When The Manager Can’t Hold Office Over The Manager’s Office

My store manager moved on to other things and was replaced by a woman who resembled the sweetest grandma. On her first day, she gathered all the other managers — assistant managers, department managers, stock managers — for a meeting.

Store Manager: “Okay. You no longer have access to the manager’s office. None of you. I am the only one who is allowed in there. So, you can all hand in your keys.”

Stock Manager: “How will we get in when you’re not scheduled? I have to be here at 4:00, and the store doesn’t even open until 8:00.”

Store Manager: “I will appoint someone to pick up the front door key the evening before the opening shift, and they will slide the key under the office door after the store is opened. And I will come in a few minutes before the store is closed to lock up.”

Stock Manager: “But—”

Store Manager: “You can all go home after you hand over your keys and sign off that you handed in all copies.”

We all handed in our keys and left. One of the other (former) managers made a group chat to discuss what was going on. He outlined a plan to make [Store Manager] change her mind.

The next time I was the (former) manager-on-duty, a customer at the register wanted a refund on a high-value item, but he didn’t have the receipt.

Customer: “Look, I know how this works. Just look it up in your system.”

Me: “I would, sir, but [Store Manager] is the only one allowed in the office now, and she is off today. You can come back during her next shift to have her look it up.”

Customer: “Are you serious?”

Me: “Yes, sir. I would like to fix this for you, but [Store Manager] has decided she is the only one who can do these things.”

Customer: “Holy f***, this is ridiculous. I’m calling corporate.”

Me: “Don’t forget to mention [Store Manager] by name!”

And on it went. Since [Store Manager] was the only one with access to the office, we couldn’t look up receipts, count down and reset drawers at the end of the night, or even lock the store at the close of business. [Store Manager] would come in every night to lock up, furious that her five-minute visit turned into an hour or more at a time because she had to do all the closing duties and deal with the customers who knew she would be in. 

She caved and returned all of our keys after two weeks of doing all the manager duties by herself. It didn’t matter, though. Enough customers complained about her changes that she was fired.