Life of a casual employee

For most of my 'career' I have been a casual employee. It's never really bothered me before, although you don't get sick leave, annual leave or long service leave.  The hourly rate does allow for sick leave and annual leave and with careful budgeting, you can make all that work for you.

My reason for being predominately casual, is that it allows for me to work around my family.

I don't let any of my employers down, ever, but often (in fact more often than not) they let me down, frequently at very short notice, frequently attempting to jib hours paid etc and many think they don't have to pay superannuation!!!!!!!! (Go figure)

I enjoy the variety of casual employment, I enjoy the  different tasks I get to do on a daily basis. Boredom is certainly not a problem!

Today for example (being Sunday) I was informed that my 'employment' at one place (for tomorrow)  was no longer required (well maybe in 1-2 weeks time, they'll have me back) but I can't wait for them. So I sent a text to my contacts. 6 hours later I have work for tomorrow and most likely ongoing!

So the life of a casual is not that uncertain, just requires a little lateral thinking!

So if you are looking for an employee in Melbourne's North, someone who is reliable and not concerned if the work is permanent or not, or ongoing or not, why not drop me a line via www.hsamsa.blogspot.com or use the contact details there!

You never know - I've been assisting some of my people in excess of 10 years in a temporary capacity!

To BCC or Not? - Let's Stop the Spam

I mean seriously is it too hard to understand a simple email program and use the bloody thing correctly to protect peoples privacy?

Computers have been around since ….. what 1990 (common use) email for just about a long. Email has been common use since 2000 (or thereabouts)

How many spam emails do you receive daily? 10, 20, 30? or more? I imagine that businesses receive 100's if not 1000's.

If employees used BCC for group emails, then spam would be greatly reduced. Just tonight I received an email from a sporting organisation (state based) and in the CC section, there are 25 email addresses.

6 are ISP addresses, like Telstra and Optus
1 is Government defence address
1 private business
15 are free email addresses (predominately hotmail!)
1 is a large business
1 is a "mobileme" address

So big deal you say………………

If everyone on that list forwarded the email without cleaning up the email addresses in the CC line - YOUR email address has been exposed 1 x 25 = 25, and each recipient forwarded that email twice, and  every person who received that email also sent it forward by two. Your email address has been sent to 30,065,107 people (If I am not mistaken) IN SEVEN (7) days……………………….

See how evil not using BCC can be?

Do you know how much a viable (working) email address is worth? It's worth between $10 and $30 on the black market. Value of Email on the Black Market Now add to that any other personal information a hacker or spammer has been able to determine and you can immediately double that value!

So USE BCC, Train your staff, train your parents, train your children and stop the spam.

The meaning of  CC and BCC (Old School)
CC = Carbon Copy
BCC - Blind Carbon Copy

Bad Employee, Bad Employer, Bad Luck or Bullying?

I almost didn't write this blog post, but then figured why the hell not? I've got nothing to lose, already lost my job, what next?

3 weeks ago I was forced to resign from a job that was close to home, with hours perfect for kids pick up and drop off. It was essentially the perfect job.

I didn’t want to resign, but was forced to.

I have thought about taking it ‘further’, but realised the effort of actually pursuing the matter would be emotionally and financially draining. I doubt I would be able to see it through to the end without damaging my state of mind.

The circumstances went something like this. I started in July 2011, working predominantly with one other female in the office. The two owners were mostly onsite and not in the office. My hours were shorter (as offered by management at commencement) and not negotiated by myself. I often got the feeling that many things occurred after I left and I was never informed.

On the job training consisted of about 10 hours and then I was left to my own devices. Knowledge of the business, past experiences, bills paid, not paid and why; were all in the head of the previous employee along with the owners. But none of this was made available to me.

Management weren’t interested in using the account payable reports to pay invoices, they would just willy nilly pay accounts and then curse when they double paid amounts.

General sharing of information was not done, not even in general conversation. I learnt of many things via overheard phone calls and only then was able to determine that I knew something that may have been of benefit to the company.

Requests for stationery, still unfulfilled in February, 5 months after requesting verbally and via email.

When you walk into an office, it is generally considered good manners to say good morning. Well I consider it so.... but it is also customary and polite to return the greeting. Which rarely occurred, especially if I was on the ‘black list’ of my colleague for that day/week/month.

Often, a period of 6-8 hours would pass without one word being spoken, which I found intimidating; when I attempted to make conversation I was completely ignored.

The straw that broke the camels back was when I was in the middle of processing wages and I was asked to do something, I said ‘hang on for a minute, I’m busy’ and within 20sec of me uttering those words, My colleague was on the phone, DOBBING on me...... for failing to following her instructions. Not only did she NOT give me a chance to defend myself, but was talking about me in the third person and being completely slanderous.

I resigned there and then, offering 2 weeks notice. This resignation was not acknowledged until 3 days later and nothing addressed until  5 days later and I was told by management they would consider all options and see what they could do.......... 2 days later I was told to finish up before my resignation period had ended.

What hurts the most is that 24hours after I advised in writing I was resigning,(which is BEFORE any consultation occurred)  a key word job search, throws up the same position now advertised as full-time. It hurts because I busted my gut to do what needed to be done within the timeframes on a part-time basis and suddenly the same position within the same company is being advertised full-time.

The company has a history of bullying, of intimidation, lying and general deception and deceit, management trusted no-one and yet they let many things slide in an attempt to keep employees they think are useful to the company, yet are the worst offenders.

One comment made by management during discussions was “why didn’t you bring this to us earlier?’ my reply was, “The rule of first one in, first one out applies. I come to work to work and not play politics; I figured if I played the adult, my work colleague would snap out of it. Instead I’m forced to resign. I’m happy for you not to accept to resignation, and I’m happy to stay as the position is perfect hours and location.”  Response “I’ll see what I can do.”

Nothing happened......... nothing at all........... Now I’m trying to find work, in a near depression economy.

Why weren’t the issues of bullying addressed as they promised to?

Why was a part-time position made full-time position, even before I had finished and why wasn’t I offered the full-time position?

I don’t believe management even attempted to address the issues I stated, nor did they have any intentions of doing so.

Sportsmen and women behaving badly

The newspapers are full of athletes behaving badly. Every page, every news bulletin, every radio report.

I’m not an avid sports follower, I’m the first to admit. For this piece I won’t name names, (I can’t remember them) BUT I CAN recall the events and will do so.

The problem is that Australia thinks people who participate in elite sports are heroes. They are good at what they do, but that is all. They are not heroes, Heroes are people who do things in times of need to save someone or something. Not getting paid to play sport.

In the last couple of months, we’ve seen (no gender bias) adults acting like goats in front of cameras, bashing people, getting rolling drunk, killing children. raping children, public brawls, lie, get involved with drugs and criminals. Need I go on?

The whole problem is …………. There are NO consequences for their actions. An elite sportsperson can do as they please, when they please and they risk nothing. They are not at risk of losing their job, (unlike average Joe) These matters rarely go before the courts, the club makes sure of this. The police even seem to have a hand in helping smooth over the situation. Yet if average Joe did any of the this, he’d be trussed up like the Christmas turkey and in the Remand Centre Lock-up before you could say ……….. He didn’t mean it.

People need to realise that every action has a reaction, the problem is that for an elite sportsperson, there is no reaction, as people will crawl over broken glass to help the ‘hero’ of the track or field.

Definition of ‘Hero’ ( thanks to Princeton)
a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength; "RAF pilots were the heroes of the Battle of Britain"
The principal character in a play or movie or novel or poem
champion: someone who fights for a cause
(classical mythology) a being of great strength and courage celebrated for bold exploits; often the offspring of a mortal and a god

Definition of ‘Hero Worship’ (thanks to Princeton)
idolize: love unquestioningly and uncritically or to excess; venerate as an idol; "Many teenagers idolized the Beatles"

The problem is that the media encourage the ‘hero’ tag. Sports men and women ARE NOT heroes, they are the centre of a ‘hero worshipping’ scam, nothing more

Real heroes, fight for the fallen, fight for what is right, They don’t kick or hit a ball around a field, nor use two feet to run a track a speed. Real heroes do things quietly and without the need for recognition.

Just remember that next time you see an article in the paper about sportsmen and women behaving badly – THEY ARE NOT HEROES, Only good in their chosen field. Like so many cooks, cleaners, mechanics, even book keepers and cabinet makers!

Dying for your music

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you”, will be a phrase heard more often as the years pass. Since the conception of personal music players, currently known as iPods, or even iPhones, the state of our ears, thus our hearing has declined dramatically.

This not only affects our hearing, but also our speech, or even the ability to learn or even cross a busy road. If you can’t hear yourself speak, then it is likely that your speech will deteriorate with time, unless you are very aware that this is the case. If you can’t hear the teacher speak, then of course you will not be able to learn everything that is being covered in the course/lesson. If you are crossing at an unmarked crossing on the road, you may not hear a car, a bicycle or even an emergency vehicle and thus place yourself in danger, without even realizing it. Hearing loss can and will impact your life in ways you wouldn’t even think possible, until it is too late.

According to a recent large scale report from scientists of the European Commission examined the use of personal music players such as the iPod and they determined as many as 1 in 10 users of personal music players are at risk of suffer permanent hearing loss if they listen to a PMP at high levels more than one hour a day for five years.

The impact on understanding the world around you - Noise-induced hearing loss makes it difficult to understand what is being said in restaurants and other places with background noise. Conversations sound muffled, as if coming through a hotel room wall. It also becomes difficult to hear high-frequency, soft consonants, such as "s," "t," "f," "h" and the "sh" sound.

Imagine having a church bells ringing in your ears constantly – it may not be that loud – but from 2 blocks away, the sound is the same. That is called Tinnitus and while tinnitus may come and go for some, it’s constant for others and can be a particularly frustrating. Around half of those who suffer from it find their sleep is affected, which in turn can cause tiredness that both impacts their ability to work and the quality of their home life or even their social life and communication.

There is no cure – other than hearing aids, which although with new technology are now almost invisible. Imagine having to ‘plug into’ the world EVERY day for the rest of your life, just so you can hear your children speak.

There are others forms of hearing loss, most often industrial hearing loss, but with the implementation of OH&S policies, the incidence of this type of hearing loss is being greatly reduced.

Jeff Rich, former drummer of Status Quo, warned people against misguided over-confidence and against ignoring the scientific proof that loud noise causes hearing loss. He was unaware of this when he played in his band. As a result Rich has lost 70 percent of his hearing in his right ear and 50 percent in his left. He now requires hearing aids to function in society.

It is estimated that, one in eight children or young adolescents in the 6-19 year age group suffers from hearing loss caused by excessive noise. Once you lose part of your hearing, it is lost forever.
Remember – once the ability to hear clearly is no longer present, you may have trouble communicating with others, communicating with your employer or even doing your job at the required standard if your hearing is an important part of performing your job, for example answering the telephone.

Turn that iPod down, turn that stereo down and remember once your hearing has left the building, it will never return!

Abandonment of Employment from an Employer Perspective.

I am currently in the process of terminating an employee for abandonment of employment. I don’t like doing this, it’s not the first time I’ve had to do this and I doubt it will be the last.

But that is my job and I do my job, to ensure that the product goes out the door, that the money comes in the door and staff do what they are meant to do, including turning up to work on time and the allocated days and then everyone gets paid. That’s what I’m PAID to do.

In the 20 years that I have been doing pays/wages/salaries, whatever it is you wish to call it, I’ve also stopped people being sent to jail for failure to meet repayment plans and similar.

The most current situation involved the receipt of a garnishee order (which means that the company is now required BY LAW, to submit a certain amount of money to the claimant, which is deducted after tax from an employee’s wages)

The employee was coached and advised what was going to occur, the employee accepted that he would have to knuckle down for 12 months and then the problem would be done and dusted. It was thought that he’d accepted the consequences of his actions and was ready to deal with them.

The deductions started, leaving a very basic wage for the employee to live with for 12 months. Four (4) payments were made on his behalf, over a period of 8 weeks, then without notice the employee failed to turn up to work on Wednesday. Nothing was thought of it, he’s 22 years old and can sometimes be a little unreliable, that is what employers of today have to put up with and accept.

Wednesday, Thursday, no contact, no show, no communication. On Friday, a phone call was made, the mobile phone was switched off, the employees’ file was dug out and the emergency contact called. The emergency contact advised that the employee was locked in his bedroom and wouldn’t come out. Message left get him to call us as soon as possible.

Pay fortnight comes around – it is decided to try and flush him out by not paying, under abandonment of employment clause. Three (3) weeks later, still no show. Registered mail has been sent and returned, further calls made to the emergency contact. All to no avail.

By the 5th week, we still have not heard anything, so make an internal decision to terminate employment officially under abandonment of employment. The decision came through just after the closing of the pay period, so the decision was held over for a further 2 weeks. In the meantime the employee turns up at the nearest Centrelink office, to claim benefits. A call was made to the manager of the branch, the story as it stood was told. The manager was told that the employee would be unable to claim benefits until a separation certificate has been supplied. The employees’ reason for leaving his place of employment, a disagreement with management.

This is the first we have heard about a disagreement, this is the first we have heard about any problems relating to us.

The decision is now set in concrete, abandonment of employment, reason unknown. With this it is believed that a waiting period of 8 weeks will occur before benefits are payable. Something we wanted to avoid, but unavoidable given the circumstances.

Noting that the employee has yet to contact or respond to any communication sent by said employer!

Go figure.

Post Script - for those of you reading this and considering doing the same, please read Part 1 - Financial Woes and part 2 - Financial Woes

Car salesmen and missed opportunities

As the saying goes – ‘never judge a book by it’s cover’ This saying has never truer than in the new and used car sales industry.

1970 – Grandfather wants to buy an upmarket vehicle – he can’t get anyone to attend to his needs – he returns home and Nanna says no wonder, you re dressed like a farm worker (grey overalls) standard dress for Grandpa as he worked for the sake of work, not the money. He returns to same yard (new, luxury car yard) in a tie an suit. Walks into the managers/owner’s office and advises them that they just lost a sale, due to their making judgement by the clothes a man wore and not what he actually wanted. Until his death he bought a NEW car every two years, same make from the ‘new’ dealer in the CBD, a dealer that didn’t judge a book by its cover.

1994 – Husband and wife – driving through a small town spot a 4x4 they might be interested in purchasing. They are in the market for a new car, they do some towing, in fact they were towing a boat that very day. They walk into the dealership request a look at the vehicle (it is 3pm on a Saturday) the dealer says no – it’s too much trouble to get the car out and on the road.

The couple walk away, the couple do not identify themselves, they might be dressed in clothes more suitable for fishing, than buying cars, but their money is the same colour.

12 weeks later the wife returns with a baby on her hip, walks into the same showroom, the salesman, who is also the owner fawns all over her. She says – ‘you haven’t sold THAT car yet?’ (referring to the 4x4). “No” is the response. Reply “that doesn’t surprise me with your attitude. It would have been sold 12 weeks ago. You refused to show it to us. Instead we bought……………”(and points to a new vehicle sitting on the kerb). I then did the introductions and advised him that I am the daughter of so and so. His jaw hit the ground, he apologised profusely. I told him to make this a lesson learnt. NEVER EVER Judge a book by its cover.

He learnt his lesson the hard way. He lost not only that one sale on that one 4x4 but father like daughter, he lost a new car sale every two years. He begged, he rang, he tried bribery. All attempts failed. – Sometimes money is not the be all and end all.

Do you have similar stories? – Would love to hear them!

A Story about getting on in life

In 1998 I was involved in a rather serious car accident, one that the only thing which stopped the car from exploding was the spare tyre that was punctured rather than the gas tank exploding.

I had been on the way to work – a reasonably new job of 3 months, I took 1 day off work to sort all the insurance out and report the accident to the police and go see the doctor.

For 8 years, I fought to keep a job, (where I was working forced me out - I should have sued, but it was all too much), I fought to keep my family together, my sanity and my house. We weren’t entitled to any government assistance due to issues with a failing business, TAC refused to pay any income support because my husband should have been able to help me home, not someone from the TAC. I told them time and time again, that he couldn’t leave apprentices in the factory – due to workcover regulations that could see him locked up in jail if the apprentices did something stupid – he would automatically get the blame.

So we struggled, we struggled to keep food on the table, we struggled to stay sane. We lived in a pigsty, because my back was too sore and I was too tired to do any housework, when I got home from paid work. I couldn’t lift my children. I had to work to pay the child care fees, because TAC wouldn’t pay the fees, and I couldn’t stay home AND afford to send the children to childcare. I barely had enough money to put food on the table. Work was the lesser of two evils.

I remember once asking the CES for $5-$10 so I could buy some potatoes (It’s amazing what you can do with potatoes) and they turned me away – I’ve never begged in my life – I didn’t know where to turn. We went hungry that night.

Things eased slightly when my youngest went to school. Still no permanent work – but at least no child care fees and people looked after me – loaned me money for work yet to be done, found me work. ‘Real’ employers didn’t want someone who couldn’t use their right arm sometimes, or walked with a limp.

Until recently, I didn’t have a permanent job – and I believe that was because of my disabilities.

Some 6 years later, just when I was starting to get my life back on track, another near fatal accident, which broke and crushed my leg. To this day the fibula is still broken.

Finally things started looking up – the bills get paid on time – the mortgage is paid up and beyond, finally we no longer need to scrimp and save just to have clothes and shoes to wear.

With perseverance I’ve come to realise that life is for living – I’ve had too many close calls not to realise this

You can move on – it takes time – it takes patience and most of all strength of character to succeed where others often fail.

Life is precious, family even more so and if you take one thing away from reading this – it is “Life continues with or without you, so make sure you are included, not excluded.”

Working the Ethical way

Once upon a time I worked for a large organization, so large that there were departments and each department was responsible for its own budgeting and expenditure.

My job was to invoice out existing and new clients for equipment hired. The turn-over of the equipment was quite high with the clients. They may only hire for 1,2,3 weeks, sometimes a lot longer, but generally no longer than 1-2 months.

There was also an option to purchase the equipment, which was rarely taken up by the client as they didn’t anticipate the long-term need or the overall cost.

After about 6 months, it became apparent that for some people in some instances it was cheaper for the client to purchase the equipment, so a decision was made for those clients, where it became economically viable to purchase, a note of sale was sent instead of an invoice.

This suited both parties, and allowed for more stock to be purchased and it was also found that equipment when purchased by the client, was returned to us, rather than being dumped somewhere. This was a win win for all parties concerned.

The long term effect was that this department became the most profitable, simply because they looked after the clients needs and not the needs of the business formula.

Equipment turn-over although increased, allowed for better quality equipment and equipment previously sold was returned more frequently and in better condition than hired equipment, which in turn allowed for it to be put back into circulation for new clients. Profit for that department increased by 25% in one 12 month period and grew every year I was there.

This policy is still in place today, some 5 years down the track. Due to unionisation within the site, my presence was detected and because I was contract and not a full-time employee, I was given the boot, not by my department head but by the union.

The decision to bill the client for equipment sold rather than hired, appears at first, to be cutting the profits, because you are actually reducing the income. Hire equipment is generally not treated as well, than if sold. People have an attitude. Oh well, it’s only hired, so it doesn’t matter. Whereas if they purchase an item, the attitude changes completely.

By turning over the older stock and selling it (it would have been hired anyway) the department was able to increase the quality of the stock on hand and thus please the client. By turning the stock over, we were able to buy more stock, more often and thus receive quantity discounts.

By selling stock instead of hiring it – the admin charges were reduced and then to top off all these benefits, in appreciation of the reducing the cost to the client, the client returned the favour, by returning the stock and thus saving more money again!

A win win for ALL involved!

How to stop drink drivers

Courtesy of Ms18 who has acquired P plates and can’t understand why people are so stupid and insist on consuming alcohol and then drink driving, without a thought for other road users.

Her idea is civilian manned booze buses with 1 or 2 sworn in officers – running 24/7, in shifts of 6 hours. Switching locations every 6 hours (at change of shift) Perhaps 10 vehicles – working 7 days a week and being on the roads constantly.

This would create more employment for civilians AND reduce the manpower required by the police force to maintain the drink/driving campaign presence on the roads.

This could be backed up with uniformed officers, running drug and road worthy checks, along with the camera operated licence plate checks, which new technology allows for.

This would:-
1. Reduce the number of drink drivers
2. Reduce the number of police required to man such operations
3. Increase civilian employment
4. Reduce the number of drug affected drivers
5. Reduce the number of unlicenced drivers on the roads
6. Reduce the number of unregistered vehicles on the road
7. Reduce the number of unroadworthy vehicles on the roads

I can’t see anything against it – The only thing missing is someone taking the bull by the horns and actually implementing it.

Your thoughts and ideas?

I think it is a BRILLIANT idea and coming from an 18yo, makes it even shinier, brighter and smarter than any idea your average politician could think up.

How to destroy a business in 6 easy steps

A business in town changed hands some 18 months ago. The previous business owners model was good. The customer service was excellent, the service with a smile type model. A successful business with a captive market, no family restaurants for 20km.

The business was sold, the owners wanted to take up other opportunities that had crossed their path. With a captive market, the business should be an automatic success. You would think so wouldn’t you?

Let me relate this story and then the problem with assuming that your customers are all idiots and you are the only person who is right.

I walk in the door, wait at the order counter for 10 minutes. Directly in front of me, no more that 2 meters away is the owner, busy making pizzas, but too busy to look up and say “I’ll be with you in a moment”. Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, 10 minutes later I turn to leave. Noting in that time that he has abused a employee, black-banned a table for complaining too much. Failed to acknowledge a customer. Make that the first list of sins.

He calls out to me as I am leaving. I suppose I could continue walking but I decide to tell him, what I think. I state “Look, the last time I ate at the restaurant, it took me an hour to get my meals, now you keep me waiting for 10 minutes just to place an order for a pizza, no wonder your business is losing customers.”

With no apology, no acknowledgement that the error was his and with my rant over, I place my order, with the knowledge that already he has lost a customer. I sit down and watch.

So let’s recap...........
1. Can’t/won’t acknowledge new customer
2. Abusive towards employees
3. Rude to customers, who are already at his mercy, waiting for meals

They are the current sins that have been committed.

I look around, everywhere I look I see badly spelt word composed signs, that yell special, special, noting the prices and a considerable discount. This is often another warning sign that things aren’t going well.

I see staff wandering around, from dining room to kitchen, with nothing in their hands, either on the way there OR on the way back. Shows poor time management. Perhaps he needs to look at the quality of the staff.

Waiting, for 35 minutes to actually get what I order. In the mean time, I have plenty of time to speak to people outside having a fag, turns out that the restaurant had received unexpected walk-ins and didn’t have the staff to cope, which made me even more surprised after seeing the staff walking around effectively doing nothing.

There was a wait of approx 1hr in the restaurant to get your meals from what I was being told. The owner is running around, worse than a chook without a head, being rude, aggressive and generally not being anything like what is needed to work with the public.

I received my ordered food, and then went to pay, the person behind the till then started asking staff for change, when right in front of her was the tips jar, which had the required amount, it was just a matter of switching the bills around, satisfying the change requirement, but no, it must have been too hard. Then to add insult to injury I was shorted $0.10, big deal you say, well I had intended to leave a tip for the staff, but since I didn’t receive the change, I couldn’t could I?

So with my evaluation done, I shall never darken their doors again – in case I get black-banned for asking for the parmesan cheese, and Peter who ALWAYS has a smile on his face and a nice word. You shall get ALL our business from now on, simply because you are polite and never fail to smile.

So how do you ruin a business in 6 steps?
1. Can’t/won’t acknowledge new customers
2. Abusive towards employees
3. Rude towards customers, who are already at his mercy, waiting for meals
4. Advertising signs with spelling errors
5. Staff levels and attitudes not being what is needed
6. Not serving the meals in the dining area promptly.

Without customers, a business will fail, with rude management/owners a business will fail. Without quality staff a business will hurt.

Bad service, in small town, the word doesn’t take long to spread – and is very hard to recover from.

20 years in a small town does not qualify you to be a local and the locals can make you or break you!

Social Media and the Personal Attacks (Trolling)

Some people call them trolls, some people call them sick. I call them people who are bored with nothing better to do.

Often their claim to fame as having completed a BA (bugger all) in something that is really nothing, in that it hasn’t gained them useful employment. They are angry that this is the case and blame everyone around them.

They think they are better than everyone else on the planet.

They believe it is their god-given right to attack people who disagree with them, people who have opinions are considered dangerous as they can see through the garbage the attacker is spouting.

The attacker will claim they are being victimised, they will claim they are the one being hard done by. Yet they fail to see that they caused the problems in the first place.

People who attack via social media – I consider them to be psychopathic with regards to real world behaviour, so much so that they have often isolated themselves behind a computer with little thought for the outside world.

Many people say ‘don’t feed the trolls’ this in essence is difficult because as the name suggests – they are ugly creatures and even if you don’t offer food (responding) they will find crumbs to feed off (another topic)

Some people claim that opening up and removing the anonymous nature of forums, twitter etc. will remove the threat of trolls.

I have personally experienced a personal attack, the nature to this day, still can’t be disclosed, but the reprisal was the publishing of all my personal information, phone numbers, email accounts, residential address, all in one location. In a forum that is not your average ‘nice’ guys forum.

Trolling or personal attacks whatever you may call them are vicious, uncalled for and people who instigate such attacks, should be sanctioned and possible removed from the media they offend in.

Until laws in the real world catch up with those on the internet, it will be hard to police, but perhaps the medium being used, needs to address and enforce their own rules BEFORE they become liable under current laws.

Trolls, think before you leap – with the court ordered disclosure against Google of information, anonymous is no longer as hidden as you think.

Customer service to the extreme

A bad day – turned out very well, thanks to a staff member at Wendy’s Ice-cream store at Epping Plaza, Victoria

It was one of ‘those’ days – I’m sure you know the type – no matter what you do EVERYTHING goes wrong.

With my gummy leg I was pushing a hated trolley back to the car, not something I would normally do, but sometimes people can’t meet you for whatever the reason.

The only ramped path to my car was blocked by the trolley collectors. Not impressed. The pain was building, the trolley collectors saw me, wouldn’t move. I sat down on one of the outside chairs, trying to curb the frustration that was building. Beside me was sitting Kim, who worked for Wendy’s.

She saw the predicament, and offered to help me with the trolley.

She helped and I was extremely grateful.

So ............ Kim of Wendy's Supa Sundaes Pty Ltd, an employee you may be, but you did a fantastic job of out of store service and in the process earned another customer.

Congratulations and thank-you

Lost Retail Sales and Attitude

Rarely do I grace the doors of shopping centres, simply because I find the floors a challenge for someone with a walking problem.

About 6 weeks before Christmas, I had the opportunity to do some sightseeing in a reasonably large metropolitan shopping centre.

I realize that sales people don’t get paid a lot of money, and a lot of the staff are young people, who maybe just filling in time between courses, careers or better offers. I know that some of them do work on commission, particularly those in the telecommunications industry, and yet the response I got left a lot to be desired.

I must admit I have little patience for shopping, let alone sloppy sales assistants. I dislike shopping at the best of times.

But to walk into a store and have people (staff) standing in the corner talking amongst themselves and not address the customer is very poor decorum. In fact it’s plain bad manners.

I am the sort of person that uses the sales staff as a gauge as to how the store receives and treats its’ customers. I have been known to determine who gets a big ticket sale simply because of the manner of the sales staff and I may have already visited 5 or 6 stores. I could very well go back to the 1st or the 2nd store, simply because of the manner of the staff.

I come from a customer service background, in fact you could say I was born and bred into into it. My parents owned holiday accommodation for as long as I can remember and only recently have they sold the business and moved onto retirement. Yes, I am aware that some customers can be painful, but to assume someone is painful before you have even spoken to them. In other words judging a book by its’ cover, is something that one shouldn’t do in customer service, particularly sales.

I take great pride in the fact that I am not your Average Joe, I don’t dress up, I don’t dress down, I wear clothes that I find comfortable. When you look at me – you would call me ‘middle class’. My hair is tidy, my clothes are clean and ironed. You would see 100’s of people like me every day.

I recall one very vivid memory, I was looking to buy a GPS, long before they became fashionable, before their prices dropped through the floor and when there were really only 2 or 3 brands on the market.

I visited 4 stores in the space or 1 hour, I stood in front of the display cabinets, trying to figure out which brand/model was best suited to my needs.

1st store The young customer sales service guy was helpful, friendly and had a hands on approach, nearly bought the unit there and then, but decided I had better check out the other stores.

2nd store – there were too many chiefs and not enough indians, I couldn’t get anyone to attend to my needs

3rd store – the sales person, ‘sort of’ knew about them, but hadn’t used them and was reluctant to advise me on what may have suited my needs.

4th store couldn’t get the middle-aged salesperson attention – I walked out after about 10 minutes

I returned to the first store and requested to the see the same person, I had originally been speaking to. He was out the back on a tea break. He was retrieved from said break and made a sale. It turns out that this day was his last, as he was moving to another sales position in another chain and I can see why. He had a can do attitude with a pleasant approach.

A smile costs nothing and yet it can be so rewarding!

If you work in sales remember, even to acknowledge someone can keep them in the store until you are free to be able to attend to their needs, wants, or desires!

Charging Board to School Leavers (or kids still at home)

(Reposted from other blog)
Sitting in the car, whilst Miss17 almost 18 drives me home, (she is on L Plates) School has now finished, last exam was mid-November. We were discussing what her movements would be until the exam results came in and between university.

Response went something along the lines, dunno, I suppose I could find something that’ll get me $100.00 a week. I said what? - $100.00, are you planning on allowing someone to pay you $20.00 a day?

Oh, I’m not going to work full-time. No-one else is. My response to this was, remember once the exam results come in – you are expected to pay board of $50.00 a week.

That’s not fair, I don’t have a job, I said that’s why you have to get a job, $50.00 is nothing. Her response – I can live in a flat for that.

Excuse me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - $50.00 a week won’t even pay your telephone bill. Rent (Cheap) $120.00 per week, Food $100-$50.00 per week, electricity $50.00 per week, buying your fridge and washing machine and don’t forget your bed etc.

Oh……………………….. is it THAT much?

The head was returned to the shoulders and nothing else has been said, but come the 19th December, a bill of $50.00 has to be paid. It is now in her hands as to how that money is generated and the funds paid.

I’m not the only parent having this conversation, friends of ours, waited until their son finished university before they decided to charge board. He kicked up at the $50.00, same argument, same results.

When will kids learn, that nothing is for nothing and ‘digs’ like the parents are even more expensive if you want to move out.

How many rentals have someone to do the washing, cooking, cleaning AND pay the bills on time?
No commercial properties that I am aware of!

Remember the responsibility of board is a learning experience, so charge the kids and put the money aside for a house deposit or similar in later life. But charge them on principle, it teaches them another life lesson!

How Retailers Can Ruin their Future Income for a Lifetime

I am so mad at the moment. I teach my children independence, I teach my children how to do things without an adult standing over them. Things that many adults have difficulty with.

2 weeks ago (to the day) we purchased a game from a gaming store in Epping Plaza who is also a second hand dealer, who specialises in the PSP, Xbox type games.

Being trusting we purchased the game with scratch insurance. Me thinking that would stop any accidents and for the sake of a few dollars, worth it.

My son (12yo) decided that he didn’t like the game, as they stated ‘satisfaction guarantee” My son decided to return the game and try and find something else. I know for fact he may have played this game twice in the preceding two weeks. We haven’t been home between school and sporting commitments.

He went into the said store to swap, exchange or get a gift card refund. He was informed that he had had the game for 3 weeks. OMG – who is having a bad day?

He decides this is bigger than him and calls for his knight in white shining armour to save him and his birthday money. So mum rides into the picture.

We both walk into the store and are advised after checking calendars and fingers (yup, seriously) that this purchase was a 15 days!

Let’s do the sums – purchase made 30.10.09 17.46hrs – today is the 13.10.09 17.15hrs.

So that is NOT quite 14 days – it’s 13 days, 23.5hours to be precise.

Two staff members were adamant that it was 15 days – I asked to see to manager, only to be advised that he would be back in 10 minutes. I leave said store, find somewhere to sit and on the back of an envelope I broke the fortnight down into 24hour periods (for simpletons) .

I then re-entered the store and was advised that the manager had left!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was just about to turn my back, when he miraculously re-enters the premises. I show him the simpleton calculations and he advised me that it was 15 days, INCLUDING the day it was purchased AND the 14th day!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello – the period in discussion is 14 days not 15. Friday to Friday to be precise, with ½ hour to spare. (to be technical)

After showing the manager the simpleton’s working – he agreed to refund the cost of the game BUT not the scratch insurance. Saying that the disc was scratched!!!!!!!!!!!

Ummmmmmmmm – hate to tell you – it was purchased second-hand, I suppose the previous owner scratched it. For me the ‘scratch insurance’ was if it didn’t work due to a scratch, but I must be too honest.

My son has lost 15% of his birthday money and is upset about what has occurred, even he knew that Friday to Friday is 14 days NOT 15.

He now tells me, that he will never go back to that store, I said to him what about the gift card refund. He advised me he would spend that money at another store, in another centre and never go back to that store AND he said he would tell his friends.

My son goes to a private school of some 1700 students very close to this shopping centre, in other words 1700 kids who don't drive and thus are a captive audience, so don’t blame me if turnover decreases, there are other gaming stores in the same centre.

And………….. if you are unable to work out that Friday to Friday is 14 days AND NOT 15 days then perhaps you shouldn’t be working in retail.

Now before you jump down my throat and call me rude and pushy. My children, may be opinionated, but they are honest and they will only argue a case, that is fair and square. If a business tries to pull the wool over their eyes, they will take it further.

As this mother taught these children these qualities, she taught them, don't tell lies, tell the truth, the retailer if they are honest will understand. If they are dis-honest, then you have no need for their goods or services in the future.

Remember bad news travels 10 times faster than good and in the world of cashed-up teenagers, who don't have a car to get to the next shopping centre, you really should look after your customers, or they will move to the other store in the same centre.

Uh Oh – Who stays home?

A modern day dilemma – little Johnny or Jill is sick and can’t attend school/crèche/kinder – who will stay home and look after them?

This is a problem that arises once the family is created. In days gone past, it was the woman, even today it is most often the woman. It is the woman who forgoes the sick leave/personal leave the annual leave to look after sick children, whilst the male partner goes to work with little concern for anything other than themselves.

Alright, the men turn around and say that Jennifer gets the day off, to bum around home and who cares, the boss won’t miss them.

Not only do men have deadlines to be met and completed, women do also. This means that a woman is often behind the 8-ball when it comes to work. If little Johnny/Jill is sick for more than one day – how many times do the male partners put their hands up and offer to stay home for the second day? Very very few.

I am not being discriminatory, this is truth.

In today’s society where women are often expected to be as good as the male species. Then why don’t the male of the species do the things that many women do with 1 hand tied behind their backs?

How many men out there know how to use the washing machine, know what temperature woollens have to be washed at. Know where the Medicare card is for visits to the doctors, let alone finding the doctors’ number to make an appointment. Once again very few.

This is not an urban myth – it takes a special kind of man to be able to do this and there are very few who can run a home AND work AND everything else associated with modern day life.

Just remember next time that your wife, your childrens' mother, says she has a headache, maybe she does and it’s time for you to pick up the slack.

Go home and remember – home is where there should be shared responsibilities and that sports day doesn’t mean a day at the golf club/pub for the men ;)

House ownership – for and against

I’m not sure why there is an argument regarding this issue. I really don’t know.

I’ve owned property since I was 19yo – simply because the price was right, the area was right and bugger paying someone else for me to live there.

Consequently I now live in an area that I want to – I am not yet mortgage free, but I am certainly better off paying a mortgage than paying rent – thus lining someone’s else pockets.

The average rent for an average house in suburbia is $300-$400 per week.

Using the same suburb, the median houses prices are $300-$400k – let’s assume you have $10-$20k stashed away somewhere. The average mortgage repayment would be $430.00 per week at 5.64% per annum.

The difference being $30.00 per week MORE for something that will be yours sometime down the track.

Notice I have worked on a slightly higher figure than the current rate – you have to be realistic.

Alright – so you have the maintenance costs, the rates costs, all that sort of thing, perhaps add another $50.00 per week to cover this expenditure.

The difference is now $100.00 per week (rounded up for the sake of convenience) more than renting.

I understand that some people rent for convenience, ie, their job requires that they move, they are testing the area, they are trying to locate a property in the area. There are many reasons to rent.

The problem I have with people renting, especially those that have an established income stream is that they are throwing money away.

Refer to this post Mortgages, Ownership and Interest Rates http://itaintalwaysso.blogspot.com/2009/10/mortgages-ownership-and-interest-rates.htmlwhere I make reference to affordability and being realistic. You can’t always have the best house in the best street, but you can be realistic and buy something you can afford and get ahead that way.

By considering a mortgage it will save you money in the long term – just like money in the bank. It won’t be easy, but I know I would prefer my money be in my pocket and not a landlords pocket.

This is a PERSONAL view, please consult a person with a financial background before committing to anything that you may see written here.

The Peanuts and the Elephants

I like analogies; they tell a lot about the situation, they tell a lot about the person.

They can convey a message without it seeming harsh, they can convey a very important message without losing the meaning.

I work in the financial field and often have to remind business owners that the elephants are not the bread and butter of business, they are the cream.

The peanuts are the small business owners – who more often than not pay their bills on time – who rarely screw you for price. Who are friendly and certainly less demanding than the big multi-national or even the national company.

How many times have you read in the news that company A has failed and with it company B and C are dragged down?

This is due to the fact that Company B and C failed to look after the peanuts, the smaller companies, the companies that pay their bills on time and are less demanding.

If company B & C had looked after the peanuts, the small fry, the small business, they would have these companies to fall back on – but often companies B & C are enticed by the lure of money, of the next big job, of the next big payment waiting to come in next week and they overlook the bread and butter.

Peanuts might be smaller, but they are far more numerous and certainly taste better than an elephant.

I would rather have 10 small companies owing me $10,000 in total, than one big company owing me $10,000. I know for a fact that 9 of those small companies can’t fail, whereas that one big one might just do that that.

If you are in business, regardless of the size, make sure you look after the peanuts, you can eat them, but elephants, they require much care and hard work before they are edible.

Tattoos, piercings, and ‘other’ body art

You know what? – I must be a square peg in a round hole. But looking back over my years, I have never once been tempted to get pierced, branded, tattooed, or cut in the name of art.

I realize that ‘body art’ is a form of individualism, a form of rebellion – but when you are 50yo, 60yo, 70yo – how do you explain to your grandchildren the ear lobes which have holes in them, the size of a small family car? That the lovely piece of art that was on your breast is now somewhere near your belly button and twice the size it used to be.

What about piercings which are common these days, once upon a time it was fashionable but somewhat risqué to have your ears pierced once. Now it is uncommon. The more holes the merrier it seems.

Another thing I have trouble with is skin carving(I won’t publish pictures as they are quite graphic, but google “Skin Carving” and you’ll see what I mean) Why would you wish to go through the pain and risk the infection for something that is considered ‘art’, will disfigure you for life and can never ever be removed.

When you are 20 and drunk, getting your boyfriends/girlfriends name emblazoned on your chest in indelible ink might seem cool and smart. But what about when you are 30 or 40 and yet to find a soul mate? – Would it be considered cool then?

The funniest story that I recall occurred in 2007, a young man while overseas, decided to get a tattoo. Should be no problems we all say –he wanted a matched pair on each bicep. He drew a picture of what he wanted, he labeled each with left and right. No problems. He sits in the chair, during the procedures manages to down 15 beers. 5 ½ hours later goes back to the motel and to bed. His brother in law walks in the next morning and has a giggle – under each tattoo is left on the left arm and right on the right arm and both tattoos had the word 'gay' rather than 'day'. Imagine living with that for the rest of your life!

Then there is the child and at 16yo she is still a child who had 56 stars tattooed across her face – what can you say?

I might be square, I might be backwards, I’m sorry – but an unadorned body I find prettier than one scarred with all sorts of garbage, that some call art-work.

Maybe I don’t appreciate art, maybe I don’t understand the tribalism behind these things, maybe I am old fashioned – but stuff the lot of you – You were born the way you were for a reason and it wasn’t to join some imaginary cult – that does nothing other than harm your employability.