Your were being silly or how I became the Minister of Silly Walks tonight

[Racket_Man]

this is a little long. it contains mostly (I feel SCism and a little MIM)

I am not sure what to make of this situation as, thankfully, nothing bad happened, but it had the real potential. the situation just gave me a real bad headache all night long. think of this what you will, but the ending just pissed me off.

my second delivery tonight. I roll up to the house and head up to the door. now the door on the porch is not facing the street but facing the driveway. no big deal here. I notice that the homeowner has nailed a dog cable/lead to the side of the porch about eye height. (YES I did say nailed this will be important later). the cable is laying on the platform at the top porch steps

I ring the doorbell and a 14 year old girl answers. I repeat the order and total and ask for a signiture on the CC slip. she briefly disappears to get Mom's scrawl on the CC slip. I then hand the girl the order and the customer copy of the CC slip.

As I turn to leave my foot/shoe somehow got tangled up in the dog cable, casuing it to loop around my ankle. as the momentium of my stride takes its effect, I almost fall down the steps. I try and shake the loop of cable off of my ankle again whilst doing a little hop causing me to almost fall down the steps to certain pain and blood and possible bone breakage as the cable tightens around my ankle. the cable tightened around my ankle so I could not even make the second step. I finally reach down and pull then shake the loop off of my leg and continue down the steps and back to my car and drive off, thankfully none the worse for wear.

about 90 minutes (why they waited 90 minutes I have NO idea) later my GM gets a call about a delivery driver "acting silly" and destroying a dog cable and a lamp post (where this one came from I have no idea either). customer "claims" that the driver was just trying to purposely set up a (her words) personal injury claim.. customer continues to go on and on about the driver acting silly. and about how the driver broke a lamp post the dog cable was attached to and how no one else who has delivered to the house has had trouble with this dog cable. lady is pissed off

GM looks up the order and finds that I delivered it. He comes to me for my side of the story. I explain what happened. GM then calls the DM for advice and customer gets a free pizza out of the deal. the DM also has the GM put in the notes section the following sentence: "Make sure the next driver does NOT act SILLY when delivering to this customer."

OK first of all the Dog cable thing. Is this just natural to my area to nail/attach a cable to your porch/banister to let your dog run the front yard. it seems common enough in my area that YES I do watch out and am careful of these snakey/twisted wires/clothlines/straps/etc. people for the most part just leave the cable lying where ever it falls creating a potential trip/fall hazard.

next nowhere on their property was there a lampost of any kind. why lie about this??? I know the cable was NAILED to the porch because the cable was a bright green and the nail was very noticeable at eye level.

second why is it me being "silly" when I am trying to avoid a potential accident involving falling several feet to the concrete trying to avoid pain, profuse bleeding, broken bones, head injuries, etc.

third I find the DM's little "humor message" VERY insulting. this is NOT a Monty Python sketch but a situation that had the potential to have very serious consequences.

[bendertiger]

Do you have a workplace health and safety department in your state?

I'd be reporting it, then let's see who is 'being silly'. I'd also ask for them to be blacklisted for deliveries.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Do you have a workplace health and safety department in your state?

Probably, but they can't force somebody to make their house safer for pizza delivery drivers. What they might be able to do, though, is sanction the DM for shrugging off a safety concern and treating it as a customer service issue instead.

I'd also ask for them to be blacklisted for deliveries.

Given the DM's response to the complaint, that's not going to happen anytime soon.

[Sleepwalker]

A person whose home is unsafe for a worker they contract to visit the home is liable. Like, say, a delivery driver.

[PepperElf]

very true.

legally the homeowner is responsible for injuries that occur on their property.
especially when the injuries result from something the homeowner set up


their claim that you were gunning for a personal injury lawsuit shows that they are fully aware that they are responsible


and since the DM's notice to you is in writing... that could work in your favor since you have physical proof that they were trying to blame you for the incident.

Sometimes putting stuff in writing is the wrong thing to do, because it creates a paperwork trail that demonstrates abuse from management.

[ohsobitter]

Any chance you could go back over and take a few photos to back you up?

[blas]

So these people know that their yard isn't safe and they are complaining for freebies about it?!

[bainsidhe]

As long as you aren't actually getting in trouble for this, I'd just try to brush it off and make it clear youwill never deliver to this house again.

Yes you're pissed off and this SC was gunning for freebies (which they won!), but look at it this way - they aren't worth it. No amount of picture taking, calling the police or notations will make any difference for an injury that did not happen. Other drivers should be alerted that these people are scammers and to watch their step, but there's really nothing beyond that you can do.

I don't blame you for being upset, especially since you could've been seriously injured. People suck.

[Racket_Man]

As long as you aren't actually getting in trouble for this, I'd just try to brush it off and make it clear youwill never deliver to this house again.

Yes you're pissed off and this SC was gunning for freebies (which they won!), but look at it this way - they aren't worth it. No amount of picture taking, calling the police or notations will make any difference for an injury that did not happen. Other drivers should be alerted that these people are scammers and to watch their step, but there's really nothing beyond that you can do. and no taking pictures cwould not do any good (well maybe I could refute her claim that I damaged a lampost)

I don't blame you for being upset, especially since you could've been seriously injured. People suck.

and this is the way I look at it. just another hazards of the job.

it just pisses me off that the SC had the kahonnies is "think/beleive intheir twisted mind" I was "acting out/being silly" trying for a "big payout" (would not mind that but the pain and suffering is not worth it) when all I was doing was trying to AVOID being injured.

most of the other drivers have been alerted, but then we, as a group, already deal with this kind of situation multipule times EVERY single shift. which is why I asked if this kind of thing (a dog cable/chain/lead attached to a banaster/house) is common in other areas besides mine.

I usually like my DM but his little "insult" has lowered my respect and trust for him by several notches

[Can I Help Your A$$?]

Now, I am not one to promote stereotyping (heaven forfend), but methinks these homeowners have a little experience with to "purposely setting up a personal injury claim.."

[persephone]

Now, I am not one to promote stereotyping (heaven forfend), but methinks these homeowners have a little experience with to "purposely setting up a personal injury claim.."

That was my thought exactly. If they were so quick to "recognize" "setting up a claim", it makes me wonder how many times they do just that.

I guess I'm cynical.

[Itsjustpizza]

I am so sorry this happened to you! As a fellow pizza slinger I am no longer surprised by any scheme to get free food. People know that even if they have never ordered from there before or are actively trying to get someone hurt,all they have to do is bitch and they will get a free pizza.
Your DM sounds a lot like mine, my DM sucks too.
BTW I love your signature, sometimes I say it to myself when dealing with the EW's and SC's !

[Racket_Man]

Now, I am not one to promote stereotyping (heaven forfend), but methinks these homeowners have a little experience with to "purposely setting up a personal injury claim.."

that thought did indeed cross my mind, but my massive headache that night blocked it out.

If i do deliver to this address, I am really tempted inside of my own twisted mind, to do the full John Cleese Silly Walk going up to the door. then ask where the arguement room is.

[Racket_Man]

a small update:

I talked with the DM before my shift with the intention of letting him know about my displeasure of the insutling remarks he supposedly had the GM put in the credit book. I reminded him about the incident.

he sort of got a "deer in the headlights" look when I told him about the remark in the book. he was clearly not prepared to deal with my claims of "insulting and degrading behavior"

Now I will preface this next part with a disclaimer: I still do not fully trust the DM or the GM. we know how they will throw an peon under the bus quicker than slick axle grease.

the DM claims he did NOT tell the GM put put such a statement in the record. he wondered why the GM would put such a statement in the computer where the customer could see it on the receipt. (as in we are NOT supposed to be using a book or paper files for customer credits we are supposed to be using the POS for that). I explained we use (almost exclusively) paper files for customer credits.

I then showed him the entry in black and white as proof and he expressed shock (or at least did a very good impression of it) at actually seeing the entry.

the upshot of this is that I was seriously contemplating going straight to the Corp office HR with this (after making copies of the paper file) and filing a formal complaint or a hostile work place. but our system is structured in that you have to first deal directly with the person who you are having a problem with or THEIR immediate supervisor so I choose to discuss this with the DM first.

[hinakiba777]

Wow, the DM knows nothing about something the GM claims he was told to mark. Shocking.

My family lives by the rule: "If you aren't getting the results you want at the bottom, just skip to the top." My grandfather faced many roadblocks by middle management types in his life. When they tried to deny his claims, he just went right up to the Provincial level.

But I don't know if you'd be able to do that with they way your store is structured.

I'm happy you didn't get injured on that delivery though. ^-^