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1) Posted by: BenThair (
xx.72.160.8 ) Kinko's problem is that they advertise themselves as being like some sort of fast food restuarant where you can put an order in and have it right away, not so. People have a lot of complex orders to fill and this simply cannot be done in the way that one can slap a burger together, nothing there is pre-setup and ready to be thrown together for the customer. If an order is to be done right and on time, a lot of factors have to be considered and if the store has X number of customers and X number of employees on staff, with X number of machines in working order, it can be extremely hectic depending on the scenerio. Adding to this, the quality of the finished product also has to be considered. If there are not enough people on staff and equipment is not working and stacks of other jobs are pending and other customers are also waiting in line, also, if the person handling your job has not been trained fully, it can often be a disaster waiting to happen, as often the case is at Kinko's. It has a lot to do break-down of management, in that it's their failure to recognize these things and take effective measures to sort them out. Hope this gives you a better understanding of how things work and don't work at Kinkos. :) |
2) Posted by: BenThair (
xx.72.160.8 ) More rants like these need to be posted here so that the CEOs and management at Kinkos would finally wake up and realise that their employees are being over-worked and under-paid at the hands of these folk at upper-levels who reap the rewards from off of their hard work and sweat. The initial post is NOT an isolated event, this sort of thing is happening at Kinko locations everywhere, and it's all due to the things I've mentioned above............POOR MANAGEMENT!! |
3) Posted by: Scott M (
xx.241.196.2 ) Well, I decided a while ago that when I am overly disatisified or satisfied with a company's service, I'm going to let the world know. I would hope that before I use a company's service, I could do a search on the Internet to read about others' past experiences with the company. |
4) Posted by: Lemming (
xx.34.59.225 ) This sort of problem has been happening at Kinko's since the beginning. The only benefit of using them is that they have the expensive color laser printers (and copiers), etc. there. Once in a while they actually work, although, it seems like once you go in it takes at least an hour to do the simplest things. Plus, a lot of the employees don't seem to know what is going on, or seem to care a whit for the quality of the product they're turning out, even if they seem to understand the instructions a customer has given them. Something is definitely wrong with their business model despite the fact they seem to be cropping up everywhere. |
5) Posted by: BenThair (
xx.77.5.69 ) Here are the facts about Kinkos. They're under staffed, employees are not properly trained (half of them, even those who have been there for years, STILL don't have a clue as to what they're doing, REALLY, this includes assistant managers as well as branch managers, SHAME!!) the employees are under-paid for the kind of work they do ( i.e.,any computer related work), the employees are often stuck doing a lot of OT because other employees there simply REFUSE to take over work passed down from a previous shift, the BULK of Kinkos work is done on 3rd shift and as a result employess on that shift are over-worked because the work-load hasn't been spread out over 1st and 2nd shift due partly to understaffing and employess just unwilling to do the work, the average amount of time a new employee stays with Kinkos is about 3 to 6 months, why?, because they're lied to about certain aspects of the job, they're underpaid, they're overworked, bickering between shifts, manangement doesn't give a shit, poor or mis-judged turn-around times (i.e., an employee gives a due time for the customer that isn't realistic for the store based on other pending jobs, lack of staffing, and size of the job itself), the list goes on and on. Faxes Emails (jobs sent by customers) Mounting(putting oversized posters onto a stiff backing) Banners(vynil or paper) Bindings (putting books together) Express Services (assisting customers on b&w,color and oversized copiers, helping customers in the computer area with software related problems, emailing, printer jams, computer cashes, scanning text and/or graphics, floppy problems such as jams, disk not reading, disk is blank, same with zips.) (Note) that Kinkos doesn't train their employees as computer techs or software experts, however, customers think that because there is a computer express area that also the employees MUST have knowledge about computers, ABSOLUTELY false!! Litigation (The MOTHER of all jobs and often thrown onto 3rd shift cause no other shift wants to touch it. EXTREMELY tedious work dealing with various sizes and kinds of paper, folders,staples,paper clips, often requiring hand-placement(placing individual sheets of paper onto the copier's glass surface one by one, not for the weak at foot or fingers.) Rush Jobs (emailed jobs that alert the employee via, get this, a stobe light, yep, that's right, a visual siren is set off to alert the employee to stop what ever they're doing and get this particular job done first.) This is just a peek of what goes on behind Kinkos in just one day and often things get pretty disasterous due to lack of staffing, poor manangement, poorly trained employees and a number of other things I've already mentioned. I just hope that someone comes along soon and straightens this mess out, as it is LONG overdue. Anyone else have horror stories PLEASE rant on. :) |
6) Posted by: Denari (
xx.47.135.214 ) I am ashamed to say I work for Kinko's. It was once a company that at least pretended to care about the co-workers. Not any longer. They are now founded on making pure profit at any expense to the people who work for them. They decided to save millions by closing the training department and just throw clueless newbies at the front counter. Thus making the employees look like the idiot when it is really a matter of not being trained to do the work they are expected to do. I still can't understand the logic of that when they insist they are customer oriented. The customers are being screwed by over pricing (corporate decision) and by the ignorance of untrained employees to deliver what Kinko's promised. Corporate Kinko's promises quick perfect turn arounds on jobs they don't have a clue about how to do or what it takes to do them. PLUS, they won't allow the staffing needed to do these jobs in a quick turn around time. It's easy to make a promise to a customer when you don't have to face them at the front counter when their job isn't done right or on time. This is not to say all of the co-workers do their best either. God knows there are lazy asses working there who don't deserve the job they have. But some of us bust our asses and are taken advantage of because WE are the one who will get the job done. Management doesn't care. Corporate doesn't care. And the customers don't care. All that matters is the customer is always right as long as they will spend a single penny at a money hungry corporation so the higher ups can padd their already overfilled pockets with our blood, sweat and tears. So if anyone wants to blame anyone, blame our illustrious CEO and those at the top of the food chain. |
7) Posted by: jubjub (
xx.25.160.181 ) I agree completely with Denari. -A concerned employee |
8) Posted by: charlie (
xx.68.111.125 ) so... there used to be a training department? im also a kinkos employee, and i agree with a lot of whats been posted here so far. ive been with the company for about ninety days, only one of which was spent on training (and even that wasn't training for the department i ended up in). c.s. |
9) Posted by: what??? (
xx.225.198.8 ) America is lazy. Yes working at Kinko's is hard work and it does get crazy, but every job is hard work that is why you get paid. You get paid to do your job and if everyone would stop crying about how much money they make and how much more someone makes that has busted their ass to get where they are, this country may have some hope. If you think you could get paid better working somewhere else then go. I don't think anyone is going to hand you a bag of money because you know how to make copies and you can multitask. I can see where the problem with Kinko's lies it's with the selfish ungreatful employees who think their better then their job so refuse to do it. I work at Kinko's and I do wish it was better than it is, but that can only happpen with hard work and less whining. Jobs should not be late. Jobs should be done right. If a copier goes down send the job out to another Kinko's or call the customer ahead and let them know their jobs not done. There are people willing to work hard and put effort into their job and not sit on their ass and think about the money they make, those people have better jobs and are impressing the people who get them those jobs. |
10) Posted by: deadman (
xxx.196.161.55 ) be fair. ask yourselves what other company kinko's is like. everyone is disappointed because no one knows what to expect. when you go to a bank, you know what to expect. when you go to a restaurant, you know what to expect. at kinko's there is no business model to follow hence there is no system and things very easily slip out of control. good customers get screwed and good coworkers have to put up with others' dropping the ball. and of course, there are the idiots who go to kinko's and cannot even figure out how to use a paper cutter (or don't have the fortitude to try). |
11) Posted by: Younghistorians (
xx.239.200.250 ) Scott- |
12) Posted by: Scott (
xx.81.211.187 ) Not yet. |
13) Posted by: BenThair (
xx.77.13.175 ) Obviously this guy 'What' must be in management, he speaks just like one of the LAZY managers himself. In fact, the laziest people at Kinko's are the managers. What he doesn't understand is that in the REAL world, espicially at Kinko's, people do have brains, and they use them well. This is part of the problem, when people like 'WHAT' starting talking about someone else's lazyness, when they themselves, are lazy. Now, I've sat here and gave everyone the complete and full run down on what goes on at Kinko's, I guess 'What' wants to ignore all those facts and just blame it on the employees rather than MANAGEMENT. People aren't leaving employment at Kino's at an extremely alarming rate based on lazyness, there leaving because their being lied to and not being treated fairly. Sure, any brainless person can have a job, yet Kinko's isn't the kind of job for brainless people. So, when the employees at Kinko's, over a period of time, start analyzing all the bullshit that exist within the company and start applying their brain power, MOST do, in fact, quit MR. or MRS What. The only people who stay behind are the ones who have no choice for what ever circumstances. True, some people who do not have a clue, will just take any kind of job and stay at that ONE job until they retire, no matter how they are treated, on the other hand, MOST people understand what BULLSHIT is and what it ISN'T, and 'WHAT', your post is based entirely on BULLSHIT just for the sake of Kinko's name. How many cookies have you been issued so far???........... |
14) Posted by: Satisfied (
xxx.5.27.135 ) Sorry guys, but I have to say that Kinko's is one of the better service companies that I deal with and I deal with a lot. Both the quality of the product and the service are consistantly excellent. As for their business model I would have to say that their success indicates that the model is effective. The very fact that they "are springing up every where" gives lie to the notion that the model is a poor one. On the occasions where there have been problems, and there have been some, the problems have been handled professionally by the employees and when necessary by management. No I am not an employee or stockholder nor do I have any other relationship with Kinko's. I am a heavy user of the printing/copying industry. My major gripe with the copying industry (Kinkos's and elsewhere) is that the hardware is not robust enough and is therefore down more than it should be. |
15) Posted by: BenThair (
xx.77.7.46 ) Satisfied, who ever said Kinko's doesn't turn out an acceptable product....on occasion? The imortant thing to know is what goes on behind the scene that gets you that final package. Your thinking is just like that of the corporate minded individual.....ouput with ZERO input. Shame!! |
16) Posted by: what? (
xx.225.198.8 ) Ben Thair?.... |
17) Posted by: jeff lazare (
xxx.167.163.180 ) I worked at Kinkos in Canada until about a year ago, until I found a real job. I would have to say in 45 yrs of work experience I have never experienced so much harassment and incompetent management. There are good people there, but they never get promoted because they don't fit in with the morons that "run" the company. Our assistant manager, an arrogant little puke who demeaned everybody, was eventually forced to resign after the morons dicovered he had been stealing from the till for over a year. Of course they wouldn't fire him, I think they actually admired his slimy ways. My deepest sympathies go out to anyone still stuck there. |
18) Posted by: BenThair (
xx.77.22.220 ) Mr. What, I believe that I am looking at the BIG picture by pointing out all of the problems that exist within THIS particlular company. What I've done, in essence, is provide everyone here with a picture in it's totality, rather than trying to paint a PERFECT picture, like you yourself are doing. I'm not a youngster MR. What, I talk from experience, and in fact, most of what I'm relaying to everyone here is based on TESTIMONY,from not only people who work for Kinkos, but the customers as well. It's a VERY sad environment that exist within the work atmosphere at Kinkos, when you have District Managers, Branch Managers, Assistant Managers and lastly, Co-Workers who haven't the SLIGHTEST clue as to what the HELL is going on. Now, the solutions to the problems are quite simple, and Mr. What, if YOU had any brains, which apparently, you don't, YOU would have been expressing those solutions yourself a long time ago. So, really, YOU are the perfect example of the kinds of problems existing within the company right now, all talk and NO ANSWERS. Kinko's, plainly and simply has some re-thinking and re-structuring to do, from the inside out, and from the bottom level up, not the other way around. Kinko's marketing strategy is ALL wrong, as they have customers thinking that the company is like some kind of fast food restuarant, which obviously, it isn't. No orders are pre-prepared, waiting to just be handed over to the customer at the drop of a hat. The kind of attention to detail on MOST of these orders WON'T allow for that. Their current marketing strategy needs to be done away with entirely. Stop giving the customers the impression that NO MATTER what kind of order they place, that it will be done right and on time whenever they say, a lot of those orders are a little TOO intricate for that kind of advertising. These are just are few solutions Mr. What, that I've already addressed, and if you would take time to read my previous posts, you'll see that I've have, in fact, addressed many others. But again, you'll just keeping rattling on with the false picture that you want others to see, all for the sake of earning that BIG OL' cookie from Kinko's. And to address the other poster here, it's NO matter that any given company can have locations popping up everywhere like Jack out of the box, as they can fall JUST as fast. I believe that Kinko's will start to crumble very soon, just like those cookies Mr. What keeps on gobbling down. BenThair (Self-Employed and Doing JUST fine.) :) |
19) Posted by: what (
xx.225.198.8 ) Ben Thair, Quite with the cookie thing no one has ever given me a cookie. I have never seen a company with so much interest in the needs of the customers and how to do better in meeting those needs. |
20) Posted by: BenThair (
xx.77.148.64 ) Mr. What, I see that you still fail at paying attention to the things that I have addressed thus far. You're speaking in terms of a customer's request and co-workers fullfilling those requests. What I'm speaking about has nothing to do with CO-WORKERS, they have no part in the structure of Kinkos, the structure of Kinkos was established by the creators of the concept and the ideals behind how the business should operate. Quit trying to direct a finger at the employees, it's NOT their fault, the fault lies SOLEY with the people behind the infastructure of Kinkos, things that occur outside of these facts are due to how things were setup from the beginning. So, solutions must begin at THAT very root, the workers have NOTHING to do with that. What you're trying to get at, is that the responsibility of the co-worker to meet the needs of the customer, is the co-workers fault, when, in fact, that was ESTABLISHED by the CEOs, the initiators of the concepts. If you seek to divert the attention of the viewing public that the determining factors behind the inconsistancies and ineptness and incompetence lay soley with the co-workers, then you are providing the public with falsehoods. Again Mr. What, you are speaking in terms of what you want to keep or sustain for yourself, all for the good of obtaining self recognition, you're basically a ass-kissing glutton......PERIOD!! You'll see Mr. What that there will be more posts here about the negativities that exsists within Kinkos more so than there will be positive ones, as THIS company is one that was destined for failure from it's very beginning. BenThair ( Survivor ) |
21) Posted by: Hue R. Anidiot (
xx.225.198.8 ) Dear Ben Thair, I've taken the liberty to read up on your duelings with Mr.What. One problem you seem to have, is your lack of point. You began with a somewhat valid point, but rebutaled with swearing and a glowing sence of stupidity. No matter how you reword the same argument, it is always the same. The point you keep missing, that Mr.What I think is trying to say, is that THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THE STRUCTURE....IF...IT IS FOLLOWED. Any blueprint is crap, until it is followed correctly. One must grasp, and yes have the knowledge to grasp, the print and follow it to the letter. Cheaper matterials can be substatuted along the way if.. when one disaster strikes you're prepared for the worst. As far as having computer knowledge....My son is 8 years old and I could teach him enough to work at Kinko's in about 3 days. In other words...a highschool education should be enough. There are some jobs at every store that require a higher education. If you happened to get that job and didn't explain your educational background, you're the first link in the poor construction of the structure. With winners like you in the world....no wonder we're going down hill!!! Hue R. Anidiot |
22) Posted by: BenThair (
xx.77.7.125 ) Mr. Idiot, I'll call you that for short. I think part of being creative in an argument is the use of different words, especially, if one makes the same point, else they'll be repeating the SAME exact thing, word for word, so the use of different words is good to keep things fresh. If the structure of Kinko's wasn't weak, then things wouldn't be SO bad there, and there wouldn't be as many compliants as there are now. As, I said before, there are smart people who work for Kinko's......the very brief time that they're there, and when they begin to recognize they their system is all but crap, that's when they start to leave. A weak structure always crumbles over a period of time. BenThair [ The Truth Be Known ] |
23) Posted by: redfly (
xx.42.230.55 ) So I am just about to begin my employment at a Kinko's. But let me begin with my experience with Kinko's as a customer. It has sucked. I attended college in Milwaukee, WI. I received a bachelor's degree in illustration/design. Which means that I spent a lot of late nights at Kinko's trying to get a good print out or binding. I was a poor college student living on very limited budget. But I always had to make sure (after a few bad experiences) that I better put aside at least thirty dollars at the beginning of the week if I was going to do prints at Kinko's. This was due to the fact that the first print never turned out (I did my prints on the computer stations) and I would get charged for it. Also the computer time was the bulk of the purchase. The employees (not all of them, maybe i just got the bad apples) were consistently rude and condescending. Well that is my experience as a customer. Now on to my hiring at Kinko's. I received my degree and returned to Indianapolis to start my career. Well after sending out nearly seventy resumes in two months things were starting to look hopeless. So I thought I will apply at Kinko's so i can make ends meet while I search for a job. I applied online and about three weeks later I got a call. I got my FIRST interview set up. The interview went well, the typical stuff. Then the manager doing the interview informed me that the position was a third shift position. Well no problem. Then they said it was 10 hour shifts. Hmm....I guess that works, I do need a steady flow of income. Even better 40 hours a week. He told me that it would be a 4 days on 3 days off a week (i took that with a grain of salt). Well they set me up with a second interview. No problem, except it took nearly three and a half weeks to get the interview set up. Normally when people are looking for jobs they want immediacy, not over a month to finally get everything set up. The second interview went well too. (I did tell them about my bad experiences as a Kinko's customer, which was pretty funny). Well then I finally got called in to talk to the head guy to get a background check set up. No prob. The feeling I got from this process is that the third shift has got a very high turnover rate. The head manager told me they wanted me because of my college degree and I already know alot of the stuff they do there. Now I have not started yet, and I am a bit nervous about working. So i decided to run a search on "working at kinko's". I found this discussion. And man you guys have really scared me. But it is better to go in prepared than to not know what the situation is really like. Well hopefully I can keep my employment within that 3 to 6 month period. |
24) Posted by: BenThair (
xx.77.23.89 ) RedFly, that was not an uncommon experience you had with an employee at Kinkos. The co-workers are doing a lot of things that aren't even in their job descriptions. When a customer, in your case, comes in with a zip knowing what format it's in and what type of computer to use it on, the empoyee can either open the file(s) for a fee or direct you to log onto a computer in express where you can do it yourself. There can be SO many things happening at once during your visit to Kinkos, and if the emlpoyee(s) is caught up in all of that Kaos, you'll often get those kinds of responses. |
25) Posted by: jrocket (
xxx.244.24.225 ) does anyone here know what the typical pay is for a new Kinko's employee? Also...how does that "profit sharing" program work? And how long do you have to be an employee to get the tuition reimbursement and benefits? |
26) Posted by: Tim Carlton (
xxx.230.181.235 ) I was with Kinko's for seven years. Worked in a variety of positions, all shifts, wound up as Express Manager, showing customers how to make their own copies. The manager let me select my own candidates for helpers. I enjoyed the hectic pace, kept it upbeat & friendly, & built up a sizable clientele of regulars. In seven years I got about five bucks in raises on the hourly, not bad for non-management. But I produced results. Why did I leave? Well, I'd asked to see my numbers. I wanted to know how my department was doing. The store manager said she didn't have the numbers. I suspected bs. I asked the regional manager. He also said he just didn't have the information, sorry. Then I found a copy of the quarterly Profit & Loss statement on the counter in the breakroom. By every measurement my department was in the top 10% of all stores, by some measurements even higher. (This was accomplished by my largely ignoring corporate customer service technique and using my own methods). Another thing: every other department in the store was missing goals by a lot. Only mine was succeeding. And kinko's management had lied to me, not wanting me to know that. I left a short time later, my decision. That was three years ago, and I never set foot in that place again until a few days ago. I went in to make a copy of that hilarious oversized cartoon of all the classic Disney characters involved in a giant sex orgy. |
27) Posted by: Kinkos S.P.C. (
x.35.221.153 ) Ok, who can guess what an S.P.C. is?? I'll give you a hint, the P stands for Project. So I just wrote a heartfelt tear jerking essay about my experiance as a Kinkos Team Member, and how I think people should be a little bit more posative, etc, and during a pause I saw "view current subscriptions", so I clicked on it.....yeah, not good. I'm not even going to re-write the same stuff. |
28) Posted by: BenThair (
xx.77.11.168 ) I'd say Mr. Kinkos, that SPC as applied to your case, means Super Peon Co-Worker.....and that's being nice. Wake up for once in your life and understand that I AM being positive about a company that treats their employees negatively. You talk as if you just stepped out of Disney movie with that kind of CARTOON type rhetoric, Jesus Christ!!?.......Grow Up!! |
29) Posted by: "Mr. Kinkos" (
x.35.221.153 ) Just so you know, "Ben Thair", SPC stands for Senior Project Coordinator. If I was a peon I could understand your view of me as a naïve lemming of some sort, but I'm not. I'm management, part of the "Core team”, but call me what you want, I know what role I play. Since you know so much about the "crappy" structure of Kinko’s, one would think you would know the way each branch is structured and the way tasks and responsibilities are assigned within every branch, not just the ONE in your neighborhood. |
30) Posted by: BenThair (
xx.164.145.33 ) Oh, you're a woman?, well excuuuuuse me MadHam!! It's obvious that you too haven't bothered to read my previous posts, else you'll clearly see that the case with Kinkos is not isolated to one area, but rather, everywhere thoughout this entire globe of ours. I never said that I know everything Miss Peon, but if you feel like I come across as knowing everything, what does that say about you? Are you insecure in your capasity to think sweetheart? Miss Peon, I really hate to burst your lovely little pink bubble, but people do actually live in the REAL world. They experience REAL things, have REAL feelings, go to REAL jobs and have REAL brains. You, on the other hand, live in a world that has a striking resemblance to one big GIGANTIC smiley face.......and your world is called LALA LAND!! |
31) Posted by: m (
xx.225.198.8 ) Ben Thair, You are truly an asshole. You come off as an asshole and you write like an asshole. You sound sexist and narrowminded and actually extremely stupid. All your letters point directly to a mindless individual who goes through life picking on everyone that doesn't agree with them. You have never made a valid point and you rebut by telling people their dumb.... instead it is you that is dumb and should never work for any company.. you would be the weekest link. I'm saddened by the fact that you can type and that you have thoughts that form which compel you to reach the keyboard. The more I think about it I'm suprised you have a computer. Or do you sit at a library all day waiting for someone to actually read the shit you write? If you ever worked at Kinko's, which would suprise me, you were probably the pimple picking chip spewing geek who played on the internet all day and ignored customers. You are a sad case and all I can figure is you are trying to make up for your smallness by sounding bigger or your mom dropped you on your head when she realized she brought you into this world. |
32) Posted by: BenThair (
xx.77.4.83 ) M, I presume that stands for MAGGOT, thanks for the compliments.......YAWN. :) BenThair [I Love You ] ;) |
33) Posted by: YoungHistorians (
xx.239.200.250 ) Scott, if you havent got a reply yet, I say pull out the big guns....this is ridiculous! |
34) Posted by: SEAN(SHHH) (
xx.215.85.235 ) OH BOY!!! I hit this site by accident while trying to get a little info on KINKOS for a "parody" type email...and I CANT HELP IT...I HAVE TO SAY SOMTHING!!!..YOU PEOPLE ARE MAKING A HABIT OF STAYING UP LATE AND WRITING AND FIGHTING ABOUT KINKO'S!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOR GOD'S SAKE ARENT YOU EMBARRASED?!!...YOU SHOULD BE......DAMN good luck in all you do HA HA HA.....im gonna go have SEX with my girlfriend now...oh sorry!! SEX is when two.....OH NEVERMIND!!! you wouldn't understand!! .......he he he ........HA HA HAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! |
35) Posted by: jim dandy (
xx.140.12.2 ) man, this is great. okay, i've been with kinkos since '89. i've been through all the frustration and happiness everyone is bitching/praising about. there is no answer as we will all be worm fodder in the end. the best advise i can give scott is to find the person who seems to have the most sense at the store and make a deal with them. pull them aside and explain your situation to them and them either bribe or tip them. surely a ten spot or a few "quality" beers will get you further along to a finished quality product than complaining to "customer service". once you build up a rapport with the one individual, he/she will go out of their way to take care of you and the others will soon follow suit. using the p2k or docstore can be and usually is a waste of time and frustrating too! find out what the store's e-mail address is and send them in with plenty of lee-way. as for some of the other responses, do stay away from the management. believe me, most are only concerned with numbers and not the art of production. to those who are contemplating employment with this good/evil company... get yourself a firearm and learn to shoot well at the gun range. offer to take and educate other team members including management. you may be suprised at how your anger and frustration subside when blasting away at paper targets. it just might put a different perspective on life. |
36) Posted by: Meghan (
xx.81.46.143 ) .... I am currently working for Kinko's... And to see so many less then satisfied customers complaining on this Website is a bit surprising.... That problem can happen at many different times, one instance might be a customer not giving the right information to complete the order.... or it could be that the Kinko’s employee might not be asking the right information.... or the customer can have very unrealistic times or goals for the completed job... Keep in mind... that you are not the only customer coming into the branch... we do take care of several customers a day.... For example.... just this past week I had someone come in and had 135 pages with like 10 tabs that he needed 95 sets of and bound.... he wanted the job later that day.... Now... to run a job like that on just the printer... takes about 2 maybe 3 hours... and then another 2 hours to do the binding... and there was also hand collating... With the other orders we were handling that day... his job was completely impossible to be done later that day... when he was told he nearly threw a hissy fit that I’ve seen children throw over a toy... Is it my fault he waited until the last minute to get the order into our store... if he had given us at least 24 hours from when he needed the job completed by... this job would have been done and completed by the time he needed without him having to get so angry... And as for the salary.... I have to say... that I came into Kinko’s knowing absolutely nothing... the only thing I knew was how to use a computer... Kinko's taught me everything I know now…I‘ve been told by managers that I myself could run a store someday, at the rate I was going... I went to school for computer graphics... and I’m now doing document creation in one of the Jersey Branches... I am so grateful to Kinko's for showing me what I need to learn in order to be successful in my career.... I also received full benefits after 90 days and coming in a few months... I’ll be eligible for a 401k plan.... now I’m 23 years old... starting a 401k at this young age will help me to be hopefully a very rich woman... and the financial problems I may have now will be non existing... I hope I gave some insight to the people here that were dissatisfied with the Kinko's service they received... I can assure you that if you enter my store you will receive the best customer service any branch has, as well as the knowledge behind it. Kinko’s trains their employees so they can soon operate their own branch with ease. They do this because they are always opening new stores in different districts and like to hire within the company if it is available to them rather then higher a brand new coworker into a higher position. Well thank you for your time |
37) Posted by: Sign Man... (
xx.60.71.201 ) Ben Thair, I also work for Kinko's and fell on to this site by "Google". As I was reading all the e-mails from you, I was trying to see what kind of person you are... A computer nerd, ugle, small dicked, no girl friend, never had sex in his life, smells like shit, bad dresser, a loner, and has nothing better to do. I'm I right... I have worked for Kinko's for 3 years, in magament, and run a sign and banner center in. I have taken this store to be #1 in oue state and always get the customer back. Some of our customers even give us cookies because of the service they get. When I came into this company I was working for the food business. Customer service is just as bad there too. I came in knowing crap about computers and design and now I know just about everything. My training for the sign & banner center was in Cal. for a week, and I've turned this store into #13 out of 300+ centers in Kinko's. Yes as a whole, we have some thing to work out, but every bussiness does. People have to wake up and step into the computer world. Some don't even know what a mouse is. They don't read any more. We have signs all over the store and they still ask "were do I fax", just open your eyes. Sorry, but the world we live in is getting dumer. Like every one else...Get a life Ben Thair. I can e-mail you a "PDF" on how to Get a life if that will help. I'm always up for a little fun...You little BITCH. So go shit in your pants as you type away on chat boards, and masterbat to kiddy porn while you figner you dogs ass. Thanks for reading this to the end.. |
38) Posted by: YH (
xx.239.200.250 ) I wonder what Kinko's HR would do when I forward that message to them? |
39) Posted by: Sign Man (
xx.60.71.201 ) Sorry YH- I took Ben Thair, comments to heart. He should cry about some other company then Kinko's. We have 1000 stores about 100,000 team members he just keeps pisssssing off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kinko's Manager |
40) Posted by: YH (
xx.239.200.250 ) I can actually see why you are mad....that he summarizing all the franchises into one..... |
41) Posted by: None (
xx.60.71.201 ) This is kind of fun to read all the funny comments people post. |
42) Posted by: Team Member (
xx.60.71.201 ) Do you know that working at Kinko's you can make $35,000 to $60,000+ as an Manager with out going to college. People should not knock Kinko's, most team members are coming right out of college or laid off from other jobs and can't find another one. You can get free training online, great health plan and paid vactions. We live in a world of fighting with each other, know one has jobs and everyone is trying to get something for free... Kinko's Team Member |
43) Posted by: "Mr. Kinkos" From Above (
x.40.99.191 ) Sign Man, THANK YOU for telling Ben THair all the things I really thought about him when I was pointlessly arguing with him. He really is a bit of a loser isn't he. :) Anyhow it was nice to see other Management team members come into the picture on this site. I'm the Senior Project Manager, been here about 2 and a hald years.(Just thought I'd tell you that)It's funny, I didn't know about computers either when I started, and now I can work with any adobe program very nicely, I love KINKOS for that. Anyhow, THANK YOU! |
44) Posted by: Kinkoid (
xx.243.24.12 ) Everyone Arguing about Kinko's I just wanted to add my 2cents about Kinko's. I've been working for Kinkos for about a year and a half. I've been working sales in fast paced retail for the last 3years of my life. I graduated high school with honors and started a semester of college and dropped our due to financial reasons. My computer skills are up to par. So I'm not a complete idiot... I hired on at a measly $8.50 an hour in promise of a raise after 90 days. BAM! 3 months went by and my manager forgot all about the raise he lured me in with. This is when I first seen problems with Kinko's management. Anyways, when I started at Kinko's, there were a mix of intelligent levels but no one too "stupid" to push the start button. With retail experience my ability to multitask was very high so it wasn't too big of a deal. I learned a lot about printing, copying, and tons of auxillary work. The printing and copying business was very appealing, to me, so my interest grew more. About 6months down the road, payroll, all of a sudden, was too high and supposedly there wasn't enough work in the branch. So when people quit because they cut back hours management felt they didn't need to replace the manpower. Keep in mind that the same amount of retail customers did not decrease. Things are absolutely crazy, chaotic even. We have customers screaming at the counter guys, absolutely unacceptable behavior from "let down" customers. I understand that jobs need to be done right and on time, but Jesus Christ, lay off the so called "morons that don't know what the hell they're doing." Truly its not their fault, in my opinion, in my particular store and other nightmare stores that I've seen firsthand, management is the problem. People get a little out of control when things don't go their way. When I go to the movies and some idiot is chewing popcorn out loud and is ruining the movie, my first instinct is to reach over the seat and slapped the guy in the face. Then I regain the "impossible to reach" patience to understand that not everybody is perfect. I'm sure they're are plenty of people satisfied with Kinko's more than there are unsatisfied. There has to, logically, I don't think a business would grow with such a terrible reputation, unless I'm an idiot. I don't know.... I apologize if I sound rude or offend anybody by this. I am going to try and make this as simple as possible. We live in America and these foreigners that would have my job in a heartbeat did not grow up here and do not share the same views and goals as you and I do. MAYBE, putting food on the table is not enough for some people. MAYBE, some people want more than the minimum. MAYBE, some people don't think the same way you do. MAYBE, people are different, we live in America, I think... Putting food on the table everyday for some of these poor saps that live in 3rd world countries is like me buying a vette. Ben Thair, I agree with some of your issues with Kinko's. It starts with Management, you treat your people like shit, what kind of performance do you, honestly, expect out of them? I guess we should expect the kids working in sweatshops to present my goddamn Nike shoes with a goddamn smile. (That was an unfair comparison, but it was funny.) The customers definitely should have a say in whats going on cause thats who we serve, but c'mon guys take it easy on the guys who aren't in control. As for the hypocrites, insulting the insulter............wait I almost did it too. Every business has problems, but the companies with poor management have more. I'm rambling.. rambling... I think I'll end it like this, " If you don't like the service, and you think its that bad, go somewhere else." Logically, you're not losing anything, and its a way NOT to contribute to the millions of Kinko's growing everywhere is to simply take your business elsewhere. Thanks for listening Just being honest |
45) Posted by: D's Nutz (
xx.123.32.187 ) I was considering applying for a job tomorrow at my local Kinko's. I'm glad I was able to find this interesting forum. 3 cheers for Google! I'm still going to go and apply, because I need to put food on the table and pay my rent. Thank you, to everyone who contributed to this exciting display of opinionated fireworks, for shedding valuable insight upon a prospective temporary means of income! |
46) Posted by: D's Nutz (
xx.123.32.187 ) I almost forgot: |
47) Posted by: Leighan (
xx.70.232.18 ) You know.. I started out this evening trying to get a little time by myself, away from my 2 year old who takes it upon herself to drive me crazy... So I thought I would entertain myself by searching the web for "Let's all bash Kinkos" sites. I surfed a site about a year ago that was written from a coworker (when we were still called co-workers) that was hilarious. So I read through a couple of new postings, and ended up here. Anytime I hear/read dissatisfaction concerning Kinkos, I immediately jump on the defensive. But after reading through all of the comments, weeding out the B.S., there are a lot of valid points, as well as counter points. What I can offer is this... As far as machines being down... we hate that as much as you do. What we really hate, is not knowing why they were down, and if they have been called in. |
48) Posted by: Jay (
xx.164.145.198 ) I have really enjoyed reading all of these little tit for tats. I am also an employee at kinkos, I have been with the company for about 5 months. I started out as an associate production operator, and now I am an AMP. Kinko's has it's ups and downs, but all in all it is not too bad. I have worked for other companies where the Corporate mentality has made work intolerable. Kinko's is still too new of a "corporation" Fortunately. |
49) Posted by: YH (
xx.239.200.250 ) Say, where all all these employee's coming from? Was it in a company bulletin or something :P? |
50) Posted by: jim dandy (
xx.140.13.92 ) all right! i just wanted to get in the 50 spot. |
51) Posted by: jim dandy (
xx.140.13.92 ) this is directed to YH. didn't you get the new NEWSFAX that was sent out? something about a company climate survey. ha,ha. what happens is, as employees will often do, (usually at work), you do a search for kinkos and peruse the links that come up. if interested, you should check out scott's web site. he's got a really cool layout and some excellent pictures to boot. 49) Posted by: YH (xx.239.200.250) |
52) Posted by: YH (
xx.239.200.250 ) LOL, I love EGO searching....:p |
53) Posted by: Upset and Depressed Ex Kinko's "Team Member" (
xx.25.138.47 ) I was a "team member" for Kinko's myself up until just 2 days ago. I hated working there so much I didn't even put my 2 weeks notice in. My manager had a hard-on for making you feel like you didn't do enough work for him to meet goal and that it was YOUR fault that the store didn't meet goal. Deron Moore would abuse his power in the Burnet Road Branch in Austin TX and continues to do so. Let me walk you through my day in Kinko's. I worked the 1pm to 9pm shift as Production Operator in the Doc Room. First thing I'd get when I walked in the door was the 6180 was down from 6am to 11am and that the person before me couldn't get the machine going at all from 11am to 1pm so the 6 orders due out at 2pm were going to be late and no the customers hadn't been called yet. Oh and the 6135 could run the waiters from B&W off the floor but it couldn't run the major account orders that were in 3 days before. But B&W has 3 machines, none of which were down or in use. The excuse for when I asked why they couldn't run it out there or why the machine wasn't running at all was that the counter was busy and that "I was busy writing up Fedex Forms for this company" or I was busy boxing this order up and couldn't help get some other orders out. Yes boxing up orders and writing out Fedex Forms can take a whole shift *note the sarcasm. The worst thing is when I walked into the door at 12:30pm to get ready and figure out what all I had to set up for the upcoming shift was this same person was sitting in the breakroom laughing and chatting it up with the Manager because they are good buddies outside of work. Then the Production Manager comes in at 1:30pm. First thing he does is come back and ask me what is due right away (he doesn't get a pass-off or anything from the production manager from the first shift because it's the same person who took 8 hours boxing up orders and writing out Fedex Forms).. Of course I point out the 6 orders due at 2pm of which only 1 I've got completed and am rushing to get the other 5 done. So he freaks out and gets upset at me because it's apparently all my fault and goes to the 2 (yes 2) assistant managers on the floor. Each assistant manager decides they have to have a word with me and ask me why I couldn't get these orders out on time......when I reply with well these same orders have been in for a few days and the last few days I've been busting my ass to make sure we got the other orders also placed 3 days before out on time and then question why the 1st shift person can't get them out on time I get threatened with a write-up. Of course I have to have this same conversation with both of them because they both decide to take it upon themselves that they must punish someone and I'm the patsy so I get it. Then they in turn tell Deron that I'm too hard to work with and that I resist taking orders even though I've never turned an order away. And the 1st shift Production Operator tells Deron that I'm extremely rude and I don't smile to her when I come in the door so I must be angry. So I get pulled into the office by Deron and told that I need to improve my attitude when all I've done is come in and ask what's going on and why these orders couldn't be done. I don't say these things rudely or threateningly or even say it with an aura of authority I just ask the questions because it seems obvious someone has been slacking. I get threatened and told I'm not material for Kinkos and that maybe I should rethink my position. So I tell him I'll try and that I don't know why I'm being chewed out for this when the 1st shift person hasn't lifted a finger to help me. Then I get the run around as to she's busy boxing orders and writing out Fedex forms this must be an extremely hard procedure since 2nd shift can handle 3 times as many as she can but can get it out on a shift as well as manage the 30 to 50 jobs that have come in for the day. Now I've got the 5 other orders out and it's 4pm and now the customers have been called by me and the Production Manager and they've all been pushed back to tomorrow. Now I'm rushing to get the orders all due for Fedex that night (8pm) done since they are pretty large orders. So I get them all done I'm stressing out hard core and rethinking what kind of person I must be although every customer I've helped has told me they haven't met a nicer person ever in kinkos and the people I talk to on my shift don't have a problem with me. I feel guilty so I push myself more and get as many as 130,000 clicks out on my shift and I pick up and carry all these boxes and then box them up and mind you boxes of paper aren't just 25 lbs or less like the application asks that you can lift. So I've picked up close to 12 to 24 cases of paper by myself with no male help seeing as I'm female and already struggle with the cases by myself and not asked for the help. The last day of work I asked the Production Manager if he could carry one box out and he gave me the look of Jesus Christ can't you do it yourself? So I freak out about that because I mean obviously if a GUY can't lift the box and basically tells me to go to hell for asking him to carry ONE box then I must have done something wrong. (I asked him to carry the case because he was already on his way to the QC table and I still had orders to run in the Doc Room otherwise I wouldn't have asked.) Oh but he can carry boxes for the 1st shift person who weighs twice as much as I do and claims she can't pick up the box at all. So I think maybe I'm just so fucking ugly or maybe I'm just such a bitch that I've made these people hate me. So I get suicidal. I honestly have fantasies about slitting my wrists in the doc room because I don't think that it'd be a big deal up there seeing as they hate me so much. I go home sore as ever and tired as hell and I tell my fiance about the day I had. I feel guilty for this seeing as he just gets frustrated he feel like he can't do anything. So I tell him about my sick morbid fantasy and he freaks and tells me I MUST quit. Maybe I got irrational, maybe I was losing it but I can tell you right now I honestly had feelings of utter and total hatred towards me because of the work I produced and that no one else could compare to producing. There were days where I would put books into binders crying and still keep the 6135 and 6180 going with paper and be making booklets at the same time as well as getting a 600pg document scanned while I was doing all this. ALSO making sure that the quality of my work was exceedingly perfect. The last 6 months of my employment there I would shake violently before walking in the door because of the anxiety and overwhelming stress I already felt rising just from walking into the door. I mean even Deron would come back and tell me I was the best Docutech Operator he had ever seen but he knew I could do more and that he needed to challenge me so he'd criticize the work I produced (not necessarily the work but how I did it). So he made me go to B&W and scan all my documents there the Digipath was just the "worst" scanner he'd heard about although in my professional opinion it was among the best. He wanted me to use the Canon 105 scanner because it was better and faster and that I was liable to get a write up if I used the Digipath again. This is how Kinko's Team Members are treated by this particular manager. UNLESS you are among his "clique" then you don't have to work and as long as you keep kissing his ass you will have a great job. I had to quit because I felt like I would hurt myself if I continued working with him. His "protege" First Shift Production Operator Caryn never had to throw her trash even if she threw away 3 cases of paper into the trash can because she screwed something up and by god if she produced something screwed up and put it out on the floor but I would get blamed for it. Monica our SCC never had to really write out her orders as long as she got the order even though half the time it'd be run wrong because she herself didn't understand what she took. I think this store is in dire need of new management. Aaron Yanelli was our District Manager and he just discussed a lot of these problems with my brother and didn't realize it was all going on because Deron knew when to put his "game" face on I guess you would call it. I mean why not if you can trick your boss into believing you are the best manager ever why not do it the day he comes in once a month? Anyway that was my life at Kinko's I hope no one else ever has to endure this kind of psychological mind fuck from a manager who has a power trip. |
54) Posted by: Upset and Depressed Ex Kinko's "Team Member (
xx.25.138.47 ) I forgot to mention I worked for him for 3 years and was treated like this just about every day. Unless he wasn't there then I just got the shit from Caryn, and the assistant managers as well as the Production Manager. |
55) Posted by: jim dandy (
xx.140.13.92 ) man, that sucks. it's about typical for a kinkos though. Moore, Deron C & Rachel 1216 Leah Lane just think, "upset team member", if you had gone to the gun range before work and vented your frustration at the paper targets, you could take them in and make a few copies in the open to show your "friends", things might have been different. you might have gotten more respect. |
56) Posted by: escaped (
xxx.149.139.217 ) i just read about a third of the comments above and alot of you make good points. as for "what"... i know your type. you believe in producing a quality product, buy you HATE YOUR JOB. you can't fool us. no i'm not trying to pick a fight. i'm currently an art director for an advertising agency. i've worked in many environments, from construction to the farm i grew up on, retail, sports photograghy, and sadly enough even debt collection. non were as horrible as kinkos. i started at kinkos as b/w key op in denver during a breif time out from college, then came back to the company in buffalo where i spent two yrs. the morning after i quit was the happiest day of my life. knowing i never had to go back was bliss. i was "awarded" the responsiblities of digital coordinator/manager of technology in a store where over fifty percent of the wrk passed throught the digital department, meaning me. however, i never made more than 10 bucks an hour. almost everyone in our branch was extremely over qualified, hated thier job, just could'nt find another job. we had degrees in archietedcture, mehanical engineering, accountanting, etc.. very bright people busting their asses, and there were still countless probems. one major problem is the people at the front counter. in theroy, the most experienced co-worker, i'm sorry team-mate, should be at the counter. but when you have about 15 people on payroll, instead of the thirty you need, the rookie that can't actually do a job is taking the orders. their order taking ablilities may not be up to par, they don't have a realistic idea of turnarounds time, or what actually goes into doing the job, or what else is in the store. and customers, don't always point the finger at the coworkers when you don't get what you want. most of the time you don't know what you want, or atleast how to communicate what you want. it's not that your an idiot, you just dont speak kinkiod. i can't tell you how many customers blew up at me cause i couldn't print thier document cause they did it in some program we didn't have, or they didn't include thier linked files for thier quark files, or thier fonts, they don't know the name of the file, or any other of the hundreds of variables that could go wrong in which we aren't in control of. especially when the file isn't even on the disk! and god for bid you try to send them home to make a pdf, after slowly explaining 3 ways do so. ben has pretty accurately discribed the environment where you are set up to fail. kinkos's changes it's identity about every two years. they promise everything under the sun, and say you can get it five minutes ago, and don't take the proper steps to asure thier employees can deliever. they amount of shit you need to know to work in an under staffed kinkos is incredible, and definalely worht more than 8 bucks an hour. plus dealing with irrate customers like the lady i call "the woman who stole xmass eve" is enought to drive one to murder. it would take me atleast an hour after work to even talk to anyone without ranting about some asshole customer, usually the one that pisses you off so bad, you just cant pretend to be nice to the rest. oh, like the one that spit in on of my coworkers face. lovely working conditions. most co workers want the store to do well, they want the store to make profit because of profit sharing, and most that i worked with took pride in the product they produced, and that makes it even harder when management and clients treat you like shit. no one feels appreciated, if anything taken for granted, which isn't how you promote go spirits in a working environment. people at kinkos only notice when you fuck up, never when you do a good job. finally, the are less kinkos in the world then there were in the past. the chain isn't growing. it went from over 14,000 to about 11,000 locations. to the people who work at kinkos, i admire your knowledge, and strength, but dont get trapped. there is a better world out there. i know jobs are hard to come by now a days, but look harder. kinkos beats you down, eats away at your confidence, and sucks you in. get out while you can. |
57) Posted by: escape (
xxx.149.139.217 ) sorry 1400 locations to under 1100 locations, not 14,000 to 11,000 |
58) Posted by: escaped (
xxx.149.139.217 ) as for "mr. kinkos" don't kid yourelf, you are a peon, and your position probably wont exist post the next corporate make-over. i was the manager of technology and was peon. even store managers at kinkos are peons, i hated my manager, she was an evil bitch that went as far as calling a co worker a dumbass in front of a customer, but she was a abused by corporated as bad as she abused us. shit slides down hill fast, and your not far from the bottom |
59) Posted by: Itain'tover (
xx.210.130.95 ) Hey What?? You posted: "Their are countries in this world that have no jobs, I've been to some, and the people haven't even been given the chance to work for a big company, but I can bet you they would take your job in a heart beat and smile from ear to ear for every customer. " Guess what? They just did! Kinko's has just sent their document creation work to India. Now you won't have to wonder what that small print is about when you look at your next business card, program, brochure, etc. order. |
60) Posted by: J-well (
xx.35.178.141 ) First of all #59 (itain'tover) I think you wanted to use "There" as a location. The "Their" you so bodly used is used to show ownership. Do not try to insult someone or something if you can't even spell or use the English lanuage in the correct context. |
61) Posted by: Sign Man... (
xx.60.128.11 ) You are all fools... |
62) Posted by: escaped (
xxx.149.136.207 ) In response to J-well damn.. you laid into that guy, but you're absolutely, %100... wrong! Itain'tover was using the possesive form of "their" correctly, as in kinko's 'document creation' work, document creation work being owned by kinkos. "Kinko's has just sent their document creation work to India." could be replaced by: Kinko's has just sent its' document creation work to India. much like: J-well just sent his/her grammer text book to India. Notice the apostrophy after the 's' in " its' " (in possesive pronoun form, not the conjunction form, "it's") showing ownership of the document creation work. Also notice the his/her possesive pronoun used in the second example, showing J-wells ownership of the text book, which dosen't seem to get much use. i guess "Itain'tover" should forgive you though, as they don't discuss such basic grammer issues in most higher "EDUCATION" progams you refer of. For that you would have to look no further then a fourth grade english class. In conclusion J-well, you will find probably 100s of grammatical errors and typos in the the above posts, and most probably more so in my own two previous posts then any other. Feel free to send me an entire list of my own errors, but realize if this were a email to a client, employer, or a cover letter, you wouldn't find a one. However, as it's JUST A FUCKIN' THREARD ON SCOTT FUCKIN' MANNING.COM, I WOULD HOPE YOU WERE READING FOR CONTENT AND NOT GRADING PURPOSES! Itain'tover, J-well, |
63) Posted by: TehGrammarMan (
xx.208.188.215 ) I want to correct some grammar, too! "Itain'tover was using the possesive form of 'their' correctly, as in kinko's 'document creation' work, document creation work being owned by kinkos." You are absolutely right! Unfortunately, I believe the "their" our good friend J-well was referring to is here: "'"Their are countries in this world that have no jobs,...'" So he was right about the grammar, but wrong about the culprit--this was a direct quotation from one of what's posts (see above). How embarrassing! As well, your suggested revision, "Kinko's has just sent its' document creation work to India.", is also wrong. "Its" is a posessive pronoun, similar to his, her, your, my, and the like. And, just like the aforementioned pronouns, it takes no apostraphe at all! Please be more careful in the future when you are correcting someone's grammar. I would like to suggest that whether the faults individuals have found with Kinko's stems from poor hiring practices or poor management, any fault remains a fault of Kinko's. That said, it is a rare company indeed that can keep every employee and every customer in every store satisfied at all times. |
64) Posted by: escaped (
xxx.149.251.166 ) TehGrammarMan, |
65) Posted by: Bad Mouth (
xx.36.29.61 ) Well I like to say to the Employees of Kinko, you got some points. Get a real job that you know that you can do rather than blaming it at As for the Management: |
66) Posted by: disgruntled (
xx.164.145.33 ) As a current Kinko's manager with experience in several different regions and both large and small branch locations I think I can safely say the current business model is severely flawed. After the founder was forced out by the corporate suits that he brought in to expand the business and prepare for an IPO there has been a series of short term CEO's who don't understand the business. The company has gone from training its team members at training centers to training them in the branches to not training them at all. The company offers services to its customers with out researching the demand or requirments of implementation then discontinues the services or limits their availability. Examples would be 24 hour branch hours at locations that can't economically justify the late night hours or full design computer services at all locations then moving the design centers to select locations and then outsourcing the design work to a subcontractor in another state (or country). Team members in successful branches can be paid relatively well but the compensation is being shifted to the regional and corporate level. The difference in how profit sharing is figured has in essence lowered team members pay at the same time as the company has reduced staffing by more than 60% for the average branch compared to 5 years ago. This has all been done in an effort to prepare for an IPO that has been postponed numerous times. Like all service businesses the goal is to service the customer in a timely, efficienct,friendly manner. Unfortunately the senior managers think of the company as a standard retail outlet. The reality is the company is a custom manufacturing service. We make the product we sale. This takes trained, competent team members and enough of them so we don't have to tell customers that a 5 minute job will take us 3 hours. The current business model is to hire $7-8 an hour low skilled workers to replace the old time "high paid" workers, follow with little if any training as "making copies is trained monkey work" (a direct quote from a district manager that reflects the senior managment attitude and poorly represents what the average team member must do everyday)make the poor team member work in a stressful enviroment often with skipped breaks and missed lunches or make them close a branch at midnight and be back at 7am the next day. Now create a managment training program that gets inexperienced recent college grads to work 60-75 hour weeks with the promise that they will make "profit" and become a branch manager in a couple of years. After weeding out the smart, talented or just plain sensible you are left with a disgruntled, untrained work force managed by inexperienced young easily manipulated and abused people who will be used up and tossed aside. The customer who had come to believe they could go to a Kinko's and get a good product at a reasonable price gets a shoddy product from a disgruntled, surly employee who doesn't care about the customer because the company he works for doesn't respect the customer or the employees that represent the company to those customers. You can't give good service when your untrained, sleep deprived, poorly paid, team member is the only person in the branch. Kinko's will not improve until the senior managment team decides that people are the key to any successful business and they start investing in those people. It will take years to repair the damage done to Kinko's reputation in the last 5 years. As a customer I suggest you patronize the Kinko's that still manage to do a good job and call customer service EVERY TIME you do not receive the type of service you think is acceptable. Complain loudly and often and don't do it to the poor team member or even the assistant manager. Always ask to speak with the branch manager and if he or she isn't available make sure to follow up as soon as you can with them. You should also call the district manager EVERY TIME you have a problem. Let the company know how it is failing and eventually if enough people do this things will change. I'm not going to hold my breath for that day to come to pass. |
67) Posted by: Bad Mouth (
xx.36.29.61 ) After reading all these comments and posting my thoughts |
68) Posted by: Sign Man... (
xx.60.128.11 ) I still can not get over all the crap I read on this page. I Kinko's is so bad, then get out or don't use them. The best way to get around Kinko's is to find a team-member that is skilled in what you want from them. They might have a lot of computer back groung, or just work well with customers. I'm going on 4 years as a Kinko's Manager, and the big thing that I see is we need more team-members, so that we can give better customer service. Just like every other company Kinko's is changing with the time. They are always updating somthing. As Express Pay rolls out to every store, this will solve some things with the way people want to get in and out fast, or loging onto a computer. In Q2 of 2004 we will be getting what is called "Order to Pay". Like what McDondals is doing, a customer can place their own order and pay of it right then. You can't filp out a price because so see it even before your order is done. I don't think you can get all the different services done any place else that Kinko's does. Graphic Designs, Outdoor Signs & Banners, over night full color prints 1000 or more, emailing your job in, haveing a online DocStore for your company, a sales person that will do anything to get what you need, the list is endless. So stop putting your 2 cents in, until you know what you are talking about. Every one has a bad day and that is what you get when you are working with the every tom dick & hairy that walks into KINKO'S. SO GET A LIFE, AND ALL YOU GET OFF KINKO'S...(I still think this is funny to read, every thing people right)! |
69) Posted by: Ex-Kinkoid (
xx.141.96.25 ) I am a former Kinko's employee who, like many of you, left angry and hurt ten years ago. I think anyone who leaves, leaves angry and pissed off. I started at $4.15 an hour and ended at $10.16. I never got promoted; I tried twice. I blamed others, but now I know that I was way too anal-retentive and intolerant of others. Today, I am in an entirely different field making $60,000 a year in a professional occupation. I am now one of the classic Kinko's customers with a coporate card. I just want to speak to all of you disgruntled Kinko's employees. Today, I respect the years (four and a half) I spent at Kinko's. There are a ton of great people working there, talented, hard-working, and smart. Because of Kinko's I acquired a skillset that has done right by me. Yes, there was backbiting, bickering, baiting, bullshit (I worked the graveyard shift for more than a year, I could tell you stories!) But you know what? That's life. You will find it at Kinko's and everywhere you work. And learning to cope with all of this is the greatest skill of all. I won't tell you get over it, because it took time for me to. But, believe me, if you keep doing the right thing and control your anger, you will get over it. If you are at Kinko's, it's the retail equivalent of an elite college— it's only what you are willing to make of it. Examine yourself. Learn to cope with others who you may perceive as less hard working and less competent making more money than you. Learn to appreciate feedback and take a reprimand (even if undeserved) with a smile and commit to do better. Apologize for mistakes even when you didn't make them, people will learn to trust you. Don't judge other shifts, because you aren't there to see what is really going on. Don't judge your manager—one way or another, THEY EARNED IT and believe me THEY PAY FOR IT. Just work, and work hard. I'm sure that Kinko's has changed internally in the past ten years but I wouldn't be ashamed to work there again. Bottom line, learn to get along with people, all kinds of people. Don't be so cynical. There are good people with pure intentions; maybe there is something YOU are doing wrong. If more than a few people are saying the same thing about you, and you think 'it's them', then you truly need a reality check. |
70) Posted by: Bad Mouth (
xx.36.29.61 ) To Sign Man: You have down graded yourself to a 4 year shit hole to a low life idiot. |
71) Posted by: Bad Mouth (
xx.36.29.61 ) As a management personnel for varies places I’ve have learned one pure If you three idiots were even close to a grade (A) manager you would have the brains Instead you three not only made everyone aware that Kinko needs drastically measures, I suggest that Kinko should start with you three idiots as a start of improvement. |
72) Posted by: Sign Man... (
xx.60.128.11 ) Dear Bad Mouth... You post all these Bad Ass comments about how bad Kinko's is and the managment. Get a life B.M. So some team members like what they do at Kinko's. So of us have familys to feed and homes to pay for. You need to go all Bad Ass on people for the place they work at. The only low life idiot is you. Move on, goto some other copy shop to get your shit done, and leave us hard working Americans alone. I almost feel sorry for you and all the sad stories you type. It's like kinko's ripped your heart out or something. You sound like a real funny gay. I just like to read what you type about me and other team members. You know that Kinko's is not going to go away, so stop trying to make it. By the way...Do you know that B.M. also stands for BOWEL MOVEMENT, you shit for brains! :) |
73) Posted by: Bad Mouth (
xx.36.29.61 ) To Sign Man: |
74) Posted by: swollenTongue (
xx.142.25.222 ) --I am actually surprised I found this page... after roaming and looking for sites where co-workers (yes, I have been with the company very long and can't use the term team-member) speak their minds regarding kinkos... I actually had the thought -before reading these posts- of creating a forum whereby coworkers had the chance to converse outside the company regulated means of communication, which I believe would be extremely beneficial to the coworkers... with that aside let me throw out my opinions... First, let me tell my Kinkos story... I have been with the company on and off for almost 8 years and have worked at 7 different branches across the country from Boston to Tampa to San Francisco... I started out before the first roll-up when company was still franchised... have met Paul Orfalea 3 times... etc... As customers of Kinkos come in, I can see their frustrations with the way their jobs are handled (ie. done right, on time, etc) and actually sympathize with them if it is done wrong or is not what they ordered. That sympathy aside though, most customers do expect alot more than they pay for and don't take the process or the co-workers into mind when they get irrate. Most co-workers either take this as a direct attack against them or just don't care. (the later becoming more and more prevalent) I have to strongly disagree with both Mr Sign and Mr(s) Kinkos in saying that Kinkos is not a great place to work for as they claim. Think about this: Mr Kinkos, people in your position doing exactly the same thing you do for other companies get paid on average $40,000/yr... Mr Sign, well, I can't really take your pay into account as you havent stated it, but on average a lower-level management postition makes 40-60,000/yr... (check it out, go and aply at Ikon Business Solutions); your benefits, that you claim are so great got a huge cut 2 years ago from being free-$40/month to being $40-$80 a month(doubled)... your profit share has been swindled also, corporate restructured the profit system to where once co-workers had a pool of around 10 percent of the store's gross profit to corporate getting 3 of that 10 percent. On average, the company's pay-rate has been lowered by about $2/hr in less hard hit areas to $4/hr in other areas. (take mine for instance, a new co-worker gets paid about $17,000/yr before taxes which the poverty-level has been rated at about 18,000/yr. One could get a job at McDonalds at a higher rate.) Also, you as a co-worker are expected to work harder for the amount of money a branch takes in (ie. your profit shares). In the past 2 years, Kinkos has lowered their staff by about a third (ie. many stores are no longer 24 hours) and their prices by about half on higher volume copies, while lowering the average payroll percentage. Thus, creating an environment whereby the coworkers work alot harder for the profit checks they receive if they recieve any. Perhaps you guys are wondering where I am going with this. I do have a point. If you are working for Kinkos, you are getting screwed by those above you. And I am not just talking about co-workers, I also speak of assistant managers (probably the most abhorable postition to be in the company now) and branch managers. It all goes back to when Paul Orfalea was asked to step down by the Board of Directors. You see, the Board of Directors consist of silent-partners with the company (I believe they are bankers, perhaps Chase-Mannhattan) which asked Paul to step down because the Board of Directors have always wanted to make Kinko's public. They really are just number-hungry people who just want to make the company look decent to potential share-holders. Anyway, enough of that rant. I really want to stay away from ranting. I just hope that you may see where people are coming from when they say this company is going downhill. Because it is. the only reason we still have benefits is because if they took them away, half the company would walk out. Which, by the trends of my fellow co-workers around me is becoming more prevalent. And to those of you who do get services by Kinkos, take into account that on the other side of the counter there is a person who is either (a)Sick and tired of working for a company that keeps on taking advantage of them, (b)Sick of the corporate BS that keeps being handed down to them or (c)Are truly hired monkeys as you have witnessed above in regards to there eternal bliss with a dismal work environment. and to those of you who think I'm a trained whinning monkey, go back to your pencil pushing cubicle and crunch some more numbers cause god knows we need more educated thieves... -swollenTongue ps. grammatical and spelling errors do not phase me, if you have something to say about my arguments, do so, if not, your words are petty. |
75) Posted by: Bad Mouth (
xx.36.29.61 ) It is sad that we have to speak the truth, but it’s also good for the These comments that employees such as disgruntled and SwollenTounge and the other |
76) Posted by: swollenTongue (
xx.164.145.198 ) oh yeah... and btw... if you haven't gotten it yet, beware... we just took another HUGE hit on healthcare... read your packets thoroughly and you'll see some great surprises... good luck when y'all need a prescription... oh btw... I will be starting that website soon... this is too much... swollenTongue |
77) Posted by: Sign Man... (
xx.60.128.11 ) Bad Mouth... I don't know way you think that I'm in this for myself. You don't even know me and how I work. My employee’s love working with me. I don't ask for much and we work well together. I don't mind work for Kinko's because I like designing, and showing what I can do for customers. This is working for our store, and I to have worked at other stores. I even have a lot of customers that have come to my store just to work with me. As a manager a sign & banner center we are always growing and getting repeat customers. Because, working for Kinko's for over 3 years, I have team-members that will call me to help them out. I'm the type of person that everyone loves, and all the customers that I help come back because of me. Being at the the store that I'm at now for over a year, we have only gone up. I do admit that this store was crap. We had some different Branch managers, got the bad team-members out, changed the store around and changed with the company. Kinko's is not the only company that is like this. Times change and companys fall, some even get up even better. Look at K-mart, the top people ran it into the ground and alot of employee’s lost their jobs, stores even closed. When I was a kid K-mart was a nice place to go, but over the years I became "white trash". But now they are trying to rebuild. After Sep 11th, alot of companys had to make changes. Kinko's just got hit hard because of working with alot of corp. customers. As a company it had to change, and it is still changing. Just give the company so time and I think that it will come out on top. Yor are right that most of Kinko's employee’s are under payed and over worked, I'm one of them. If you don't like what you do then get out. But I don't mind what I do right now life and Kinko's is helping me out right now. I also have seen alot of employee’s go, but so how they seem to come back to work for Kinko's. The state that I work in does not have alot of jobs, and people are out of work. People don't have to come back, thay can go work for a fast food place, but thay come back anyways. Maybe oue store is something special. But please don't judge a employee of Kinko's with out knowing the person first. Thanks...Sign Man |
78) Posted by: Bad Mouth (
xx.36.29.61 ) To Sign Man: |
79) Posted by: swollenTongue (
xx.142.25.222 ) Hey Sign Man, I'm completely with you... The satisfaction I get from working with customers and my coworkers, problem solving, teaching people, etc. IS the only reason I do stay with Kinkos. This of course is the greatest thing I can expect from a job (ie. self satisfaction and the clientel and coworkers of kinkos is condusive to this)... But, with recent moves by the corporation, it becomes harder and harder... for instance, anyone who now works starts at kinkos is not trained except for what those around them teach them... so those of us who were highly trained (ie. 2 weeks of training in regards to how to deal with customers, high levels of quality, etc.) it is hard to see the lack of focus from upper management on getting high quality coworkers as there has been an extremely high turn-over rate of older more knowledgeable staff... and this is just another money saving trick they used to make the company more profitable... Don't take for granted the fact that I completely understand that this company needed change.. It always has... it was never a fully optimized place to work or make money... but, if you do ask yourself, are these changes really benifitting us as a whole? or are they promoting a lower level of confidence and a higer level of nihilism in what we do?.. is it ok that the company is taking money out of our pockets and breeding a lack of self confidence in the work place... I mean in the region I work, I see most newer coworkers not giving 2 shits about what they do... which is really hard on people like me who have always had a feeling of self accomplishment when I benefitted my store... no, your store is not something special. I have seen many dedicated people who work for kinkos who really cared about quality of product and the customers they worked with, myself included. but man, I tell you, it is getting alot harder to keep a smile on my face and care about what I do when every coworker around me is completely burned out and stressed... anyway, I'm not sure if you are aware of this, as it is sort of a company secret. this is the kinkos of the future (ie. 5 years, it is soon to be implemented in some areas in the near future): the customer walks in, one huge thing that catches their eyes is the fact that there are no big production machines and everyone looks like a cusomer service rep at a department store. (ie. no more trained professionals, just order takers, those who get paid horribly low) the self service area is still there and customers are asked to do their work themeselves or if it is low-volume job they may be able to wait for it. The customer decides that they have a higher volume job and they are told that it will need to be outsourced to a production facility. The production facility is away from the customers and is a highly stressed environment because they get all the larger more complex jobs from other stores... most likely (as the trends have gone) they will be understaffed and underpaid. (ie. the avg production facility person here gets $10-14/hr for a highly trained possition, well below the industry standards of $18-22/hr). Do you really think this will make our jobs easier with satisfying the customers needs? Do you think it promotes a higher-level of coworker mentality or quality? What this picture represents is the trend of upper management to weed out the higher paid coworkers in order to replace them with customer service reps who get paid horribly low wages in order for the company to look more attractive to investors. I highly doubt your position will be around in 5 years, if it is, it will be another production level position where you get no input as to how to run your dept and no say in what changes could be made on the store level to benefit your work enviroment and benefit the customer. If you think this is not the case, just look back at the history of the company and how much the store-models have changed. As to me getting out of this line of work, I have in the past, and it really would not be that difficult for me to do it again. But, think about it. I have spent a good portion of my life working for kinkos and the self satisfaction that has come from my job has been wonderful. Why would I want to give this up? should I just throw the towel in and just turn my back on every good person I have worked with and not try and make it better for the coworkers I do work with. I mean, come on, does your pride in what you do only go so far as to say you like what you do on account of it makes you feel good to makes the customer feel good? -lazy and selfish is what I call it, not pride. -swollenTongue |
80) Posted by: swollenTongue (
xx.142.25.222 ) btw, if you ask around about why the company bought a huge hanger-sized warehouse in Texas you will find out that I am completely right about stores being converted to "retail-only" facilities... and I am not trying to attack you personality as such... I just wish more kinkos employees would ask questions about how these changes are affecting us and s5tart talking with other coworkers... perhaps we might be able to secure our positions within the company... but you may be right by saying we should just give up, leave the company and not fight it... alas, I generally can't give up that easy.... over and out... |
81) Posted by: Ghost (
xx.186.70.41 ) Kinko's sucks BIG time! Trust me, I know. How do I know? Well I used to work there, ehhh Gahd! They advertise all this stuff that they can do but in reality they don't do fully or choose not to do fully. Plus they screw their employees on a daily basis. Maybe Kinko's should go in to the manufacturing of Vasoline since they're so good at butt fucking their employees all in the seach of the mighty dollar! They never order enough paper for each store. I say that because I used to work on the weekends and we always ran out of paper. At the time I was the weekend supervisor and when I told the manager about the situation she always said (and I quote)"according to corporate we have enough paper." Is that pathetic or what? As a college graduate with a degree in business I say that's fucked up. Some bean counter who work in a windowless cubby hole dictates how much paper each store gets? Here's a thought for you, how many of the Kinko's upper eschelon dickwads have ever worked in a store? Probably pretty close to zilch. But they are quick to say they have a degree from Dipdunk University! Big Effin' Deal. I'm a graduate too and I deffinately know more than those Kinko Corporate sweebs about photocopying, PDFs, oversize posters, binding, auxilliary work, etc, etc, etc. All they can do is write memos. God forbid they should actually work beneath their lofty positions and get their hands mashed in copy machines, a zillion and a half paper cuts, staple cuts and tons of other day to day bangs and bruises. Seems to me you should let people who know about the business of custom printing, photocopying, and all the other stuff that Kinko's adverstise run the business. Not some overglorified dweeb with a business degree and a second degree in Customer Fucking run the company. |
82) Posted by: Sign Man... (
xx.60.128.11 ) Ghost my man... You are talking about corp. The managers can do alot at their level like ording. If your store was running out of paper, it wasn't because of corp. Yes corp. employees don't work in the stores, but they get alot of feed back from the stores and a little thing called your MSN and a Mystery Shoper that help corp. to understand what we and also customers see in our stores. |
83) Posted by: odd_man (
xx.127.59.210 ) I'm new to this forum, but not to the passion/problems that current kinkoids are facing. (yeah, I'm old school, I came back to kinkos after the bottom dropped out of the SF Bay) I am currently an AMP/R, and I not only understand the frustations of customers, but also co-workers (team members?) as well. Kinko's have evolved into a complete corp. enviroment. (p&l and all) I admire Sign_Man's commitment, but at the same time I am privy to some amount of disturbing information. In my district it seems the current focus is to get well-trained (read: over-qualified, past kinkoids) for production positions, while the rest of the store can be easily staffed by $8 an hour college grads/bodies to interact with customers. (with little to no training) The production staff is then over-whelmed with not only a good-size amount of work, but also with short staffing (hell, they're trained they can handle it!) Kinkos has begun to move away from heavy production. (hell how many 300k/month branches exist anymore) The focus has turned, as swollenTongue has pointed out, to regional production centers and Commerical clients be damned!!! In your local Kinkos branch, warm bodies are instructed to tell the ever important Commerical clients that ther job will have an extra 24hr turn time added to their job, since the branch simply "does not handle production". Among other things, favortism has reached an all time high (read: white mans club) and those truly with talent are simply regarded as production "eccentrics". Sales reps are having a harder and harder time, as branch managers are more concerned with their p&l or DROT, than with All in all, I feel nihilistic about the future of kinkos. I feel that the past ideals and promises are falling by the way-side and false scores on some chart are regining supreme. The focus has turned from the customer, to MSM/SQM scores which can, and are becoming the defining point of branches. What happened to a customer-centric business model? The kinkos of the past had their problems (if you ever met Paul O. you know what I'm talking about) but I feel the current direction of the "corp" is not only heading in the wrong direction, but also leaving customers (reatil and commerical) on some shoddy way-side while they're jobs are delayed due to "machine problems" Still wondering how a 8.5x11 puch lam costs 2.49... odd_man.... |
84) Posted by: the_slain (
xxx.116.23.33 ) Wow. tons of people all hating and loving kinko's on the same page. lemme tell ya something. i started three years ago and knew nothing about the company. hell, i barely knew where the 'start' button was on a photocopier. then they dropped right into the monday to friday 7-4pm BW production side of things. Yep. large scale printing was my baby. first few weeks on the job, i wasted about four boxes (!!!) of laser white paper. that cost a lot of money, but the climate back then was awesome. we chalked it up to a learning experience, and then i busted my hump to move ahead, because i wanted the experience and then the bucks. made to assistant manager in less than two years. i went from 13 bucks an hour to almost 45k a year (CAD). i was one of the last people in my region to receive training, and promised myself that if i ever got into a position to help, i would ensure that new people would get their training in a much better way. then kinko's started doing weird things. hiring people from outside the company into senior management positions at a corporate level. shifting and adjusting profit sharing to accomodate people who were hired to be a sales force, people who, i might add, have either none or next to no knowledge about the actual printing industry. and so on. they make promises they can't keep in terms of expansion, short change the staff on their labor %, crack the whip over the smallest infraction and generally hire whoever the hell they can. this last is not so bad, because you do what you've got to do, but when the manager doing the hiring is hiring people who are young and inexperienced so s/he can 'mold' them (read that push them around), you're going to have problems. kinko's recently made the decision that they wanted to piss with the big boys and get million dollar jobs with clients who do sick amounts of printing, but have failed to consider that ALL of their branches are currently geared to meet low-middle range printing. as of the last 'classification' to justify their profit changes, kinko's was labeled as RETAIL. yep. they compared kinko's to blockbusters and 7-11 and places that sell gardening supplies, claiming that, hour for hour and job by job, we're similar. these are horrible mistakes. customers come in fully expecting that the 17 year old kid who's working at kinko's so he can print his photoshop files for free when the manager's not looking to be able to handle quark docs that need to be minlged with goddamned eps files, and they don't really know the order of pages because their 'document dude' did the work, but i'm sure it'll work out fine. i took an eight thousand dollar or more a year pay cut to justify bloated sales people and padded expense accounts so THEY could point to some plans and say 'this'll work in less than a year'. I personally have been on the deciding end to 'manage' people out of jobs they need because they don't have the 'work your ass off' attitude. i have, on the request of my manager, accumulated and documented infractions against people we 'might need to get rid of'. i decided that i didn't like doing that anymore, and that the team was most important thing in the store, so i went the other route; i became a camp counselor, helping them with their stress, and showing them the best way to get through the day, with laughs and giggles, and not taking their jobs too seriously. productivity went up, but so did labor. all of a sudden, i started 'sucking' and 'underperforming', and if changes weren't made, i'd have to make a serious decision as to what the hell i wanted to do with my life. things HAVE changed. the bigboys don't care about the workers, fully expecting that everyone work their asses off to make people who've NEVER set foot in a store richer and wealthier. |
85) Posted by: Meghan (
xx.164.145.33 ) I read the posts that people put on this site..... Putting down Kinko’s, Praising Kinko’s..... I have just one thing to request... Please proof read your responses... It looks horrible when you say... Kinko's is the greatest thing in the world, blah blah blah.... and then you have horrible grammatical errors or spelling mistakes.... It just makes Kinko’s as a whole look bad.... For your own good... copy and paste it into word for a quick check! .........For Instance... You put down Kinko’s, but who do you turn to on say a Wednesday night at 8 pm for a deadline Thursday morning 7 am.... and who do you turn to when you want something done right??... As opposed to our other competitors who just @#$% up your order…because they hire employees who are willing to work for minimum wage no benefits and have little to no training on copiers... lets be honest... You come to Kinko’s because you know that we will get the job done in the shortest amount of time possible and we will try to help you to meet your deadline as best as we can while making your copies look as best as we can get them You all down Kinko’s? From what I’ve read in the past this statement is correct?but think about it?who do you turn to when your “Regular Guy" is on vacation or our competitors say it can’t be done? |
86) Posted by: swollenTongue (
xx.142.25.222 ) fullserve, you definately raise the level of standards of intellect for a kinkos employee, I congradulate you... Meghan, as for the spelling and grammatical thing, i aint reprsnting nobody, and I dont got the micosoft werd, so culd u do it fer me???... Scott, -swollenTongue |
87) Posted by: odd_man (
xx.121.95.196 ) fullserve, thanks for your input on the lam, but correct me if I'm wrong, but the cost of the lam itself is somewhere along I'm happy that you have an obvious passion for "computer service in fullserve production", but you can't discount swollenTongue's Good ruck wit teh designeer wantabes! odd_man.... |
88) Posted by: Former Ass Manager (
xx.164.145.198 ) I'll put the matter right back to this, Kinko's offers a service it won't support, and some customers are just stupid enough to buy into it -at least the first time they visit. If you tell your customers "You can let your complex problems go to the last minute, and then dump them off without a contingency plan" guess what? They'll do just that! Two hours before a job, and they want to redo their resume (um, how do you expect to keep a job if you can't manage your time?) What was really galling was how they eliminated the entire position of Asst Mgr for Tech, so you get a number of people who did learn their stuff, and then were pushed out, sideways or down (not upward, god forbid someone technically competent would have power) Since they treat their floor Asst Managers like crap (you have to maintain discipline without the ability to enforce it, you try it sometime) I finally got sick of that and shoved off. The best part, at least when I left, was that you had to send your tech questions into this support center in Texas and wait hours while they diddled around and then expected you to do all their troubleshooting...even though you've got a million other things to do. RIGHT NOW. A final thought, not specific to Kinko's but certainly illustrated by it. Mankind survived for millenia without all of the stupid urgency we seem to need now to get by. We're all a bunch of candyasses, and Kinko's is helping to melt the sugar. |
89) Posted by: Former Ass Manager (
xx.164.145.198 ) I'll put the matter right back to this, Kinko's offers a service it won't support, and some customers are just stupid enough to buy into it -at least the first time they visit. If you tell your customers "You can let your complex problems go to the last minute, and then dump them off without a contingency plan" guess what? They'll do just that! Two hours before a job, and they want to redo their resume (um, how do you expect to keep a job if you can't manage your time?) What was really galling was how they eliminated the entire position of Asst Mgr for Tech, so you get a number of people who did learn their stuff, and then were pushed out, sideways or down (not upward, god forbid someone technically competent would have power) Since they treat their floor Asst Managers like crap (you have to maintain discipline without the ability to enforce it, you try it sometime) I finally got sick of that and shoved off. The best part, at least when I left, was that you had to send your tech questions into this support center in Texas and wait hours while they diddled around and then expected you to do all their troubleshooting...even though you've got a million other things to do. RIGHT NOW. A final thought, not specific to Kinko's but certainly illustrated by it. Mankind survived for millenia without all of the stupid urgency we seem to need now to get by. We're all a bunch of candyasses, and Kinko's is helping to melt the sugar. |
90) Posted by: kinkosworker (
xx.164.145.198 ) yes kinkos, has no kind of training program, they hire lots of people and just throw them in the mix, they end up looking like zimba on lion king when the deer were charging at him. and of course they end up quitting within a couple of days are weeks. and yes it seems the only people who stay working their are college students and people who need the money. i'll break it down by shift |
91) Posted by: Justin (
xxx.206.128.202 ) My kinkos rant copy pasted from flashkit board. So I got ma image all set up. 20x30 inches designed in 300 dpi. I have it uploaded in a folder at a URL. My mom goes in on friday morning to get it print. She is instructed to use a computer there by a very rude employee. After wasting 30 minutes wallowing in despair she asks for help and is maltreated by the employee again. She storms out. Half an hour later she decides she needs to get this done and goes back into the store. Asks for the manager who consoles her and refunds her completely. I wrote instructions on how to download the file for them but they couldn't do it! So i come home hear the news from my angry mom and call them up. I tell them explicit instructions on how to save it to the desktop and they claim it still doesnt work. What I learned: KINKOS SUCKS. I have so much hate for them. Well anyways since the print came out sexy, my anger has been substantially mollified. BTW, if u are a printer and are interested in printing some of my future projects (at a fair rate) drop me a line by PM or email preferably. |
92) Posted by: former slave (
xxx.210.27.33 ) yes i was a former co-worker of 4 years in austin, and all the bullsh*t is true, profit-driven, money hungry bastards! the day i quit was one of the best days... good riddance! altho i met alotta cool people... ;P |
93) Posted by: PR Guy (
xx.252.175.77 ) An consistant attitude of indifference. That sums up my experience with Kinko's. If you truly want to try to make a difference, mail a letter directly to the senior management of Kinko's (Just copy the message you wrote here and paste it into Word, print and mail to the CEO.) I am a Public Relations guy with over 20 years in this business, and the way to make a difference is to talk to the people in charge. Perhaps senior management has no idea what is really happening in their stores. Let's assume they do not. Let's tell these folks what is really happening at Kinko's. It's worth a stamp. Even better, send the same letter to all of these folks. Here are Kinko's senior management with their address. Gary Kusin Daniel J. Connors Paul Rostron Mark Seals John McDonald James McCurry Kinko's Inc. Please read this press release from Kinko's. "As part of our recent strategic planning process . . . we set out first and foremost to improve our customer focus and customer service," said Gary Kusin, Kinko's president and chief executive officier Are you getting better customer service at Kinko's? Write a letter and mail it to the senior executives. Be honest. |
94) Posted by: james roberts (
xx.105.28.57 ) So, now that Fedex has said it is purchasing Kinko's. What does that mean for my company? We use Fedex air and ground as our shipper of choice, we spent over $50,000 dollars a year with fedex this last year and will probably spend twice that in 2004. We are printers/engravers to major law firms and corporations, so with this Fedex-Kinko's combination am I now helping to support a competitor? Will I get the same rate discounts as Kinkos? I see this as a giant step for UPS in gaining market share by explaining this very point. Yes, UPS has the Mail Boxes Etc under the UPS brand name now. But, I don't associate Mail Boxes Etc. with printing. Yes, they do have copiers. But, Mail Boxes Etc doesn't market to and supply printing to major corporations. I am waiting for a call from UPS. |
95) Posted by: formerkinkoid (
xx.95.247.170 ) WOW! I worked for Kinko's prior to this corporate organization and left right when they started to change the philosophy of the company. I can't believe how bad it has gotten. I was a customer a few weeks ago and they screwed up the order, but they made it right, after some arm twisting. By the way I was Branch Manager, the money was good, but the hours and the stuff coming from above was hell. Like I said, I moved on when I saw it coming. I don't know how this FedEx thing is going to go, but lets see. |
96) Posted by: bustin (
xxx.30.201.89 ) Hey Justin, i read your damn reaction regarding printing your file in kinkos. 20 x 30 of what damn ass? Definitely its a colored oversized! Are your file is in jpeg, tiff, bmp format or just a PSD(photoshop)? definitely it's not a PDF format!!! hey dickhead when you send the file..did you save it properly with file extension ont it!You talking about 300 dpi of what? asshole!! One of the reason customer file sometimes....oh always...screwed up when it was send to kinkos by online..they just don't know how to attached the file from their e-mail!!! In the first place, since your mom felt she was unable to get your 20 x 30 whatsover image...and you guys went to another store, common sense, the best thing you could do to save more time is to bring the file physically in the store ..damn ass...burn it on the CD or save it to ZIP...and printing will de done properly...that will work...Kinkos has the best equipment that can print oversize colored poster I'm talkinkg about HP 5000 with 36 inches plotter and HP5500 with 60 inches plotter...oh my gosh, you definitely don't know what printer I'm talking because you are typical wannabee know it all graphic designer damn ass who goes to kinkos and screwing up evrything for just a stupid file that you just pretend to know how to create damn layout but doesn't know how to output the file!!! One of the reason why your file isn't working in the system of Kinko's is definitely tha way you upload your file online...COMMON SENSE...if you send your file you should always properly include the file extension name!! You know what I'm talkinG about...if you don't know,...it proves you don't know anything...damn ass!!! Probobly you upload your damn file as GIF! One more thing, why your mother can't upload the file...she was sent to use the self serve computer (rental)..the system will not allow her to save the file in deskstop..we're talking about public use computer...if she save the file in customer folder which was located in desktop...it will works! The the way system works in KINKOS...The computer rentals are not just typical home computer..There is a system (we call it BUNDLE)..we'r using right 9.2 bundle installed in the computer...it was created for exclusive for kinkos network system...We have this tech support who have a good job who created this kind of system. |
97) Posted by: Brian (
xxx.69.139.146 ) I have to agree with all of the above posted complaints...How about a focus on some solutions...I am a Kinkos employee and have worked the graveyard for over three years. What is being said here is so true and the major weakness is an understanding of a service environment. First DO NOT put new employees on the front counter and especially taking orders-get them trained into the aspect of production. Most do not know what a job actually takes to complete it and so they make promises to customers that they cannot keep. The same order takers sometimes DO NOT know how to even open a digital file to make sure it will open but to also have an understanding with the customer of what the finished product should look like. Not even many seasoned Kinkos workers will do this. There needs to be training into order taking before stepping foot at the counter. The key-ops need training on the machines. Many I see do not think there is anything else to do on their position than push a "green button". In a service environment the key-ops should be responsible for learning about digital files but also learning what the equipment capabilities are. I have been in a store that an 18 year employee and key-op could not program tabs into a job that started as single sided copies into double sided. So they ran the job into sections and HAND inserted the tabs into the documents. MANY hours of wasted time for a few other employees (the key-op would not collate as they thought they were better than that to have to do auxilliary work. Most customers are so trained that when something is not correct with their order, all they do is complain and most of the time jobs are given to the customer for FREE or greatly reduced pricing (I've seen 85% off on jobs) and I know for a fact that many average giving about 40-45% discount to complaining customers. Oh and the "I can't find your job" is so embarrasing because the job has not been jet-lighted and have a hold sale so as to know and track where everything is in production. This is so important! Employees are so stressed during their work day holding back the frustration of both sides of the counter that they revert to ways to be able to cope, either drinking or even drugs. The "glue" positions are so important to running the store smoothly. If everyone runs up to the counter to help customers with orders, who is left in production to do them...as stated by others in this forum usually the graveyard shift cause there is not usually enough workers in the store to cover all the positions (payroll and corporate decisions). I say corporate because they have such a strain on the branch managers and the "numbers" that a store has great difficulty making payroll, properly training their employees, working with out dated equipment that works maybe half the time...I could keep going. My focus is SOLUTIONS...Glue positions-it is so important that each "player" on the field has a position or job to do. The quarterback cannot throw and catch the ball at the same time. Customers have gotten to the point that if they see any co-worker that that person can do anything in the store and why isn't that person helping me...Look at it like this...you go to the grocery store you have to wait in line to be checked out, you go to the bank at your lunch and you have to wait for the only person helping customers, Christmas shopping there is an hour wait in line to be checked out...and all the while there are others stacking boxes/shelves, customer service desk, employees outside getting baskets, etc. and their not all jumping to a register to ring people out...the same at the stores. Customers basically run the counters at the stores. And yes, many are in a hurry or need it yesterday. The thing is WE,co-workers need to control the counter, not the customer. We also need to better direct the customer to express if they are in such a hurry and the production area is busy with customer's jobs that orders have been taken days before. There are many aspects of training that has lacked for about three years. The quality of completed jobs has gone down due to the lack of training and people not caring. Most of this is because of the "payroll", low wages for the highly skilled employees, taking away raises, the stress level is extremely high, people just don't care or want to take pride in their work, as the co-workers are not taken care of for their hard work. That is why many of the better trained are moving on to other jobs and careers. Bottom line training and pay! Although I like my work and I am very good at it, this will probably get me fired. |
98) Posted by: BUSTIN (
xxx.30.201.89 ) hey mr. PR GUY, you just gave the names of people who you're putiing the hardworking kinko's employee in 1200 stores nationwide! definitely you're from the "CUSTOMER SERVICE DOING NOTHING JUST SITTING IN SWIVEL CHAIR AND ANSWERING COMPLAINTS" reality check majority of the calls are just to get even with the poor co-workers! Why don't you try working in any branch and experience the cruelty treated to the co-workers by bustard, idiot, cheating customers! Those humanoids are the ones calling you guys just to complain...tell me...if one call complain about a co-worker....you only hear the last part of the story....how about the first part of the story! That call The bottom line of the incident! I hope you get what I mean!That can create bad impact in a branch msn. Which really suckS!!! A month of hardwork and msn will spell the difference...because of a stupid call from unjustified form individual human being complaint!! Definitely, you never heard complaint from the customers with corporate accounts, because they know how realiable and good service they're getting from kinkos. |
99) Posted by: bustin (
xxx.30.201.79 ) Hey former kinkoid, so used to be branch manager....hmmmm....you moved on becauase you saw it coming? The changing of business philosophy? can't stand the hours and stuff..etc. etc.....well, one of the reason a a job screwed up if there is no proper responsibility in a store. proper responsibility start with the Branch Manager. Definitely, you don't fit being a BM. Perhaps during your tenure as BM, you don't even make profit within your branch! You don't know how to handle the responsibility with in yourself and the your staffs. Definitely your Branch MSN screwed up and worst you didn't even reach the branch quota!!! Surely, during the monthly BM's meeting with the district manager...you're one of guys who's running out of explanation what went wrong!!! That's the 100% reason you moved you saw it coming...I don't want to mention anymore you know what I mean! |
100) Posted by: SignMan (
xx.60.89.197 ) You go Bustin... I to work for Kinko's-FedEx. I work at the #1 Sign & Banner Center in Michigan and like what I do. As a company, we do need to train our team-members better. But you are right about the customers that come into Kinko's. Most of the times thay do not have the right file format, no fonts, on linked images, and colors in RGB! "Oh, I burned to the CD, and I can read it on my cpu"! Did you bune it so other cpu's can read it!! Same bull shit we always see. "That's not how it looked on my screen"! I think the company is going forward with FedEx. We do have alot for new things coming down the line, like "Order-To-Pay". This should help with customers, so they can place their own damm orders. Now you can read the order bag the 1st time with out haveing to re-do it over. If you have time you should read some of the other posting above. I think it's funny to read what people type, and check out the Ass Hole BenThair and what he has to say about Kinko's. |
101) Posted by: formerkinkoid (
xx.95.247.170 ) Actually bustin, we made profit every month (that is why the money was good) and I always took care of my people. The reason I left was that from up top they began to make us weed workers out and they started to set pay scales and I liked to pay hard workers a living wage. I wonder where you work, you are probably the guy that completes jobs on the side, stealing from the entire store. I hated monthly meetings because they forced us to screw the good folks. Someone like you on the other hand I would have fired within the first ten minutes. When people move on it is for many reasons, so bustin continue to line your pockets with the store's profits and bitch when there are none. |
102) Posted by: formerkinkoid (
xx.95.247.170 ) Oh, bustin, I hope that you do not speak the way you write because you can't spell worth a shit! Are you on the computer when you should be completing the jobs? Is that why you rushed? Shame on you! |
103) Posted by: bustin (
xxx.33.210.184 ) SHUT UP, Former Kinkoid....Admit it, if you're telling me how you take good care of your staff, how come you quit the job! It means you're just a looser who doesn't have the balls....admit it to yourself that you don't know how to run a store...telling me you taking care of your staff....how come you abandon them... one more thing, I never steal nor do some crazy stuff....perhaps you're the one doing that! From the branch where i belong, we are solid and a good team members....that's the reason we're one of the top barnches in california...To tell you frankly, Our BEA is almost perfectly good beacause we are doing the right stuff...this is the branch whom customer cannot even steal something specially the hackers in the rental expresss...I hope i know what I mean..oh my gosh, probably you don't know what I mean..you don't know what's going on in EXpress rental...perhaps you didn't even know what's going on your store while you're still the bm |
104) Posted by: bustin (
xxx.33.210.184 ) Hey former kinkoid,....Why should I be fired within ten minutes If I doing the right thing...I just got promoted as AM for production...sorry, sucker..dream on!! |
105) Posted by: Bustin (
xxx.33.210.184 ) hey sign man, good to know you work in sign and banner... P.S. |
106) Posted by: formerkinkoid (
xx.95.247.170 ) Bustin, so you just got promoted? So now all the crap you are talking about fits your dumb ass. PLEASE learn how to spell you bumbling fuck face. 1. BECAUSE, not beacause It is amazing, that the folks that most complain about the company are the ones still there. If you dislike it so much, then leave, but since you are the new AM for production (your mom must be so happy, that the trailer is shaking) you now have some more to complain. When you actually get to go to one of the meetings, you will see what I am talking about. Business is business and frankly, enjoy the new position, because (take note on how to spell it) that is as far as you will get. Happy New Year and Congratulations, Shenene, cousin john, uncle Bill must be so proud of you bustin. |
107) Posted by: formerkinkiod (
xx.95.247.170 ) Bustin, Please tell me where you work so that I can send you a gift to express my sincere joy that you are now the new AM for production. I will send you your very own HOOKED ON PHONICS or EBONICS whichever one you prefer! |
108) Posted by: SignMan (
xx.60.89.197 ) Slow down Formerkinkiod, Bustin is just letting you know that he is OK with his job. Don't rag on his spelling, when this is about something else. He is just express the way he feels, it just happen that he saw your comments and had to say something. I to have become an AM of Production. If I wanted to become a Branch Manager I could. But I see what happens to them. They don't make their #'s and they can lose their job. I'm happy with what I do for Kinko's and make OK money. We have some AM that are making 60K a year in our area. That is damm good for putting up with the bull shit of Kinko's customers. I think you got out because they were going to let you go anyways. Move on and get a LIFE you Spelling "B" ass hole!!! |
109) Posted by: formerkinkoid (
xx.95.247.170 ) Signman, if you read my intial post I was simply relating my experience with the company, bustin decided to make some personal remarks, which were completely out of whack with what I had intially posted. I wondered where the company was headed and just wanted to hear from current workers and former. I worked all shifts and all areas, I know how hard it is. I worked my way up. I respect what you guys go through. I left making a profit, I could not fuck someone with a family simply because they made too much money. Bustin, who just got promoted will see how it is behinds those doors. Remember, that those 'bullshit of Kinko's customers' pay your SALARY. Kinko's is never going to satisfy every customer, that is a fact. You are right about the numbers and that is ONE of the reasons I left. I wish you guys luck and the company. I do have a life and by the way when you use 'to' in that context it has TWO o's, just wanted to leave on a high note, signman. |
110) Posted by: bustin (
xxx.33.189.9 ) Thanks sign man,...I think we should be proud of what we're doing in our job! Former kinkoid is just a looser,...we should not align our intelligent of level to this humanoid... he's just a looser...probably right now,...he doesn't have a job to pay of his debt....with this bad economy....who's company will hire this kind of looser....I won't be surprised if this humanoid will input to his...(or her?...whatever...)..resume the good job performance he did to his branch....in reality,....the truth will come out...he did not fair well as a team leader...get a life!!! The reason I did reacted to your comment,...It's an insult to all Kinkos harworking co-worker...yup, I know there's is a pros and cons being an employee in kinkos....it happens in all other company....it only depends how you handle it. You got a chance to get a high paying job...but you screw up....for what...principle....in this time...I know a lot of BM in kinkos they felt the same way towards how the big guys in corporate pressure them...but still, they hang on and proved how good they are....Most of them working in the company for more than 10 -15 years... still, they proved they deserved the position and respect...I bet your former staff, hated you for not backing them up....A sore looser....you quit your position...then GET A LIFE...that's if you still have! Don't compare us to yourself... P.S. |
111) Posted by: bustin (
xxx.33.189.9 ) One more thing,..Former Kinkoid...I didn't ask for my new position...they offered it to me...'coz I know how to lead and motivate people in my work environment... Hey sign man...best wishes to you and your team member...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! |
112) Posted by: bustin (
xxx.30.201.152 ) hey brian, I read your thoughts and comments...I agree with you...but the only solutions is it depends on how the people in-charge in the branch run the show...If the BM and AMs don't sing the same tune...everything will screwed up...I mean..proper team work and motivation...It's really hard to do it...specially if you have a hard ass BM and AM money graving co-worker...The leadership should give the right direction in order to wotk it right..It takes a whole team members to work it right. if a co-worker doesn't flow with our system...very choosy with a job work, stealing stuff, printing copies for themselve etc...(that's the good thing, next year, kinkos will implement drug testing as pre-requirement for new employee..they should have done long ago!)..we kick him/her out of the scene...it's simple as that.this This not a fairy tale...it does happen in our branch...we have a good teamwork...that's all! It's been six years... P.S. eat your damn ass former kinkoid...your tenure as BM sucks...definitely your leadership is for money graving dam ass attitude...you quit coz you suck... One more thing, with FED EX on the helm next year...planning to work back if you feel if the system is ok or you can't find a job which can match the amount you earned as kinko's BM....they will not re-hire a quiter like you...what? just to waste salary for a humanoid who doesn't know how to lead a team....dream on!!! |
113) Posted by: navy vet (
xxx.175.168.179 ) Well... |
114) Posted by: ally (
xxx.81.26.107 ) I also work @ the wonderful KINKOS this place sucks we are over worked under paid & we have to deal with some stupid ass customers----people who think they know it all or the people who have no clue I swear if a had a dime for each time I had to help someone trying to tell me how to do my job I'd be rich. You customers that complain about US who work there you wouldn't be able to last a month let alone 2days. & as for management it is so screwed the branch manager does not come out to help @ counter and when he does he takes quick turn around times without asking first ----- very frustrating. the management there sux we can't even get promoted within whats up with that why hire someone off the street that has no idea how the branc runs??? |
115) Posted by: allY (
xxx.81.26.107 ) SCOTT----U got jerked around sorry!!!!!!!!!! people who work @ kinkos (me) get frustrated with having to do all these jobs & then corporate comes in and makes up this stupid shit that we have to stop what ever we're doing and run the job it sucks but honestly what happend to you was wrong Sorry |
116) Posted by: Skymar (
xx.9.99.164 ) My perspective is from working in the CopyMax center at OfficeMax. In the area where I worked (in New Hampshire), we would get customers in all of the time complaining about how Kinkos had dropped the ball. At one point, I heard rumors that the local Kinko's had had most of their employees quit all at once. I got used to thinking of Kinkos as a top-heavy company that cared much more about profit than employees. But then, I thought, was officemax much better? Or staples, the other major competition in the area? It does seem more like a structural problem with that type of business. The larger they get, the farther the decision-makers tend to be from the decision-implementers. I quit because of all the micro-management initiated by corporate. (ever see those damn headphones officemax employees wear? They supposedly increase profit--but they can increase profit without me!) But most of the "lower-level" people I dealt with, in-store management and the district managers, were very receptive to feedback about how things were run. I was quite overworked, and we were severely understaffed. But somehow we stayed on top of everything by helping each other out, and our biggest strength was the team spirit and high quality of customer service. But when I moved to Colorado, my uncle told me that officemax had a reputation in his area for kind of incompetent, unhelpful employees. I don't know how Kinko's is around here yet, but my major insight is that it totally varies by store and by location. It's the people that make the company. If you have great "front-liners" and less than caring store management, those workers will be frustrated, overwhelmed and won't stay long. From what I've heard of this forum, it seems like the negative experiences outweigh the positive with Kinko's employees (especially with the lower-level employees as compared to management). For my part, my next copy job (while I'm figuring out what to do with my life) will be in a small, personally owned shop. Hopefully. |
117) Posted by: ex employee (
xx.218.162.7 ) the problem with kinkos is that upper level executives who have never worked at a kinkos a day in their life like CEO Gary Kusin, have all of these systems in place, and each system has to be done and done correctly or the coworkers get in trouble, none of these systems is made to focus on the actual job or the actual quality of the job, which means that more and more time is taken away from running the job and quality checking the job, which means the job gets done in a rush which means quality and everything else suffers. Let me go through the steps you have to go through when a job comes into kinkos. First no matter what the job is you have to say yes you can do it. no turnaround over 24 hrs is acceptable if you say anything over that your in trouble, second once you write the job out or receive an email job, you have 20 minutes to get in contact with customer letting them know time job will be ready and that you actually received the job, then the job is placed in a computer tracking system called jet lite. you enter the name of the customer how many clicks and sets the job requires phone number, person who placed the order time its suppose to be done, if its color or black in white, how much its going to be, if it was a walk in order or an email order etc etc. Then the job gets loggged in to another system called the pos. Once again the name of the customer where the job is going to be placed how many copies how much and date it was placed. Then if its digital it goes to another system called preflight which scans the disk for viruses and a whole lot of other things that take more time. Now the job is finally ready to work on. The job gets run. You go back to jet lite and log out all the things you entered in as being done, go to pos and log everything back in and tell the pos what bin you are putting it in, someone other than yourself has to quality check it and sign off and then you have to call the customer. Now you are made to make sure all of this gets done while still answering the phones, taking orders, helping customers in express, helping customers with copy machines, and knowing you just took this order that hasn't even gotten through step one, the next customer who wants their order right now you have to say yes. And now if someone calls on the phone and they ask if you can do an order you have to say yes even if you know that you have work back to back for two days. So then that customer comes in an places their order and the counter person says it will be done in a couple of days they are mad cause they just talked to someone else on the phone who had to tell them that they would do it, so you're getting yelled at for something you didn't even do. So you've probably just lost a customer for life instead of for that one job. Kinkos has too many systems in place but dont allow enough people too work to make sure each system is exploited as much as possible, the systems make sense but kinkos no longer pays enough and are too cheap to make sure everything gets done correctly. |
118) Posted by: redfly (
xx.73.145.64 ) So I am pretty new compared to most Kinko's employees. I have been working there about 7 months now. Not the best experience of my life. I have had worse jobs and I have had better. The money isn't that great. I should be getting paid more for what I do there (since I do have a Bachelors degree and there are people working at the store I work at making almost 5 dollars an hour more than me to do the same things I got hired in to do). But that is just my opinion. Well it just seems to me that Kinko's is another corporation working their employees as much as possible so a few people can get filthy rich. The management are pretty much the slave drivers of the company. I just sat through a meeting where the manager announced that the profit sharing was being taken away and a new incentive plan was being put into place. Well if you do the math, the employees were doing a lot better on the profit sharing plan. The manager told us that if we didn't like it that he would give us a nice resume package to help us find a new job. After that he told us all the things that we should be paying attention to in the store like numbers, payroll, profit margins, you know that fun stuff. It seems pretty ludicrous to me that a company would drop new bad news of their staff like that and then turn around and expect them to really care enough to pay attention to things like payroll and profit margins. It seems a bit screwy to me. But it is a corporation and these are the things corporations do. Kinko's is a messed up one. But they will learn sooner or later that they need to treat their employees better or they are going to hurt. Maybe they need a Union to persuade them to stop treating the employment and customers like idiots. |
119) Posted by: prague (
xx.178.132.244 ) “ape self prevails in me still” suggested listening material - quasi : featuring birds whew. what a long night. i’ve just spent the last few hours reading over this entire forum. what can i say. it doesn’t get much better than this. i didn’t want to respond but i just can’t help it. i was a kinkoid for two and a half years, and that last year was one of the worst experiences i have ever had. i sympathize a great deal with “upset and depressed ex kinko’s ‘team member’”, although i never had suicidal tendencies, thank goodness, for spending much time in the express area does tend to make one a special kind of crazy. i watched a lot of television to numb my existential pain: i became the perfect media consumer. i won’t go into all the dirty details, but i will say that it took at least one year and one good job to get over how demeaned my kinko’s experience made me feel. just like any other relationship gone sour. if i believed that The Corporation was anything more than a headless beast (which i don’t - let’s be clear about this: there really is no one steering the ship) i might even be tempted to think that They purposefully designed this environment to prevent employees from sticking around too long (like the scientifically determined color schemes of fast food restaurants) and thus accumulating an unacceptable amount of benefits and pay increases ( pay = slightly less than a living wage for most non-management workers of a few years or more). but i have a feeling that this angst has simply been exploited by the bigwigs - and subconsciously at that. it’s like i’ve said many times: the people at the top don’t really even bother as to whether a company will be successful in the long term, they are only in it for the moment, for even if they are eventually fired they’ll receive a nice fat severance package. why? because these guys are all a part of the same big boys club, and they all support each other. hell, wasn’t gary kusin the guy who presided over the downfall of kmart? that’s a rumor i heard, and regardless of the answer, i believe you all know what i mean. i have had several different jobs, about half of them for corporations, and half for individual business owners, and while working for one person has it’s own set of stresses, it’s infinitely better than working for some distant non-human entity known as Corporate Headquarters. all the biguns i worked for were bad, not due to my fellow workers or even store managers - regardless of their effectiveness, none were ever unpleasant to me, nor have i had many run in’s with customers, perhaps one for every year i’ve worked, for i am naturally customer service oriented, extraordinarily helpful and pleasant, and a hard worker. but because of mandates handed down from on high, no matter how good my job performance, managers are instructed to sway their performance appraisals in such a way as to give the worker the smallest token they might accept without walking, that is, until they’ve stuck around too long and know they can’t get another jab starting at the same pay. because even though, as we all know, being a kinkoid is a hard, complicated, frustrating, and thankless job, it doesn’t exactly add cache’ to your resume. which is really too bad. at least for the people who do the real work. because the ones who become corporate concubines get big salaries and impressive titles as they hike their skirts up the corporate ladder. and here we get to an important part: those managers and such, those assistant managers and sales rep’s, they’re the most fearful ones of all. because once you make a decent living you get very scared of losing it. which explains the sanctimonious tone of the “true believers” who’ve shared their faith on these pages. and the fact that they’ve really got nothing to say. more power to them if they’re satisfied making a dollar more than the new guy. god bless ‘em. i guess it takes all types. seeing the passion exhibited by both sides of this “debate” has been entertaining, and many thanks to the guy who made fun of anyone who actually gets caught up in this. i can laugh because i think he makes a good point, but as a knkoid survivor i can’t help but get riled up about it, too. i think the real reason extends beyond merely kinko’s. besides the more general issues of the the wal-martization (i.e. sending employees home early if they come close to working full time hours so they can retain part time status and not gain benefits, or, conversely, to force them to work an exhausting number of overtime hours, paid or unpaid, thus limiting their ability to recover emotionally and mentally while on their off time. off time. either you’re off work or you’re on it. there is no personal time. there is only on time and off time.) of the corporate model (which, sadly, is rapidly expanding into other types of organizations, especially educational institutions. scary), there is particularly insidious quality to this working class malaise. read barbara erenreich’s “nickel and dimed” for more about it. it was shocking to me how little she knew about the world i have lived in my entire life, but i appreciated getting the perspective of one who hasn’t already been indoctrinated with fear their own replaceability. the kinko’s faithful want to believe they’ll be rewarded in the end. but this ain’t your father workplace. these giants expect loyalty from you, but they don’t return the favor. this is simply not sustainable. communication skills are woefully unappreciated. nobody really wants to know what's going on because then they don’t have to take any responsibility for it. of course, it doesn’t start when you go to work. it starts back in school, where they, too, attempt to equalize the masses by aiming to the lowest common denominator. don’t get me started on how the noble idea of public education was transformed by the biguns into a readymade factory worker factory. read paolo friere. and don’t even get me started about how the biguns perpetuate the status quo by monopolizing the mass media. all you have to do is look at television for that. and think about the fact that, what, like, three companies rum the whole shebang? no. those subjects are just too big. so lets go back to something i consider fundamental to the kinko’s problem, and something which i believe will have wider import in the near future. let’s get back to the primary issue that began this whole discussion. this fellow, scott manning, with a website, decided to share his frustrating experience, which has led to a rather long and heated discourse between various factions. lets face it, whichever camp you’re in, these two sides have about as much chance of seeing eye to eye as creationists v. evolutionists. so whatever. you all know which side i’m on. what’s really interesting to me right now is the fundamental flaw in most of these interactions (employee/customer, employee/corporation, corporation/customer) is that we are all dealing with that headless beast i mentioned earlier. we’ve got all these complicated tools and we don’t know how to use them. nobody can know it all so we’ve got to work with specialists. the lay person and the specialist don’t speak the same language.the obviousness of a situation depends on your perspective. i read these letters and i can understand kinkoid because i was one, but some of it’d be gibberish to your average customer. to a kinkoid (at least, one who deals with digital files) there are clearly certain ways of doing things. yet it is somewhat ridiculous to expect the average person to already know how to do a thing without having been taught at least once. of course, the maddening thing is most people don’t bother to learn anything anyway (back to the education again. people are taught not to be curious. i mean, it’s so gay, right?). that’s what makes self-serve so especially trying - it’s not truly self-serve because most people don’t need to copy things a lot or use the ‘puter more than a couple times a year, just often enough that they never need to learn how, they just let a friendly blue shirted personal assistant/trainer “show them” (i.e. set it all up for them) every time. all this contact with apes who are not a part of our immediate social group is seriously trying for most homosapiens, especially the ones to try their best, because they get burned out most quickly. my point is that the problem of technological advancement outpacing our fundamental primate natures isn't isolated to one company or industry, and i have a feeling that with the exponentially accelerating rate of technological advancement (ever since the industrial age) this particular kind of communication breakdown will happen more frequently. we’re just all primates with social agendas that require us to wield tools that we don’t fully understand towards frenetic and dimly defined ends. now that’s scary. |
120) Posted by: Tech Guy (
xx.101.170.221 ) Having been with Kinko's for a long while now I have seen many of the things talked about here first hand. A lot of new things are planned for the future of Kinko's and many of them focused on the customer. Kinko's will never be the same company it was under Paul Orfela but, there is hope. Fedex has a philosophy similar to how Kinko's used to be and may be the best thing to happen to Kinko's since Paul started Kinko's. All I can say is stay tuned and keep an open mind. |
121) Posted by: Don Clay (
xxx.218.210.127 ) Ive been with KinKos for a few years now and the reports The Cannon copiers dont perform as well as their Xerox counter-p... Some policies set by KinKos corp, do slow and/or stall productio... We are forbiden to be honest of turn around times, the rule is whatever you want to here, even if you KNOW the project wont be completed on time. A District Manager just hired a new store MANAGER with no copy or print experance, he hires his girlfriend and a buddy as assistant managers, again NO CLUE about the business, and come to find out this stores previous Manager was under-reporting/chan... employees time to make his numbers look better. BUY STOCK IN U.P.S. The present corp |
122) Posted by: Dinesh K. Ghosh (
xxx.68.150.4 ) Hi, I work for Office Tiger in Chennai, India. What's wrong with Kinko's sending work to us? With the money India earns from these kinds of services, we can in turn buy American products. American exports to India have gone up by 20% over the past year! Free trade is a win-win for each country. |
123) Posted by: Wage Slave (
xx.8.146.162 ) I work in a profitable kinko's which made presidents club this year. My assistant managers are some of the best people i've worked for and my store manager seems to be a nice guy. My co-workers (most) have a decent amount of common sense and for the most part are easy to work with. I'm no manager or shift super or anything in managment and I don't even pretend to know what happens in upper managment with gary and his gang. All I know is what i see at work. I see customers fed up with stupid rules regarding files and overpricing. I see co-workers trying to help but just getting bitched at by the customers who don't seem to realize that people who came in earlier placed orders as well, and we cant just ignore theirs. I used to be out in express and computer rental alone. I had to help people who had never used computers before, often more than one of them at a time. Managment never saw the need to hire more people to work out in express. Maybe they had a reason, but they never told me why. So for over a year I was the only one (thanks to our glue system) out there during my shift. I seemed to have started just after they abolished the 2 week training program, which produced key-ops who auctaly knew how to work the machines. They would waste less paper and get jobs finished faster than those they hire and throw to the wolves, expecting the same productivity. I've seen turnover of about 250-400% of new guys they throw in express or at the counter because they dont want to waste the time or money training them. Also, raises for the key-ops who know their stuff are about 10 cents every year. That doesn't even keep up with inflation. When I talk to the guys at work, we usualy compare notes on how our job searches are going. This is how bad things are getting. I evenutaly switched to grave shift because the stress of working with those idiots in express. It was either grave or quitting. However, the worst thing about working at kinkos has to be the customers. You know who you are, those of you who treat the employees like they only exist to be bitched at. I've seen and been the target of customer whining/bitching because what our machines output isn't exactly what they want. Well, when you bring in originals that have flaws, they will be copied. A mispelled word will not get fixed when we copy it. Nor will disks that have files in programs we don't have open. And when customers start swearing and throwing stuff, well, we don't get paid enough for that shit. For those of you who bitch about service at kinkos, treat the employees like you would normal people and your jobs will get done faster, better and probably cheaper. Any managment who reads this, back up your employees, if a customer starts shouting or being abusive, tell them flat out that your employees don't deserve it. Managment at a store nearby did that to a customer. She told him that she understood he had a complaint, but he was not to treat her employee this way. Then she delt with the problem. You want courtious, helpful, loyal employees? Treat them like they are worthwhile and valuable. By the way, the manager that did that won the loyalty and respect of every co-worker in that store. Turnover at that store dropped significantly as well. THIS is the way to fix kinkos. This is not a diss on kinkos, its just my views and experiences. Whenever I have a problem, my managers do try and help. -Wage Slave |
124) Posted by: Mark Panitz (
xx.193.230.27 ) I just got hired by Kinkos and I will be starting |
125) Posted by: Zee (
xxx.163.252.199 ) The only thing Kinko's has going for it is the fact that it's open 24 hours. Being a procrastinating student, I've spent many a late night at Kinkos preparing work for school. I hate Kinko's but as long as there's no other place open at 2 AM when I finish designing and need an over-sized print, I'll continue going to Kinkos. Maybe the Kinko's employees should learn from the Ralphs bunch. Organize a strike if you don't like what's being done to you. |
126) Posted by: Sasami (
xx.164.145.198 ) I currently work for Kinko's. I'm not sure exactlly what stores some of these experiences people have are. At my store where i work the third shift I give honest turn times, constant customer service, and our managers and other team members do thier jobs without complaint and enjoy themselves. I have fun at work. Granted there are jobs handed down to me that are somewhat impossible. The only person who takes jobs that are UNrealistic turn time wise is our courier and she isn't in the branch to know what is going on. :) And granted the pay isn't g reat. But compared to other places in the town i live..its one of THE best paying jobs for my shift :) My management team listens to us, helps us out to become more then we are IE promotion oppurtutnites etc etc *sorry about my spelling..i'm almost ready to go home and am exhausted after finishing EVERY job in the store* I think that some kinko's do need a fresh start management wise..but its not always the company or the employee's. :). |
127) Posted by: Dave (
xx.173.183.33 ) I am a new employee at a CA store. I was orginally hired as an SPO, but have found myself doing SPO plus Sign and Banner work. Our Sign and Banner guy quit over a month ago and the management staff hasn't hired anyone else in his place. They now have me doing both jobs for one low low price. Has this happened at other stores? It seems to me this has to be breaking some sort of labor law. Clearly I'm doing two sepearte jobs that other stores have two people doing, but I'm not being compenstated for my extra work. |
128) Posted by: Meg the DC Girl (
xx.164.145.33 ) lol.... i work Document Creation in a NJ store.... lol.... it started |
129) Posted by: Sasami (
xx.164.145.161 ) Its not really breaking labor laws. I do DC stuff as well..its part of the new system where they are having thier keyops do all work behind the counter and the Express Staffing. Only thing i could say to you Dave is to talk to your managers. My store is short staff because one of our assistants quit *he was here for 7 years..he decided to move on :)* One thing i would check is to see if they even posted a thing for the position on the kinko's website. If not..ask them about it...i've found my managers at my store are great when it comes to c ommunicating to the staff and each other :). Tonight for example i had to do proofs for DC jobs..oversized prints and my regular work...its the way all stores are headed i belive. I think all stores should have had a meeting about express staffing and how its going to affect the store..if not..ask your managers about it :) And dave..another thing..if you work longer..you get overtime..i know CA has where if you work over 8 hours in a day you get over time :) unlike the rest of the country where you have to work 40 hours in a week :) hehe. Lucky dog; P heh |
130) Posted by: Bettie (
xx.169.222.217 ) I just had an interview for kinkos. i have heard nothing but good things until I found this site, now I'm having second thoughts...but I am wondering to all those who currently work there...do you think that the fed-ex situation will better kinkos, make it worse or stay the same? And is it better to start working as a retail consultant or a production operator? |
131) Posted by: Stacey (
xx.173.183.33 ) At my store the retail consultants stand around talking to each other and cleaning the machines. While I as a production operator am behind the counter busting my ass. But other stores I've been too have equal amount of work. So I guess it depends on the size store you are going to. If you store is real busy, maybe retail isn't such a good thing, because showing people how to make copies all day long can get Really Old! Anyone else in a store where they know more digital then the assistant managers there? I have a degree in graphic arts and due to the economy I find myself working at Kinkos. The other day I had to show my assistant manager how to drag and drop a file to the A: drive to save it. Grrr! |
132) Posted by: Jennifer (
xx.173.183.33 ) I'm a Kinko's customer for a long time now. I have been ordering signs at my local Kinko's for a couple years now. I just discovered that my signs are not printed at my Kinko's Sign and Banner shop, that they outsource my signs to a third party company. Is this common? |
133) Posted by: bubba (
xx.140.12.2 ) in regards to daves situation, welcome to kinkos. since you've only been with the company for a month or so, you only get to perform two different job duties. wait a couple of years and you should be able to do every positions responsibilities. hell, i usually perform about 8 in a typical day. 1 bookeeper these are just some of the all encompassing aspects of what kinkos wants their workers to achieve. the real fun comes when we have to input every job into the bni, jetlite, office tiger, etc. oh yea, we also have to produce the copies, too! he, he, he. |
134) Posted by: Meg the dc girl (
xx.81.46.21 ) It sounds stupid, but As much as i complain about Kinkos.... i still really enjoy working there... Hope you get the job Bettie..... |
135) Posted by: SignMan (
xx.60.89.197 ) Jennifer To answer your question about you signs. It is very common for anyone to do this. Companys want to expand on the product thay offer and so does Kinko's. Kinko's can make a lot of different types of signs & banners, but when it comes to large orders we get them screen printed at what we call KSB2000 which is are one ocation that does this for all of the kinko's. At our shop we try to do things in house. We like to WOW the customer with our quick turn times and out great signs or banners. We even have done things for other sign shops like Sign-A-Rama. Other companys come to us because we are good and fast and are willing to take on almost anything comes our way. We have done things like making bumper stickers for the Army to making a 6ft x 8ft laxon out door sign. If the product is what you want and the price is good, than it should not mater how we get it done! And to Meg the dc girl, its good to see some one that is thinks like me about Kinko's. I do to complain about Kinko's, but enjoy what I do. |
136) Posted by: Shawn Goodman (
xx.204.116.52 ) Wow! This is an interesting page based on different people's viewpoints of a very large company. As a person that has just applied for a branch manager position at Kinko's, I find the postings informative, but pretty common among large retail chains. Retail is a good position to be in if you want to meet a variety of interesting and different people, but it also attracts the same type of employees. There should only be two reasons why people are hired for jobs; Competence and Compatibility. Does not matter if it is entry level or management. Unfortunately, companies do not take very long assessing a persons compatibility with other personalities to see if they are a good fit. If they do, they usually apply these lame 1990's personality tests simply because they do not even know the "type" of employee/manager they are looking for. I will tell you that they are looking for someone who is an independent thinker (just like them). I remember working at a large service company where our Supply Coordinator could not lift boxes. Although she was in another department, she always tried to get men to help her out lifting, carrying, moving, or whatever it took to move her supplies around. As a manager, I approached her manager and asked "why did you hire her if she cannot do an essential function of her job?". She told me that her employee got along well with the vendors, but it was really none of my business. I informed my staff members they are to no longer assist unless all of their job duties for the day were done. Of course, this was never going to happen. Mind you, this was another manager talking to me. However, the difference between that manager and I, even though we worked for the same company, was that she did not know how to hire the right people so that it created a more uniform team environment. This happens all the time because many managers do not have people skills, but are experts at making their leaders believe they are doing a great job. Upper management want manager to sometimes step into a situation that a prior manager has totally destoyed. Most companies have policies, but nothing in writing that tells a manager how to lead people. Companies look for leadership, but it is very subjective. Some employees want to be left alone to do a fine job. Other employees need a lot of kudos to keep them going through their day. Thats great! A good manager finds out each persons personality and treats them accordingly, but above all uses listening skills and respects others. One thing I tell everyone over and over again no matter where you work. Always, always, always, put everything in writing. It take only one minute to write it down, but sometimes hours to figure it out if you do not. In the end, you can only blame yourself for being a reactive person instead of proactive. Use email for internal as well as external communications to chronologically convey a complaint or problem that has escalated into a problem. That way, a manager cannot deny that you have tried to address the issue in a civil manner. |
137) Posted by: redfly (
xx.73.148.181 ) I have been working for kinkos for like 7 months now. It seems since i got hired in at my measly wage as a key op the staff has thinned out and I and the other production staff have been working twice as hard as the managment and the retail staff sit around and twiddle thier thumbs. Our staff has been streached to the limit and they have made no attempt at hiring more. Kinko's managment are all about saving money where they can and having low wage employees busting their asses doing 2 or even 3 peoples jobs. I am getting out of kinko's in a few months....things just keep getting worse and worse...I think the managment at Kinko's gets off on the fact that they can have overexperianced, hard working college graduates work for 8 bucks an hour....well i guess it could be worse...could be working for walmart! |
138) Posted by: kink-nut (
xx.173.183.33 ) Yes, we have the same problem at our store. The managers sit in the back office sipping coffee, no matter how many customers we have. I find it difficult that I have a college degree and none of the managers do...not the store manager, not the assistants. What is even harder to bite is I overheard one of them saying how she got a bonus on her check. Mind you we met our sales goal for the month and none of the associates got a penny. The managers that run this store are so dumb and not right for the job, that I had to show one of them one day how to save a file to the floppy disk (A: drive). Then to top it off the next day the managers stood around for over an hour trying to print the color white off the color copier. Needless to say I tried to tell them it couldn't be done, but they didn't listen to me. So how does everyone think this FedEx thing will be affecting Kinko's? I sure hope FedEx cleans house with some of these managers. |
139) Posted by: vanpilot (
xxx.240.205.63 ) Well, this is an interesting spot on the www. I've been with kinko's for over 4 years now and I have to say, it HAS changed. I was originally "recruited" in 99' and hired to do deliveries for the now defunct Pick Up and Delivery Dept. After the "PUD" was disbanded and I was assigned to a single branch along with the rest of my fellow drivers, our responsibilities grew 8-fold. There were 9 of us. Now there are 5. Funny thing, though, there are more stores now than when I started. I personally service 4 stores, along with working the counter, express, and some production on a limited basis. I see that this is not only a trend but perhaps a way of doing business now. Sure, every business is going through a rough spot, but DAMN! kinko's is sure getting there money's worth, huh? Mr. Gary Kusin sure earned his salary. I wonder, though, how ling this will last? |
140) Posted by: redfly (
xx.73.148.195 ) i have been visiting this site often and reading all the complaints on here just to let me know that i am not alone. it seems that all the coworkers at my branch are just totally brainwashed or beaten into submission. i have only worked there for like 7 months and it has been 7 months too long. all the managment at kinkos are driven by greed and "scores". there is no concern for the employee or customer. managment is always complaining that the numbers are down, then they blame it on the employees. maybe they should look at themselves or the fact that you cant make a customer come in and buy 8 million color copies every day. |
141) Posted by: Sasami (
xx.164.145.161 ) Odd...we still have a PUD dept...our courier goes all around town getting orders..granted we only have ONE person in that dept..but thats all we need :) ..change is good...least i think so :) |
142) Posted by: tom (
xx.18.57.87 ) I have been working over 5 years at kinkos and a sprint before that for a couple years and yep Im on the third shift. its to the point where when the customer comes in with a big job that he/she wants at 7am and they come in at 2am I just tell them we have a nice express area you can use all to yourself. The day shift loads up the grave shif so much that you have no room for anything else and if a customer can't think to bring a job in till the last minute let them do it themselves. And I do know how to get you out of trouble on a pc but if you use a mac your on your own I dont even want to learn mac. And then you get the people in who want to set up thier laptops to a docking staion and get on the internet for free for hours on end not do any prints and want your help with a problem on thier own damn machine. Then they get bent out of shape when you say are you planning on making some prints, like they have a right to just sit there harass me all night and not buy a thing. Hey remember when bonuses were really up ther say 1994 we have been in the top 50 stores for over 5 years and bonuses really suck now. So I guess it just comes down to do your job do it well when you leave work leave work dont answer the phone if your caller id says kinkos they dont pay us enough to worrey about it when the clock says its time to go Ill worrey about it when Im back on the clock and thier paying me. So many people work at least at my store off the clock what kind of crap is that. If you want to talk to me about kinkos punch me in. My managers pretty cool but I called in sick once and he had to cover nothing got done and the store was a mess I heard. Also you dont have to put up with screaming customers if they are rude or talking loud point out the door. we make the same amount if they stay or never come back. It does not effect our bonuses much say a candybar if we never see him again know what I mean we are at the bottum of the food chain. I used to get at least 100 bucks in tips a week but that was banned also by big bad bill sanchez so whats the point. why try to work out a customers problem any more they walk less work for me. before you went out of your way they said great job tom heres a twenty now I have to turn it down. So I dont try as hard. Now its like oh thats copyright we cant do that. or you can do it in express. Or if you want my help on the computer that will be ninety dollars an hour. Just follow exactly what the coworker hand book says and the pricing book and you can piss off a whole passle of customers and not get in trouble because you are following the rules to a tee. well thats my rant thanks for being here Tom |
143) Posted by: Sasami (
xx.218.104.145 ) Well...i feel the same way as tom...and i follow the rules..and tell the customers as such...if they don't like it..let them tell the company..of course i tell MY boss about all this...so they don't get suprised..hehe.. :) usually they back me up :) |
144) Posted by: Kink-nut (
xx.173.183.33 ) Has anyone at their store had a problem with a "click"? Our store has a "click" of employees, yes the management is in on this click. That new people coming in are consistantly talked about behind closed doors, written up if they don't follow what they were never taught or told. My handbook says I'm suppose to bring any problems to the attention of my HR manager...but yes, she also is in on the "click". Any advice? |
145) Posted by: the dc girl (
xx.81.46.21 ) This message is for Kink-nut.... we have a huge problem with one particular asst. manager at my store... with the things you mentioned... he was originally from another branch where i guess this kind of behavior was acceptable... and not only is he an asst. manager at the store, but he's my manager.... which makes things even worse, because i can't stand him... i don't like his attitude toward me nor to other people in my store...so the other day i had a long talk with the branch manager and hopefully my problems with this manager will be solved... |
146) Posted by: Sasami (
xx.164.145.161 ) If you can't get your HR manager to do anything..or think they won't help..go up the c hain of command...i think Kinko's has an Open door policy..take it up til yo ufind osmeone who will work on the issues :) You DO have that right as an employee :) |
147) Posted by: Tom (
xx.18.57.87 ) OK OK Im dumb my last two checks have been around 500 bucks for two weeks, but it is direct deposited and I had other money coming in so I didnt notice at first. It seems kinkos wont pay us bonus unless we meet an astronomical goal they set out. Holy crap is it high there goes the $900.00 checks crap kinkos sucks I should have seen it coming gary kusin what a dick you are are you reading this you greedy son of a bitch, and what sucks is they had it planned two years ago. we had a great year were in the top ten of all kinkos stores made 9 million dollars a record year and they go well if you can do 9 million why not 12 million thats a 25% increase, but the manager said we dont have to make goal as long as the store profits we make money. Ok cool that works. Now this year they raise the bar 2% above the 25% they did last year and say if you dont make this goal every month you dont get a bonus, we at coporate get it. And dont be too hard on your managers and assistants because they are losing thousands in bonus each month its our turn to laugh at them. LOL. So now its whats the point and you say fuck you to the customer parden my language but this really sucks. and poor Scott who started this forum gets the shit and doesnt know why at least he was 20% satisfied after someone from work really told me how it was Im maybe 10% satisfied. It feels like someone cut off my left nut.well thats all for now take care... Tom |
148) Posted by: redfly (
xx.73.147.124 ) This one is to kink-nut. I have the same problem in the store i work in. I consistantly feel like there is a "group" in the store that really sticks together and the management is part of that group. I have time after time found out there has been a problem with my performance from other employees long before i find out from management. i don't know who i should go with my concerns because the case with my store is that the hr manager is buddies with everyone i am having issues with. i dont know what to do in my case either. |
149) Posted by: kink-nut (
xx.173.183.33 ) Ah, how my saga continues. I was hired to work first shift for Kinkos. Now the "click" of employees are forcing me to second shift. Telling me how I have to be flexible with my schedule. I was pretty much told, if I don't like it..quit. I'm sure everyone knows how bad the job market is, what can I do. |
150) Posted by: redfly (
xx.73.155.163 ) I have had the same problem. I got hired to work third shifts at my store and then after a few months my boss came to me (after discussing this with the "click") and told me that he was moving me to second shift. When i protested (because i was losing a dollar an hour by the move) he told me that refusal was considered a voluntary resignation. I was furious. He told me that it was temporary because i needed "more training". I was told about a month. Well that was in december 2003 and i am finally getting back on thirds after finally working the problem around a new assistant manager who seems to have her shit straight with the store. I dont understand how management at kinkos can get off bullying employees just because they feel like it. I have to tell you there is probably nothing much you can do right now, kink-nut. when you have the management and the click on ya your pretty much screwed. what makes it worse is when your manager is buddies with everyone at hr. |
151) Posted by: Sasami (
xx.164.145.161 ) Oddly enough my store doesn't have a 'clique' per say...the first shifters hate each other, and like me cause they can bitch about each other to me..the mid shifters and second shifters get along great ;) and the two third shifters get along with all shifts...There's not really any groups that are in for each other if you know what i mean. Granted we are short staffed right now...i'm working this week Monday tuesday and wednesday Overnight. Thursday off..friday and saturday during 2nd shift and off sunday..its killin me..but its over time :) hehe |
152) Posted by: Moved On (
xx.231.169.179 ) Hey dc girl! I also used to work at Kinkos. I just stumbled on to this site and noticed your above predicament. The Kinkos handbook specifically prohibits ANY fraternization between a supervisor and a coworker that is their subordinate. Your asst. manager can be fired for what he is doing. I suggest you take home a comment card and write what the asst. manager is doing and mail it. Someone in the higher ranks will see it and have to investigate it and you will be kept anonymous. I hated working at Kinkos with every once of my sore overworked bones. I was lied to about receiving raises when I was hired (meaning I was told that they existed). I was promoted to shift leader and was denied a raise I requested for the extra responsibility. Customers would walk off with or lock in the keys to our only bathroom. The manager, who only “worked” first shift would either walk off with our backup keys or take his time in making us another set of keys. I have worked many many jobs in my life, some actually worse than Kinkos, and have never been denied access to urinate. And that is just the very tip of the iceberg of hell of working at Kinkos. Don’t get too upset with the pro-Kinkos cheerleaders. They just have a different set standards for quality management, fair pay, and corporate morale. Kinkos did not meet my standards and fortunately I found a company that does. |
153) Posted by: Kink-nut (
xx.173.183.33 ) Hey Move On, are you telling us there is no yearly raises either? I was told there are 90 day reviews and yearly reviews. I made my 90 days, but didn't see a raise. Wondering if I should stick out the year. Disgruntled Kikos employee! |
154) Posted by: Sasami (
xx.218.104.145 ) Kink-nut, did you remind them about it? I had to remind my boss about it..Also how close to march did you hit your 90 days? My boss said that he couldn't give two raises in the same quarter and since the Performance apprasials are in march..thats part of the first quarter and my 90 days hit in jan :) so maytbe thats it :) |
155) Posted by: Moved On (
xx.231.169.179 ) Sasmi: A former coworker of mine got his 90 day review in March and was told by management that he even though Performance Appraisals are coming out that he will receive both a 90 day review raise and a Performance review raise. But after his review they gave him the exact same excuse they gave me (Read Further) and everyone who was hired after me. I also did not receive a 90 day review raise and I was given a good review. I was told that once I learned more of the auxiliary and key-op work I would be considered for a raise. But the thing is I was hired for retail and I had already been working key-op. Once I started working auxiliary and key-op on a regular basis I still did not receive a raise. The assistant managers, who thought I did good work in all the areas, recommended that I receive a raise but it was denied. There were annual raises though. I only stayed there long enough to receive one annual raise. I got the same raise as 10 of the 17 coworkers, (the other coworkers could have received the same raise but only 10 of us discussed them together). That raise was a whopping 9 cents. And we all received good reviews. A few of us coworkers went to discuss with the branch manager why we received good reviews and poor raises. We were then told that the reviews didn’t accurately reflect our work and then had to sit through why we only deserved 9 cent raises. But we didn’t get an explanation as to why they gave us good ratings in reviews in the first place. So, either the reviews or the excuse for the 9 cent raises were a lie. That is just bad management. That is also the reason why only 5 of the 17 coworkers I worked with are still there. Those of us who quit were all offered raises to stay, but we all found jobs that paid more than Kinkos, raises included. We were not lazy or bad workers. We were just trying to be taken advantage of. I am fully aware that the branch manager at the Kinkos I worked at is a poor manager at best. Unfortunately, after reading this board it appears that this is an epidemic in the Kinkos corporation. |
156) Posted by: redfly (
xx.73.153.241 ) hey kinknut. I have heard the same complaint. when i was hired about 7 months ago they never said anything to me about the "review". but my fellow third shift coworker who was hired a month before me was told about the review period and raise by the manager. So when his 90 days were up he asked the manager about it. My manager denied that he ever said anything about a review period and raise. My manager is pretty good about just denying or bullying things out of the coworkers. I asked my fellow coworkers about the yearly reviews and raises. They told me that the highest anyone got for a raise was 15 cents. but the average was more like 5 cents. This is in a store that at the time of the review was one of the top stores in the company. Strange huh? Cheap and Liars. |
157) Posted by: DigitalGuy (
xx.9.226.158 ) This is cool Scott! I never knew so many employees felt the same way I do! Oh my god Corporate better get thier shit together hahaha. I've already been diggin through Monster.com like crazy to get away from that under-paid, over-worked sweat house... |
158) Posted by: swirling among (
xx.171.185.187 ) Raises are the big myth of kinko's (closely followed by profit sharing) If you can get out of kinkos, do it. Also for you still struggling w/ me, the hiring of the |
159) Posted by: redfly (
xx.43.84.212 ) here some articles of interest about our favorite employer..... |
160) Posted by: janky (
xx.142.25.222 ) hey redfly... Glad to see you're on the same tip as other folks in the company. For your reading pleasure: Hopefully we can organize this time around. Anyone else interested in organizing in their area let me know. It would be nice to have support and organizing drives throughout the company. 10-15 cent raises? Give me a fucking break. All the while, these corporate heads are cashing out on our hard work. We should fight this shit! -j |
161) Posted by: Daisy (
xx.173.183.33 ) Why does Kinko's have all those camera everywhere? I've noticed most of them are pointed at the workers. Does Kinko's really have that much problem with theft? Who checks the camera's tapes and what happens when loss prevention is called in? |
162) Posted by: No1imparticular (
xx.12.116.84 ) As a kinko's team member, i'd like to point out that sometimes the customers are the real problem!!! what you fail to realize is that kinko's is predominately a 24 hour business that creates a CUSTOM PRODUCT for each customer. when a customer wants something from us, he or she usually expects it immediately. but, what about the other 100 customers who came and placed orders before you? what about the online customers who place orders and are expecting their orders on time? its humanly impossible to produce a custom product right away for every customer as soon as they walk into the store. and god forbid a machine breakdown!!! well folks, when you work in a 24 hour enviroment, copy machines will break. cars will break, refrigerators break...as do copy machines that run constantly everyday, 24 hours, 7 days a week. my solution is for customers to NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE to order their stuff. its hard to be pleasant all the time when customers are rushing you or upset because someone made a mistake and ruined their conference or meeting. well, evidently these customers had no prior notice that there was a conference at 1pm today! it must've just sprang up on them. i call this procrastination and poor planning. this is not the fault of any kinko's team member. i can't say that we get everything 100% right all the time, but i've never known a customer to not get the right product in the end. we'll redo anything that we've done wrong - we are humans afterall. so, cut kinko's some slack, because it's probably your fault anyway. |
163) Posted by: Sasami (
xx.164.145.161 ) Here here to the customer's being part of the problem..just me..i've expereienced it...and as for the camaras..its for the third shifters really LOL...they check up on me to make sure i'm working and not online :) Hehe |
164) Posted by: deadman (
xxx.137.53.135 ) UNIONIZE |
165) Posted by: digitalboy (
xx.9.226.158 ) hmm, that brings up a lightbulb... FedEx is known to treat their employees very well, maybe now that fedex bought out kinkos, management will change for the better? (i hope so) anyone else get their PA's done lately? yesterday was my first, and i have a feeling my 'raise' will be minimal... (checking monster.com daily) .. another thing, you know it's REALLY bad when more employees are complaining than customers... |
166) Posted by: Sasami (
xx.218.104.145 ) I got my PA...and i was told in jan by my Branch Manager that i could either get my 90 day raise or my PA raise which would be alot more then the 25 cents i was going to get..to me thats anywhere between 50 cents to a dollar..if i don't get at LEAST that..i'll proabably end up quiting...i love my job..but i need a job that pays more then this... |
167) Posted by: Janky (
xx.142.25.222 ) to deadman: Case point: I know a driver for UPS and a driver for Fedex. Both of which have been with their respective companies for around the same amount of time; btwn 7-8 years. (The Fedex employee actually has been with fedex a little longer) The Fedex worker makes approx $17/hr and has just had to start paying $20/month for healthcare. The UPS driver, on the other hand, is making $27/hr, while UPS still covers his healthcare. (Also, it may be interesting to point out that the UPS employee just bought his first house; while I asked the Fedex driver if this was a possibility for him and he said he couldn't afford it) Of course each of their stories is based upon different circumstances, but, it would be great if people started talking to people who work for union/non-union shops and see the difference between the 2. I have and I have completely changed my perspective on organizing kinkos. overwhelmed with work and short-staffing, |
168) Posted by: kink-nut (
xx.173.183.33 ) Who closes the store? Working in a non-24hr store, the employees are given a key/code to the store and expected to close shop every night. Shouldn't a Manager be doing this? Anyone else out there experience this. |
169) Posted by: slim (
xx.102.57.154 ) Wow very insignful comments. Have Kinko's employees heard from FedEx management about any chages yet? |
170) Posted by: The DC Girl (
xx.81.46.21 ) i got a packet today... anyone else get it... it comes with a cd, a pen and a mousepad... haven't had a chance to look at it though.... |
171) Posted by: kink-nut (
xx.173.183.33 ) Yeah we got the packet this week from Fed Ex. Reading through all the material I basically got that Fed Ex is God-like and Kinko's is just a small part of their world. Nothing in there that said how we are going to benefit from the sale. Discounts on shipping, higher wage increases, nothing! |
172) Posted by: thankfullyterminated (
xx.203.101.255 ) Hehehehe, I am currently on 7 days administrative leave. Which simply mean I'm waiting for my final check. About a week ago a corporate security dog came down to the branch unexpectedly. Well we all knew someone was getting the axe. About everyone had an equal chance coz we all had side gigs going on which corporate could take exception to if they found out. Well campers it was me this dude was here to see. I won't mention his name except he was fat and ugly. A total slob. So when he called me to the unused backoffice I knew he was going to start the termination process. We sat and he went through the whole inane process of officially identifying me. Name, Address, Social, phone number, favorite color etc. Anyway he asks me, "Do you know why I'm here"... I'm thinking I could say to give me a raise? But I just said yeah. Then he asks "Do you know the reason? I replied, No don't keep me in suspense. He then explains that it was made aware to him that I design logos on the side, and that constitutes a competing business which apparently is a big no no. He explained that it was all in the employee manual. (Yes I must have missed that one when I read it word by word breathlessly, wink, wink) Well I replied that my clients would never go to Kinkos for the custom jobs they needed. He retorted with Kinkos does do logos and custom design. Well folks I been at Kinkos for almost a year...not once did someone come in for a design for a logo. I don't consider choosing clipart from a book and putting times roman next to it as logo design. Thats typesetting. Not the same. He had this blank stare of contempt. I told him that my clients have never come into Kinkos and that I do my work on my own time and equipment. He calmly said" I don't care if you were on vacation and you struck up a conversation with a man looking for design work. It is your duty as a Kinkos employee to sell him on the idea that Kinkos is the best place for him to go for those services. I chuckled and replied, you expect me to turn away a client that wouldn't be caught dead at Kinkos for design work. He calmly said "Yes I do" well then pay me some more money because if you don't want employees moonlighting then pay them more money. He said well it's your choice and if you don't like it then find somewhere else. EXACTLY Now I don't have to listen to incredibly stupid people asking "How do I use the prepay card system for the copiers?" 45 times a day. Incidently how they found about my outside endeavors "Email" Don't ever use the company email they read all of it. A client of mine innocently emailed me at my store asking where to send the check for her design. I thanked her the next day! :) |
173) Posted by: New2Kinkos (
xx.10.37.145 ) Just my opinion, but anyone who leaves 3 msgs of the same thing, needed to be fired. |
174) Posted by: Moved On (
xx.40.163.197 ) New2Kinkos: It was 3:44am and the person just got canned. Anyone in that situation needs to be granted some slack. But that's just my opinion. |
175) Posted by: Kink-nut (
xx.173.183.33 ) Do store managers have to clock-in/out? Or are they salary? |
176) Posted by: Sasami (
xx.164.145.161 ) I think store managers are salary..everyone else is hourly :) |
177) Posted by: kinkoee (
xx.10.37.145 ) What exactly do the store managers do ? Responsibilities ? Hours? Etc ? |
178) Posted by: janky (
xx.142.25.222 ) what exactly do you mean kinkoee? They are store managers in the broadest sense. |
179) Posted by: Kinkoee (
xx.10.37.145 ) What kind of hours do they put in ? If the stores are open 24 hrs... do they have standard hours ? |
180) Posted by: dc girl (
xx.164.145.33 ) well sotre managers from what i've seen usually come in around 8 or 9 am and then leave 8 hours later... why? |
181) Posted by: Kinkoee (
xx.10.37.145 ) How about the 24 hr stores ? Is there a asst mgr who works nights ? |
182) Posted by: dc girl (
xx.164.145.33 ) not in my store |
183) Posted by: Kinkoee (
xx.10.37.145 ) So it sounds like managers have a pretty good job. |
184) Posted by: SignMan (
xx.60.89.197 ) Kinkoee- |
185) Posted by: FionnMacCumhaill (
xx.219.176.196 ) I wonder how many other kinkos workers found this page by running a search on 'evil' and 'kinkos'. I am in my early-mid 20's, and have worked at Kinkos now for a couple years, but my previous, long held position was at a place I actually enjoyed working - a small specialized company where I did data analysis and some project management. This makes my tenure at kinkos all the more painful, because if I had never actually had a decent job my ignorance might have kept me from acknowledging how miserable a place Kinkos is. I only started working here out of necessity after moving to this rather big metropolitan area and needing a paycheck and quick, but just as was prophecied to me by a coworker - 2 years have gone by and I have yet to escape. In fact, I was just promoted again, and the fellow coworkers gasped at the usually unheard of $2/hr raise accompanying the promotion. But dammit, I tell you, the other IE window open on my computer right now is hotjobs.yahoo.com. The store I work at is so understaffed for the volume of business it does that 3rd shift has been working over until 2pm, I just worked 6 days in a row of 12 hour days, and still every day half that time is spent trying to catch up with all the late jobs. Basically every ill word spoken of this corporation is true - it is a train run off the rails. New stores popping up all over the world, and every one of them without competent management, and any sharp workers (especially ones who have worked their for a long time and know the place well) the company's one good asset - are at this point so jaded that even folks with good work ethics have come to the conclusion (and rightly so) that if corporate is going to try and get over on them, they'll get over themselves by doing as little work as possible and getting paid for it. I know people who work overtime every day and spend a good deal of it doing nothing at all despite the work pilin gup because they have hit the WAGE CAP and its not going to get any better for them no matter what. It seems like you can go on and on and on detailing every ill-conceived, wrong-headed or greedy decision that has been made and remade over the last couple of years that has made things this bad. I am a conservative guy when it comes to politics and social/business concerns, and I have reservations about unions (for instance the fact that many jobs which the unions complain about being sent overseas are leaving because of the unions own extortionist practices) but with ethical self-imposed restraints, in a situation like this I think a union would be just the thing. Kinkos has developed a corporate culture that nears a bolshevik quality. They prize ignorance so they can fill heads with their deceptive company propaganda, trying to make loyal 'company men' who will hopefully just not think about the fact that they are working as hard as they are and putting up with the level of abuse they are for as little as they are making. Maybe they'll even wear it like a twisted badge of pride like that one loyal kinkos poster early in this little conversation who said he'd worked there for 11 years and only makes a dollar an hour more than a new hiree. This is America, and I will quote the great Rush Limbaugh when I say to people like this that regardless what line you're fed by the company, it is not virtuous to just accept and eat every excrement sandwich life sends your way. It is not virtuous that you make that low wage and have been complacently working this job with some warped sense of duty for so many years. If you were a marine or an Army Ranger I would understand and applaud what you do for God and Country but this is a damned company - there is no honor and duty - just a paycheck and trying to maintain the balance between what the company takes from you and what you take from the company (or tilting that balance in your favor, because it sure as hell is way in theirs right now). This is why shortly hereafter I expect fully to find other more satisfying employment elsewhere. As a worker you have the ability to do what you want - find another job, if you have leadership skills and the drive, you can organize these workers into a union, or you can even try to attain the kinko's (un)holy grail of being an assistant manager (and take upon yourselkf the ire of all your coworkers when you only obey the branch manager and he the district etc etc). Its a cluster fuck - hopefully something is done about it. |
186) Posted by: redfly (
xx.248.128.130 ) I totally agree with you. Luckily for me I am leaving kinko's by the end of the month and going to grad school....and getting paid by the school to go. I found my exit out. And my store is getting so bad alot of the good employees that have been there a long time have found thiers too. My store has degenerated so much that we have lost or are losing,within the next month, 5 employees and the store has hired ONE person. Not good. If i was going to stay at kinko's i would look into organizing a union. The job itself isn't bad, it is the way it is run and the lack of opportunity there that make it hell. And the worst is that the managment is corporate's lap dogs. |
187) Posted by: Kinkoee (
xx.10.37.145 ) About the last 2 entries; Does the store manager have any say ? Hours, hiring good people, raises or are they just following the rules to keep thier jobs ? |
188) Posted by: redfly (
xx.164.145.33 ) I think it is a combination of both. I seems like corporate is making the managment streach the staff as thin as possible. It seems at my store that the managment takes orders without question. The worse thing is that for some reason (there could be a logical one) our store's payroll is still through the roof and we have half the staff of just 6 months ago, and our sales are up from then too. In the last store meeting the manager pretty much railed on the production staff (which is already streached thin) and told them that they don't really matter. He said retail is all that matters in the store. I dont understand that because the production staff does 95% of the work in the store and is busting thier asses more than anyone else. Even though the staff is streached thin you still dont see managment getting up and helping. Well I better get back to running jobs.... |
189) Posted by: Kink-Ex (
xx.173.183.33 ) Has anyone been told anything about the Kinkos/Fed Ex merger? All we've been told is we have online training that was to be done before May 1st. They are bringing in a FedEx counter that we all must be trained to do. We have FedEx employees coming in telling us they get a discount at our store...but we haven't been told that yet. I received the FedEx pack with the nice little pen and all...but I would really like to know more! |
190) Posted by: FionnMacCumhaill (
xx.33.177.27 ) Man, what is so hilarious about this is that each of you is probably a decent distance away from me, definitely in a different district, and each issue being raised is something everyone else has also experienced. Not only are the experiences of horribly low staffing, low quality work and poor communication not isolated incidents, it seems to be the rule of thumb, the direct result of policy. It is absolutely true, as I have been told quite openly in conversations with management that corporate has set extremely low goals for payroll that must not be exceeded, while demanding large increases in sales and production - converse, contradictory policices, the type we basically expect at this point. I do not want to be cynical and disgusted with my job. I wish I loved working here and that it was a great place for me, but it is not. I appreciate most all of the people i work with, including managers actually at my store, despite the fact that it is inevitable that the latter will piss me off at some point, but it seems that company wide people are feeling like they are working for some post-victorian era Robber Baron. The attitude of do more with less and for no more (and possibly less if you take into account the changes in profit sharing) is not the way to increase productivity or morale/enthusiasm. The company only exists to satisfy the needs of customers, and those needs are met not by Gary Kusin but by us droogs, who cannot meet said needs satisfactorily without being supplied adequate manpower, tools, and infrastructure. Good employees are any business's best asset (outside of clientel obviously) and the success of a business is decided by the work those employees do. To insult and squander that asset is just as idiotic as giving away your product or service free of charge (which incidentally is another side effect of the poor quality work churned out by overworked underpaid people at kinkos). As far as FedEx goes...today was our stores first day of having one of our guys handling the FedEx duties, as we're a beta test store. We had a few Fedex folks as well as some guy I don't know fro kinkos in observing and offering advice, as well as taking comments from customers (most of which centered on 'I don't like it! Don't change things!' because I think people just don't like any unexpected turns or bumps in the routine they're used to). I do PTP so I guess eventually I'm supposed to be involved in this crap, I dunno. Right now, if you throw another thing on my plate, i'll probably just say screw it and lay down and take a nap for all the good it would do to run around and try and do 5 or 6 things at the same time, each one all the more half-assed by the effort thrown at the others. I don't know that I'm going to bother trying to get that training done by the 1st, because the damn thing gives me an AICC server error from home, which if they set it up that way is idiotic, and I don't see how I have time while at work already for 11-12 hours a day to do their moronic shit talking about wiping down counters and other nonsense. I guess i'll have to bring that up when i come in tomorrow, and tell 'em that i'll do it on or directly after scheduled hours, or when they schedule or staff the store adequately enough for me to have time to watch their insulting little flash cartoons that always make me feel like I'm 5 years old in a doctor's office and reading Goofus and Gallant in one of those damned Highlights magazines. |
191) Posted by: texas (
xxx.69.138.201 ) Does anyone know anything about the outside sales positions with Kinko's? Do they give car allowance? How does that job compare with the branch store jobs? How much do they make? What contact does the branch stores have with this representative? Let me know what you think of this position? Is it hard to get hired for this job? |
192) Posted by: oddman (
xx.171.186.183 ) Fed Ex Kinko's "Office and Print Center" It's the end of the world as we know it... and I'm getting fired....yup all you am's watch swollenTongue if you only knew ;) All of you in Dist 9....fill out your binders |
193) Posted by: Stinkos (
xx.45.152.12 ) What else is there to say about Kinkos. Every one seems to have the sheep mentality and are happy to be treated like shit. I have been at my branch for over 2 years and have gotten a whooping 24 Cent raise. Holy shit what a fucking rip off i might as well work in Mcdonalds or a supermarket. One of the reason the company is so succesfull is the fact that the wages are so low. And things will NEVER change unless the employees were in a union. But with fedex calling the shots now i dont see that happening. |
194) Posted by: redfly (
xx.248.160.149 ) It seems like kinko's is cleaning house to get more passive, lower wage employees in. I was hired about 8 months ago as one of those people. But I am not passive, just desparate at the time for a job. I have been hounding my manager for the past month for a transfer to where I am moving (it would be temporary since I begin grad school in the fall) but he has not done anything to help. I have givin up on the transfer and am just riding out the next month till I have to move. I hate being that employee that is riding out the time til I leave, because that makes you not care. I dont want to screw over the other employees, but damn I am burned out and only after 8 months! I am suprised people last even after a year with all the crap going around. |
195) Posted by: Kinkoee (
xx.10.37.145 ) What IS the wage range for an hourly and manager ? |
196) Posted by: Redorama (
xx.168.22.82 ) Just found this posting and have been laughing out loud! I am a former Kinko's employee and have my 2 cents to put in. For now, Done right the third time every time! |
197) Posted by: Kink-nut (
xx.173.183.33 ) For anyone wanting to know the pay rates, I just found them on the Kinko's Intranet. 2004 Grades are divided up by Geographic areas in 1, 2, or 3. Then they break it down to Min/Hour...Midpt/Hour...Max/Hour BM1 (Branch Manager1) Geo1: Min/Hour-$21.39 Midpt/Hour-$26.73 Max/Hour-$32.07 Geo2: Min/Hour-$19.42 Midpt/Hour-$24.28 Max/Hour-$29.13 Geo3: Min/Hour-$17.50 Midpt/Hour-$21.88 Max/Hour$26.25 BM2 (Branch Manager2) Geo1: Min/Hour-$17.98 Midpt/Hour-$22.45 Max/Hour-$26.92 Geo2: Min/Hour-$16.30 Midpt/Hour-$20.38 Max/Hour-$24.47 Geo3: Min/Hour-$14.71 Midpt/Hour-$18.37 Max/Hour$22.02 AM (Assistant Manager) Geo1: Min/Hour-$12.40 Midpt/Hour-$15.50 Max/Hour-$18.60 Geo2: Min/Hour-$11.50 Midpt/Hour-$14.40 Max/Hour-$17.30 Geo3: Min/Hour-$10.70 Midpt/Hour-$13.40 Max/Hour$16.10 SPL (Specialist aka: Senior) Geo1: Min/Hour-$10.60 Midpt/Hour-$13.20 Max/Hour-$15.80 Geo2: Min/Hour-$9.80 Midpt/Hour-$12.20 Max/Hour-$14.60 Geo3: Min/Hour-$9.00 Midpt/Hour-$11.20 Max/Hour$13.40 ADV (Advance) Geo1: Min/Hour-$8.60 Midpt/Hour-$10.70 Max/Hour-$12.80 Geo2: Min/Hour-$7.80 Midpt/Hour-$9.70 Max/Hour-$11.60 Geo3: Min/Hour-$7.00 Midpt/Hour-$8.70 Max/Hour$10.40 BAS (Basic) Geo1: Min/Hour-$7.40 Midpt/Hour-$9.20 Max/Hour-$11.00 Geo2: Min/Hour-$6.60 Midpt/Hour-$8.20 Max/Hour-$9.80 Geo3: Min/Hour-$5.80 Midpt/Hour-$7.20 Max/Hour$8.60 |
198) Posted by: Sasami (
xx.164.145.198 ) Does anyone know where us third shift people fall..are we specialists or not? I have taken all tests given to me and passed them with flying colors..so i'm wondering what i should Technically be...or what i should have been when i was hired because i was hired for third shift..i get 8.50 an hour right now..which is what my Branch Manager said was starting for overnight...with no experience etc etc...and because of my 'low' PA score..i didn't get a raise..so i'm wondering if i should bring up to HR that i should be making more...any ideas? I'm in Geographic area 2 :) |
199) Posted by: Kink-nut (
xx.173.183.33 ) I think it is dependant on your job title, not what shift you are. I know Senior Production and Senior Retail are considered Specialist. Where as Production Operator and Retail are both considered either Advance or Basic depending on experience. |
200) Posted by: Kinkoee (
xx.10.37.145 ) What is the difference between a BM1 and BM2 ? Also what Geo is Texas in ? |
201) Posted by: Kink-nut (
xx.173.183.33 ) BONUS!? Does anyone know if your personal performance review affects weither you get a bonus or not? I've read the bonus review on Kinko's intranet and nothing states that as a reason you may not receive one. Let me know?!? |
202) Posted by: Vessel (
xxx.40.5.230 ) This is a wealth of information. I recently applied to Kinko's and got a call back for an interview. Are there any tips about what I can say to get hired at this wonderful establishment? No really I do want to get the job despite the comments cause it'll just be supplemental. Would you say the shift goes by quickly (overnight)? Anything I should know to say during the interview that will insure my being hired or at least the max. amount of money? Thankx |
203) Posted by: K'mon (
xx.99.62.181 ) C'mon people, for starting pay around 7 bucks an hour what do you expect? That's the problem with American society. People want to make millions for doing a job that essentially anyone could do, given the right training. Working at Kinko's is not a highly specialized job, and compared to some of the other companies one could work for for $7/hr or less starting pay, its really not bad at all. Trust me, I've worked just about every kind of meager, low-wage job possible as a college student. I've worked for major retail stores, fast food places, hotels...and Kinko's. Trust me when I say Kinko's is a lot better place to work than Wal-Mart or Kmart (especially Kmart, but Wal-Mart sucks too) and at least I don't go home covered in a greasy film smelling like fries. The benefits at Kinkos are a lot better, the pay is actually better, and they work around my schedule. Oh yeah...they have a tuition assistance program...EXCELLENT BENEFIT for all of those of us still in college...no other company I have worked for has offered that. So to all of you that are whining about your jobs at Kinkos here, try working for a company that really doesn't care...like Kmart....or Wal-Mart...or ANY hotel... So here's what you do: Stop whining about your job and just do it, you have to do it either way and you can choose to be miserable or you can choose to just deal. NO $7/hr job is going to be great. If you are in college, then this is just a stepping stone. If you're not in school, then you are choosing this as a career, and that's your business...but stop whining about it. IF you want a better job, go to college. Don't use I have kids or no money or blah blah blah for an excuse, that just lets YOU off the hook, and ultimately, you chose those circumstances also. Either way, you chose this, you put yourself here. |
204) Posted by: youwantitwhen? (
xx.143.161.9 ) I've just finished reading all the posts on this forum, printed it out actually, 69 pages, a debate that has gone on for over a year. Yes, I work for Kinko's. I have to say that I dislike the experience. I've opened up two new branches, made this company thousands and thousands of dollars, trained my fellow team members as my company isn't capable of it, bent over backwards for this company on countless occasions. I've been jerked around by management, jerked around by HR, I'm tired of their lies, tired of their excuses, tired of their incompitence. Let's face it folks, Kinko's is a poorly run company. I think this forum alone is testament to that. The experiences I've read in this forum I 100% identify with, and the fact that these people work in different branches all over the place proves that these aren't isolated problems, these are company-wide issues. Issues that the higher-ups should be addressing, should be fixing, but they don't. Why? Lies, excuses, etc., etc. Kinko's is very good at holding people accountible, they just don't teach you what you are supposed to be accountible for, hell, I had to learn how to do my job by taking the Ops manual home. It's just impossible to respect people that should have the ability to change things for the better, and despite what should be common sense decisions that benefit everyone, simply choose not to. Kinko's does not deserve the professionals that they do have, the team members that are holding the company together (and that is all that is holding the company together), because they didn't train those people, and as the economy slowly recovers those professionals will find better jobs and Kinko's will be left with slackers and no training capability to better themselves. |
205) Posted by: Kinkoee (
xx.10.37.145 ) I am interviewing with Kinkos and have been told that they are working better to provide much more training. I hope that this is true. What other info can you provide on a BM position ? |
206) Posted by: youwantitwhen? (
xx.164.145.33 ) Kinkoee: |
207) Posted by: Kinkoee (
xx.10.37.145 ) In reality what kind of hours does a "Good" manager put in ? Also any good questions to ask or things to ask for going into it ? I am a hands off kind of manager and not one to sit behind a desk, not sure if that will help or hurt me. |
208) Posted by: youwantitwhen? (
xx.164.145.33 ) Kinko's managers are required to do a regular 40 hr. week. The good ones actually work the floor, stay and help when there is alot of work. Interviewing is done off interview guides, which in my opinion are total BS, but they will probably look for specific answers to specific questions. Kinko's management has no real sense of identity, no one gets trained well, and certainly not the same way, so it's hard to say if being hands on or hands off will hurt or help you. |
209) Posted by: Kinkoee (
xx.10.37.145 ) Do you think that there will any changes now that Fedex is involved ? |
210) Posted by: youwantitwhen? (
xx.164.145.33 ) Oh, most certainly there will be changes. It's just a matter of time, really. |
211) Posted by: digitalguy (
xxx.160.169.117 ) Fed Ex Involved? Hehe, The assistant manager and Auxilary guy have done 10 online training classes and a week of classroom training for Fed Ex changes in our branch starting Monday... yeah, we got the scale and Fed Ex register computer and all. They made me do the 10 online classes too but I didn't learn much... |
212) Posted by: frank (
xxx.100.251.149 ) I'm interseted in following this discussion |
213) Posted by: Freak-a-Zoid (
xx.164.145.85 ) Ok, I know kinkos got bought out by FedEx, but do they have to give us aprons that look like Barney blew up all over? How are people adjusting to the HAVOC of learning the FedEx? |
214) Posted by: digitalguy (
xxx.160.169.117 ) omg, purple aprons, 3 people leaving within 2 weeks, learning to ship fedex and keep doing everything else with LESS staff, and i've been demoted to "retail consultant".... |
215) Posted by: highsociety (
xx.115.107.249 ) WOW!! All the chat about Kinko's customers and Team Meambers!!! It is like being in grammar school listening to all the kids talk behind everyone’s back. |
216) Posted by: jimmers (
xx.105.28.57 ) WOW, CALM DOWN IT'S GOING TO BE O.K., IT'S GOING TO BE O.K.. I WOULD SUGGEST DECAF FROM NOW ON!!! |
217) Posted by: kid (
xxx.160.169.218 ) does anyone else hate it when people think they know everything just because stuff worked out for THEM? I sure do... |
218) Posted by: Kinkoee (
xx.10.37.145 ) I am making my way thru the slow hiring process for a BM position. Any helpful comments ? Thank You. |
219) Posted by: youwantitwhen? (
xx.143.161.9 ) Highsociety- |
220) Posted by: highsociety (
xx.164.145.33 ) Youwantitwhen?- |
221) Posted by: youwantitwhen? (
xx.143.161.9 ) Well, that would certainly make you an exception among branch managers. I am very hands on myself, spend most of my time on the floor and with the staff, but Kinko's didn't teach me that and I doubt Kinko's taught you that either. |
222) Posted by: highsociety (
xx.164.145.33 ) I have been that guy who took over an underperforming Hub store and everyone thought "oh another one!!!" They were in for a surprised when they turned out loving me and still do. When I get a DM position(and I will), I have already trained my AM to manage like myself and he would be my recommendation. I'm bothers me to hear all the complaining. Work is what you make it and it all starts w/ management. So, your right management needs to be on the same level as us to see what its like. But I do things the way they need to be done and everything works out fine |
223) Posted by: youwantitwhen? (
xx.143.161.9 ) Unfortunately, HR will be the one to make the decision on who replaces you when you get promoted. Then you might get to witness someone else screw up all your hard work, and your AM get frustrated for not getting promoted when he/she should have. |
224) Posted by: highsociety (
xx.164.145.33 ) Actually HR works with Ops here and my DM is really fair and takes in consideration others point of view. I think my opinion is valued in the district and it shows. So, Opps, not HR, replaces me. I was able to see your point of view about management but once again it starts with you and how do you chose to manage. A good manager takes critisim and works it to his advantage. I use to be a trouble maker with all the same thoughts you have, now I do things alittle different and it works. |
225) Posted by: kink-nut (
xx.173.183.33 ) Anyone else experiencing job loss at their Kinkos? We just learned out customer account manager jobs are being elimated. They are, of course, allowed to apply for any openings...but looks like most of them will be getting a severance. |
226) Posted by: Suk A. Weiner (
xx.164.145.33 ) EVERYONE NEEES TO SHUT THE FUCK UP- ITS A COPY PLACE, YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T USE IT. SPECIALLY THE KINKOS EMPLOYEES, WHO SIGNS YOUR PAYCKECKS. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, LEAVE AND GO TO THE SLAVE LABORING STAPLES. AND WHATS THIS- FELLOW KINKOS EMPLOYEES BASHING EACHOTHER, WHAT IS THIS THE 6TH GRADE- YOU ALL HAVE WAY TOO MUCH TIME ON YOUR HANDS |
227) Posted by: youwantitwhen? (
xx.143.161.9 ) highsociety- |
228) Posted by: highsociety (
xx.164.145.33 ) Youwantitwhen? |
229) Posted by: youwantitwhen? (
xx.164.145.33 ) I used to care. I've been screwed over so many times that I have to force myself to care now, which can't be good. I think that relationships can be damaged to the point where they can never be renewed, which is what Kinko's has done to me. |
230) Posted by: D-ZINER (
xx.12.116.66 ) High society, I AGREE with you. I write this entry, hopefully to knock some sense into you people that have nothing better to do but sit here in this forum and bitch and moan about how horrible life at kinkos has treated you ....boo hoo.....shit or get off the pot. instead of complaining in some cheesey chat room at 2 in the morning, use that energy to make a difference in your lives! I too am a former employee of one of the most successful managed branches in the country and shit i'm proud of it. I must admit, when i first started working at kinkos i was a bit adverse to the attitudes of customers and their requests. After a while i realized that having a shitty attitude wasnt going to help me in any way. Instead i did the noble thing and changed my mind set, which has made me successful in the graphic design industry. The experience and customer contact is not bullshit. Apparently, you people have poor social skills if you feel threatened by management and customers. what kind of life is that. you feel threatened by "clicks" and all when it is you that can be the one alienating yourselves in the company. instead of having a "they're out the get me "attitude, step up and make something of yourselves. I can't stand pathetio people who live their lives inching by day to day at the rat races and always feel that they are stuck in some sort of black hole. you have free will, so for god sakes use it. Shitty attitudes will get you nowhere in corporate america. honestly, you are all still lucky that you still have your jobs. and shitty attitudes will not put you in the winners circle of management, so dont kid yourselves. i was once in your positions, yeah i didn't bring home a fat ass pay chech every two weeks, but you know, i had customer relations that do help you in the long run. you'd be surprised at all the opportunities at kinkos, and the ones across the counter, but you have to know that they are there, instead of recoiling in hate and wishing your managers would die. Fortunately, i do know my ass from my elbow and have had a successful experience at kinkos, because i chose too. As for those of you who enjoy back stabbing fellow employees, you dont seem to understand that when you stab someone in the back, you are BENEATH them and obviously, they are ahead of you, or else you woule not feel so threatened by them. Unfortunatly, i have had this experience happen to me, and i think that its pathetic. to that person who is stuck in that circle, i can only hope that you realize how childish you are and reflect on where you are going, because right now you are going NOWHERE FAST! |
231) Posted by: dc girl (
xx.81.47.139 ) Looking back at some of the things I’ve said in this forum, I realize now how wrong I was… Today I don't think I would have written such harsh comments on such an open public forum as I did... Sure I may have been mad at my managers, but I don't hate them in fact I’m grateful to them because they are teaching me things I would have never learned if I had stayed in my old branch... My old branch was the kind of place where the only thing that mattered was the paycheck at the end... It was also a very high stressed place due to the workflow and BM at the time... I definitely learned stuff there as well however I learned more at the branch I’m at now... My BM now has given me the opportunity to learn as I go, not many people would give someone that kind of opportunity in the job market today… I also wanted take this opportunity to say I’m sorry to the people I’ve offended with my comments on this Website… |
232) Posted by: Sasami (
xx.164.145.198 ) I actually just am curious if i am getting paid what i should..i don't want more or less then what is technically owed..i mean seriously...I'm not bitching moaning or whining ab out my job..i love working here..i love my coworkers...I get paid 8.50 to work the third shift..dealing with college students and the bulk of production..yet the person who started after me with less experience is making more per hour then i am. I've tried to find out what i should be getting paid per hour but in my estimation it depends on what my GM coded me as...which if its basic i should be at least advance...i've finished all the test in the computer...know enough about the job to get work done..and teach myself the computer programs....I don't want more money for not working...i want the money i should be getting for the job i do :) |
233) Posted by: youwantitwhen? (
xx.143.161.9 ) I believe third shifters are supposed to get paid a shift differential (a little bit more) just for working third shift. |
234) Posted by: tailhookman (
xx.31.130.27 ) Sasami: If you work 3rd shift, you should be receiving a $1.00 per hour differential. The BM MUST however code you as a 3rd shifter in the system to receive it. I'll give you another way to look at whether you're getting paid what your worth? Make yourself indispensible by learning & being able to perform every production task (printers, computer, wide format) because I'm sure on 3rd shift you'll need it. Next, arm yourself with a little information....If you were hired today with little experience, you'd be considered a "basic" level employee. If you then added the aforementioned skills and a positive attitude, you should ASK that your designator be changed to "Specialist" and finally if you are in fact performing ALL of the aforementioned skills WITHOUT help from any other team member, perform them at a highly competent level.......then you should be at an "Advanced" level. Each one of those designations should mean aprox. $1.00 hr in succession. Currently I have an "advanced" team member (4th year) running 3rd shift by themselves and they are making $13.00 per hour. Make yourself indispensible..........the best career advice I ever received or will probably ever give out. Why, because if the Kinko's thing doesn't work out you win anyway by displaying the kind of attitude, drive and learning that employers are hungry for, you've developed self confidence in yourself and your ability to master the situation presented to you and finally.....you didn't complain and whine about your situation, you did somethng about it......that makes you a winner every time!! |
235) Posted by: Zero Training (
xx.3.204.92 ) I just started working at a kinkos and I'm already thinking about quiting and finding something else. Last week was supposed to have been my training period, but I received little training in anything. I repeatedly asked the managers if there were manuals (in pdf form) for things like Jet lite and POS. Their response was that no such material exist. I've since found out that is a bold-faced lie. All of those materials are availible at http://intranet.kinkos.com. The problem is, since I started working in the middle of a week that ended in a holiday weekend, I didn't get my POS number (if that is the number you need in order to do online training -- of course no one told me this) before all of the managers took off for the holiday. So, I have no way of accessing these materials and at least trying to study-up on my own over the holiday weekend. Now I'm in a position where I'm just swinging in the wind until I'm supposed to go back to work on wednesday. I'm sure they'll expect me to know all of the procedural stuff concerning Jet Lite and Hold Sale (which I think is part of POS). My stomach is in knots just thinking about walking back into that place. By the way, I was hired as a key-op, and that's why the lack of training or training materials is driving me crazy. One would think that it would be in a manager's best interest, especially the asst. manager who hired one, to provide new hires with as much training and information as possible, so they can quickly become competent employes. So, this is my plea. If anyone out there, who is a current Kinkos employee, would be willing to download the pdf. manual for POS (or whichever one concerns Hold Sale ... I think it's POS) and email it to me as an attachment, I'd be in your eternal gratitude. The file can be found at http://intranet.kinkos.com |
236) Posted by: youwantitwhen? (
xx.164.145.33 ) Ok, let's consider a hypothetical situation for a moment. You are hired as a manager for a construction company, and are tasked with building a skyscraper. Your company provides you with some lumber, a few carpenters, and some dump trucks, and expects you to produce a skyscraper. |
237) Posted by: Sasami (
xx.218.98.82 ) So i found out that i wasn't getting my Dollar shift differential..one of the AM's checked my 'file' and said there were two pay rates..one at 8.50 *which is what i've been getting* and one at 9.50..which would account for the $1 shift differential *snicker* And if i'm right..they owe me $1 for every hour i've worked straight pay....1.5 for ever overtime hour..plus the holiday and sick days i've taken :) |
238) Posted by: kid (
xxx.160.169.218 ) OOHHHH! BIG chunk of cash for you I hope!! Post if you get it ok! :D |
239) Posted by: kink-nut (
xx.173.183.33 ) Has anyone had sucess going through the "chain of command" or am I wasting my time? |
240) Posted by: odd (
xx.121.92.163 ) kink-nut, your wasting your time, in most cases the HR generalist will |
241) Posted by: Former Kopy PIMP (
xx.13.104.2 ) Worked @ the Big Blue K for a year and 7 months. Horrible Horrible Experience, Management will Bold Face Lie to you about Promotions and Advancement. They do this to evryone Manager either talks to you in their office or en route to another store in Your Cluster ( since if you work in a cluster you may be forced to work @ the other spokes or Hub) B.S you about a Tech or Management position and unless you are truly persistent about it or as aforementioned do not become budded "Trouble-Maker" Status, you may MAY be considered for a MINOR promotion. Before I left my Kinko's they were getting ready to give out our "RAISES" just a week before we were recieving our checks with said pay raises and when I obtained my check I was happy to see that they only gave me a lousy 25 cent raise (although 6 months prior I demanded a dollar raise which I receieved since I was 1 of the only experienced Prod. managers they had) yes I was HAPPY it made my resignation even more jusitifiable. Since Kinko's is an EMPOLY-AT-WILL Company they can termniate you @ any time for absolutely NO REASON AT ALL, and this goes the other way for employees You can quit with no warning sure you will burning a bridge but theres no better feeling that leaving your Coked Up BOM pissin in the wind. acter all that I would like to childishly say FUCK KINKO'S or to be more up to date FUCK FEDEX KINKO's Office & Print Center. (Which will soon be FEDEX Office & Print Center) |
242) Posted by: Sasami (
xx.218.98.82 ) So i find out that my BM says he puts in the differential with the rate one...but if that is the case..i'm getting paid about 30 cents less then the MINIMUM for our region and my level *which is considerered advance* If i don't get the dollar more i'll probably end up quiting..i have a second job now anyway..it'll hold me over til i get a new one... |
243) Posted by: Sasami (
xx.218.98.82 ) My GM also said i had low experience which is why i would have started so low...but i've had plenty of Customer Service Expereience..and i found out the person who started AFTER me on the night shift is making MORE per hour then me by almost two dollars...this doesn't seem fair..specially when i have done so much for the branch *meaning i've worked 10 days str8 overnight shifts....worked second shifts when we were short staffed...sacraficed personal time with my partner and sacraficed any free or fun time i oculd have...and all i want is what i should be getting for my time, effort and experience...Is that really to much to ask? |
244) Posted by: Pretty Pissed Team Member (
xx.81.47.139 ) so... here's whats been going on at my branch... they've hired some new people because we lost some people who were either fired, transfered or quit!.... So basically there was room to move up... Back when i had my review i was told i would be able to move up in about 2-4 months upon another review... come to find out they've hired someone to move into that position... So my question is... where does this leave me? and the other Team Members this position was promised to?? Apparently the BM and other managers have held this position over many peoples heads... So my solution(i think)... i'm going to talk to one of them and if i don't get a good enough response i plan on sending my resume out and finding another job.... who knows... what do you guy's think?? Good idea or bad idea to confront BM or one of the other Managers? Or maybe i should bring this to HR... Let me know what you think |
245) Posted by: youwantitwhen? (
xx.50.1.14 ) My experience with promotions is that since Kinko's isn't able to train and develop their team, they rely mostly on trying to steal talent away from other companies that invest in training, they don't want people to quit, which is why they will jerk you around for as long as possible, but they also won't promote in case that "steal" of a new hire comes along. No one in management or HR takes confrontation well, even though they claim to value open communication, so confronting you BM or HR is probably not a good idea. Finding fair employment elsewhere probabaly is. |
246) Posted by: lotsahelp (
xxx.179.32.34 ) as a kinkos coworker for 13 years i love reading all the comments that show how little some of our tms and our customers know about stuff. we are constantly losing good tms and managers due to unreasonable expectations by customers and the company. If i was a customer i would plan ahead, understand that s*** happens and be polite. |
247) Posted by: oops (
xx.81.47.139 ) so get this... today me and my co workers were having a conversation we were all talking and working right(we get a long very well) and some customer out in self serve over heard us and apparently got offended.... so when she's finished making her stupid copies she comes up to the counter and asks if she can talk to the manager.... i tried to help her, thinking it was just some stupid thing like refunding for bad copies or somthing like that... but no!... she pulled the manager outside of the store to tell him that we were mis-behaving and how we offended her and how he should have repremanded us... You know what... i wish i could tell that lady to Chill out!! honestly who gets that offended over somthing someone else is talking about... i could see if we were talking about her and maybe making fun of her or somthing, but we weren't we were all having a simple conversation... people need to stop being so friggen sensitive and start chillin out... maybe life would be a little easier for them if they did!! |
248) Posted by: oops (
xx.81.47.139 ) by the way if anyone on this site wants to know what it was about... let me know... but i didn't want to put it out there... just incase i happen to offend someone on here!! |
249) Posted by: luther blissett (
xx.98.7.120 ) hey folks. well well well. i worked for Kinkos for six years and got the shaft two years ago during the reorganization. I came back two months ago. What a mistake that was, I quit last night. The store i worked in before did about $120 a month and had a baby doc and 5690 and an HP. My new store has a docutech, a 6060 and an HP. They do about $200 a month. I'm not too proficient in photoshop or adobe but am willing to learn. They offered me no training beyond a few points. clicks and "geddit" and then they left me alone at night. I had to every job there as well as deal with the influx of customers (and there were a lot). Every night i barely got everything done for morning, let alone any jobs due later in the day. the managers were rude nasty and extremely condescending. They offered no help were unsympathetic, saying i had to step up. I have no problem with hard work I just don't what to do when I am confronted with unrealistic expectations. One of their "ptp"ers who was in working off the clock (all the assistant managers do)he was in the store being a jerk. I left cos they were going to fire me on Monday. Not very mature but they weren't a very mature bunch. Their mentality is that if we hire you you must know everything and if you do not know within thirty days you're fired. Which is fine but savagely unrealistic. I was told not to spend more than five minutes with a customer! That it was interferring with production time. Really! It's sad cos it was once a good place to work. Oh well. See ya |
250) Posted by: Fuck Kinkos (
xx.81.47.139 ) Well... i too have been fired from kinkos. In fact i was fired today! Kinkos can kiss my ass and i can't wait to find a new job that is so much better then the shithole i was working in... the only thing i'll miss is the team members i worked with... |
251) Posted by: Vaughn (
xx.239.200.250 ) I'm kind of wondering how all these employees have found this site? |
252) Posted by: Sasami (
xx.164.145.198 ) Well...i didn't get the dollar..apparently my boss was right in putting the shift differential in my pay..BUT i am getting a 30 cent raise..with retro so thats a plus ;) :) |
253) Posted by: Kinkoee (
xx.10.37.145 ) Question is ... why were you fired ? Could it be that Kinkos is a good place and you just could not get the job done ? |
254) Posted by: youwantitwhen? (
xx.50.1.14 ) It's probably more likely that he was fired for not doing something he was never told to do in the first place, even if he had been trained to do it correctly, which he wasn't. Or, the best Kinko's scenario is taking the blame for someone else who wasn't trained correctly, did something wrong, and no one noticed until it landed in your lap. Is just a good place..., that's a good one. |
255) Posted by: Luther Blissett (
xx.98.7.120 ) Hi! I'll tell you, I was fired cos I couldn't get the job done plain and simple. But, I would have liked a great deal more training and a great deal more support. I'm not sure why i wasn't really helped out, the manager's attitude was one of incredulousness when i explained that i needed some help. Her assistant manager's were very abusive, when i'd ask a question the response i invariably got was "don't you remember?" and i'm sorry that I couldn't remember everything, i even took notes but no matter what i did there it was never any good. The thing that was ironic was the attitude of the manager. All she is interested in is getting $500 for some president's club thing. My last night there two assistant managers stood three feet away from me with their backs to me, talking about what a poor job i did. Real childish shit, but about what i expect from people that work off the clock and go to bank machines to make up differences in their cash drawers...real winners. Well I'm glad I gave it a shot but the company is pretty much over. Did anyone notice that the FedEX shipping training had as much to do with reality as Star Trek? One more thing Kinko's now has managers that fufill retail positions which mean they don't know copiers at all, invariably the store is staffed with a bunch of them and all they do is take orders-for six AM! See Ya, Luther |
256) Posted by: youwantitwhen? (
xx.50.1.14 ) It sounds as though you weren't given adequate guidance, you shouldn't have been placed in a position that was beyond your capabilities, your manager should have found a position well suited for your skills and interests, and developed your skills so that you could have handled an increasing level of responsibility. You were hired for a reason, it is then management's responsibility to provide you with all the correct tools so that you can do your job well, tools such as the actual machines to produce the work, or training to understand what is expected of you and how to meet those expecations. That you were not given these tools is your manager's failure, not yours. That your manager doesn't understand it was his or her failure and not yours is Kinko's fault, as Kinko's has it's head firmly shoved up it's ass regarding management. |
257) Posted by: Fuck Kinkos (
xx.81.47.139 ) To answer all your questions... I'm a girl!!.... And I was highly competent, apparently they mentioned making me an asst mgr... Probably just to keep me there longer so that they could fire me the way they did!! |
258) Posted by: Greg (
xxx.88.213.20 ) Hi there. I think im getting hired to be a production operator working graveyard in southern california. They havent told me what the pay is yet and I was wondering does anyone know how much a production operator working graveyard typically makes? thank you |
259) Posted by: Kink-Nut (
xx.173.183.33 ) I'm not sure what region CA is in, but here is what I have found on the Kinko's Intranet... For anyone wanting to know the pay rates, I just found them on the Kinko's Intranet. 2004 Grades are divided up by Geographic areas in 1, 2, or 3. Then they break it down to Min/Hour...Midpt/Hour...Max/Hour BM1 (Branch Manager1) Geo1: Min/Hour-$21.39 Midpt/Hour-$26.73 Max/Hour-$32.07 Geo2: Min/Hour-$19.42 Midpt/Hour-$24.28 Max/Hour-$29.13 Geo3: Min/Hour-$17.50 Midpt/Hour-$21.88 Max/Hour$26.25 BM2 (Branch Manager2) Geo1: Min/Hour-$17.98 Midpt/Hour-$22.45 Max/Hour-$26.92 Geo2: Min/Hour-$16.30 Midpt/Hour-$20.38 Max/Hour-$24.47 Geo3: Min/Hour-$14.71 Midpt/Hour-$18.37 Max/Hour$22.02 AM (Assistant Manager) Geo1: Min/Hour-$12.40 Midpt/Hour-$15.50 Max/Hour-$18.60 Geo2: Min/Hour-$11.50 Midpt/Hour-$14.40 Max/Hour-$17.30 Geo3: Min/Hour-$10.70 Midpt/Hour-$13.40 Max/Hour$16.10 SPL (Specialist aka: Senior) Geo1: Min/Hour-$10.60 Midpt/Hour-$13.20 Max/Hour-$15.80 Geo2: Min/Hour-$9.80 Midpt/Hour-$12.20 Max/Hour-$14.60 Geo3: Min/Hour-$9.00 Midpt/Hour-$11.20 Max/Hour$13.40 ADV (Advance) Geo1: Min/Hour-$8.60 Midpt/Hour-$10.70 Max/Hour-$12.80 Geo2: Min/Hour-$7.80 Midpt/Hour-$9.70 Max/Hour-$11.60 Geo3: Min/Hour-$7.00 Midpt/Hour-$8.70 Max/Hour$10.40 BAS (Basic) Geo1: Min/Hour-$7.40 Midpt/Hour-$9.20 Max/Hour-$11.00 Geo2: Min/Hour-$6.60 Midpt/Hour-$8.20 Max/Hour-$9.80 Geo3: Min/Hour-$5.80 Midpt/Hour-$7.20 Max/Hour$8.60 |
260) Posted by: Kinkoee (
xx.10.37.145 ) What graph is Texas in ? |
261) Posted by: ExKinkosCowgirl (
xxx.239.121.5 ) Just be prepared to say "Yes We Can" to everything and anything, no matter how busy you are, how short staffed you are or how many machines may be down. That is the kinkos way of doing business from corporate and they wonder why jobs are late. ExKinkosCowgirl |
262) Posted by: ExKinkosCowgirl (
xxx.239.121.5 ) Scott |
263) Posted by: No,actually, we can't. (
xx.53.164.246 ) I am sooo close to quitting kinko's, planning on doing it by the end of the summer. I feel like a kid daydreaming about christmas in early december. I don't have much to add beyond what's already been said in the above posts, just want to let you all know it's nice to know I am not alone in my suffering :). I've been at my store for six years, and while chaos has always reigned supreme it has somehow managed to get worse lately. I realize it's not the worst place to work, but still- it truly is a crappy environment. Always expected to juggle a dozen things at once, and god forbid the phone rings more than three times (even if that means you have to repeatedly interrupt your talk with the customers who are physically present). And now we are threatened to never say no to a customer order, regardless of how ridiculous the requested turnaround time is. Being one myself, I have some sympathy for procrastinators- but I'm tired of idiots who don't accept responsibility for putting something off until the last minute. I'm tired of being instructed not to turn away any customer jobs, and then team members simultaneously being criticized for all the overtime they work in order to keep the place afloat. As far as the whole Fedex merger thing goes, how do people here feel about that? Maybe I'm a pessimist, but I foresee even more chaos in the future. To all who intend to stay with kinkos, good luck. |
264) Posted by: Crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) I started working at kinko's as a graphic designer, it was great, I did my job correctly, and clients respected me because my department got things done correctly and on time... THEN the big corporation decided to outsource it to India... so, basically, we receive everything back from the Indians late, and almost always incorrect, and people blame me... but I'm not supposed to tell them we outsource the work because it's some big secret... So I take the hit and my credibility is shot... The pay sucks, we're incredibly understaffed, but I must say - they work around my school schedule which is what I'm in need of... So, I'm stuck because I need to pay the bills, and can't work a set shift... The people I work with for the most part are wonderful... we have eachothers backs and know the equipment we run... However, when a corporation is telling you you have to take everything in and never turn jobs down for certain times, things end up being late, because we're not allowed to be practical... People love to think they're the only one... we like to call it "but it's me!" syndrome... yes... while you may have come in at 8am to get your 20 copies of your resume done, there were 6 corporations that came in the night before at 11pm that all have jobs in front of yours for thousands of copies and binds, and while we'd love to stop a $5,000 order for your $1.95 job, we can't all the time... hence, the express area... I love most of my customers, but the general public is comprised of many many morons... if you can't figure out how to put a card in a card reader and hit the green button after being shown about 5 times, you shouldn'tve been given a drivers license... |
265) Posted by: digitalguy (
xxx.160.169.218 ) oh... my... god... Crackrgrrl I feel EXACTLY the same way... I mean TO THE "T" ... I am the "computer guy" at my store, and everything you said is right. So many times (mostly on those 2-person busy shifts) have I just wanted nothing more than to either bind the doors shut with a rope or leave forever. So for my post just "ditto" on Crackrgrrl's post... |
266) Posted by: fucked by fedex (
xx.73.136.246 ) third shift making 13.00 per hour????? |
267) Posted by: fucked by fedex (
xx.73.136.246 ) fedex income is up 47 percent and I dont get profit sharing anymore. But hey they can sponser a Nextel(WINSTON)(We all smoke from the stress)) NASCAR Cup Car. They will probably get some LOSER driver.......GO FIGURE |
268) Posted by: Sasami (
xx.218.98.82 ) I WAS a third shifter making 8.80 an hour..thats AFTER the shift differential...i left because iwth the amount of work..and amount of stress as the ONLY team member on..i felt i should have been makig more then that... |
269) Posted by: Exkinkoscowgirl (
xxx.239.121.5 ) ditto crackgirl I have been away for a while now and my company used to use kinkos. Now, when they ask me about taking a job to kinkos, I just tell them that we have the equipment here and I do it and save our money. I can do the $500 color job on our printers and bind it in about an hour myself. KINKOS SUCK, so does GARY KUSIN |
270) Posted by: Crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) Ahhhh yes... the wonderful payscale... $8.50/hr as a specialist... soooooo wonderful... i think i might just go out and spend it all frivolously like on maybe barely paying my rent!!! :) OOOH!!! I'm getting chills just thinking about it... And if I have to deal with those incredibly stupid no-talent hack "designers" from India one more time, i'm going to fucking break... i end up spending more time explaining on paper what the customer wants than would actually take doing the job correctly the first time myself... and once more i've been told that it's against policy to tell anyone where the jobs are sent... we cannot at all say that it's going out of the country, cause if a company sent something out of the country to be done for pennies rather than actually paying only a couple bucks for cheap internal labor, that might look shady... and they're not a shady company, right? Fuck you Gary Kusin, and fuck your DM's that don't know their ass from a hole in the ground or a oce blueprinter from a fieryx12... arghhhh... sorry - just a little aggrivated about the whole job... it's either that or telemarketing... not sure what the lesser of the 2 evils is... -Crackrgrrl |
271) Posted by: EXKNKOSCOWGIRL (
xx.125.6.14 ) ditto......... i end up |
272) Posted by: 123456 (
xx.164.145.198 ) Statistical observations |
273) Posted by: youwantitwhen? (
xx.143.115.174 ) 123456: |
274) Posted by: digitalboy (
xxx.160.169.218 ) amen |
275) Posted by: Crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) Well... you'd also have to assume that kinko's was hiring people that actually know how to work a computer... None of our express employees know how the computers work other than "put your card in and hit agree"... I can count on one hand the number of people who can use the computer at our branch, and even less that actually know more than pre-flighting and hitting "print"... gotta love low pay and low skill... -Crackrgrrl |
276) Posted by: 123456 (
xx.166.72.209 ) The argument is not flawed, in merely points out the high number of negative comments coming from a relatively few people. I was not assuming that others who don't know about this website all have good experiences. I was saying that the few people on this site cannot possibly speak for all customers or all team members. The arguments would be much more effective if they weren't peppered with kinko's "always" this or "never" that. |
277) Posted by: yes we can BS u (
xx.12.117.24 ) hey just wanted to let u all know that im an employee at kinkos now and have been for about the last year or so and i enjoy it very much yeah there is alot of bs that is goin on and it will always be there it will never go away. i work in the busiest branch in my area, and it does get crazy as hell but i just get the jobs done to the best of my abillity with the no training "training" that i have recieved. the training that i do get i call the 3rd shift training. Figure it out urself. thank god for google!!! |
278) Posted by: yes we can BS u (
xx.12.117.24 ) hey just wanted to let u all know that im an employee at kinkos now and have been for about the last year or so and i enjoy it very much yeah there is alot of bs that is goin on and it will always be there it will never go away. i work in the busiest branch in my area, and it does get crazy as hell but i just get the jobs done to the best of my abillity with the no training "training" that i have recieved. the training that i do get i call the 3rd shift training. Figure it out urself. thank god for google!!! |
279) Posted by: exkinkoscowgirl (
xxx.239.121.5 ) You should have training. Why do you think the customers get so pissed off now. Kinkos did have a great training program back in the days before Kusin. They cut back on the training and fired (layoff) the whole training department. |
280) Posted by: Crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) I love the people I work with and many of the customers, and i've been at my branch for 2 years and it is the busiest in our area as well... HOWEVER, there are just certain things that will always go wrong and that are a little skewed that one can get tired of - such as not having any training on a certain system, and doing something the same way for 2 years and then all of the sudden being written up for it because it wasn't the correct way... and somehow that write-up comes right before review time... ya' think they would've caught that it wasn't 100% correct maybe in the first year... que cera... I know that I signed on for this mess and know that i'm probably not getting anything compared to what my branch manager is getting crap wise from the DM so i guess it could be worse, but somehow knowing that other people are getting screwed like me makes me feel better... perhaps it's misery loves company... ;) Good luck all... -Crackrgrrl |
281) Posted by: yes we can BS u (
xx.12.117.24 ) this is a great site it started out as a disgruntled customer complaining about bad service and then just became a bitch session for kinkos employees. lol!!!!! |
282) Posted by: Youwantitwhen? (
xx.164.145.85 ) 123456: |
283) Posted by: exkinkoscowgirl (
xx.125.6.14 ) Check out this site: http://comments.fuckedcompany.com/phpcomments/index.php?newsid=74909&sid=1&page=1&parentid=0&crapfilter=1 We should send this url to all the kinkos "employees" we know and see what happens. Tell them to send it on throughout the company and see just how many people are happy, this can replace the bullshit "climate survey" I had to fill out. I still do graphic design and type setting for my own customers now on the side from my other job. It pays very well, not to mention I don't have to send it out to someone to fuck it up and then have to redo it again. I have time to spend with "my" customers so that I know what they need and what they want. It's funny that without all the corporate bullshit, I haven't had a problem with any of my customers with late jobs or anything else. |
284) Posted by: exkinkoscowgirl (
xx.125.6.14 ) To Scott: A great color printer you can get at a good price is the xerox laser. $1000.00 or less. Would pay for itself in no time. Think about it, at kinkos a color print is .89 to $1.00 each. At my new job, they were using kinkos until I showed them that the printers we had in the building were just like the ones kinkos has. They just needed a little traning on what the machines can do. We even do our own binding now. GOOD LUCK TO ALL |
285) Posted by: Crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) exkinkoscowgirl - thanks! It's sad, actually... i was a senior graphic designer for a couple corporations and they absolutly loved me and i was actually given a bonus and we had a christmas party and there were no functionally retarded people hired on, so it was very peaceful and happy... then i decided to go back to school and live off of my savings... so now that the money is gone and i need to work - i'm stuck with kinko's due to my 9am-9pm class schedule 4 days a week... i know it'll get better - just waiting... hehehe... OH! and the union starbucks thing! brilliant! incredibly obvious but brilliant... how would one go about starting a union as such? -Crackrgrrl -Crackrgrrl |
286) Posted by: kinkroid (
xx.164.145.198 ) Kinkos is now collecting data on customers to find out the 25% of our customers that we make 75% of our profit from. The other 75 % a.k.a. bottom feeders, they plan to raise the prices of the things they have done so they hopefully won't come back. Cool huh? |
287) Posted by: exkinkoscowgirl (
xxx.239.121.5 ) FYI New York, NY- Starbucks workers here have organized a "Behind the green aprons and smiles are individuals Starbucks is a $15 billion company with over 7,500 |
288) Posted by: Crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) Kinkroid - Ummm... yea - it's called the special accounts binder... it's got special pricing for certain companies so the ones who do quite a bit of business with kinkos get a better price, and the regular customers pay the normal rate... are you new or something? -Crackrgrrl |
289) Posted by: redfly (
xx.222.91.164 ) here is a little interesting article in response to the kinko's union bit (i do agree kinko's needs a union really bad!)....... http://www.scfl.org/uln5-2.htm I have done a little reading up on kinko's and unions online and Kinkos has spent probably the last 15 to 20 years battling to keep unions out of their company (if not longer). It seems that there has been a bigger push overseas (i.e. australia, Britain) to try and get kinko's unionized by the management and employees (run a search on google for kinko's and unions and scan all the nifty articles). The only thing that is stopping kinko's employees from forming a union is the lack of organization and fear of losing one's job. I am interested in discussing with other kinko's employees the union issue and how we can band together to get a movement going. This would be beneficial and productive. Even if your a kinko's employee and your anti-union I would like to hear your comments too. Sitting by and watching your job turn to shit is not going to help anything. Come to my forum and we will discuss the problems at hand. http://www.robertdstanley.com/forums i would really like to lighten the load up off of scott here! shoot your comments over to me! |
290) Posted by: redfly (
xx.222.91.164 ) here is a little interesting article in response to the kinko's union bit (i do agree kinko's needs a union really bad!)....... http://www.scfl.org/uln5-2.htm I have done a little reading up on kinko's and unions online and Kinkos has spent probably the last 15 to 20 years battling to keep unions out of their company (if not longer). It seems that there has been a bigger push overseas (i.e. australia, Britain) to try and get kinko's unionized by the management and employees (run a search on google for kinko's and unions and scan all the nifty articles). The only thing that is stopping kinko's employees from forming a union is the lack of organization and fear of losing one's job. I am interested in discussing with other kinko's employees the union issue and how we can band together to get a movement going. This would be beneficial and productive. Even if your a kinko's employee and your anti-union I would like to hear your comments too. Sitting by and watching your job turn to shit is not going to help anything. Come to my forum and we will discuss the problems at hand. http://www.robertdstanley.com/forums i would really like to lighten the load up off of scott here! shoot your comments over to me! |
291) Posted by: 123456 (
xx.164.145.198 ) youwantitwhen, |
292) Posted by: Crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) Ooooookey... so, the only thing we've proven is that some of us have waaaay too much time on our hands... now, i went to the gym today for an hour, so i feel that i got 1 thing done today... lol... anywho - i'd be more than willing to join a discussion group on starting up a union - i'm in no way afraid of losing my job, because i know that 10 of our neighbors are hiring at more desirable rates and i could probably live happily with that... -Crackrgrrl |
293) Posted by: redfly (
xx.222.91.164 ) come on over...im not worried about losing my job either....i am quitting in two months but I think it would be beneficial to kinko's employees to start coming together on this issue....kinko's needs the pressure put on them to start treating their employees with more respect. www.robertdstanley.com/forum |
294) Posted by: youwantitwhen? (
xx.143.115.174 ) You've got to take a closer look at the actual links to get a real idea of how many hate threads there are out there for each company. If you just do a search for the words, and then look at the # of returns, you're probably looking at all the returns for the individual words, and some threads use the word "sucks" and then the company name later on in the thread so that pops up too. |
295) Posted by: exkinkoscowgirl (
xxx.239.121.5 ) I do have extra time on my hands........ I got this big purple postcard in the mail today at work....it said Make it. Print it. Pack it. Ship it. Right. It says it will save me time so that I can do all right on the spot. What a joke. Wait until christmas......... |
296) Posted by: digitalboy (
xxx.160.169.218 ) omg I have to get the hell out before christmas! |
297) Posted by: yes we can BS you (
xxx.188.117.24 ) shit i forgot about christmas *#%! |
298) Posted by: Axl Rose (
xx.164.145.198 ) Crackgrrl, where do you work that they outsource jobs to india? I've worked kinkos for 5 years and this is the 1st I've heard of it. Is it something they plan to add to all branches? |
299) Posted by: Kink-Nut (
xx.173.183.33 ) Axl- All Kinko's have the option to send their jobs to India. It was part of the deal a few years back when they laid off all their graphic designers and decided they could outsource the jobs a lot cheaper. The kicker, most Kinkos don't use the service because it takes more time correcting what they do then actually doing it yourself. Every month, every Kinkos pays India for this service, even if you don't use it. What a Joke! |
300) Posted by: Luther Blissett (
xx.98.7.120 ) hello! yeah i really liked working for Kinko's and i was prepared to do it for awhile. There was no training and very much personal abuse. The bm liked to say "i run a hard branch" which means she would snap her fingers and say things like: "hurry up" (really) the phone would ring and the assitant manager would say: "i want that phone answered" real childish shit like that. I wouldn't recommend anyone work for Kinko's unless unnecessary stress and personal abuse is your thing.If you ask a question they invariably answer: "don't you remember?" On my last check they reduced my base pay and shorted me twelve hours. I called corporate and they told me i ahd to talk to the BM. I emailed her and the hr guy. Does anyone have the email addresses for the district managers in georgia? |
301) Posted by: exkinkoscowgirl (
xxx.239.121.5 ) Luther, Exkinkoscowgirl |
302) Posted by: Crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) Wow - our BM told us that it was mandatory they no longer use graphic designers and outsource everything to India... but they also told me they appreciated me - what a great way to show it... It got so bad this weekend I almost walked out... 1 person (me) working by myself for 3 hours in the middle of the day... and of course if those people called the 1-800 number cause they got angry that there were 30 people in line and only one person in the store, i lose my bonus for working my ass off... LOVELY! I've had it - i'm going to telemarketing. It's a wonder i've held out this long. And apparently, someone told me that when we're short staffed or when someone on 3rd calls off, if we can't find someone who can cover that time - the bm is supposed to come in and cover it - not in our branch... our bm doesn't give a crap... OKAY - NOW HERE'S THE IMPORTANT CRAP... like exkinko's said - keep track of every minute you're there - keep a log in your locker or wherever so that you know - apparently this shorting of hours on paychecks and other monetary "accidents" are no accident... this corporation is dirty, dishonest, and pulling a shitload of illegal shit... there's a class action lawsuit forming against the company from what i hear from someone who's starting this wonderful thing which deals with the shortage of pay, not accumulating sick time or vaction time that is owed to you, and not paying you for vacation or sick time that is owed to you amongst a list of other things this person is privy to... Good luck all... -Crackr |
303) Posted by: Carleton Judd (
xxx.246.124.61 ) WOW I actually find Kinkos to be great advertising for us. NO we can't do everything for everyone. Stupid customers get FIRED, be rude to the ladies that work for me and you will drive 30+ miles to the next place that STILL won't be able to open your dumb ass AI file that you haven't prepared properly. Was a timeclock punch person and hated it. I refuse to have one in my shop. I don't pay well but ANYONE who works for me deserves respect and WILL be treated properly. Kinkos is a company that has equipment that I would love to have access to but we are a small group. Altogether said, There are dumbass managers as well as dumbass employees. I have had my share of "special" people on the payroll. PS Thanks, Carl, Alicia and Kelly Alicia will be the best when she finishes school. PROPER degree in design and will be priced as such. |
304) Posted by: exkinkoscowgirl (
xx.125.6.14 ) Thanks for the input Carleton. |
305) Posted by: Crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) Thanks Carl... I wouldn't mind working for the pay i'm making if i felt like i was respected or that i was valued as an employee... instead they do these contests of who can sell the most of something in the store or upgrade an order and the prize is always something shitty like a corded conair phone or a first aid kit... it's insulting... Lisa - yea... i've heard stories of Paul... they said he'd make it to every branch in america like twice a year and talk to everyone from bm's to express staff with complete respect and genuinely wanting to know their thoughts on their job... that must've been nice... -Crackrgrrl |
306) Posted by: Crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) Muahahahaha!!! I'm outta there!!! woo hoo!!! I'm quitting - it's over - i'm happy!!!! YAY!!!!! NO MORE KINKO'S BULLSHIT!!! -Crackrgrrl |
307) Posted by: exkinkoscowgirl (
xx.125.6.14 ) Crackrgrrl, Nova, PEACE TO ALL Lisa Fenton |
308) Posted by: odd (
xx.127.59.80 ) speaking of paul....do any of the old timers remember if you were the store of the year and got sent to disney(world) the exec team would actually come and work at your branch??? paul would be a greeter and a couple of vp's would come down and work the counter...I guess that fuk kusin is too busy...and I do remember the visits from paul. he would go to EVERY employee in the branch and shake their hand and thank them for their work....i guess this is a perfect example of the corporate ideal. |
309) Posted by: Crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) Basically my entire branch is being harassed by the bm... the bm is dragging us down with them and bring morale down incredibly and every single thing is being picked at - 95% of the employees left have been aggressively searching for new jobs and the only ones not looking are the ones they just hired who havn't figured it out yet... By the end of August most of us will be gone and the BM will have no one to work for the shit wages they're paying. So long assfuckers! |
310) Posted by: JobHunter (
xx.52.91.37 ) I have been talking to FedEx/Kinkos about a position as a store manager. I come from the printing industry and have many years experience as a production manager. The printing industry is no longer a stable, viable career path for me, and I was hoping that moving to a large established company usch as Kino's would offer me some security and personal satisfaction. Afte reading your messages, I am not so sure. Is it possible for me to go into a Kinko's with the intention of educating the employees and providing a high level of customer satisfaction? I live in an isolted are and there is only one Kinkos and a few competing copy/print shops in the area. I know that corporate is not happy with the stores performance and I have discussed in my interviews my dedication to customer service and how this could improve the store's numbers. Should I pursue this position, or look for something else? In your experience, how much control does the manager have over the individual store? How would you describe the corproate culture and opportunities for managers? What about performance bonuses? I know what they are telling me, but I would like to hear from some of you. |
311) Posted by: JobHunter (
xx.52.91.37 ) I have been talking to FedEx/Kinkos about a position as a store manager. I come from the printing industry and have many years experience as a production manager. The printing industry is no longer a stable, viable career path for me, and I was hoping that moving to a large established company usch as Kino's would offer me some security and personal satisfaction. Afte reading your messages, I am not so sure. Is it possible for me to go into a Kinko's with the intention of educating the employees and providing a high level of customer satisfaction? I live in an isolted are and there is only one Kinkos and a few competing copy/print shops in the area. I know that corporate is not happy with the stores performance and I have discussed in my interviews my dedication to customer service and how this could improve the store's numbers. Should I pursue this position, or look for something else? In your experience, how much control does the manager have over the individual store? How would you describe the corproate culture and opportunities for managers? What about performance bonuses? I know what they are telling me, but I would like to hear from some of you. |
312) Posted by: ExKinkosGrl (
xx.81.47.139 ) If you want my opinion... i wouldn't waste my time, you won't get paid anywhere near your salary now (depending on what branch they place you in) And the bonuses that your talking about go the stores who place number 1 in their district, you also have to bring in the revenue for additional bonuses, theres a certain quota each month that corporate sets for each store if your store (based on the amount of customer traffic and various costs) grosses more then the quota you and your team members get a share in the profit... most managers that come in look to make a change to the store that they work from, i'm not saying that all the managers are bad but my manager came in and all he talked about was great customer service but he himself lacked in that area as well as a few others... I think that if your a great store manager and hire great managers your store can and will succeed, but you have to look out for the managers there that turn sour after a month of working in the store... i have personal experience with that... i tried to tell my store manager at the time that i feared losing my job because of my manager he listened at the time but then i think he tucked it under the rug so to speak and now i'm out a job because of the manager that turned sour at my branch.... i was fired for actions of my own but only because he had me under a microscope, if i anyone would have sneezed wrong they would have been fired... If you do decide to go for the position i wish you luck and much success |
313) Posted by: 123456 (
xx.164.145.198 ) JobHunter, |
314) Posted by: Crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) I think that our branch would've had a chance to succeed if we had a manager that actually appreciated the hard work the team members put in... The BM at the location is dragging down morale so much that people are trying to jump ship right and left and everyone's overworked and tired due to low unemployment and no one wanting to work there for more than a week due to our bm's attitude... I would've happily continued at my branch if the old assistant manager had been given the BM position... They actually appreciated our hard work... It's finally over!!! I started my new job today and it's so amazing... -Crackrgrrl |
315) Posted by: exkinkoscowgirl (
xxx.239.121.5 ) 123456, Lisa |
316) Posted by: 123456 (
xx.164.145.198 ) exkinkoscowgirl, |
317) Posted by: exkinkoscowgirl (
xxx.239.121.5 ) 123456 |
318) Posted by: exkinkoscowgirl (
xxx.239.121.5 ) OK, I remember AM limit to $5000 and Specialist, what are they limited to for bonuses? I was an advanced co-worker for a long time, we were making about $250 a month for bonuses and it went down to about $75.00 month but we met our goals every month.... Lisa |
319) Posted by: 123456 (
xx.164.145.198 ) exkinkoscowgirl, |
320) Posted by: Crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) Well, screw bonus... i prefer to be paid well and given the option of occasionally getting a bonus rather than continuously getting screwed out of one while being paid less than those receiving a welfare check... so, not only does my new job pay more than twice as much as i was making at kinko's for doing 1/10 the work that i did at kinko's, but my manager is an x-kinkos employee which understands my frustration and absolutly loves me... and to boot - we get bonus every 3 months which is so lovely... -Crackrgrrl |
321) Posted by: Interviewee (
xx.10.32.66 ) I may be having a interview for a store manager position. Although I have read some scary stuff I am still interested. If anyone has any pointers or suggestions, I would appreaciate it. Also if any knows what the salary range should be. |
322) Posted by: 123456 (
xx.164.145.198 ) Interviewee, |
323) Posted by: qy (
xxx.228.163.41 ) I work for the place and have for 10 years 6 locations 3 states. I make more that 4 times what I started at. A few months ago I got the pleasure of seeing my favorite Team Member get a gift from Gary Kusin of $7500. (Only outstanding Team Members get this kind of gift) The GM's I have worked with & for put in about 55 hours a week and are on the floor most of the time. As for training - WelI I have sure learned a lot. Training is there if Folks reach for it. I have seen many people go and many many come back. Yes we did have Web based training for learning about FedEx, as well as on the job training, consistant coaching, and streamlined communication on how to's and FAQs. One more tidbit I gotta get in here - there is no top on the bonus - you can make much more than your target, thats where the real incentive comes in. - just my take anyhow... |
324) Posted by: exkinkoscowgirl (
xxx.239.121.5 ) I worked for kinkos 7 years, and I'm glad I don't work there anymore. The way I look at it now, I get a bonus on every paycheck because i'm making more here than I did with profit sharing. I don't miss kinkos at all, just a few of the good people I worked with. I'm sure that the team member that got the bonus for $7500 was in management, not a key-op or express help, or graphic designer (oh, I mean typesetter or whatever you may be called these days. I would have to see it to beleive it. If the bonus's are not maxed out, then I guess the big meeting they had your GM's give about the profit sharing was bull shit.(The one right before they sold out to FedEx. You get your coaching and streamlined communication from the pissed off customers at the front counter watching you make the copy. Then when it is wrong, you get the manager or whoever might just be there to be in charge and get streamlined from doing the job wrong, go look at your web training again, you should know better. The only thing I remember from the online training was that stupid customer satisfaction one. For all you still at kinkos, GOOD LUCK AT CHRISTMAS. Make it , Print it, Pack it, ship it,......you'll be doing all of it.....have they hired any extra help for the holidays yet. I know I'll be using UPS....I'm not going to stand in long lines at kinko's........ WooooooooooWoooooooooWoooooooo Damn, if I hadn't worked for kinko's so long, I would have enough money to buy some UPS stock which will be going up very high this christmas because of lack of good service from FedEx. |
325) Posted by: youwantitwhen? (
xx.143.115.174 ) I'm still in touch with my old branch, I got out thankfully, but I guess FedEx is closing a bunch of it's Shipcenters in the area since they now have Kinko's locations- they're not sending the folks that worked in the shipcenters to help out the already incredibly understaffed stores, and they are forcing all that shipping to those understaffed stores, all pretty much right before Christmas. Even though the company drives me nuts I feel really bad for the folks I used to work with that are still there, I bet they will still push all the Christmas products and will be going crazy with shipping. I'm starting to believe that the new FedEx folks aren't that much smarter than the old Kinko's folks. I'm just glad I got outta there. |
326) Posted by: Rali (
xx.154.242.105 ) I am a foreigner in this country. To be honest when I first arrived a year and a half ago, Kinkos made a great impression to me. Probably because of the relation to my work experience in my home country. My very first thought was - "I WANT TO BE A KINKOS EMPLOEE". Having read all of your postings, nothing has discouraged me though. I see that maybe you are 100% right. I judge by my husband. He is a Kinkos emploee. He works mostly 3rd shifts, comes back overworked. ALthough he's still new there, he comes back frustrated with the poor work ethic and performance of long experienced emploees. Sometimes stays late after his shift to help his manager to complete work due next day. His straight management is not less mistreated than you are. Still I see him with a smile on his face. I dont know what to think , now, having read your postings. But I still want to become a Kinkos emploee. And guys, I dont think that the poor corporate management is ever lasting. A company once started suffering from within ends up to an outbreak which provokes changes. I am crossing fingers for all of you guys, I really envy you (no matter how crazy it might sound to you) and hope one day to be your co-worker at Kinkos. I am crossing fingers for all of you guys. And smile. It's not typical for Americans to give up. If any of you guys can give me an advice - how did you get hired and what were the requirements. See, and I can't get that info from my husband, he's self-educated computer science"junky" and got hired without any previous experience. Rali LAU |
327) Posted by: Eddie (
xxx.89.28.131 ) The Good: The Bad: |
328) Posted by: Crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) Well, as far as the good for you goes, Eddie, at my old branch it pretty much dealt with the old addage "you're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't"... when someone would come into our branch with a last minute funeral program we were not allowed to help them out personally - we had to take their order, then re-write their order, then scan in their order, and send everything to india where their "typesetters" would fuck everything up and send it back to us at which point it would be an hour past the deadline we gave the customer and all wrong despite elaborate explanation towards the point of being a special ed explanation... so, if i were to do the job myself i would have been written up for not sending the job to india... but if i were not to do it myself i would have been yelled at for not making time to do the job myself despite the 80 other things i had to do since we were understaffed by almost 10 people... yes... 10... i loved my customers for the most part - but kinko's seemed to suck me in... even after being denied that wonderful $.15 raise - if even lucky enough to get that much, i thought "maybe i'm not trying hard enough, and even if i went somewhere else it would just be the same..." well, the time came when after i had been offered a job that sounded wonderful for the 100th time i finally took that jump and said "screw my seniority here... i'm gonna go elsewhere and hopefully not feel like i've been through bootcamp all day"... so, i left and went to this wonderful place... where to get a 15 minute break you don't have to be a smoker and when you do take your 15 minute break you don't get yelled at by managers for even trying to escape for a moment... a place that paid an incredible amount of money and asked you to do so little work... i thought that it was just a case of "the grass is always greener on the other side"... but it turned out that not only was i stuck in a desert with pebbles underneath me, but the other side not only had greener grass, but chemlawn treatments, and puppy dogs, and streams of hawaiian punch... One thing i have learned from leaving kinkos - it really is that bad... i thought that i would leave and think that i really wasn't that bad of a place - but it was actually worse than i thought it was... I now go to visit my friends who are still stuck there and i see the long lines of people and the fact that everyone is working their asses off for nothing... now i come home after work and actually have the mental and physical energy to go out and see a movie with friends or go to the gym... Rali - you don't need skill to work at Kinko's... yes - skill helps a lot, but they're desperate... they're most likely exploiting your husbands skills and not paying him what he's truly worth... Good luck all of you who still work for that no talent hack Gary and his minions of yes men morons, and for those of you who have jumped that wonderful raft with holes in it onto a private yacht (which could even be Dillards shoesalesman which would be better than keyop at kinko's)congrats! :) Take care all... -Crackrgrrl |
329) Posted by: exkinkoscowgirl (
xx.164.145.85 ) you go girl cracjrgrrl I'm still waiting on someone to pinch me......is this a dream?? Eddie Nothing like another holiday at kinkos. |
330) Posted by: Ridiculous (
xxx.188.116.139 ) Let me just say that the new FedexKinkos is hardly a perfect company, but you have to be kidding me. The sad stories of understaffed, underpaid employees is ridiculous. Shut up! It's an "Entry-level, high school graduate, living at home with mom" sort of job. What do you really expect? It is not a career and if you thought it was, that is your fault. You invested your life in a job that is made for a high school student. Granted the company asks a lot of you and demands a certain level of intelligence, but get off your soapbox. The problem does not lie in management or in any of the thousands of employees of FedexKinkos. The problem lies in the minority of employees that think that they will spend the rest of their lives working in a copy shop. |
331) Posted by: Reality (
xx.77.12.52 ) One thing to remember here, above everything else, is that Kinkos is a place, open for business, serving the public. Kinkos advertises and markets itself, just like any other business does, and so, through those means of making the general public aware of what services they offer, the general public, in response, acts accordingly. People want things printed, blown up, shrunk down, shipped, transferred, created, enhanced, transformed, and any other So, the question isn't about WHO is working at Kinkos, but rather, are they ALL taking part in doing what's required of them, collectively? |
332) Posted by: exkinkoscowgirl (
xxx.239.121.5 ) So, the question isn't about WHO is working at Kinkos, but rather, are they ALL taking part in doing what's required of them, collectively? Yes, you take part in whatever you can whenever you can in fifteen minutes or less. I had "shit" for experience when I started kinkos and learned the programs by trial and error "while the customer sat there bitching in my face" because nobody had "training". You do that for seven years and you learn alittlebit of every program and a little bit of all the other shit as people might have the time to show you, once you learn everything, you are usually the only one in the store per shift (due to high turnover rate) who knows anything and then you end up doing it all, and, the customers will all come to you to because they are regulars and come in all the time and know your the only one with half a clue..... |
333) Posted by: refugee (
xx.177.193.68 ) I see everyone has an opinion but no one is really feeling the after math. How can a company of great reputation have its employees(Federal Express) take an option of better take it and be grateful. When has Federal Express sold its well experienced to be without medical coverage if they do not work for 32.5 hours under the Fedex Kinkos umbrella or taking a so cheaply settlement. It is a shamed that they claim they need us experienced Fedex Employees but we not only have to be in the dark of the underlinements but take a pay cut, higher medical costs, triple the duties, no overview of the 3 options packages without missing one deadline, etc. Fedex has always had a reputation of being one of the best companies to work for and then they do dedicated employees like this. Many of us do not work at the station because we cannot do the work, some of us have incurred injuries, and some of us just made a choice to not be at the station. What's next? First they put us out of the Kinkos and now want us to reapply and interview. Does Fred Smith really have a heart for people or running an disillusioned cotten field? Yeah, they tell us we are lucky we still have a job and many others usually are left with no job but to make people make choices that has no choices is horrific. We are like the guinea pigs of new services. Everytime we make a new service work we are not considered in the end . Yes I sound like a winer but peoples lifes and investments are in jeopardy. |
334) Posted by: EXKINKOSCOWGIRL (
xxx.239.121.5 ) "I see everyone has an opinion but no one is really feeling the after math. How can a company of great reputation have its employees(Federal Express) take an option of better take it and be grateful. When has Federal Express sold its well experienced to be without medical coverage if they do not work for 32.5 hours under the Fedex Kinkos umbrella or taking a so cheaply settlement. It is a shamed that they claim they need us experienced Fedex Employees but we not only have to be in the dark of the underlinements but take a pay cut, higher medical costs, triple the duties, no overview of the 3 options packages without missing one deadline, etc. SOUNDS LIKE FEDEX IS FOLLOWING THE SAME ROUTE AS GARY KUSIN AND ALL HIS CROOK PARTNERS FROM KINKOS lalalalalalalalalaalalaalaalalalalChrismas at Kinkos. |
335) Posted by: Crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) "Let me just say that the new FedexKinkos is hardly a perfect company, but you have to be kidding me. The sad stories of understaffed, underpaid employees is ridiculous. Shut up! It's an "Entry-level, high school graduate, living at home with mom" sort of job. What do you really expect? It is not a career and if you thought it was, that is your fault. You invested your life in a job that is made for a high school student. Granted the company asks a lot of you and demands a certain level of intelligence, but get off your soapbox. The problem does not lie in management or in any of the thousands of employees of FedexKinkos. The problem lies in the minority of employees that think that they will spend the rest of their lives working in a copy shop." Ridiculous - Did you seriously graduate from an accredited university??? Yes, I'm a college student and worked at kinko's so that i could have a more flexible schedule, however, it's a little sad when work study asks less of you and pays more with greater flexibility... Kinko's was not a CAREER for me - just something to earn a couple bucks to help pay for my housing and cost of living, however, that doesn't give them the right to treat their employees like shit... by not giving 15 minute breaks or even 30 minute lunch hours they are breaking law... by having people accrue vacation hours and not allowing them to use them because they don't hire enough people, they're breaking a trust and their own policies... You must've been one of the copy monkeys and not a skilled worker at Kinko's, right? I worked as a graphic designer, and created marketing tools that are currently used on a national level that originated from our store and come review time i wasn't given a raise or even making enough to really get by if i didn't have scholarship money to count on... and the tasks they asked of us were not developed for high school students - unless you were one of those students who was 18 years old as a sophomore in high school - and judging from your arguement you probably were - you have to be 18 to work at kinko's... You also have to have some sort of skill - unless you're express, and then your skill is not beating the shit out of moron trying to figure out how to press a green button... In high school were you proficient in adobe acrobat, photoshop, illustrator, pagemaker, quark, and other publishing tools or know how to remove a person completely from a photograph keeping the background intact so it looks like the person was never in the photo, or could you design a corporate logo complete with branding solutions? Get off your high horse - yes, kinko's employees mostly think of it as a job, not a career, but while you're working there trying to get through school you also shouldn't be taking it up the ass by corporate just because they can't find anyone else who they'll approve to work there... BTW - what school let you in and what the hell did you major in? -Crackrgrrl |
336) Posted by: DJoanne (
xx.81.84.114 ) I'm about to become a Shipping Specialist for an Ohio Fedex Kinkos Branch. I dont care about the hard work...today is so hard to find work with benefits anyway. Can anyone tell me how much is the salary in that area for that position? DJ |
337) Posted by: Crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) Around $9/hr... :) good luck with that - hope you're still singing that same "i don't care about the hard work" tune when you're still making crap around the holidays and they're using you and you realize that the guy across the street is making $4 more than you, is less qualified than you, and does 1/6 the amount of work you do... ;) And just as an added benefit - have fun with that understaffing problem... Good Luck -Crackrgrrl |
338) Posted by: Janky (
xx.142.25.222 ) Ok, I know it's been a while since I have posted to this forum. But, I did a search for "union" throughout this thread trying to see if folks were talking about unionizing (fedex) kinkos and it came up over a hundred times from like 20 different people. I am even surprised that folks were talking about the starbucks in Manhatten that is currently trying to unionize. I recently got back from NYC and attended the starbucks rally to support fellow retail workers who were trying to unionize. It was pretty amazing, but unfortunately, the 2 main organizers were the only ones arrested at the rally. Why are we continually complaining about how kinkos treats us as workers, yet failing completely at trying to constructively do something about it and fighting back? A retail environment is extremely hard to organize. The structure of companies has changed alot in the past 20 years to the benefit of the employer/corporation. Think about it. How fragmented is your kinkos region. How much do you actually talk about your situation in the company to coworkers from other stores? This is a complete restructuring of the workforce so that it makes it harder for employees to realize the power that they have to change their environments. 3 months ago I started talking with my coworkers about the possibilties of trying to start an organizing drive. EVERYONE who I talked with was extremely interested in organizing our store and trying to do something about our situations. It happened to be around the time everyone got their appraisals. (Which folks got a quarter raise at the most) Getting such a meager handout, combined with the fact that our benefits have been flushed by the corporate leadership and compared with the fact that our store grossed over 2 million dollars for 2003 made folks extremely upset. It just doesnt make sense. So, we all decided on meeting up and talking about organizing and perhaps starting to do actions on the floor which would cost kinkos money -- showing the corporate swine that without the workers kinkos can not make the profits they desire. We started talking these points up with other local coworkers hinting at the possibility of fighting back against kinkos. Most, if not all, were extremely interested in doing something/anything that may bring our collective workload down and getting better benefits. So, here we are now --three months later-- not really having gone forward with organizing, but still with the spirit of changing our workplaces/benefits/wages. I think alot of people feel that we need to do something throughout the company, but we are so fragmented, tired from being stressed out and in our own little local kinkos world that we don't feel a solidarity throughout the company to move forward and start action. ------------------------------------------------------------- We can learn alot from other struggles, --most importantly, Starbucks and Borders. The workers at Starbucks --imho-- went public way to early. They did not foster enough solidarity throughout the company. Making them an isolated store against a huge corporation. The retail environment of starbucks makes it so that if the workers were to win the NLRB rulings and got certified, Starbucks could choose to close the store. (by saying that it was not profitable to keep the store open) In a retail environment, companies hold power in many different ways to combat against organizing. Here is what I propose to fellow coworkers within the kinkos who want to change their position within the company: ------------------------------------------------------------- I know I'm missing alot of what I wanted to say, but, it is a start to at least be talking about this. I am interested in any feedback or ideas in which we could begin to organize or figure out exactly how we can combat these attacks on our livelyhoods. And hopefully in the future create a network with other Kinkos coworkers where we can discuss and create alliances across the company. I recently turned 8 in kinkos years, and have worked too long and too hard to just quit. I have been looking into working for a printer which has been around for 20 years, is collectively owned/managed and is a member of the GCIU. If nothing else happens within the company by the workers, I most likely will end up agressively pursuing this alternative. Solidarity! ps - you can email me at the address above. pps - Here are some links, if anyone is interested: |
339) Posted by: janky (
xx.142.25.222 ) ok, I guess my email address didn't make it into the post. so, email me here: jankyhellface@nym.hush.com solidarity! |
340) Posted by: janky (
xx.142.25.222 ) Today I just got confirmation that Fedex Kinkos will not allow any of it's employees to take vacations starting the second week of November to the last week in December. Not sure if it was mentioned above -- don't really have time to read through all the latest posts. But, quite frankly, this comes as a slap to the face of everyone who works for Kinkos. My manager has known this for some time now, but has failed to let anyone know in our store. I am wondering the reasons behind the silence. Anyone else heard about this? How do other folks feel about this? solidarity! |
341) Posted by: exkinkoscowgirl (
xxx.239.121.5 ) yea, I heard about just this last weekend from one of my ex coworkers. |
342) Posted by: crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) lol - well, good thing i'm long gone - i'm going on a week long cruise in december and would've said "fuck off" to the company if they told me i couldn't take vacation days i earned... especially when i've never asked for a single holiday off the entire time i worked for the company... good luck keeping people with policies like that... lol... -Crackrgrrl |
343) Posted by: Throbulator (
xx.110.43.239 ) Wow, i must say this site is quite entertaining. but to say something to the recent quotes regarding time off during the christmas season. i find that hard to believe because i know several people in our branch getting time off during that time. allow me to give some background on myself. i work at fedex kinko's and have been there for 7 yrs. i am in management almost got to branch manager but declined when they offered me my own branch for $34,500/yr. i am now currently pulling out of management. only 4 yrs ago the branch manager at our store was making $190k. my point you may be wondering is things change. whether they change for the good or the bad is up to you. kinko's isn't paying managers like they used to so i'm not going to be a manager. i'll just have to fall back to plan b which is get heavily into debt while going to school. i know in the vast kinkoid universe my branch in is an anomoly, profiting for 40+ consecutive months, management that cares, accountability, and oodles of other things. well, i've gotta go for now. something more important has just come up. |
344) Posted by: Crackrgrrl (
xx.209.21.29 ) I found it hard to believe that they violate the 15 minute breaks required to be offered by law, schedule people for 13 hour shifts without asking them because they know they can get away with it, and short you hours on your paycheck because they're trying to meet payroll... however, shit happens, sweetie and it seems that fedex kinkos has a surplus of it... oh! did i mention the time i asked for a weekend day off a month and a half in advance and even told them they could choose the weekend day and they refused and told me in order to use a vacation day i'd have to switch someone shifts cause no one wanted to work a weekend day? woo hoo... i got to switch shifts withsomeone and lose a vacation day... lol - $34,500 a year? wow... i was making $65,000 as a junior consultant without a degree... sucks to be you, hon... of course, now with a degree it's gotten nicer, but going through school you have to choose jobs that suck the life out of you - just didn't imagine how much it would suck the life out of me and that working at a mcdonalds would've been a shitload easier and pay a little more oddly enough... would you like fries with that? well, gotta go... i'm an important person and something very interesting has come up and i should check it out... btw - i know people who just came into kinkos with no background in kinko's and became store managers without any education... they'll offer it to a monkey... -Crackrgrrl |
345) Posted by: Kinkoee (
xx.10.32.66 ) Does anyone have any info on the Asst. Manager - Retail poistion ? What all does it include ? Pay scale ? Hours ? Thank you. |
346) Posted by: sladge (
xx.164.145.85 ) After reading these comments, I was a little sad. I work for Kinko's too, and I love working here. Although, I have pissed of more customers, then rest of the employees combined, I also go out of my way to help people. I do agree that we are underpayed, but I love people that I work with. I had a better paying job that I hated, and I learned that money is not worth my sanity. I do enjoy working for Kinko's, only because the people and managers are kick ass. |
347) Posted by: digitalboy (
xx.225.97.46 ) fedex packing and shipping is gonna cause me to quit. I can't believe they expect the employees do to SO MUCH SHIT for what I'd get paid at Fu*kin BestBuy. |
348) Posted by: sladge (
xx.164.145.85 ) maybe I should take back my comment. It's been a day from hell. I do agree about the shipping and packing shit. I always pray that there stuff is prepaid or they have an account, and don't get me started on the international packages!!! |
349) Posted by: digitalboy (
xx.225.97.46 ) hehehe, today wasn't such a bad day for me, got all my work done on time without being superhuman (rare) and my buddy tought me the new fedex computer system which is way better, so i feel ok about that, but soon, we'll have calendars (which are a pain in the ass) greeting cards (pain in the ass) packing and shipping up the yin yang and with maybe ONE extra fedex employee to help, I feel a walkout coming on. Let me know how it goes with you sladge :) and good luck!!! |
350) Posted by: davey (
xx.28.149.231 ) WTF... I just got my first interview today. Standard questions. Blah blah blah, "... situations with pissed off customers, what would you do...?" he jotted nothing down... and tells me after the interview that his assistant manager will review my resume for a second interview? I thought interviews were conducted first by HR or the assistant manager and then the branch manager. -well in most of my cases. I'm handing in a thank you letter, later on. I hope i'm not subjected to the several week long lag period -being unemployed sucks. Do they rely on a different style of candidate selection: eg: credit check (boy my credit sucks, "maxed-everything-out-and-eight-months-behind, college student") -no wonder financial institutions won't hire me -ironically a business undergrad. what were some of your responses after your first interviews? |
351) Posted by: digitalboy (
xx.225.97.46 ) well, I got hired after the first interview because I was a perfect fit for what they were missing (tech & design). It depends on what you gonna do and how bad they need you, chances are they want to hire you REAL BAD, but the background check sucks, my buddy wasn't hired because he was arrested for public intoxication, 1 time. ya, stupid. anyways good luck. |
352) Posted by: DJane (
xx.81.84.114 ) Someone knows here how the bonuses are paid...I just got hired as Specialist and bonus will be $1,500/yr.. they pay that monthly or every year? Because I have read comments here about bonuses and profit sharings...are they the same thing? |
353) Posted by: janky (
xx.142.25.222 ) Re: Sladge - I hope you didnt mean the comments I have written, cause I'm not knocking other coworkers. In fact, this is one of the reasons I haven't left yet. Too many folks I care about and dont want to leave them to the rotting corpses of fedex/kinkos upper-management. Re: Davey - It's best to stay persistant. I've seen way too many folks who would make great kinkos employees end up going with a different job based on the fact that either the pre-screening took too long or the pay was shit for new coworkers. And I've also seen way too many managers who can't get their priorities straight when trying to hire new workers. Either too busy or just not on top of the whole hiring process. Generally, people used to get hired-in because of connections. But, managers can't rely on that anymore. The experienced dependable workers are droping like flys. Re: DJane - Don't count on that $1,500 a year. It isn't a given. you have the possibility to get it, but if your store doesnt meet up to a high-level percentile you may only see a 1/4 of that if anything. Managers still get it though. Which is interesting, did everyone know that while we max out at ~$1,500 a year, managers (if the store meets all your MSM standards, makes profits, etc.) make that in a month. Every manager I've seen doesn't do any amount of work of actually making money for the store, let alone anything very much productive. Makes ya think. Also, I learned the other day (and this could be speculation) that the specialist/senior tag on your title makes you a part of management. This is a little interesting trick that kinkos has employed in order to defend them against workers organizing their workplaces. See, if the majority of the workplace is considered management, it could make it harder for fired organizers to fight NLRB cases against their employers. fun, fun! btw... what is up with this week? It seems as though everyone is having a horrible time working at kinkos this week. I myself would have to say this past week has been one of the most hellish I've seen. Which is saying quite a bit. Rampent absenteeism, managers not managing, understaffed, overworked, underpaid. geesh! solidarity! |
354) Posted by: exkinkoscowgirl (
xxx.239.121.5 ) I would not count on anything I hear from Kinkos Corporate. I went into my old branch this past week.....they haven't had a profit check in 4 months (from one of the Assis. Managers). He was asking me if they had any openings where I work now???? |
355) Posted by: Tired (
xx.114.38.163 ) I've been following these threads for a while now and I am just as tired as any of you folks. I've been with the company for about 8 years now and have moved to the ranks of ass man. Once you get to the point of where I am at, you either have to sell out completely and go with the corporate mentality by kissing ass, or you sit and watch as others pass you by. I worked hard for this company, and still do, but any chances of advancement are highly unlikely now that I have been "black balled" for voicing my opinion. I was so well loved by my superiors that I got NO RAISE the last times reviews went around. Thanks Kinko's. My dm is a dumbass that can't give you a straight answer. As a matter of fact the last 2 dms were dumbasses and 6 of my last 8 managers would straight up lie to your face and the other 2 moved to other districts. Makes you think who they put in charge now a days. Such is life I guess. By the way is anyone hiring? lol :P Knowing me I won't leave my coworkers behind to fend for themselves. Someone has to stick up for them. |
356) Posted by: sladge (
xx.164.145.85 ) Well the whole shipping thing is getting better. I volunteered my day off for some precious OT at another store. They did like 206,000 over plan and of course they got to go party. We had like three interns there recruited from college. They didn't know a whole lot but they were funny as shit. Besides that can't wait for the calendars :) digitalboy. I remember my first interview, my manager told me the only reason I basically got hire was because there were no hot chicks at the store. Yey me!!! I am like the only girl keyop that's ever been productive at this store. Yeah I didn't knock anybody, just the whole managers deal. I love my managers well maybe not love but they are pretty awesome. |
357) Posted by: sladge (
xx.164.145.85 ) If my shit is misspelled it's because it's like below thirty at my store. My fingers are frozen can't type worth a pppooo!!! |
358) Posted by: sladge (
xx.164.145.85 ) Someone sent something to Gary Kusin via FedEx, did not look like an employee...but said it was very urgent...I was a little curious and paranoid, only because people bitch about me all the time.LOL |
359) Posted by: Reality (
xx.77.154.162 ) Can someone explain to me why a Kinkos employee has to run through a 5 minute greeting, just for me to ask a 3 second question?....And why, whenever I do call there, I'm always at a loss because I'm not sure if I've called the right place, due to their greetings constantly changing from what seems like....hour to hour?.......lol. |
360) Posted by: digitalboy (
xxx.160.169.179 ) Because it's what corporate wants, not the customers, .. OR THE F****** EMPLOYEES... but what corporate wants... :) |
361) Posted by: sladge (
xx.169.109.7 ) I think the new greeding is funny. Half the time the customer forgets what they are calling for. It's usually directions or they want me to look up the price for five black and white copies. So stop asking stupid questions and will stop having annoying greetings. Thank you for positng have a great day! :) |
362) Posted by: Im Free (
xx.81.96.211 ) Well I have to say that I do agree with "WOW!" But there is one thing that was mentioned that I didn't agree with. "Most of the problems came from Kinko’s NOT training the employees and hiring young people who are there for just the paycheck (so called paycheck)" While that may be the story with some Kinko’s employees, it was not the story with me. When I worked for Kinko’s, I had prior experience with customer service, which includes the crazy angry ones. I also had plenty of experience using computers. However I was hired with no knowledge on the machines. I stayed at Kinko’s for a few years and by the time I left I was the only one in the store besides the BM that could probably run the entire store by myself. I feel that I gained tremendous knowledge working for Kinko’s. I would actually feel confident possibly opening my own copy shop. However, I don't exactly have the business sense. So that may not work out, but that’s another story all together. I found this sight while I was working for Kinko’s and I’ve read each and every one of these comments. This is the first time I’ve ever posted though. I agree with so many of the comments on here it's crazy. I wonder sometimes how Kinko’s stays in business. How can they get away with treating employees the way that they do. And with the amount of jobs they screw up, why do customers keep coming back. I mean I know you have deadlines that have to be met. But there would be times when I took an order from a customer where I’d have to convince them that there job would come out exactly how they wanted it. And then when they left I turned around and did it myself, because I didn't want to take the chance in someone screwing it up. These are the things that you come across when you work for a company like Kinko’s. It's not so much that they don't train their employees properly. I think the problem lies in how they treat their employees. I mean if you worked for a multi-million dollar company where you were paid in the $8.00 range, some making more and some making less, and you have to basically pay for your health insurance, and work crazy hours to get jobs done, and most likely work with only 1 other person on staff. You would learn not to care about your job or the jobs that come in from the customers. I mean when it's all said and done, it all comes down to money. In order to survive, people need money. Getting paid in peanuts makes it hard to enjoy your job! I'm at a job now where I’m not exactly trilled with what I do. I’m making so much more money, it almost doesn't matter. I do wish to get back into the business of graphics and printing, but the jobs are a bit scarce in my area. With the knowledge I gained at Kinko’s I could easily making 30K plus a year. I definitely don't regret any decisions I made while working for Kinko’s. And I hope that new employees that are being hired at Kinko’s fully know what they’re getting themselves into before accepting the job. |
363) Posted by: sladge (
xx.169.109.7 ) I do agree with you with the whole money thing.However, few months ago I told my boss that I needed more money or I was leaving. It was way past the evaluation time but he pulled some strings. I also work 50 hours a week and I go to school full time. Half the time I run the store by myself, and dread the customer service calls asking for a manager who clearly isn't there. I have pissed of people but I have had people stuff money down my pockets because I saved their ass. It's a business not a fucking charity. It's like that almost everywhere you go. You don't always get your steak cooked just right but you eat it anyway. It's a tricky business and kissing ass is what keeps us in business. |
364) Posted by: digitalboy (
xxx.160.169.179 ) I'm nice to every customer. I process their requests like I process any request, but when someone walks in with [scenario] it gets tricky... "I need these 150 pages scanned into a word document so I can make changes" .. ok, It's $10 for the first page and $2 each additional page and our turnaround for that right now is 48 hours. Do you want me to place the order? *customer gives blank stare* "I need it tomorrow morning!" ... ok , would you like me to call another branch and see if they could turn it around faster than us? *then the customer gets all pissy, and that's when "wow" walks in to pick up his FedEx packages* I'm nice, but I'm not nice enough to stay after 4 hours for some pissy lady. Customers don't understand that we got orders piled up to our necks in the back, they see the store is as busy as it "looks"... besides who would pay $308.00 for a document to get scanned!? |
365) Posted by: Jane (
xx.85.143.13 ) I completely agree with the lack of good managers. My current BM refuses to help out and locks herself up in her office, checking e-mails and making phone calls. When our branch is completely swamped, she takes off for lunch and does "errands" and the what not. And then comes to me later on, while I'm helping two customers, complaining, "Oh, it's so busy. Well, I have to run. See you tomorrow!" One of our Assitant Managers gets his ya-yas off by being incredible rude to customers and I'm the one they complain to because I look remotely sympathetic. He has no social skills, only helps out cute looking blondes and complains everyday how he wish he could have another job. Thank you, your attitude does not help out at all! And oh my God, do not get me started on FedEx. The rude Assistant Managers refuses to learn FedEx because "it's not in his job description." Well, fuck that! I'm a Senior Project Coordinator and it's not in my job description either and I'm learning or else our lone FedEx Gal will shoot the place up if no one helps her out! And oh my God, the weekends. Lucky me, I get to supervise on Fridays and Saturdays! The understaffing of the weekend people just kills me. I key-op and supervise and QC my own frickin jobs! Mainly because everyone's either out in Express or over by the FedEx box! WTF is wrong with this picture? I remember, a few weeks back, one of our main keyops called in sick because he had an extremely bad case of food poisoning and we had a ton of jobs. It was just going to be two people in the whole branch for eight hours. One in express, one to supervise, project coordiante, and keyop. And we called our BM, asking her if she could come in and help. And you know what she said? "You guys have ruined my day." And hung up. WTF! |
366) Posted by: Eric (
xx.225.134.246 ) so happy to find this page. i too work for kinkos, i hate them, my boss is a soul less wonder. it used to be a very strong, admorall company that is now manager and run buy poeple who desire a quick buck and have no reguard for service, i do my best to help, i've worked there for over a year and half, but with no training how can i honestly give apropriate service. and i love fedex, but why a company who has a strong repor taint themselves like this, so frustrated and what out so bad. e |
