Do you think this is respecting others? ...
By feralwoman
@feralwoman (2199)
Australia
February 25, 2007 8:40pm CST
I have depression, kept under control with medication. I cannot work as I couldn't physically survived the hours required to hold down a job. Plus I vowed that I would never work for a company again when I had to leave my last job. So, I started my own business and managed to get invited into a local market to boost their Sunday trade. So far so good!The "rules" of the market as I and others understood them are that there can be only 2 stalls selling similar goods - but not exactly the same. An example of this would be handmade vs imported goods. On Sunday there are two of us with similar goods: I am the handmade, the other is the imported.
A third has now entered the equation! This person sells handmade homewares, cards, pictures, clothing & lightcatchers. This person also has a wooden display box, which has come out at opportunistic moments. This box contains products which clash with mine. This person has done this when both stallholders have been present. I complained to management - she eventually put the box away.
One of the stallholders has not been present at the market for the last couple of weeks. I, however have been. Out comes the box - directly opposite my stall. This person sells many products, I on the other hand only sell one. The first time this person did this I complained to mangement, it got me nowhere. Yesterday (Sunday) it happened again - only this time with a threat aimed directly at me that I had better not inform management. I didn't dignify this with a response, neither did I bother to report it as I knew it would get me nowhere - not because of the threat, that didn't scare me!I have now lost income because of this. Is this action by this person respectful, bearing in mind that there are other things on the stall available for sale; whereas I only have one product to sell - which by the way, I have received many compliments for.
I cannot name this person, nor the market for obvious reasons. But suffice to say that the person is female and gets a pension. I don't claim anything from the Government as I don't want to get tangled up in their red tape. Mistake or not this is my view. I like to earn my money by hard work and decency.
I'd be interested to know your views on this situation and any remedial measures I can take to stop this. (Legal ones please) - I've already thought of killing the old bag! lol
3 people like this
3 responses
@kitchenwitchoftupper (2290)
• United States
1 Mar 07
Good grief I do understand how you feel! I have been at vendor fairs and I am also on disability with a government fixed income. My disability is a physical one - fibromyalgia with a mental one added on - severe clinical depression. As you stated in your last line, murder is pretty much out of the question! I think that sending letters of intent to kill are also pretty much out of the question! LOL!Before I go to a vendor fair anymore I now ask this question first: "Are there going to be any other Tupperware consultants there?". If the answer is "yes", or "I'm not sure, no one else has responded yet", my answer is, "No, thank you". If the person holding the fair calls back and says that there definitely will NOT be any other Tupperware consultants there I will pay for a table. I don't mind if Pampered Chef is there because even though we have similar items, we have a lot of different things.
What kind of threat did this person pose to you? This fact, alone should be enough for you to report it to the management. It also sounds as though you have been working at the market longer than she so the management should know you better. If you are aware that she is getting government money, the money she is making at the stall, if not reported, may cause her to lose her pension or at least part of it - that may be some leverage for you.
Another thing that you might do is to go to the management there, explain the situation as calmly as possible, tell them you have been there longer than she and request that they assign one of the two of you to a different stall - with you getting the stall that gets more prime travel by shoppers~Donna
1 person likes this
@feralwoman (2199)
• Australia
1 Mar 07
Hi Donna, thanks for responding. The management is a joke and the President has resigned, I am however friends with her and I think a formal letter is on its way to the other stall holder. Her partner threatened that i'd better not report her to the management. Unfortunately there is nowhere else for her/me to go at the market. But they do say keep your friends close and your enemies even closer! lol
@WebMann (4731)
• Canada
26 Feb 07
Goodday FeralWoman
I have a bit of depression, I think it is brought on by my heart medication but I can usually control it by resting. If I find myself getting tired and don't rest I can feel myself going down the drain emotionally and have to rest of the next stage is depression.
Now as for that inconsiderate jerk at the market. Give her a good swift kick in the behind and tell her that you will report her as long as she is taking business away from you in a fashion that breaks the rules.
As long as she is breaking the rules she definitely is lacking respect, not only for you the entire market and management but to you also.
So give a kick in the butt and tell her WebMann said is was for her own good. :)
1 person likes this
@feralwoman (2199)
• Australia
26 Feb 07
Howdy WM - sorry to hear you're suffering at the moment too. Hope you feel heaps better soon. Would love to give her several swift kicks in the butt, more for my pleasure than for her pain. lol. Your response really cheered me up! Thanks mate.
@Wanderlaugh (1622)
• Australia
26 Feb 07
The legal option isn't necessarily the most effective, and talking about red tape....!
You can appeal to the management again, meaning a committee effect will happen. You can run other, different products, if possible, see if that works.
I doubt if confrontation really works in your favor. This would seem to be a setup of sorts if you do. You'd be contradicting the management decision to let her in, and probably putting yourself at odds with them.
On the other hand, if your product is popular, she'll eventually lose out. Let her get herself into a tangle.
1 person likes this
@feralwoman (2199)
• Australia
26 Feb 07
Hello there, thanks for your informative response. The market management is a joke! The president has resigned and the market manager isn't even up to date with the payments on his stall for last quarter! I've thought about running other products, but it's hard not to conflict with others. I at least do think about things like that. Management is fully aware of what is happening and there was a committee meeting this morning about various issues. Don't know if my problems were discussed though! It seems that priority is given to those who have been at the market the longest. This woman had been a previous stall holder, who told everyone she was dying and then came back a year later. I've been there a year and she's dishing the dirt to everyone and blaming me personally that I am stopping her from selling her product. At the moment i'm just playing it by ear and seeing what will happen. I believe what goes around comes around. Last week her tent fell apart in the wind! This week she took business away from me, perhaps next week i'll have a record breaking day! Yes, I like the idea of letting her get herself into a tangle lol. Thanks for that!
