Return of the climate control gripe thread!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Well, it's really freaking HOT in Wisconsin. It got up to about 95 degrees today and I just checked the weather channel and it says it's now 85 degrees by me (this is at 9:30 at night, after the sun has gone down). And it is a humid heat.

Work is going to be unbearable tonight. My company, like many others, controls the HVAC at corporate and there's no way to override it. The a/c is shut off right at closing time and doesn't turn on again until an hour before the store opens.

This is another one of those cost-cutting moves that sounds absolutely great when you don't have to work in the stifling conditions it creates. I guarantee if the suits had to work in a 90-degree store with no air circulation, they'd make sure we were nice and comfortable at night.

Well, off to the sauna...I mean work.

[Cyanocobalamin]

My store had to deal with a malfunctioning AC for about 3 weeks a little while back. This was pretty stressful for everybody since we were going through the remodel AND the Seattle area was going through a warm spell (80s to low 90s when summers usually stay in the 70s).

It sucked. I wear a white baby tee under several of my work shirts otherwise I'd have a Lot of unwanted attention!! Being hot, sweaty, and not knowing where the new item locations were drove me batty. Sometimes it would be cooler outside than inside.

[Slave to the Phone]

I guarantee if the suits had to work in a 90-degree store with no air circulation, they'd make sure we were nice and comfortable at night.

No, they wouldn't. They would just make sure that their offices were comfortable.

Case in point: Our boss moved us into an un-AC'd building during hundred degree weather. We couldn't get AC until he had quotes from several companies and then he decieded he couldn't afford central air and I had to get quotes from people to install a window AC.

We roasted for 5 weeks.

On Thursday, boss called and told me to get someone out to their home the same day because one of their three AC units wasn't working. Doesn't matter that AC people are scheduled 2 weeks out, emergancy charges be dammed.

On Friday at about 4:00, one of the store managers called to tell me that their AC had gone out and it was 98 F in the customer area.

I called boss and he winged about the cost and wondered if the store could wait until Monday for AC. My days are numbered with him. I've got several interviews next week. I called the same company who did his AC and got them to come out that night.

[flybye023]

We have a similar problem. Our heat/ac is controlled by company HQ which is in the Deep South. They turn the heat on in late October, early November and turn it off in late February, early March. Wintertime in our store is miserable.

[wagegoth]

Check with your labor departments. Many states require that the temperature in a work area has to be maintained in a certain range, or, if it can't (a freezer area, etc.), there are time limits for working in it.

[Think Blue]

The people at my work are freaking crazy. It's hot in Los Angeles, especially in the valley. It's horrible to go to work in 97 degree weather, but it's even worse when you open the door and it feels just as hot. I swear I'm gonna die of heat stroke, and the suits make it even more unbearable.

[Brighid45]

At my workplace, our employer insists he can't air condition the main production room because it would be cost-prohibitive (we use a number of variable-speed exhaust fans and so on). The offices in front have a/c however, because the secretaries put up a huge fuss over how hot it was getting (and rightly so, the offices are complete ovens in the summer). So if you work production, the only way to cool off is to either go into one of the walk-ins or go to the breakroom.

Our employer's wife works on the payroll (it's a family business, so only family touches the money). She did not endear herself to the production staff the other day. She came into the breakroom with a sweater draped over her shoulders, complaining about how cold it was in the office and how she just couldn't get warm--totally oblivious to the dozen sweaty, dirty, heat-exhausted people glaring at her.

Of course in the winter we have the opposite problem--it's so cold you have to wear at least two layers, especially in the back areas of the plant.

[KuzcoLlama]

I work outside in the ninety-degree weather from 9-5. I realized that's not as high as others, but I don't get to run and hide from the sun. I'm just smart enough to wear sunscreen unlike the other yoohoos I sometimes work with.

[Crosshair]

I have salt stains on my shirt from pushing carts today. (about 100F and 70% humidity.) I smelled BAD. I took a shower as soon as I got home. I'm sitting in front of my puter in my undies enjoying the central air at my place right now. (Don't deny it, you've done it too.) It is 74F and 50% humidity at my place right now. It was 80F and almost 70% humidity in our store today. We should have a donation jar with the sign that says, "Donations to pay for electricity to turn on the AC in this hellhole."

[Mister Burns]

I'm an auto technician (although don't tell anyone else) and our shop the other day was 91 degrees and 64% humidity (we have an A/C gassing machine that ells us the humidity in the air). Unfortunately, the shop isn't air conditioned but of course the sales area (including the General manager's office), parts department and service manager's office are all air conditioned. Productivity drops off significantly when it's hot but because none of the higher ups see the heat, they tend to wonder why. Our service manager is a slave driver too. at 4:45pm of a saturday afternoon, he's still bringing in customers for oil changes.

[Slave to the Phone]

I'm an auto technician (although don't tell anyone else)

Your secret is safe with me My SO is a bodyman. But...don't tell anyone else!!

[stickycoins]

My store has A/C, but it might as well not have. It can't keep up with 8 coolers and 2 freezers running, 96 degree weather(104 heat index), and the door opening and closing constantly. Candy melts. It's miserable. Even the customers say they don't see how I stand working in there. This past winter, the boss FINALLY put in heat. Can you say CHEAP?????? This is the same guy that sells out of date eggs instead of throwing them out and buying more.

[notspearsdamnit]

I think one of the worst situations I had was when I worked in a retail store in July in 100, sometimes 100+, degree heat. My boss had a central air conditioner in the store but then she left the front doors wide open. Doesn't that... I don't know... defeat the purpose of having an air conditioner? She wouldn't close the front doors because she didn't think customers would grasp the concept that we were indeed open. I am so glad that I don't work there any more.

[Nick]

Well, it's really freaking HOT in Wisconsin. It got up to about 95 degrees today and I just checked the weather channel and it says it's now 85 degrees by me (this is at 9:30 at night, after the sun has gone down). And it is a humid heat.

Work is going to be unbearable tonight. My company, like many others, controls the HVAC at corporate and there's no way to override it. The a/c is shut off right at closing time and doesn't turn on again until an hour before the store opens.

This is another one of those cost-cutting moves that sounds absolutely great when you don't have to work in the stifling conditions it creates. I guarantee if the suits had to work in a 90-degree store with no air circulation, they'd make sure we were nice and comfortable at night.

Well, off to the sauna...I mean work.

I am in Wisconsin too...Waukesha County, and it just flipping horrible. 96 with a humidity level of ALOT is bad.
Had to get carts today, because they fired one of our stockman, and well, a cashier that HAS to wear Khaki Pants (ok, mine are not really Khaki pants like my dad wears, more like Levi Denim Brown pants) and 1 polo shirt with a white undershirt, damn right I took my lunch.