BOWLAND YEAH OR NAY

[chucker]

after finding out last night a 6th person has quit the cranbourne centre and more considering this i was wondering whether the staff and bowlers are treated the same way in south australia or whether it is just a cranny thing.i think it is about time that centres start considering thier staff and bowlers instead of the dollar because without these your centres will venture down the toilet with you.shame shame shame :x :x :x

 

[wchester]

chucker...Not knowing all the facts I cannot comment, other than to say..I've seen it all before...all too often.

 

[daniel]

knowing a bowland manager, i think you'll find this is just a 'cranny' thing.

in most cases, bowland centres are private ventures, unlike AMF which is a chain. im not entirely certain who owns each bowland centre however.

thats not to say that it isnt a pity, bowlers are every centres #1 priority and they should always be treated that way. at my centre they are, and that will always be.

d.

 

[Phluff]

Chucker: only 6? check again

Dipster: I think if you look up the chain far enough you'll find a group of people with fingers in each BL pie. esp in SA.

 

[fizz]

coming from an ex-employe(tecnition) of carnbourne bowland i must say the working conditions are fine and would be more then happy to go back and thay resone i left before was due to personal resons

 

[daniel]

well two years on from my original message and now i'm working for them - and without trying to big-note my own company... we look after our bowlers and staff a hell of a lot better, so if you want some happiness bowl with bowland

 

[Pete]

hmmm i really shouldnt be commenting it could cost my job.....

i work at a bowland and the general manner that staff are treated are fine. days off are easy to get and good work is appreciated. I think the problem seems to be coming from people who are above the workers..(owners, silent partners etc). We staff members at my work definately have had nights were owners have entered and BLASTED staff members for very minor manners. im talking abotu screaming and swearing at staff in front of customers.... i have quit bowland twice in two years for reasons such as unexplained cut of hours and being horribly disrepected...but once again this is because of people who dont actually work but are owners and i have returned simply because i enjoy the work and the actual staff are awesome. It can get ridiculous some of the ways we are spoken to though and many have left becuase of it. i believe that cranny and my work are owned by the same guy so that may be a reason but i dunno the details of the cranny incident so i cant really comment.

once again i hope this doesnt cost me my job but unfortunately id say it wasnt just a cranny thing....it happens occasionally here in adelaide and yes people do leave.....

 

[CHIN]

Unfortunately there are pshycopaths running a lot of businesses from management upwards. They are there for the power trip, they thrive on it. As children they were probably the school bully & pulled the wings off butterflys.

We put up with 1 where I work. The problem is generally they dont have to answer to anybody, especially owners. In there eyes they are GOD. (there the owner).

 

[jemmo]

as an ex employee of Bowland i would have to say that over the 4 years that i was there i had a great time , met a bunch of great people and workmates. as for the owners going around as god you have to expect that, because the're the ones who have a huge bank loan and in most cases everything invested in the business as staff do not . not that im defending anyone but if the shoe was on the other foot would your attitude change??
and by the way pete you were a good guy to work with aswell

 

[Pete]

yeah jemmo my username doesnt make it hard to guess who it is......as for your question i reckon its still possible to invest in a business and manage staff without being a jerk. i mean yes, it is necessary to make sure that staff are fulfilling the required job and that nothing shady is happening but people should still be treated with respect. i wont argue if im doing something wrong and get told off, but to have people being screamed at and spyed on for minor issues is a little over the line in my opinion. As you know jemmo, we work 8 hour shifts with no breaks or overtime pay with friday/saturday nights finishing at 12.30 or later at night and many people have worked double shifts stretching or 14hrs + and to be treated like children from an owner on a power trip is not right...

 

[jemmo]

yes pete i also agree with you spying on employees is not a good thing. i think that if you dont trust your employees sack them all and have your family work for you. but there has to be some give and take with the employer for example if a staff member works a 14 hour day and they make a mistake in thier close shift then the person should not be yelled at over some little mistake. but like i said owners should trust thier staff and if they dont then sack them and get the family in.

 

[Simmo]

very well said pete . you are great to work with and jemmo was too.i must say i enjoy working there and i have had no proberlems with bosses and owners it is a cranny thing

 

[gonzo69]

totally agree with what you say its a cut throat industry out there.The hours are long ,pay isnt that good ,but the job is certainly a fuilment in life to work in this industry

 

[emmtee83]

hey pete, simmo and jemmo

i gotta say first of all it was fun workin at bowland, and i suppose this is for two reasons, 1) the social bowlers and most league bowlers (and i do say most) were really friendly and easy to get along with, and 2) the managers were generally not around, i was the manager.... or head of the shift or whatever u wanna call it. I had a great team of guys i was workin with for the short time i was there and i thank them all for making my time at bowland so enjoyable.
On the other hand, I must throw my support behind Pete and Simmo here, the crap they have to put up with from owners and silent partners is a bit over the top. I know as well as the next person u can't con everybody into bowling a league, let alone 2 or 3 a week, which is what these owners want out of the staff. That's not fair. Everyone has a budget. And as for the cameras placed in the roof and aimed at every angle? Like previously said, get your family to work for you if u have bad trust issues.
Great workin with ya Pete and Simmo (even Jemmo for the shortest of times) and hope all goes well in the future.....
See ya at roll-offs guys. good luck, i'll need it

 

[Pete]

good to see im not alone on this one! hehe. and good luck emmtee on the weekend. ill seeya there!

now back to the topic at hand....the funny thing is that they DID have family working for the company and still do. The cafe manager used to be the owner's daughter..and within a week of her quitting .... up went a big camera in the kitchen! (that never existed before). Family members are still responsible for payrolls and other behind-the-scene type jobs.

as for the 'conning' of league bowlers..i have no real objections there, as recruiting is the main way increasing the centres income. Some people have the gift of the gab and others dont. i dont....but i try my best! (also, staff get bonuses now for target recruits. no recruits = no bonus pay!)

i'll finish off by saying that its a pity that this thread has even been posted. money seems to turn people into jerks, and not just in this industry! i hope one day i can manage a business just to prove that you can still be a nice person while making money, and not have staff leave as often!

and also, it seems news travels quickly in the bowling world as many bowlers at work have commented about this thread to me. I really just can hope that having the balls to come out and voice an opinion on this matter wont cost me a job. Especially seeing as everything i have said had been dead fact...no exaggerations.

 

[S_X_C_Coupe]

hey guys, i worked at salisbury and loved the work but the owner is one big %@#$ SUCKER!!! and thats putting it in the nicest possible way. i was one of the workers that spied on. my first night running the shift with no one else in the center and he sat in the corner and spied. id never met him before so obviously had no idea who he was. i was abused on the front counter because of what the security guard was doing. i then had an abusive phone call from the manager because he rang her and told her a hole heap of crap that wasnt true. i miss the work and most of all miss the guys i worked with but i dont miss the crap that i went through.

 

[Pete]

oh hey i forgot about that incident! that was unreal...he just sat down by lane one in the dark (the lights were off as it was a friday night) and spied! no hello, no introduction! yeah that was crazy what happened to you, 'coupe'! he never introduced himself to me either, the first time he ever met me he watched me for about half an hour and said that 'no-one on that shift is a natural worker...including you!'..i hadnt even been there a month and was told i wasnt a natural worker, yet here i am two years later running shifts and etc...

 

[jemmo]

all i can say guys is that if u dont like the owner there is nothing you can do about it if u want a job except put up with it. or leave like alot of people have done where as the reason that i i left was not because of the owner my reason was because i was offered another job in a different bowling centre and i thought a change would be good. like i said i liked working at both bowlands and would do it all again. i mean it had its moments (and there were a few let me tell you ) but what job dosent?

 

[gonzo69]

totally agree with you jemmo,i use to work at bowland as a mechanic