Quoted: 2 weeks ago i ordered 118.64 worth of office supplies through our corporate buy on demand website. An order he approved when i placed it. delivered no problem. Today i get a call from my manager wanting justification for things like printer paper and pens? WTF?! these are supplies needed to refill my home office and account supplies. my last supply order was almost 3 years ago. After 20 min on the phone i have finally had enough. told him i'd be at his office in 20 min a damn money order to recompensate a multi billion dollar corporation for 118.64 worth of crap i need to handle THEIR businees needs. I needed him to contact HIS manager and have my reimbursment reciet ready when i got there. He gave up the argument at that point and told me not to worry about it as it was a business need. WTF?! If it was a problem why is it all of a sudden a business need when i push the issue to upper management. the level of corporate backstabbing and bullshit here some days are just astounding.

EdSr and Goatboy busting your balls eh?  

I'm some what familiar with the mentality myself. I did retail sales for several years. In fact I started as stockboy and ended my career as asst. manager. I got tired of the same old bs too. When they closed up our store, cut overhead as the company was up for sale, I stuck around for the severance package and swore I would never again work for a large retail company. Eventually I got a job in a mom and pop hardware/sporting goods (with guns)/gas station. Now that was a fun job. Until I realized it was seriously dead end. With no benefits. Now I work retail as a part time-when-I-feel-like-I-need-a-little-quick-EASY-$$$$.

I love retail sales. But can't put up with the BS from corprate offices and can't make any money from anybody less.

He was just filling his 'busy' quota for the week.

It's gotten to the point that I just go out and buy shit myself for work.  I need pens, and notepads and folders and I have to fill out the BS then wait two weeks for the cummulative corp. re-order quanities to get high enough to justify and order.  Fuck, I just need something to write with and a pad of paper.  So off I go after a 14 hour day to OfficeMax.

Quoted: I Be a serior large systems technician for a Major company and it seems like it gets worse every year. Funny thing is i could take my corporate AMEX and put 1500.00 worth on it and the bill would have been paid no questions asked. I try to save them money and follow THEIR procedure and slapped for it. Fuck it. they can just pay the higher rate for me to buy it outright from now on.

Did you ever get those TPS Reports I asked for a week ago?? MmmmmmKay!

You know where I use to work. BTDT

Oh yah...for instance:

A friend of mine here is spending 3+ months on a business trip about 8 hours driving time away from his home office. Work is putting him in a corporate apartment and giving him a rental car for that time period. Expense gas, food, etc.

He told them "Listen...just give me $3k for a car downpayment and I'll just buy one. No expensing gas, it'll be cheaper than getting a rental for that time, and everyone makes out ahead". Doing that would have saved the company probably 2x that in rental fees and gas.

They couldn't do it. Not because they didn't want to, but because the paperwork/procedures weren't geared with that scenario in mind...it'd probably cost more in time and paper to invent some kind of expense clause like that.

So, they now pay close to $2k/mo for rental and insurance, plus probably another $150/week in gas.

*shrug*

Welcome to Corporate America.  Folks gotta do that so they can justify their job as someone who's cost cutting.  Trying to save the company a buck.

Quoted: It's gotten to the point that I just go out and buy shit myself for work.  I need pens, and notepads and folders and I have to fill out the BS then wait two weeks for the cummulative corp. re-order quanities to get high enough to justify and order.  Fuck, I just need something to write with and a pad of paper.  So off I go after a 14 hour day to OfficeMax.

Just start using TP to write notes on.  Somebody will get the idea sooner or later.

Originally Posted By The_Beer_Slay actually they get a bigger tax break paying the rental fees. vs the headache of trying to depreciate a vehicle or paying to him as a bonus.

Possible...they're based in NYC, he's based in Chicago, and renting in our sattelite office in MN...

Dunno how taxes would work out for that, assuming interstate taxes get funky...

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I Be a serior large systems technician for a Major company and it seems like it gets worse every year. Funny thing is i could take my corporate AMEX and put 1500.00 worth on it and the bill would have been paid no questions asked. I try to save them money and follow THEIR procedure and slapped for it. Fuck it. they can just pay the higher rate for me to buy it outright from now on. Did you ever get those TPS Reports I asked for a week ago?? MmmmmmKay! i have a job that requires real work and accountability. we wipe our ass with TPS reports around here

Now thats more like it!That way the company doesnt have to buy you toilet paper!Way to be a team player Sport!  

Wise man say: It is far better to be the asshole than to report to one.

My turn, my turn.....

Our fax gets alot of use. Our fax machine went titsup about 6 weeks ago.  No prob, ordered new one via company approved materials web source catalog.  It arrived in 3 days...cool back in biz.  

Two weeks later the fax needed a new ink cartridge.  Go to company approved materials web source catalog & order refills.  I get an email from a clerk because my order got kicked out.  The particular cartidge I ordered was not on the approved list & I was not authorized to order it.  

When I replied to the clerk asking why the machine is on the approved list but not the ink?  She sent back a msg suggesting I order a different model of fax machine.

Had enough of the that BS for the last 2 years.

Quit and went out on my own 2 weeks ago and haven't looked back!

Several years ago, I traveled to NJ for training. Each day, I attended class and then went back to the hotel room to study the materials. I really needed to learn the application and processes. My T&E was denied two weeks later because I ate at the hotel too many times. WTF? They told me I should have gone out and partied with the team. I told them I wasn't interested in seeing the sights of North Jersey.  

I fought it for several months and finally got it approved when my boss left the company. Acutally, of the original 17 team members, I am the only one still working there.

Quoted: Quoted: My turn, my turn..... Our fax gets alot of use. Our fax machine went titsup about 6 weeks ago.  No prob, ordered new one via company approved materials web source catalog.  It arrived in 3 days...cool back in biz.   Two weeks later the fax needed a new ink cartridge.  Go to company approved materials web source catalog & order refills.  I get an email from a clerk because my order got kicked out.  The particular cartidge I ordered was not on the approved list & I was not authorized to order it.   When I replied to the clerk asking why the machine is on the approved list but not the ink?  She sent back a msg suggesting I order a different model of fax machine. i feel your pain. the same thing happened to us with a printer in the office.

Amazing!!!  

Quoted: Quoted: Wise man say: It is far better to be the asshole than to report to one. sad thing is my boss is really a pretty rational guy most of the time. Funny thing is we just had a "meeting" last week to "discuss" why tech moral was so low and job satisfaction was dismall. This EXACT kind of shit was brought up. Oh well at least i got some free dooughnuts and coffee.

At least they buy you food.  Our meetings have turned into BYOG.  Bring your own grub.  And they wonder the exact samething.  Get this, we now have a few field in our annual performance review asking what we have done to retain talent in the company.  hummm, we even cut the poland spring delivery... just tap.

My coworker and I went out to dinner in NYC after a couple of bitch days training computer illiterates on the in's and out's of an accounting system we created and ware placing in our offices.

Normally we always did "quick and cheap" eats when on the road but this one time we decided to get some good steaks and all the trimmings as a reward for not killing everyone in the room the past three days.

Came out to around 110 bucks total for the two of us (this was back in the mid 90's).  We split the check and each posted half on our expense reports.

A week or two later our supervisor calls me wondering what the 50+ buck dinner was all about.  I explained it to her and her response was "OK, just rewrite it and put all of it on yours, claim it as 'entertainment'."  

Another time the VP of North America ops tried his damnedest to get me to write up a whole case of modems as a single large item so we could write it up as a depreciable asset.  I wouldn't put my name on such an obvious dodge and finally called *MY* "guardian angel" (a corporate level director at home office) and got backup for my position.

I'd sooner shovel pig shit in a blizzard than *EVER* work for corporate America ever again.

Yesterday I had to review a company "Pro" (short for procedure, but the top of the pages has "Procedure Pro-XXX") that contains rules that you can get canned for breaking.  Nine pages of mostly filler that could easily be condensed to 1.5 pages, maybe less if the borders weren't so impressive.

The interesting part was the "Related Writings" (I guess as opposed to finger paintings or drummings) A through P with important, related information that ought to be in one document.  Plus a Policy Pol-XX.

The "Pro's" are out of hand - there are thousands, all of which hold the employee to some standard that might as well as be secret.  Just making the rules up as you go would truly be an improvement.