Criminal #37 Greyhound: "You Slimy Rat-nosed Bastards"

Dear Greyhound,

I am sending you this online proposal because I have a splendid idea, and because my efforts to contact any Greyhound official through the website have seemingly been in vain I have chosen to now direct this proposal towards this email address. (I can only assume there must be something wrong with the online form seeing as how I made it infinitely clear that I expected a reply to my considerably serious issue and now, two months later, have heard nothing from any member of the Greyhound family. Obviously this is a technical flaw and not an issue with the company itself, right?)

Let me tell you a story about a young woman who has had the misfortune of being forced to use your services every week for the last two months due to some serious spinal issues requiring medical attention in Calgary which happens to be two and a half hours away from where she is currently living, equally a three and a half hour bus ride (I'll leave the curiosities of this math problem up to you). This girl expects to meet her mother at the Greyhound Calgary bus depot at 8:00 in the evening because hell, going to the hospital by yourself at any age is absolutely traumatic, and we all need support once in a while. So imagine this girls surprise when she's given a note and told that her mother's bus was mysterious cancelled (with absolutely no explanation, just so you know) and that she ought to go on to the hotel alone. "Okay," the girl thinks, "I can handle that. I'll see her in a couple hours." Well, a couple hours gives way to a couple drinks in the hotel bar, and finally at 12:00, that would be ten plus two or midnight for those of you that have issues with telling time (as the whole of Greyhound seems to have), the girl's mother shows up and announce that not only was the 5:30 bus out of Red Deer cancelled and she was not informed until 6:00 but the 8:00 bus sent to replace it was 2 hours late and AGAIN, no one was informed that this was happening.

I'm sure you can appreciate that not only was this girl at the point of mental breakdown because, again, once you have 5 spinal surgeries and you come to rely on the support of a parental figure, not knowing where they are or why they are late can be quite frightening.

So here's my grand proposal for Greyhound. Stop being so utterly ridiculous. I understand that as a company it possesses a monopoly. I have no choice but to take your God forsaken bus system from Lethbridge, but after so many rides I can't help but wonder if maybe I should be just saving my money and searching Kijiji for used spines. At the very least I would never have to sit in your sticky bus seats or talk to people who smell like questionable herbal products and like to tell me how nice my hair is and wouldn't I like to buy a hemp bag? And I wouldn't ever have to run the risk of sleeping for two nights on the cold floor of the Calgary bus depot where no blankets are provided nor pillows nor explanations and oh, no hot water, no offer to be put up in a hotel and hell, no general human compassion offered by your ridiculous company at all? If I added up the hours I have spent wasting my life back and forth between cities, stuck on your buses, in your depots, getting stickier and hempier and more miserable and closer to hanging myself in your disgusting public bathrooms, I would probably have a total emotional break down due to the complete waste of time.

Being the biggest lug around doesn't give your company any right to treat your customers like utter shit, which is exactly what you have done time and time again. You're nothing more than a pathetic bully with a high and mighty sense of self that, trust me, isn't warranted nor deserved. And the fact that your company blatantly ignores customer complaints is absolutely staggering. Do you have absolutely no idea how to run a company? How far up does this incompetence run? Really, how often have any of your so called 'officials' traveled on one of your coaches and ended their trip satisfied?

Greyhound is an appalling and shameful company and needs a serious revamp all over. Start listening to your customers, start acting like a company worthy of monopoly you have or for the love of god, just get out of the province. I'd rather have nothing to deal with at all than put up with more of this crap. Considering the power of the internet these days, and the many, many rants I have located regarding both Greyhound in general and Greyhound's inability to respond to customer complaints, I would think it would be in the company's best interest to do something about it. And yes, this letter will be Cc'd to absolutely everyone and anyone I can find possibly associated with your company and if I don't hear back from at least one of you, I'm going to reach a new and more impressive height of rage that will result in non-stop complaints until someone acknowledges that there are serious issues with your company that needs to be fixed and shows me proof that such changes are made.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Sawisky

Note: In January I spent two nights at a Greyhound bus depot. No food offered, no blankets, or pillows, no fun. Someone's going to pay.

It's Been a While, Mr. Bond...

You've successfully beaten my men and had sex with my obligatory female slave. She is in the process of dying as we speak. So, Mr. Bond, I think you need to ask yourself... What are you waiting for?

Yeah, yeah, it's been a while. I think what happened was what they refer to as.... burnout. Never fear my pretties, for I have returned with a bigger, badder batch of stuff you should stay away from, and owing to the fact that advertisers are starting to get smart (I know, I can't believe I just said it either), BaD is expanding its operations to consumer reviews and reports. That's right, wondering what your night lotion is really doing to your face? Convinced that your Swifter is turning into a gremlin at night and tormenting your dog? I'll do the research so you don't have to, and together we shall rule the wo-

Wait, no, sorry. I mean the Forbidden List will get bigger and we'll all get a little wiser. It's a good plan, no?

Criminal #36- Walmart "You probably could have seen this coming..."

I'm going to make this short and sweet because today is my birthday and I don't want to spend it ranting.
Answer this simple survey:
1) Have you seen the documentary 'Wal-Town'?
-If your answer is no, go rent it.
2) Go here: http://www.ruggedelegantliving.com/change/a/WalmartFacts.htm
-You're thinking 'So what, that was 2003.' Well, yes, yes it was. Imagine what it must be now.

I can't really begin to sum up what I learned from 'Wal-Town'. It was helpful viewing it as a Canadian, because the trip these six activists took were through the biggest Walmarts in Canada. I recognized a few of them (which is difficult because they all look the same).
To whet your appetite a bit more before I start compiling tomorrow:
http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/facts/

Can you wait 24 hours? The suspense is killing you, I know! God, Walmart pisses me off.

I've taken a shuttle pod and escaped the Brapocalypse... possibly

Today I went to work with the intention of politely quitting to my managers face and, I had hoped, watching her squirm as she read over the Employee Standards email.

Unfortunately she wasn't in until 1:00, and I'll be damned if I'm spending four extra hours there. I will not give them the satisfaction, no siree. So I wrote a polite letter, outlining that I felt I was left with no alternative but to leave my job. As well, I included a copy of the ES email and informed her that I was filing a formal complaint with them and head office and, I'm sure, she would be hearing from them shortly. Stef and Candace both read the note to act as witnesses to my (what I feel to be very polite) explanation. I gave it, along with a brief assessment of my feelings to the manager from Calgary who was up here training. Unfortunately, she is very level headed and reminds me a lot of a girl I knew growing up who was a total sweetheart, so that made it a little more difficult, but I still walked away without any regrets.

Now to see if I hear back from head office. If I don't within, say, the next 24 hours (starting now, 10:30 am my time) I will contact employee standards. As well, I'm posting a big ol' message on facebook for any of my fellow (ex) coworkers if they'd like to join this little protest.

Quite frankly I'd love to get a call from May asking me wtf is up, because she's no longer my boss and I'm no longer required to show her any respect. Despite that, I probably still would, to a certain extent. Don't get me wrong, I've taken it this far, I'm certainly going to stand my ground now. The only thing that bugs me about this is that I'm the one employee that hasn't been there 90 days, so any termination pay, bla bla bla whatever that could be gained from it, I can't get. Which is all right I suppose, because now it's more about seeing some form of justice done.

Will update as situation requires. This is only going to get more interesting folks.

Do you think there are four Victoria Secret models as a sign of the Brapocalypse?

As of yesterday there are four, count them, four members of the "old" staff still remaining at La Senza. Myself, L, Lisa, and Steph.

The story as I've heard it, Mal, D, and Rhonda all had their pay cut and keys taken away for a variety of reasons. A quick glance at the Employment Standards board reveals this:

"If an employer intends to reduce an employee's wage rate, overtime rate, general holiday pay, vacation pay or termination pay, the employee must be notified before the start of the pay period in which the reduction is to take effect. However, these rates must always be at least the minimum required by the legislated standards."

So that's one more illegal thing courtesy of La Senza.

Further more:
"There are some deductions that are not allowed, even with a written authorization from the employee. You cannot take deductions for faulty workmanship. Also, you may not deduct for cash shortages or loss of property where more than one person has access to the cash or property."

D was accused of stealing (without any evidence) which is why her keys were taken. This may or may not apply here...

If anyone knows anything else about wage deductions, let me know. This shit is going down soon. May is on to me, I was getting dirty scowls all day.

Bring it on.

...And continues

A reply from the Employee Standards Board:

"An employee may quit their job and file a complaint with ES alleging that they were forced to leave or constructively dismissed. Employment Standards will accept and investigate complaints in such circumstances. Each case will be decided on its own particular facts and the reasons for the action taken by the employer.
The act of quitting must be a voluntary one on the part of the employee. If it is not, the employer will be found to have terminated the employee.While the Code does not specifically refer to constructive dismissal in the context of employee termination, an employee's reasons for quitting must be considered when assessing whether the employee's actions were voluntary.

Constructive dismissal arises when an employer unilaterally does something so contrary to the employment relationship that the action forces the employee to quit.Actions which can be considered to be constructive dismissal include:a significant change in employment status or working conditions.a dramatic reduction in wages without proper notice.In cases of constructive dismissal, the act of quitting by the employee is not voluntary. For this reason, the employer will be required to provide termination pay."

Iiiiinteresting La Senza...

The Brapocalypse Continues...

I've sent in an inquiry to the Alberta Employment Standards (board?), so hopefully they'll be able to offer me some advice. I'm also in the process of filing a complaint with head office, although I'm worried it will go to Christy, who appears to be the mastermind behind the whole situation. I also sent in some resumes to a few places over the weekend so hopefully I'll hear back from at least one person soon. I can't stand La Senza.

Interesting note, during my insane search of the internet on Friday to find a proper way to file a formal complaint with head office, I located this little jem: http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2003-05-08/news_feature.php

The basic gist of it is that Gina Form is one of the few labour factories on that side of the world (Bangkok to be exact) that had a union, decent wages, and offered basic human rights to their employees. Well around 2003 new management took over and fired 40 union members and began to harass employees to sign new employment contracts that denied them these rights and other bullshit.

So what does La Senza do? Cuts ties with Gina Form.

No, you employ these people, you arguably have some amount of power in this situation. It is up to you, as a giant, evil, North American corporation to use this power for good ( I wish ). I don't know who makes the bras now, or where we get them. I also don't know what happened to Gina Form. All I do know is that factories that are supplying their employees with basic human rights, instead of, say, forcing them to work 12 hour days till their fingers bleed, need to be protected and supported. La Senza could have gotten involved, foreign conflict or not, and put a stop to this sort of management abuse.

Then again, we all know what La Senza thinks about management...