Idiot Manager

[blas]

I swear, some managers should just stay in the office and stick to what they are good at....providing the drool for sealing envelopes.

Really.

Kwik Trip around here has a "IC3" policy, which means if they see three or more people in line, they have to open another checkout.

Fine and dandy.

Until idiot manager decides he's going to help. And hasn't a single fracking clue where any barcodes are on items, doesn't know this brand of cigarette from that, flat out denies that there ARE any cigarettes on sale when there is a sign up saying that there are, and repeatedly keeps hitting some button that made it so my debit card would not read when I slid it (which was him jumping the gun and pressing the button before I even slid my card, therefore making me have to do it again and again. He was so bad about it that eventually I just told him that my card's magnetic strip must not work well, so would he run it at the register for me?). That really pissed me off because whenever I go for smokes or milk/eggs I always get $5 or $10 back, and with the manager running my card through his register, there was no cash back option.

Yeah, maybe you should have just let that stupid "policy" go and just stayed in the office and kept taking inventory on Glazer donuts. You really have no business cashing out customers. If anything, he made the lines even longer behind me.

I know, I know, stupid corporate policy, manager just wanting to help.....but wow, does it really irritate the customer at times.

[Rantsylvania 6-5000]

It irritates me that someone gets promoted to management without really knowing how to do the basic functions of the job. They're the ones the employees need to be able to rely on for help and training, for crying out loud!

[Sparky]

Blas lines up in checker's line.

Idiot manager opens new register. "I can help you over here!"

Blas: "No thanks."

[bhskittykatt]

Sounds like my manager. He can do the back office stuff, but he's clueless about the software we use at the front desk, so if he has to work a shift it takes him 5+ minutes just to check-in a guest since he has to figure everything out.

[mikoyan29]

Back when I was a cashier, our managers would help by bagging. I don't recall ever seeing a manager on a register but then that might have been a union thing.

[sevendaysky]

I worked briefly at Safeway. I didn't get official register training, since I was working behind the scenes at the deli. On my lunch breaks I would sometimes chat with the deli manager. She told me one day that managers are really not supposed to ring out anything at registers unless there are absolutely no cashiers available. The reasoning, she said, was to reduce the opportunity for fraud, since managers have a wider range of capabilities and could in theory cover their tracks if they stole from the register.

[blas]

Well, I shouldn't be too surprised. Most supervisors at my job don't know how to run any of the machinery or how to do specific tasks, they were only hired for their degree or they've been there for a long time because of their decision making skills. A lot of times it's the same for shift leads, which can really suck when the machinery requires higher authority to change specs or speeds or whatever on the machinery.

[KiaKat]

I am a manager because I have put myself in the role.

I taught myself how to do all the paperwork.

I instituted a new filing system, to make it simpler and less of a hassle.

I put in place new procedures that make the store run more smoothly.

I figured out promotions to get people into the store on slow days.

I upgraded the computer system.

I am here over 40 hours a week, doing everything from handling special orders to restocking to ringing out customers.

I mop the floors.

I train the new staff.

I answer their questions.

I got our daily till variance down to pennies off zero. Even on days I'm not working.

I reorganize the store to make it easier for customers to find product.

And I did all of this without ever being formally trained by the store owners, or the General Manager who hired me.

I have zero sympathy for any manager, supervisor, or lead who sits on their ass and doesn't know how to work the smallest job in their business. Come do my job on a Thursday and see if you survive. You won't.

[blas]

Kia, come work with me. Please.

[KiaKat]

Sorry, hon. Just got my dream job in my dream town. But if you wanna send your managers to me for some remedial training, I'll be happy to oblige. I can put the buggers to work.

[TonyDonuts]

My old regional manager oversees 80+ stores.

He spends most of his time in meetings.

It takes him about 20-30 seconds to orient himself (cigs are there and there, chew's over there, etc.), but he can run a register with no problems.

Store's busy and coffee needs to be made? There he goes.

Get the customers taken care of, then we'll talk about whatever he came here to talk about.

And most of the regional managers with my company can do the same thing.

But a c-store manager, who doesn't have layers of people between him/herself and the clerks, who can't run a register?

Pathetic.

[BrenDAnn]

O.o I'm sorry...My manager is a lot like Kia, knows everything there is to know, and works hard for her money. She would be HORRIFIED if I told her this story. How does one get into a management position without knowing how do something as basic as running a register? I don't...I mean...Wow. Maybe it's just my chain of stores that people start at the bottom and work their way up at? I don't even know. I'm sorry you had to deal with that, and I feel sorry for the clerks working under that pathetic excuse for a "manager"!

ETA: We generally have the same 3 or more ppl in a line= 2nd register opened policy, provided we have the help. Most days, 2nd register is open all day, and closed in the late afternoon. That said, my manager runs our second register all the time, with zero problems. Suddenly, I respect her even more than I ever did before!

[blas]

That's what tends to happen when people are hired based upon solely their degrees or are promoted simply because of their decision skills, and not their cross training or other skills.