I am glad that I left that company. Bigger is not always better. A good analogy would be that Soviet power also seemed big and strong... but we know how that ended. Another analogy that I use during interviews compares my former company to Chrysler, which was bought by Mercedes-Benz... but "spit out" because Chrysler was unfixable.
My next anecdote is an incredible indicator of something that frustrated me at that job. It is litany of issues about my former Assistant Manager, named Filiz. As the facts accumulated, I forwarded everything to my supervisor, and then to our District Manager, then to the Human Resources Director (the third to resign in three years), the Vice President of my division, and the National Director of my division. For unknown reasons, my Assistant Manager is still employed there! My peers at other companies agree that her gross misconduct and illegal behavior should get her fired, but she is inexplicably thriving!
It proves how the company "likes" rotten personalities. Perhaps her house in the Hamptons (that she lends), her husband's taxi medallion, or her fake "fainting" at work (whenever she is in trouble) helped her. Certainly not her competency.
Here are snippets of emails regarding her:
Filiz's Attitude can be found in this quote:
Here are snippets of emails regarding her:
Filiz, I told you the cost was $902, but you emailed the customer that it was $209. Due to all
the confusion and the way the issue was handled, we determined to stand behind the erroneous price of $209 that you promised to the customer. Filiz please
call me tomorrow we really need to discuss this.
-Jean (our regional head)
*Jean told Michael (my and Filiz's direct supervisor) that a "Corrective" should be done for Filiz, but nothing happened.
Despite several years of job knowledge, Filiz authorized Jeff's rough-shod packing of $10,000 item, which was entirely
damaged during shipment and caused the company to replace it for the customer. A corrective was done for Jeff, but not for Filiz, who admitted allowing him to ship it that way.
Dear Filiz,
You're asking why this order isn't ready?? This order
was still not placed because the part you requested was not accurate! I sent
you two e-mails to get an accurate part#, and I have not heard back from
you.
-Danielle (our company's) National Coordinator
Dear Ken, please notice that according to
the notes in the system:
9/23 - gave
ticket number to Filiz to research whether or not it was already picked up.
10/20 - emailed
Filiz again.
If the
ticket was created on 8/12/11…..why is it taking so
long to ‘deal with it’??
-Massiel (Expediter at central Repair Workshop)
Good morning
Filiz,
As you can
see below, the estimate was NOT entered by Jeff.
04/09/2012
05:29:19 PM EST: File saved by Yvonne
04/09/2012
05:28:38 PM EST: Confirmation of approval by Yvonne
04/09/2012
05:28:38 PM EST: Estimate approved by Yvonne
Kindly
approve the estimate again. It looks like the estimate was re-saved by Filiz and the
approval is now gone.
Thank you,
Massiel
Hello Filiz,
I suggest
you contact the vendor and ask them about it. They will have a better
insight since THEY are the ones working on it (as per the notes in the system)! The item is NOT here, so stop asking me.
Thank you,
Massiel
Hello Filiz,
Sal called
today and had concerns about this item and your promise to the customer. He will do his best to comply with your "generous" commitment to the
customer, but asked for you to call him back to answer a few questions.
Best Regards,
Ken
Dear Sal, Yes I spoke
to the customer she was complaining regarding that we had it in
twice and could not fix it. I explain to her bring it in. We will check. I can not
determine that. I assured her we would do what ever we can. I was not the one that
took in the item. If I am at fault for anything it will be giving
satisfactory customer service.
Thank you.
Filiz
Good morning
Filiz,
This
customer called asking for you. She said that she spoke with you a month ago to have her item shipped to her. I don't see
any conversation notes in the system, and apparently the item has just been sent to Unclaimed
Archives. Have you requested it back?
-Ken
Hello Michael, (our supervisor)
This
customer specifically mentioned Filiz when he called to complain about the lack
of service he has been receiving. He’s obviously a patient person and was very
reasonable, saying he doesn’t expect VIP treatment but feels that the company should certainly do better by its customers and that not fulfilling promises of
follow-up calls is unacceptable. I agreed with him that he should not have to
be chasing after us for updates on an overdue item and that it was our
responsibility to contact him with updates and not the other way around in such
instances.
He describes
Filiz as “unprofessional” and says we are going to lose business because of
her. We’re going to have to work
out a steep accommodation on the price, as well.
-Paul (our company's) Director of Consumer Relations
*No consequences befell on Filiz.
*Below, was
an issue where Filiz made a verbal assurance to a customer, then failed to
reply to his 2 emails--each sent in different months--causing the company to absorb the multi-thousand-dollar cost of his servicing:
Filiz:
We are now
approaching six months since I dropped my item off, and what is going on
here? I have not heard back from you despite the numerous messages I
have left you.
Also, I want
to confirm what I discussed with you on 9/1/2011 and thereafter with you shortly after my 9/5/2011 email -- that I expect you have my item repaired free of charge, given the matters referenced.
I would appreciate
some customer service follow-up. Thank you.
Regards,
John
Managing
Partner at Dignitas
Partners LLC
On Sep 5,
2011, at 4:10 PM, John wrote:
Filiz:
I cannot understand why my item still has not been returned to
me, since April. This is inexcusable given that we are now in September. Needless to say, I am disappointed and outraged by this fact.
-John
*His tone didn't prompt Filiz to do anything, not even reply to him. He complained to Corporate, and I also brought it to the attention of my division's Vice President and Director, but nothing happened to Filiz.
*His tone didn't prompt Filiz to do anything, not even reply to him. He complained to Corporate, and I also brought it to the attention of my division's Vice President and Director, but nothing happened to Filiz.
Hi Stewart (our company's corporate attorney).
I am so
sorry i put the Pauls name on your ticket,
I was
emailing him today.
I changed
it,
So sorry
about that.
regards
filiz
*Below, is a
complaint letter regarding a customer whom Filiz did not attend to in timely
manner. His letter was received at our corporate headquarters, but Filiz didn't experience any repercussions:
Dear Store Manager,
The frustration continues. I brought my item in May of 2012 for
warrantee maintenance. It is hard to believe this service is still
not done yet. I have spent countless hours and cost , parking, tolls trains,
etc during this time, in an effort to get what I paid for originally.
As an
executive of my company, I feel an obligation to elevate this entire issue to
senior management at your company. Please forward me the Chief Operation Officer's
name, phone and email address. This experience has been very frustrating. I
would like to be optimistic about the next effort to get this right. However,
my confidence, patience and enthusiasm has been depleted.
-Jim
*no corrective action was done to Filiz
Monday,
February 25, 2013
To: Larry
(our company's Executive Vice President)
Subject: My
Experience
Dear Larry,
I hope you
are well. I write you
today to share a personal experience I’ve been having at your location
on Madison. The woman who assisted me was cold
and short, told me there was no warranty on what I required and I would most likely
need something else. Although disappointed about how this was communicated, I
left my item and waited for her call.
I was never
called. Over a week later, I went back and was assisted by an older man. I
explained I never received a call. The woman who took my item in
originally, was standing right beside him. I watched as they both argued with each
other as to why I wasn’t called. As a client, this is not something I should
see. On top of that, my item had been sitting there for over a week now and
nothing was done to it. Why not? At this
point I asked to speak with a manager. Filiz finally presented herself as one of them! Why did she try to conceal her role as Assistant Manager?! We exchanged business
cards, she assured me she would get back to me shortly. That was over a week ago.
As a
professional courtesy I wanted to write you directly. Working in client
experience myself, I understand the importance of feedback and how we can use it
as a tool to improve. I am also looking for an answer on my item.
Thank you in
advance.
-Alicia
Senior
Manager of Network Client Experience at Cartier
*No repercussions happened to Filiz from Larry.
*Furthermore, knowing that Larry was involved, my supervisor, Michael, directed Filiz to make this a top priority. Filiz lied to both of us that emails were
sent (which she falsely indicated in the system notes, too). After weeks went
by, the customer complained that she STILL hadn't been contacted. When Michael
demanded to check Filiz's email Sent Box, there were no emails to the customer, and she was forced
to admit that she didn't send any nor make phone calls, because she didn't want
to deal with the irate customer. !!! Michael told her to ship out the item immediately. But, two days later (Filiz was off that Saturday, per usual), Michael and I checked up, and we discovered that the item had still been forgotten about. We couldn't even find it! After the staff made a frantic search throughout the department, we saw that Filiz had left it misplaced in the Special Order Hold box. I called the customer and had the item shipped to her, all for free.
*Filiz was never "written up" for that, nor was she penalized.
Good
afternoon,
I am going
making a long story short.
The vendor sent the item to wrong address and was lost.
Customer is
not satisfied
with his replacement, claiming it is not the same, wants to be compensated
the amount.
I told him
we will follow up with him next week.
Please call
customer or email customer with update . And what steps have to be taken.
Regards
FilizAydinoglu
I am not
involved in most things,
This is one
of them,
see ken
Thanks
Filiz
Dear Michael and Andrew (our District Manager),
This item was taken in by Filiz and not assigned to anyone else. The
customer sued our company because of complications surrounding his
repair, and claimed that he never heard follow-up from Filiz and only got
answers when he called the store.
-Stuart (our corporate lawyer)
*no corrective action was done to Filiz
February 25,
2012
Good morning
Filiz,
Amy is
concerned about the Special Order for Alan Berson that she placed with you in
December because she cannot find any history of the order, and it is overdue. Please see Amy with any
updates. Thanks.
-Ken
Feliz-
What is
wrong with you?? I'm looking for more than just an automatically-generated status update! What do
they say is the problem?? What is the cost? What is the timeframe? Why am I repeatedly asking you these questions without any acknowledgement?
Thanks.
Tom
Managing
Director at Stifel
Nicolaus
Hi ken, Sal wants you to call him this morning. Customer wants to know what's wrong. as per other emails,
this is a comeback, paperwork in your folder. He paid 1,777.00 for repair .. screw was loose and damaged the item. waiting for parts . I cant tell that to the customer.
He feels that this product is a lemon. please deal with customer
Regards'
Filiz
(Here is my reply):
Hello Filiz,
I think the question is why
you're asking me a second time to contact this customer you're helping? I don't
mind attending to customer queries,
especially when they ask for you or I as the Management team. But, this
customer emailed you directly on 6/13 at
noontime to find out what was wrong with the watch. I was off that day, but on
that day, it seems you updated CE with what
had been wrong. Why didn't you just tell him what you knew on
that day? Maintain your integrity with the customer by informing
him. If it's now 6/20, and you're wondering why I
haven't called your customer with information that you already have, then it simply doesn't make sense. Nonetheless, I spoke with the customer. We ended the call on a positive note.
Regards,
Ken
Dear Michael (our Store Director) and Sal (our National Director),
After a debacle, this customer emailed Filiz twice, asking if her item could be messengered to her hotel
room. The customer was going back to Brazil the next
day. Leading by example, on several instances, I've personally picked up
and delivered items to clients. Perhaps in a bad mood, Filiz lied
to the customer that our messenger was off, and she failed to offer to deliver
it herself. Had I not intervened, the customer might've had a terrible experience, for no reason other than Filiz's poor attitude. Her actual emailed reply to the client was curtly "No our
messenger is out today. Sorry" Something must be done about her, and I request authorization to do it.
-Ken
*as you can guess, nothing happened
-Ken
*as you can guess, nothing happened
*With every
single person that was hired to work in my department (8 people in 2 years), Filiz had a preconceived notion that they each "wanted her job" and did not
respect her. She often made emotional (sometimes teary-eyed) rampages
towards them and left comments to them in her emails like this:
Hi Joe ,
Please for
future reference , can you input notes.
And I would
appreciate if you can respect me as you manager
Thanks
Filiz
One of our technicians threatened twice (to myself and Michael) to quit, because he could not stand working with Filiz and her unprofessional attitude. Michael did nothing about it, Filiz didn't improve, and that technician quit--literally walking off the job. I told Human Resources what happened, but they did nothing. That technician was replaced with a 22-year old apprentice (because none of the 30 technicians in the area wanted to work with us).
During the
middle of 2012, I made a list of all the "weekends
off" that Filiz created for herself--after the schedule was created/posted--by
leaving early or "calling out" on Fridays... or by "calling out" on Mondays. She had the MOST weekends (and extended
weekends) of anybody on the 11-person team. Michael didn't do anything to stop it. I forwarded it--at my team's insistence--to Human Resources and our District Manager, yet nothing happened.
*Below is an
email that Filiz sent to me, on my day off, because she mis-read the schedule and assumed that there wouldn't be enough
coverage. It shows that she CAN document things, when she wants to.
Ken,
On July 6th
I e-mailed you and Michael, about leaving early at 4PM on July 29th for
my international flight. I deliberately told you in advance to avoid any errors
or mistakes that could be made. As a reminder, I sent a follow-up e-mail
on the 26th just in-case anyone were to forget about my vacation.
Now my
question is, why is Jessica alone tomorrow at 4PM even though you and
Michael knew I have to leave at 4PM?Someone has to come in tomorrow to ensure
that Jessica is not alone at 4PM. or you has to come in. If you have any questions, you can contact David. Thank you,
Filiz
*Below is a note that I sent our corporate headquarters, yet nothing was done to Filiz.
Towards the
ends of most months, I make a point of being "at work" to ensure that
we maximize our efforts--as a team--to make our Goals. Typically, Filiz is off during the last couple of days of the months. In addition, I often hear from staff, that on my days
off, Filiz places most of her attention on making/receiving personal calls on
her cell phone (with it ringing loudly while she is either at the counter or in
the Room), making daily shopping trips on her lunchbreak (which
is never taken in the building, like I often do to maintain availablity), and
laughing/joking around with Jeff, Alexandra and Diana... which is in stark
contrast to her reprimands to other "non-included" staff. She has an
irresponsible habit of placing issues that she "is dealing with" in
random places--only to be forgotten about, and their location is not on
record or known to anyone else (causing panickked searching by staff for those
often overdue issues). Her sloppy counter/phone presence, her email grammar and style is not representative of a
trustworthy luxury brand... certainly not what we require "new hires" to possess
to work at the counter. I request that something be done to officially reprimand her and "coach her out" of her position, if necessary. Nothing was done to Filiz, AGAIN! She continued to cause messes.
"Hello Nancy (our new supervisor, replacing Michael),
Filiz
objected to her Assessment that you gave, saying "I am not happy with my review but I
always get the wrong end of the stick. I am not being treated
fairly."
Filiz has a bad habit of asking Massiel (who works at the repair center) for estimate inquiries, despite the fact that he estimates were done at our store. By failing to pay attention to the details, she repeatedly wastes Massiel's time and delays customers who wait at our store. Filiz also tends to ask those questions without giving the correct item number in the email or with the wrong or misspelled item number. No amount of correction has fixed her bad (careless) habit.
Filiz makes promises and price accommodations with clients but does not update CE or leave any conversation notes. In several large price accommodation instances, she denied making them... despite the customers each identifying her, physically describing her, and referencing her name. Once such occurrence involved our store in Florida sending VIP Mr. Ayer to us, and we were going to refinish his item at no charge. Everything would've been fine, but Filiz also promised to have another of his items refinished, without telling anyone and without writing it down. Thus, the second item was only cleaned but not refinished. When the customer came to pick them up, he got upset and refused to pay for the first service, because the second promise hadn't been upheld. In the end, we gave away the $598 service... and got a low customer survey score, which deprived us from reaching our average." Nothing happened to Filiz, and no correctives were done.
Filiz has a bad habit of asking Massiel (who works at the repair center) for estimate inquiries, despite the fact that he estimates were done at our store. By failing to pay attention to the details, she repeatedly wastes Massiel's time and delays customers who wait at our store. Filiz also tends to ask those questions without giving the correct item number in the email or with the wrong or misspelled item number. No amount of correction has fixed her bad (careless) habit.
Filiz makes promises and price accommodations with clients but does not update CE or leave any conversation notes. In several large price accommodation instances, she denied making them... despite the customers each identifying her, physically describing her, and referencing her name. Once such occurrence involved our store in Florida sending VIP Mr. Ayer to us, and we were going to refinish his item at no charge. Everything would've been fine, but Filiz also promised to have another of his items refinished, without telling anyone and without writing it down. Thus, the second item was only cleaned but not refinished. When the customer came to pick them up, he got upset and refused to pay for the first service, because the second promise hadn't been upheld. In the end, we gave away the $598 service... and got a low customer survey score, which deprived us from reaching our average." Nothing happened to Filiz, and no correctives were done.
A VIP customer (Charles O'Byrne)'s Assistant, David,
dropped off an item with Filiz. Filiz hadn't
researched to see that the work was covered under warranty (or to see how much
money the VIP customer spent), and she gave David a cost estimate. According to David, she blamed
the lights in the customer's home for damaging the item. Filiz
didn't make any notes nor did she follow-up. Eventually (since no action
was done), the item was returned to our location undone. An unknowing Associate called to notify the customer, and Charles stormed into the store to
complain. He was very upset that the item hadn't been repaired, and he
cited Filiz's unprofessional behavior. Our District Manager was here that day,
and he and I assured the customer that the matter would be rectified ASAP, and I
outlined the VIP treatment that he would receive. His words to me
were, "I am extremely unhappy with this whole scenario. That woman's behavior was insulting. Google me and see what happens in this town when
I get extremely unhappy." As the manager, I was outraged that Filiz's problems continually caused havoc for my team... for years! Nothing happened to Filiz: no "write up" or repercussions.
A
long-distance customer had ordered something with Filiz, but there had been much
confusion due to the wrong item initially arriving. He told me that he
was also unhappy with Filiz's lack of replies and "empty promises to call
him back". She told the man to come in (on her day off).
Without any notes in the system--and only her incoherent hand-written post-its
to read--I had difficulty understanding what had happened. I
had to apologize to the customer that the item hadn't arrived yet. He
was furious, demanding to speak to the store manager (Michael stayed in his office and sent Rosa). The customer also wrote a complaint letter to Corporate, citing Filiz's lack
of follow-up and courtesy. When Michael and I discussed it with Filiz, the next
day, she blamed the Office staff. A corrective was done for this issue, but
Michael let this one corrective also include 2 other infractions,
perhaps as gratis, to give Filiz more time to mend her ways.
On
11/15/13, I called a customer to arrange shipment of his $1,130 repair but he
told me that he had already spoken to someone yesterday (no notes in CE).
Putting his call on Hold, I rifled through all the cabinets and found his misplaced in the Special Order Hold Box (Filiz tends to "drop" things
in either than box or the Open Estimates box). After seeing her scrawled
note, taped on the outside of the repair bag (where it could've fallen off) and
seeing a blank Mail-Out form, I asked the customer for his payment info
again. He curtly replied, "I can't be bothered doing all this
again. I already took care of it with some woman; it's your problem
now. I'm very sorry, but this is ridiculous" and hung up.
Filiz was off for the weekend, but thankfully another Associate was
able to call the customer, the next day, and get the needed information.
On 2/5/14, Jessica emailed Filiz asking why the customer was getting an
un-described 20% discount. Filiz emailed back on 2/7/14, "I did what
I did for a reason. I was in contact with the customer. All you
need to do was send the item out."
A customer swore that Filiz (he described her perfectly) gave him a cost that
was $800 below the estimated amount. Possibly, Filiz gave the wrong
information about the costs. Filiz
denied having done this, but also didn't put any conversation notes in CE to
back up what she said. The customer demanded and got that amount.
I have
emails from our Special Order Department, going as far back as 2011, indicating things like, "Filiz, this order was not
placed because the part you requested was not accurate. I sent you two
emails to get an accurate part # and I have not heard back from you."
At the end
of October 2013, our department was struggling to achieve its goal. On
the last week of the month, I was out of the office. We only needed $10k to achieve at least the
lower percentile of our goal. On Thursday, in my absence, Jeff failed to send out a Call Sheet
of the day's repairs, totaling $6,116, nor did Filiz ensure that those
customers were notified that they could pick up their repairs. On Friday, Jeff sent the Call Sheet at
5:30pm (even though it was ready at 2:30), leaving the staff only a half hour to call customers before closing time! Filiz and Jeff
know that the Call Sheet is Jeff's top priority (also evident in his past
correctives from Michael about him napping at his desk and about overusing his
cell phone--Michael caught him via the security camera). Thus, our department missed its goal, forfeiting everyone's hard work... because Filiz and Jeff were described as fooling around and not getting their work done.
At the beginning of 2014, to accommodate a customer issue, Sal had our company pay for a customer's
repair. The repair was being done by an outside vendor. Sal asked us to have the customer sign a waiver
allowing us to pay. On 1/19, the customer faxed it to Filiz, who
according to Sal, was supposed to email it to Lenny. Filiz left a note taped to the fax saying, "This was sent to
Sal". On Saturday, Filiz was off, and Sal called me to
follow-up. I read Filiz's note to Sal, and he said, "It's not
supposed to go to me! It's supposed to go to Lenny!"
The customer also called, wanting to make sure that we had gotten his fax,
"I spoke to someone and she said she'd call me back after she got my
fax, but it's been a few days since." I thanked him for his fax and
told Sal that I'd send it to Lenny right away. It
was another unprofessional error from uncaring Filiz, adding a week's delay to the customer's repair time and making us look bad to the vendor.
I experienced Filiz's delay in composing the Action Plan that our supervisor and I asked her
to submit. Instead, she emailed our supervisor, claiming to be "getting picked
on". The Action Plan that she finally submitted was minimal and sub-standard. A grade school student could do better. I sat
with her to create a new one... yet she didn't abide by it. No consequences befell her failure to do so.
"It
would be great if my manager would back me up when I make mistakes. It would be nice if I can trust my manager and work
together."
Joseph Blumenstein called on 12/10/12 about his $1,400 repair. Due to repair delays, he was inquisitive. Thanks to the company's unprofessional reception staff, there was trouble getting his call transferred to us. Finally getting through to our department, he was frustrated and asked for a manager.
I was at lunch. Filiz refused to answer the call, nicknaming it a "customer complaint call"... simply because he had asked for a manager. I was summoned back from lunch to handle the issue! My staff told me that she simply
refused. Meanwhile, he was merely calling to schedule a time to pick up
his item. He calmed down with me, and I also offered to ship it for
free. I reprimanded Filiz for such bad behavior, but the company didn't enforce any standards for her, so she continued doing things the way she desired, free of consequences or constraints of "expectations". Staff and customers got fed up.
On
12/17/13, I was using the phone in the VIP Room, and Filiz came to get me to
"settle a squabble with a customer". The customer had picked up
a repair in June at another store in NYC, but something was coming loose now. He
just wanted it tightened. Filiz had tried sending him back to that other store, but he refused (due to the snow). He told me that Filiz "hadn't
listened to him", as he tried to spell his name,
while she tried looking him up in the computer. That caused unnecessary delay, while Filiz also accused him of "not being in the system"! I found his records easily because I got the right spelling of his name. By then, the customer was upset, and I had to deal with it. Our technician fixed the clasp, and the customer was thankful but
commented, "Why couldn't SHE do that, instead of making such a big deal
and wasting my lunchtime?" (Of course, when he got his Customer Survey, he gave us poor rating, despite my and the technician's great work). After the customer left, I questioned
Filiz, who scolded ME, "You shouldn't have done that. Now, when it breaks again, he's gonna say that we were the last ones to touch it!"
On 4/11/14, I came back from lunch early to help a disgruntled customer whom
Filiz refused to help. The customer was angry because her repair was delayed again--after already being overdue. I apologized, listened to her, and made an immediate call to rush
the repair. I also offered to ship it to her at no charge, when
ready. She was also upset that she had to wait for management to help her! I saw that she was having another service done, and I waived its fee, with our apologetic compliments. As I opened the Service Room door to discuss it
with Filiz, Filiz's laughter rolled through the doorway, because she was kidding around
with "her 3 favorites" amongst the staff. I tried to keep calm, as her joyriding attitude caused problems for everyone else.
When an Associate named Yvonne (whom I had hired) asked to be off on Sundays to attend classes at
Hunter College, Filiz made an issue with Michael about it, claiming I
was showing favoritism. After Michael had me research the prior several
months of schedules, a pattern was revealed that in fact, Filiz had more
weekends off than anyone else in our building. Filiz also made the most last-minute Call Outs on Fridays before her weekends off, or she left early on Fridays (for "medical" reasons. Her doctor lived around the corner from her). Nothing was done to restrain that pattern, but Yvonne was granted Sundays off. I worked most of those weekends.
My staff meeting was interrupted when Filiz began complaining about Yvonne again (for something else). She kept insinuating that Yvonne was "backstabbing" her. Another Associate, Audrey, said, "Ok, I don't often speak up, but I can't take this anymore with
Filiz claiming that Yvonne wants her job!" Audrey asked Yvonne to
publically announce if she wanted Filiz's job, which Yvonne happily
denied. Then Audrey turned to Filiz and asked her to stop making the
accusatory remarks during the workdays. Eventually, Audrey (whom I had hired) quit.
Our best technician went to a Vice President named Andy to complain
about Filiz's treatment to him. He was tormented by her illegal racism : making fun of his Vietnamese culture, making fun of what he ate, and making fun of how he spoke with an accent. Additionally, he cited how Filiz favored another technician (whom I documented as deliberately slow). The technician said I was the best boss he had in 13 years, but he threatened to quit because of Filiz! Andy came to our store and instructed
Michael to "fix Filiz", which never happened. Months later, things remained unchanged. Meanwhile, Andy was terminated by the company. My best technician quit. Filiz remained. Michael got promoted.
I interviewed and hired an associate named Joseph. He made numerous complaints about Filiz's
unprofessional behavior. Filiz also accused him of
wanting her job. The three of us had numerous "talks" but
Joseph felt compelled to call Human Resources... but nothing happened. Eventually, Joseph quit. Once again, Filiz's uncorrected behavior damaged my team.
An assistant manager from another city store was transferred to my department--but as an Associate. He was generous and gregarious to our staff, and the technicians and associates loved him. He stayed late whenever needed. He even visited on his days off, to be sure the team was striving for goal. Yet, after 7 years of employment, the company fired him unceremoniously. Filiz remained.
When Associate Fransisco (whom I had hired), transferred out of my department, he told
Michael and I that part of his desire to leave was to avoid
dealing with Filiz's unprofessional behavior. Still, Michael did nothing about Filiz.
My staff told me that the refused to take paperwork from Filiz,
because she's often trying to avoid self-created problems with customers,
or because they'll eventually find out about unwritten promises made by Filiz
that they have difficulty upholding.
I heard from my staff that on my days off, Filiz
didn't call customers for pick-up. That irresponsible behavior worked against us reaching our goals, and it set a bad example. She mostly had personal calls or extended lunchtimes to go shopping. Two of our technicians resented her storing her
shopping bags near their workspaces.
Obviously, when other employees deserved "correctives" or reprimands, the "double standard" that the company exercised for Filiz worked against my discipline efforts. Over the years, Filiz was accused of getting favoritism from the senior management (but never from me). It made employee retention a challenge, as well as created a wedge amongst newly-hired employees, who didn't want to deal with Filiz and her complications. The company didn't seem to care. A week after I resigned, another of the new Associates I hired, Jessica, also resigned.
My formal requests to address all those above-mentioned issues with Filiz were essentially unanswered. By most accounts, she should've been fired by now. Instead, she continued to act unprofessionally and uncaring at work. She continued to have vacations to Europe (despite a lack of enough vacation time), extended lunchtimes for shopping, weekends off to use her Hamptons property, unlimited time off to attend to the 3 apartment that she and her husband rent, and "untouchable" status for the problems she caused at work. But that's solely the company's issue now.
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