My son's manager - Unreasonable?

[gabsdot45]

My son has been working as a delivery driver for a local fast food place as a second job.
Last weekend he said to another driver something like
"I don't like the food here, it's very overpriced and I wouldn't buy it"
He was overheard, without him knowing by the manager.

Next day she texted him to say that she was very upset by what he had said. He apologised but then she cancelled his next shift and has not rostered him this weekend. So it looks like he has lost the job.

Personally I think the manager is being ridiculous but I'm interested to here what other people think.

So YABU - The manager is right to be upset
YANBU - The manager is being ridiculous.

Don’t bite the hand that feeds you 🤷🏼‍♀️

Your son has now learned a valuable lesson about the world of work. Plenty of other jobs of that nature are available, and he knows not to diss the hand that feeds him.

Were those definitely the word he used? If so I agree with you but I just wonder if he was a bit more 'forceful' with his opinion

Im sure your ds can find another zero hours job at this time of year without much issue

It's not a very professional or mature thing to do is it? Whatever you may think of the food if you work for the company you are supposed to represent them and not give them bad publicity.

This

Tell him to keep his mouth shut in future

I guess the manager’s POV is if he is saying this kind of thing without caring who can overhear/while at work then I think the manager is fine to do it. It’s her provocative.

However, if your son was a reliable and good worker then more fool her. I don’t think it really matters if a delivery driver rates the food he or she delivers and as a potential customer it wouldn’t put me off.

Thing is if he is saying it to another delivery driver who else is he saying it to? Dont slag of your employer or their goods and expect to keep working for them. Hopefully that's a lesson learnt.

This is why you need to be careful in a workplace. I once got added onto a weekend shift and one of the staff said to me just watch yourself around X because she is the boss's daughter, she had her Dad's surname so just from looking at her name you would never know. Not that I said boo to a goose back then but you never know who is related to/friends with etc in a work situation.

He bad mouthed the company whilst at the company, imagine what she thought he might say everywhere else. It is a hard lesson to learn. I would get him to contact her to ask if he is being put on the new rota to see if he has indeed lost his job because if he has she needs to be professional enough to tell him.

It could be just petty on her part, but it makes no sense to diss the products sold by your place of work. An employee should be outwardly loyal, whatever their actual opinion. She could have just given him a warning but these kind of jobs are easy come, easy go and there are plenty of other young people to take his place.

Just don't suggest he works in a pub. My dd lost her job in one for much less than OP's son did.

You son fucked up. Hopefully, he's learned his lesson.

Petty? for badmouthing the company he works for? nope. It is a lesson learned and he needs to learn to keep his trap shut if he wants to keep future jobs.
Guessing he's young, so it will stand him in good stead for the future.

A business can’t have someone going around dissing their product or prices. In any industry.

It’s a harsh lesson, but will serve your son well.

My first job as an exceptionally naive 15 year old was a hotel waitress for weddings. On my second shift some of the wedding cake was brought back to the kitchen for staff to taste. I had some and one of the chefs as me what I thought. Truthfully, I said I didn’t like it as it was very dry.

Turns out the cake was made in-house, by that chef. I was never asked back.

25 years later and it’s still a lesson I remember on many days.

Your DS was daft to say the food and prices suck. From the manager's POV he could have been telling all his mates, who then tell their friends and family that someone with inside knowledge thinks it's expensive crap. Your son has learned a valuable life lesson I'm afraid.

YABU. He needs to act professionally in all jobs he has. Bad mouthing the company won't go down well. Lesson learnt let's hope

As said, he's learnt a valuable lesson which given his age will not have long term career effects for him

I make a point of never joining in any conversations of this nature or those who discuss salary or diss other staff.

I wondered this. They don't seem like the words a very young man would use.

More probably he used quite descriptive language about the food...!

He'd be best keeping his mouth shut in future. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

It’s certainly a lesson on loose talk costs, in his case, jobs.

Well, he has learned some things should just stay as thoughts and not be spoken out loud. It was a silly thing to say, especially to a colleague at work, but he is young and we've all done silly things.
Tell him to start looking elsewhere, I can't see him struggling to find something at the moment.

Could be worse, remember Gerald Ratner who lost his entire jewellery business over an ill thought remark?

That over priced food literally paid your son's wages 😂🤷🏼‍♀️. Can you honestly not see that the business owner has taken a huge risk starting a business, invested money and time and the food is good enough and sells enough to employ multiple people. But your son stands in that business and declares it to be over priced and not what he would eat? And you think he should still be employed? I would have tie him a new one there and then and told him to get out of my shop.

Bloody hell. Why not go find a maternity ward and tell a new mum her tiny baby looks like a baboons arse while you are at it. I swear to God some people are just so blindly entitled, it's crazy!

I think the manager is over reacting, if it was the owner and a small local business I could understand but I don't see why the manager is that bothered.

Wasn't it like "we sell cheap tat to cheap people?" And then he was all sad when he went bankrupt 🤷🏼‍♀️😂

Sweet Jesus, you do know that that same food pays the managers wages don't you?

I swear to God some petite have no idea about anything. It's the managers job to run the costumes as effectively as possible while maximising the money made. Do you think a good manager would or should allow a member of staff that deals with customers, to go around loudly saying that the food is over priced and awful? Hmm? Honestly?