Complaints about co-workers

[thyme4change]

A thread to complain about the people we are paid to spend time with.

[thyme4change]

I have a new VP that I support. I have a list of things that annoy me about him.

Yesterday, he asked me for my cell phone number. He said it was only emergencies, and he wouldn't bug me off hours unless absolutely necessary. He called me last night to tell me something. We had discussed the subject yesterday afternoon and I said I probably needed the answer around noonish today. It is a simple answer (a number) with no further explanation needed. Glad he only bothered me for that emergency. 😣

[MJ2.0]

I could write a book about the complete wastes of sperm and eggs I currently work with/for.  For the abridged version, check out the "Job Thread" and "What Are You Doing Know"?

[MJ2.0]

Oct 5, 2017 9:03:32 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

I have a new VP that I support. I have a list of things that annoy me about him.

Yesterday, he asked me for my cell phone number. He said it was only emergencies, and he wouldn't bug me off hours unless absolutely necessary. He called me last night to tell me something. We had discussed the subject yesterday afternoon and I said I probably needed the answer around noonish today. It is a simple answer (a number) with no further explanation needed. Glad he only bothered me for that emergency. 😣

that's why I flat out refused to provide my cell number to carriers.  If work wants me to use my cell for work, they can give me a work phone.  I am not going to be owned by my employer.

[Green Eyed Lady]

The one-upper:

Me:    I'm leaving early today. Have a terrible earache.

Her:    Well let me tell you about the earache IIIIIIII had and all the pus and........

[ohmomto2boys]

I have worked with a woman for 20+ years and I avoid her at all costs.  She is the type that thinks the office is going to stop functioning when she goes on vacation or even takes just one day off.  She makes a ton of mistakes (management is finally doing something about this), and speeds through everything and thinks she is the best asset to the company.  She is rude - to everyone - no one is exempt from this.   
She used to be great to work with, but over the last 5 years, she has been terrible.

I'm glad management is finally making positive changes and she is going to get a rude awakening, very soon.  

[thyme4change]

Oct 5, 2017 9:08:48 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

Oct 5, 2017 9:03:32 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

I have a new VP that I support. I have a list of things that annoy me about him.

Yesterday, he asked me for my cell phone number. He said it was only emergencies, and he wouldn't bug me off hours unless absolutely necessary. He called me last night to tell me something. We had discussed the subject yesterday afternoon and I said I probably needed the answer around noonish today. It is a simple answer (a number) with no further explanation needed. Glad he only bothered me for that emergency. 😣

that's why I flat out refused to provide my cell number to carriers.  If work wants me to use my cell for work, they can give me a work phone.  I am not going to be owned by my employer.

My phone is provided by the company, so I couldn't figure out a way to not give it to him.

But, that doesn't mean I will answer when he calls. I am going with the "fool me once" policy on believing he will have an accounting emergency.

[milee]

Oct 5, 2017 9:20:26 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Oct 5, 2017 9:08:48 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

....

But, that doesn't mean I will answer when he calls. I am going with the "fool me once" policy on believing he will have an accounting emergency.

Yeah, I've used that phrase before.  When I first started with one of the big accounting firms, cell phones were still expensive and not common.  Somebody at the firm got the bright idea to give all the professionals pagers.  At an accounting firm.     

I left my company pager permanently in my desk at work, never used it once and when the partners started asking me about it, my response was along the lines of "you have my schedule so you know which client I'm assigned to, we have a really good messaging system and I check my messages three times a day, you have my home phone number... so it's never more than at most a couple of hours before I'd get a message and respond.  We're accountants, not doctors.  There are no accounting emergencies that will cause anyone to die if it takes two hours to get an answer."

They didn't really like that.  But at that point, I didn't really care.  I was willing to work ungodly hours for them, sometimes give up vacations and was never late on anything... it didn't seem unreasonable to have a few boundaries.  

[movingforward]

I have been dealing with staff issues the last 2 weeks. Everyday it seems like someone is in my office to complain about something or someone. Our accountant is still relatively new (been here about 4 months) and she doesn't get along with most of the people. Ever since it was announced that I will be replacing our Executive Director/CEO she has been kissing my ass. So essentially she is rude to everyone except me and our ED. I can't stand brown nosing so she gets on my nerves too but in a different way than she bothers other people. In the beginning we were having some issues with her not doing things like they should be done, but once we talked to her about that it got better. I have been monitoring her work so I know she is getting things done, but her personality is an issue. Changing someone's personality isn't going to happen. I am conflicted about what to do here...

[flamingo]

I have a coworker in the office next to mine that listens in on EVERY.SINGLE.THING. that goes on in my office. And then comments on it. I get that when they put these offices in, they didn't do a great job soundproofing. But for the love of all that is holy, please quit making it obvious that you are eavesdropping! I've started closing my door every time someone comes in my office or I'm on the phone. Which helps a little, but now all of her comments are "who were you just meeting with?" "why did you close your door?" "Oooh, is there some juicy gossip since you shut your door to talk to X?" ARGH!

[happyhoix]

Oct 5, 2017 9:59:04 GMT -5 movingforward said:

I have been dealing with staff issues the last 2 weeks. Everyday it seems like someone is in my office to complain about something or someone. Our accountant is still relatively new (been here about 4 months) and she doesn't get along with most of the people. Ever since it was announced that I will be replacing our Executive Director/CEO she has been kissing my ass. So essentially she is rude to everyone except me and our ED. I can't stand brown nosing so she gets on my nerves too but in a different way than she bothers other people. In the beginning we were having some issues with her not doing things like they should be done, but once we talked to her about that it got better. I have been monitoring her work so I know she is getting things done, but her personality is an issue. Changing someone's personality isn't going to happen. I am conflicted about what to do here...

I have a guy like this. Crappy personality. Miserly, greedy, talks down to people and is about as snotty as he can be in emails without being blatantly rude. Refuses to step up and help someone, quick to point out other people's errors and also quick to blame other people for his own errors.  He's such an ass and so unhelpful to deal with people have been circumventing him to deal with me directly, so I end up doing part of his work for him (which I'm sure is the plan).

We've had discussions before on his tone and how he needs to work on being a team player, but his personality is what it is. If you believe you're smarter and better than everyone else, it's hard for you to learn how to not treat the people around you like ignorant peons.

 

[movingforward]

Oct 5, 2017 12:32:20 GMT -5 flamingo said:

I have a coworker in the office next to mine that listens in on EVERY.SINGLE.THING. that goes on in my office. And then comments on it. I get that when they put these offices in, they didn't do a great job soundproofing. But for the love of all that is holy, please quit making it obvious that you are eavesdropping! I've started closing my door every time someone comes in my office or I'm on the phone. Which helps a little, but now all of her comments are "who were you just meeting with?" "why did you close your door?" "Oooh, is there some juicy gossip since you shut your door to talk to X?" ARGH!

That sounds beyond annoying

[movingforward]

If you believe you're smarter and better than everyone else, it's hard for you to learn how to not treat the people around you like ignorant peons.

You nailed it...this is exactly the attitude of our new accountant. I actually just had a chat with her about treating everyone in the office with respect. We are an office of ten people. This staff drama mess has to go...I don't deal well with that nonsense. She needs to find a way to get along with everyone. Granted, there are a couple of sensitive people that also tend to take things very personal but I told her she has to learn to work with various personalities. We all need to get along here.

What I really wanted to say is "you are smart but not THAT smart...everyone is replaceable so don't get too comfortable."

[swasat]

Timely thread.

I inherited a guy from another group during the reorg a few months ago. Arrrggghhhhh   Such an a$$hole!

Does not do anything, has mastered the art of off putting and off loading work to others, whines and complains about everything, confronts and argues about anything and everything. Just came off of a second PIP in 4 years (Don't even ask!! The former manager is NOT a good example of what good managers do) and STILL doesn't do squat. So I started assigning him specific tasks with specific goals and asking fro a weekly report. He went to HR on me! Because he is 52....and supposedly I am showing age bias and racial bias coz he is Asian. 


So I didn't back down and long story short he is back with his former manager. Yeah, way to go my dear company....don't get rid of the crap, just move it around and hope that issues go away.

Well, whatever. Not my problem anymore   

[happyhoix]

Oct 5, 2017 13:19:53 GMT -5 swasat said:

Timely thread.

I inherited a guy from another group during the reorg a few months ago. Arrrggghhhhh   Such an a$$hole!

Does not do anything, has mastered the art of off putting and off loading work to others, whines and complains about everything, confronts and argues about anything and everything. Just came off of a second PIP in 4 years (Don't even ask!! The former manager is NOT a good example of what good managers do) and STILL doesn't do squat. So I started assigning him specific tasks with specific goals and asking fro a weekly report. He went to HR on me! Because he is 52....and supposedly I am showing age bias and racial bias coz he is Asian. 


So I didn't back down and long story short he is back with his former manager. Yeah, way to go my dear company....don't get rid of the crap, just move it around and hope that issues go away.

Well, whatever. Not my problem anymore   

Don't expect a Christmas card from that other manager.

He's probably saddled with him until one or the other retires...

[swasat]

Oct 5, 2017 14:34:00 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Oct 5, 2017 13:19:53 GMT -5 swasat said:

Timely thread.

I inherited a guy from another group during the reorg a few months ago. Arrrggghhhhh   Such an a$$hole!

Does not do anything, has mastered the art of off putting and off loading work to others, whines and complains about everything, confronts and argues about anything and everything. Just came off of a second PIP in 4 years (Don't even ask!! The former manager is NOT a good example of what good managers do) and STILL doesn't do squat. So I started assigning him specific tasks with specific goals and asking fro a weekly report. He went to HR on me! Because he is 52....and supposedly I am showing age bias and racial bias coz he is Asian. 


So I didn't back down and long story short he is back with his former manager. Yeah, way to go my dear company....don't get rid of the crap, just move it around and hope that issues go away.

Well, whatever. Not my problem anymore   

Don't expect a Christmas card from that other manager.

He's probably saddled with him until one or the other retires...

Well, he actually ASKED for this guy to be transferred back to him   Don't ask me how you put a guy on PIP because he sucks, and then a few months later ask him to be transferred to you because you don't want the guy to be fired!


So basically I'll be sending him a holidays card. "Thanks for taking crap off my hands!!"

[andi9899]

At the PT job, we're pretty laid back, but there are a few that aren't. One girl is a 50+ year old tattle tell. I had a soda one day and she said "You know you're not supposed to have that here, right?" I said I wasn't worried about. Hell, the store director walks around with soda on the floor all the time. She went an told on me. Whatever, nobody cares.

Another likes to complain about everything. He's 50+ as well. He didn't like the way someone did something, so he started screaming and cursing and throwing things at one of the team leads. On what planet does that fly?! I didn't see it, or I would have immediately come to her defense. I'm told her has been talked to, but anywhere else and he would be fired. Especially since it's not the first time it's happened. I told the managers to be warned that if he ever steps to me like that he's going to regret it.

[thyme4change]

Speaking of tattling, one of my coworkers wants to call in an ethical violation on another coworker, because she "thinks it is highly likely" he got a financial benefit from some stupid thing he did. Even if he did, it would be about a hundred bucks.

Management already thinks she sucks and wants her to go, stirring the shit pot won't endear her to anyone.

[movingforward]

Tattle tells are the worst...that is another thing the new accountant likes to do...she will run to me with some nonsense about such and such playing solitaire on their computer. Newsflash - I don't give a shit. Such and such meets all her deadlines, gets on conference calls some evenings from home and is there whenever needed. If she wants to play a game of solitaire on her computer during her downtime then good for her. Don't run to me with this piddly crap.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

DH worked in a company where tattle tells were the norm and encouraged by management.  He could not understand how any work got done since everyone was so busy spying all day long.   He got pulled into teh office for asking someone how their day was.   Apparently the person felt that was "too personal" a question.

[MJ2.0]

at a leadership seminar, the speaker told us he tells tattle tales "is whatever X is doing going to be discussed in your annual review?  If not, let me worry about it."

[movingforward]

Oct 5, 2017 15:58:02 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

DH worked in a company where tattle tells were the norm and encouraged by management.  He could not understand how any work got done since everyone was so busy spying all day long.   He got pulled into teh office for asking someone how their day was.   Apparently the person felt that was "too personal" a question.

Oh, I worked at place like that from 2004 - 2010. Spying and tattling were encouraged. The tattle tells were rewarded with pats on the back and fake promotions. I say fake promotions because they would give someone a new title with no money and no additional responsibilities. I guess they just wanted everyone to have the perception that tattling gets rewarded. The biggest tattler in the bunch also talked about the CEO like a dog behind her back. The CEO loved this person to death because she would run to her with every small detail. Then the CEO retired and the new CEO had a completely different personality. She was put in her place very quickly and eventually got fired. It was magical - LOL! I heard through the grapevine that she actually attempted to sue the company but nothing ever came of it. She went to 3 attorneys and no one would take her case.

[TheOtherMe]

I worked for some wonderful managers over the years and also some horrible managers.

Looking back, I think it was hardest to work for the micro manager at a tax firm.  We had 15 minute stand up meetings at least twice a day so she could tell me and the other admin how far behind we are.  She would add the meeting to our Outlook calendar about 5 minutes before they were to happen.  We never got through to her that all she accomplished was wasting 30 minutes a day of our time when we could have actually been working.

[andi9899]

I had one that did that. She would schedule me to train someone right at 8am when I got there without telling me first. I would just open up my email and find out that way.

One time she scheduled a training meeting for her to train the team on a software she knew nothing about. She scheduled it during my lunch hour and when I asked her if it could be rescheduled, she refused. Fine. I made it a point to ask a bunch of questions she didn't know the answer to while chewing loudly. One of the other girls on my team and I were IMing the whole time counting how many "I don't know the answer to that, I'll have to get back to you" answers I could pull out of her. She's not the only one who knows how to play the passive aggressive game. She eventually got fired because so many people on her team quit. It took something like 20 employees to finally get her out of there. One girl even quit on her first day.

[TheOtherMe]

I was also unhappy at that job because the other admin didn't work.  She had fallen in love for the first time in her life (mid-30s) so at the beginning of tax season, she was on the phone all day to either her guy or telling her mother and her friends about him.  She lived with her mother.  She was also rude to co-workers and clients when she was talking to the guy or about the guy.

They got engaged and that made it worse.  You could see what was on her computer screen when you passed her desk.  She had online shopping sites up when I would walk past her desk.  The firm owner could see her screen from his desk.  She was Jehovah's Witness so when she was selecting a swimming suit for her honeymoon, it had to be very modest.  My problem wasn't that she was getting married, but that all the planning was happening during tax season and it meant most of the admin work fell on me.

I did talk to the boss one day when I was taking tax returns to him when he asked how we were getting along.  He said he could see her screen and knew she wasn't working and he would take care of it after April 15.  That didn't do me any good because I was seasonal and she was the full time person.

It got so stressful that on April 14, I had what I thought was a heart attack and ended up quitting over it.  Then I hear later that he fired her the day after tax season. 

[Sharon]

The man in the cube next to me has a steady stream of chitter chatter all day long, talking out loud to himself.  Oh you son of an onion, what, okay I see. aha I got it, laughter out loud, and on and one. I have pretty much learned to tune that out but what really drives me up the wall is the fact that he doesn't use a kleenix.  He just sniffs really loudly when he needs to blow his nose.

[zibazinski]

Oct 5, 2017 21:07:48 GMT -5 Sharon said:

The man in the cube next to me has a steady stream of chitter chatter all day long, talking out loud to himself.  Oh you son of an onion, what, okay I see. aha I got it, laughter out loud, and on and one. I have pretty much learned to tune that out but what really drives me up the wall is the fact that he doesn't use a kleenix.  He just sniffs really loudly when he needs to blow his nose.

Get him a box of Kleenex if you're sure he doesn't have allergies.

[dogmom]

I have a collection. 
The fashion police.
The food police.
Toxic personalities.
The guy who doesn't want to do his job, so he hands it off to someone else to do.
The woman in accounting that if a purchase order is off by pennies will hand it over to get my signature that it's okay to pay.
A few that will insist that you stop what you are doing so you can take care of their issues (because they are more important than anything you could be doing at that moment)

[swamp]

I work with one person.  She's kind, efficient, reliable, and intelligent.  I am so fortunately.


Some of the other attorneys i deal with though, oy.   A few narcissistic bloviating blowhards.     A few completely incompetent boobs.    1 super creepy dude.   Unfortunately lawyers talk just to hear themselves talk.       

[swasat]

Oct 6, 2017 11:27:11 GMT -5 swamp said:

I work with one person.  She's kind, efficient, reliable, and intelligent.  I am so fortunately.


Some of the other attorneys i deal with though, oy.   A few narcissistic bloviating blowhards.     A few completely incompetent boobs.    1 super creepy dude.   Unfortunately lawyers talk just to hear themselves talk.       

 I just LOL'ed so hard at this. 

The image of an "incompetent boob"