Cheapest Company You Have Ever Worked For?

[drewboy12]

Beyond me why people work at jobs they hate... Ive worked at places that sure, were not the greatest, but if your unhappy, move on... Money isn't everything. I dont make much money, but am damn happy with my work. I actually look forward to going to work on a daily basis.

[dj_patm]

Originally Posted by drewboy12

Beyond me why people work at jobs they hate... Ive worked at places that sure, were not the greatest, but if your unhappy, move on... Money isn't everything. I dont make much money, but am damn happy with my work. I actually look forward to going to work on a daily basis.

Thats why I stay. The people I work with are good, the job is pretty slack in the down months and I'm surrounded by sports.

I just hate how cheap the company is and how they don't give a flying f about the staff that make them their money.

I've been offered 3 jobs while I was working because of my service to customers, all offered me more money and a better job overall, why I didn't take 'em up on the offers I dunno (well one seemed like a scam, one was at a rival store and one was at Bose... should've taken that one)

[blankall]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Weird. I had exactly the same experience in the kitchen with these guys. Begging for raises and all. You forgot the best part. No breaks whatsoever, unless it was unpaid.

Which I'm fairly sure is illegal.

But what made it worse on top of that is that smokers were allowed to have 5 minute "smoke breaks".

I think a lot of people may have had that experience. They had a tough time keeping staff. This made the job even worse. You were constantly picking up the slack for people who had quit and walked out on shifts or people with way too little experience.

I also worked at the Keg, which was a huuuuuuuuge difference from the Earls I worked at.

It was simple things that made the difference. At the Keg we got free sides plus 40% off steaks. This meant you got a steak dinner for like 7 or 8 bucks. The discount also applied to anytime, so you could stop in while you were not working. It also applied if you brought in your girlfriend, a family member, or even a good friend the restaurant was familiar with.

Staff parties at the Keg were also amazing. They even had a retreat up in Whistler where they rented a massive lodge. Everyone who worked for the company was invited.

The head kitchen guys at the Keg restaurant I worked at had been there forever and they had no trouble whatsoever keeping staff.

I think the general sense of community at the Keg made the waitresses a lot friendlier too. Working in the kitchen at Earls they treated you like their . Working at the Keg you were their co-worker.

I should also mention that the managers at Earls were constantly trying to shave our hours to meet their own targets. So you had to keep track or get screwed.

[dj_patm]

You see my manager is a really nice guy so thats why all the staff in our store sticks around, however we all have a mutual hatred towards the company. It shows too. Especially when I tell people to go to our rival stores and tell them that stuff is over priced and stuff like that, which in turn makes them feel better about the service they just recieved.

[Ice]

Originally Posted by drewboy12

Beyond me why people work at jobs they hate... Ive worked at places that sure, were not the greatest, but if your unhappy, move on... Money isn't everything. I dont make much money, but am damn happy with my work. I actually look forward to going to work on a daily basis.

The thing is, most people stay at jobs they hate because they need the money. Especially during times like this, with high unemployment, it's risky to leave unless you have somewhere to go. I'm lucky, I'm just waiting for my "somewhere to go" to be ready to take on my salary. Then I will be leaving a job I hate now, that I used to love, because of the ridiculous management in place now.

I hang in there because I like being able to travel, my son's hockey is very expensive and I have a kid starting college in two years and want plenty of money put away for all of that. So, I will stick it out until my new job is ready for me, which shouldn't be more than a couple more months. The work atmosphere has gotten so miserable there. I used to feel guilty knowing I was going to quit because I know the owners don't want me to leave. Now, I know when the time comes, I can give my notice and make a clean break never wondering if I made the right decision. I look forward to that day. In a weird way, knowing my days at my current job are numbered makes it easier to keep going. If I didn't have the prospect of the new job, I'd probably just quit and stay home.

[Peanut]

Orange Julius. Nuff' said.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Locke

Oh yeah, I worked there too. I remember those idiots. I used to work in autoparts and the people in Customer service took back everything.

I remember a customer buying a case of oil, returning it because they 'didnt need it anymore' when really they just refilled all the bottles with water.

Or a time that someone did plugs/cap/rotor/wires and just put the old crap back in the box and they took it back and put it on the shelf. Ditto with an air filter once.

Idiots.

Couple summers ago, my buddy bought this bigass inflatable pool for his back yard. We had many pool parties that summer, then in september, he put it back in the box and returned it. The thing was like $400. What?

[Ozy_Flame]

I'd have to say it was Safeway when I worked there as a courtesy clerk around 10 years ago. I was making $6/hour, and one time a handicapped customer used the washroom and **** everywhere but the toilet. Conviniently, the cleaning staff were "unavailable" to do it, so they sent me in to clean up the joint.

Let me just say, I don't work in disaster relief, for FEMA or the Red Cross, but this was the worst disaster zone I've ever seen. **** was everywhere, and sight of it all and the stench - THE STENCH - was a gruesome assault on the senses. Let me tell you, nothing stinks worse than another human being's cow patties.

The only thing worse than that job was watching Two Girls / One Cup.

[Muta]

Kinko's was pretty crappy. They expected to you be a wizard in photo-publishing, printing machinery, cutting, collating, software troubleshooting, anything technical, etc. all while paying you slightly above minimum wage.

I stayed there for two months, and then promptly left. If you have those kinds of skills, you should be paid WAY more than 'slightly above minimum wage'. No wonder they're so successful in the States, they get whiz kids to run their stores and pay them crappy wages.

And now that I say that, it was actually a pretty good business model.

[Flames4LifeFLA]

Originally Posted by Incinerator

You've obviously never worked for the Calgary Flames hockey club then.

Haha. Did the Calgary Flames make you pay a monthly fee just to park at work?

$30 US/per month taken out of my paycheck so I can park at the rink in Tampa to go to work. And the lot isn't even paved- it's full of potholes, overgrown grass and turns into a flooded mudpit when it rains.

I talked to Brandon Prust last season about this and he said the joke going around the league was that the Lightning were making their employees pay to park. He just couldn't believe it even when I told him it was true.

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by blankall

I think a lot of people may have had that experience. They had a tough time keeping staff. This made the job even worse. You were constantly picking up the slack for people who had quit and walked out on shifts or people with way too little experience.

I also worked at the Keg, which was a huuuuuuuuge difference from the Earls I worked at.

It was simple things that made the difference. At the Keg we got free sides plus 40% off steaks. This meant you got a steak dinner for like 7 or 8 bucks. The discount also applied to anytime, so you could stop in while you were not working. It also applied if you brought in your girlfriend, a family member, or even a good friend the restaurant was familiar with.

Staff parties at the Keg were also amazing. They even had a retreat up in Whistler where they rented a massive lodge. Everyone who worked for the company was invited.

The head kitchen guys at the Keg restaurant I worked at had been there forever and they had no trouble whatsoever keeping staff.

I think the general sense of community at the Keg made the waitresses a lot friendlier too. Working in the kitchen at Earls they treated you like their . Working at the Keg you were their co-worker.

I should also mention that the managers at Earls were constantly trying to shave our hours to meet their own targets. So you had to keep track or get screwed.

Now I finally get it, I've always wondered why the Keg is always so awesome, steaks are always done right and the wait staff are always so friendly with great service! Whoever runs the Keg knows how to run a good business for sure.

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by Flames4LifeFLA

Haha. Did the Calgary Flames make you pay a monthly fee just to park at work?

$30 US/per month taken out of my paycheck so I can park at the rink in Tampa to go to work. And the lot isn't even paved- it's full of potholes, overgrown grass and turns into a flooded mudpit when it rains.

I talked to Brandon Prust last season about this and he said the joke going around the league was that the Lightning were making their employees pay to park. He just couldn't believe it even when I told him it was true.

LOL I wish the Flames offered a monthly parking pass, there were over 1000 part time staff and they had "free" spots for about 200 cars, to work a game that started at 7pm means you had to be there by 3:30pm at the latest to get a spot, impossible for me since I was in school. After that you are SOL and have to pay $8 to park for the night (at the time, now it's $12 I think), so that's about $100 a month roughly with the amount of events I worked.

Anyways at the time I made $6 an hour for a 4 hour shift, which means I effectively got paid $16 CAD (when it was 63 cents US) per shift after paying for parking! That's $4 an hour! Plus I got food poisoning from the staff cafeteria, because their food were leftovers they couldn't sell the game before from the concession stands in the public concourse!

Then again I had another semi-FT (graveyard shifts) job and wasn't doing this for the money, I was seriously a fan of the "Young Guns" edition of the team no matter how much they sucked I even volunteered with the Flames Foundation (their charity arm) when I was like 14 just to watch them suck. Now that I see a talented team perform poorly on the ice it just makes me angry. At least the Todd Simpson and the likes of the yesteryear looked like they were trying.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by dj_patm

I dare you to top the sports store I work at. Dare You.

I have some real stories, but I don't want to get anyone in trouble as it seems like a company that might have Head Office staff on this site.

Lets just say

- Pay extremly low wages (I've worked there for 2 years part time and 1 year full time before starting school and I barely make more then minumum wage) yet they expect their staff to be dedicated and loyal while paying no comission and rarely pay bonus (set goals extremly high, outside of xmas (didn't even get there in xmas '08) it usually takes an anomoly to hit budget)

- Tend to run out of staff come popular days off because they will not allow more man hours (I once worked 11 days straight and 16 out of 17 days but didn't even make a penny of overtime or bonus)

- (At my location) They refuse to buy the following: Mop, Vacuum, hole punch, scotch tape or stapler and make their employees go store to store asking to burrow the needed items (never have had anyone come ask for any supplies from other stores)

- Have no lighting in the backroom (too expensive?),

- Took months of convincing to replace phone with a $25 cordless option (hard to help customers over the phone when attached to till)

- They sold stickers/tattoo's that cost them .02 cents each for 1.00 to families that were buying hundred dollar items at a recent big event.

And most importantly, they treat sales staff like absolute garbage. If you don't work in the head office, you can forget any sort of favors being done for you by the company. Even if you have worked there for years. Something as simple as telling there staff if they will ever bring in a certian product is apparently to hard to do let alone donations for staff supported charities or stuff like that. (Basically if they can't plaster there logo everywhere where their target demographic will see it, they won't donate a cent. This happend to someone who's worked for them for the better half of a decade)

Oh and to put my rage in perspective, I have worked at Calaway Park, Tim Hortons, Footlocker and Shell (Head office not gas station, that was an awesome job, made a lot of cash)

Every single one of those places was 10x better then were I work now in terms of treatment of staff and frugality. Yes the store I work at now treats me worse then when I was a 14 year old CALAWAY PARK GROUNDSKEEPER. The first 3 all payed roughly the same if you adjust for the times....


Could this get me fired? Even after working for them for 3 years when the average retail turnover is like a couple months I wouldn't be suprised. So if you're reading this, I'm sure you know that I'm talking about you.

Luckily I only stay there for the people I work with and the exposure to sports.

P.S. Yes I know its retail and what should I expect but its a medium sized company with high profit margins that relies so much on its sale staff and considering at the location I work at, almost everyone has been there for more then a year and a half you'd think they could treat there staff better.

</rant>

This must be Jersey City.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

I'd have to say it was Safeway when I worked there as a courtesy clerk around 10 years ago. I was making $6/hour, and one time a handicapped customer used the washroom and **** everywhere but the toilet. Conviniently, the cleaning staff were "unavailable" to do it, so they sent me in to clean up the joint.

Let me just say, I don't work in disaster relief, for FEMA or the Red Cross, but this was the worst disaster zone I've ever seen. **** was everywhere, and sight of it all and the stench - THE STENCH - was a gruesome assault on the senses. Let me tell you, nothing stinks worse than another human being's cow patties.

The only thing worse than that job was watching Two Girls / One Cup.

I used to work for Safeway also and encountered a similar incident. Boss called me to the washroom and had a bucket and mop ready to go. I took one look and said are effing crazy and walked away. All I heard was get back here or you're fired! Fire me I said and I kept on walking. He eventually found some other poor sucker to do the job

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Incinerator

LOL I wish the Flames offered a monthly parking pass, there were over 1000 part time staff and they had "free" spots for about 200 cars, to work a game that started at 7pm means you had to be there by 3:30pm at the latest to get a spot, impossible for me since I was in school. After that you are SOL and have to pay $8 to park for the night (at the time, now it's $12 I think), so that's about $100 a month roughly with the amount of events I worked.

Anyways at the time I made $6 an hour for a 4 hour shift, which means I effectively got paid $16 CAD (when it was 63 cents US) per shift after paying for parking! That's $4 an hour! Plus I got food poisoning from the staff cafeteria, because their food were leftovers they couldn't sell the game before from the concession stands in the public concourse!

Then again I had another semi-FT (graveyard shifts) job and wasn't doing this for the money, I was seriously a fan of the "Young Guns" edition of the team no matter how much they sucked I even volunteered with the Flames Foundation (their charity arm) when I was like 14 just to watch them suck. Now that I see a talented team perform poorly on the ice it just makes me angry. At least the Todd Simpson and the likes of the yesteryear looked like they were trying.

Ah yes - the Flames. Worked 3 years as a cook at the Dome while doing my undergrad. Have not touched food there ever since. But good times - all the chicken nuggets you can eat, and all the beer you can drink...

[CaptainCrunch]

Ok, the cheapest company that I worked for was the Canadian Forces back in the late 80's eary 90's.

I remember that half the time we would let trucks go past their expected maintenance because we didn't have the budget for parts and fluids.

We regularly cancelled excercises due to lack of budget.

My final excercise before we left I was working with a bunch of raw recruits. We reported to the ammo truck to get our load out of blank rounds. For a one week combat excercise I received 5 clips for a total of 150 rounds. When your playing in the field and simulating combat you pretty well burn through that in one or two engagements. I asked where the resupply point was when myself and my recruits ran out of ammo and I was told that was it for the week, if you ran out you should yell "Bang" really loudly.

I loved serving but that really accelerated me leaving.

[yads]

My wife worked as an intern in an IT company in the GTA in the late 90s. Things were awesome. They told her she should quit school and just start working for them. She declined their offer. Once the bubble burst, they started cutting back. She had a friend that still worked there and he told her all the things they were doing. It started with removing the coffee machine and culminated with them taking out every 2nd light bulb in the office/bathrooms before he quit. They're apparently still around.