WAY OFF TOPIC: I maybe 26 but that doesn't mean I'm stupid!

[techguy57]

[#offtopic]
Okay, I'm really frustrated with our fire alarm company today and need to vent! The representative for our alarm company seems to regard the fact that we are his client with contempt and instead of working with us to find a solution to keep everyone happy he feels that he can just do as he pleases and tough luck if it has negative consequences. Obviously, he has failed to take into account or chosen to ignore the fact that his delay in action could very well cost our business money, and potentially even shut us down for a number of days, yet it seems he could care less from his attitude. What's more, this isn't the first encounter I've had like this with him. To top it all off, becuse I'm a younger person he treats me as if I have absolutely no clue as to what on earth I'm talking about despite the fact if he would just shut his trap for a minute and listen to what I am saying I have been providing him with all of the info he's needed from the beginning.
I am 26 and I realize that I might not have as much experience as other, I realize that fire alarm monitoring systems are not my specialty and I realize that I was not hired on when the building was being renovated so there are some things that were decided well before I arrived here nearly four years ago. I've had to deal with not only this butthead, but the president of our board who is first on the emergency contact list and has been awaken at 1 or 2 am the past 2 nights, the local fire marshall who has been quite pleasant and understanding despite the fact that we have violated code and because of malfuntioning equipment has dispatched his fire crews here the last 2 nights at 1 or 2am for what have essentially been false alarms, and some peeved area merchants and residents who have had to listen to our building alarm and fire truck sirens sounding at 1 or 2am. I have spent the better part of 2 afternoons dealing with this now and it's starting to get me really angry as its taking away from other things I should be doing. So when I tell the guy the problem is in the ceiling and the guy shows up without a ladder, it frustrates me even more!
I maybe 26 years old, but there is a reason I'm 26 and can say I've been in management for 4 years, and that reason isn't because I'm an idiot. Sure like any other manager I'm not perfect, I do make mistakes and I'm not always as organized as I should be, but that doesn't make me an idiot either. I can say that at 26 I believe I have seen a lot in this field and that I'm confident and comfortable with my abilities and if people like this butthead have a problem with my age I'll be happy to show them my track record at this job which I believe sufficiently speaks for itself. For someone in the Gen-X/Slacker generation my schedule doesn't lend well to slacking.
I guess that easiest answer would be for us to find a new monitoring company but that is another hassle in and of itself. I really just needed to vent so thanks for letting me. With any luck Bergie will delete this or it will drop off the radar but thanks for letting me sound off anyway.

Mike (climbing down from my soapbox now)[soapbox]

[Anonymous]

How does material from The Onion wind up on the TRAINS forum?

[edblysard]

Mike,
I know the feeling...young and in charge sometimes means having to accquire a little thicker skin...
Document every reason ths guy wont look in the ceiling...note, in front of him, that he forgot to bring a ladder...(although every installer I ever met had one on his truck)....make sure to include day, date and time, and make sure the duffus sees and knows you are documenting this...
Everytime he shows up, whip out the legal pad...he will get the hint...
Ed

[techguy57]

Thanks, Ed. Just needed to vent. It's been a week full of days like this one. I can almost feel the skin thickening...

Good suggestion about the notepad. I think I'll occasionally add "ahems" and "interesting"s now and again as I'm writing just to make him paranoid.

Mike

[selector]

What you could do, once you have cooled off enough to put reasonable tone in your letter, and assuming that you have agreement from your supervisor, is to write to the CEO of the Company with a somewhat detailed account of your exchanges with his employee. If you are reasonable and civil in your language, and can articulate your viewpoint without using emotion-laden language, you might be surprised at the outcome.

As an exmple, your last statement could read something like, "We greatly favour your company and would like to maintain our relationship with you. Under the circumstances, we are sure you understand how your employee's behaviour might make that difficult. Once we receive your perspective on this matter, we will review our own practices to ensure that such miscommunications don't recur, or to ensure that our methods do not run at cross purposes to your own if it turns out that that is where the problem lies."

Just a thought.

[Junctionfan]

I can sympathise. I'm 25 and right now out of work. But being that I have been around people in general for just about as long, I have enough experience to know when I am being patronized and when the person is being sincere. However I have noted with some personal fanfare that people seem to follow under 2 categories.
1/ Good people 2/Bad People

Good people are the ones who are generally nice and often do things for others and overall have a good attitude despite confronting negativity.

Bad people are the opposite and are a complete jack... when it comes to attitude, and actions. They are often selfish and are often a complete waste of time to deal with.

Then they're several other categories such as intelligent, educated, vain, humble and other qualities like that.

Unfortunately as we both know, there are those who just love to try to stick it to the "young guy" because the older ones think we are just rookies and they are going to teach us everything from blowing our noses to the task at hand. Some folks are the ones who have the same thinking about us but try to take advantage of us because they think we don't know any better. For them, I lay down the law and tolerate very little. The latter maybe of use so I listen and might hear something worth learning the last is nothing but contemptable garbage that must be dealt with immediately.

I would say report this service guy to your superiors and have them deal with the idiot or try getting a little testy with him and show him who exactly who is boss and that unless he wants to explain to his boss why your company has lost an important client, he had better do his darn job right away and properly. If that doesn't work then do what selector says and write to the company's CEO and let them know that one of their minions is risking revenue loss.

[Anonymous]

You ARE Stupid!
What the hell has to do with TRAINS????????????

[chad thomas]

Mike,
I totaly know where you are comming from. I've delt with that sort of thing for many years as I was head tech in a large shop before I could legally go into a bar. Thickening your skin is good advice. If it were me I would start by letting this guy know you intend to "climb the ladder" in his company's chain of command. If that in n of itself doesn't change his attitude then do just that, starting with his supervisor. I wouldn't go straight to the top right off, unless his sup is the top. You will probably find it only takes one or two "rungs" before you get the results you want. Whatever you do just don't loose your cool. That will do more harm than anything.

good luck,
chad

[selector]

Gtirr, how does your reply dignify this man's need to vent and get some feedback?

What would it have cost you to commiserate or offer some assistance?

What would it have cost you to ignore this thread and move to another?

[chad thomas]

QUOTE: Originally posted by gtirr

You ARE Stupid!
What the hell has to do with TRAINS????????????

What the H*** is your problem. If you don't like it don't read it. Simple as that. Did you not see the off topic sign? Now who's stupid.[:(!]

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by gtirr

You ARE Stupid!
What the hell has to do with TRAINS????????????

At least it has a point. He did mention "off topic" in the subject, considerately offering members the opportunity to ignore it without having to open it up. I would venture to guess that that would not make him too stupid, nor rude, nor the author of a personal attack, as you currently are.

Nice job!

...in other words what Chad said.....

[tree68]

Mike - Sounds like someone needs some customer service training, and it ain't you. Regardless of who makes the contact (and if the president of the board is getting calls at 2 am, he's probably just as eager as you are to get things fixed), someone needs to make contact with management, or higher (like the franchise) at the fire alarm company. Upper management to upper management contact can be very productive. So can suggesting that perhaps a competitor can do a better job...

I'm assuming that someone at that company is taking your trouble calls - document who and when, and after you report your problem, have them repeat it back to you. If they miss the part about the ceiling (or whatever) make certain it's on the ticket. And document what you reported, as well as the serviceman's reaction. If you get a copy of the workorder when the serviceman finishes, see if it says what you reported. More fodder for that boss-to-boss chat...

Best of luck with the whole thing.

[techguy57]

gtirr- If you look you'll notice that the first 3 words of the subject line are "WAY OFF TOPIC" and that I posted an off topic icon prior to postiong any other dialogue other than the subject line. This was to weed out people like yourself who obviously feel the need to comment for no other reason than to hear themselves talk. While I admit that my posts may not always be the cleanest or like this one even relevant to trains, I don't spend my time here attacking others and don't appreciate having it done to me. Next time please do everyone here a favor and open your eyes before you open your mouth .

Sincerely,

Mike Vanlandingham
(aka techguy57)

[miniwyo]

gtirr - If it says off topic, DONT READ IT!!! Mike needed a place to vent about his troubles with the fire alarm in hopes that we may be able to say somthing to help him deal with the problem. But now we are wasting forum space in explanations on how even though this is a trains forum we don't mind off topic posts, it helps us get to know eachother. Dont bother posting a response to this. It ends here.


Mike - Im sorry to hear about your misfortunes with the fire alarm, at the theatre I work at here in Rock Springs they have the fire alarms tuned so high that i will go off when we use fake smoke in our hot smoke machines, To avoid this we have to use dry ice fog instead. They can never seem to get the fire alarms right here either. They are always working on it. Happens at least once a month. most of the time it goes off in the middle of classtimes and they have to evacuate the whole campus.

I know how the age thing works too. I am just 20 and I go to a store an know exactly what I want and they ask me to describe what I need, even after I tell them exactly what it is that I need. I get really tired of people talking to me like I am stupid, and I have stopped going ot a few specialty part stored in town becasue they do that.