Friday, December 31, 2010

A New Leaf, Yeah Right!

Julie Z's desire to turn over a leaf and no longer be the Ebenezer Scrooge at the Longmont Center lasted all the way to today. After being out for surgery for two days the old Julie Z. is back with a vengeance. She is looking for all the things Amy and Julie M. failed to accomplish during her absence, nothing. Berating Amy for not completing work in the proper fashion. (Except the task, paper clipping certain papers together has never been a procedure at the Longmont Center.) As well as dressing down Amy in from of customers. At 2:15 a customer came in and Amy had her start on her paperwork. Amy then went to Julie and asked if she should take the customer since she was scheduled for lunch at 2:30. Julie did not seem to understand the reason for the question. After trying to explain and giving up, Amy went back to her window. Julie immediately came up and told Amy to go to prepare to go to lunch. Monutes later she ask Amy in a sarcastic tone, in from of the customer "What is taking you so long?". Amy was actually logging out at the time.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

A New Leaf

A couple days ago Julie Z. told Amy that she was going to turn over a new leaf; she had an epiphany. After watching A Christmas Carole she realized she was Ebenezer Scrooge. She has decided to be a nicer person.

We shall see...

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Advance America's Creed

I was browsing today and ran across Advance America's Creed. I wonder if I should forward this to Julie Z, especially the highlighted portion.

Respect Your Customers
- Treat them with dignity and courtesy at all times.
Respect Your Associates: 
- Treat them as you would like to be treated.
Respect Yourself
Work hard and use good, ethical judgment in everything you do.
Respect the Law
It is there to protect us and our Customers.

January Schedule

Amy got her January 2011 work schedule today, three days before the start of the month. This is the earliest she has gotten a work schedule since she started with Advance America.

Friday, December 24, 2010

In a Funk

Within the first two weeks of starting with Advanced America, Amy was tasked with closing the Longmont center by herself. Amy had the early lunch and came back for Julie Z. to take hers. Part way through her lunch, Julie called the center and told Amy that she was not coming back. She was "in a funk" and needed to take the rest of the day off.

(Exact date needed)

Monday, December 20, 2010

Work Hours

Amy started work at 9:00 this morning and did not get lunch until after 2:15. I wonder if she got a break...

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Over Time

Generally over time is not allowed by Advance America, at least that is Amy's understanding. On the other hand, Amy is scheduled for 41 hours the week of New Years. To me that would indicate she is authorized for an hour of over time. I wonder how this will play out...

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Christmas Bonus

Amy found out today that Julie Z. is one of five center managers getting a Christmas bonus. Is it fair to assume this is an award for the manner in which she treats her staff?

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Amy had an OK day at work. Julie Z. was not scheduled.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Julie Z. called in sick today. Amy had to work the day by herself.

Assisting Advance America on Twitter

UAdvanceAmerica: If you had $100 extra to give away, who or what would you give it to and why? www.uadvanceamerica.net/holidaysweeps -@UAdvanceAmerica


dMagy: @UAdvanceAmerica Your link appears to be wrong -@dMagy


UAdvanceAmerica:  @dmagy Thank you so much! It's www.advanceamerica.net/holidaysweeps -@UAdvanceAmerica

Friday, December 3, 2010

Amy worked from 8:00 to 4:00 without a break. She had lunch from 4:00 to 5:00 and punched out around 7:30.

Amy was asked by Julie Z to work with some customers that were coming in because she was best suited for the task. When they got there, Amy was told that Julie Z. had been quite rude to them. They asked who the manager was. When Amy pointed out Julie Z, they asked who her manager was. Amy directed them to the comment page on the web.

Julie Z. was actually the banker at the end of the day. Amy noticed she had too much money in her own drawer. She wanted to get rid of the extra because she knew it was company policy, but especially because Julie Z. had yelled (literally) at her previously for this infraction. This time however, Julie Z. did not have time to take the money since she was too busy and that Amy should just keep the money in her drawer. An hour later when she decided she did have the time, Julie Z. did not know the process to transfer the cash to the vault. When Amy explained that it was an easy process, Julie Z. took offense at Amy supposedly condescending attitude.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

December Schedule Part 2

Amy got her December schedule today.Two days after the month started. She is scheduled for more hours than she is allowed to work.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Written Up

Amy was written up today for my actions on Twitter.I really wonder if this is legal...
Here are some inaccuracies in the document:
1. My previous twitter activity about Advance America was during the week of May 16, not June.

2. My tweet in May did not make a disparaging remark about the Center Manager of 807. It was a statement of opinion that Advance America promotes a hostile work environment. At the time I did not reference Julie Z. at all.

3. Amy never assured Advance America that I would not tweet again. In fact, Alan requested through Amy that I remove my tweet, which I did. It was also conveyed that it would be understandable if the tweet was reposted if the situation was not rectified in the future.

Questions:
Is it legal for Amy to be written up for my actions? She was not aware of at least some of the tweets until Advance America brought them to her attention.

How can my actions be in violation of the Advance America policy? I am not in their employ.

Legal Threats
Though not part of the document, Amy was also verbally threatened with legal action against me if I did not stop my online activities in regards to Advance America.

Twitter Account Disabled
At 3:30PM Amy called me while on her lunch break and asked me to take down the Twitter account: AdAmLongmont. I did so immediately though I did save the account information and 3 tweets on my cell phone. 




Unsent Letter of Response

To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing in response to the counseling my wife received at work today. First, I assure you that I have deactivated the @AdamLongmont account I created on Twitter. Just so you know, Amy had nothing to do with the account’s creation or the posts I placed on it. At this time, I intend to not post anything else about your organization. On the other hand, if at some point in the future I feel the environment at Advance America is so hostile that it would be better if Amy was I fired, I may change my mind.
I would also like to point out some inaccuracies in your document. The week of May 16th I posted the following on Twitter: (Complete with the misspelling of environment)
“I believe Advance America promotes a hostile work enviroment, specifically at the Longmont location.” -@dMagy
I think you will have to agree that this is not a disparaging remark about the Longmont’s center supervisor. She is not mentioned in the tweet. If you do believe this to be about her, I must assume you also believe her to be directly responsible for said hostile work environment.
As for Amy stating that I would no longer post about your organization, that is also inaccurate. At the time, Amy conveyed to me a request from Alan to remove the above post, which I did. It was also conveyed to me an understanding that it would be reasonable if the tweet was reposted if the situation had not improved.
Finally, I very specifically did not use your logo mark. I created one that resembled yours but used a different font for the dollar sign and different star. I do not know if I differentiated enough if you decide to sue me.
Sincerely,
Daniel P. Magyar

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Tweet

"Saturday her boss "forgot" to do the End of Day. Amy had to do that before doing her Start of Day work on Monday morning." - @adamlongmont

Tweet

"It is November 30th and the December schedule is not yet posted." - @adamlongmont

Tweet

"I am using this account to document my wife's daily tales from Advance America - Longmont." - @adamlongmont

Monday, November 29, 2010

Account Creation

Being very frustrated I decide to document the awful treatment Amy is subject to at Advance America. I create the Twitter account AdamLongmont. I created a logo for the account that I intentionally make somewhat different than the company's.

My Logo

Official Logo

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Tweet

“I believe Advance America promotes a hostile work enviroment, specifically at the Longmont location.” -@dMagy

I do not have the exact date and time of this tweet, but my blog recorded it in This Weeks Tweets on May 16, 2010:

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Your Stories

Please use the Post a Comment space below and tell us us about your experience with Advance America.