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I tried posting this on miss manners, but the message would not “take”. Sorry if this post is long. I have a lot to say.
I was told when I first got my job as a contract parking attendant at the university where I work, that Visitor Parking/Community Relations(the department over the garage) is very particular regarding following procedure, but procedures have changed several times since I started working there. Also, I was not made aware of some changes until after the fact.
When I first started working there, I would call the office to ask questions regarding a certain procedure, & the person answering the phone would tell me what to do. A certain incident happened a couple of months ago. Visitor Parking was reserved for an event during the second shift. When I first started working there, I called the office to find out if I had to tell everyone not on the event list they could not park. I was told by the person answering the phone to let people in the garage up to 12 p.m. At that point, Visitor Parking was reserved. I verified this a couple of times when the garage was reserved for events during the second shift, & I was told the same thing.
Earlier this year I e-mailed the Visitor Parking assistant asking her what time she wanted me to reserve the garage for an event for the second shift & if anyone not on the event list could park. She never answered me. I followed previous procedure. During the day of the event I received a call from the department supervisor asking me why there were cars in the garage. I explained to her that I e-mailed the Visitor Parking assistant, that she never replied, & so I followed previous procedure. She told me she did not want to hear about the previous procedure. Procedure changed after that.
Also, the department is not consistent with the procedures. Sometimes they tell us to follow procedure. Sometimes they tell us not to follow procedure. My co-worker (who has been working there for around 3 weeks; she works the 2nd shift) & I are told to use our best judgment at work & to only call the office when absolutely necessary.
Regarding the Parking office lady & my supervisor: There have been problems with the exit gate in front of Visitor Parking. The Parking office is over the gate, the box where you insert the token you have to buy to exit Visitor Parking, & the sign next to the entrance gate that states open when the garage is open & full when the garage is reserved.
The customer would put the token in the slot, but the exit gate would not get up. They would press the call button, which goes to dispatch, who would then transfer the call to me. I would transfer the call to Visitor Parking/Community Relations to let them know what is happening, & would be told to let the customer out with the remote.
Yesterday the company the Parking office has a contract with regarding the gates to Visitor Parking came to try to fix the problem. The lady at the parking office & the department director butt heads.
The day the exit gate in front of Visitor Parking had problems: Dispatch, the lady at the parking office, the department supervisor's assistant, & the department supervisor all called me at different times (beginning with dispatch) to ask me what the problem was. I explained to everyone who called exactly what the problem was. The lady at the parking office told me that the problem had been fixed, & she asked me if I went up to the car to see if the person actually had a token & to see if the token had fallen into the grate on the ground in front of the exit gate to Visitor Parking. I told her what the department supervisor told me to do.
The department supervisor's assistant asked me if we were supposed to let everyone out for free. I told her what the department director told me. The department director asked me what dispatch said as well as what the lady at the parking office said. She said she would call both departments to get the situation straightened out. As of today, the exit gate is up.
The department director's assistant (who parks in Visitor Parking since she does not have a parking tag to park in faculty/staff parking, which the Parking office is over) exited the garage today after a staff member exited the faculty/staff garage & "temporarily" parked by the side (there was room for anyone to go around her car) & went back into the faculty/staff garage. She called me on her cell phone to ask why the lady's car was parked there. I told her she did not let me know why she parked her car there. She told me from now on to tell any staff member doing that that they cannot do that because they cannot block exiting traffic from either garage. She also told me the department director would get mad if she found out. This reminded me of a saying my mom would tell me "you worry about what you are doing; I will worry about what I am doing."
There have been times when the department director has been rude to me on the phone as well as when she has yelled at me on the phone. I have made mistakes in the past, & she was upset. However, there have been times when her behavior was not warranted. Her assistant has also been rude to me on the phone. I am always polite & business like to both of them. How can I politely get my point across that I do not appreciate their treatment towards me? I also do not want to be put in the middle of the beef between the lady at the parking office & the department director. I also do not want to burn my bridges when I look for another job after completing my education.
<B>*MOD EDIT - <I>Paragraphs added</I></B>
I was told when I first got my job as a contract parking attendant at the university where I work, that Visitor Parking/Community Relations(the department over the garage) is very particular regarding following procedure, but procedures have changed several times since I started working there. Also, I was not made aware of some changes until after the fact.
When I first started working there, I would call the office to ask questions regarding a certain procedure, & the person answering the phone would tell me what to do. A certain incident happened a couple of months ago. Visitor Parking was reserved for an event during the second shift. When I first started working there, I called the office to find out if I had to tell everyone not on the event list they could not park. I was told by the person answering the phone to let people in the garage up to 12 p.m. At that point, Visitor Parking was reserved. I verified this a couple of times when the garage was reserved for events during the second shift, & I was told the same thing.
Earlier this year I e-mailed the Visitor Parking assistant asking her what time she wanted me to reserve the garage for an event for the second shift & if anyone not on the event list could park. She never answered me. I followed previous procedure. During the day of the event I received a call from the department supervisor asking me why there were cars in the garage. I explained to her that I e-mailed the Visitor Parking assistant, that she never replied, & so I followed previous procedure. She told me she did not want to hear about the previous procedure. Procedure changed after that.
Also, the department is not consistent with the procedures. Sometimes they tell us to follow procedure. Sometimes they tell us not to follow procedure. My co-worker (who has been working there for around 3 weeks; she works the 2nd shift) & I are told to use our best judgment at work & to only call the office when absolutely necessary.
Regarding the Parking office lady & my supervisor: There have been problems with the exit gate in front of Visitor Parking. The Parking office is over the gate, the box where you insert the token you have to buy to exit Visitor Parking, & the sign next to the entrance gate that states open when the garage is open & full when the garage is reserved.
The customer would put the token in the slot, but the exit gate would not get up. They would press the call button, which goes to dispatch, who would then transfer the call to me. I would transfer the call to Visitor Parking/Community Relations to let them know what is happening, & would be told to let the customer out with the remote.
Yesterday the company the Parking office has a contract with regarding the gates to Visitor Parking came to try to fix the problem. The lady at the parking office & the department director butt heads.
The day the exit gate in front of Visitor Parking had problems: Dispatch, the lady at the parking office, the department supervisor's assistant, & the department supervisor all called me at different times (beginning with dispatch) to ask me what the problem was. I explained to everyone who called exactly what the problem was. The lady at the parking office told me that the problem had been fixed, & she asked me if I went up to the car to see if the person actually had a token & to see if the token had fallen into the grate on the ground in front of the exit gate to Visitor Parking. I told her what the department supervisor told me to do.
The department supervisor's assistant asked me if we were supposed to let everyone out for free. I told her what the department director told me. The department director asked me what dispatch said as well as what the lady at the parking office said. She said she would call both departments to get the situation straightened out. As of today, the exit gate is up.
The department director's assistant (who parks in Visitor Parking since she does not have a parking tag to park in faculty/staff parking, which the Parking office is over) exited the garage today after a staff member exited the faculty/staff garage & "temporarily" parked by the side (there was room for anyone to go around her car) & went back into the faculty/staff garage. She called me on her cell phone to ask why the lady's car was parked there. I told her she did not let me know why she parked her car there. She told me from now on to tell any staff member doing that that they cannot do that because they cannot block exiting traffic from either garage. She also told me the department director would get mad if she found out. This reminded me of a saying my mom would tell me "you worry about what you are doing; I will worry about what I am doing."
There have been times when the department director has been rude to me on the phone as well as when she has yelled at me on the phone. I have made mistakes in the past, & she was upset. However, there have been times when her behavior was not warranted. Her assistant has also been rude to me on the phone. I am always polite & business like to both of them. How can I politely get my point across that I do not appreciate their treatment towards me? I also do not want to be put in the middle of the beef between the lady at the parking office & the department director. I also do not want to burn my bridges when I look for another job after completing my education.
<B>*MOD EDIT - <I>Paragraphs added</I></B>