I do not take kindly to threats.
I had to fire another operator today. Yes, we give them a route at the start of their shift, but in our world things change minute by minute and you need to adapt - it’s part of the job. If things went perfect we wouldn’t need dispatchers to monitor and correct problems, but that’s not realistic. If you’re running late we may move trips off of you, and if you have slack time you may get a few trips tossed your way. Nobody is doing anybody any favors, and if you get a trip added don’t expect some sort of reward for doing your job.
Last night one of her trips was canceled because the customer didn’t come out in time. We sent her to her next pickup, but then the customer called back and needed his ride. If we take someone somewhere we are obligated to get them home, but if they’re at home when they miss their trip they’re SOL. We sent her back and then the customer called back saying he didn’t see her. I asked if she was at the front of the building and she got all testy, saying that it was a house and there was no front or back. When I questioned her further it turns out that she went to the customer’s destination, not their pickup location. It’s right there on her terminal in the vehicle, with GPS guidance, so there’s absolutely no excuse for doing something so incredibly stupid. C’mon - how are you going to drop the passenger if you haven’t picked them up yet???
When I told her that she needed to go to the correct location she kept telling me that I owed her. No, I don’t owe you shit. I didn’t say that, but I reiterated that she needed to get to the pickup location before her next trip. She then stated that she wanted to be rerouted back to base and that she was going to turn in for the night. Uh, no - it doesn’t work like that, not if you want to keep your job. After giving her a direct order to pick up the customer she still refused and now we had to find other people to handle her trips, a tough task late on a Sunday night.
And so she’s gone. We may be short on staff, but we don’t need this kind of attitude infecting the operation. It’s not like she’s a grizzled veteran with connections in high places - she’s a newbie, still on probation.
Good fucking riddance.