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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. |
