More cocktardery from the cleaning crew!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

As I have mentioned numerous times, we have contractors that clean the store every morning. This week they were supposed to strip and wax the floors, but they just started last night because they cancelled the other days for some reason.

From what I can tell, the two guys came in at 10 or 10:30 last night to wax. When we came in at 5:00 they were in a rush to leave--without putting back all the rugs, fixtures, and displayers they had moved to do that section of the store. Yeah right, we had a truck to fill and wouldn't have time to move all that stuff.

The one guy kept trying to protest, saying he was "tired" and wanted to leave, but we told him he couldn't go until everything was put back. He stood there with a vaguely pissed-off look on his face and muttered "Very interesting."

Then I could hear the two cleaning guys talking loudly in Chinese or whatever Asian language they speak while they were putting stuff back. I bet they were cursing us out for actually making them work.

And all they did last night was wax one small section of the floor. They did not dust-mop or scrub the rest of the floor, they did not clean the bathrooms (I feel sorry for the women who have to use that bathroom ), and they left all the trash from the breakroom and outside sitting outside the compactor to stink up the backroom.

Due to the cleaners' incompetence and laziness, I'm guessing pretty soon a new employee exercise program will be announced ("All right everybody, it's time to Trashercize!")

[blas]

I'm stealing that word and using it from now on..

[TNT]

I'm stealing that word and using it from now on..

Me, too.

Anyway, our contract cleaners used to do some pretty bizarre stuff. My favorite was always when they started to vacuum under my desk... while I was on a call.

When they came in to work each night, the first thing they'd do is hang "Closed for cleaning" signs on the bathrooms... even though it was usually hours before they'd actually go in and pretend to clean.

I think it was all just their way of sticking it to the overpaid (ha!) lackeys of the imperialist cable monopoly.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Our cleaners' idea of cleaning the toilets is dumping pink tile cleaner in the bowl and flushing it down (sometimes).

They also like to clean where we are working and get in our way. No matter how many times we tell them to go clean someplace else they just keep getting in our way.

[powerboy]

Our cleaning guys, back when I was working at OfficeMax, they cleaned pretty good. They didn't want to move back the furniture and rugs that they had to move. They didn't clean the bathrooms, or break room. We had to tell them, that they need to move everything back, because we had a truck with 2000 pieces, and that we would not be able to take of their job for them.

[CancelMyService]

Me, too.

Anyway, our contract cleaners used to do some pretty bizarre stuff. My favorite was always when they started to vacuum under my desk... while I was on a call.

When they came in to work each night, the first thing they'd do is hang "Closed for cleaning" signs on the bathrooms... even though it was usually hours before they'd actually go in and pretend to clean.

I think it was all just their way of sticking it to the overpaid (ha!) lackeys of the imperialist cable monopoly.

I worked with someone from the sales department on a lame team-building project we had to do, and she told me about how one of the cleaning people would vacuum while people were on a call. Also another time where the cleaning person wasn't paying attention and nearly ripped someone's ear off because the vacuum cord somehow got tangled with the person's headset.

I'm lucky, the customer service part of the center is divided between the AM and PM sections and they usually clean the AM side after 6 when that side goes home, and I guess they do our side after we go home. Probably sucks for the overnight people.

I'm so glad my new schedule is 2 hours earlier, because my old schedule was in perfect sync with the bathroom cleaning schedule. Nothing like making Olympic time to the can because you're about to spring a leak and see a nice CLOSED FOR CLEANING sign

Of course a few times the (female) cleaning person would forget to put the sign on the door and I'd walk into the MENS room preparing to conduct a transaction only to hear a HEEEEEEEEEEY just as I'm reaching for my zipper.

[TNT]

I worked with someone from the sales department on a lame team-building project we had to do, and she told me about how one of the cleaning people would vacuum while people were on a call. Also another time where the cleaning person wasn't paying attention and nearly ripped someone's ear off because the vacuum cord somehow got tangled with the person's headset.

I've pretty sure I've told this story before, but, once I was on a call and someone decided to vacuum...

Caller: What's going on there?
Me: Well, someone had the bright idea to locate the call center beside an airport runway. Sure it saves on rent, but...
Caller: (laughs) Sounds like the plane is inside the building.
Me: They say it's going to get better after we build the roof.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Well, today I came in to set ad in furniture (which was a hellish ordeal, but that's a subject for another post), and all the furniture items the cleaners had moved Friday night to wax the floor were still sitting where they had been moved. A whole aisle of the furniture flat was clogged up by some clearance furniture they had moved and didn't move back.

Nice to see them following directions.

[Kiwi]

At the gallery it was ridiculous, we had cleaners who had a list of what they would do and what they wouldnt. Windows, glass, our counter, admin desk and the atrium is what they wouldnt do. The cleaning they did do was bare minimum.

So the gallery staff would try to clean stuff only to be told by our boss we werent covered by insurance for that kind of stuff..... so the glass windows would get black with dust, the atrium would fill up with trash.

Then the insane bitch who thought she was a manager would use cleaning the admin desk as a punishment... she made one girl bleach it down on her birthday because she didnt like her. I kid you not.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I seem to have a knack for needing to use the bathroom when they are cleaning. Luckily it's only 10 steps away from the office so it's not a huge deal (unless I really can't wait and then I have to go downstairs and halfway across the building . (And at least once I did that and found they were cleaning that one at the same time! )

Luckily they don't clean our office until at least 4:30 (cuz we're usually all gone by then). But every day I come in and my trash can is in a different place in my cube I think they must do it just to amuse themselves...

One time I came in in the morning and things had been moved around on my desk (a picture and some other stuff) and my empty water bottle that I was saving to reuse had been thrown out. I wasn't the only one whose desk had been touched. Last week they tossed a bunch of empty boxes that we had stacked up...we eventually reuse most of those boxes. They had to tell them not to touch our desks (in part to avoid knocking loose any computer cords, or at least that was the reason they gave the cleaning crew)...hopefully they will tell them to leave the boxes alone.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Oh, this just keeps getting better!

They were supposed to be waxing again the other night but did not. The one guy claimed he had been called up to Green Bay. Yeah, okay, whatever. We think he was just pissed off that we told him to move stuff back where he took it from, and he didn't even do that.

Plus we now know why no other cleaning got done the one night they did wax the floors--one guy did all the work while the other spent the night crashing on one of our futon displays.

We need to get corporate in the store one of these days to see what these morons are doing on a daily basis.

[Gravekeeper]

Our main cleaning guy seems to consider dust and dirt to be a personal affront to whatever god he believes in. He will vacuum the HELL out of our office. Every last square inch will be run over at least twice. I'm surprised we have carpet left.

[Noelegy]

I don't have any complaints about our cleaning people--they're pretty efficient--but I'm curious why the cleaning is contracted out, anyway? I mean, I guess it saves money on not having to provide benefits for the crew by making them employees of our company, but at the same time it seems a bit strange that non-employees have access to areas that some employees don't.

[Andara Bledin]

Irving, it sounds like someone needs to start the complaints up about your so-called cleaning guys.

^-.-^

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Oh believe me, our manager has complained about the cleaning people. Many times.

I don't know what corporate ultimately says, or what the contractor says, but it's pretty obvious getting rid of the contractors and bringing in our own people is not an option. With contractors we don't have pay the wages and give full-time benefits to at least one person.