My Give-A-I TRIED TO BY-PASS THE CUSSING FILTER gear is broken-need advice

[Whitmore]

My gear is broken-need advice

Some of you may have read my post from 6 weeks ago titled "I am one pi. . ed off dude" when a a. . hole at work cleared the parking lot with a snow blower and spewed gravel over 5 or 6 vehicles, yes my baby was one of them, well my company is self insured and the big dog says no fix to any of them!!!!!!!!!!!! , The safety guy did an investigation and gave the info to the big dog, so he asks all of us to bring our vehicles to work so he can see, he looks at mine at 4:30 pm when its almost dark and says it dont look bad at all I have an estimate from a 5 star for $5100. oo to bring it back to new, I had 17,000 miles on it at the time



Now I have come to a fork in the road of my job, Do I sig this on insurance and have them go after the company,If so I think they would one way or another see to it that they got their money back in other words my job dissipation light would kick into high gear although I know this is the thing to do . but on the other hand I am making more cash now than ever and am on the verge of advancment . I dont like trouble and know this will rock the job big time,I have been very sleepless for the 6 week wait for this info .



I am almost to the point of getting all the vehicle owners together to see if there is some kind of a group deal we can do against this mess. but I know if I do this that in the end I will most likely lose . If I decide to become vocal I bet I will end up quitting on the spot after frustration . Also if I do nothing I dont think I will be able to ingage my give-a-. hit gear and will adventually pi. . myself right into the dirt. I am really between a rock and a hard place on this one and would appreciate the oppinions of all of you. Also I am afraid of myself and my control, I am a large man and have always been afraid to get into angry type deals because when I blow I am extremly afraid that I may do something that I will later regret, I have never been in a fight just because of that!!!I stayed home from work for the 2nd day in a row with my sick daughter and that is the only reason I still have a job now . The E-mail was forwarded to me at the house by my wife , Yes thats another deal she is the plant secretary???







thanks in advance... ... ... . Kevin

 

[NVR FNSH]

So, does " doesn't look too bad" the company/company insurance won't do anything about fixing your truck? Have you sat down and discussed the estimate with the boss? Has a body shop (not the dealers) looked at the truck? My guess is an independant shop will be much less money.



If the company expects you to do right by them, they need to do right by you.



Brian

 

[F Simkowski (In Memory)]

Whitmore

I don't disagree with your concerns and frustrations.

I have had to delete a few symbols from the expletives per the Site Guidelines Section 2 Conduct, para 2. 2.

Good luck with your truck damage.

Frank

 

[Whitmore]

Sorry Frank , I will try to control a bit better... ... ... Kevin

 

[Happy Camper]

Whitmore! I can appreciate the agony you are going thru and the control you are exercising to keep from killing someone, namely the numskull that cased the problem in the first place.

REMEMBER- THE BOSS MAN MAY NOT ALWAYS BE RIGHT BUT HE IS ALWAYS THE BOSS. Take a step back and see what you would loose but agressively pursuing this and on the balancing side see how much you will gain monatarily if you accept the decision and strive to be promoted and in turn draw more money to someday break even with the company on this. It is only a vehicle (and a darn nice one and costly). What I am trying to say there are a lot of jerks out there that will dent,ding,etc you truck and you may win only to have someone else screw it up and you have gained nothing in th long run. Stay employed. Looking for a job is the most difficult job of all. Good Luck.

 

[Briar Hopper]

Whitmore, it doesn't help, but I know how you feel. Been there, experienced that. It'll eat you up from inside if you let it.

Most companies and corporations, mine included, only care about the bottom line. The truck won't bring you income. The job will. And you got to do what's right for the wife, too. And this won't be the last group of fools you have an encounter with in your lifetime. Maybe you'll be lucky and be around to witness some of these people getting their just desserts. It usually DOES come home to such people without you having to lift a finger.

Life is like a crap sandwich. The more bread you have, the less crap you have to eat.

My most sincere sympathies for your predicament... .

 

[F Simkowski (In Memory)]

Yeah... I'd be frustrated too.

Anyway, I would think the producer of damage would be responsible for damages to multiple vehicles of employees parked on his property while in the function of their job.

In my state businesses must carry General Liability and Property Damage insurance coverage, either from an insurance carrier, or providing proof of finiancial responsibility("self insured").

The fact that there are multiple damages or claims from the incident should add weight and validity to the claims.

The fact that you are an employee may cause you to reflect on your actions regarding pressing the issue (along with your fellow claimants).

You shouldn't have too... You should have been "made whole" again by the producer of the damage. But... you work there.

Have you discussed this with your fellow damaged workers?

Good Luck

Frank

 

[The Sequel]

I think I'd be asking myself if I could continue to work for someone who would not take responsibility for things. What will happen later that you will expect to be willing to tolerate or overlook. Just an idea to think about.

 

[chuck3]

Kevin, sorry to hear about the outcome. I will have to agree with Happy and Briar, think long and hard before doing something you may allways regret, trucks can be replaced,sometimes good jobs cannot and its getting tough out there with the economy the way it is now. my 2 cts. Good Luck in which ever road you take. Chuck

 

[Whitmore]

The input has been great, let me answer a few of the questions,

The company is self insured and the boss is tight

I hav'nt met with the other Victoms since the ruling as of yet but will Monday, at this time I will be able to get a concensus of the group.

Yes I did show the boss the bid when he looked at the truck , he eyed the bid for 15 seconds and gave it back to me?



I must say that you guys have alot of influence on me and I am respecting the input from all, especially Briar and the crap sandwhich LOL , and yes I can pay for the damage in 3 weeks of pay so I am looking at my next 20 years and evaluating that as well. But my big concern is my outlook on the company now and how much respect will I have in return for them??? I will have to see on that one. It is obvious to me that they hav'nt much respect for our stuff.



I also know that my wife is having a ball with this job and I dont know if I could drag her away, it would hurt her alot but she did say that if I go she will go to , unless I could find equivlant job local??? than she could stay there.



Please keep coments comming ... ... ... Kevin

 

[Bob Wagner]

Kevin I can feel your pain

my gut ached for weeks after picking up the road paint on my ream outside of sheridan wyoming



But my insurance pain my $5500. 00 claim with my $100. 00 deductable



Your insurance won't cover it?



<b>Bummer if not </b>



I must say the aftermarket paint jobs is much better than the factory POS



Bob

 

[RJOL]

Whitmore... See if you boss will agree to have the truck looked at by a good independent body shop... If so, have them detail the problem areas (ie chips, dents, etc. ) in their estimate and the cost to repair. If the boss balks, simply turn it over to your insurance company, explaining how it happened, and let them go after the company for reimbursment. If the company terminates you for this, contact an attorney and file for "wrongful termination". .

 

[Pit Bull]

My experence comes from 27 years in business at several levels of management. You are faced with a Company that is not practicing principal centered leadership. This is now your major concern! You were "lucky" that this happened to your truck, this was an opportunity to see the light before you invested to much time in this organization, and gives you the opportunity to evaluate what direction you want to go. Your major concern is the welfare of your family. Make your decisions based on their welfare. You now have all of your eggs in one basket with both you and your wife working at this company. Based on the "Bosses" actions this will not be the last time these types of decisions will take place. Ask yourself some questions. Is this the first time management did something unprincipaled? Even if it did not affect you the previous times. Is this companies corporate culture in line with your own sense of right and wrong? Is this Boss the owner and will be someone you will alway have to deal with or is this a short term problem and when he goes away a new leader will come on board and their principals will then come into play? Whatever you decide to do make this decision with your head, not with emotion. Play to win and move from a position of power. example - If you are the only person that runs a critical function within the company you have leverage (power), because your actions impact the Boss more than his impact you. A suggestion, go buy the book "The art of War". It is a small book but a powerful book. Don't fool yourself, business is "WAR". You can read this book in a couple of hours and it will help you through this problem and future challenges. Also set down with your wife and talk about where you both want to be in 5 years, 10 years and put it down on paper. Review your progress every 6 months. Your Boss handed you a gift. Don't waste this opportunity. You might lose this battle, but don't lose the war. Change is hard but change is also growth. I took my own advise years ago and it enabled me to live a principal centered life and also retire at 48, never having to work again. You can too, but don't give in to your emotion or you will lose. I could of just told you what to do, but that is your job to figure out and you will be responsible for the outcome. I hope this helps

 

[rrl989]

Payback

My company has the same attitude regarding employee parking. On site parking is looked at as some kind of favor. I guess I would go through my insurance if it meant only a $500 deductable, thats why I have insurance. I can't believe your estimate. I doubt your insurance would honor it either.

If you do let your company slide, what about next time ? Have they done anything to prevent a re-occurrence, Did they re-assign the idiot a shovel, or will he be right back at it. If it happened to me, I go after the idiot and take action to make sure he remembers to respect other peoples property. What does his car / truck look like ???????????



RonL

 

[Tim1]

Big Toy, thats some dam# good advice! I had a similar experience when a clod was weedeating near my Harley and chipped my tank and fender. Boy, I almost lost it. It's real scarey what can happen when you let your emotions run your reactions. I didn't get the settelment that I thought was fair, however I kept my job and bit my lip. Family and future should be a guide, however I can relate to the feeling of (I want to strangle someone). Buddy, only time will heal. Good luck and take care of your health and get some sleep. Sorry I don't have any answers! Tim

 

[Whitmore]

Wow Big Toy,that is a very powerful statment and very much so in touch with reality, I need some time to absorb it for its worth, I am still in disbelief that a 13 billion dollar company cant stand beside their people, I really dont think the boss understands what a blow he has delivered to the moral of the owners of the damaged vehicles, this moral or lack of has a ripple effect that will spread like wild fire . Why is it that managment only looks at the bottom line , dont they understand that a motivated employee can increase production just thru attitude alone , maybe I am the one that is out of perspective here but I do know that when my moral is up I am fun and productive but when my moral is down than I just want a check so I can go home... ... ... ... ... . Kevin

 

[pnwradar]

If it were me, I'd have my insurance company take it from here. 'Course, I know I can get another job, making the same pay or better. And I also know that I'd hold a grudge against the company for the brief time I continued to work there.



-jon-

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by Whitmore

Wow Big Toy,that is a very powerful statment and very much so in touch with reality, I need some time to absorb it for its worth, I am still in disbelief that a 13 billion dollar company cant stand beside their people, I really dont think the boss understands what a blow he has delivered to the moral of the owners of the damaged vehicles, this moral or lack of has a ripple effect that will spread like wild fire . Why is it that managment only looks at the bottom line , dont they understand that a motivated employee can increase production just thru attitude alone , maybe I am the one that is out of perspective here but I do know that when my moral is up I am fun and productive but when my moral is down than I just want a check so I can go home... ... ... ... ... . Kevin

Kevin

Short story of what happen to me and some managers that worked for me. My group was responsible for over $55,000,000 in new revenue. We had targets with incentives that kicked in if we made the targets and bonus's if we exceeded them. Our compensation year ran Jan. - Dec. We were killing our numbers making big $$$. My Boss came to me in Nov. and increased our quota. The effect cost me $55,000 in bonus money and cost 7 of my managers between $25,000 and $85,000 in money they had coming to them. Nobody was happy, it was unfair and against the business code we worked under. I went over my Boss's head and complained. The result was they decided that this would never be allowed to happen again. But, we still lost all of the afore mentioned money. I told my managers that I would support any legal action they wanted to take. One of the managers got a lawyer and sued for his $85,000 plus damages. I gave a deposition supporting his claim against the company. The company settled for a undisclosed amount ( I'm sure it was over $85,000 ) and the Boss I had at that time was tranfered to a less responsible position. I guess I could of ended up getting fired over this but all I did was tell the truth. In the long run I made that money and more up in future years, because people tend to support the people that will go to bat for them. I could afford to make this type of decision because long ago my wife and I decided never to live beyond our means and alway be able to live on one of our salaries. Buy that book I recommended on "The Art of War".

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by Whitmore



I am still in disbelief that a 13 billion dollar company cant stand beside their people,

Kevin

Kevin

I worked for a Fortune 500 Company. It's not the "Company", it's the "person" you work for in these huge companies. What is his motivation. He might think that paying out all of this money, will be seen by his management team as a problem or that he screwed up. You really don't know what is going on in his head unless he tells you and then you don't know if that is really the truth. Why? Because he might feel that he would lose respect if he told you that he can't afford to look like a poor manager to his superiors. I don't know what his motivation is, you could ask for a private meeting and ask him why he does not feel it is the companies responsiblity to fix your truck? Just remember this is a battle and some battles are better lost so you can better position yourself to win the war. This really ends up being about winning. You need to find out what his "win" is. If you can help him win and get what you want you both win. But it is all done in business with the head. Not emotion. Leave emotion at the door. Good luck.

Denny

 

[Whitmore]

better news

Just thought I'd give you all a update , I had decided that enough was enough and I went in to see the boss, I told him that in my oppinion he had made a poor decision and for the welfere of 5 employees he should reconsider his ruling. I told him that it was very clear to me that my expectations and the companies core values apparently werent in line, also that the managment team must not have had any principal centered leadership in mind when they decided the issue. I mentioned that I was hired to operate millions of dollars of his equiptment and and if I practiced ownership and responsibility like they did than we are all in trouble. I pretty much told him what was on my mind and left before he could respond but 3 hours later he e-mailed all the victoms and told us to get 2 or 3 bids and come see him again that the company will fix them.

Thanks to all of you for your help and guidence in my problem... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Kevin