On May 9th, around 4pm, two of my good friends, Matt and Scott, were chilling in the “break-room,” if you can even call it that (it was more like a holding area with just enough room for two chairs, a fridge, a microwave, and a couple of iMacs. And that was supposed to serve our entire staff, thanks Apple retail for shitting on us once again), when a manager asked them if they were on break. Neither of them had clocked out for lunch yet, so instead of getting in trouble then, they took a chance and lied, and said that they were on break. This was common practice. Nearly every employee I knew at Apple had done this at least a few times, if not regularly. Why did people do this? I can’t say for sure, and I don’t have the time to go in to all of the scenarios that led people to fudge on their time cards, but one sticking point that often comes to mind is that I had never worked in a place where so many people did not want to be, and when so many people do not want to be at their workplace they cut corners (why would anyone want to be at that hellhole). They stop being friendly, they work slower, they stay on break longer and finish their god damn sandwich for a minute. Your customers can be huge net promoters, but your employees are a companies biggest net promoter. They are the people corporate and managers really need to be looking out for because they are the company, but that is another post.
(Another reason I used to stay on break longer or relax before my official break was in response to the general inconsistency of management. If we were told in the morning that Apple’s new policy was that Mac Specialists were not allowed to restore iPods on the floor, and then asked later in the afternoon to restore iPods on the floor, I didn’t feel compelled to be consistent with my break schedule. Apple Glendale management is hypocrisy par excellence.)
Less than two minutes later, they clocked out for lunch.
Less than two minutes, less than 120 seconds, they clocked out to eat. One hundred twenty seconds . . .
A manager saw them clock out after saying they were on break, and after they got back from lunch Matt and Scott were called back to the managers office and got a stern talking to. Obviously they apologized, said they would never do it again, and went back to work.
On May 14th and May 15th Matt and Scott were fired, respectively, from Apple Glendale for time fraud.
TIME FRAUD!? Are you serious? But everyone did this and it was less than two minutes. I did this on many occasions, and I even got caught a few times, and I was never fired. Why were these guys fired? Were they bad employees with bad records? NO. One of them had been with Apple Glendale for a year and a half (he didn’t like the job, but he certainly knew his way around the sales floor and was courteous), and the other was one of the best, most considerate, knowledgeable, and patient Mac Specialists I had ever met, and to make things worse, he had just gotten married! What compassion Apple Glendale!
It gets better. On May 15th, when Scott got fired, the store manager, Michael Lee, one of the most robotic, least compassionate, soulless people I have ever met in my life, lied (Scott, I, and coworkers believe) to Scott’s face saying, “I tried fighting for you,” and while escorting him out of the store, said, “Don’t be a stranger.” It is like a scene out of Office Space. Don’t be a stranger? You are firing the kid Michael! Do you realize how patronizing that sounds? As of a few minutes ago he doesn’t have a job in an economy that is tanking, and all you can come up with is, “Don’t be a stranger!?” Fuck you you condescending disrespectful robot (and yes, I can’t wait to say that to your face, and I will).
How do I know Michael Lee was not sincere in his “fight for Scott?” I don’t. Readers may want to believe that Michael Lee was actually fighting for Scott, and that it was corporate’s decision to axe the kid, but it was probably not the truth, and dwelling over who made the final decision is a waste of time because we’ll never know. Based on my experience and the experiences of my coworkers, I personally believe that Michael Lee never fought for anyone at that store but himself. If it looked like he was being a team player, it was because he was benefitting from it. And I don’t entirely blame him either. When you work for a retail store in a predatory capitalist environment you are rewarded for stabbing people in the back and being uncooperative. The very essence of a retail store is to be non creative, to act, and to represent something else. It is my opinion that Michael Lee did not believe that cooperating with his employees would make a better store, so he chose not to.
I hope Apple Glendale looks stupid for this. Things like this are why the Apple store in Glendale has some of the worst metrics in the world.
See how I got fired from Apple Glendale here.
Tags: Apple, Apple Glendale, Apple Retail, Apple Store, Apple Store Glendale, Fired from Apple, Michael Lee, time fraud
May 21, 2008 at 11:05 am |
shit happens. you’re yelling about nothing. do people even read this crap?
May 21, 2008 at 11:10 am |
and it starts.
May 23, 2008 at 11:33 pm |
[...] mikeywally doesn’t fully explain on his blog why or how he was fired. In another blog posting, mikeywally explains how two of his co-workers were fired recently for timecard fraud, and also [...]
May 23, 2008 at 11:47 pm |
your friends lied. they need to suck it up and take responsibility instead of blaming others. btw, you should know how anal apple is about their stores and property. posting pics from an apple owned iphone was no doubt a one way ticket outta there!
May 24, 2008 at 1:49 am |
“They stop being friendly, they work slower, they stay on break longer and finish their god damn sandwich for a minute. Your customers can be huge net promoters, but your employees are a companies biggest net promoter. They are the people corporate and managers really need to be looking out for because they are the company, but that is another post.”
I agree with you there in so many ways it’s not even funny. Submit my two weeks already and counting down the days before I get clapped out but since I fucking hate my store, I will walk right out without looking back.
@lucas you are either a fanboy who has never/will never work for Apple, or do work for Apple and drink the kool aid. Moron to the tenth degree regardless.
Apple treats their employees like shit most of the time and working there is not what everyone thinks it is, bottom line.
May 24, 2008 at 7:26 am |
Can you guys do something about this? A wrongful termination suit? It seems to me that needs to happen.
May 24, 2008 at 10:29 am |
I really think you all need to man up and stop crying. Did you or did you not break rules? So let’s talk about the 2 rules you and friends broke:
1. Time Card Fraud
2. Posting internal media on the NET
Now if I look into the employee handbook for these 2 offenses I can bet the penalty will be up to termination, and in most companies it would just be termination. Everything else you talk about in your post is meaningless unless it abrogates the offenses. If they didn’t like their jobs call it a blessing, if they needed a job they should have been a dedicated employee, and dedicated doesn’t mean you to the product. But, rather you to the team and vision the management team is trying to accomplish.
May 24, 2008 at 10:59 am |
Look, I’m one of his friends who got fired, and I would like to say that I worked there for a year and a half without incident, and if anyone is to blame for this it’s apple themselves. They’re nothing but a bunch of dicks who yes do treat their employees like shit, and at this store in particular make promises of promotions to people all the time, including myself and many of my friends but never follow through with any of it. Mainly because they have their “favorites” that they like to give the positions to (even though they claim nothing is given to anyone there, and you have to let them “know” what you want) Which is pretty messed up, and a big reason why I became so disheartened with the place. All I know is I’m telling everyone I know, that if they have any self-respect to not even try and apply for this place. Especially after the way they treated me.
May 24, 2008 at 5:16 pm |
Really?
I worked my way through college in retail, and all I have to say is: quit crying. How can you not expect to get some kind of disciplinary action for posting those pictures online? If the wrong picture of the wrong person got out there, Apple would be in trouble, especially if it’s coming from an employee.
As far as your friends go, I feel no sympathy. Step into any company’s shoes and whether you’re making hundreds or millions of dollars a day, you would not want any employee stealing anything from you, including time, which in your case is 120 seconds. If they would’ve had the guts to admit they were slacking of, or ‘chilling’ as you put it, they wouldn’t be in this mess.
In conclusion, I blame no one but you. If a company treats you horribly to the point you hate your job, you have the option to quit.
May 24, 2008 at 5:36 pm |
I was fired from Apple for no good reason, also. It really doesn’t make them look too good.
May 25, 2008 at 8:44 pm |
Dude, I read some of your other posts. Seems you have a fuck-you attitude from the get-go. Good luck getting through life.
May 26, 2008 at 1:14 am |
i really appreciate the feedback.
i had to close the apple computer recycling comments, but these feel slightly more genuine.
May 26, 2008 at 1:15 am |
. . .
May 27, 2008 at 7:27 pm |
Uh huh. Post all kinds of people’s pictures on the Internet without their consent. With Apple the liable party. In a litigious society.
Hello?
You’re really no so intelligent, huh? It’s okay. The world needs Specialists too, I guess. Oh. Sorry. Ex-Specialists.
Enjoy your unemployment, Slappy.
May 30, 2008 at 11:44 am |
Bullshit reason = lying?
May 30, 2008 at 11:59 am |
@truth teller, it is bullshit when everyone lies and then two people are picked at what seems random to be fired for something that isnt really a big deal anyway.
yeah, i that is bullshit.
and yeah, big box retail is bullshit.
and yeah, capitalism is bullshit.
and yeah, the two parties in the US are just “two factions of the business party.”
it all piles on top of each other.
a more decent society means critiquing something that on the outside, Apple, looks so sqeaky and clean.
its not that amazing to me, but extremely troubling, that i can write and write for days on something that matters, like people starving to death in Los Angeles, at my back door, and people wont give a shit, but as soon as I post something about Apple, people care. isnt that representational enough of whats going on in America? that people care more about consumerism and buying shit, than making sure their neighbor is fed?
May 30, 2008 at 12:22 pm |
[...] “Z” in me came out in the comments section of the latest Apple bullshit: its not that amazing to me, but extremely troubling, that i can write and write for days on [...]
May 31, 2008 at 3:55 pm |
All you sound like is a disgruntled employee who just wants to beat down this company. Why don’t you look for a new job and stop bitching?
You look bad, dude.
May 31, 2008 at 4:09 pm |
Oh and to all the people currently working at an Apple Retail store who say “FUCK STEVE JOBS” — The man who signs your paycheck. And “I hate my store” blah blah blah… just what the fuck is keeping you there?? Leave already! If you’re so damn unhappy with that company, why aren’t you actively seeking other employment with a company you “love”? Stop making all the people who currently do work at the Apple stores look like jackasses. They’re smarter than you, they continue working for a company they love.
Stop bitching and do something to change your life, Mr.-I-hate-Steve-Jobs-the -man-who-signs-my-paychecks. :)
Isn’t that just plain obvious? Grow up.
May 31, 2008 at 11:20 pm |
[...] May 14th and May 15th Matt and Scott were fired, respectively, from Apple Glendale for time fraud.http://mikeywally.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/two-more-friends-fired-from-apple-glendale-for-bullshit-r…dack.com > web > web economy bullshit generatorI love the web bullshit generator. I&39ve been [...]
June 24, 2008 at 8:52 pm |
Guess what – I loved my store… I OPENED the place… and I just got canned for BS reasons and quite possibly have enough to sue for EEOC violations and discrimination. It went to crap when new managers were brought in to backfill for our SM who was promoted. Apple Retail seems to be absorbing the bad habits of Target, Old Navy, Gap, and other less-desirable retailers. I suspect I was a target because I was making way took much per hour (approx 1.5x what they were offering new hires). I started at corporate… wish I had stayed there.
and to all the abusive, rude, self-entitled a-hole customers out there – won’t miss you a bit and hope that iPhone you bought your 2 year-old to teethe on gives you cancer…
— and one more thing — Apple Retail loves to violate federal labor laws – I didn’t get properly scheduled breaks and lunch periods for 85% of my shifts… and to think I was honestly trying to give our customers the best service possible… over 2+ years, Apple Retail owes me over 160 hours of extra compensation for all of the break periods I never got and the lunches cut short or constantly interrupted.
June 26, 2008 at 3:08 pm |
[...] dictated that I had to change my diet. Also, you’re too ignorant for your own good. From my post about friends getting fired at Apple: avenger [...]
July 10, 2008 at 9:53 pm |
I got fired from apple for similar reasons.
I missed a voluntary training session in my first month of working there because management told me it was optional. A month after missing it they informed me I was on my final warning and the policy had changed. They cited an email I was supposed have received. I never got it. A month later I got sick and they said I was fired, doctors note or not. What sucks is that I talked to people who had missed work 11 times and had no warning. I was a good employee with no porblems. Apple’s policy of the employee first is a bunch of happy horse shit.
November 24, 2008 at 12:47 pm |
“its not that amazing to me, but extremely troubling, that i can write and write for days on something that matters, like people starving to death in Los Angeles, at my back door, and people wont give a shit, but as soon as I post something about Apple, people care. isnt that representational enough of whats going on in America? that people care more about consumerism and buying shit, than making sure their neighbor is fed?”
Yeah. That’s it. We care more about Apple than the homeless.
Think, dude. Homelessness is a big messy problem we’ve been dealing with for decades, and one blog post won’t change it one way or another.
This is a personal story about someone being fired for f***ing off. Of course everyone’s going to have an opinion. You can’t be surprised if the whole world doesn’t share your indignation.
Retail is a miserable side of the business. No question that this manager sounds like a draconian idiot who had it in for these guys. But seriously… The analogy doesn’t really hold.
May 9, 2009 at 12:52 pm |
I knew 3 people that got fired from my retail store for reasons that didn’t make sense. I actually just told them to go screw themselves and quit just before going on a break. I know what some of you are talking about with the playing favorites. We are not suppose to wear sandles or flip flops and yet several employees are allowed to do it. We aren’t suppose to wear our work T anywhere but work, yet several employees do it and yet they aren’t told anything and they are still there. Also, I agree they change policies and rules like you would change your underwear. I went to work one day and while on the floor they changed the BOH door code. I had to ask another guy what it was. They never told us they were changing it and never sent an email or anything. I’ve missed so many breaks it’s sad. And I”ve seen countless other employees miss work without having there shifts covered and yet I was out of town on meetings and had to wait for my partner and called 3 hours early to let them know that I wouldn’t be in and yet got written up both times and then told that if it happened again that I’d be fired. My store manager that was there when I started even left and went somewhere else. I can completely understand posting pictures and business content and espionage type crap and being fired for that. But if your going to play favorites with 1-2 employees don’t get caught. Oh, and my manager told me that we had to give him 3 weeks notice if we wanted to request off even though he sent us our schedules 2-3 days in advance. And he wasn’t even the one that made up the schedules. He just approved them.
Also, can someone tell me what they (apple) considers full-time? 30 or 40 hours/ week?
I think it funny that I would get scheduled for 29.5 hrs one week and then 25 the next. Yes, I liked the money, but I wasn’t just going to work for the money; I can work at McD’s for that. and deal with some of the same crap.
I really am glad that alot of people are still happy working at their retail stores and I hope they will be for yrs to come. Until managers change and someone else becomes the favorite or new crew is hired and you get brought up and fired for sexual harassment. or even wear your work T outside of work and get caught and get canned.