OT/RANT- Are there ANY ethical businesses left out there?

[Bob Paulin]

Ya did the right thing Bob,Theres nothing worse than having some thing stolen from you or anyone for that matter.I dont like theives!

So does this mean your gonna have more time to talk race cars

For the time being.......... yes!


After seeing the minimal level of shock absorber service being provided to snowmobile owners at this place - an authorized dealer, no less - I'm thinking of going after some snowmobile/ATV shock dyno business.....targeting the independent shops who would have this value-added service to offer over the dealers....one in particular.

Gonna' take the Christmas week off with my wife, set aside some time to help her recover from a coronary procedure called an "ablation" on January 20, followed pacemaker/ICD installation on January 21, and a trip home (we hope) on Saturday morning, January 22.

A couple of small. local snowmobile/ATV shops manage to survive by running an ongoing ad in the local newspaper classifieds, and I hope to re-open the shop with a similar ad in the local newspaper around the beginning of the year, along with a personal visit to some nearby shops with a flyer explaining the advantages of shock dynos.

This is - in all seriousness - my favorite forum on which to participate because of the people and the support I've seen offered - not just to me, but to the rest of the Rodders Roundtable "family" as well when it was most-needed.

I KNOW I speak for others in this matter.

Thanks for all the support and encouragement guys and.....

Yes!!! I do realize what a gem I have in my wife......36 years of marriage last month, and over 40 years together. Hoping for 40 more!!!!


B.P.

[sport.]

Ya did the right thing Bob,Theres nothing worse than having some thing stolen from you or anyone for that matter.I dont like theives!

So does this mean your gonna have more time to talk race cars

For the time being.......... yes!


After seeing the minimal level of shock absorber service being provided to snowmobile owners at this place - an authorized dealer, no less - I'm thinking of going after some snowmobile/ATV shock dyno business.....targeting the independent shops who would have this value-added service to offer over the dealers....one in particular.

Gonna' take the Christmas week off with my wife, set aside some time to help her recover from a coronary procedure called an "ablation" on January 20, followed pacemaker/ICD installation on January 21, and a trip home (we hope) on Saturday morning, January 22.

A couple of small. local snowmobile/ATV shops manage to survive by running an ongoing ad in the local newspaper classifieds, and I hope to re-open the shop with a similar ad in the local newspaper around the beginning of the year, along with a personal visit to some nearby shops with a flyer explaining the advantages of shock dynos.

This is - in all seriousness - my favorite forum on which to participate because of the people and the support I've seen offered - not just to me, but to the rest of the Rodders Roundtable "family" as well when it was most-needed.

I KNOW I speak for others in this matter.

Thanks for all the support and encouragement guys and.....

Yes!!! I do realize what a gem I have in my wife......36 years of marriage last month, and over 40 years together. Hoping for 40 more!!!!


B.P.

Good stuff Bob,

Let me say,I wish you 40 more years with your wife.She must be a keeper to put up with all that race car stuff(LOL)
I wish your wife all the best with her operations.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

you did the correct thing about the job and posting it here

[tomslik]

On December 1, I started work in the parts department at a farm equipment/snowmobile/small engine dealership near Augusta, Maine.

In the first week I was there - my third day to be exact - a case of 1-7/8" trailer balls came in when only a single trailer ball was ordered and invoiced.

ALL the trailer balls that came in, however, were priced at $9.95, and put out on display - not by me. I said nothing.

On Saturday, December 18th, the woman whose husband owned the NAPA store I once managed came in to buy some snowmobile clothing as Christmas gifts. Her invoice came to three-hundred and change.

She gave me what she thought were four, brand-new one-hundred dollar bills, but anybody who works with money will tell you, it felt a little funny to me. I checked and she actually DID give me five one-hundred dollar bills.

A one-hundred dollar loss to her would not have even been noticed, but I couldn't keep the money....that's not my style..

Yesterday, Tuesday Dec 22, another order came in, and when I checked everything in against the invoice and our order book, there were at least 50 agricultural equipment filters left over in the box. Some of you will agree that agricultual, hydraulic filters are worth at least ten dollars each, so there was about $500 worth of filters that we didn't order, were not invoiced to us, that were, obviously, shipped to us by mistake.

The decision was made to KEEP them!!!!

I pointed out my dealings with the extra one-hundred dollar bill, and asked if I should have kept it instead of returning it.

The answer was, "NO!".

I then asked, "What's the difference here?"

Someone mumbled that they would "probably" send them back.

I checked the outgoing UPS shipment at the end of the day, and there were no packages going back to this vendor.

This morning, when I arrived at work, the atmosphere was very cold. First one brother, then his wife got on my case about some minor things.

I mentioned the filters to the wife, and she looked me straight in the eye and told me that the filters had been shipped back. I then mentioned the trailer balls, and she stuttered, "We shipped them back too."

I told her I would bring her out to the showroom floor and show them to her, if she wanted.

Between the trailer balls and ag filters, this company had stolen over $750 from their vendors in a three-week period.

Finally, I spoke with the other brother - the one who actually hired me - and he started to tell me that, all of a sudden,  he wasn't happy with my work, etc., etc., and that he planned to fire me on Monday but wanted to wait until after the holiday, etc., etc.

I guess you don't want to catch these people stealing, and let them know you know.

My wife tells me I still have my ethics intact, and that's more important than anything else.......

......but, what do I have to do to find an ethical company to work for.

I guess it's back to fabrication and race car shocks and setups for now.

I realize the economy is tough in Maine, but it's tough everywhere else, and there are still ethical companies out there.

Sorry about the off-topic rant, but I had to clear my mind.

F.C. and/or Enjenjo can delete this without hurting my feelings, if they choose.

Thanks for listening/reading!

B.P.

Bob, ya done good.
funny thing about the holidays is that you find out how much or how little you mean to a company....

[Sean]

I know exactly what you're talking about. I was raised with a strict code of ethics and I see a lot of questionable stuff happen in my line of work.  Billing practices being one of the first things that come to mind...

I treat the customers right, do my job to the best of my ability, and try to balance quality with speed to keep the labor rate down. One of the previous Companys I worked for had a habit of adding time from other Jobs onto mine. I would come in well under the Bid, so if another job was going over, he would add some of that time to my Job.

It is a very common practice, but it still rubs me the wrong way.

[Jbird]

Well done Bob!  If it was me I'd be having trouble not notifying the two vendors about their mis-shipments. It probably wouldn't do any good but at least the vendors would know what kind of people your ex-employers are. Best wishes to you and your wife.
      Jbird

[Bob K]

Well done Bob!  If it was me I'd be having trouble not notifying the two vendors about their mis-shipments. It probably wouldn't do any good but at least the vendors would know what kind of people your ex-employers are. Best wishes to you and your wife.
      Jbird

Jbird, I was just about to say that. The vendors should know what is going on, not necessarily  to get their overshipments back but to be able to straighten out their own shipping departments. Seems like now days that not only are there a lot of dishonest people out there but even more lazy and incompetent ones.

Good luck Bob and hold onto that woman, she sounds like a keeper.

B B

[BELLM]

I hope I have instilled these values in my children.  Hope things work out well with your wifes procedure and your work.  
You did the right thing.  Those people would have ripped you off someday, if nothing else would have tried to steal your integrity by forcing you to keep quiet about their theft from suppliers.
Best of luck, Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!!

[parklane]

Good for you Bob!! It's indeed unfortunate that more people are not that way. Don't know how they can look at themselves in the mirror in the morning. Just had a new house built on a handshake. Since the property is mine, it could have cost the contractor over $200,000., but it is nice to know that you are still trusted. Merry Christmas,and may God grant you all you wishes for a blessed and prosperous New Year.

John

[PeterR]

Bob,
I believe people like that are not selectively dishonest. If the suppliers are being ratted, you can bet the customers are being short changed and the staff are being cheated.

If you stayed on, at some point you would have decided enough is enough and walked, so this just has solved the matter of when that happens.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

funny thing about the holidays is that you find out how much or how little you mean to a company....

t-slik, very true words

[phat46]

I can't add anything to what has already been said, I agree with it all. It does make you wonder what these suppliers have for staff though.
A couple years ago I found $100 lying on the ground at a gas station, it took about four days but I finally found the gal that had dropped it, it was money she really needed, being a single mom. While i was going about finding the rightful owner of the money I was startled by the number of people who thought I was crazy for looking for the lady.  I just told them "it's not mine", all that money could have bought me was guilt!

[40]

Bob,Sounds to me like you made the right choices and I commend you for it.Years ago I had a C-store that was a franchise,we sold gas as well as anything auto related and a full line of sporting goods.Several times a year,our main warehouse would short our order a few items and on other occasions would toss in a few items extra.We had a form to fill out to report the differances.I learned this years later when I interviewed for a position with a company who was owned by the fellow who was formerly in charge of Inventory control of the warehouse that I used to order from.He told me that nearly all of the store owners reported the shortages but several never reported the overages.I am sure glad I had been honest in the past as it sure would have been uncomfortable to sit through the rest of that interview had I had the same philosophy as you just wittnessed.I sure felt good when I left that interview....and,I got the job.I have been building custom homes for the last 25+ years and unless the bank or the customer requests a contract,I still conduct business on a handshake.....probably not the smartest way to do business but I've only been burned once in all those years....Guess I'll always be an optomist and think the majority of the people I meet are honest!Bob...Good luck to you and your wife with her health issues and may you both have a prosperous New Year!!

[Fift4fe]

That reminds me of the story of the fellow who upon recieving his bi-weekly paycheck notices that he was overpaid $250.00.  He cashed the check and said nothing.

A few months later he again received a paycheck and noticed that he had been underpaid $54.00.

He immediately went to payroll and raised holy He**.  Payroll responded that they will research the mistake and get back with him.

The next week he was called into the bosses office.  They had the pay records from the past and asked him why a few months ago he had been overpaid and said nothing, and now all of a sudden when he was shorted it was a major problem.

He stated that "I can overlook one mistake but it becomes a problem if payroll makes a second mistake".

[Fift4fe]

"Character is doing the right thing when no one is watching"

J.C. WATTS