My first job assignment from a Temp Agency. Cliff Note: Rental Car Business sucks

So I moved from a small podunk county to a bigger thriving city. I had to leave my job to make the move, this area is where I grew up, where I wanted to be and start my life. I had no idea that finding working would have been so much harder in a bigger area. I don’t know if I have secret voodoo on me, or my resume really sucked, I had a number of interviews and was even offered a job verbally(FUCK you business you know you are) but nothing materialized. It became clear to me that with so many businesses asking how much you want to be paid for a job that they are hoping that with so many people out of work they can either find someone way over(or qualified) that will take less money than the job really deserves because they want a job, or the business hopes that someone just doesn’t know and asks for something DRASTICALLY under and they will just train that person and save lots of money on payroll. I guessed I learned that to late, and trusted certain people and businesses to have ethics and tact and found out that is severely lacking in the work force.

So after I tried and tried and tried, went to job fairs, filled out so many applications that I never got a call back from, scouted job sites every day, I basically ran out of money and needed to find something while I can finally find a job I am qualified for. So this horrible adventure led me to  temp agency. The agency is big and large in this area, very nice, very professional, I came in on a Friday, they had me with an interview that Monday and placed by Tuesday. I wasn’t wild about the placement, I didn’t have a choice, it has opportunity for growth is what they made it seem. I was placed in a branch manager fast track trainee position. This position would be $15K a year less than what I made last year in a smaller county. So that just strikes me as weird, after about a week I found out that according to their positions on found online at Monster that a branch manager if they make all sales goals would be only $40k a year. Even more reason to not have interest in the position.

So what can I tell you about the car rental business? It’s dirty, it’s dirty from the front of the house, to the back of the house, to the whole ethics of the business as a whole. From what I can tell, the car rental companies are cheap, very very cheap. In the two weeks I have been there, nothing has been cleaned that I haven’t done myself. I was told by some employees that they haven’t had a cleaning service since they moved in this building a year ago, the blinds were almost black in some spots with dust, the spot where you are sitting and waiting, which you have to do a lot of in this place. I was cleaning them in some down time, people were shocked, stunned, and impressed. But as a weird twist of it when the area manager came in and saw I wasn’t working on back of the house paper/computer work, asked one of the store managers to get me to stop cleaning. Hair balls were still in corners a week after my interview, along with stuck on candy to the floor, I got those cleaned up but still nothing has been mopped and it seems nobody really cares about it because,

People fall into certain aspects of ‘that’s not my job’ categories You have the car detail person who doesn’t care what happens inside, the front desk people who seem to get paid based on sales and upgrades they sell so they are always on the phone calling customers when the place is empty, or management who is doing management things. The company makes you lie to customers, an awful lot. You want to make an appointment to rent a car? Oh ya sure we will have that for you when you get here. Oh I’m sorry we just ran out of cars, we will have something ready for you soon. Yes we know you made an appointment 3 months ago to have a car ready to go at this time, but give us 45 minutes to find and clean a vehicle. Oh you requested a truck three months ago and we said we had one, but ya we never did, but we can put you in a car and you can come in and exchange it for a truck when we have one. Oh you called 20 minutes ago and asked for a certain vehicle that we said we had and you got here and it’s not, oh man I’m so sorry, one of the sales people must have just rented it out, I’m so sorry for that, I know that’s frustrating. Not only this but you try to sell things to people they don’t need, vehicle upgrade for only $10 a day because we don’t have what we promised you, or yes let me recommend that you get $40 a day full protection insurance on your rent a car that you are only paying $22 a day for. You shoot high and hope they settle for one of the other 5 protection plans. And let me just say I haven’t even done any of this selling to the customers in my two weeks there, I don’t know how, and I don’t want to, because I don’t plan on being there very much longer, I’m trying to get out, I asked for a transfer. I just can’t sleep well at home at night knowing I have to smile and lie and rip off customers to their face for a job that doesn’t even come out to $30K a year. If you like chaos, and shady frustrating times go to a rental car business. I hate being stuck to the need of a paycheck that I have to stay until I find something else, the co-workers are nice, even if I want to walk out at least once every day.

If you have a choice don’t! Someone save me, give me a job, give me a writing job, something! My soul is being sucked away having to be fake in a horrible business that doesn’t care about anything but their own bottom line, customers or employees included.

Looking for something fun to do!? Why not kickball?

Looking for a fun game that anyone can step out and play? Why not go and play some kickball, most everyone has played and remembered it from elementary school. All you need is a ball and bases. I recommend playing on an all grass field, but you can play on softball or baseball diamonds but expect more scrapes and bruises from falling over grass, because chances are you will fall. 🙂

Many ways to play, usually 11 players in the field and at least 4 girls, have to go co-ed and get everyone involved! It’s fun for all ages, kids too, and it is not overly physically demanding for people just starting to go out and get some physical activities, but can turn to demanding physically if you are running around the outfield trying to catch the ball! You likely have a league set up somewhere close to your area, if you are looking for the official league check out waka kickball. Or you might have pickup games in your area. If you happen to be around the Sonoma, California area they have a league Friday & a pickup game every other Thursday in the area(if you are interested and looking for more details let me know). And lastly this is pretty much your timeline of kickball in pictures. And remember have fun! It’s just a game, most of the fun is meeting new people and maybe heading to catch some dinner or drinks in a group with new friends!

FUCK TELEMARKETERS!

I have no idea what I did, or who I pissed off, or what spider God I might have stepped on but those damn health insurance telemarketers won’t stop calling. I have had 25 calls in a 24 hour span. I’m tempted to karate kick the phone to the moon. I’m hating the sound of my ringtone which is the transformers cartoon theme and I love the transformers. FUCK!

I shouldn’t be allowed to do things without this

Well wow, this day has been pretty shit so far. For those that know me I need a shower and what I call my crack in the can before I can really function. Well today was all sorts of fucked up, started out with the water being shut off for repairs, I didn’t realize that until after I did my morning duty. So after struggling to wash my hands with my squirt bottle I went to the kitchen, to see that our yard is being worked on, no shower in sight. So I wasn’t ready to eat breakfast or drink my energy drink so I sat down to try to fill out the application for unemployment. I figured what do I have to lose? I’m already not getting unemployment, I know I likely won’t get it but why the heck not? It’s the type of things you randomly think up while home all the fucking time.

So I sit down and search for the site, gather my information and start putting it in. Everything seems on the up and up, no problems, then it moves onto an option where I can see the credit report and background check that businesses will see for a $1. I decide to pass because I already know what’s on both, thought it was a little weird but no problems. Next comes an option on being unemployed and needing health care, asks to fill out information about your insurance past and potential wants. I stupidly fill the few questions out and hit continue to move on, and then no other option is available. I’m perplexed, I check to make sure the internet is still connected, click back to make sure I didn’t miss anything, and then my phone rings.

(707) area code, same as mine, I think it’s a potential job so I answer it, it turns out to be an insurance company saying, we are calling because you just clicked interest in health insurance and start rambling off options. Holy fuck balls I got caught in a scam, I hang up telling her no thanks. No worries, I pertain to get 19 phone calls in a 3 hour span. You name it, 707, 954, 909, 713, 740, 916, 484, & 855 area codes, obviously some repeat area codes with different numbers. Essentially the whole United States has been calling me trying to sell me insurance. I didn’t answer calls for awhile, I finally started answering and have told 7 people no thanks and to stop calling. It’s been 29 minutes now since my last phone call. Is it all over? Are they just on lunch? I’ve never wanted to punt my phone more in my life. I answer the phone saying, “is this more insurance calls? No thanks like I’ve told the last 7, please stop calling.”

In case you’re wondering, I did finally get a shower, my crack in a can, and found the real website. I’m stuck and can’t file a claim because my previous job was commission based and I don’t have all the figures. They want the amounts for the last 6 quarters. No way I can fudge that, can’t log in and find it. What’s the going rate for selling a kidney?