Job Story: Me and Friendlys and my Piling Tuition Debts-- restaurant worker

[Unregistered]

they screwed me too

[Unregistered]

Get over yourself. Sounds like a real world experience to me. Who's the real brat here?

[Unregistered]

i too have worked for the company and am a full time college student, i agree with your experience being horrible b/c the same thing happened to me but I am a waitress.

[Unregistered]

I guess thats what happens when you chose Friendly's over higher restaurants..I work there as well, and it won't be much longer before I quit...It's hard to get higher up in the restaurant buisness, and so i figure from Friendly's I can go to Apple Bees and then Olive Garden and so on...

[Unregistered]

The reason I was working at Friendlys--as opposed to a "real" restaurant establishment--was because I needed a job, "any" job, in a bind...Friendlys was the only restaurant of the 15 I applied to, that scheduled me an on-the-spot interview. None of the others even called me back.

The most angering thing about Friendlys was how they screwed me over with my schoolwork. The fact that I had not been made a waitress(with higher-wage than the counter job they stuck me with) was an insult to injury. The annoying bratty younger coworkers just made this whole "pointless-to-work-at job" situation that much more annoying.

The most important lessons I learned from this? To be assertive! I was afraid/too shy to confront management about the crappy scheduling or not being given my promised waitress position, because I was afraid they'd get mad at me. I was partly right about them probably getting mad at me(since some of the employees there were not exactly the nicest), but I shouldn't have cared!! Schoolwork and my own personal finances are more important than playing Friendly's loyal patsy!

The other lesson I learned is that with a dead-end job like Friendlys, things like "recommendations," "not burning bridges," and sticking out the job over a prolonged period of time(despite it causing me great financial hardship) are NOT WORTH IT. Besides--no matter how "great" a recommendation could be from the vapid managers who really could care less about me, how good does Friendlys look on a resume when you're applying to high-end pharmaceuticals?--It doesn't matter one bit whether Friendlys is on there or not! In the long run, a job at Friendlys IS meaningless and therefore I shouldn't have devoted so much loyalty to them!

[Unregistered]

waaaaa!! I had to work a couple hours on a Sunday....waaa!! they didn't let me go home and study...waaa they thought I was a teenager when I'm a whole 2 years older! I wanted to only work when it was convinient for me but I'm not making enough money! But I'm "pre-med" I'm smarter than them I should get whatever I want.

Sounds like you need to grow up honey! Friendly's has a buisness to run and they need people to work to fill in all the shifts. They are not your mommy and daddy, they don't have to work around your schedule and let you go home and study because you think you're going to be a doctor someday! If you need the money then study before you go to work and stay up late to finish studying after you get home. The world does not revolve around you!

[Unregistered]

"waaaaa!! I had to work a couple hours on a Sunday....waaa!! they didn't let me go home and study...waaa"

LOOK it just was not WORTH IT to drive nearly an hour round-trip to work, just to work two hours. Two hours of work = 2x$7 = $14 - taxes = APPROXIMATELY A MERE TEN DOLLARS. I have NO PROBLEM working through a short two hours, but when it involves interrupting a rigorous study session the night before an exam for a longer-than-necessary drive, NO I do NOT think that $10 is worth it when my college courses were costing me in the thousands.


"I wanted to only work when it was convinient for me but I'm not making enough money!"

Uh, even though it was inconvenient for me to work those hours, I STILL WORKED THEM because I was loyal/diligent/submissive/A KISS-UPPY IDIOT. The reason I didn't make enough money was because they had me working a set hourly, barely-above-minimum wage, whereas the servers made mroe money through tips.

"But I'm "pre-med" I'm smarter than them I should get whatever I want."

No, I did NOT want "whatever I wanted," I just wanted to be treated EQUAL to everyone and not treated like the dirt under everyones' feet. Such as: having a fair share of work hours as a (higher-paid) waitress. And them taking my notice seriously. And not getting all pissy when I told them I wasn't able to work a shift that I'd already given TWO MONTHS NOTICE(in the form of my preliminary AVAILABILITY FORM WHEN I WAS HIRED).

"Friendly's has a buisness to run and they need people to work to fill in all the shifts."

I understand that. Adding on to your comment--not only does Friendly's need people to fill in all the shifts, but it makes it much easier for them to schedule the college student who doesn't complain out loud, than to schedule the high school kids who will complain or quit on the spot. My complaints on this website are a way to vent because I DIDN'T ever complain while at Friendlys, and because they took advantage of my compliance with their schedule(which was convenient for them, but very inconvenient for me), I regret not speaking up!!! A GOOD BUSINESS IS SUPPOSED TO FORM A COMPROMISE BETWEEN THE EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES!!! THE WORLD DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND ME, BUT IT ALSO DOESN'T REVOLVE AROUND THE FRIENDLY'S MANAGERS, EITHER!! IT'S CALLED GIVE-AND-TAKE BETWEEN EMPLOYEES AND EMPLOYERS! I NEVER COMPLAINED, I DON'T THINK I'M ASKING FOR MUCH! Obviously it wasn't just a problem I had, if other people on this message board claim Friendly's did the same thing to them too.

"If you need the money then study before you go to work and stay up late to finish studying after you get home."

Obviously then you've never been a college student, or if you have, then you either didn't have good study skills or else you don't acknowledge that staying up late to all hours of the night does NOT work for EVERYONE. Point is, I was available all day to work at Friendlys--from opening hours to 8pm at night. A nice long 8-hr shift during the day would have been PREFERABLE and would have work fine with my studying--if I was off by (again I'm repeating) 8pm at night as stated in my AVAILABILITY. THEY MAKE YOU FILL OUT AVAILABILITY FORMS FOR A REASON. A 2-hr shift was small enough to prevent me from making any real money, but late enough in the night that it took my mind away from my studies the night before. IT WAS A POINTLESS SHIFT.

MY CONCLUDING POINT?? For a $7/hr dead-end "McJob," it was NOT WORTH IT for me to put myself out on a limb like I did for Friendlys at the stake of my schoolwork. If Friendlys really needed people that badly to fill in shifts, they would have been better off looking for people that didn't have such a rigorous school schedule. They should have WORKED WITH THE EMPLOYEES NOT AGAINST THEM. They took advantage of my niceness and willingness to comply with a schedule that I knew was highly inconvenient. And what did Friendly's ever do for me, after I did everything for them--including working past my "last day" that I told them in my notice?--HA, NOTHING! Before I quit, they wouldn't even so much as take more than 5mins of their time to write up a "verification of employment" letter to show a landlord! The retail job I got right after Friendlys typed up this professional letter for me on my first day of orientation/training!

[Unregistered]

ahhh yes, Friendlys. They rearly meet staffs requsets for avalibilty and days off needed. ( three weeks notice for a day off. ) And if an emerengcy comes up at home, you can't call in . You will need 5 forms of proof that you where needed at home.
It takes months to train you in what you where hired for, your off covering the fountain, or doing dishes, even though you are despertly need to waitress . (which you where hired for.)
To manage is even harder. You can't have a full staff on because the Dm is down the store managers neck about there numbers and there bounce will reflect in the lower numbers. How do you explain to a waitress she has to wash her section floor before she leaves. No change in rate pay.
But Friendlys is great for giving out free food and gift cards . Any comment you send to corp. They will send you a gift card.
The customers they atract are only there because they know they can get free food.

[miasadie]

Every single worker there is replaceable, once you become upper management it's a little harder - but they'll put any moron up there - and the dishwasher could tell them more about running a restaurant.
It's a way to make money - if you hold your ground about the hours you can work, make your money. Make your availability less than it really is, and cover shifts when you can - not when someone tells you that you have to. Wait out getting to be a server, a new server's position is worse than a fountain workers, except for the cash. You'll get every cheapskate, the worst sections, and attitude from the retarded cooks that don't know the difference from well done to rare.
You must use school as a resource, and time needed off or the days you can work will revolve around that. Plan your social life around those extra days you aren't obligated to work.
It is a mean business, and if you don't want to be a Friendly's manager (and the DM sucks), keep away from supervising. It's less money and way more responsibility. And you as a new manager become the fall guy for anything that happens ever.
If you are lucky, you'll work with people who actually aren't afraid to work, want to do a good job, and follow them. (Maybe 6%)
Wait it out, if you do a good job moving ice cream, they'll make you a server... eventually.
It has taken years, if that is too long (ha ha), tell them Denny's or who ever (hopefully it will be true), will hire you as a server. Give them one month (things always are slow there) to orient you as a server AND ** promise you at least 1/2 of your shifts at Friendlys will be as a server. They'll wean you away from the fountain - but they'll want to see you do well as a waitress and give it a few weeks. After that you should kick ass as a server (compared to the downtrodden workers they've been keeping on for years). And just kick ass, if you don't it's icecream and receipts.
I know I've played the game, I work elsewhere now. :)
Make work work for you!

[MinWageJobsSck]

"Make work work for you!"

I am this story's original poster. Well, I am doing just that...by NOT working at Friendlys! Sometimes, you gotta examine a job/situation and realize when it reaches the point of more harmful than helpful. What good was Friendly's for me, anyway? They didn't pay peanuts...like I said in the story, I was put in the NEGATIVE by Friendly's...they literally costed me hundreds of dollars. I was far from the only kid at that Friendly's who had interference with my grades, so I know it wasn't just me. It wasn't like Friendly's was an internship or a job in my desired career field...unless I wanted to make low-end restaurant management my career...yuck!(sorry, but it's just not my thing) The only reason I worked at Friendly's was for summertime cash, so I worked hard and compromised my needs/wants, and Friendly's couldn't even do that right for me without screwing up and costing me more money than they made for me.

I WILL admit that I made a few mistakes, though. One, I was too unassertive. As a result, people often used me like a doormat and they kept me at fountain because no one else wanted the lowest-paying job. They also screwed with my schedule all the time yet they wouldn't even let me call out one single time when I had a schoolwork emergency. This occured because I wasn't b*tchy or ballsy enough; I was too timid, meek, and shy. The other mistake that I made was staying there too long. I shoulda quit while I was ahead, because even staying at home and studying woulda been more financially effective than driving all those hours to Friendly's. I didn't have very good support at the time...I had a nagging mother who cared more about me having "A" job at all than the quality/effectiveness of the job(she never went to college, so she couldn't understand how much school stress I was under and how it woulda had more long-term pay-off to do good in school and worry about min wage jobs at another time). I also had a possessive boyfriend at the time who would call me "spoiled" or "demanding" every time I complained about how Friendly's wronged me...simply because he was trying to exercise control, and because he didn't want me possibly getting a job that was better than his(he was a controlling nutcase). So yeah those are my mistakes...basically people took advantage of my niceness or my lack of standing up for myself. How "nice".

[MinWageJobsSck]

Oh wait! Did I ever tell you guys about the time they let someone STEAL MY SHIFT?

OK I was at college all day, and ventured out into the rush hour traffic to get to Friendly's. When I reached the plaza parking lot that Friendly's was located in, I got followed then cornered in by my at-time overcontrolling boyfriend(he was HORRIBLE. In the same way that Friendly's was one of the worst jobs I ever had, he was THE worst boyfriend I've ever singly had. He also showed up at work nearly every single day and lingered around in a stalker-esque fashion. The employees got to know me as "Bob's girlfriend" before they knew me by my real name, and this guy didn't even work there!!!). He said, "I've got good news and bad news. The good news is, yay you can come hang out with me for all of tonight! The bad news is, this is because Friendly's cancelled your shift." I was all confused, like "What?????" So then my at-time bf explained that earlier that day, New Girl came in on her off-day by accident. Instead of sending her home or letting her work alongside all the scheduled workers, the management decided to just give away my shift to her. Apparently they called my bf's cell to tell him this not much earlier. If I'd known this earlier that day, I might have still been able to salvage something, by staying at my college's library and studying...as opposed to wasting all that time in rush hour traffic and now being hounded by the undesired boyfriend.

So by that point, the rush hour traffic was really building up and I was stuck hanging around this total psychocase of a boyfriend, so what do we decide to do?...Patronize Friendly's by buying dinner! It was such a stupid thing to do. WHY would I want to give Friendly's my money when they just costed me money and time? But the idiot boyfriend seemed more than willing to do so.

So the very next day, I was in class and I didn't feel too good. Plus, I got a not-so-stellar grade on a test from the week prior and I felt so overwhelmed when I realized how much schoolwork I had, extra studying I had to do now, and how much energy I laked. I called up Friendly's to call out...first time ever...and it was on an average weekday evening shift, not the busiest day of the week or anything. They told me that I was NOT ALLOWED TO CALL OUT. WTF?? I was thinking sarcastically, "Where's New Girl to take over my shift? Oh, you can give away my shift to New Girl with little to no notice, but you can't let me call out?" So they could dish it out but couldn't take it.