tiger1968
United States of America#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sun, June 10, 2012
I first went to work at Olan Mills back in 1992 when they still actually had studios. Back then, the portrait sittings were sold by part-time telemarketers rather than Kmart-based carnival barkers. We telemarketers worked out of a very small "office" in the back of the studio and were not allowed to even think about speaking to any of the studio employees or the customers (that we got to come into the studio for sittings in the first place). Then, after several weeks of working as a part-time telemarketer, because I did so well, I was promoted to the studio employee position of receptionist and also began to train to be a photographer and proof consultant.
At that time, other than having to come into work during The Storm of the Century (1993 in Florida), I had no problems with my job, and was looking forward to spending many years with the company - that is, until the one time that I needed to take an actually work day off. Although I had given the District Manager several day's notice that I would have to take that day off, she wouldn't hear of it and told me that if I didn't show up, I'd be fired. So, I kept that very important doctors appointment and as per her threat, lost my job.
I went back to work in the phone room a few year later and can't remember how that stint ended, but...
So, in March 2010 (now living in North Carolina), I went to work for Olan Mills once again. This time, I was hired as an ASR in a Kmart that was full of regular repeat customers - most of whom didn't even speak English. This was just under a month before Easter, so sales were easy to get at first, but as the holiday got closer and closer, sales dwindled - so much so that I stopped just standing up front and started walking around the store soliciting customers as they shopped. Since most of the shoppers where repeat customers, walking the store didn't help much either.
So, on the day before Easter, the studio manager decided that I might do better outside. This was a very windy day in April, my allergies were in full swing, and with all of the barking I'd done on top of that, laryngitis had set in too. No one heading into the front door was interested in buying, so I called the District Manager and asked if I could walk the store instead since most customers came in through the lawn and garden area anyway, and she had no problem with that.
So, I put the table away, grabbed a cart, and set out to make more than just the one sale that I managed to get earlier in the day. But, before too long, the studio manager (who had been out to lunch) paged me to the studio and went off on me - telling me that from that day forward, rain or shine, I was to work outside. Since it was the day before Easter, I had a few hours left in my shift, and had only made one sale all day, I asked to go home to save my spiff stats. The manager was okay with that, but said that I would need to call the District Manager.
So, I did that, and continued to call her throughout the weekend and into Easter Monday because I only ever got her voicemail and had left a message telling her why I left early and that I needed to talk to her before I came back in. I had not quit my job, but when the District Manager finally did return my call, she said that they assumed that I had quit and gave my job to someone else, but I was more than welcome to reapply. I did reapply - more than once, and at several different locations, but was only ever given the runaround.
Then, last Friday (now in Georgia), Olan Mills suddenly appeared in the Kmart down the street, and when my mother told the guy about me and my previous Olan Mills employment, he excitedly handed her an application and practically begged her to get me to come in, so I hightailed it up there, talked to him for a few minutes, came back in the next day for an interview that seemed to go better than any I've had recently. He said that he was very impressed and wanted to start me right away, but would need to contact Human Resources first.
Since they would be closed until Monday (6/4/12), he'd call them and then me then, but he never called me. So, I went back up to the store on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. He was not there either day, so I pulled his number up on my Caller ID and sent him a text. He did respond back that Tuesday and Wednesday were his days off and that he would call me on Thursday. When he hadn't called by that afternoon, I left him a voicemail. He did return that call a few hours later, but only to tell me that he had received a voicemail from Human Resources, but hadn't spoken to them yet.
So, on Friday, I sent him another text. He said he hadn't called Human Resources until Wednesday and that there were other candidates in the running, but as soon as he heard anything, he'd call me. It is now Saturday (a full week since this charade began). I got a call from the District Manager this morning. She said she was calling to let applicants know that the position was filled. When I asked if I was labelled as a non-re-hire, she said, "No. We just decided to go with another method." So, I asked, "Another method?! What is "another method," and she couldn't answer me. But, I think I figured it out.
I bet you any amount of money that now that Lifetouch has bought Olan Mills and is already set to close their Chattanooga facilities, they are also getting set to reopen the Olan Mills Portrait Studios as Photo booths that will be located at the fronts of stores with the vending machines and video games. That's the only other method I can think of anyway - that is, unless they plan to bring back the phone room, but I digress...
Historically, the Olan Mills photographers have produced some very profession portraits, but the customer service that they provide to both inside (coworkers) and outside (general public) customers absolutely sucks. Thank God a couple of my childhood friends own their own portrait studios.