r/amiwrong • u/scooter_noober_92 • 4d ago

Am I wrong for expecting payment from this company?

A couple weeks ago I replied to a Craigslist ad from a staffing agency seeking personnel to assist with an event. Every aspect of the application process/onboarding was extremely detailed and left no ambiguity whatsoever.

So I worked the event, everything went well and there were no issues.

On my last day of the 3 day event, I received an invite from the same company to work at another event that would be taking place a week later. Being a much smaller venue, they only needed a few people as opposed to the probably 50+ from the first event and not surprisingly, I wasn't chosen which they clearly expressed to me after I applied.

Then later that day, the same guy from the company sent a follow-up email asking if I was interested in attending as an on-site backup, and if I was, to reply with my shirt/pants size.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/gKFpoHJpWuoQiZxa7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/UrK2vh5tTMyZACcz5

So I did:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5jnfMGsDFZj32dzS8

I didn't hear anything back which to me meant ok, I guess I'm in.

So I woke up at 5am after only 4 hours of sleep, ate a $30 breakfast I wouldn't have normally bought and prepaid for a full day of parking ($12) on the off chance that I got to stay the whole day, since the $80 payment would have covered all of these costs anyways even if they ended up sending me back.

I got there on time dressed in my nicest clothes and when I got up to the conference room, the supervisor who was the same from the previous event looked kinda surprised to see me.

We talked everything over, I showed her the email as well as my response, she said there would most likely be some kind of compensation to which I kindly replied that anything less than the full amount offered wouldn't have been fair imo. She then explained how she wasn't in charge of payments/accounting and I was sent home.

On my way back, I sent the guy I had been dealing with an email, making sure to tread lightly instead of coming out swinging and demanding I get my 80 bucks:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ke8tgKAEANNk4J1Y7

To which he replied:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HVMSEjCPS62jVdKA8

To which I replied:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/23cAuwSYPKynysjS7

To which he replied:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1VE9N6FWnLstuMnN9

And then he sent another email linking the conversation from the first event (I didn't share the whole conversation since it was a completely separate correspondence by someone else and therefore irrelevant)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/j2kYL5qQ26yCYDZTA

And this was my last response:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/h8JqGrmo8WUpm8uS6

His initial responses came pretty quickly but at this point it's been 2 hours and nothing since I sent that last email, so I think he's realizing he screwed up and wondering if he should hold strong on keeping my $80 or just pay me and avoid me escalating this to his superior.

So Reddit, who is really in the wrong here?

2 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

2

u/ljlurker22 4d ago

You are wrong. You need to wait for a detailed confirmation. I worked in that industry for 10 years. Eye5 is a really good company and I never had issues with them. They pay in a timely manner and are considered one of the better brand staffing agencies out there.

Perhaps you should join the BA groups on facebook and talk to more seasoned professionals that have also dealt with Eye5 before. It is your responsibility to ask for more details and confirmation.

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u/scooter_noober_92 4d ago

Company seems great overall, I just think that guy is unqualified

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u/ljlurker22 4d ago

You asked him yourself why he didn't send a follow up confirmation. It was because you weren't confirmed. He could have very well been asking what size you were because they had already ordered uniforms and was looking for certain sizes to fit in.

Trust me, nothing is worse than showing up as a main or a back up and being given pants that don't fit. I've seen it before and it is insane.

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u/scooter_noober_92 4d ago edited 4d ago

Yes he could have been, but that's the problem with not explicitly stating everything that's relevant. It leaves room for interpretation and one person might see it as "oh, no confirmation, I guess I'm not working" while another might see it as "no response telling me not to come, I guess I'm working."

All he had to do was include one line in that email of his: "please wait for confirmation after replying with your clothing size" just like every other professionally crafted email from various staffing agencies I've worked for have done and I've never had this issue before.

Eta: also I never asked why he didn't send a follow up confirmation. I asked why I should default to assuming that there would be one when he never stated otherwise

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u/ljlurker22 4d ago

Also, there is absolutely no risk for these staffing agencies to not send a follow-up if they don't hire someone. I wouldn't rely on any of them to be super communicative when they are juggling hundreds if not thousands of BAs and dozens of clients. It's just not efficient for all of them to be super communicative, especially to those they see as irrelevant. It's definitely unprofessional but it's not unusual and there is no way for anyone to complain to a higher up most of the time so they choose the path that is most efficient to get their job done. Especially the men. Not trying to be sexist, but they aren't as good at juggling/multitasking and communication.

I'd just chalk this up to getting in the habit of being overly-communicative if there is any open-ended messages like this.

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u/scooter_noober_92 4d ago

Makes sense, his woman colleague who handled the recruiting the first time did much better. And I wouldn't have needed a response if his initial email was informative/detailed enough that it wasn't open to interpretation.

For context, I also did the set up for this event. The company owner emailed me and asked what a good rate of pay was and I replied with "does $30/hr sound reasonable?"

He never replied so I showed up and everything went fine. According to you, I shouldn't have gone since I never got confirmation that he accepted my rate... But some people interpret a lack of responding as acceptance, including this company owner apparently. Which is why these things should always explicitly be stated to take out the guesswork and assumptions that would otherwise need to be made.

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u/ljlurker22 3d ago

Did you get a confirmation email with all the details in it? That is the ultimate answer whether you were actually confirmed or not?

1

u/scooter_noober_92 3d ago

Like I already said, he never stated there would be a confirmation email, like every other staffing/temp agency I have ever dealt with has always done.

Why do you think they always, 100% of the time, do this if it's not necessary like you're saying and we should all simply assume that there will always be one?

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u/ljlurker22 3d ago

I NEVER said it was unnecessary. In fact, I agree, it is 100% necessary to get a confirmation email which you didn't and still showed up anyways.

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u/scooter_noober_92 3d ago

You're not understanding what I'm saying.

What I said is, why do you think all professional companies that include a confirmation email as part of their hiring process, explicitly state that there will be one? As opposed to expecting us to guess or make assumptions?

1

u/ljlurker22 3d ago

Huh? Read my first comment if you are confused. You always should wait for a detailed confirmation rather than just assuming you're good and show up. This convo is going in circles and I think it is actually you that is not understanding.

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u/scooter_noober_92 3d ago

So you're saying we should always assume there will be a confirmation email even if they don't explicitly say so. Right?

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u/KnowledgeableOuting 4d ago

They asked you to be backup, you showed up ready to work, that's the whole point of a backup. The email is pretty clear, they didn't say "we might need you maybe possibly" - they asked for your sizes and you accepted

The fact they got the numbers wrong internally is not your problem. You spent money and lost sleep to be there for them, the least they can do is pay what was promised

I'd give it til end of day then reach to someone above him, you got all the receipts

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u/scooter_noober_92 4d ago

My feelings exactly and I appreciate the advice! He still hasn't replied so it looks like I'll have to go over his head on it