Upsetting the customer

[dave_1]

dont you love it. i dont get to do it much in this job, infact i cant recall ever doing it in this job but last friday i was fuming
i had a 6.30 start from peterborough to do a drop in poole for between 12.00. and 13.00
not a big problem but leaving at 07.00 and having to drive through both rush hours there and back meant time was tight driving hours wise. anyhow i done well to get to within ten minutes of the drop and had to take a 45.
gets into there crappy little yard at 12.30 .
sees the lad, gives him my ticket and starts blowing the load off. im nearly done (13.00) and the lad comes and gives me my ticket and says"im off for me diner, get someone in the office to sign it", no problem.
anyhow, i backs down in to the office car park (you have to to drive back out) and goes in. a bloke in a suit meets me in the corridor and asks what i want.
i says"just a signiture here please and i will be on my way".
he said “the lads on his dinner, you will have to wait for 30 minutes till he comes back”
i told him the lad had sent me here and i had a long way to go and would appreciate not being held up"
not my problem he says. anyhow i was starting to get annoyed so i just turned around and said “whatever” just like my daughter says to me
he asked if i had a problem, i ignored him.and walked away. then he said he would report me and that he was the owner of the place.
i said “well your doing well, considering”
"considering what"he said
“considering you cant even sign your name”
anyhow he came walking after me into the car park, still moaning about how he was going to report me. so i stopped and told him to go away and report me then,then i lost it and said if it was,nt for the fact i was working and wearing the company uniform then he would be on the floor by now.
well, he went, and i thought oh well thats me zb,ed then.
i jumped in the truck and flew out the car park, setting off a few car alarms aswell , unintentional but funny none the less.
i stopped just down the road and phoned the office and told them most of what occurred. dont worry we speak to him a few times a week and hes a zb to everyone.
gets back to the yard around 18.00 expecting to give the boss a right good listening too, but it turns out that the bloke never rang in. apparently hes done this a few times but my company wont stop delivering to him
still, i wonder if he learnt anything by our brief encounter.
probably not

so, who have you upset

[chopsticks]

Good to hear you put him in his place Dave…jumped up suited ■■■■■■. Probably taken by surprise at your response to him… be a few weeks before he starts being an ■■■■ again.

dave:
i jumped in the truck and flew out the car park, setting off a few car alarms aswell , unintentional but funny none the less.

Was this due to the speed you left the car park or you hitting every car with your trailer on the way out on purpose trying to get the boss mans?

dave:
so, who have you upset

No one, I aint got the balls to do that sort of thing and say anything…I’ll just except the ■■■■ they throw at me.

[dave_1]

did,nt hit anything that day
must have been the sonic boom off the back of the truck setting the alarms off.

normally im very placid, but since i got this middle aged spread,big belly type beer gut/ pod thing i will stand up to anyone. i feel bigger/harder than i am im really a ■■■■■ cat, but dont tell everyone

[chopsticks]

Dont worry, my lips are sealed.

[daxi]

You should have taken that half hour wait in the entrance to the place.
I did it once to a place that made me wait, they then called the police, who told them as it was private property, & thier vehicle, there was nothing they could do.
So they then, but only then, decide that their computer being down WAS their problem & that they would have to give me a hand written receipt for something out of their stores for delivery to their workmen.
Strange that.

[ohterry]

safeways/morrisons, chilled rdc bristol, last monday,
goes in with two pallets for them.
the girl behind charge desk -says oh! we dont need this stuff now,
me- ok thats fine just sign my paperwork to that effect and i,ll be on my way.

fine, no problems there, nice old girl no probs.
she gives me gate pass to sign, i sign and give her pen back and makes my way to gate house.

now for the fun.

hitlers double, – your gate pass hasnt been stamped, go back to goods in and get it stamped (it was his manner/attitude which got me going)

me-- well the lass gave me it to sign i signed it and here i am.
hitlers double–well your going nowhere till i have a stamp on your gatepass.
me-- well i,ll tell you what to do m8 shall i,you take gatepass to goods in, get it stamped and come back and let me out ok.
hitlers double-- its not my problem you sort it out.
by this time there was three other artics behind me the lads getting impatient.
so i looks down at hitlers double throws my laminated instruction thingy and gate pass, and switches off motor, and tells him to give me a shout when he is ready to open barrier. i then started making a brew.

ive got to say in between this conversation and actually getting out, the language got a bit blue. a threat here a threat there etc etc, the stupid oaf totally (how shall i say)…ZBD my day.

i rang my gaffa while the kettle was brewing explained what the score was, he was ok about it, didnt really say too much.

any way hitlers double was just standing there like a sore wotsit at a wedding, by this time the line of vehicles wanting to get out were starting to reverse and exit through the in gate. one bloke from NFT came over and said fair play to you m8 i would do the same. (cheers fella.)

my cuppa now finished, some chap in suit and tie came over, very pleasant chap, explained what the commotion was about, after listening to me he went into security building, after wagging his finger a lot, he came back out and said to me that this isnt the first time something similar had occured and heads would be rolling. and eventually the barrier (as if by majic) opened and i was on my merry way…

these security people really do wind me up at times.

a simple solution to this incident, and any future ones would be simple.

sorry m8 the dosey mare in the office hasnt stamped your pass.
gis a minute and i,ll ring her and clear it for you to leave.

less bovva than a hovva, and no grief/stress.

it left me in a fowl mood for the rest of the day.

[scanny77]

i used to have a customer who insisted that i park on double yellow lines which would effectively block half of a main road until they were ready to back me in. i argued that this was illegal and i got a traffic officer to confirm it. they complained about me, i complained about them and we ended up having a meeting which included me, my agency manager, the assistant manager of the bakery and the head supervisor. blah blah blah and i walked out of the job

[mrpj]

scanny77:
i used to have a customer who insisted that i park on double yellow lines which would effectively block half of a main road until they were ready to back me in. i argued that this was illegal and i got a traffic officer to confirm it. they complained about me, i complained about them and we ended up having a meeting which included me, my agency manager, the assistant manager of the bakery and the head supervisor. blah blah blah and i walked out of the job

Parking on double yellow lines is illegal so therefore I cannot see how anyone could complain. As for having a ‘meeting’ about it, your company shouldn’t have even entertained the idea.

[simonrs2k]

But i thought double yellows meant parking only for trucks so cant see the problem

simon

[scanny77]

the traffic officer confirmed my thoughts on the matter. i would have been guilty of causing an obstruction. they wanted me to wait on the double yellows, not unload there.
if someone hit the truck, i would have been liable and the shop would also be open to prosecution for making me stay there

at the end of the day, the shop did not want me reversing over the pavement without someone to guide me. it is a straight reverse too

my points were these:

1. as the driver, it is my responsibility to ensure that the person watching me in is competant and they have proven otherwise.
2. the wanted me to break the law by parking on double yellows
3. it would be their own customers that i would be obstructing
4. i am more than capable of completing the manouvre without anyone guiding me. in fact, it would be safer and easier to do it myself as they insisted on walking behind the truck whilst guiding (which proves they are not competant enough to guide me) which is frankly stupid!

by the way, this was at Tesco Express, Warsash Road in Locks Heath just in case anyone knows it

[flying_fenman]

I upset the manager at our Camden Town store every time I go.

Front door tip on Camden High Road, and he wants me to park the unit on the pavement so the tail lift is opposite the door of the shop.

No chance I tell him

‘But regular driver is parking there always!’, he shouts.

So I just tell him that I don’t care - it doesn’t matter - you’ve got me tonight!

Or there’s Fulham store- he wants me to park in the zig- zags (zebra crossing outside store)

It’s my licence and I’ll park where and how I think is legal and safe.

By the way, I’m beginning to see some similarities here!

[peirre]

SimonRS2K:
But i thought double yellows meant parking only for trucks so cant see the problem simon

regular tip…Heron foods in Hull (walcot St),
all on street tip, double yellows everywhere, one day the neighbours (factory) complain about all these trucks parked on the street, and they (factory) cant get their cars parked up coz trucks are blocking gates etc............................. traffic wardens suddenly turn up to see the situation, and promptly start issueing parking tickets to the very peeps who complained, as they had to park illegally on the pavment, all the truckers looked at the wardens, and the wardens say "Ill sort all these out 1st, which will take me about an hour, by which time no doubt you lot will have unloaded and gone"
seems the niegbours regularly complain, or used to

[dave_1]

flying_fenman:
I upset the manager at our Camden Town store every time I go.

Front door tip on Camden High Road, and he wants me to park the unit on the pavement so the tail lift is opposite the door of the shop.

No chance I tell him

‘But regular driver is parking there always!’, he shouts.

So I just tell him that I don’t care - it doesn’t matter - you’ve got me tonight!

Or there’s Fulham store- he wants me to park in the zig- zags (zebra crossing outside store)

It’s my licence and I’ll park where and how I think is legal and safe.

By the way, I’m beginning to see some similarities here!

ha, i remember doing berwick street in the rigid
monday to thursday not a problem. on the friday it was the same back door bloke, but this time i did,nt help him drag the cages into the shop. this was because a) i did,nt have to, b) he never once said thanks for the help
and
c) he never made me a cup of tea.
anyhow i had had enough on friday so i just lowered the cages down on the tail lift. the bloke just stared at me . and i stared back.
then he called me a lazy git and said that all the drivers helped. even the drivers this week had helped
but that was me. do we all look the same to these foreigners
anyways, we had a bit of a barney, i lost it (again) and chased the guy into the shop. well he jumped into the lift and stopped it between the ground floor and the basement. i never seen him again, and i never done berwick street again

[flying_fenman]

dave:
ha, i remember doing berwick street in the rigid

That is one awful place Dave ain’t it?

We get a parking ticket from there every night. There’s always trouble - sometimes the looney who lives on the first floor next to the brothel across the road chucks stuff out of the window at you. I’ve seen a microwave bite the dust before now!

Last time I went I was propositioned by a ‘lady’ who had been stood scratching herself for ten minutes prior (you know whereI mean )

I politely declined…

And as for chasing him into the shop - that’s hilarious - I can just imagine it!

[dave_1]

the bloke in the flats
he was only a little guy. he once came down and had a go at the driver. i dont remember who it was but they was about 6 ft 4 and the guy in the flats was a drunken scottish bloke who was around 5 ft 2. he did,nt hang around long.
then i rememeber the driver terry, used to do woolwich and somewhere else over the river.
they where painting the flats next to the shops and the little darling kids climbed up a fair few stories and threw the paint cans all over the truck.
this went on for some time, and i think terry went sick with a nervous breakdown.
one bloke on sommerfields you never want to upset, big kev on the afternoon shift. he,s chased a few back door men in his time

[flying_fenman]

Yeah that’s him!

Often wondered what it was he was trying to say!

Big Kev - wot a card!

Unfortunately he had a heart attack a few months back and cannot drive at the moment.

Saw him out a few weeks back, they don’t know what caused it but he looks better than ever in himself. Reckon it’s cos he packed up the ■■■■!

Hopefully he’ll be back sometime soon.

[discopete]

We used to do servicing for the TA

We did Land rovers and Bedfords

Had to take one back to the TA Barracks once,

Turned up outside the gate (about 25 foot high, with barbed wire) Army landrover in front of the gates.

Security bloke comes to the gate, We just knew he was going to be trouble, Peak cap pulled right down so it touched his nose, and then looks down his nose at you,

He asked us what we wanted, we said we were returning one of there landrovers after repairing it,

So he pipes up about not being told it was coming so he could not let us in,

Security risk you see, We tried pointing out it was one of there vehicles!!

Tried various ways of getting him to open the gates, He was not going to open it and would not ring the main building to OK it, some army lads were watching from a distance,

It ended with him being told to park the landrover where the sun does not shine, and we walked off just after throwing the keys on top of his security building and leaving the (Now with no keys) Landrover across the gateway,

The army lads all fell about laughing as we drove into the distance,

Never got any comeback

[liberace]

The bloke at Hays as was (now Waitrose), Bardon Hill, Coalville. Signed for the goods then went for his dinner and wouldn’t tip me. Left £250,000 worth of 'phone cards right in the middle of his yard for an hour, as I had a tail lift .

The pencil neck on the gate at McVities, Ashby De La Zouche with a similar thing to OhTel. “Your gate pass isn’t stamped.”

Can’t get it stamped, been pulled out because the pallet’s unsafe and they won’t tip it so they won’t stamp it."

“Can’t come through here then. Go and get it sorted.”

Rang the boss and he said “Back it through the gate mate. You’ve got a collect to get to before they shut ”

Recently, I’ve been quite placid . Having said that, I’m on own account work now and am loaded and tipped right quick .

[kitkat]

Safeway’s Bellshill.14 pallet’s of candle’s booked in one morning for 08.30.So leave’s depot at 08.15 in Safeway’s 08.20.Park’s up goes in with my manifest plus their customer’s paperwork ,which i removed from pallet b4 leaving depot.The girl say’s we’re running late,you might have a bit of a wait how long i said 1-2hrs .Not me i’ll give you 30min’s from book in time,but that will only be 9am yes i have important customer’s to do well i won’t give you your paperwork back nor a gate pass,i don’t need your customer’s paperwork,i have my manifest that’s all i need,and as for your gate pass i don’t need one.you won’t get out the gate without one she say’s well i have 60’ of metal that will go through any barrier and we’ll see if mr security man try’s to stop me.Failing that i’ll call 999 and tell them that i’m being held against my will and then the smile on your face will change. . 9am come’s still not tipped,started engine up pulled along side office,said can i get a gate pass please, as i’m off . You’v had your 30mins past my book in time.By this time she had back up and he tried it on as well. well i said you’s have been warned and out i went.Back into cab and start’s driving toward’s main gate,when i heard the word driver.As i checked the mirror here’s said guy from office with gate pass.we will be calling securicor up and telling them that you are banned from this site please can i get that in black & white.he was fuming We’re still waiting on the call.

[melchett]

I used to drive forks for a big place some time ago & they operated the “appointment” system, it makes sense if you’re talking about full artics to be loaded/tipped… that can take time but I never understood the point of keeping the guy with 3 or 4 pallets waiting if they turned up early.

I looked at it this way…
I have to take them off anyway.
If I’m loading another truck I can whip a pallet off his as I drive past empty & drop it on the yard.
I’m happy cos it gets 60 feet of artic out of the way & I don’t have to keep driving round it.
The drivers happy cos he can go & do his other stuff.
I sign the delivery note anyway so what does it matter.

Unfortunately it did matter to the warehouse manager & I got more bollockings than I care to remember for, as he put it, “f’ing up the system” Things like “This system is here for a reason & it’s not up to you blah blah, you’ll have 'em turning up at all times expecting to be done” etc etc was his usual rant

Basically I ignored him for the simple reason that it helped me to get the trucks away as quickly as possible & not have them cluttering up the yard. I didn’t need the “jobsworths” telling me how to do my job!

It did get me a written warning for “Repeatedly defying company policy” I left shortly afterwards.

In the main I’ve found that the lads driving the forks are ok, it’s the idiots in the office who’ve never done the job that cause the problems by insisting that the rules are stuck to… no matter what!