John miships, forces overnight, blames other people
fireman
Monday, October 27, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Buy This Item, We don't Have It
So, this morning I came in at 8:30. Among the typical morning activities, I had to take 91 items and set them up on the website so they aren't in stock. Basically, they were set to limitless, and we never had them. We ordered most of them in Jan, and they never came, yet we were telling customers we had them and were happy to take their money. What is scary is we have 60,000 SKU's, and I am willing to bet more than 65% of them we don't have, but they are set to limitless, showing IN STOCK on the websites.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Nevermind
I was just pulled from that emergency action to put labels on boxes. I guess they mysteriously forgot how. I'm now supposed to bother this guy on the east coast with this right before he goes home. Of course after I put labels on boxes, John will ask me why it wasn't done.
More Redundancy and Harrassing Vendors
So today I compiled a list. I took a list from a vendor that was all whacked out. This list contained all orders that we had with them that were either open or on backorder. Regardless of it being whacked out, I got it, and the data is there and great to have. It looked something like:
CA 11
Div 1
Order# Order Dt Ship Dt Cancl Dt X St Cust PO# Store
OrdValue
2099261 01/21/08 10/08/08 10/01/08 6 50 LAS VEGAS 9999
1052.53
Order requested 10/08 ***
Line Style........ Color Description Size Ordered Shipped
Unit-price
22 883158 TWINKLE PUMPKIN PRINCE S 2 0
15.000@
M 2 0
Okay, you get the point. I spent nearly an hour and a half compiling and typing this wacky data manually into a spreadsheet. Remember, I don't ever do anything around here, and just stand around. I guarantee Cliff (the person I replaced) never took this initiative.
So I have the list.
I then created two versions. One sorted by order date, and another sorted by Item #.
Now I have all of this data. All of the backorders from one of our suppliers, when they were ordered, as well as other juicy data. It's all there. I can really work from this list. With this list, I can get rid of merchandise we will never see again, turn off items we can't sell, and know what's on backorder. Nice.
I take this list to John.
At first, he is excited ( I told you no one's ever done this).
First he says, okay go through the bad ones, turn them off on the website. Of course. Check.
Next, he says go through the orders call the people, let them know. Obvious. Check.
Here's the fun part...
Well, before you do that. Call the distributor on the phone. Give them each item and go down the list and find out what's on backorder and what we'll never get.
(isn't that what this list is?)
So, once again, as with all the distributors, and with all work, it has to be done a second time. It also has to be done on the phone. No email, phone. And, I now have to waste a vendor reps hour reading him this entire list as he looks it up in his system (again), pulls up each item, and checks it all. I can't email him a spreadsheet. I have to call him and give him cause to hate me and avoid all future phone calls, like all the vendors do with John.
Good times.
CA 11
Div 1
Order# Order Dt Ship Dt Cancl Dt X St Cust PO# Store
OrdValue
2099261 01/21/08 10/08/08 10/01/08 6 50 LAS VEGAS 9999
1052.53
Order requested 10/08 ***
Line Style........ Color Description Size Ordered Shipped
Unit-price
22 883158 TWINKLE PUMPKIN PRINCE S 2 0
15.000@
M 2 0
Okay, you get the point. I spent nearly an hour and a half compiling and typing this wacky data manually into a spreadsheet. Remember, I don't ever do anything around here, and just stand around. I guarantee Cliff (the person I replaced) never took this initiative.
So I have the list.
I then created two versions. One sorted by order date, and another sorted by Item #.
Now I have all of this data. All of the backorders from one of our suppliers, when they were ordered, as well as other juicy data. It's all there. I can really work from this list. With this list, I can get rid of merchandise we will never see again, turn off items we can't sell, and know what's on backorder. Nice.
I take this list to John.
At first, he is excited ( I told you no one's ever done this).
First he says, okay go through the bad ones, turn them off on the website. Of course. Check.
Next, he says go through the orders call the people, let them know. Obvious. Check.
Here's the fun part...
Well, before you do that. Call the distributor on the phone. Give them each item and go down the list and find out what's on backorder and what we'll never get.
(isn't that what this list is?)
So, once again, as with all the distributors, and with all work, it has to be done a second time. It also has to be done on the phone. No email, phone. And, I now have to waste a vendor reps hour reading him this entire list as he looks it up in his system (again), pulls up each item, and checks it all. I can't email him a spreadsheet. I have to call him and give him cause to hate me and avoid all future phone calls, like all the vendors do with John.
Good times.
Computer Tantrum
John is now throwing a tantrum, because we can't print a pick list from the hard drive he refuses to replace. Eventually this place is going to lose all of their data, and he's going to find someone to blame it on, because he never does anything wrong. Blame constantly changes, but right now, Dell is shady because they sold him a bogus computer. Ignore the fact that I've used computers for 27 years and I know a bad hard drive when I hear one, and that his Dell is old, or that in order to restart the machine, he REQUIRES you to shut down the entire power strip, which includes air internet modules, two routers, etc.
Ancient Order Madness
Fifteen minutes until 11:00 am, John starts screaming in the shipping room. I go into find out why, and it's because an order hasn't been placed. This order is VERY old. I was told the order was placed previously. Come to find out it wasn't.
The issue of this order has come up here and there, and over the last five days, I have repeatedly told John that I have no contact information, no phone number, no account number for this company that we have to place the order with. Not only that, no one has ever told me what needs to be ordered. As usual, I am ignored.
Well, fifteen minutes before eleven, he starts freaking out and panicking like he always does (imagine Will Ferrell on cocain pretending to be a three year old). Things are getting thrown around and it's things like "This is bogus!" or "This is messed up. People aren't doing what they need to. I'm the only one who does anything." or "This won't work!" (insert stomping of little 3 year old feet).
So, I scramble to get this information that no one has ever given me in fifteen minutes. Well, the hard drive that I have been telling him about for the last month doesn't work. It hasn't, and he's been informed of this. So what does this mean? I can't create a pick list (what items are needed to ship) because it's on the failing hard drive. Not to mention, Matt's computer isn't working (probably because of this hard drive).
So, I tell this to John. He freaks out even worse. "No! This isn't acceptable. It has to be done today. It has to be done now. We have only ten minutes until eleven." Well, yes, John, we only have ten minutes until eleven, because you only thought to do this five minutes ago.
So he tells me to give him the information. WHAT information?!?! I don't have it. This is his deal. No one has given me any information as to what was ordered, even if it had been, and what needed to be. I have no information. As I had just finished explaining to him, I have no pick list, because he doesn't want to replace the hard drive that has all of our data on it that likes to go dead and make big clicky noises.
So long story boring, he continues to have tantrums. I'm bascially told he demands this information now. Information that I do not have, cannot access a computer to get, and cant' pull out of thin air. He tells me to call Matt and have him read it to me from his pick list. Why John's pick list, which is just as old as Matt's won't work, only John knows, so I call Matt.
The issue of this order has come up here and there, and over the last five days, I have repeatedly told John that I have no contact information, no phone number, no account number for this company that we have to place the order with. Not only that, no one has ever told me what needs to be ordered. As usual, I am ignored.
Well, fifteen minutes before eleven, he starts freaking out and panicking like he always does (imagine Will Ferrell on cocain pretending to be a three year old). Things are getting thrown around and it's things like "This is bogus!" or "This is messed up. People aren't doing what they need to. I'm the only one who does anything." or "This won't work!" (insert stomping of little 3 year old feet).
So, I scramble to get this information that no one has ever given me in fifteen minutes. Well, the hard drive that I have been telling him about for the last month doesn't work. It hasn't, and he's been informed of this. So what does this mean? I can't create a pick list (what items are needed to ship) because it's on the failing hard drive. Not to mention, Matt's computer isn't working (probably because of this hard drive).
So, I tell this to John. He freaks out even worse. "No! This isn't acceptable. It has to be done today. It has to be done now. We have only ten minutes until eleven." Well, yes, John, we only have ten minutes until eleven, because you only thought to do this five minutes ago.
So he tells me to give him the information. WHAT information?!?! I don't have it. This is his deal. No one has given me any information as to what was ordered, even if it had been, and what needed to be. I have no information. As I had just finished explaining to him, I have no pick list, because he doesn't want to replace the hard drive that has all of our data on it that likes to go dead and make big clicky noises.
So long story boring, he continues to have tantrums. I'm bascially told he demands this information now. Information that I do not have, cannot access a computer to get, and cant' pull out of thin air. He tells me to call Matt and have him read it to me from his pick list. Why John's pick list, which is just as old as Matt's won't work, only John knows, so I call Matt.
Customer Issues
Over the next day or so, I will get to how he treats, and what he says about customers. I have been focusing mainly on how he treats the employees, but when something bad happens or changes every five minutes, it's hard not to.
My biggest fear in keeping this blog is that I believe some of what he is doing might be illegal, and because I am in fear of losing my job, I don't turn him in. Therefore, I fear that I would be seen as an accomplice, or even breaking the law by not turning him in. There are so many OSHA, Fire Code, Labor board, and other laws being broken, I don't know where to begin.
My biggest fear in keeping this blog is that I believe some of what he is doing might be illegal, and because I am in fear of losing my job, I don't turn him in. Therefore, I fear that I would be seen as an accomplice, or even breaking the law by not turning him in. There are so many OSHA, Fire Code, Labor board, and other laws being broken, I don't know where to begin.
Playing Employees on Each Other
So something I hadn't mentioned completely before. John likes to cause drama and play people against each other. I've never seen so much drama before. So much gossip. So much redundancy.
An example. He tells me today that Kerry has complained. That she has stated that there are "tons of pissed off customers who are freaking out," who don't know where there orders are.
When I am emailed that there is a customer with a question, I contact them as soon as I get the email. Obviously, if they call, I handle it right then and there. And, when permitted, I send a notice to the customer that something is on backorder. Usually this is delayed because John thinks it's better to dig through old clearance costumes, or some other pointless task than to help customers, and then he wants to know why it isn't done, when he's pulled me off of it 15 times. Oh, and don't even go into the fact that he forgot that he pulled me off of it.
So, there are tons of pissed off customers. They are at the gates with torches in hand, they are going crazy, they are calling every 3 minutes, etc. I contacted Kerry. Guess what. There's no one. Not a fucking soul. The guy is mental and lives in a delusion.
He did this the other day, as well. A few nights ago we were packing. I have NEVER been trained on packing or picking. But, then, no one has ever been trained at this place. So, I do my best. But I don't want to pick the same thing twice, or get in people's way, and he keeps getting on the phone and on the shipping computer, so I can do nothing. I told Nat that I feel like I was wasting his money, because I was standing around, and every time that I asked what I needed to do, I was ignored.
The next morning, he tells me that other people are complaining that I am doing nothing and standing around. I told him that "several people" don't even work at the warehouse, and his answer was, "Me, Nat, Matt, that's several." So, all in all I was told that Matt and Kerry were complaining because they "work so hard and James does nothing." I talked to both of them, whom I trust, because they see the exact same problems with John's mental process, and guess what? Nothing. Neither said anything, and Kerry even said that John was complaining about it and that he would blame is on her. He did.
Fact is, I mentioned it to Nat, who I bet suggest I NOT stand around and cost them money, and in his delusional state, he took it to the next level and thought fictitious people were complaining. One thing is certain, he is running this company into the ground, and treating his employees like slaves, and I don't use that word liberally.
An example. He tells me today that Kerry has complained. That she has stated that there are "tons of pissed off customers who are freaking out," who don't know where there orders are.
When I am emailed that there is a customer with a question, I contact them as soon as I get the email. Obviously, if they call, I handle it right then and there. And, when permitted, I send a notice to the customer that something is on backorder. Usually this is delayed because John thinks it's better to dig through old clearance costumes, or some other pointless task than to help customers, and then he wants to know why it isn't done, when he's pulled me off of it 15 times. Oh, and don't even go into the fact that he forgot that he pulled me off of it.
So, there are tons of pissed off customers. They are at the gates with torches in hand, they are going crazy, they are calling every 3 minutes, etc. I contacted Kerry. Guess what. There's no one. Not a fucking soul. The guy is mental and lives in a delusion.
He did this the other day, as well. A few nights ago we were packing. I have NEVER been trained on packing or picking. But, then, no one has ever been trained at this place. So, I do my best. But I don't want to pick the same thing twice, or get in people's way, and he keeps getting on the phone and on the shipping computer, so I can do nothing. I told Nat that I feel like I was wasting his money, because I was standing around, and every time that I asked what I needed to do, I was ignored.
The next morning, he tells me that other people are complaining that I am doing nothing and standing around. I told him that "several people" don't even work at the warehouse, and his answer was, "Me, Nat, Matt, that's several." So, all in all I was told that Matt and Kerry were complaining because they "work so hard and James does nothing." I talked to both of them, whom I trust, because they see the exact same problems with John's mental process, and guess what? Nothing. Neither said anything, and Kerry even said that John was complaining about it and that he would blame is on her. He did.
Fact is, I mentioned it to Nat, who I bet suggest I NOT stand around and cost them money, and in his delusional state, he took it to the next level and thought fictitious people were complaining. One thing is certain, he is running this company into the ground, and treating his employees like slaves, and I don't use that word liberally.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
John's Tunnel Vision Again
Today no one was in the office. The hard drive that John refuses to replace gave me some problems again, but I did what I could. I managed to catch up quite a bit without him around changing things every five minutes. I managed to:
1. Cross reference all backorders across three sheets.
2. Update the Pick List in regards to cancels
3. Update the Pick List in regards to backorders
4. Update all Pick List notes
5. Contact more than 20 customers in regards to backorders John has created
6. Handle six or seven customer issues Kerry had and couldn't do herself
7. Merge Pick Lists and data
8. Email all cancels to Kerry
and about 10 other items.
So, after I finally get things done, because John isn't pulling me off of important work every five minutes to do something new, he comes in today and tells me that he is upset because of a few comments I made and because "I am not doing anything, I am just standing around."
This might stem from the fact that the internet died yesterday and they pulled me off of what I was doing to help pack. I was never trained to pick, nor to pack. No one suggested this is what to do, and John's system is so out of whack and unorganized (because he won't let someone like me fix it) that there's no way to tell what order people are on, if something might get picked twice, and what's happening. As typical, I asked quite a few times what I needed to do, and I was ignored. Anytime you ask John anything, it's like you are talking to a wall, and it seems as if he's doing it on purpose. Sometimes, it's obvious he is. I can see that he has no skills whatsoever in dealing with people, nor a work force. Having been the guild leader of thousands of people over the years, to be an effective leader or manager, you have to be able to deal with people, and not only that, listen to them. John can do neither. I am starting to believe that he may be bi-polar, but that is neither here, nor there.
He basically began telling me that I am not doing my job. The job that I am trying to do, but every five minutes, he has a bi-polar seizure and pulls me off to do something completely unimportant, unrelated, and uneventful. Every five minutes into doing something, I am pulled off to do something else, and never get important things done. Everyone that works here sees this and has commented on this. In any job, you are pulled away, and you must multi-task. This is completely different.
1. Cross reference all backorders across three sheets.
2. Update the Pick List in regards to cancels
3. Update the Pick List in regards to backorders
4. Update all Pick List notes
5. Contact more than 20 customers in regards to backorders John has created
6. Handle six or seven customer issues Kerry had and couldn't do herself
7. Merge Pick Lists and data
8. Email all cancels to Kerry
and about 10 other items.
So, after I finally get things done, because John isn't pulling me off of important work every five minutes to do something new, he comes in today and tells me that he is upset because of a few comments I made and because "I am not doing anything, I am just standing around."
This might stem from the fact that the internet died yesterday and they pulled me off of what I was doing to help pack. I was never trained to pick, nor to pack. No one suggested this is what to do, and John's system is so out of whack and unorganized (because he won't let someone like me fix it) that there's no way to tell what order people are on, if something might get picked twice, and what's happening. As typical, I asked quite a few times what I needed to do, and I was ignored. Anytime you ask John anything, it's like you are talking to a wall, and it seems as if he's doing it on purpose. Sometimes, it's obvious he is. I can see that he has no skills whatsoever in dealing with people, nor a work force. Having been the guild leader of thousands of people over the years, to be an effective leader or manager, you have to be able to deal with people, and not only that, listen to them. John can do neither. I am starting to believe that he may be bi-polar, but that is neither here, nor there.
He basically began telling me that I am not doing my job. The job that I am trying to do, but every five minutes, he has a bi-polar seizure and pulls me off to do something completely unimportant, unrelated, and uneventful. Every five minutes into doing something, I am pulled off to do something else, and never get important things done. Everyone that works here sees this and has commented on this. In any job, you are pulled away, and you must multi-task. This is completely different.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
