- Jul 26, 2002
- 11,757
- 0
- 71
Ok, so I work retail for a cell phone provider. Let me give you some quick background info on what the emails that follow are about.
We have security devices on all our phones. Most of them work fine. There are a few that tend to malfunction all the time. The alarms go off when someone slightly touches the phone. This has been on going for months now. All the employees are annoyed by it. I have sent one previous email about this a few months back that basically said
"Hey guys, the alarm on x phone keeps going off. Can we please get it fixed?" or something along those lines.
Fast forward to 2 days before X-mas. Very busy time in the store. Myself and one other employee are working at about 6:30 at night and this alarm starts going off non-stop. Literally 5 times within 60 seconds. Needless to say I was a bit annoyed. I sent out an email and this is what follows:
Guys,
The alarm on the Motorola Rizr is malfunctioning again. Three things happens when this occurs. It slows down the flow of traffic, as the reps have to constantly go turn them off. It annoys our customers, as its very loud. Also, eventually a key is just left in the alarm until traffic slows down because reps cannot go turn it off every 3 minutes. This means that the alarms are worthless because they won't go off with the key in them and anyone can steal a phone. When the alarms do go off constantly though it doesn't matter. Its like the boy crying wolf. When the alarms are constantly malfunctioning we don't think it's a real threat. That means if the alarm does go off and its legit nobody moves real quick because it's a common occurrence..brb. Ok back, sorry had to go turn off the alarm, it just went off AGAIN~!~
Please guys, can we figure out how to get this fixed. I think I speak on behalf of the team when I say I HATE THE ALARMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cuda
**I sent this email out to our entire store (7 employees)**
My manager responds directly to me.
Okay Cuda so this is the problem........I guess it would be to much to ask to take some initiative and fix the problem. Until Cuda *last name* can come up with a full proof security system I guess this what the entire team has to deal with..........when Cuda *last name* becomes the owner of his own company and develops his own full proof security system I guess this is the best we can do. So until then this is the system we all have to deal with......my apologises to all!!
I then responded with the following:
Wow, I'm sorry. I was just attempting to let the managers know about a problem that all the reps have been dealing with. My intent of the mail was to illuminate the problem and show how it could be a security risk, as well as a major nuisance to the employees. Unfortunately I am not in charge of the security devices. I do not have any control over setting them up, ordering new ones or any of the other stuff that goes into securing our phones. I suppose you are right, when I become a manager I can look into this problem further. Until then we will just have to deal with it I guess.
What I don't understand is why its being requested of me to "take some initiative and fix the problem". I took some initiative and told the proper people about the problem. When it wasn't fixed I told them about it again. I'm trying to do everything that's in my control, unfortunately replacing/fixing security devices isn't something I'm supposed to be doing, as far as I know. Maybe I'm wrong.
And for the record, I'm not asking for a 'full proof security system' I'm simply requesting one that doesn't provide false alarms all the time. As I've said before, if there are constant false alarms it means when there is a real theft attempt employees will not take it seriously. If I'm not mistaken two phones were stolen recently, or am I mistaken?
*Shrugs*
Cuda
Im a bit agitated at this point... my manager responds to me:
Unfortunately Cuda there were new security devices that myself and *other manager* had installed when you had informed us about this issue. Again I apologise to you and the entire *city* market that also has this problem. And your right I guess its not your job to have a sense of ownership in your workplace.
And one more response from me:
If its a problem that cannot be fixed, a simple communication to the team would suffice. What I don't understand is why my work ethic is being questioned with phrases such as " have a sense of ownership in your work place" and "take some initiative and fix the problem". If its something that you admit is not fixable, why would you expect me to take initiative or have a sense of ownership and fix it? Its not fixable. Furthermore, the sarcasm associated with those comments is not appreciated at all. We will discuss this further in person tomorrow.
That was that. The next day I went in and told him I thought he was very unprofessional, belittling, insulting and out of line. He told me that I was the one that was disrespectful etc... it basically turned into an hour long discussion about all kinds of ish. Being Christmas and all I basically told him that I didn't agree with his viewpoint on it and that I just wanted to go do my job since it was so busy. Now Im trying to figure out what to do from here on out.
What I'm looking for from ATOT is an honest opinion on who was out of line in the emails. For the record I'm not a problematic employee and don't have an behavior problems. The manager doesn't have the respect of any of the employees as he treats a lot of us with little respect and also violates corporate policies with a lot of the things he does in the store, but thats beside the point.
I know I can get an unbiased, honest opinion from ATOT and thats what I want. (Everyone Ive talked to say my manager is an asshole, but they were all my friends/family so...)
No cliffs, you must read the emails.
We have security devices on all our phones. Most of them work fine. There are a few that tend to malfunction all the time. The alarms go off when someone slightly touches the phone. This has been on going for months now. All the employees are annoyed by it. I have sent one previous email about this a few months back that basically said
"Hey guys, the alarm on x phone keeps going off. Can we please get it fixed?" or something along those lines.
Fast forward to 2 days before X-mas. Very busy time in the store. Myself and one other employee are working at about 6:30 at night and this alarm starts going off non-stop. Literally 5 times within 60 seconds. Needless to say I was a bit annoyed. I sent out an email and this is what follows:
Guys,
The alarm on the Motorola Rizr is malfunctioning again. Three things happens when this occurs. It slows down the flow of traffic, as the reps have to constantly go turn them off. It annoys our customers, as its very loud. Also, eventually a key is just left in the alarm until traffic slows down because reps cannot go turn it off every 3 minutes. This means that the alarms are worthless because they won't go off with the key in them and anyone can steal a phone. When the alarms do go off constantly though it doesn't matter. Its like the boy crying wolf. When the alarms are constantly malfunctioning we don't think it's a real threat. That means if the alarm does go off and its legit nobody moves real quick because it's a common occurrence..brb. Ok back, sorry had to go turn off the alarm, it just went off AGAIN~!~
Please guys, can we figure out how to get this fixed. I think I speak on behalf of the team when I say I HATE THE ALARMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cuda
**I sent this email out to our entire store (7 employees)**
My manager responds directly to me.
Okay Cuda so this is the problem........I guess it would be to much to ask to take some initiative and fix the problem. Until Cuda *last name* can come up with a full proof security system I guess this what the entire team has to deal with..........when Cuda *last name* becomes the owner of his own company and develops his own full proof security system I guess this is the best we can do. So until then this is the system we all have to deal with......my apologises to all!!
I then responded with the following:
Wow, I'm sorry. I was just attempting to let the managers know about a problem that all the reps have been dealing with. My intent of the mail was to illuminate the problem and show how it could be a security risk, as well as a major nuisance to the employees. Unfortunately I am not in charge of the security devices. I do not have any control over setting them up, ordering new ones or any of the other stuff that goes into securing our phones. I suppose you are right, when I become a manager I can look into this problem further. Until then we will just have to deal with it I guess.
What I don't understand is why its being requested of me to "take some initiative and fix the problem". I took some initiative and told the proper people about the problem. When it wasn't fixed I told them about it again. I'm trying to do everything that's in my control, unfortunately replacing/fixing security devices isn't something I'm supposed to be doing, as far as I know. Maybe I'm wrong.
And for the record, I'm not asking for a 'full proof security system' I'm simply requesting one that doesn't provide false alarms all the time. As I've said before, if there are constant false alarms it means when there is a real theft attempt employees will not take it seriously. If I'm not mistaken two phones were stolen recently, or am I mistaken?
*Shrugs*
Cuda
Im a bit agitated at this point... my manager responds to me:
Unfortunately Cuda there were new security devices that myself and *other manager* had installed when you had informed us about this issue. Again I apologise to you and the entire *city* market that also has this problem. And your right I guess its not your job to have a sense of ownership in your workplace.
And one more response from me:
If its a problem that cannot be fixed, a simple communication to the team would suffice. What I don't understand is why my work ethic is being questioned with phrases such as " have a sense of ownership in your work place" and "take some initiative and fix the problem". If its something that you admit is not fixable, why would you expect me to take initiative or have a sense of ownership and fix it? Its not fixable. Furthermore, the sarcasm associated with those comments is not appreciated at all. We will discuss this further in person tomorrow.
That was that. The next day I went in and told him I thought he was very unprofessional, belittling, insulting and out of line. He told me that I was the one that was disrespectful etc... it basically turned into an hour long discussion about all kinds of ish. Being Christmas and all I basically told him that I didn't agree with his viewpoint on it and that I just wanted to go do my job since it was so busy. Now Im trying to figure out what to do from here on out.
What I'm looking for from ATOT is an honest opinion on who was out of line in the emails. For the record I'm not a problematic employee and don't have an behavior problems. The manager doesn't have the respect of any of the employees as he treats a lot of us with little respect and also violates corporate policies with a lot of the things he does in the store, but thats beside the point.
I know I can get an unbiased, honest opinion from ATOT and thats what I want. (Everyone Ive talked to say my manager is an asshole, but they were all my friends/family so...)
No cliffs, you must read the emails.
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