and add your own stuff to it without saying how fucked up and broken it is.

Apparently GM had a lot of problems like this. Comments going up the chain were completely ignored. How dare some dealership in Iowa report a bunch of mechanical problems that keep happening to a specific type of car? He's the bottom of the chain! We should ignore everything he says! Bad internal structure destroys a lot of companies

 

[zinfamous]

I would've fired you too.


35 bosses says a lot, no matter what industry you're in. At some point you should looks towards yourself and your attitude, and what might be causing this.

1--sucks that people aren't allowed to genuinely be nice and helpful in this age. really, really sucks. Part of why the problems of litigation perpetuate themselves.

2--35 bosses: you aren't reading that correctly. Learn to read.

 

[wirednuts]

It's all about liability. When you own a business you'll understand why you don't want rogue employees going about doing stuff that you don't sanction, no matter how good their intentions are. ESPECIALLY for customer facing engagements.

What if some guy says you came in, beat him up and stole all his money and he's going to sue the hell out of you and your boss? You have to prove you didn't do it, but all signs will just point to you being there at the time of the "beating" and all your boss can say is "well he wasn't supposed to be there". He'll still be responsible for the suit most on top of yourself and no matter what happens, you both lose and are out a ton of money and he'll most likely have to close up shop.

He's probably too paranoid and he sounds like an asshole, but this is common practice across all businesses, big and small.

what if the guy says i beat him up and stole everything from him while i was ON a service call? were still getting sued, the only difference is the customer has proof i was there.

 

[dr150]

this is really good advice, honestly. even though i should get ui, i hate relying on it.

this guy is not the sympathetic type though. he is ocd and paranoid. he wont even let me back into the shop, i can promise you that. he freaked out when the owner of the rival repair shop came in once. he thought the guy was in there to spy, when all the guy wanted to do was meet and greet.

I would attempt the one-on-one onsite. If he refuses, then do it offsite and invite him for a beer (worth the $10/2 beers to get that paycheck flowing again).

You'd be astonished how difficult work employees soften up with a beer in them. Take "no" for an answer when it comes to trying to get your job back for the time being. There is no reason why he can't meet up with you somewhere at his shop or pub to make amends. Manipulate him. Tell him what he wants to hear. It's worth the effort and it's better than claiming UI, which is a pain. Don't take too long on this as people decisions get more ingrained as time goes by, so call him up today and get that shit over with.....Having that paycheck will hold you over until you find another job.

And if it ultimately doesn't work out in your favor, then fuck it/him. You gave it an honest try. Time to move on to the next gig. At least you played it out the right way when it comes to having money in your pocket.