Well, when we last met up in the continuing storyline of District 414, Area manager Joe had been named the new District Manager. This bad decision was made very quietly and with little fanfare. Perhaps even the Division office realized how unpopular and unsuccessful this decision was going to be, and wished to draw as little attention to it as possible.
Now, normally I would continue here with how bad Joe was as our DM (he was terrible), and how miserable a time I and everyone else had while working for him. But in going over my notes that I took during the time I worked for RGIS, I realized that I have very little material for this blog left. After Joe was made DM, I wasn't with the district for much longer. All the problems that had been prevalent in my district before Joe's ill-fated promotion remained and in some cases intensified after Joe became DM. Any appeal that my job as auditor held deteriorated to such a low point that I simply could not stand working for RGIS any longer and I quit.
So there's really not much left to tell you. Joe didn't last very long as DM; he stepped down from the position after only a few months and returned to his old AM job. A new DM named Chris moved in. He came from a district in another state, which one I can't remember. In fact Chris was so bland and colorless that I can't really remember anything about him other than he was bland and colorless. Joe was fired a few months after Chris' arrival, and a new AM named Josh arrived. Josh was a horrible AM who had a nasty habit of donning a RGIS grey polo shirt and masquerading as a Team Leader, all so he could count unobserved and unbothered by a store manager. Josh was eventually caught by RGIS higher-ups doing this and was moved to another district. I left my job as auditor shortly thereafter, and that's where this blog ends, more or less.
It's been a lot of fun writing this blog, and I've enjoyed reading most of your comments. You can continue to leave your comments and questions here, and I'll publish them probably two or three times a week. But there most likely will not be any more new entries, as I've simply run out of material. If you don't want to leave any more comments here, but still want to communicate with other RGIS people, I might suggest starting a RGIS auditors discussion group over at Yahoo Groups. I checked and there are already two such discussion groups, but not much activity at either. So someone might want to start their own group.
Goodbye, and thanks for reading.
61 comments:
Do you know how I found your blog? I was actually looking for information on RGIS and found an article in Wikipedia. In the external links of that article, it had a link to your blog!
Misfit, you have made this blog a lot of fun. It has been great to see what is happening in other Districts. Nice to know mine isn't the only crazy one. I will keep checking in and posting.
I was just going through old entries and came across the one where the name RGIS is being debated as to what it stands for.
I have a funny story about that.
When I first started working years ago, I was in a store and the manager of that store asked my team leader what RGIS stood for.
My team leader (with a wink in my direction) said: "Rough Guess Inventory Service". The look on the manager's face was priceless.
I've learned over time that this joke wasn't very far from the truth.
I think you might be interested to see this website: http://www.rgisovertime.com
Apparently a wage and overtime lawsuit has been filed against this company.
anon. at 9:19 pm: Thanks! And lol! to the "Rough Guess Inventory Service". Too true! for my district too.
Hey Misfit, I really enjoyed the blog, and I'm sorry to see it end. It's cool to hear from an auditor because a lot of times auditors give their blood, sweat and tears, and suffer in ailence while management experiments with peoples lives and money. Thanks for the great stories... oh and
I would LOVE to hear about Joe's firing.
Haha my favorite meaning to what RGIS stood for was from an angry customer.
"Retards Giving Inventory Stats"
enjoyed your blog,,, found your site threw a myspace RGIS group,,,,, i sure can relate to alot you wrote about, except we dont have a Mondo, lol, just lots of bad breath people , best of luck to you, thanks for entertaining us,,,,, Linda
RGIS LAWSUIT!! JOIN IN!!! 10/20 DEADLINE!
http://www.rgisovertime.com/
anon. at 2:24 pm: Thanks so much! for all of your kind words about my blog. I've had a lot of fun writing it, and I've no regrets in doing so.
Joe's firing wasn't all that dramatic, unfortunately. According to Psycho Auditor Anna, Joe was fired because of something to do with drugs. No big surprise there; Blimp Mondo had been spreading the word around the entire division that Joe had been dealing weed for years.
What was extremely amusing was that Joe thought he was so beloved (!) by everyone in the district that he thought a bunch of people would quit when they heard of his firing. He actually called people and told them, "I know you really like this job, so I don't expect you to quit, but..." What a laugher! Joe had heard of this happening in the San Jose district a while back. An AM got caught plugging in the numbers in an Albertson's, I think, and was promptly fired. He was such a popular AM that several auditors quit in protest. Joe actually thought some of us would do that for him, too! What a moron! Not one of his pets quit, just his two girlfriends.
Linda at 11:52 am: Thank you! I'm so glad you have enjoyed reading this blog. I didn't know about the Myspace RGIS group. I'm glad there's a group where people can discuss what it's like to work for RGIS.
J: I tried but I can't find the website you posted anywhere. Has anyone else found it?
Misfit, I have gone on the site posted for RGIS lawsuit. It is www.rgisovertime.com. It is a suit involving anyone from Texas Districts. But, they are looking for input about things RGIS does wrong like timesheet changes, lunch breaks, etc. It appears that it is starting as a Texas issue but could, conceivably, grow if they get input from other parts of the country.
Misfit,
I am sorry that you have run out of material for this blog. I have truely enjoyed it.
jkat: Thanks! I've really enjoyed your comments too. Especially the stories about Fat Bastard. If you have any more to share I'd be glad to publish them here.
And who knows? If something triggers my memory I might just come up with another entry. But right now, zilch! Oh well.
anon. at 11:04 am: I finally found that website. The lawsuit looks very interesting. My best wishes and good luck to the plaintiffs. A very similar lawsuit was filed and settled by the RGIS auditors in California, so I bet this Texas one will get settled as well.
Ugh... Yeah, D61 was under duress when our former DM transferred and left us with an overbooked master sched...
Good riddance to him... rofl
its wery funny these blog, I´m working for RGIS in germany since 3 months, ok not many time to see the wahts really hapend, but germans rules are bit different than in the us. but really incredible things happend hier too.
i will comment you in the future about.
have fun.
OMG could i go on and on about how many labor laws they still break out here in cali. Not to mention the fact that they could give a damn about health and safety issues, when it comes to running you ragged for days on end with little or no sleep. Then when the busy season is done, they sure do forget who you are when it comes to giving work! I have not decided yet whom is more wacked, this company to its employees or the fact that I am still here, putting up with it! It is great to know others feel the same! crazy in cali
Sorry to see it come to an end. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading the entire blog.
I'm going to be sending the link to all this to a former AAM/AM that no longer works for RGIS. This guy has some stories that probably rival yours, misfit.
To all of the new readers of this blog: welcome! I hope you're enjoying reading about life in RGIS District 414. Even though I don't have any more entries at this time (I'll always leave open the possibility for more at a later date) I still enjoy your comments on this blog. If you wish you can also share your own experiences working for RGIS, be they good or bad. I'll be publishing any new comments probably about twice a week. Thanks for reading!
I'm back and working for now District 408 Portland South. Nice group of people here I must say.
I know of a guy from D186 (the district in that lawsuit) who was telling me about the hell they went down there and I don't blame them for starting a suit down there.
The "Rough Guess Inventory Service" gag phrase actually goes way back to the 1970s.
agentskelly: Didn't you have some difficulty with one of the Oregon RGIS districts, like they wouldn't let you "transfer" from your old dist.? Good to hear that everything worked out okay with your new dist.
RGIS is starting up an hourly health insurance plan. Can you believe it.
Yea, the new owners probably think it'll help with turnover. Wankers
What about their new Shoes For Crews issue? We just had a TL's meeting and were told that the Company will be requiring people to wear Shoes For Crews. Apparently, they have a lot of worker's comp. issues and Shoes For Crews will pay them 5,000.00 per incidence for anyone who slips and falls wearing their shoes. But here is the hitch. They will only be requiring people who make 11.00 an hour or more to buy them. Guess the people who make less are not prone to slip and fall. lol
And....if you refuse to get them, they will reduce your pay to 11.00 an hour. I can just see people going around checking other people's feet to see how much they make an hour and complaining because someone else is making more than them. How about that 10.75 an hour person who thinks they should be making more because they feel they count more. Doesn't sound quite legal to me to only require certain people to get them and to threaten them with pay reduction.
Gotta luv these new owners. It is something new every day.
And....about the medical insurance.
It will pay 1,000.00 per surgery.
Have they had surgery lately?? My husband has Blue Cross and had surgery last year. 5 days in hospital, and one surgery = 72,000.00. Thank God we didn't have to pay for it.
Misfit, yes i did...but apparently there was a change in management :P
Yeah, the plan is not bad...its a little pricey, but its a good plan if rarely go to the doctor.
For the Shoes for Crews thing, I am familiar with the product and you know, its not like they are $500 dollar shoes. Go look at their website and you will see they they normally priced. Like I don't spend more than 40 dollars for shoes usually and I see they got shoes in that ballpark for me.
Haha on the shoes for crews thing. I haven't heard that one yet.
I have a pair of safe work shoes. They're going to force me to buy "their" pair now!? And reduce my pay if I don't? That is messed up.
Also I found out at some point I was "promoted" to assistant team leader. I say "promoted" because I was never asked to or agreed to anything. And I for sure didn't get any pay increase for it. Is there usually one when you get this position?
Agentskelly, you are missing the point on Shoes for Crews. They may have a good product but....they wil only force people who make 11.00 or more an hour to get them. ??? That is discrimination in my book. And, pay reduction if you don't get them?? And, my DM told me today that you MUST buy them through payroll deduction. If you go to the SFC website, you can buy them with your credit card but the company will not honor the 5,000.00
warranty if you fall. That is why they are forcing it through payroll deduction.
They are now falling into what could only be termed as the ridiculous category. In our Division, all team leaders just got several emails directly from some guy with way too much time on his hands. He is an operations manager. It states:
Effective immediately: you are no longer to write anything on your worksheets except the headings. You are no longer to write area numbers, etc. We have done a study that shows that the average auditor spends 15 minutes writing on their worksheets during the course of an inventory. If you have 100 people in a store, that translates to approximately 275.00 saved. If you do 200 stores in January in your office, this could translate to 55,000.00 saved. I know I would love to see that in my bonus, wouldn't you? "
He has got to be kidding with this.
Last time I checked, the TL and auditors weren't getting bonuses.
And, most people in my stores, are already not writing on their worksheets so, so much for his study on savings.
A second email was about TL having to take a ladder safety course in how to inspect ladders and having to take a test in the Learning Center about it. With it was attached a checklist that they want us to use in every store to inspect their ladders. and the best part is this sentence at the end of that checklist:
"If any of the above conditions exists with any ladder, you are to throw it out immediately"
I can just see myself now, carrying a bunch of the stores ladders out to a dumpster, and the store people just letting me do it.
Uh?? They do belong to them and not us.
Misfit, you left at the right time.
These new owners are off the wall.
Your Ops Manager just made up an lame excuse for the truth.
The real reason why they are dropping the worksheets is because they were needed with the current generation of Audit machines for a paper trail. But since RGIS is starting Audit 50i roll-out, the worksheets are not needed anymore.
And actually we do throw out ladders and stools when they become broken. Thats nothing new to me.
http://bankrupt.com/TCR_Public/051025.mbx
RGIS INVENTORY: S&P Assigns Low-B Ratings on Proposed $570M Loans
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'B+' corporate
credit rating to RGIS Inventory Specialists.
At the same time, Standard & Poor's assigned a 'B+' rating to the
Auburn Hills, Michigan-based company's planned $420 million
first-lien bank loan. A recovery rating of '2' was also assigned
to the loan, indicating the expectation for substantial 80%-100%
recovery of principal in the event of a payment default.
S&P also assigned a 'B-' rating to the company's planned
$150 million second-lien credit facility. A recovery rating of
'5' was assigned to the loan, indicating the expectation for
negligible 0%-25% recovery of principal in the event of a payment
default. The outlook is negative. Proceeds from the bank loan
will be used to pay a $500 million dividend to shareholders.
"The ratings on RGIS reflect its inconsistent performance, weak
cash flow measures, and a highly leveraged capital structure,"
said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Robert Lichtenstein. These
risks are only partially offset by the company's leading position
in the industry and its long relationships with almost all of its
largest customers.
RGIS is the largest inventory audit specialist, more than three
times the size of the next competitor. It services 17,000
customers, both large and small, including department stores and
discounters. The company's top 15 customers represent 37% of
revenues, with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. being the largest at about 9%.
RGIS has maintained relationships of 15 years or more with almost
all of its large customers.
Um, that was from OCTOBER 2005 when RGIS was acquired by Impala Partners and the B rating by S&P means they can repay that loan 100%, but anything else is speculative.
Nice try though :P
Agentskelly, uh, some of your posts really have me wondering??
how long have you been with RGIS?
what exactly is your title? You seem very defensive for someone who is a mere auditor for this company. You have no idea what my Ops Manager had in mind when he wrote those emails. We are aware we won't need the worksheets when the new audits are brought out. He was talking about saving money NOW. And, we throw out broken stools and ladders too when they belong to us. Are you telling me you have been throwing out store owned ladders?? Give me a break.
Unless you are a lot higher up in the Company than you pretend to be,
you seem to come to their defense all the time. Or, are you just wearing rose colored glasses and believing all the crap they feed you?? lol
WOW. I just discovered this blog. I worked for RGIS for 3 yrs. 1 in San Diego, CA which was not too bad and 2 in Tucson, AZ. I left in Aug 2006 cause I couldn't stand the travel anymore (getting minimum wage while traveling and no pay for 1st and last hour in van). I laugh about the fat and stinky people in vans (for hours). Ours would take off their shoes after audit was done and make the rest of us cough and choke. A friend just told me they have lost Walmart and Home Depot. Wow, how many of those audits I did!
Anything below BBB is junk bond quality. You need to read the whole thing again. Of course, being a RGIS manager, you probably don't know how to read. What they did was take out bank loans to pay themselves a half BILLION dollar dividend. The company sold for $750 million. They effectively looted the company of two thirds of its value. I have to wonder what kind of bank would be stupid enough to loan them the money. Secured by a first lien? Just how much are 40,000 used audit machines worth anyhow?
http://bankrupt.com/TCR_Public/060206.mbx
RGIS INVENTORY: S&P Assigns B+ to Planned $370 Million Bank Loan
----------------------------------------------------------------
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'B+' corporate
credit rating to RGIS Inventory Specialists. At the same time,
Standard & Poor's assigned its 'B+' rating to the company's
planned $370 million bank loan. A recovery rating of '3' was also
assigned to the loan, indicating the expectation of meaningful
(50%-80%) recovery of principal in the event of a payment default.
Proceeds from the bank loan will be used to pay a $300 million
dividend to shareholders.
"The ratings on RGIS," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst
Robert Lichtenstein, "reflect inconsistent operating performance,
a new management with little industry experience, and a highly
leveraged capital structure that limits cash flow protection."
Me an Manager? I wish! If I was a manager, I would go these awful districts and kick some ass over there :)
But yes, I am an mere auditor. I just think sometimes some people are not doing their part of the job and end up whining.
It seems as if Joe might not have been fired after becoming a DM if he focused more energy on doing his job than on trying to get into every pretty girl's pants. This doesn't come as much of a shock: a male RGIS manager lusting after a female auditor and using his power to promise everything under the sun(hours, raises, promotions) so he can get some. In my early days at RGIS, there was a rumor that a male AM was having an affair with a power-hungry TL. I didn't pay much attention to it until I was personally affected. We were doing a K-Mart inventory which the AM was running and at the start, another TL was in charge of the dept. I was counting in. After a few hours, the TL who the AM was rumored to be screwing came up to me with an attitude about where to count. Since she was not in charge, I didn't really listen to her. Then she got attitude because I didn't do exactly as she said, and before long, I was sent home. That convinced me 100% that they were involved because if anyone else had complained I most likely would not have been sent home. Keeping this bitchy TL happy was more important than my side of the story(I didn't know that the AM had changed group leaders during the inventory). However, since then almost all of the managers in my district have been women, and the issues similar to those with Joe have been non-existant. Female managers are much more professional, although sometimes can be bitchy as well. You never hear about a female manager lusting after a male auditor and everyone else getting screwed over because of it. Even if a female AM/DM had the hots for a male employee, she wouldn't be so obvious about it. Maybe that is because women managers take their jobs seriously and do not use their position and its perks solely for their own pleasure. While there are alot of female employees who know how to work it for a male manager, these men should have enough common sense to keep it in their pants.
hi i came across this site while surfing the net. i am currently a team leader in pennsylvania. i have worked for rgis since jan 7 1999 i was 19 at the time. i have held almost every position except for district manager. i can say that this job is definetly not for everyone. i have met alot of people since i've been employed here, some i wish i havent met and some that i hated to see leave. i have alot of great memories more good than bad. i wish this blog was still going i'd love to add some stories that i have been apart of and just to tell what happened day to day cause we all know each day is totally different
From a TL in Pa.
exauditor @7:09 pm: Welcome to my blog! I guess we were pretty fortunate: we didn't have to suffer through shoeless auditors in the company van. Gross!
I never did a Wal-Mart (in our area those were usually done by WIS) but I did do several Home Depots, and it always struck me as rather ludicrous that RGIS would still require us auditors to wear black or khaki trousers, when of course jeans in such a huge dirty home improvement store would have made much more sense. I mean, all the RGIS auditors walking around with gross patches on their knees! It looked much worse on a pair of dress pants, and wore them out much faster too.
anon. at 1:33 am: You're exactly right about Joe. It's a shame too, since I thought he had some good skills and could have gone far in the company. He just was a little too immature, and let his Johnson do most of his thinking for him.
Your story about the bitchy TL was interesting, and so too your theory about female AMs/DMs. I've never worked for one while I was at RGIS, so I couldn't say whether or not they would be as obvious and play favorites when they had the hots for a male auditor. It would have been interesting to see if that would have happened in my district.
TL from Pa @ 9:19 pm: Welcome to my blog! I hope you're enjoying reading all the entries. Please, everyone, continue to leave your comments and your own experiences with RGIS, both good and bad. I check in on this blog several times a week to publish the comments. I just sort of ran out of gas regarding the entries, but I still enjoy reading everyone's comments and RGIS stories. And who knows? If I remember another RGIS nightmare/horror story/experience I just might publish another entry. Never say never!
Regarding safety and TLs being told to check ladders -- they've instituted a safety reward program where, after taking a computer-based certification test (a la Wal-Mart cert.) the TL can be entered into a drawing for $1000.
Sounds nice and all, but it's only one per division per award period (I can't remember how long the period is, probably quarterly), and to be eligible the TL's team has to be "free of reported incidents during the award period" and "incur no more than 2 record only incidents" (i.e. non-serious injuries). Kinda lame, considering it applies to the whole team, which a TL can (at least in my district) have nothing to do with their team's safety, hardly ever working with them closely. And I can just see incidents where someone says, "Hey, you're OK, right? You don't need to report this, right buddy? OK, thanks."
They've also got reward programs coming out for big accounts, like Target (currently in) and JC Penny (planned, I think) that supposedly reward entire teams for high productivity. The award is somewhere around $10,000 per award period (I honestly don't remember the exact total because it wasn't in an email addressed to me). Of course, about $5,000 of that goes to the crew manager, $1,000 to the portable operator which is occasionally an AM, and $1,000 for a flow leader, I believe (again, often managers to control man hours and even be eligible for the award). There are more detailed breakdowns of it, but all I remember, for sure, is the crew manager, portable operator, and a few thousand split up as $500 each between random auditors that counted in the store that was eligible.
Now, that's all fine and good, but it is based on "productivity", which can lead to some problems. To even be eligible the Target can't be late (past 5 am), can't have an error percentage of over 1.75% and has to follow the procedures regarding 'smart auditing' (random printouts by department, 210 in all -- at least 200 must be completed but there's a trick to some of them). All that is not too difficult to achiever, and if it's not, the crew manager is probably going to get yelled at my Ops and Target. However, there's also a minimum overall store APH and it works kinda like a raffle. In a regular Target, the store would have to have an APH of 1200 to get 1 ticket/entry into the drawing and, depending on productivity, up to 3 tickets. For a Super Target, it starts at 1300. My district has done two Targets now and neither one was over 1060, and none in the first week were over 1200, but I imagine some corners may be cut in the future to reach it. One idea was to never clock in the managers other than the crew manager except at the end (1 minute in total, that way they count for crew size still) to keep the overall APH (slightly) higher, but I don't know how well that would work.
Anyhow, just thought I'd share the few things I find out here in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma: Thanks for that interesting info. I'm always curious as to how things are going in other RGIS districts. You're right, that "ladder safety" reward program does sound kind of lame. Some poor auditor is lying on the floor with a broken leg, and his TL would probably say to him, "This is just between us, right?"
And as far as the other rewards programs you mentioned, well, RGIS is really trying to provide incentives for auditors to count fast and accurate, aren't they? But it's rather like dangling a carrot in front of a horse. You just know that they'll find some way to screw everyone over, "rewards" or not.
The ladder safety bonus is a joke.
They will give 1000.00 every 6 months to 1 team leader in a Division. If your team has 2 accidents in a 6 month period, you are not eligible for the next 6 month period. Hadn't heard about the Target's bonus yet, but you are right that they have an AM running the store, AMs running the flows, and the training officer running the portable in our District so that doesn't leave too much for the auditors who are doing the actual counting, does it?
If they are going to execute bonuses, how about giving something to the team leaders who are running more and more stores because they are cutting down on managers everywhere? With this new EAPH system, gray shirts are stepping down everywhere. Maroon shirts are getting the raises and the gray shirts who are out there running stores and with all the added responsibilities, are getting nothing. Great system they have there!!!! lol
anon. at 7:18 pm: You're right, there's really no incentive for anyone to become a TL anymore; and if they're already a TL there's no incentive for them to stay one.
We said RGIS stands for Recount & Guess Inventory Service. Great blog. Every district has wild stories. You become addicted to all the hilarious and wacky people.
anon. at 3:09 pm: Lol! That's a good one too. I wonder just how many acronyms people have made up for RGIS.
Thanks for your kind words about my blog. I've had such a fun time writing about my days with good old/bad old RGIS. I've enjoyed everyone's comments here too, and their own personal stories about their RGIS experiences too. I hope people will continue to leave comments and share their stories.
I know for some people (especially me), there is one incentive to become a team leader...that is to eventually move up to AAM, then AM, and someday a DM.
To respond to agentskelly: They're probably desperate enough for managers that you can jump from auditor to AAM -- if not in your district, in another. We had a guy come from outside the company to train with our district as an AM before he got transferred out to a district that needed him and it was pretty bad. He ended up getting transferred early to help in a district where managers quit or were fired. I didn't know who to feel sorry for more, the other district or him.
Of course, "going grey" will give you a good look at the downsides to management (long unpaid hours, unrealistic expectations, etc.) so you can see if you really want to go down that road or not. Good luck.
Misfit: I have some stories for you in the next couple of days. Let's just say the topic is RGIS drunk drivers.
-Oklahoma
anon. at 4/4/07, 9:35 pm: Ooh, drunk driving stories! Vans full of burgundy shirts, weaving all over the road? Yikes!
We had a couple of people in my district who were heavy elbow-benders but as far as I know none got into trouble while on the job for drinking. We had more of a problem with people falling asleep and drifting all over the road. This after pulling a triple shift.
I'm looking forward to your stories.
So I told you I was going to get back to you and now I am.
We've had our share of awful drivers, I'm sure that's nothing new. We had a lady from California who would tailgate on the Interstate and highways (high speed areas) even though she didn't know where she was going, so she couldn't have been in any hurry -- She just didn't pay attention. On the way back from an inventory that was only an hour's drive away she got lost and it took 2 hours to get home. And still they let her drive.
We had a TL that transferred from DFW and was in line to be our new AAM. He had an incredible amount of speeding tickets, had totaled two cars already (he was a few months younger than me, so only 20-21 or so) and simply drove like a maniac. He ended up being the AAM, getting promoted to AM within a few weeks (because one of our AMs had to step down for health reasons), and then, after many months of ineptitude, inter-personal problems and continued shoddy driving, he was promoted to be a DM in Texas.
But apparently, they should have been the least of my worries. We just had a ATL/TL get sentenced to over 20 years in jail for a DUI that lead to a death. And it was the 2nd on his record. I immediately checked the office to see if he was an "approved occasional driver", but he wasn't -- however, I know he'd driven company vans filled with auditors to and from inventories. I knew they didn't do background checks for hiring purposes, but I was amazed that they didn't check driving records.
anon. at 4/7/07. 7:34 am: Wow, DUI with a death involved. That's scary. That didn't happen while the driver was on the job, did it? I mean with RGIS? I would ask how in the world he was able to drive vanloads of auditors with his record but then I know RGIS, so that should explain things. I know they're supposed to check driving records of people that drive their company vehicles but I think a lot of districts just don't bother.
Oh, I have a request for everyone who leaves comments here at this blog. It's just a little favor to me, don't worry nothing big. When you leave your comments would everyone please pick a nickname instead of posting as anonymous? To do so just select "Other" where it says "Choose an identity" below the "Leave your comment" box. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, heck, you can call yourself 123 if you like. You can even change your nickname every time you leave a comment. It just makes it a little easier when I leave a reply. You know, if everyone uses a nickname then I can type "Hello Handbag", instead of "anon. at 4/7/07, 11:23 pm". That would be so great! if everyone would do that. Of course, you can still use Anonymous, but wouldn't you rather be creative? :)
I don't believe it happened while he was with RGIS -- I think it was just before he started working with us, actually.
Also, I left out the worst part. They kind of did check his driving record, but still let him drive. See, one of our AMs (at the time - since promoted) has a brother in the Highway Patrol. She asked him about this guy and her brother said he was going to serve jail time, it was a guarantee, so they shouldn't invest any time into training him extensively (he had already been working with the company for 8 months or so at this point). What'd they do? Promote him to ATL.
Luckily for me, I have a list of approved drivers and I can check their records through the Oklahoma Supreme Court Network's website since I know the company won't.
Oklahoma: Well, that was certainly very handy for your former AM, knowing someone in the Highway Patrol. Sure saved your district some time and money. Or so I would have thought. They promoted him? Ah well, only in RGIS, right? :)
well im about to get paid from this company they fucking us over anyway and every way possible now it time to get a little back hell yea going to get paid from this lawsuit you better believe it
This is really good. Thanks for writing this. As far as driving record checks go, I do know that the districts in Maryland check your record. I had my record checked at my local Wal-Mart team and found out that my license was suspended for some unpaid ticket that I had forgot about.Good for RGIS I would have gotten pulled over and went to jail if I hadent been reminded about that. The post about RGIS losing Wal-Mart and Home Depot is not true. We have a dedicated Wal-Mart team in my area, I transferred from there to a local district, I dont know about Home Depot but there was a dedicated team in my area at one time but I havent done any huge stores with splits with them in a while. As far as managers go, I oersonally think that DM's are the worst, especially ones that do not go into the field like mine. He leaves the 2 AM's and TL's to do all the work and when something goes wrong, he wants to point the finger at the field people. Much more to come. I have plenty of stories, I just have to compile them all.
A TL on the East Coast
Auditor 5401: Thanks! for reading my blog, and I hope you continue to leave comments and your own personal stories about RGIS. I love to hear from RGIS people from all over the world. :-)
So I have worked for RGIS for tooo loong 10 yrs and I know what u went through I have experience a lot of missing hrs in my paystubs cause the area managers kicking me out for no reason I am a very fast and too accurate of a counter."sometimes" I have worked with Home Depot team and I can say it sucks cause u r cut back to miss a lot of the stores that have overtime and I need money for my car!!!! I myself Is not paid much and I always find missing hrs in each and every paystub. As for the people who do the driving of their own veihcle please keep track of your passengers I know u dont get much for driving your own car to carpool people around but that is soon to change for the drivers n passengers cause the lawsuit. I myself Like has been put on probation for missing a Home Depot cause of a doctors App and I was out for a half a week cause of probation and this succckkkssss u know cause it is the sloww season now and we all have bills to pay. I know what all of u are going through I had a DM n he took atvantage of me good doing way too far sooo I change districts but soon after I left he went to another state lets just say some times my hours were cut if I could not go to certain store cause of another job not Related to RGIS. I have to say I am not happy with this company but it is the job Im good at.... I do my job very weelllll and other DM like me to move to their Districts but I can say Im happy where Im in but things can be better...... I like the hours I work and I can pick my own schedule sometimes and if I wanna have an afternoon off then I better have a good reason since I still on probation. oh weelll lets just say I still have this job and I know what a lot of u people r going through gooooooddddd luck :)
If anyone thinks they've been shorted on their checks for any reason, you should contact the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor. If they hear from enough people nationwide, the Texas suit could easily expand. Link: http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/
Booooooooo... I only wish I had stumbled upon this blog earlier. I am somewhat familar with D414 and some of the individuals mentioned.
I rather enjoyed reading some of the posts and comments, and look forward to reading more. I could have added more, trust me.
There are stories I could have told that would have blown minds of some.
I'll pop in now and then... and if I see some activity... I'll definitely share.
I worked for RGIS for 14 years, all the way from auditor to DM in Texas. I left the company in 1998 and I can tell you I am depressed at what has happened since then.
The two men Misfit mentions from the division office, Nick and Ray, are both friends of mine. Nick was my first AM in Texas and Ray gave me every promotion but the last one.
I can remember customers like Wal Mart and Home Depot when they were in the infancy of their physical inventory programs. It was RGIS (and, more specifically, the managers and auditors in the old Southwest Division) that gave them the ability to manage their inventories at the item level.
The work we did in the Southwest Division is what drove the growth of the company, and we drove that growth ethically and responsibly. We taught our employees how to count accurately AND quickly. One of the motivators behind this was a simple one - we knew, personally, the Nicholson family.
Many of us didn't know Thomas J. Nicholson, but we at least learned to count using the "TJN" calculator that was named for him. We knew Bill Nicholson and his manic mood swings. We knew Ray Nicholson and Mike Nicholson because we sat with them and talked with them and gambled and drank with them and worked with them.
We were very proud of our efforts on behalf of that family and the sky was the limit. We made good money, our customers loved us and it got better every year. The work habits, disciplines and customer service experience I gained during that time have served me very well since then.
But then it happened. A confederacy of dunces somehow got hold of the company starting in 1998 and decided to bleed it dry.
It was not the same company I had (literally) grown up with, and I refused to be associated with it after that.
But if you want stories ... I got 'em.
BOY! This blog sure is eye-opening! I was contacted by the Cali. Atty's in Michigan asking if I wanted part of the class-action suit. Ironically, I had just resigned from RGIS D020 for some of the same reasons discussed here, and others.
I was hired 12/07 and started working the new year inventories in and around Detroit. I was told that the area reached "from Pontiac to Port Huron," but most audits are done with the auditors residence in mind. HAHAHA! The first week on the job I was sent to Port Huron (50 miles..never been there, at night with sleet falling) and since I did not get pre-approved to drive a crew, I drove myself and was not reimbursed for the mileage. The following week I had another audit, and was told I could drive. Not knowing the protocol, I did not pick up a sheet, but filled one out on the site. Never got paid the $.44 for that 100 miles either.
Had an audit at a local Air Natinal Guard Base for two days. SEveral shifts were going in. WE were told ahead of time to organize a car pool at the local Walmart because base security wanted as few cars as needed to enter the base. I agreed to drive. Second day when we were amassed for pre-audit instructions, we were then told: "...since it's such a short distance, you will not be reimbursed for the mileage." We were also told that we were to get a 10 minute break ALL OF US AT THE SAME TIME, but if we needed one before that, to ask the team leader.
While on that audit, I encountered difficulty - mainly with the store staff interfering and getting in the way. I even had to ask them to quiet down so I could concentrate (they were catching up on base gossip). I worked the jewelry counter, and when I thought I was done, I found I was one item short when doing a hand count. I counted, then went back and verified the UPC's with the items. Still one off. I had an employee "helping" me, but she wasn't really. She kept taking the items and moving them, looking at them, setting them down in a different spot, etc. I even had another employee come by TWICE and pick the items up to admire them! Finally, I stood back for a breath of air, and noticed gold glimmering in the light...my lost item! I closed that section up and asked my team manager for permission to get a cold drink (a walk of about 20 ft.). She scoffed at me for asking and waved me on. As I returned, the big-shot, newly-promoted manager saw me and rushed to my side, grabbed for my badge and said "we talked about this. YOu must punch out for a break.." as he reached (quite inappropriately) across my chest to grab my badge. He realized his action and stood back real fast with his hands up. However, he did punch me out for a ten minute break and told me to get back to work. I started toward my section, but stopped. I went back to him and said "Jared, you aren't making many friends here today". He replied he wasn't looking for friends, just good numbers (Hahaha!) Since I'm Irish and have to have the last word, I then said: "Well, since you already punched me out for my break, I think I'll take it", and went outside for a breath of fresh air.
I complained to the district and they comisurated with me, but nothing was done. I Told them that I did not want to work with Jared, but they assigned me several audits with him.
I had an audit scheduled for 5a.m. during a nasty snowstorm, and decided I just wasn't going to risk the 1-1/2 hour ride, so I called in. I went home and wrote out my resignation.
Much, much more happened, but you get the idea.
Basically most of the people I worked with were intelligent, educated people. They had hit hard times and wanted "something...anything" to bring in some cash. I laugh to myself when I think about the "Cattle Call" we all endured. None of us was going to make a career out if this, just bring in some much-need money. As it turned out, most of our income went to raising gas prices and shoe payments.
I get the last laugh every time I wash my car: I use my RGIS shirt to clean the scum off the bumpers and lights. The shoes are useless (and very uncomfortable!) but at least I can deduct them from my income taxes!
Irisheyes
Confidential to MissNovember: You included your email address in your comment, and that's why I didn't publish your post. It's usually not a good idea to post your email address on a public website because you could get all kinds of spam. If you want to resubmit your post without the address then I'll be happy to post it.
I am a former DM from Oregon with nearly 10 yrs in that position during the 80s/90s. travel was a bitch, but I loved the people I worked with. WE worked hard (too bloody hard at times!)and covered a heck of a lot of ground as we were called to help cover inventories from San Jose to Seattle, and over to Boise. We worked and traveled a lot with little sleep, but everyone of the crew I had was solid, determined, and could always be counted on. We were more than a crew in many ways. We lost many TLs to becoming area managers elsewhere and always had another person ready to fill that spot. It was never easy to do and many times we were short on staff, but the core team was something of a tight group. The upper level managers were of course always breathing down our necks to get the percentage profit up, but I did not care that much for it, even if bonuses were based on that profit. I making that profit meant cutting corners, we would take the hit and respect what we were providing to the customer. I knew of many other offices where this was not the case - batch counting, people knowingly using drugs, etc and many of those got fired, but sadly not enough. There was even case when the VP and OPs managers were met at an airport by the FBI because the local office managers had been shipping drug via fedEx and charging the company for it!
It was a hard job and one that I am very glad to be out now, but there were fun moments with RGIS as well.
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