I hate people, men in particular who think women know nothing, who think certain things are only a mans' work, and who will not take suggestions or listen to what women say. I can't do everything, but let me tell you I CAN do a lot. I know things about a lot of stuff. I've done a lot of stuff, I've seen a lot of stuff, and I will be the first person to admit when I don't know something. I will also take suggestions from people regardless of gender.
I can not say the same for the lazy jackass UPS Freight driver who came to our office yesterday. This guy is a piece of work. I've been at my current job since May, and he's been here a handful of times. We have a loading dock outside, visible from my boss's desk, and trucks back in there numerous times a day. Big trucks, tractor trailers, from all of the various shipping companies, all with full size trailers and truck cabs.
The first time I encountered this particular driver he was delivering a pallet to us that had a some expensive lab equipment on it. He came upstairs and told us that he couldn't get to our dock, his trailer is 54' and it's IMPOSSIBLE to get in there (now our building has a building next door, but no other freight carrier has a problem getting in our loading dock. Our maintenance guy was nowhere to be found, so we were left (an office of 3 women) to deal with this jackass on our own. He says he can get the pallet off with his lift gate and sit it out front, but it won't come through the door and we'll have to deal with that. We asked him numerous times to just back up to the dock, and he tells us he can't, and even if he could his truck sits 3 feet higher than our dock and we still won't be able to get the pallet off. "This stuff weighs 800 lbs" he says. So rather than continue to argue with this man, who I know is wrong, who can back up to our dock, and we can lay the dock thing down on his trailer and wheel the equipment right off, we let him unload it in the parking lot and park the pallet at our front door. We then have to get facilities to come take out the door separator so we can get this pallet through the door. Once we get it inside, we realize that this pallet that he says is 800lbs, is obviously not, because we slid it around in the hallway with very minimal effort between two of us women. Whatever right? So we grumble a bit about his stupidity and go about our business.
Fast forward a few weeks and we see this driver outside, backed up to our dock, with his truck, delivering something for another department. I took pictures, to have as evidence the next time he showed up, claiming it was "impossible".
Now we're at yesterday. I'm sitting in my office and my coworker comes in with UPS Freight driver behind her. She asks me to look up the shipment, I do and then I call the guy it's for to meet him downstairs. The driver then asks us where we want the shipment. On the dock. Where we always want them. I can't get to your dock he says, yes you can I say, every other truck can back in there. "My trailer is 54' and my truck sits too high" he says, EVERY other delivery can get in there we tell him, and we can LAY THE DOCK PLATE ON YOUR TRAILER!!! "But I'll block traffic" he says. WE DON'T CARE about traffic. They can go around the other side of the parking lot. "I'll get a ticket" he says....UM, NO. You won't. Not in a parking lot. On campus. Making a delivery to a department. "Well I'm not going to hurt myself getting it off" he says. At this point my coworker looks at him and asks if he see's us, that we're not going to hurt ourselves either, and it's not like we're asking you to pick this thing up by hand. Jackass. He's still standing here giving us lines of total bullshit that he can't get back to our dock, when our maintenance man walks into our copy room. We yell for him, and he comes over. Tells the UPS man exactly what I had just told him, about being able to get to the dock, and get the stuff off, and what does he do? He walks right outside, backs his 54' trailer up to our dock, and unloads our shipment.
Apparently he just needed to hear it from a man. You know, us women have NO idea what we're talking about when it comes to trucks and stuff like that. I was quite aggravated at this point because he'd given us so much shit with prior shipments and then did exactly what he'd told us he couldn't as soon as a man told him the same things. I commented that I was going to email his boss, I'm much calmer and reasonable by email than I am on the phone, and my boss said she'd do one better and call. She can hold her cool when people are idiots and on the phone I struggle there. So she calls his boss.
She tells him everything the driver always tells us. Then boss man asks her if she's ever driven one of these trucks before. This is where I wished I had called, I would have told him that YES, actually I have. Overseas, fighting a war, defending your freedom and right to act like a jackass to me right now. My boss had to tell him that no she hasn't, but she watches EVERY. Single. Other. Freight Company. Back up trucks the same length to our dock day in and day out, and none of them give us problems, except this driver of theirs. She tells him that we asked him to try numerous times and he told us no, but as soon as a man asked him he did it. After telling us it was impossible. His boss man then tells her that he's driven our route before, he knows exactly where we are and that it is impossible. It's impossible to get a 48' trailer in there, and that he didn't have a 54' trailer. Ok, so you're telling us you both flat out lied to us about it? Because he JUST backed in there. In his fictional 54' trailer. And unloaded our shipment, so why all the flack everytime he's here about not being able too? Where the hell is their customer service? If a man was in our office every day telling him this stuff would he just do it then? No lip, no excuses? His boss continued to be hateful and rude to my boss, and she told him that maybe we'd find another shipper. He told her to go ahead. Really? You don't need our business? Do you realize our sales reps arrange shipping for this entire campus? Hmmm. She tells him that she'll do that and then asks to speak to HIS boss.
Bigger boss man gets on the phone and tells us he doesn't realize what our problem even is if we got our shipment delivered and unloaded. No, I'm sorry. No, we'll talk to the driver and get this straightened out. No caring or worrying at all about their customer relations or service. Baffling. I've working in some form of customer service my entire working life, and regardless of what you think or how ridiculous you think the customer is being, if they aren't yelling obscenities at you and are expressing some sort of concern over your services or products you at least try to appease them. Even if it's all smoke and mirrors. You try to keep their business. Who just readily says to take your business elsewhere, especially in today's economy? We have other options. We see other companies daily. Those companies never give us shit about our deliveries, they do their job and they do it well. I don't know if these 3 menin-particular just have issues with women or what. The first two jackasses (driver and first supervisor) especially, with their we aren't doing anything you ask attitudes, and we're going to tell you that you're wrong regardless attitudes. I'd like to show them both that women (this one right here and I'm sure many, many more) can do their job, do it well, and do it better than they ever dreamed of.
This was yesterday, all backed in, fine and dandy. This man better not dare walk in here again and tell us he can't do this. I might lose my shit on him, and so will my boss, and my coworker. UGH.
Update: The UPS man gave us another visit today. Told us that he wanted to apologize for being harsh and difficult, they didn't tell him to, but he wanted to on his own. (uhhuh...sure) That he's been doing this for 15 years and they preach safety, and not to do anything they don't feel is safe. Apparently backing into our dock isn't safe, but to me if you've been driving a road tractor for 15 years it shouldn't be a problem given there is plenty of room. Anyways: he brought us this to say he was sorry...a tiny pallet of sticky notes :)
First of all I have to say that I love the design and color choices on your blog (so what if they're the same as mine, I can still love them). Second: Customer Service as we know it is dead. We need to have a funeral and properly mourn.
ReplyDelete