New peeve thread???

[RICHARD]

And then she uses this electric stapler that's like a shotgun. Every time she uses it, I jump out of my seat it's so loud.

Unplug it to the point where it looks like it's plugged in or jam the sucker up.

take the strip of staples and break them up and reinsert them into the machine..


GUARANTEED JAMS......she'll spend more time fixing it than stapling!

[RICHARD]

Here's another one!!!!!


NEW IMPROVED LOW CARBS LOW FAT

Heat oven to 450 degrees, place into a greased oven.

[smokey the elder]

Grr. When people say they're out of the office until a certain day; you call that day and they're still out and haven't updated. They leave another extension, and no one is there. That second extension leaves a THIRD extension, and no one is there!!!

[RICHARD]

Grr. When people say they're out of the office until a certain day; you call that day and they're still out and haven't updated. They leave another extension, and no one is there. That second extension leaves a THIRD extension, and no one is there!!!

What do I do??

I call, when they leave their voice mail unblocked, on an outside line and put the call on hold, that way they get the crappy hold music but can't trace the call back to me....

[AbbyMom]

The peeves that have been peeving me lately:

Food service employees who handle your drink glass by the rim. EWW!

Cashiers that lick their fingers before handling your bills or your plastic sack.

Coworkers who take a chomp of a veggie and then stick it back in the dip. Or crunch that tostito and stick it back in the salsa. Or the one guy who picks up every bagel in the basket to examine it closely before choosing

[Cincy'sMom]

Grr. When people say they're out of the office until a certain day; you call that day and they're still out and haven't updated. They leave another extension, and no one is there. That second extension leaves a THIRD extension, and no one is there!!!

Along the same lines...when you try to call or email a client, and they are out for a vacation, but have not left a message to that effect on either voice mail or a bounce back email with an alternate contact.

The most interesting one I had, I had been trying for a week to contact a client with results to their testing. The test article had not met requirements and I could not relase results without speaking to the client about a failure investigation. I called the main line, hoping an operator could at least confirm the person was out of the office, only to be told that information was confidental and that they were a " big boy" who would answer the voice mail when they had a chance! Two weeks later, when the client finally did call back, they wanted to send more sample and were upset when I said it would be 4 weeks for results...they wanted them in two weeks!! Why should I rush, when they blew me off for two weeks?

[smokey the elder]

I hear that about your lab tests! I get the same thing all the time in the pilot plant. They run two shifts, but we're so shorthanded in analytical that we have to do doubles some times. One of my coworkers got sick after doing a double. Yeah, that's great for production.

[JenBKR]

The most interesting one I had, I had been trying for a week to contact a client with results to their testing. The test article had not met requirements and I could not relase results without speaking to the client about a failure investigation. I called the main line, hoping an operator could at least confirm the person was out of the office, only to be told that information was confidental and that they were a " big boy" who would answer the voice mail when they had a chance! Two weeks later, when the client finally did call back, they wanted to send more sample and were upset when I said it would be 4 weeks for results...they wanted them in two weeks!! Why should I rush, when they blew me off for two weeks?

I have a lot of the same type of problems - I work in a lab that analyzes mold & bacteria - people don't seem to understand that some things cannot be rushed! They get so upset when I tell them that it takes 1-2 weeks for certain tests, and then they call every day to see when their results will be done. Grr, if you'd stop calling, we might actually be able to work in them!

[RICHARD]

They get so upset when I tell them that it takes 1-2 weeks for certain tests, and then they call every day to see when their results will be done. Grr, if you'd stop calling, we might actually be able to work in them!

Come on!!!

Be creative!!!

When they call tell them that you are going to look up the resuilts.

Then put the caller on hold, check your watch and give them 1 minute, pick up the phone after one minute and explain to them that the results are not in, yet.

You can turn this into a game....

Increase the time by one minute every day they call. Keep score.
10 points for the initial call
10 points for each minute you keep them on the line.
50 points if you get them to hang up and call back.

---------------

Work on your acting skills....

pick up the phone and make like you have run a 100 yard dash. Apologize profusely and let them know you had an emergency-
Again, be creative!

I spilled my hot coffee on my lap.
The printer just caught fire.
I stapled my thumb!!!

----------------------------

Rude caller????

Move the phone away from your ear,

Say something like Oops or OW!!!!


Drop the handset onto the floor....
(tile floors are the best for this...) then pick up the handset off the floor and using your acting skills again, say something like, "I am really sorry, I just dropped you on the floor!!!"

Just remember to stay professional and keep apologizing....

That you can turn into a game too!!!

See how many, "I am SOOOOO sorries" can go into the conversation in one minute.

People will think that you are a buffoon, but remember who is playing who!!!!

[Lady's Human]

While we're on the subject of work.........

My personel pet peeve at the PO is management. Not all of it, but most of it. Here are a couple examples that explain why:

1) While working on a (management induced) computer communications problem on a machine, I first had one manager looking over my shoulder. His boss came over, and after about 1/2 hour they started to ask me when the machine was going to be fixed. Then the plant manager came over and started asking me the same set of questions that my immediate supervisor had asked me. Then they got offended when I said " I don't know when it's going to be back up, but the sooner you leave the more time I'll have to work on it."

2) When 5 people out of a 25 person department ask for the same tool to be purchased for the shop, the proper response should be "I'll see if we have the money in the budget for it" or "Okay, I'll go talk to the plant manager about it." Instead, the postal response is "Have you guys all been talking about this together? I told employee x last week we don't need one, now all of you are trying to get the same thing. Sorry, it ain't working!"

[gini]

My personal peeve has to do with ordering from catalogs.

I ordered a tent for my little niece. It looked really cute - a lady bug!

I had it shipped to Boston for Christmas. When I got there and opened the package - it wasn't a tent at all - it was a wooden horse stable.

After Christmas I called the company and complained. You would have thought that I was just a trouble maker - "don't you like the horse stable"
"you want to return it?"

I have talked to this company so many times - I am sick of them. And of course, their accounting department works just fine - the charge is on my credit card.

This is the second time I have encountered this problem. I ordered something for the house - extensions for down spouts. I received two sets of vegetable bags? I thought I was crazy - but this company apologized - told me to keep the vegetable bags and they sent me the correct items right away.

Someone told me that this is their way of getting my money into their account...........and then messing with the order if the item is out of stock.

[JenBKR]

Come on!!!

Be creative!!!

When they call tell them that you are going to look up the resuilts.

Then put the caller on hold, check your watch and give them 1 minute, pick up the phone after one minute and explain to them that the results are not in, yet.

You can turn this into a game....

Increase the time by one minute every day they call. Keep score.
10 points for the initial call
10 points for each minute you keep them on the line.
50 points if you get them to hang up and call back.

---------------

Work on your acting skills....

pick up the phone and make like you have run a 100 yard dash. Apologize profusely and let them know you had an emergency-
Again, be creative!

I spilled my hot coffee on my lap.
The printer just caught fire.
I stapled my thumb!!!

----------------------------

Rude caller????

Move the phone away from your ear,

Say something like Oops or OW!!!!


Drop the handset onto the floor....
(tile floors are the best for this...) then pick up the handset off the floor and using your acting skills again, say something like, "I am really sorry, I just dropped you on the floor!!!"

Just remember to stay professional and keep apologizing....

That you can turn into a game too!!!

See how many, "I am SOOOOO sorries" can go into the conversation in one minute.

People will think that you are a buffoon, but remember who is playing who!!!!

LOL some great ideas there Richard! I'll keep you up to date on my scores

[RICHARD]

While we're on the subject of work.........

2) When 5 people out of a 25 person department ask for the same tool to be purchased for the shop, the proper response should be "I'll see if we have the money in the budget for it" or "Okay, I'll go talk to the plant manager about it." Instead, the postal response is "Have you guys all been talking about this together? I told employee x last week we don't need one, now all of you are trying to get the same thing. Sorry, it ain't working!"

Along the same lines...


My sys admin orders a 200 dollar chair and all new desk items. Calendars, pen holders....She gets a three hundred dollar hands free wireless head set!
Because she is "always on the move"....She is never 3 feet away from the phone! She asks for a 500 dollar flash drive for the computer and then tells her boss that "she needs it by thursday, otherwise the reports won't get done...."

When she took away my internet I told her I needed it to reference surgery codes and terms.....she told me that she would order me any books I needed..

I told her that in the code books/med dictionary terms were obsolete by the time I got them.....she was going to spend about 600 dollars on books that I probably would use once or twice..


My point?

If that same dimwit needed a tool/part or piece of equipment.. they would order three. One for their desk, one to lend out (BUT BRING IT BACK, It' belongs to the department!!) and one for a backup...Cost be damned....

But try to get a five dollar widget that everyone needs?

Good luck!

-----------------------------------------

I just threw away my old desk blotter calendar that I got from the trash at a side job I did......

I felt guilty ordering a new one from the office supply book.....until this year...

and finally....

A company we purchase heart valves from increased the price from 5,800 dollars to 8,000 because our contract with them expired...when the clerk was explaining to the nurse, who orders them, about the price increase, she starts to complain about the cost and how crazy that is to pay 2,200 dollars for the life saving devices........

I said, out loud, Maybe we should take a pay cut so we can affiord these valces.....she starts to complain that she's "NOT GOING TO TAKE A PAY CUT!"

So I mention that it is "FOR THE PATIENTS".......

She didn't have much to say after that....


Amazing how people will take advantage of the budget when it helps them-but ask them to loosen up the purse strings for the common good?


GOOD LUCK!

[RICHARD]

THIS REALLY IRRITATES ME.....

Yesterday some blasting caps were found in the sea near a bunch of upscale homes near Huntington Beach, California....

The people living in the area were not asked to evacuate but did comment that, "nothing like this has ever happened, in this area, before."

It's the same with murders, car accidents and other stuff like that..

Are most of the people on the planet this friggin ignorant?

I could see the reverse happening in Iraq...

Today, no one was killed in a car/suicide bombing. Interviewing the citizens of Baghdad said, "nothing like this has ever happened, in this area, before."

[slick]

I just hate it when I'm browsing in a shop and a pushy salesperson says "Can I help you?" I say "no I'm just looking." Next isle and another salesperson. When I was shopping at Christmas I had 4 salespeople in the same store ask me that same question.....I then just walked out of the store, never to return again.

Oh yes, and one other thing. Pushy car salesmen who think I don't know what I'm talking about.