Don't You Love It When Employees ....

[Brian H]

This thread is fun to read!! I won't overwhelm it with the file cabinet full of these kinds of problems I have handled over the years!!

This is me when taking the call....

 

[TomKing]

No please amuse us.

Pictures please. I showed you mine let's see yours.

This thread is fun to read!! I won't overwhelm it with the file cabinet full of these kinds of problems I have handled over the years!!

This is me when taking the call....

 

[Desk Jockey]

I had two just today.

We threw away a microwave from a fire loss, it happens when its a kitchen fire but these people had two microwaves. One working, one not. Guess which one we threw away?

We also threw away a comforter from a sewage job. It was contaminated and should have been replaced BUT we never asked/told them. We just took the liability of tossing it ourselves, it had sentimental value.

 

[dealtimeman]

Sentimental value is usuaslly the highest value conceivable!

 

[Desk Jockey]

Coincidentally everything we damage or throw away always is.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Coincidentally everything we damage or throw away always is.

Can only imagine, i'm sure every vase was from the Ming Dynasty...

 

[dealtimeman]

Exactly!

 

[Brian H]

Can only imagine, i'm sure every vase was from the Ming Dynasty...

Many years ago a crew broke an old jug wine bottle that was partially full of coins. I can't remember the brand of wine, but it was something really cheap, like Boones Farm. No value in the glass jug at all... except it belonged to her son who was killed in Vietnam. It happened more then 25 years ago and I still get teary eyed when I remember that one.

 

[Brian H]

No please amuse us.

Pictures please. I showed you mine let's see yours.

I think the only way I have survived all these years and still have some hair left is that I can repress a lot of those things. When others talk about issues they have, then I can remember ones we have had that are similar. I'll try to remember some...

Years ago, before I started at Hagopian, it was common practice to use carpet shampoo as our car wash shampoo. After I started, I changed it over to a dispensing unit using regular car wash solution that had a bubble gum smell to it. Not long after that, I had a crew comment that they liked the smell of the new carpet shampoo. I was a bit confused until I found out he refilled his carpet shampoo with car wash solution and actually shampooed a customer's carpet with it. I never heard anything negative from the customer.

 

[Desk Jockey]

They liked the bubble gum smell also!

 

[SamIam]

Like break the sub surface tool and just put it back for you to find it in pieces later. Or let the upholstery prespray bottle tip get cracked, because in stead of hanging it they use it as a blower stop. Chimps don't get me started!


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[Shane Deubell]

I hate it when the guy leaves open the van windows during a thunderstorm...

Especially hate it when that guy is ME!

 

[Able 1]

I hate: "It's just a work van" or "Dude your shit broke"..

 

[Steve Toburen]

Once we were cleaning carpets for a very nice couple that had retired after 30 years in the Foreign Service being posted all over the world. She had just explained that her very large 1" thick beveled glass dining room table had been to shipped to different 18 countries without a mishap and you guessed it... my assistant swung the metal arm of the dining room chair into it and cracked it in half! Sigh...

Steve

PS I did find the more good feelings we had built up with the customer before the accident the better they handled it. Sometimes I would be aghast and the client while sad would dismiss it and actually wind up comforting our employee.

 

[Shane Deubell]

One thing i have done a pretty good job of is training them to report mishaps right away.
Like steve said, often if you just cop to it and apologize people will forgive. Sometimes it even builds more trust.

BUT sometimes people go wacky also, its a coin flip.

 

[Jeremy N]

How bout this one:

My employee calls to tell me that the Truckmount is not starting in the middle of a fairly large residential extraction. I arrive to the scene to find out what it going on about 30 minutes later to find that the tm has a weird burned smell and won't turn over. I asked him what happened...he told me that he heard a weird sound after he started it but thought nothing of it. He said he came out later and noticed a clunking sound. He came out later to hear a grinding sound. So he let it cool down for about 10 minutes only to hear a banging sound and then it locked up. Basically the blower was dry and locked up. I asked him why he didn't call before and he just looked at me with a blank stare.

 

[Art Kelley]

View attachment 5114

 

[hogjowl]

I'm away on vacation. I cleared my schedule, even though my son SHOULD have been able to handle working alone by now. Unfortunately, one of the schools I clean every year calls and says they need me to clean on Friday. It can't wait. Has to be done immediately.

Soooo, I think to myself, what can happen? It's a school for crying out loud! All he has to do us show up on time.

I sometimes forget how he can be ...

But, the good news is, I don't think he wrecked the van.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

Nah, I'm no hard a$$.
Let them get away with PLENTY believe me.

Stuff like that drives me crazy though.

There you go shane.. employees are just like kids.. they need discipline, structure and consistency or they will run wild and crazy.

"Our biggest problems arise from the avoidance of smaller ones." - Jeremy Caulfield

 

[Shane Deubell]

There you go shane.. employees are just like kids.. they need discipline, structure and consistency or they will run wild and crazy.

"Our biggest problems arise from the avoidance of smaller ones." - Jeremy Caulfield

Thanks but i live in the real world

 

[renegade_cowboy]

Thanks but i live in the real world

meow meow..

 

[Desk Jockey]

How bout this one:

My employee calls to tell me that the Truckmount is not starting in the middle of a fairly large residential extraction. I arrive to the scene to find out what it going on about 30 minutes later to find that the tm has a weird burned smell and won't turn over. I asked him what happened...he told me that he heard a weird sound after he started it but thought nothing of it. He said he came out later and noticed a clunking sound. He came out later to hear a grinding sound. So he let it cool down for about 10 minutes only to hear a banging sound and then it locked up. Basically the blower was dry and locked up. I asked him why he didn't call before and he just looked at me with a blank stare.

It was gone when he first heard it, even had he called you then, it was going to be the same result. New blower.

 

[Jeremy N]

It was gone when he first heard it, even had he called you then, it was going to be the same result. New blower.

Look man, I'm not looking for reasons to not be pissed!





























It was only the 10th thing that I fired him for....

 

[dealtimeman]

Was this on the steam way you just got?

 

[Desk Jockey]

Look man, I'm not looking for reasons to not be pissed!

Ok then just go ahead and blame him. He probably did it on purpose....he wanted the afternoon off.

 

[Jeremy N]

Was this on the steam way you just got?

No sir, this was a few years ago. Haven't even broke out the Steamway yet.

 

[dealtimeman]

So get out and use it already!

 

[Jeremy N]

So get out and use it already!

You're right. I need to give it a try on an upcoming job that I have.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Anyone know a good vacuum repair specialist

 

[dealtimeman]

Good thing I saw this was just about to try out a couple of those royal vacs like the orange one you have on the left in the pic.

Did it break? What Wong with it?