The best excuses not to tip you have ever heard

[orys]

Arrived to the construction side in North London at 7am as instructed

“You have to wait, it’s to early to drive a forklift, neighbours complaining about a noise”.

9 am “Now the children are going to school, we have to close our gates now”

10:00 drove into the yard. Opened the courtains “We won’t touch this, it’s glass, it’s too dangerous, we don’t want to do anything wrong, we want to wait for your fitters”

Waited till fitters came from Plymouth.

14:30 “We won’t touch this, until we got faxed confirmation from your company that they’ll take responsibility for some breakages”

15:30, fax arrived. Forklift driver “■■■■ you, I am working to four o’clocl only, I can’t do it in half an hour, so I am not even starting. And as I have nothing to do, I am going home”.

16:00 Fitters agreed with company to get our own forklift driver.

16:45 He arrived from other construction site, but he was only 19, and glass is dangerous so he’s not allowed to do that on this site if he’s not 21

17:00 I was called from my company to screw them and go to the other delivery. When I was strapping the load the safety inspector came and told me that I am not allowed on the back of my lorry. I asked him how he imagine that I will do that without climbing onto the lorry (it wasn’t only strapping, but it was about putting the polysteren to avoid smashing the glass by straps).

I waited until he left home and did is as normal, then drove away.

Next day I had another half of the lorry with the same load to deliver to some other construction site. There were polish guys working.

20 minutes and all was handballed off the lorry

The other time I had 40 minutes safety induction and then I was driving for about 5 hours arround the steel mill as noone wanted to take stuff off me. No one knew nothing there, they were only sending me from one place to another.

Finally when I was unloaded forklift driver told me to do not worry, as recently other driver spend 1.5 DAYS on driving here and back in this steel mill before they took his load off.

[shuttlespanker]

orys:
Arrived to the construction side in North London at 7am as instructed

“You have to wait, it’s to early to drive a forklift, neighbours complaining about a noise”.

9 am “Now the children are going to school, we have to close our gates now”

10:00 drove into the yard. Opened the courtains “We won’t touch this, it’s glass, it’s too dangerous, we don’t want to do anything wrong, we want to wait for your fitters”

Waited till fitters came from Plymouth.

14:30 “We won’t touch this, until we got faxed confirmation from your company that they’ll take responsibility for some breakages”

15:30, fax arrived. Forklift driver “[zb] you, I am working to four o’clocl only, I can’t do it in half an hour, so I am not even starting. And as I have nothing to do, I am going home”.

16:00 Fitters agreed with company to get our own forklift driver.

16:45 He arrived from other construction site, but he was only 19, and glass is dangerous so he’s not allowed to do that on this site if he’s not 21

17:00 I was called from my company to screw them and go to the other delivery. When I was strapping the load the safety inspector came and told me that I am not allowed on the back of my lorry. I asked him how he imagine that I will do that without climbing onto the lorry (it wasn’t only strapping, but it was about putting the polysteren to avoid smashing the glass by straps).

I waited until he left home and did is as normal, then drove away.

Next day I had another half of the lorry with the same load to deliver to some other construction site. There were polish guys working.

20 minutes and all was handballed off the lorry

The other time I had 40 minutes safety induction and then I was driving for about 5 hours arround the steel mill as noone wanted to take stuff off me. No one knew nothing there, they were only sending me from one place to another.

Finally when I was unloaded forklift driver told me to do not worry, as recently other driver spend 1.5 DAYS on driving here and back in this steel mill before they took his load off.

sorry, third attempt, they either get someone to come to me to offload or they sign to say it has been refused

[orys]

shuttlespanker:
sorry, third attempt, they either get someone to come to me to offload or they sign to say it has been refused

It wasn’t a transport company, they should be fitters on the site, but they weren’t so it was some kind of our fault…

But from the other hand - no one knew nothing, nor in my company, nor there… And I have nothing else to do and I was paid per hour, so whatever

[shuttlespanker]

i was referring to the steel mill where they sent you to different areas to tip

[orys]

Yeah, but it was still the same company. They had some office building refubrished and they were using our glass to that. So it was still some construction site, but within the steel mill area

[kemaro]

we have a strict 3foot high load policy, nobody is going up there to rig the load (it was 4foot 3) take it away.

[buck_rogers]

car salesmen have a built in"car transporter" sensor,as soon as you pull up outside a dealership,i have never seen them move so fast.
if you do manage to pin one down,you get excuses ranging from"but its raining,to it"s to dark driver",or they look busy talking to an imaginary customer on the phone.
i pulled up once at the volvo dealer at newcastle on a friday afternoon,with 1 car left on my truck for them,i saw the salesmen scarper.after taking the car off,waiting for 45 mins,asking 3 times for it to be checked,i saw red,put in back on the truck,then a salesman came out,and said he"d check it in now.i told him it was too late,it was going back to immingham,and they would be charged for a failed delivery(bluffing).
when i rang the manager,however,she told me to do just that,next time i went,there was 5 salesmen out,before i got my handbrake on.

[inselaffe]

orys:
Arrived to the construction side in North London at 7am as instructed

“You have to wait, it’s to early to drive a forklift, neighbours complaining about a noise”.

9 am “Now the children are going to school, we have to close our gates now”

10:00 drove into the yard. Opened the courtains “We won’t touch this, it’s glass, it’s too dangerous, we don’t want to do anything wrong, we want to wait for your fitters”

Waited till fitters came from Plymouth.

14:30 “We won’t touch this, until we got faxed confirmation from your company that they’ll take responsibility for some breakages”

15:30, fax arrived. Forklift driver “[zb] you, I am working to four o’clocl only, I can’t do it in half an hour, so I am not even starting. And as I have nothing to do, I am going home”.

16:00 Fitters agreed with company to get our own forklift driver.

16:45 He arrived from other construction site, but he was only 19, and glass is dangerous so he’s not allowed to do that on this site if he’s not 21

17:00 I was called from my company to screw them and go to the other delivery. When I was strapping the load the safety inspector came and told me that I am not allowed on the back of my lorry. I asked him how he imagine that I will do that without climbing onto the lorry (it wasn’t only strapping, but it was about putting the polysteren to avoid smashing the glass by straps).

I waited until he left home and did is as normal, then drove away.

Next day I had another half of the lorry with the same load to deliver to some other construction site. There were polish guys working.

20 minutes and all was handballed off the lorry:D

The other time I had 40 minutes safety induction and then I was driving for about 5 hours arround the steel mill as noone wanted to take stuff off me. No one knew nothing there, they were only sending me from one place to another.

Finally when I was unloaded forklift driver told me to do not worry, as recently other driver spend 1.5 DAYS on driving here and back in this steel mill before they took his load off.

Don’t know whether to laugh or cry reading this.
What a shining example of the British working attitude these days.
I can only assume that they acted like this because Orys is “one of them foreign twits” (other vowels are available) and they thought that it “would be a right larf, innit” to mess him around.
What a sad and sorry place the UK has become.
These plonkers deserve everything coming to them in the current economic climate.
Jobsworth muppets

[limeyphil]

I turned up at a site, opened the roof, opened the curtains, then went for breakfast. I came back about 45 minutes later, Nothing had been done.
“what’s up” i asked.
“We can’t tip you because you, you havn’t been inducted” said the slinger.
“Where the [zb] have you been you stupid, thick [zb]” said some prick.
I then put my thumb into his windpipe until he passed out.
When he came round a few minutes later, i explained that he would be able to talk again in a couple of hours, at which point i would like an appology fo his rudeness.
He did .

[tc_trans]

had a 10.00am booking at Argos bedford recently, pulled upto gatehouse at 9.55am, went through the usual rigmorole to get in and then drove to goods in.
Booked in at window at 10.15am, got the usual your late etc etc. Told them to look at paperwork from gatehouse who booked me in at 9.55.

Bloke just a surly git and having none of it, just park over there and we will call you when we have a bay free.

My customer pays demurage after 2 hours, so as the magic 2 hour mark is nearly here I called my customer told them the story and they told me to get notes and pull out as Argos are always doing it.

Got notes, pulled out took trailer back to MK, load rebooked for following day and me, I got paid twice for the job £265 each day for a quick hop across to bedford, each one after a first load as well.

Theyc an refuse me as many times as they like

[orys]

Inselaffe:
Don’t know whether to laugh or cry reading this.
What a shining example of the British working attitude these days.
I can only assume that they acted like this because Orys is “one of them foreign twits” (other vowels are available) and they thought that it “would be a right larf, innit” to mess him around.
What a sad and sorry place the UK has become.
These plonkers deserve everything coming to them in the current economic climate.
Jobsworth muppets

As for the second site I only recognized that they are Poles after we already started to work together. As for the first site, they were messing arround with as even after two Scottish fitters came in their van (unless off course Scots aren’t liked in London as much as Poles…)

But I have to note, that this Polish guys help may be seen from the other point of view as a bad thing: first, they had nothing to do with our company, they were just workers for some other subcontracor. So they were paid by someone else for working for us. And second thing: they were handbaling fragile glass of the lorry by hands, what is not necesarrly OK according to H&S rules (altough we were doing it all the time).

But generally speaking I prefer such thing that we are all working on this site to build that building so today I help you and tommorow you will help me, rather than “it’s not my job” attitude…

[wheel_nut]

tc trans:
had a 10.00am booking at Argos bedford recently, pulled upto gatehouse at 9.55am, went through the usual rigmorole to get in and then drove to goods in.
Booked in at window at 10.15am, got the usual your late etc etc. Told them to look at paperwork from gatehouse who booked me in at 9.55.

Bloke just a surly git and having none of it, just park over there and we will call you when we have a bay free.

My customer pays demurage after 2 hours, so as the magic 2 hour mark is nearly here I called my customer told them the story and they told me to get notes and pull out as Argos are always doing it.

Got notes, pulled out took trailer back to MK, load rebooked for following day and me, I got paid twice for the job £265 each day for a quick hop across to bedford, each one after a first load as well.

Theyc an refuse me as many times as they like

It is these sort of things that the RHA and FTA should be concentrating on, more drivers should just refuse to take any more crap from these little tin gods. I cannot blame TC Trans for smiling, he gets paid over and over again. However it isnt hurting Argos, they either put up their prices or refuse to deal with that supplier.

I avoid shopping at Tesco because of their treatment of lorry drivers, (every little helps)

[david_h]

We can’t unload you because its the weekend.

But its only Thursday…

Yes, the weekend, in shala, we can tip you on Saturday after the weekend.

[buck_rogers]

it would be a nice world if the companies were billed on a minute by minute scale when they keep people sitting waiting to tip.

[sidevalve]

Turned up at a plumber’s merchant in the middle of Birmingham years ago with a box van, last drop, one small light pallet on back. They go for dinner at 12.30; it’s twenty past and the bay’s empty, so I pull on and find the storeman. He’s already spotted me, comes out of office with snap box in one hand and Daily Mirror in the other, “Sorry drive we’re going for dinner”.

I does the usual, “C’mon mate it’s only one lift, just sign here and I’ll pull it off”. All I get from Mr. Jobsworth is a mouthful of abuse, so time for Plan B.

I wait till five to one, put tacho on break and go for a walk; came back at twenty past to find storeman doing his nut 'cos he can’t get their own van on the dock.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? "

“Just been for me dinner”. I take the padlock off, open the shutter, push the pallet off… “Sign here mate”.

Never got sent there again!

[shuttlespanker]

i got to a place at 17:15, they close at 17:30

1 pallett, all same stuff

2 blokes sitting on forklift trucks in yard having a ■■■

they tell me to go away and come back the following day cos i too late, they closed, i tied a rope round the pallett and the other end round the gatepost and drove off

one pallett of stuff, now all over the floor, tell them to sign the paperwork

if they want to come it with me, i will come it with them

[wheel_nut]

buck73:
it would be a nice world if the companies were billed on a minute by minute scale when they keep people sitting waiting to tip.

I am not sure whether the hauliers have just given up on demurrage but 20 years ago all hell would break lose in the traffic office on a Saturday if you had not had your times signed for on the POD.

Im sure now with all the silly booking times, they just do it to see how many lorries they can get in the yard.

During the summer, we had a delivery in Batley. The customer had asked for 4 trailers to arrive at 9am on Monday. at 9am the next day the 4th truck was just starting to tip

[pete904ni]

Well now I’ve a story from the other side of this when I worked at a busy goods in dept. Usually 4 of us forklift drivers plus supervisor but due to sickness/holidays in other ends of the warehouse I was on my own in the flt and had an agencey helper to sort paperwork etc. Was going on 3 o’clock and had 2 to tip when a mad man lands in with a FRIDGE full of empty 6m stillages.(needing 2 forklifts to somehow drag them out and lift them)

told him no way mabye if we had full staff. He got a bit arsey wanting the manager so I did. The manager asked what the [zb] was going on they were told to bring them in a tautliner. He flew out of the yard raging and came back the next day with a tautliner with the stacks of stillages collasped in a big pile in the middle upsidedown all over the show smirking “unload that”.

me: “no take it away and come back with it right”

day 3 day a different driver (same company) brought it in a tautliner stacked properly. unloaded no problem but that transport company’s contract was ended with us.