Ok so I go away on military duty for the last 3 weeks. I have no contact with anyone other then my wife. She tells me I need to call the office “It’s important”. I call and my mom tells me while calling my customers for feedback 2 of them tell her they are sorry we will not be in business next year. When she questions this comment they both tell her, the employee told them we are going out of business and will no longer be cleaning windows next year. He told them he is starting his own company and would be happy to provide them with service at a better price. These two customes are great accounts, $600 and change. Of course my mom defuses the issue. I came home last week on Thursday and say nothing to the employee for Friday and saturdays jobs. I wanted to find a replacement and luckly a childhood friend needs work. So he started yesterday. After saturdays work I confront the employee about the issue. He says “Well since you are deploying I figure you would not be open for business.” He knows this is not the case, I have explained to him many times things will be tough without me here but the business will surly be open. I then ask him why he told the customers he was opening his own place and could beat their price. He said he tought I would not mind lol. I mean come on. In short I just told him he was fired. I kept $175.00 out of his last paycheck because I fronted him this cash at the start of the season so he could make a child support payment. Thank god I wrote on the check memo what it was for. He calls me this morning yelling about the $175.00 and I explained to him he owed me the money and what for. Then he yells “I can’t even make my rent payment now!! You aXXhole!!” He hangs up. Man everyday I hate people more and more. I’m at a point where I will never help anyone, unless family again. It’s like everytime I try to help someone with work or anything they try to take advantage or become somekind of shaddy scumbag. This is driving me nuts cause I don’t want to become that “Feared” boss. But it seems like I have no choice.
Sorry to hear that. In NY you need the employees permission to withhold money even if they owe you.
Damm I would be so mad… Good thing you had some one lined up.
Yo Jug-Man,
Thanks for your service to our country !
As you well know that’s life in the big city, keep you good character at the forefront because that’s who you are, and I’m sure there are people who appreciate it !
Be safe…
DangerousDave2u
P.S.
Here’s a picture of my Dad, while serving in Belgium in WWII, he’s 22.
Sorry, Ray.
How will you be improving your hiring and employee development processes going forward?
The difference between you and I – I would have choked him out 
You know what’s gonna happen Ray?
You just forced this clown into opening up his business at the end of the very end of the “shore season”. He’s going to twiddle his thumbs for the next 7 months, if he even lasts that long. What a d-bag
Thank you very much for your service to our country. It really steams me that someone would try to take advantage of a person who is going to the battlefront to protect their freedom.
Stay nice with your employees, you won’t regret it.
But take your anger out on Al Qaeda. 
Ray, sorry to hear about that. I think being a ‘feared boss’ is good to an extent. I’ve been a nice guy for years and even though I have always hired people I already know and trust, I’ve been walked on way more than once. I’m working on instilling at least some healthy fear in them. That guy didn’t even have a toe to stand on and I would have done the same thing.
Just remember: “There is more happiness in giving than receiving” as long as you don’t “throw your pearls before swine”.
I would have loved to. But I have way to much to loose now. There are times I feel like walking into a place and dropping a couple gallons of ammonia and bleach and yelling out. Have a nice day. LOL. But I’m sane so I can’t do it. lol. We’ll see what happens when I return home lol. :mad:
I’m not worried about him starting up. I know he will never be able to afford the tools. Let alone everything else. So he can have a go at it, which I’m sure won’t be a long haul. Besides like you said, he has pretty much 7 months to try and make some money, which won’t happen. The $175 I loaned him was for 1 week. He has a $700 nut to make every month so with other bills I can’t see it happening.
Larry the best thing for me to do is put this in the wifes hands. I’m too nice. She will not be so nice. I worry with her additude no one will be hired lol. But I know she will lay down the law and stick to it.
To everyone else. Thanks for the kind words. We shall see what happens in regards to my deployement. The last three weeks the word came down that we are NOT going to deploy in 2012. But with that said I know the real deal. Working in the computer section I am lucky enough to get most of the info before the troops. When word came down last year we were deploying many of the troops started to ETS (Get out). We lost 10% strength over the last year. I know command likes to say things like (Our orders have been rescinded) in hopes it will keep a few of the seasoned soldiers in the unit. There is no longer a stop loss so these guys can up and leave before they get orders. I know if I was in command the last thing I would want is a bunch of soldiers who have no experience with deployements. Even more so, lose my senior personnel. After what I just saw in the last 3 weeks, we need those senior vets very very much. But should be an interesting next few years :). I’m looking forward to it.
Hey Ray,
Glad to hear you’re a nice guy. Please don’t give that up, we need every nice guy out there.
My old boss at the carpet cleaning company was a nice guy until you crossed him. Payback was ALLWAYS a bitch and EVERYBODY knew it.
Anybody call you for a job reference yet. What are you going to say? Haha
Payback is a bitch.
What a snake. Probably better you didnt choke him. That is by far the worst case of an employee trying to solicit their employers customers that I have ever heard.
Hey man how much longer do you have in the service? BTW thanks for everything you and your comrads have done for our country. By the way you sound, your business is going to pick up and “ride the wave” before too long… You’ll want told be around for that one. And you handled your siti perfectly. He’s gone, and no threat to your business whatsoever. Good luck with your business, and god bless the military services. Without people like you, we would be in a much more sorry state.
Sorry to hear that Ray. Very frustrating.
Leave it in the wife’s hands from now on. Good idea.
It’s so true that you can never win. As nice as we try to be, someone will always think we’re acting like a selfish jerk. It is impossible to make everyone like you.
I used to think this was just an expression. The older I get the more I realize that this is a reality.
For what it’s worth, I like you
The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith
-
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway. -
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway. -
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway. -
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway. -
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway. -
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by
the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway. -
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway. -
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway. -
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway. -
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.
I like those. Thanks for sharing.
I liked them too! I’ve forwarded it to some friends. Thanks.
Wow I really like this. I have never seen it before… amazing stuff. All true from what I have seen of life so far.
Just sent you down a new customer Ray… enjoy and cheer up
