Weird stringer

[Lakers4Life]

If clients are starting to ask for you to string thier rackets, then let him (other stringer) dig his own grave. Eventaully his lazyness will catch up with him, and unsatisfied clients will talk to the management.

[zapvor]

"If it's simply a risk/pain in the butt for him to work with gut due to the delicate nature, he might just prefer to let you deal with the liability, especially if you're on the hook for a ruined set"

this especially jumped out at me. let me go to your boss DD and tell him to let you deal with all the tough parts of your job, so when you screw up its on you. not me. perfect for me! bad for you!

[zapvor]

you just strung at a tournment yourself. lets say i was the other stringer working with you. what would you think if i said "Hey DD so every gut job that comes in, i am going to leave to you. so if it snaps, its your liability, not mine. got it?" then i leave you with them, even if the gut jobs are in que to be done first, and i go do whichever rackets i want to do.

[zapvor]

Originally Posted by Lakers4Life

If clients are starting to ask for you to string thier rackets, then let him (other stringer) dig his own grave. Eventaully his lazyness will catch up with him, and unsatisfied clients will talk to the management.

yea. this is fine. i dont care about him now. my question is how can i get management to help me out, so i can thus help out the members. if i had an extra $500 lying around id just go buy all teh tools/materials myself, but i am poor

[Lakers4Life]

Originally Posted by zapvor

yea. this is fine. i dont care about him now. my question is how can i get management to help me out, so i can thus help out the members. if i had an extra $500 lying around id just go buy all teh tools/materials myself, but i am poor

I assume you already went to management about "him" take the tools with him. Are they his tools or the shop's? They should reimburse you for the proper tools you need to do your job. Though you should have tools your own so you can take them with you. Tools will get lost or misplaced on a shared machine.

At the most you spend $100 for materials and tools. $40 of that will go towards a starting clamp. $10 for a set of plyers and cutters. $10 for an Awl. Another $10-20 for tubing.

[zapvor]

Originally Posted by Lakers4Life

I assume you already went to management about "him" take the tools with him. Are they his tools or the shop's? They should reimburse you for the proper tools you need to do your job. Though you should have tools your own so you can take them with you. Tools will get lost or misplaced on a shared machine.

At the most you spend $100 for materials and tools. $40 of that will go towards a starting clamp. $10 for a set of plyers and cutters. $10 for an Awl. Another $10-20 for tubing.

yea my first day i was confused. they are his tools. so thats fine. it just kind of shows how the place works becayse they had no idea. they did spend money to buy me new tools. the only thing was they gave the money to the stringer to buy, and he got these huge massive ones. so i ended up giving them to maintenance, since its company money afterall.

i bought my own tools finally. i do need a awl and clamp still. sigh. yea my pliers were $10

[Lakers4Life]

Originally Posted by zapvor

yea my first day i was confused. they are his tools. so thats fine. it just kind of shows how the place works becayse they had no idea. they did spend money to buy me new tools. the only thing was they gave the money to the stringer to buy, and he got these huge massive ones. so i ended up giving them to maintenance, since its company money afterall.

i bought my own tools finally. i do need a awl and clamp still. sigh. yea my pliers were $10

What an A-Hole. I would have complained, "I can't use these tools!" and he should know what tools to use because he has his own set. You are better off using your own tools and leave the big tools for him to use when he forgets to bring his.

[diredesire]

Originally Posted by zapvor

its tough to talk to him. every conversation with him is him telling me what to do, when to do it, and whenever i even suggest something, etc he immediately shoots me down. he acts like his is the final say. if you like maybe i can post some texts he sent me. too bad i cant post phone conversations. i dont think you quite get the whole picture of how this guy works. i have tried listening to him, agreeing to what hes said even though it doesnt make sense. and he just keeps going on his highway. no stop signs or anything. i should give you his number.

as for getting him on board. i dont know how to go about doing this. he tells me we need to sit down and talk, then avoids me. wtf??? and when i do talk to him he refuses to listen at all, and just basically says "no we are doing it my way. thats it. done". literraly. thats what he says.

so yea back to my question. how do i approach mangaement to implement policy/ services to benefit members. i dont think he wants any part of that. his words and actions show as much. think about it. if he really cared, i wouldnt be making this thread.

i know i am not always right. this was all because i wanted to help out the members. the fact that i am unable to do something so simple as buying some tubing i think reveals his character.

It's obvious I don't have the entire story, which is why I'm pointing out the other side of the coin. I said from the very beginning that I'm taking a devil's advocate role -- chill out, man. We're on the same side, here. If he is 100% unwilling to listen, and your life is only going to get harder, the only option is to go over his head to management. However, I STILL recommend taking the high road unless there is no other option. It sounds like this is the case, but I won't make that judgment call for you. If you do go over his head, you have to be willing to lose your job and/or quit, because if he is not let go, AND/OR you are not let go, your life is going to get much, much worse. I already detailed how to approach management, so I'm not going to spoon feed that one to you. Take the post above and run with it, come back with a proposal draft, and we'll ruthlessly pick it apart so you're prepared for when you do approach management. It's just tough love for a stringing bro

Originally Posted by zapvor

are you serious??? i understand the intern thing, but this is not an internship, and as far as management have made it clear we are on the same level. i am not lower than him. i dont like you pointing out his actions being ok because hes been there longer. so i guess those GM guys that went bankrupt was ok because they been doing the same thing for 100yrs. seniority is a huge obstacle to progress if you ask me. i am all about real contributions, not seniority. i thought you would be on the same side on this. interesting.....

and beside that, it makes no sense. say a customer needed a gut job same day. by your logic hes going to tell them "oh me and zapvor discussed it and hes the only person that strings gut, so come back tomorrow"

is this what you want to hear at the doctor/dentist/auto shop/ tennis warehouse??? "oh i am not in this dept, not my problem. come back when josh is back from vacation he can help you"

edit-ok my post sounds very harsh. i dont mean it to sound that way. up to now you have been really helpful so your post here kind of threw me off with the logic

I'm very serious. If this is the hardest issue you've had to deal with in your work experience, you've got it easy, buddy. The fact still stands that even from a "pay grade" and/or work hierarchy, you may be at the same level, but he's obviously not seeing eye to eye with you. If you got an "org chart" (family tree of who is the boss of whom) and you saw that you were on the same level as him on the chart -- is your situation resolved? I think the answer is obviously no. Don't get melodramatic and relate my advice to GM -- I'm telling you that in real life, it's not unusual for a young guy or the new guy to get the shaft, that's all. IF it WAS determined that you're the only guy that strings gut, he is within his rights if it is a store policy to reject a customer and/or tell them they have to wait. He's a bit of a d-bag for doing so, but he has that leisure if that WAS a store policy. I didn't say it makes sense. I didn't say it was right, but policy works both ways. This is why you need to implement policies that make sense. Don't take my posts out of context. And yes, in the real world, you very VERY often get rejected because it is not someone's job to do what you're asking. If you went to an auto shop and you talked to the parts department, would you get mad if the guy at the counter wasn't willing to work on your transmission? I think you have to review your own logic there before criticizing mine

Originally Posted by zapvor

bottom line-he only cares about him, not the members. i am trying to help the members. how do i get management to help me accomplish this. thats all.

Go through the exercise I outlined above. That's the real start. I would post drafts here and have them torn to shreds until it's right -- then go for it. If you're serious about fixing things, know that it's not a week long project, this may take years to get right. You have to be willing to flip the shop on its head and deal with the risks involved. This is as much a business decision as a quality decision, and I urge you to exercise caution.

Originally Posted by Lakers4Life

If clients are starting to ask for you to string thier rackets, then let him (other stringer) dig his own grave. Eventaully his lazyness will catch up with him, and unsatisfied clients will talk to the management.

Yes, this is 100% true -- but this does not resolve the dynamics within the shop. If the other guy gets fired, zap has free reign. Zap can let his work speak for himself (stringer's perspective), but again, there is liability (albeit small).

[diredesire]

Originally Posted by zapvor

"If it's simply a risk/pain in the butt for him to work with gut due to the delicate nature, he might just prefer to let you deal with the liability, especially if you're on the hook for a ruined set"

this especially jumped out at me. let me go to your boss DD and tell him to let you deal with all the tough parts of your job, so when you screw up its on you. not me. perfect for me! bad for you!

Edit: I am trying to explain some reasoning here, I didn't say it was right. If you must know, though:

If that's what it takes to keep my job, I'm willing to do the work that no one else wants to do. At least until I can prove that I can handle the responsibilities of someone at a higher pay grade than me (read as: I'll take the long hours and tedious work that I feel may be below my 'intelligence level' or 'pay grade' or 'education.' I don't have a sense of entitlement simply because I got hired. I'll bust my butt if that's what's needed of me. There's a breaking point, though, and I'm not afraid to move on and/or market myself). In any event, gut is some of the easier stuff you're going to string anyways. I'll be happy to take all your gut jobs, you can take my dense polys, deal?

I'd put a calendar reminder 5-10 years down the road to come back and read this thread, you'll probably grin at your own posts I'm not even trying to be condescending. Truly, people have to deal with some crappy situations in life, and while I truly feel for you and would like as much as possible to help you fix your situation, you're actually in a good spot to grow from this experience. I am confident when all this is said and done with, you'll appreciate what you had to go through. Again, I'd cool it on the melodramatics and understand that I'm trying to give you the bigger picture view than just what a stringer has to deal with. Like I said, from a straight-up stringer's standpoint... this is an open and shut case of 'who is right'.

Originally Posted by zapvor

you just strung at a tournment yourself. lets say i was the other stringer working with you. what would you think if i said "Hey DD so every gut job that comes in, i am going to leave to you. so if it snaps, its your liability, not mine. got it?" then i leave you with them, even if the gut jobs are in que to be done first, and i go do whichever rackets i want to do.

I'd say "That's fine, you can take the 18x20 tour bites. We already have terms in place, because I set them up front." Every order form that gets rubber banded to a handle has the provision that we guarantee labor, but no customer strings. There's no way of knowing what conditions a set came in, so if it breaks on the machine, that's your problem, not mine. This is pretty common, I'd even venture to say standard. I've got a policy to fall back on, so feel free to find cracks in my castle walls, I encourage it .

Originally Posted by zapvor

yea. this is fine. i dont care about him now. my question is how can i get management to help me out, so i can thus help out the members. if i had an extra $500 lying around id just go buy all teh tools/materials myself, but i am poor

Yep, you can, go through the business proposal 101 post. By this point it's very clear (from what you tell us, at least) that the other stringer is unwilling to work with you. If YOU feel it's the last resort, go over his head. Just prepare for some retaliation and/or finger pointing. If you have a bulletproof case, you have nothing to worry about. If you find yourself in a "his word vs. mine" situation, you didn't prepare correctly. This is a politics discussion as much as it is quality, and that sucks.

Originally Posted by zapvor

yea my first day i was confused. they are his tools. so thats fine. it just kind of shows how the place works becayse they had no idea. they did spend money to buy me new tools. the only thing was they gave the money to the stringer to buy, and he got these huge massive ones. so i ended up giving them to maintenance, since its company money afterall.

i bought my own tools finally. i do need a awl and clamp still. sigh. yea my pliers were $10

It was actually a mistake to give the tools away, but I'm not going to belabor the little things. I'm just going to give the benefit of the doubt in this situation, and say that you probably handled this as well as you could, GIVEN the fact that he's an a-hole. Proper procedure would be: "Can I get the receipt for these tools? I actually was hoping for something closer to yours. I can go pick them up, don't go out of your way just for my sake." Again, this is a 'little thing,' and it's only easy to say this stuff after the fact.

[Lakers4Life]

I would ask management what exactly is the "Store Policy" in this case Shop Policy? Then you are clear on what you can or can't do.

I work with Gov/City employees, that don't do anything above and beyond thier job description. Even simple tasks, are left to those who do have in thier job description.

All I can say is work hard at your job. Show that you are capable and take pride in your work. Even though the other stringer sees you as a subordinate, see him as your equal for now.

[mad dog1]

Originally Posted by zapvor

yea. this is fine. i dont care about him now. my question is how can i get management to help me out, so i can thus help out the members. if i had an extra $500 lying around id just go buy all teh tools/materials myself, but i am poor

maybe you ought to consider another profession since stringing is not a high paying occupation. heck, i string because i like to string my racquets my own way. there's no way i'd do it as a profession because it wouldn't pay for my bills.

all this trouble you're going through for what??? if i were you, i'd focus my efforts and gain some skills in a field or profession that will pay you more money.

[fortun8son]

Originally Posted by zapvor

wait. you work at SA???

Yep
I also string out of my home.
So, when any one says. "All SA stringjobs Suk!", there is at least one of us who can prove that statement wrong.

[zapvor]

Originally Posted by fortun8son

Yep
I also string out of my home.
So, when any one says. "All SA stringjobs Suk!", there is at least one of us who can prove that statement wrong.

i stand corrected! i always tell me people not to go there, but you are the exception! good for you man. too bad your colleagues give you bad rep

[zapvor]

Originally Posted by mad dog1

maybe you ought to consider another profession since stringing is not a high paying occupation. heck, i string because i like to string my racquets my own way. there's no way i'd do it as a profession because it wouldn't pay for my bills.

all this trouble you're going through for what??? if i were you, i'd focus my efforts and gain some skills in a field or profession that will pay you more money.

hahhaha yea you are right. so....wanna give me a job? noones even bothering emailing rejection letters anymore. maybe you can help me out

[zapvor]

Originally Posted by Lakers4Life

I would ask management what exactly is the "Store Policy" in this case Shop Policy? Then you are clear on what you can or can't do.

I work with Gov/City employees, that don't do anything above and beyond thier job description. Even simple tasks, are left to those who do have in thier job description.

All I can say is work hard at your job. Show that you are capable and take pride in your work. Even though the other stringer sees you as a subordinate, see him as your equal for now.

i dont think theres a policy in place now, thats the problem. we basically just tell them we cant build up grips, cant do tubing, cant do this, cant do that.

yea i am happy working here and i try to do the best i can. hence why i made this thread. if i didnt care i wouldnt have bothered asking here.

[zapvor]

Originally Posted by Lakers4Life

What an A-Hole. I would have complained, "I can't use these tools!" and he should know what tools to use because he has his own set. You are better off using your own tools and leave the big tools for him to use when he forgets to bring his.

thank you! i feel like thats what he is. what a shame

[zapvor]

bold is my reply. thanks DD i also bolded your post i am replying to

Originally Posted by diredesire

It's obvious I don't have the entire story, which is why I'm pointing out the other side of the coin. I said from the very beginning that I'm taking a devil's advocate role -- chill out, man. We're on the same side, here. If he is 100% unwilling to listen, and your life is only going to get harder, the only option is to go over his head to management. However, I STILL recommend taking the high road unless there is no other option. It sounds like this is the case, but I won't make that judgment call for you. If you do go over his head, you have to be willing to lose your job and/or quit, because if he is not let go, AND/OR you are not let go, your life is going to get much, much worse. I already detailed how to approach management, so I'm not going to spoon feed that one to you. Take the post above and run with it, come back with a proposal draft, and we'll ruthlessly pick it apart so you're prepared for when you do approach management. It's just tough love for a stringing bro

yea. thus my original question. i rather work with him but hes making it pretty difficult, and i dont wanna deal with it

I'm very serious. If this is the hardest issue you've had to deal with in your work experience, you've got it easy, buddy. The fact still stands that even from a "pay grade" and/or work hierarchy, you may be at the same level, but he's obviously not seeing eye to eye with you. If you got an "org chart" (family tree of who is the boss of whom) and you saw that you were on the same level as him on the chart -- is your situation resolved? I think the answer is obviously no. Don't get melodramatic and relate my advice to GM -- I'm telling you that in real life, it's not unusual for a young guy or the new guy to get the shaft, that's all. IF it WAS determined that you're the only guy that strings gut, he is within his rights if it is a store policy to reject a customer and/or tell them they have to wait. He's a bit of a d-bag for doing so, but he has that leisure if that WAS a store policy. I didn't say it makes sense. I didn't say it was right, but policy works both ways. This is why you need to implement policies that make sense. Don't take my posts out of context. And yes, in the real world, you very VERY often get rejected because it is not someone's job to do what you're asking. If you went to an auto shop and you talked to the parts department, would you get mad if the guy at the counter wasn't willing to work on your transmission? I think you have to review your own logic there before criticizing mine

again, i dont care being the 'intern'+'young guy' getting the shaft. i just want to be able to do a good job, and i need a way to do so. hence the thread.

at the interview my boss explicitly stated "all string jobs we want a 24hr turn around, no matter what." and he sitting next to boss said "yea man i get all of it done you just take care of the overflow" then behind boss's back he does this to me. so no, it is definitely NOT policy for him or anyone to leave gut jobs for me to do. whatever rackets needs to be done, needs to be done. so really he's breaking policy. even though he said in boss's face he would take care of it. are you understanding who i am dealing with here??? i know you are playing the other side of the coin....but i think there is a line somewhere.

and i am not saying you are wrong. i was asking 'is that what you want to hear when you go to the auto shop/retail place/tennis warehouse?"my point is if i can do a good job, why shouldn't i? even if policy/job description says otherwise. dont tell me you disagree with this. because i mean you are essentially ok with mediocre service then....


Go through the exercise I outlined above. That's the real start. I would post drafts here and have them torn to shreds until it's right -- then go for it. If you're serious about fixing things, know that it's not a week long project, this may take years to get right. You have to be willing to flip the shop on its head and deal with the risks involved. This is as much a business decision as a quality decision, and I urge you to exercise caution.


yes i have to go back and draft up a proposal.

Yes, this is 100% true -- but this does not resolve the dynamics within the shop. If the other guy gets fired, zap has free reign. Zap can let his work speak for himself (stringer's perspective), but again, there is liability (albeit small).

exactly! you finally acknowledge the issue. its the other guy thats causing this thread in the first place. but i dont care about him. i just want to be able to do my job better.

[zapvor]

Originally Posted by diredesire

Edit: I am trying to explain some reasoning here, I didn't say it was right. If you must know, though:

If that's what it takes to keep my job, I'm willing to do the work that no one else wants to do. At least until I can prove that I can handle the responsibilities of someone at a higher pay grade than me (read as: I'll take the long hours and tedious work that I feel may be below my 'intelligence level' or 'pay grade' or 'education.' I don't have a sense of entitlement simply because I got hired. I'll bust my butt if that's what's needed of me. There's a breaking point, though, and I'm not afraid to move on and/or market myself). In any event, gut is some of the easier stuff you're going to string anyways. I'll be happy to take all your gut jobs, you can take my dense polys, deal?

i agree. i wasnt asking how i can get him to do teh gut jobs. i was asking how i can do my job better. did i try to pass the gut jobs back to him? no. i did every one of them myself, on time by the way. you are missing my point. its not a matter of how hard/easy a job is. its the fact hes picking and choosing what he wants to do, ignoring his job description and company policy. why dont i come work at your company, but i will do whatever i want, and you cant. you would LOVE that right?

I'd put a calendar reminder 5-10 years down the road to come back and read this thread, you'll probably grin at your own posts I'm not even trying to be condescending. Truly, people have to deal with some crappy situations in life, and while I truly feel for you and would like as much as possible to help you fix your situation, you're actually in a good spot to grow from this experience. I am confident when all this is said and done with, you'll appreciate what you had to go through. Again, I'd cool it on the melodramatics and understand that I'm trying to give you the bigger picture view than just what a stringer has to deal with. Like I said, from a straight-up stringer's standpoint... this is an open and shut case of 'who is right'.

oh no doubt. i am sure this is something i can learn from. i am learning from this thread already. i am not being dramatic here. i am giving exmaples to illustrate whats going on. in fact i have been telling factual stories thus far.

I'd say "That's fine, you can take the 18x20 tour bites. We already have terms in place, because I set them up front." Every order form that gets rubber banded to a handle has the provision that we guarantee labor, but no customer strings. There's no way of knowing what conditions a set came in, so if it breaks on the machine, that's your problem, not mine. This is pretty common, I'd even venture to say standard. I've got a policy to fall back on, so feel free to find cracks in my castle walls, I encourage it .

thats the thing. he will reply 'no you take the 18x20 tour bites too. because i said so" thats how he works. you have a good setup at the tourney. i dont. hence my thread.

Yep, you can, go through the business proposal 101 post. By this point it's very clear (from what you tell us, at least) that the other stringer is unwilling to work with you. If YOU feel it's the last resort, go over his head. Just prepare for some retaliation and/or finger pointing. If you have a bulletproof case, you have nothing to worry about. If you find yourself in a "his word vs. mine" situation, you didn't prepare correctly. This is a politics discussion as much as it is quality, and that sucks.

hes already gone to mangement and complained about me. i know this because my boss told me. i dont care about him. i need to do the proposal. yea stupid politicis indeed

It was actually a mistake to give the tools away, but I'm not going to belabor the little things. I'm just going to give the benefit of the doubt in this situation, and say that you probably handled this as well as you could, GIVEN the fact that he's an a-hole. Proper procedure would be: "Can I get the receipt for these tools? I actually was hoping for something closer to yours. I can go pick them up, don't go out of your way just for my sake." Again, this is a 'little thing,' and it's only easy to say this stuff after the fact.

why was it a mistake to give tools away? normally your suggestion would be perfect, but with him i see him saying 'no the tools are fine. i got them for you. use it. dont be disrespectful to me."

[zapvor]

thanks to everyone for the input by the way. i really appreciate the thoughts suggestion etc,

for now i am just going to keep working for the members like i have been doing, and ordering more supplies myself.

i will do the proposal at a later date when the timings better

[fortun8son]

BTW my store doesn't do buildups, repairs, grommet replacements, or hybrids.
That's when I give them my card.

Work on being the best racquet tech you can be and don't worry too much about the other guy.
dd is right. Take the high road.
If management is willing to work with you on developing a policy, fine.
If not, there isn't much you can do about it.
Maintain your integrity and try not to lose any sleep or p%*& too many people off.