Would you walk?

I get bullied and abused at work too. I can’t walk though because I don’t have enough savings to feel comfortable being without work while I look elsewhere.

Is this affecting your mental state? It has mine. I barely sleep Sunday nights and I’m only there 2 days a week.

Do up a budget to work out how long you can go without your income and hustle. If you have the means to be able to afford to walk, and have your wife’s blessing, just do it.

It sounds like this is torturing you. If you can meet your responsibilities and leave then leave.

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Guys, sue the fak out of them. If you have enough evidence then get yourself some type of $$$ gratification.
If they are doing this and yet are not getting rid of you then that’s torture!

I don’t know if it’s true or not - not sure where to look, but couldn’t find anything on Google - but apparently the owner has been done before for bullying, and supposedly “next time the fine will be in the millions”… And much as I’d like to free my co-workers from the owner’s tyranny, unemployment in Geelong sucks… not to mention, whistleblowers have a hard time getting jobs…

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G’day,

Thought I’d add this on here rather than make a new thread…

New Question - Would you lie for your boss?

The company I work for sells goods to both wholesalers, but also direct to customers via the Net. Some of the wholesalers have physical shop fronts, but the major ones are online retailers. I have been told that we are going to start telling the online wholesalers that “we do not have any stock”, for the purpose of increasing our own online sales.

This has been something the owner has wanted to do for some time, and has recently employed a new sales manager who is backing the move 110%.

I meanwhile have spent 3.5 years building relationships with these wholesalers, and am now expected to lie to them.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to talk to the ACCC (anonymously) to verify the legal standpoint on the topic, as if it is against the law, I wont do it… though I somehow doubt they’ll give me a straight answer.

So frustrated.

This sounds like such a toxic workplace! I’d be looking hard for a new job. Which I gather you are.

I would be trying to find a way to answer those questions without lying, but if you can’t then I don’t know what you should do.

If you had an ethical boss you could just refuse to lie, but an ethical boss wouldn’t ask you to do this. Quite apart from the fact that it’s a move that’s fraught with challenges, screwing customers like this is extremely dodgy. Anyone with a shred of decency would announce the policy change and deal with the flack. It’s not like they’d be the first business to change their model. To not do so ensures that bridges will be burnt and one rule anyone with brain follows in business (not to mention life generally) is that one should never burn bridges unless there is absolutely no alternative.

So no, I would not lie for a boss. Given that I am one, I would also say that I would never ask an employee to lie for me either. It’s reprehensible behaviour. If the new sales manager thinks it’s such a great idea then maybe you should put all those call through to them so they can lie about it if they want.

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I doubt the ACCC will be of much use. It’s not illegal but it’s a dumb and short sighted move. Your wholesalers will work our what’s going on and move to your competitors (possibly after suing you for breach of contract if you have a contract to supply), and you’ll need a really good plan to achieve the same results via a retail channel.

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A couple years ago the brand got into a major chain store, and then 2 more just in the past few months - hence the owner now feeling pretty buoyed about the idea of dropping the online wholesalers. From memory there’s nothing in the contracts that could be used to sue due to non supply - the CFO recently had a lawyer go over the contract - it was probably checked out at that point…

Yes, @soulman, very unethical… And I’m doing my best to resist the urge to be both unethical and breaking my own employment contract in retaliation - telling these wholesalers what’s coming. (I have actually counseled people in the lunch-room to make sure their resume was up to date - that’s against my employment contract - I’m not allowed to encourage people to leave…)

I’m glad I only have to get through til 4pm tomorrow, then get a week or so off…

Spoke to the ACCC this afternoon - not legal advice, of course, just information.

A supplier has the right to decide who they sell goods to. Financial barriers are a reasonable factor in those decisions - hence, potentially choosing not to supply due to the fact that there are higher margins selling direct to public may be a feasible excuse not to sell to a wholesale customer.

However, stating that there is no stock available, when in fact stock is available, could be considered false or misleading, which is against the law.

So my boss should just tell the wholesalers outright - we are no longer going to sell to you as we are changing business practices. The owner is concerned however that if they tell the wholesalers up front, the wholesalers will dump their stock at cheap prices, and January is one of the biggest months of sales for the year, so we would lose out…

The ACCC guy also mentioned that it is possible that the action could be seen as anti-competitive, especially when I said that the main reason for the action is to stop the online wholesalers from competing with “our” own web sales…

Overall he was very helpful, within his purview.

Hoping a chat with my dad over X/Mas / New Year’s will help.

I would be worried, given what you know about your employer, that if a wholesaler got nasty and wanted to take action against your employer, the employer might try to claim that you had not been told to say there was no stock, and that you were doing this off your own bat. In other words, if you were to say that to a wholesaler, make sure you have the instruction in writing from your employer first.

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I agree, if you’re going to tell a lie at least have the instruction in writing but don’t baldly ask for that. Perhaps ask your employer to suggest how he/she would frame the response when asked to fill an order they don’t want to fill. That way you could be seen to be asking for guidance, not covering your butt.

Well, the owner pushed one of the managers too far - he’s quit, no job to go to. (Single, no kids; said he’ll just have a holiday… ahh the luxury.)

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If you’re not enjoying a job and you want another one, sometimes the best thing to do is walk away. As someone who was in a job I hated, I realised it was bringing me down, I wasn’t presenting the best of me at interviews because I was really deflated. It wasn’t until I left and took some time to recharge that I came back and got a job pretty much as soon as I looked. Thankfully I’ve always had a small business (doesn’t bring in that much money) so I had a little money coming in. I’m not sure I’d recommend it every time but it worked for me. I guess it also depends on your industry and how many jobs are around.

I’ve been considering this myself.

I’ve been repairing Apple computers for around 7 or 8 years now, and I’m tired of it. Some of it is corporate policies at Apple, some of it is conditions around the workshop itself, and while I don’t want to go into too much detail, I can certainly relate to some of the issues Cosmic has encountered.

I keep telling myself it’s wise to keep my current job, to maintain a stable income, but it’s become both physically and mentally draining, both because of where I am and also knowing that as time ticks on, I’m not actively pursuing where I want to be, exploring what the world and life has to offer, building a career or working toward switching into a different field.

I haven’t worked out what it is I actually want to do. I never have the time, energy or motivation to make the shift after work has taken more than its fair share each day and each week. Sometimes I wonder if the best solution is to leave, recharge and work towards something new, so I can actually have the energy to dedicate to the cause. Otherwise I’ll continue to be stuck in the same situation, day in and day out, year after year.

This year needs to be about change, because I can’t handle another twelve months sitting in this one spot. I made the decision to speak to a doctor to address some of the underlying mental issues and roadblocks I often face, some because of my work and the situation I’m in. Perhaps I could speak with some career counsellors about career options and see what best matches the skills I can offer, or what areas I need to acquire more skills in.

Perhaps it would make better sense for me to start a small business with the computer and game system repair skills (both hardware and software, troubleshooting, component replacement and micro-soldering) I already have. Even some money here and there is better than none. It’s an option I want to at least consider. I haven’t run a business before, but I’ve always wanted to build experience in this area, and I know I need to start somewhere.

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That is F89king horrible. I wouldn’t of stayed, would be looking for a new job and then inform them with notice soon as i had a confirmed offer and start date from new employer :wink:

It’s been on a slow-burn… but this morning when I got in to work, I had an email asking me to tell one of our wholesalers that we were “out of stock”.

Instead I got onto the ACCC website, found a few choice references, and emailed the CFO (basically the person I most realistically call “my manager”, and outlined the situation, and my concern that it would be deemed misleading/deceitful. The CFO is fully aware, and supports the move away from supplying wholesalers who only trade online, however he has a lot more ethics than anyone else at this place. He agreed we couldn’t say we didn’t have any stock. So I’m hoping that’s a bit of a victory on this issue at least.

I’m in a similar boat and need some help or guidance. A bit afraid to post the specifics on here though, because I know people from within the company browse these forums and know my account name.

Does anyone have any suggestions for who someone could talk to, outside of the usual family and friends? I’ve considered those hotlines like Lifeline but from what I understand they’re more about emotional and mental support rather than professional advice. Of course I could be mistaken there.

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Do you have some friends that you can bounce this stuff off? I’ve got friends who work in the same industry, but not within the same company for example. We bounce things off each other all the time.

I’m considering whether to leave my position as well. Vent incoming.

I started working on computers for Apple because I loved repairing electronics. I still do, but it’s become a much, much smaller component of my work as Apple computers have condensed down from separate modules to a few complete assemblies. My focus then shifted toward customer service. Fixing computers for the individual and finding enjoyment in their reactions.

But its become much harder to find individuals who appreciate your work. I turned around repairs in 3 days on average. That was reduced to 2 days. Now, customers sometimes become irate when their repair isn’t performed same day, on the spot. It places pressure on workshops and technicians to perform beyond their limitations. Sometimes I start early in the morning before work hours, and sometimes forego breaks just to ensure a computer leaves the workshop on time, scrambling to reassemble and test computers between customer walk-ins and phone calls.

Mistakes happen. It’s inevitable. Customers get mad. I shouldn’t let it bother me, but it does.

It was such a simple error. A SIM card was presumably left in an iPhone before it was sent to Apple’s repair facility for service. Apple’s policy is to automatically remove and discard any SIM cards left in an iPhone sent in for service. So this iPhone was returned without the customer’s SIM card, and I had the pleasure of serving them and delivering the good news.

They went off. I’m a p*ss poor excuse of a technician, and my colleague is an arrogant pr*ck. Am I stupid? Am I incapable of following a simple procedure? And why the f*ck am I just standing there? MOVE!

As if there were anything else I could do. I had no control over the situation. Someone boxed the phone, Apple discarded the SIM. They held the cards, smirking as they berated me, becoming harsher and more personal with each remark, waiting for my composure to crack. I walked out, consequences be damned.

And in that moment, I realised that the last enjoyable aspect of my job was gone. Customers don’t care about the work, time, effort and care that went into a job anymore. The repairs are never done fast enough, or cheap enough, even though they’re certainly done well enough.

Sometimes there are good customers, and the exchanges are civil. But it’s the anger and hatred that becomes seared into your memory over time, or at least for me it does.

But that’s customer service for you. I’ve persisted for 8 years this year. I needed the job, the money. As some would say, “you need an income to live”. I have an income. But I’m hardly living.

~ M.

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As a private IT Consultant, I feel your pain iMic.

In the last 2-3 years I’ve just had enough and I actually fire clients now we don’t need customers like that and we definitely do not deserve to be treated badly and be degraded publicly to satisfy whatever shortcomings the client may have.

We act in a professional manner and take responsibility when mistakes are made. Moren more this job is becoming managing expectations which we do even more these days.

This righteous in titled phase that people are going through at the moment while wanting to pay pennies on the dollar I will not stand for it.

@iMic I completely empathise with where you are at. As @Kyle-K mentions, it’s all about managing expectations and clients often have unrealistic expectations in this current time of instant gratification.
I was previously a service tech for a mobile phone manufacturer - the role evolved from component level repairs and a high degree of fault finding, schematic interpretation and diagnostics to basically just module swaps and quality checking. Not fun, not interesting and not challenging.

As a result, I left the industry and found my groove in a different career pathway. A benefit is that electronics are fun again because it’s a hobby and something I do for enjoyment.
It took a couple of false starts and a bit of resetting my own expectations, but I’m now earning heaps more than I ever could have as a solder monkey and have a better quality of life as a result.

You’re a smart guy, with passion and dedication to the work you take on, that’s evident from your projects here. You’ll find something that suits you - or maybe it’ll find you.