Bike Shop
I used to work at a bike shop, in Dorset somewhere.....
Anyhoos I LOVED this job, boss was a bit of a twat but most are, so I tolerated it.
When it came to me buying stuff from there i only got a 20% discount, so I used to get hold of the reps and see what deals i could get for cash off them.
We used to get extra 'staff' in over the summer hols time to cope with the demand on trade, the 'staff' employed were generally little posh snots from the local community.
Because they were only doing the work for about 4 weeks, they were paid in cash at a lower rate than myself, I being there for 5 years expected nothing less.
I then realised (because I paid the twunts) that their take home a week was MORE than mine due to me getting tax and NI reductions, which was the first thing that miffed me off.
I then found out that they were getting the same discount as me, and if they paid cash (i used to use my card) they got a 25% discount.

Edit start:

I was given a severe bollocking in front of MY staff and customers for theft of a tenner, half an hour later he realised that he had fucked up cashing up the previous day, I got NO apology, NOTHING.

I was only supposed to work 9am-5pm, but because i enjoyed my job he took advantage of me, and I let him somehow. I was averaging 8am-7pm with no extra pay. I was on a 'variable' shift, which meant that on a monday I'd find out when my 2 days off were supposed to be but then they'd be changed by wednesday.
Not bloody good when you want to take kids to the beach or something.
I also spent nearly the entire easter holidays (2 weeks) one time without seeing my kids awake due to how much i was working.
Unfortunately I'd be ready to leave work most days at 5.30 ish, and he'd go and organise some stupid bloody thing, that'll take to 8, then fuck off leaving me to sort it out.
I did not have ONE day on ANY weekend off in 4 years, unless it was christmas day.

Because i also didn't have a licence i used to cycle to work, 7 miles, half of which was uphill across new forest heathland, and when a wind hits you, you stop dead, it used to take me about 30 mins to cycle there and on the days he knew i was gonna get there just before 8, he'd phone me as i was walking in the door and say he's changed my work day so i wasn't needed.
I was only supposed to be there basically to fix punctures all day, but i ended up doing everything he was supposed to do, and then receiving the bollocking if an order wasn't put in, and I wasn't even aware of such an order.
I got given the joyous job of organising the staff rota, thinking i'd be able to sort out my days off was probably a bit naive of me because 2 days after the rotas were sorted, he'd come in and change them and i wouldn't notice and then when someone wasn't in on their new work day, i'd get shafted for it.

I used to enjoy my work, and because of that i did allow myself to be talked into doing other odds and sods, but to get things organised for others and then dumped on me?? fuck that, I put up with it for just shy of 5 years.

I also booked a weeks holiday about 8 months in advance, when the date got closer he kept trying to change it, like fuck was I having that, it would've been the first time i spent more than 1 day in a row with my kids and missus. Upon my return I was greeted with a nice printed envelope 'F.A.O. M.Reject', I opened it, and it was my 3rd and final warning, I had never had ANY others before, plus a full blown disciplinary. The outcome of the disciplinary was to give me a bollocking for not moving the takings on a daily basis into the bank across the road, during my HOLIDAY!!
I was on holiday FFS, HE was supposed to be covering for ME when I was away, was i too stupid to think that my boss/the owner of the shop needed training to secure the takings?
The average 'part-time' staff only stuck it for 4 weeks at the most.
His youngest son started working for him when he left school, only to decide to carry on to higher education about 2 weeks later. His eldest done about 5 days, then just turned round and told his dad he's had enough and he's fucking off.
He actually moved out of his dad's house that day before his dad got home, and hasn't spoken to him since, I think that explains a lot, don't you?
It's one thing to be 'stern' with a small business, but completely different when nearly all his staff would've rather been interrogated by the gestapo

:edit end


That was it for me, there was actually smaller shitty things as well, but this was the end of the line for me already. but this was what made me crack.

I phoned up my boss one day when he was at some convention or some shit in Fleet, which is about 70 miles from the shop.
I asked him 'How much notice does someone need if they want to quit?'. He obviously thinking about one of our part time lads reponds with, 'If they want to quit, then that's it, they've quit.'
I then told him 'That's fine then, there's no-one here to run the shop, I quit.'
So at about 1pm, on what was turning out to be a busy day, I walked out across the road bought a pint at the pub and sat in the beer garden for over an hour watching customers walking into the shop coming then coming out looking bewildered for a bit then buggering off. I left 25-30 grands worth of bike equipment and bikes there for the taking.
He had difficulty finding anyone to do my job after that, getting paid from 9am-5pm but working 8am-7pm, would you do it??

There is a chance i 'may' have taken some stuff myself. he deserved it though.
(Mensa Reject has gone out, I'll be back on, Fri 23 May 2008, 1:51, 2 replies)

I'm not sure he deserved anything
the way the taxation system works is hardly his fault. You were being paid more than them from his point of view because he has to pay your Tax and NI. The extra discount for the temp staff is hardly worth getting stroppy about. And if you don't like your job, quit, absolutely, but leaving the shop unlocked is a shit thing to do. and stuff that you "may" have taken is still theft. If there was stuff missing, you were fucking lucky that he didn't call the police and have you charged. If you had the keys you were responsible for security, quitting or not.

Most small businesses run on a knife edge day-to-day. I've been involved in a couple of bike shops that have gone under, mainly because small shops can't compete in price with bigger chains. Sorry, but unless there is something you aren't saying, this story just marks you out to me as not a very nice person
(loutre I've said too much, been too unkind, Fri 23 May 2008, 9:45, closed)

Not to mention...
...that Tax and NI aren't applied to under sixteens.

Perhaps if you'd gone into a bit more detail about the "other shitty" things then we'd understand your motivation to drop tools and feck off to the pub?
(Bicycle Repairman "you're also a bit of a wanker", Fri 23 May 2008, 10:13, closed)