Went to the lumberyard, see 2 yard guys smoking in the back bay..
They ignore me.
Figure OK i just need 20 8inch cinder blocks i will back up and load them.
Go to stack theres another stack of 10 inch put on top.
So i need a forklift.
Guys still sitting there im the only customer in the yard.
Go to ask them they act put out im bothering them.
Ok one says just wait a bit and he walks off but his buddy drives up in a car and he stops to BS with him. .
I go back and think OK i can move some of these by the time i walk around the yard looking for someone else.
2 guys go walk somewhere else and never come back.
OK i move a bunch and load up.
Go in the office ask hows biz, the clerk says well your the only one here .
Look out the one guys smoking again.
I tell the clerk{not the boss} Hey if im the only one here how come i cant get these guys to help me, I dont wanna get anyone in trouble but they just laid off a bunch of guys.
I left then felt like a Heel.
Right or wrong whats your call????
Replies
If it was me, at my local yard, I would have called the owner, personal friend in my case, and told him. If it happened to you, it probably happens a lot.
You aren't a heel!!
I hate it when i go by a store and theres 4 employees smoking outside, One fellow told me why should they get a smoke break????. I suppose people get breaks and can smoke but when i framed or roofed i never smoked unless it was lunch time.
Sounds like they should have laid off everyone. Let the owner drive the forklift.
Not a heel, that's why they work there.
They were acting like that because they knew they were going to get laid off.
Regardless of their situation, they had a job to do and weren't even trying.
Now they can smoke while they're waiting for their plasma checks.
You're not a heel.
Whoever suggested that the guys didn't care because they thought they were about to be laid off may likely be right, but it's no excuse for their behavior.
You are not a heel.
I agree with Hasbeen. Thinking they are about to be laid off may have been the -reason- for their behaviour, but it is no -excuse-.
If they were gonna get laid off should i have put the nail in there coffin or ignored it. The big boss was there but i just told the head clerk so i am not sure if he said anything.
In no way are you a heel.
The yards I go to (NOT the big boxes!) always have someone to help, pronto, especially with the lack of business these days.
If that was one of my yards, I would complain like you and give 'em one more chance. If it happened again at that yard: TWO strikes yer out, pal.
That kinda cr^p is total BS.
For that much work, I would not have even waited. I'd have gone to the manager and asked, "How can I get some help loading around here? Those guys in the yard seem too busy to help me out"
This sota thing seems to happen a lot to you what with neighbors using you for free, and another roofer spreading the word that you retired and ...
Do you have one of those, "Please kick sand in my face" kind of looks about you?
gotta take up a collection here and get you a Clint Eastwood/Josey Wales mask
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Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
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In Bobby's case, wouldn't that be a Joisey Wales mask?'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
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Thats a good one!!!!
Must have been because I was just in the Garden State yesterday ;)Missed out on having time to get some delicious beach pizza or pork roll sandwiches, though.'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
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ROAR!!!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
You may jest at my expense Sir Piff but although it seems far fetched my Wife was going to test for the role in that movie when she was in her actress phase which she threw out for her being married to a successful roofer phase!!!!. That Clint had his own goil!!!!
Yes its true nowadays Nice means Stupid. I grew up behaving a certain way and am not used to this "brave new world".. To late to change now. Theres usually other young guys working that run over to help me as i joke with them but they might have been laid off.. I do take my lumps but i feel good when my boys friends tell them they love there Dad and when they worked for me they felt like they were my sons too.
be a man Bobby
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you"re only heel for not getting them canned and freeing up the job for someone who actually wants to work
What if the guy just had a bad day????. He looked like he had a hangover to me though.. Im not worried about being punched as in your cartoon . I had a poifect O-4 boxing record!!!!. Heck one time i almost made it to the second round!!!!
that was supposed to be you doin the punchin..
"What if the guy just had a bad day????."
well, if it was one of my guys just havina bad day and acting like that, it would be his last day. Reason being, your a understanding, good, decent guy, didn"t bother you. But the guy who came in after you and got the same treatment and decided he'd go elswhere for that $200 load... well that just cost me. Or it may happen all day and nobody says anything, they just don't come back, and I got no idea why bus. is down even further next week. Tell the boss it's his business to know.
you shoulda just jumped in the forklift and had at it. I once cut my own keys at a home depot after waitin around 10 mins for help. Had both of them cut when the manager finally came runnin over kinda mad that i was usin the equipment without training. When I explained why, I got free keys and an apology.
Thats a very good point about losing bizness. This is one of the very few times it happened here but seems HD is filled with ding dongs.
I love ding dongs. the Hostess kind (dont get dirty) specially when warm and soft. Now I'm hungry.
Ring dings are a bit better !!!
I'm with you - you only get me for so long before my investment of time to spend money at your store turns into self serve.
I'm more than happy to help myself. Usually I prefer it. In an effort to not make waves, I'll give the employees a chance to try to help. When my personal clock runs out - get outta the way...
After I take care of pickin', loadin', and securin' by myself - I love when they want to "check" me on the way out. Nope.
I know I got just and only what I paid for - they may not - but that's their problem.Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
They told me guys were stealing lumber but they just wave me through. I tell em count cause i lose count after i use all my fingers and toes. I do have trouble counting the drip edge metal nowadays.
I never been caught stealin'
Cause I never have.
But, after I do the job of the people I paid (price included service that I didn't get) - who's stealin' now?
I'm not in the habit of lettin' thieves check my integrity...Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
I'da taken my ever present tow strap and tied that pallet to my truck and yanked it off what I need.
Only time I ever got in trouble for stuff like that was they had me on camera when when I put a loop in the twine from the box on a guys ball hitch before he drove off..LOL Twine all the way across the parking lot.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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This thread is reminding me of a yard in FL where I did some business at first. The only way you could get help was to wear a short skirt, or be buying something very light weight. The heavy stuff the yard guys let you load by yourself.So a lot of guys just kinda lost count of how many they were loading when they had to load it all alone.Which was a shame because the owner was a pretty nice fellow.After a while they built a shack at the gate so the do-nothing yard help could get out of the sun while they waited for you to drive up so they could count the pieces.I quit going there, mostly because the location was a bear to get in and out of for traffic.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
When I was in High School I was an Asst. purchasing agent for a local yet pretty big outfit ( Like 84 before they grew) and they too had a problem with yard guys "on the take"...slip em a Jackson and your 25 2x4's suddenly became a slew of 2x6, or 2x10...not only did the finally fire the yard guys, they black listed the contractors they implicated.
I kinda liked that job, I was on Work Study my Junior and Senior yrs. So I left school at 1030 AM and went to work..often till 800 at night. I also got to stock the shelves, unload the trucks and call in orders to paint and tool suppliers. I learned a lot about how a yard works. Like "Black Horse" code for priceing..assign a # B=0, L=1, A=2..and so on..each item in the store had a code of the actual cost..say ABAB that is 20.20$ and the retail price may be 39.99..so I could also dicker price in other stores.
The other common code was "Hard To Guess" same deal.
Darcy probably knows what I'm talking about.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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only way you could get help was to wear a short skirt,
Did your shoes and purse match?http://www.quittintime.com/ View Image
Yeah, but unfortunately he was wearing white after Labor Day.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
I loaded a pallet of shingles with Lowes forklift. Boy were they mad. The police were there the next time I drove up. Had the receipts. They said don't do that Isaid load me and don't drive past me with 2 2x4 and 2 people.
I remember once in a cafe where I was having lunch, asking the waitress about five times for a coffee refill and she kept flitting about. She would politely acknowledge and say sure, be right with you, but stopping to talk with some other folks that seemed to be her friends.Finally since the coffee pot was like five steps away from me, I got up and walked over to it.IO barely started pouring and she was right on me grabbing it out of my hand and the manager right behind her giving ME hell for serving myself. That stunt of physically grabbing the pot meant spilled coffee and all three of us mad at each other.needless to say, no tip and no return visit there.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
In the last town i lived in the local lumber yard had a want ad in the paper on a continuos basis.
The turn over was real bad. I had to wonder if the yard guys were treated badly somehow.
Management in these places can be real bad. One old guy in the front seemed like he had a bad temper.
I'm not making excuses for lazy inconsiderate workers. But sometimes there is a reason the public doesn't see.
Will Rogers
Edited 6/3/2009 6:07 pm by popawheelie
I think ya did the right thing.
I've had to do similar things a time or two. Often the owner or manager thanked me. He said that if no one told him what was going on he'd have no way of knowing about it. The customers NEED to give feedback.
I'm thinking generally the manager or owner does have some idea. The complaint is all they need to tip them into decision/action phase.The few times I went to the top with a complaint, the feedback I got was that they were already having problems with that employee and had warned them once.A manager finds it easier in some states to fire somebody when they have a track record of warnings and actions or complaints documented.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
You did yourself, every future customer, and the owners of that lumber yard a favor.
They shoulda been fired.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I have complained to the owner of the yard that I use for very similar customer dis-service. It annoys the H*** of of me to be treated as though I'm invisible.
Bob