Job related rant

swooshfinn

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I am going to try to keep this short and sweet for everyone's sake (actually I am surprised that I am not feeling upset about the situation). I work retail, more importantly, home improvement. A couple of weeks ago, you would have found me as an assistant manager of my store's Cabinets and Appliances department, but now you'll find me flinging freight in our hardware department.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a customer (apparently a contractor that spends alot of money in our store) come into Cabinets and Appliances at 9:45pm wanting a design for a kitchen. At that point I had been working since 9:00 am that morning ( had my mandatory lunch break, I don't want a write-up for not taking one) and the store closes at 10:00pm. I tried to explain to the contractor that I could get the information I needed, and that I could start on the design that night, but I would need some more time the following morning to finish. Immediately the contractor starts yelling at me about how he wants his kitchen done and that I don't want his business. I tried explaining calmly to the contractor that I really needed more time than he was allowing me (no guarantee that I was going to finish the design before the store manager kicked us out for the evening) and I really wanted to get out of there that evening because I had to be back first thing in the morning. The contractor goes on a tirade and storms off to find the store manager (who has also worked cabinets and appliances and knows how long a design can take). Needless to say, the store manager finds me and starts screaming at me, cause the contractor is acting like a two year old throwing a tantrum. A full week and a half goes by, I get called back to the back office of our store last Friday, one of the store managers tells me to go to the conference room, I go in and sit for a few minutes, then enter the two store managers (not the one working the night of the incident, he had moved to another store in Iowa) and the Human Resources coordinator. They had decided to demote me from management to full-time non-management, they reason was the incident from the previous week, and that sales were down for the month of June. Fluff excuses! The store manager also stated that if I wanted, he would work with me to get back to management. At this point, I have just started my 5th year with the company, I have been demoted a total of three times, once from department manager to full time, and the other two from assistant manager to full time.

I have decided that enough is enough, I am currently actively seeking other positions, I even submitted my resume for a corporate position with Petsmart last night and will continue to actively pursue other employers to get away from the "toxic environment" (at least that is what I consider it as) of my current employer.
 

laureen227

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sounds to me like you've made the right decision... i'd've probably made it 2 demotions ago!
 

gailc

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So I'm thinking the contractor gave a time frame to a potential client that was not enough and decided finally to do something at the last minute.
So he comes in a few minutes before closing and assumes you can fix everything up for him? Yikes-I don't know if I would want him as my contractor!! So you can't please him and for some reason its entirely your fault? Plus you get blames for lowers sales-regardless of the state of the economy and housing market. Sounds like they made you the fall guy for many items out of your control. The timing for the other manager too-so why did he get transferred??
I too would look for another position that would treat you better.
 
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swooshfinn

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The other manager is originally from Iowa and wanted to be closer to family back there, in fact he moved out there for a promotion. I, on the other hand have lived 4 hours away from my parents pretty much since graduating from college. St Louis, Milwaukee, Terre Haute and Lafayette are all a good 4 hour drive back to the folks'. Given the fact that I can train a monkey to do most of the jobs I have held with my current company and the amount of material that was covered for my degree program at Illinois State, I could have a MBA.

Although I don't know how many times I have heard the Cheif Operations Officer for my company say, "You don't need an MBA to run a business!"

He has some validity to that point, he is partial owner of the "third largest home improvement chain" in America, and at 240 stores strong and moving into its 11th state, I don't see how someone can agrue against his statement. But I will say that the company can be ran better and that there are a lot of flaws in the system that everyone that works within the company can see but noone will do anything about.

The corporate culture is not something I want to be apart of anymore, I really don't associate with or respect a lot of my customers and I find that I despise a lot of them, cause they remind me of the kids I hated and despised growing up; never prepared, not really striving to make themselves better, and rather immature most of the time.
 
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