Stephen Pontes [.com]

My letter to Supercuts directly:

Hi there,

I’ve been going to my neighborhood Supercuts location for the past 6 months and my expectations have been consistently met (if not exceeded) by one employee in particular (referred to as “Jill” in this email). I have yet to try any other haircut locations around the area as I’ve never been let down.

Jill and I have built up an excellent rapport, sharing both lighthearted and emotional news (I was elated to share that I’d gotten a promotion and a new job, but sad to share that my grandfather had been hit by a car while on his morning walk). It’s this attention and care placed on me, the customer, that keeps me coming back to the Supercuts brand.

Although it may be against your policy to comment, I’d like some clarification on something I’ve recently discovered. Jill, the employee that keeps bringing me to Supercuts, has been with your company for over 20 years, and was recently let go from a full time position as a result of taking unapproved time off. While I completely understand the reasoning behind the policy (and have worked in many companies where this was the case), I believe there’s been a misunderstanding.

Jill’s mother recently passed away, so she took time off to attend the funeral. A few months later, her father also passed away and, for whatever reason, her request for time off wasn’t approved. Although I’m fairly confident Jill had enough vacation and or sick leave accrued to cover her absence, as a result of taking unapproved time off, she was fired.

Jill was fortunate enough to be rehired on as a part time employee, but has lost all of the benefits she’s accrued over her 20 years with your company. I’m withholding Jill’s real name out of the fear that further retribution during a particularly difficult time in her life will occur.

I feel that Jill might have had trouble fully explaining the situation, and I’m hoping articulating it for her through this channel will lead to some mutually beneficial resolution for both Supercuts and the employee.

I know that I can’t support a company that will knowingly cut off an employee after 20 years of service for failing to get approved time off to attend their parents’ funerals. Deaths in a family aren’t planned. Regardless of policy, an exception should have been (and can still be) made for Jill to attend both of her parents’ funerals regardless of how close together they were. Should the decision to not reinstate Jill’s fulltime position and accrued benefits stand, I can assure you that you’ll lose not only all of Jill’s clients, but I’ll use any resources available to me to share this employee’s story with as many people that will listen. Although I don’t have an outlet through traditional media, I interact with social media on a daily basis and know that this story would gain traction with various audiences.

I look forward to hearing back from you and hope that you can clear up the misunderstanding about this employee!

Sincerely,

-Stephen

Sure puts things in perspective. Losing both of your parents, your job, and possibly being unable to afford a simple quality of life anymore. My problems aren’t that bad at all.

Testing posting from my iPhone – maybe I’ll start doing this more often

Oh the Ataris.

I’m now two and a half months into my full time job life experience and it’s interesting to say the least. While I’m already missing spring, summer and winter vacations I’ve also grown accustomed to living financially independent. Boy does it feel good.

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With just one day left of school before I’m out in the “real world”, I can (without hesitation) exclaim “Woohoo!”. I finished up my After Effects class the other night, and produced the following as my last project showcasing what I’ve learned.

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I’m now in Redding, CA where my parents live, and I’m thoroughly enjoying the break from the hustle and bustle of busy San Francisco. Redding isn’t necessarily “middle of nowhere”, but it definitely isn’t a San Francisco either.

The daily routine is dreaded by everyone, and simply getting out of the environment you’re used to can be enough of a change to break a cycle of monotony. Escaping to Redding is my way to break the norm.

Unfortunately for me, with a laptop and wifi, work and school tend to follow me anyway.

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Hanging out with the roomies and just listening to music has never been more fun!

Nicole is now cancer free!

Though the doctors say she isn’t 100% in the clear yet (the cancer could come back), the outcome is looking great. Other than sleeping for 27 hours in the past two days, Nicole’s been feeling fine. While the biopsy news is great, they also told her that she might have an infection. Nicole’s now on on antibiotics to prevent anything serious from developing. The infection isn’t serious, and she should be back to 100% soon enough!

In the ongoing debates between Obama and McCain issues like foreign policy, tax rebates and the war in Iraq are often referred to as hot topics. But what about the topic most important to me, a young voter? What’s being done about my education?
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Nicole had her surgery today around noon, and she’s already back home recovering as of this post (3pm PST). Although she’ll have about a week of recovery time ahead of her until she’s back to 100%, she sounded (and told me she felt) fine. The results of whether or not the surgery removed all of the cancer won’t be known for around a week, but I’ll post as soon as I know more. As of right now there aren’t any complications from surgery, and things are looking like they’ll be perfectly fine.

If I know Nicole, after a quick lunch of Ramen, she’ll probably be sleeping for the next 20 hours or so.

More updates to come!

Isaac debating whether or not to buy a domain….