A Catalog Of Errors, Part 5

(My dad does maintenance at post offices over several counties (painting, electrical, machinery, etc). Dad would get a work order requesting a fix; he would drive over, check to see what needed to be done, go to a local hardware store, buy the part, and fix it right away. That’s how he USED to do it…)

Boss: *at meeting* “There are going to be some changes in how we handle work orders from now on. All purchased parts have to come out of a catalog from [Company the post office made a contract with]. We will no longer authorize employees to purchase parts from stores.”

Dad: “So, let me get this straight… You want me to drive to [City 50 miles away], look at the problem, drive 50 miles back here, order a part, wait a week for the part to arrive, drive back to the scene, fix it, then drive back here.”

Boss: “That’s right!”

Dad: “That’s going to be more expensive in the long run.”

Boss: “Not at all. We get a discount from the company.”

Dad: “This part right here costs $12 with our discount. I can buy it for $8 at [Hardware Store]. How does driving 200 miles on two round trips save us any money?”

Boss: “This is how you will do it from now on. I don’t want to hear any more about it.”

Dad: “Okay…”

(And until the day he retired, Dad had to listen to upper management freak out about how the costs skyrocketed and discussing frantically where they could possibly cut costs. Every time Dad told them to just let him buy from a hardware store, he was told that their discount was what was saving them money.)

Related:
A Catalog Of Errors, Part 4
A Catalog Of Errors, Part 3
A Catalog Of Errors, Part 2
A Catalog Of Errors