Attempt number 2, attempt number 1 didn't save.
I worked for a soda company for 3 years, and had 3 different supervisors. There are more people in play, and this will be long.
First manager, Jack, is younger and did the job quite well. He was out in the field, and that phone was almost glued to his face. He was my supervisor for the 6 months, and we talked almost once a working day. If he didn't answer, he would text or call, or I knew what the answer was if he hit the end call button. He held the only evaluation I had my entire time there, and my 2nd was scheduled, didn't take place due to the promotion. Jack quickly saw my potential, and sent me after stores that needed lots of work, and I was rewarded with my first route. I heard unflattering rumors, but I have nothing but respect for this guy.
Manager 2, Delilah, was a saleman who took over for Jack, and Delilah ended up being a very distant figure. Sure, this guy got me a route closer to home, however that quickly led into him being distant. He wouldn't answer the phone when I had questions, and any problem pictures/descriptions were met with “k” and eventually no response. Delilah was my manager about 2 years, and I came to despise this man. The only way I could get a response was with an angry text, and then I'd be called within seconds.
The worst exchange was a time I had sent a single picture with a couple of mistakes and me going off on a major rant. His initial response only caught 1 of the multitude of issues, and he didn't like my tone. I quickly took 12 pictures of other issues, and sent them all in rapid succession; while taking these pictures I had received a few more responses. “I can go back to my first store, and take even more pictures, because I only fixed half the issues there.”; this is what I sent after I took the pictures. He wanted to change my schedule and turn me into a 5 day floater, which means I'd be close to being fired.
Delilah would backpedal in his next responses. What I would come to learn is that I was complaining about his butt buddy and lead, Drew. Delilah and Drew were known by the merchandisers to sit in each other's cars for long periods of time doing who knows what. Many times they would be waiting on a merchandiser to show up to a store to “help out”, and it would still take them up to 30 minutes to go inside.
During these 2.5 years, I'd been building my reputation and skills with all the different stores I frequented. I knew how to gain more shelf and cooler space, I could get displays to be doubled, and even had a store director give me another display that he started building himself. I communicated with my salesman, Chase, and he would capitalize on most everything I told him about. Chase and I always had a call at the beginning of the week to strategize, and then we'd small talk while working. He trusted me to make decisions if things didn't come in or go the way we anticipated, and he usually got back with me after I had made the necessary changes. I miss working with Chase.
I would eventually land one of the worst routes in the city, and I thrived. The store director of this wally-world was known to call your boss, and complain in front of you. He didn't talk to the merchandisers. I eventually got him to actually talk to me; Delilah claimed this director still called to complain about me, but I call BS. Two things really took place to help me out. The pandemic hit, and the co-managers swapped places. I took this store from being a 6th place store to 4th, I was only 100 cases off of 3rd. The top 3 stores had wider and deeper shelves than I did. Reba was the co-manager who changed which soda company got preferential treatment, all due to my work ethic. Displays lasted longer, and we were asked 1st if the store needed more pallets of water.
An interesting note. Chase had 2 of the top 4 stores in the market. Delilah was the manager over this section of the market, but couldn't be bothered to show up. Delilah would frequent his old salesman stomping grounds. During this time I helped train Jen, I only had her help on 3 non-consecutive days. Jen told me that she learned more from me in 1 day than the 2 weeks of training by someone with more experience. Jen would take a look at what I was doing, and then determine what she was doing. If we both weren't married, I'd have asked her out for that alone.
I would be transferred to a different manager and route. Their reasoning, we want you to take this 3rd place HI-V and make it 1st place. What I believe truly happened, I was a peace offering between Ditch and Delilah. I took that HI-V and made it 1st place in 2 months. I had the only store to bring in 50 pallets for Superbowl week that year, and every other week beat out the previous year's number 2 HI-V, according to Chase. Chase was not my salesman here, however Sara and I did fairly well; Sara had just gotten the salesman position. I helped her ease into it; she had been a good 5 day person to follow as a floater.
Ditch seemed cool when I first started with the company, however working for him would prove to be quite different. One of the first things I did was to request a meeting with Ditch, all I wanted was to discuss how we would work together. I was denied, and he would eventually take issue with me not filling something I hadn't found in a store yet. I was told where this display was, and I refused to fill it, sorry Sara. Ditch finally gave me the meeting I had requested, and I would start filling this display.
Ditch would be my manager for the last 6 months and these months would prove to be a doozy. The request for conversations would prove to be him complaining about everything not related to what I was doing; his family, his job, and other merchandisers were his favorite subjects. Compared to what happens next, this was merely a fly buzzing in your ear.
My first Covid scare happened early December of 2020. I hadn't seen the soda company's Covid plan, no one gave it out, and I didn't see it in any documentation we had access to. Had some plumbing done on the house, and the plumber had received news that a previous customer of his had a positive result, and he would let me know when his results were in. I immediately left the store and sat in my car to make a phone call. Delilah was the only one working, and told me Ditch would make any decisions; Ditch had the day off. Ditch did call me, and his response to the Covid scare, “If you don't have any of the symptoms, then there is nothing I can do for you. If you want to take time off, you won't get paid for it.” This went against company policy, I would later find out. Luckily no Covid, plumber's test came back negative. I tried to get into several places for testing, but kept getting denied.
Covid would eventually catch my wife and I in March of 2021. She got sick, and didn't feel like going to see anyone. She got so bad that I forced the issue. I'd send a message off Sunday night to all 3 of the merchandiser managers of Ditch, Delilah, and Rob, that said I made an appointment for my wife for the next day, and that she was severely sick and couldn't drive herself. Still didn't know the company's Covid plan, and didn't care at this point. I would then focus on my wife the rest of the night, missing several texts. I didn't bother with my phone that Monday morning, just took my wife for her long test, and I went and took a short test. I came back negative, but her results a couple days later were positive. The response I got that Monday morning was between Ditch, Delilah and myself, though Delilah made no contribution. Rob was the only one who would give me the necessary information to contact the company's contact tracer.
D: OP-
Where are you? You sent a message yesterday and we reply and have heard nothing from you. You have a no call no show for today. You must follow the process and cannot send 1 message and assume that you are covered. We will be talking about possible route changes.
OP: I told you that I was taking my wife to get her covid test. COVID TEST, obviously you don't care about that. COVID, should've been enough to get the message. This isn't something to mess around with.
BTW, with how she feels, she can't drive. This was the first appointment I could get.
D: I replied to the message and we gave details and then get crickets back. What else are we supposed to do if we don't get a response? We have processes to follow and if an employee will not replay, response or follow directions then how would you respond?
I understand we need to take family health seriously and I am not discounting it that I don't care, but we have to cover our bases here as well. I can't pay you for today and it is important to get ahold of the tracer ASAP to begin the process to protect all of us!
OP: Already did, thanks to Rob getting me that info. I'm supposed to get a call back around 2.
D: I was waiting for a response.
I would ask the tracer later about making sure my no call no show would expunged, and you could hear disbelief, outrage, and some small fear in her voice. She said she would handle all of it. My wife and I were out with Covid for most of March.
I would later find out that Ditch had a terrible view of Covid. His belief was that his immune system would be able to handle it, because he doesn't get sick. He also believed it was a hoax. He apparently also made fun of everyone who “got” covid, or he would complain about the inconvenience.
I did finally get back, and was given all of 2 days of easement. I'd take over a small route due to some workplace injury of the normal 5 day guy. I would find out a week later that this was a tour store in a couple of months. I'd ask Chase about the salesman, and receive his contact info from him. That salesman and I came up with plans for dealing with the tour. The coldbrew coffees would be the final nail in the coffin for Ditch and I getting along, oh wait I already hated his guts, these would be the final nails for him. The salesman ordered a huge amount of these coffees due to having a display, empty shelf, and needing them for the tour. We also planned on spreading the usage of these coffees out, because he was having a hard time getting them in.
Ditch complained about me not doing enough in the store, only naming these coffees. I had utilized the work apple phone feature to not even see notifications of missed calls or messages. Since I'm an android user, I feigned ignorance, but in reality it was just to piss Ditch off. Ditch would make me a 5 day floater, but due to wording I was expecting a terrible route. I put up with it for a week.
I waited for a Friday morning, personal reasons. I had discussed this with Chase previously, and all he wanted to know was where to be to collect my work phone; yes I trust this man this much. I clocked in and utilized the mass group text message to send a message. I didn't think to send a copy to my personal phone, oh well. This group included all of the upper management of the market, all the salesman and their manager, the supervisors of the merchandisers, and 1/3 of the market merchandisers. There were 3 such groups.
I started with Chase, and explained why he was such a good salesman. I gave Sara and many others glowing reviews. Then I took shots at 4 people. A driver who was up 6 hours late to his final stores on a daily basis, damn the union for protecting this asshole, and management for not taking our evidence seriously. Took a shot at Drew, he was a good merchandiser, but he left a lot to be desired as a salesman and a lead. Delilah would take the 2nd hardest hit. Ditch naturally took the hardest hit.
My message started with: Effective immediate I am firing soda company as my employer.
Chase would later tell me a few things. Ditch apparently was pulled into his boss's office almost immediately, Chase's boss was in on that conversation, and Ditch's boss was breathing fire. Supposedly an upper-manager tried to get a hold of me via work phone, which was already given to Chase, and Chase quickly turned it off. Delilah called Chase to verify he had my work phone. It sounded like they were trying to do a lot of damage control.
Aftermath. Ditch would quit within a month. Delilah lasted about 6 months. Chase had been having trouble getting a better salesman spot, but I like to think I had something to do with that. That and Deliliah's wife had gotten the spot previously and apparently was doing most of the work for her. 1 promoted, and 2 quit. I hope you enjoyed the read.