Friday, May 18, 2007

Optics vendors concerned/not shipping orders?

I just got an email regarding problems Netshops is having with various optics vendors.

Maybe I should explain. Several of the ex-Thralow site vendors are concerned about Netshops handling of their product. I'm told the two biggest sunglass vendors are not shipping product. Problem? Hell yes! I'll bet Doug is spinning circles on his Segway right now. I pity the site manager of the optics sites. Good luck surviving the year. Better update that resume. (I predict Sync 08 Doug sez "We suffered some losses in the optics & Thralow sites. We didn't understand the categories, but we're starting to get them and we're making strides. We are a little off pace to make our IPO this year, but Amazon is aware of us." Sound familiar?)

I've also been told some of the sports optic vendors have set very low credit limits. Reportedly, the sport optic and sunglass vendors have very strict standards for how their products are sold. Netshops does not pass any of their tests.

Any of the current or past Netshoppers who have been through a holiday or two will know low credit limits = constant credit hold = delayed orders = pissed off customers. Pissed off customers = more calls. More calls to an understaffed & overworked call center = more temps to fill the gaps. More temps = less product knowledge and more 'order takers'. More order takers = more mistakes. More mistakes = more pissed off vendors. Pissed off vendors = orders not being filled. Circle of life at Netshops I guess.

We may see several key vendors drop the accounts, sooner rather than later. One vendor has already predicted that Netshops will run the sites into the ground. Much like I've been saying since I heard about the Thralow reps being let go.

Might be a good time for CSN or another competitor to get an optics related site going... (Nice site by the way CSN. Very professional & easy to navigate. It looks like all your links work - something Netshops should look into.)

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Duluth centers closing down this week.

Some previous customers of Telescopes.com have concerns about the changes and how it wil impact customer service. Rightfully so. This is exactly the type of reaction I've predicted all along on many of the specialty Thralow related sites. They're way too technical for Netshops reps and supervisors to handle. Especially when they're high at work...

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Apology to Caleb (but Netshops still sucks)

Caleb, I'm sorry if you think I have an issue with you. My issue is with Netshops' management and the hiring decisions they make. You aren't the first employee they've had who has obviously had a substance abuse problem. You wrote about your experimentation. Others wore it on their sleeve. And on the front of their shirt. And smelled like they bathed in it the night before. MyFaceJournalBlogs are great for finding pictures of Netshops employees stumbling drunk while out and about in the city.

Anyway, hopefully you get my point - you Caleb, are just an example of the poor decisions being made by someone in upper management. Whether it comes directly from Doug, HR or Tina, it doesn't much matter when it impacts employee morale and potentially the customer's experience. I have no problem with you and I hope you succeed in your career with Netshops. (Just be sure you keep your resume updated.)

If you're impaired while at work it will affect your decisions when dealing with customers. No way around it.

Being impaired at work should not qualify one for a promotion. Unfortunately in the past at Netshops, it has. One of the past customer service supervisors was complained about on a regular basis because the stench of alcohol trailed behind him like a cloud as he walked the floor. Eyes watered and noses were assaulted on a daily basis. Complaints were ignored because management didn't want to deal with the problem. Another supervisor came to work drunk on many occasions. His red nose and cheeks were common every weekend morning shift he worked. While a nice guy, if Netshops really cared about their employees, someone from management would have talked to him about AA/treatment of some sort. Yes, it is a tough topic to discuss with the employee, but better for all involved that he get some help. Instead, I've heard he was laid off. Great way to get rid of a problem Netshops management. Rather than council the employee and help them with a problem, its easier (and probably cheaper) to lay them off, putting the ex-employee in the perfect frame of mind to drink to excess and giving them more time to devote to a destructive pattern of self abuse. Some really good decision makers you've surrounded yourself with there Doug. Top notch staff.

Based on Caleb's blog, it appears Caleb has the opportunity to continue the trend of supervisors who walk the floor and make decisions on how to handle customer service issues while impaired. Good for him, bad for the customer. Some of the people who were let go over the past year as a result of the layoffs were pretty vocal about the need for random drug testing. (Generally speaking, those asking for it had observed the problems in the call center - the call center wasn't the only area with problems - it was a problem throughout the entire company, just most visible in the call center. This is because there weren't any cubicle walls to hide behind. Since starting this tangent of the blog, I've had reports of many 'lunches' where alcohol was consumed. Unfortunately, this isn't against company policy. It's tough to go against company policy when there isn't a policy in place forbidding an activity. Kind of like dating someone who's beneath you on the org chart, right Tina?) But I digress.... The vocal employees were ignored and released in the next round of layoffs. It's too bad because they only wanted what was best for the company.

Good thing the customer isn't what Netshops is focused on.

Next time, we'll talk about employees who excel at doing nothing all day and somehow retain their positions at Netshops. As always, send your insider info along to me via email - laid_off_by_netshops@yahoo.com - the source will be confidential unless you tell me otherwise!

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

How to get high at work and get promoted at the same time

I'm glad you're all happy I'm posting again. Good to see you missed me. And for those reading from their desks at work, I'd try Nebraska Workforce, Monster.com, or CareerLink instead of reading this. It'll benefit you more in the long run if you start looking now.

On to Caleb and his Live Journal. He's got this high at work thing down. For all those who enjoy the ganja, you should take tips from him - and get your application in to Tina. She's hiring, since they're understaffed and the big Father's Day holiday push is in full swing. (Who's getting laid off in July this year? Can I get in on the office pool even though I'm no longer there?)

Caleb, I wonder, since you pulled the posts that I copied and linked to on your LiveJournal page, do you still have a job? (Buy Tina some shoes or a Coke and you'll be ok. Just ask Paulette.) I've heard you do, but you probably shouldn't be posting blog entries from work anymore. (Just FYI.)

Since you pulled those two posts (good thing I thought to copy them for posterity, idnit?) here are a couple more hits from Caleb's bong.

OMG MORE blogging? [Sep. 16th, 2006|01:30 pm]
One would think that having so much freetimeat work would suck a whole lot, but NO! I can sit here and write disjointed little nothings in internet blogs that will get run across by someone at some point. YAY!

So I spent last night in the apartment of some girl I don't know very well smoking out of a bong and watching the Boondock Saints... It was, believe it or not, decent. I may do it again tonight if the whole Spinal Tap thing doesn't pan out. I wanna go seet Spinal Tap at the Dundee tonight, but I want COMPANY GODDAMNSITALLTOHELL! Tired of amusing myself. I need NEW people to pick on. Joins me, people. Joins me....
link post comment


Well, you got your wish. Someone ran across your internet blog. Congrats. So, this bong smoking thing, I'm seeing a pattern here. Do you want to be on the executive board for Netshops? We think you have potential to grow with the company.

Here's another 'hit' from the past.

...Like Gargling With Bong Water [Sep. 16th, 2006|07:28 am]
It's been an all-together eventful week. I wanna be sleeping, but those who ration my monetary notes say I gotta be here at work.

You ever half-sleep for an entire night? It's exhausting. You lay in bed, not really sure if the noise you just heard was real or not. Maybe that's just me. I do have a lot that goes 'bump' in the night. The coffee's broken and it's not waking me up.
I wonder if I can trade myself in for a better model. I have to remember to ask my mom if she kept the warranty.
My initial thoughts this morning are like this: I'm going to THIS IS SPINAL TAP this evening, and whoever would like to come is totally fuckin' invitied. It is a sure-fired jolly time of Caleb-like proportions.


I'm really very bored with all of this and wish that I had someone to talk to or hang out with. But I don't. OH, ABBA-ZABBA! YOU'RE MY ONLY FRIEND! And the internet. The good old reliable internet.....
link post comment


Did I say 'hit'? Almost, like from a bong?

Hope you get that promotion you so obviously deserve. Yet another brilliant choice by Netshops management. Excellent evaluators of talent and potential I tells ya!

Oh, and me? Yeah, my new job is great. Fuck you Netshops.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

I'm back.....

So I've taken a month off to think about the purpose of this blog.

I've also gotten a job.

Has my opinion changed? No. The blog is still relevant. A quick search of Netshops related items on the ol' net showed me that. Want proof?

The Caleb's LiveJournal blog

New and Unimproved. [Apr. 22nd, 2007|08:32 am]
[ mood | jubilant ]
[ music | Crazy Train - Ozzy ]

Seeing as I have some time before my shift starts, I figured I'd do some blogging, because that's just the kind of time-wasting, internet driven guy I am.

I'm still working at Netshops. Things are getting hectic here. We're understaffed due to our last lay-off. I honestly don't see how I can waste as much time at work as I do and still be working for the company. They fired a large number of people who were far more qualified than I for the position I hold, however I guess I'm better at PRETENDING to care about my job than they were. And, truth be told, I DO care, but only so far as my paycheck is concerned.

I'm moving out of my house on the first. I think I might just be becoming a pro at this whole "organizing, packing and getting the hell outta there" thing. On the plus side, I'm really happy with the apartment I got. It has 200 feet more floorspace than the living area of my house does, plus pool, gym and daycare nearby. It'll be good.

They talked to me yesterday about how I might be forced into taking a promotion, which sucks. The way they put it to me was basically as follows: "Well, if you DON'T take the job, we'll just change your job description so that you're doing the job anyhow." Those fucking fuckers.


So the place I work at is basically an online mall. One store in particular is fairly popular "www.Barstools.com"

A few weeks ago I get this call from a customer, and the conversation was as follows:

"Thank you for calling Barstools.com. My name is Caleb. What can I do for you today?"
"I need to return my barstool. It's defective."
"Alright, sir. If you could please, describe the nature of the defect your item has sustained?"
"Every time I sit down, the stool makes it smell like fish."
".......Excuse me?"
"Fish, damn it! Every time I sit down, it smells like fish. I need to return it."


How, exactly, do you handle that situation? We obviously didn't accept the return based on the grounds that the customer smelled fish every time he sat down, but he sounded so earnest that I believe him.

God. Tired. Cigarette. Laterz.


Oooh. That was good. Promote Caleb! He certainly cares about the company - at least, as far as his paycheck. If he's promoted, he can handle all the calls from customers complaining about their fishy smelling barstools. He could be the fishy smelling barstool store expert. ....Gotta check to see if anyone owns that domain name and grab it before Doug does....

How about this one:

Public Display of Infection [Feb. 24th, 2007|07:14 am]
[ mood | high ]
[ music | A Cacophony of Thoughts ]

...You end up taking advantage of yourself. Playing to your own weaknesses, fully aware of what they are. You give in to the quick-fix. The heartbreak. The car wreck, the graveyard, the prison and tobacco... the booze... Then you wake up one day to find yourself on a bar stool at the bottom of the social heap talking to women whose mouths are crimson and gaping like the war wounds your father described when he was alive and drunk and you were a child. This is no place to be.
So you get a job, get a car, get a life, get an education, get wise and get to church. You play and pray and pay and do all the things they say you gotta and your life is still shit. Another approach.
You stop giving a shit and get hooked on the carefree abandon of despair. Drive fast, drink hard, stay awake or else you'll miss it. Find a dangerous lady with a smile colder than a die-hard Catholic at a Democratic convention, then use her to get over the last lady who confined you to the prison of her arms. Your will dies screaming and you slide farther into the pit.

All this dramatic nonsense leads to hurting the same way sex leads to hate and you find yourself back at the bar wondering why you can't wake up in your dreams. It comes down to the things that can't fuck you over: Old cars, old hats, cigarettes, friends long gone whose memories make you smile. That is, until you realize that you ain't the king of anything. All the dreams you planted as a child grew into weeds and nothing is more heartbreaking than having to trim them down.


Rambling due to being high and at work. Later, muddafuckahs.


Yes, you read that right. He's 'rabling due to being high and at work.' Obviously a good choice of someone to promote and keep with the company.

The people who make decisions at Netshops still don't have a clue. I've run into a number of ex-Netshoppers recenly and I'm amazed by the people laid off back in February. People with talent. People who knew what the hell they were doing. People who worked their asses off for Doug, Julie, and Mark (and the investors who drive everything Doug, Julie and Mark do). People who were single and people who had families to take care of.

Is it any wonder many of the people who were with the company at the beginning have left to pursue other opportunities? I should have recognized it sooner, but I was, unfortunately happy and trusting of Doug and Co. Silly me.

So, for those of you still at Netshops, start looking. Update that resume. Get your name out there to friends and family - let them know you need a new job. Start contacting temp agencies. Get them working on finding you a new job.

Of course, if you want to be promoted, you need to be high and blogging while at work.