Murmuring Beast 0 Report post Posted June 9, 2004 I work on a switchboard which accepts incoming calls about government benefits from London, England, which is weird because I'm in Glasgow, Scotland. Anyway, I've been doing this job for about 2 months now and it's quite good as the money's ok and I'm on fair hours. So today I get a call from some Cockney loud-mouth: Hello, my name's Martin, how can I help you? I want the sick section. I'm on sick benefit There's no such section as 'sick' so I ask him if he's on incapacity, the proper name for the benefit someone ill or who is unable to work is on. Are you on incapacity benefit, sir? I'm on sick. Sick benefit. So it's incapacity then.. NO, it's SICK Don't make me repeat myself! In frustration, I cut the guy off. Partly the reason for this was because I had a caller earlier on who was so kind and who was patient with me when I was trying to look up a phone number which they could ring to get assistance. I thought this guy was just being a pain in the ass. However, the guy phones back and gets through to a more senior member of staff. She's sitting just across from me and I can guess with her tone that it's the same guy. She apologizes for the fact that he was cut off, citing that it might have been accidental on the switchboard operator's part. Then he tells her he wants to speak to a manager about it. Before she puts him through, she asks whether he was speaking to a male or female operator. He obviously says male. Now, there were only two males members of staff in today and the other guy was on his lunch at the time so... Shit. She puts him through to a manager and I get up to go to the toilet to pull myself together because I know I'm in for a roasting. Because the person I was covering for returns for lunch I have to move to another computer to work, and as I sit down I explain the situation to the woman next to me. She is supportive as says she would have done the same thing. I'm not so sure. Anyway, the woman supervisor who answered the phone comes up to me and confronts me about it. I get out of my seat to meet her and we talk in full-view of some other members of staff. Did you have a Mr... on the line, Martin? I say yes in reply. Do you cut him off by accident? I knew I couldn't lie so I put my hands up, literally, and said that I did it deliberately because I didn't care for the way the guy was speaking to me. I explained to her that I regretted it as I was feeling pretty guilty about it. To her credit, she didn't fly off the handle but gave me a stern 'make sure it doesn't happen again' talk. I sat down relieved. Later on in the day, I think the switchboard manager gets wind of the whole situation but she doesn't say anything to me. So all in all, this was quite a fuck-up which could have gone a lot more wrong than it did. And all this after I was given a new 6-month extension on my contract... Any similar stories? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Dids Report post Posted June 9, 2004 I talk to idiots everyday. People who have no clue what they're doing, what they want, or how to get it. And then there's the customers. (never hire anybody over 50). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Mandarin 0 Report post Posted June 9, 2004 I showed up on time once. Something I deeply regret. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Retro Rob Report post Posted June 9, 2004 I've broken lots of stuff and spilt coffee. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lil' Bitch 0 Report post Posted June 10, 2004 Do you cut him off by accident? I knew I couldn't lie so I put my hands up, literally, and said that I did it deliberately because I didn't care for the way the guy was speaking to me. I explained to her that I regretted it as I was feeling pretty guilty about it. To her credit, she didn't fly off the handle but gave me a stern 'make sure it doesn't happen again' talk. I sat down relieved. Meh, I would have lied. Saves me the trouble. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
snuffbox 0 Report post Posted June 10, 2004 A few broken items(they were already aged and decrepit anyway) and some injuries(who wouldve guessed jumping off walls and ladders on downtime could nearly sever a finger?)... There was also an arguement with an upper-management guy thats since been vastly blown out of proportion.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JJMc 0 Report post Posted June 10, 2004 I work at a Shell station and we fill propane tanks (mostly the ones you'd use on a gas grill). One time the nozzle wasn't in tight enough and it shot off, filling the cage with gas. Then there's the countless times I've overpumped peoples' gas. (putting in more than they asked for). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted June 10, 2004 Now are these fuck-ups supposed to be things you regret doing? If so, I have no stories... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lomasmoney 0 Report post Posted June 17, 2004 I was half an hour late back to back days which pissed my manager off only because he actually had to do work. The only real fuck ups I have at Subway is that those new Atkins-friendly wraps are a pain in the ass for me to wrap. I mean it sounds easy but I may be the most uncoordinated person on earth. I never really messed up when I was in the Pharmacy over at CVS, but then again I really never quit or was fired, they just don't have enough hours to me due to a Pharmacy Intern from Pakistan coming in which added on about 40 hours to the payroll while the person they hired to replace me when I went off to school still has a job there. Bullshit, I tell you Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest 5.0Fanatic Report post Posted June 17, 2004 Me and the guy I work with have broken numerous things playing office baseball, but no ones noticed yet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Czech Republic 0 Report post Posted June 17, 2004 I really never quit or was fired, they just don't have enough hours to me due to a Pharmacy Intern from Pakistan coming in which added on about 40 hours to the payroll Interns are supposed to be getting paid...they're interns Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lomasmoney 0 Report post Posted June 17, 2004 adding 40 hours at whatever salary the intern gets paid put the pharmacy over budget is what I meant. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jay Z. Hollywood Report post Posted June 17, 2004 (edited) Here's a good one... After my junior year of high school, I got a summer job working at a Mail Boxes Etc. (now the UPS Store or whatever) and some old bitchy lady with really atrocious handwriting gave me an address to ship a $10,000 necklace to. I couldn't read a single fucking word or letter on the address or zip code (she took off immediately after dropping off the necklace before I could ask) so I basically just guessed- and needless to say the necklace actually did not arrive at its destination for about a month. One of the days I didn't work there, the lady pitched a screaming fit at one of my coworkers (an equally bitchy middle-aged lady who didn't like the fact I was getting paid the same rate per hour as her even though she worked there for about 10 years) and while I didn't get fired, I could tell the owner was looking for a second excuse to, so I quit a few weeks early before school started. Edited June 17, 2004 by Jay Z. Hollywood Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NoCalMike 0 Report post Posted June 17, 2004 well the fact that I abuse the internet privelage at every job site I have had, that has a LAN line. LOL. Umm, I email talk radio shows in the morning, especially sports shows. My current job is cool about it, because instead of some big wig in the IT deparment monitoring us on lockdown, it is up to our IMMEDIATE supervisor to take the initiative to want a report printed on your personal IP address. For one she is much too busy, and secondly, she is pretty nice and even said she doesn't really mind as long as you stay away from porn sites and don't let it affect your work load. When I worked for Dangerous_A I would always try to squeeze extra minutes on the net. It probably pissed him off a bit, but hey, he understands my internet addiction......LOL. As far as fuckups.......well when I worked at Ford, I popped a tire on an Explorer because when we took cars off the ramps, we were supposed to get someone to guide us down, but of course the salesman were being their ususally dickhead selves and didn't want to guide me, so I just said fuck it, can't stay up here all night. *POP* I was scared, but the managers ended up laughing about it. I also dented a car that just got sold to a customer, as I was driving the car back to the detail area, I took a corner too fast on a freshly wet surface, and I smacked it into a pole. It scrapped a nice chunk of paint off the front bumper, but no dent. So being the sly guy I was, when I finished washing it, I brought it up front, and parked the front end SO CLOSE to the wall, that there was no way you could physically walk around the front of the care, so in otherwords, the missing paint was impossible to see. And once you drive the car off the lot, it is considered sold AS-IS.........thank goodness it was just a used car. I still feel kind of bad about that one. I worked there the first year of the Ford Lightning, and I wasn't prepared for the power, so after washing it, I pressed the gas down every so "lightly" hahaha, and I fish-tailed. No damage done though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scroby 0 Report post Posted June 17, 2004 I work at a Shell station and we fill propane tanks (mostly the ones you'd use on a gas grill). One time the nozzle wasn't in tight enough and it shot off, filling the cage with gas. Then there's the countless times I've overpumped peoples' gas. (putting in more than they asked for). Oh you think that bad, try having the nozzle shooting back at you and spraying that crap all over your crouch and legs, ITS FUCKING COLD! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elite 0 Report post Posted June 17, 2004 I'm clumsy as hell, so I've done everything from drenching a child with dirty dishwater to starting a small grease fire. Though, my fondest memory wasn't even an accident at all, but rather a temper tantrum gone out of control. See, I merchandise milk, and trying to get the second level of 2Ls sit properly on top of the first can be highly agitating at times because they like to fall over. By the 50th time you've done that in a day, it tends to get on one's nerves. So, this one day, I sorta, kinda, maybe lost my patience a little and threw a particularly misbehaving carton across the store. It made me feel better. That is, until I saw it whacking an old lady in the shins and milk splattering everywhere. I got in trouble for that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest BDC Report post Posted June 17, 2004 It wasn't me that did it, but I was sitting right across the table when a waiter dropped an entire tray of ice water on my brother's back. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alfdogg 0 Report post Posted June 18, 2004 About 3 1/2 years ago, the guy who was supposed to help me unload truck at McDonalds' stood me up. So I had to call someone else in, and after we were done, we egged the guy's Blazer, which was dead in the parking lot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted June 18, 2004 That's what you get for working fast food. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
