Here We Go Again

In the beginning of February I gave my 2 week notice at Convergys. Actually, it was a 1.5 week notice but my boss, Tony was treating it like a 2 week notice so I would be rehirable (not that I'm planning on ever working there again but why burn bridges). I was looking for another job and Phil had texted me a few times mentioning that he might be wanting me to come work for him again.

On Wednesday, February 14th Phil sent me a text message asking me to come in to Club Vortex and talk to him about working for him, starting that night. I had Wednesdays off so I went down and he basically told me that the club was not being managed properly and he wanted me to fix that. He wanted me to make sure that the bartenders, barbacks, cocktail waitresses, and shot girls were doing there job. In addition to their basic job duties, Phil wanted me to make sure that they did all of the closing work such as cleaning and locking up the liquor & beer. So I was basically a Shift Manager. He also told me that Josh was the Head of Security but that he had not been doing a good job of running Security. He told me not to worry about Security for the first week or two, just give Josh and his crew time to straighten things out but he didn't expect things to improve and thought that I would eventually be taking over Security too. Trent and Ryan were helping manage the club too. Trent was helping Josh run Security and Ryan was handling bills, payroll, cash, & liquor. I told Phil that I could work that night but couldn't work Friday and Saturday that week (the other nights that Vortex is open) because I was still working at Convergys.

At the beginning of the night Phil, Trent, Ryan, and I sat down with all of the bartenders, barbacks, cocktail waitresses, and shot girls and Phil told them that I was their manager. Wednesday went fairly well except for someone stealing some money out of Ryan's office.

That Friday Phil texted me and asked me to quit Convergys so I could work Saturday night. I talked to Tony and he made it so that I could quit and still be rehirable (what a guy!). Saturday was not the best night. It started off with one of the bouncers, Mike, trying to pick a fight with me. I went to Trent about it but he just went up there and talked to him. I felt that he should have been fired but Trent said it was my first week as manager so it was to be expected. It ended with Phil, Trent, and Ryan getting drunk and letting Ed, a promoter, do the close-outs for all of the barbacks, cocktails, and shot girls. Then Trent and Ryan took the money with them when they went with some of the employees to Wendover. They brought the money back the next day but Travis, the investor for Club Vortex, got mad about how things were handled.

After the dust settled Trent was told that he should just focus on Club Exchange and the transportation company that he was co-owner of with Ryan, Utah Transportation Management. Ryan was told the he should just focus on continuing to get the building ready for the Health Code inspection and Fire Code inspection. He was also there to sign the checks since he was on the checking account. Bills, payroll, liquor, and cash were now going to be handled by Brandy, who had been working the front door, handling cover charge and memberships. She would be still be running the front door.

On Saturday Phil had caught two customers that had taken drinks out of the club trying to bring them back in. This meant that the bouncers at the door had not done their job and prevented the customers from taking the drinks out in the first place. So on Wednesday Phil told me that I would now be over Josh straightening Security out. We had an employee meeting at the beginning of the night where Phil told the employees about the management changes that had been made. After the employee meeting I talked to Josh and told him that he wasn't being demoted, I was just over him as a manager. We went upstairs and had a quick Security meeting telling them that I expected them to stay on their post, do what I told them to do, and not use excessive force. That night two of the bouncers, Mike (the one that tried to pick a fight with me) and Tiffany quit half way through the night. At the end of the night another bouncer, Ashton quit.

That weekend Phil promoted one of the bartenders, Melanie, to Bar Manager. She was responsible for scheduling bartenders, barbacks, cocktail waitresses, & shot girls and ordering beer, liquor & bar supplies. Since I had been over the bar staff and bouncers, I thought that I was over her and the Head of Security. After a week of working together Melanie and I were having problems because I thought that it was my place to tell Melanie what needed to be done. To resolve this Phil called a manager meeting (he took Brandy, Melanie, and I out to eat). He explained that I am the Security/Building Manager, Brandy is the Front Door/Payroll Manager, and Melanie is the Bar Manager. So basically, in my opinion, I was hired as Shift Manager, promoted to General Manager, and then demoted to Security Manager. I'm on salary and I'm barely getting paid enough to do Security, much less run Security, so I guess I shouldn't complain. The problem is that Phil, who is an owner and the Promotions Manager, wants me to do things that are things that a General Manager would do but won't give me that title because he doesn't want to offend Melanie. Not to mention the fact that I'm the type of person that fixes a problem if he sees it, even if that means stepping on some toes in the process.

Melanie has been busting her butt with ordering beer, liquor, and bar supplies (which is very difficult because Travis is worse than Scrooge when it comes to money) but when it comes to scheduling & cutting cocktails & shot girls and making sure that all of her bar staff do their closing work, there's room for improvement. When I point out these things or tell "her employees" what to do, she gets offended. When Phil complains to me about things that aren't getting done with the bar staff, I tell him to talk to Melanie about it because it's her department, not mine. No more of the telling me to do more than my job and not giving me the title or authority to do it.

To make a long story short, a month later, I've fired several bouncers, had a few walk out mid-shift (including Josh), hired some new bouncers, promoted a new bouncer with some experience and training to Head of Security, fired a few of the new bouncers, and then demoted Sonny (the new Head of Security) this past Friday. On a positive note Phil has been treating me better than the last time I worked for him (he even apologized for how he treated me before), but he still isn't the best boss in the world. I pray that things will get better. Please pray for me.