Am I being an unreasonable volunteer?

[Mkrop]

Originally Posted by disykat

I agree that there was a large misunderstanding when OP was passed the job. OP works full time and thought this was something she could do, but now is being expected to find an hour (20+ minutes there and back) mulitiple times to take care of botched orders etc.

Also additional orders she approved, she allowed them to keep ordering.

Sometime volunteer jobs are not what they seem, she didnt ask these questions, so therefore she needs to just deal with it for this year and then either decline the position next year or find a different vendor.

If I was really stuck and truly could not do it, not that I am never in that area to me is not an excuse, I would send out an email to the group, maybe somebody works that way and wouldnt mind dropping it off. And given the OP works she should have found out if this job could be done when she was not working, like would the hours conflict with her job hours.

[badblackpug]

Originally Posted by lovetoscrap

I agreed to take on a volunteer position for an activity DD is involved in. Part of this job involves coordinating the orders and purchase of items for the group. Let's just pretend it is tshirts and sweatshirts. (it isn't but it is a good analogous example) We don't NEED the shirts, they are just a fun part of being in the group.

Our vendor is a semi- local guy that works out of his home. He lives in our area but is another town over in an area at least 20 mins away that I NEVER have any reason to go to. I have been there once several years ago and it was hard to find and difficult to get to. The group gets none of the money that is paid for the shirts-- it is not a fundraiser of any type so everything above cost is his profit. The group actually pays for one tshirt for everyone so the vendor is guaranteed several thousand dollars. Some families order extras so that is additional money he makes and the sweatshirts are an additional order done later that is again, all money that goes to him. He does come out and work with us on them, collects the initial tshirt orders at that time and delivers the initial tshirt order when they are in.

The person that did this position before me did it for about 6 years. She is a superwoman SAHM that was on the board of every activity her kids did, devoted 80 hours a week on her volunteer jobs, did a great job and is a friend of mine. I, however am back to work and can't devote that time to a volunteer position and frankly didn't even when I wasn't working. She also, through her course of working with this guy for the activity, started actually "working" for him as sort of an unpaid assistant. She helps him with his business and he lets her have all the tshirts she wants for her family for free at any time. So I called her to let her know that I had some additional orders that came in and there were some issues that needed to be fixed (wrong sizes, wrong names). My intention was to give them to her since she "works" with him. She told me I needed to deliver the orders and checks directly to him. I don't go over to where he lives ever and I don't have time to be delivering things to him! I told her this and she said that I would basically have to suck it up and do it because that is part of the volunteer position. HE is the one making money off of the orders, the group gets nothing out of it. I get nothing out of it (he did offer me a free shirt for "all my hard work" 3 months ago that I never received). She did finally take them but at this point I am still waiting for several corrected orders and reorders but he won't deliver them to me, I am supposed to go get them. ( I haven't even been called and told they are even ready though) Right now I have about $1000 in sweatshirt orders sitting on my desk that I was told I have to take to him. I told her that wasn't happening and I would bring them by her house this week for her to take them over.

There are plenty of vendors that are much closer to me (and the group location) that would love to have our business, would be happy to deliver and pick up, and probably could work with us to also make it a fundraising activity so we get something back. But this person has been doing it for years, is well known, and I know there will be some major pushback and a lot of hard feelings if I suggest going with a different vendor next year. I do know if I have to use him again next year I will not be taking any orders after the initial order that he picks up and I will refer everyone with an issue directly to him to deal with from now on.

I guess the question is, am I being unreasonable to think that if he is the one that is making all the money then he needs to be willing to come to me? If I am being unreasonable then I will happily step down and let someone else take it on (but believe me, no one is knocking down the doors to do it!)

Originally Posted by disykat

Surely you can see how, since the friend still goes there regularly, OP could have thought she might be willing to pick up and deliver the straggling orders while she was there. I don't think OP signed up for the dealing with and picking up straggling orders. She was unaware of this part of the job when she signed up.

Yes, I can see her asking the friend to drop off orders if she was going there, but according to the OP the friend made it quite clear she was unwilling or unable to do that. I think after the friend stated that the OP had to deliver and pick up the orders herself it was unfair of the OP to, basically, insist that the friend do it.

I agree that the OP overestimated her time and ability to do this job. Maybe she didn't realize everything that was involved, but, at this point, she is stuck with the job, at least until the end of the season. I don't think it is fair to push her duties off on others, or change the terms of the vendor's agreement without some additional compensation toward the vendor.

Like I said, I would suck it up for the remainder of the season. I would make it clear now, though, that I would be unable to fill this position next season so that the organization can start looking for a replacement.

[ccgirl]

Originally Posted by lovetoscrap

I agreed to take on a volunteer position for an activity DD is involved in. Part of this job involves coordinating the orders and purchase of items for the group. Let's just pretend it is tshirts and sweatshirts. (it isn't but it is a good analogous example) We don't NEED the shirts, they are just a fun part of being in the group.

Our vendor is a semi- local guy that works out of his home. He lives in our area but is another town over in an area at least 20 mins away that I NEVER have any reason to go to. I have been there once several years ago and it was hard to find and difficult to get to. The group gets none of the money that is paid for the shirts-- it is not a fundraiser of any type so everything above cost is his profit. The group actually pays for one tshirt for everyone so the vendor is guaranteed several thousand dollars. Some families order extras so that is additional money he makes and the sweatshirts are an additional order done later that is again, all money that goes to him. He does come out and work with us on them, collects the initial tshirt orders at that time and delivers the initial tshirt order when they are in.

The person that did this position before me did it for about 6 years. She is a superwoman SAHM that was on the board of every activity her kids did, devoted 80 hours a week on her volunteer jobs, did a great job and is a friend of mine. I, however am back to work and can't devote that time to a volunteer position and frankly didn't even when I wasn't working. She also, through her course of working with this guy for the activity, started actually "working" for him as sort of an unpaid assistant. She helps him with his business and he lets her have all the tshirts she wants for her family for free at any time. So I called her to let her know that I had some additional orders that came in and there were some issues that needed to be fixed (wrong sizes, wrong names). My intention was to give them to her since she "works" with him. She told me I needed to deliver the orders and checks directly to him. I don't go over to where he lives ever and I don't have time to be delivering things to him! I told her this and she said that I would basically have to suck it up and do it because that is part of the volunteer position. HE is the one making money off of the orders, the group gets nothing out of it. I get nothing out of it (he did offer me a free shirt for "all my hard work" 3 months ago that I never received). She did finally take them but at this point I am still waiting for several corrected orders and reorders but he won't deliver them to me, I am supposed to go get them. ( I haven't even been called and told they are even ready though) Right now I have about $1000 in sweatshirt orders sitting on my desk that I was told I have to take to him. I told her that wasn't happening and I would bring them by her house this week for her to take them over.

There are plenty of vendors that are much closer to me (and the group location) that would love to have our business, would be happy to deliver and pick up, and probably could work with us to also make it a fundraising activity so we get something back. But this person has been doing it for years, is well known, and I know there will be some major pushback and a lot of hard feelings if I suggest going with a different vendor next year. I do know if I have to use him again next year I will not be taking any orders after the initial order that he picks up and I will refer everyone with an issue directly to him to deal with from now on.

I guess the question is, am I being unreasonable to think that if he is the one that is making all the money then he needs to be willing to come to me? If I am being unreasonable then I will happily step down and let someone else take it on (but believe me, no one is knocking down the doors to do it!)

This is why I tell people to know what they are volunteering for. I have not read all the replies but I think you are being unreasonable having him go to you if that is not his practice. Believe me, I know how hard it is...I work 50 - 60 hours a week and am the PTO President at my daughter's school.

Good luck.

[mdsoccermom]

What I find most unreasonable is she is trying to pawn off HER responsibilities on the woman who used to do the job.

[JKMJ441724]

Originally Posted by Arielle22

Also I have never see a company drop off orders without someone paying for shipping.

I work for a law firm and we have a lot of vendors who have "free" delivery. I'm sure it's built into my price somehow, but is NOT called out specifically as a delivery fee on our invoices.

Our printer, a local business - and by local I mean that he is about 30 miles away, delivers free, as does our local office supply company. We use coca-cola for our water service and they don't charge a delivery fee, just the cost of the water bottles. Even when we use www.staples.com, we qualify for "free" shipping.

[badblackpug]

Originally Posted by JKMJ441724

I work for a law firm and we have a lot of vendors who have "free" delivery. I'm sure it's built into my price somehow, but is NOT called out specifically as a delivery fee on our invoices.

Our printer, a local business - and by local I mean that he is about 30 miles away, delivers free, as does our local office supply company. We use coca-cola for our water service and they don't charge a delivery fee, just the cost of the water bottles. Even when we use www.staples.com, we qualify for "free" shipping.

Yes, but that was what was agreed upon prior to your order. In the OP's case "free" shipping wasn't promised or offered, and it appears that they have been dealing with this particular vendor for several years and there has never been any expectation of free shipping/delivery.

I just think you can't change the rules in the middle of the game.

[Hrhpd]

Originally Posted by JKMJ441724

I work for a law firm and we have a lot of vendors who have "free" delivery. I'm sure it's built into my price somehow, but is NOT called out specifically as a delivery fee on our invoices.

Our printer, a local business - and by local I mean that he is about 30 miles away, delivers free, as does our local office supply company. We use coca-cola for our water service and they don't charge a delivery fee, just the cost of the water bottles. Even when we use www.staples.com, we qualify for "free" shipping.

That is the difference between a law firm and a group that uses volunteers to accomplish their tasks.

The second is usually trying to keep costs down for their parents.

This volunteer job (if it is like similar ones I have been involved with) was created specifically TO keep costs down. They do the running so the delivery fees are not added into the prices.

We have several vendor agreements along these lines. They will print up the t-shirts and sweatshirts for a reduced fee for the group as long as the deliveries and pickups are done by the group.

The OP accepted the position without fully understanding the ramifications to her time. She either needs to suck it up and get the job done for this season or find somebody else to do her job.

She should not be pawning off the job to others.

Also, as for changing vendors, at least with all the groups I am involved with, that would need a group vote to approve or if they have one, board approval.

[Hrhpd]

Rereading the OP's post, she did say that the vendor came out and worked with her group, picked up and delivered the first order. Sounds reasonable.

It is also reasonable that since the OP took another $1,000 in orders after the initial order, that she be the one to drop off and pick up.

What I find appalling with the OP is that she smugly told her friend "No, that is not going to happen" when the friend told her that she would need to drop off the money and order herself. And then, even though the friend said no, the OP still refused to do her job and dropped off the money at the friend's house.

I can understand the friend not wanting to be responsible for $1,000 in cash that belongs to a group she in no longer a part of. Accepting the cash when she is not the designated volunteer, is a huge liability on her part. There are certain protections for actual members of a board of directors. Those same protections are not afforded to non-members.

And I have to agree with another poster that the whole attitude of the post of "My time is worth more than your time" makes one want to just shake their head in disbelief.

The OP is not only being an unreasonable volunteer, she is one of "those" that a board of directors would LOVE to have step down. Whining about the job you have to do, pawning it off on others, and then playing the superiority card that my time is too valuable to do the job is disgusting.

[lovetoscrap]

I scanned through here and I will try to address a few things I saw.

First of all this process was set in place before I took on the position. Order information had already been presented, timelines already figured out and of course the vendor picked. I was taking over when it was already underway because friend really wanted someone to take over-- 2 others had backed out and no one else would agree to do it. She feels that she has to stay on until someone else takes over so she has been asking me repeatedly to take over.

Friend "works" for the this vendor. I don't think she is compensated with money but gets lots of free products. She has told me multiple times she is one of his "assistants". I did ask questions before I accepted the position and was told how easy it is, no big deal, collect the orders and hand out the product. I asked how it would be sorted and get to me and was told they (she and the vendor) would have all that done at his office and he would deliver it to me, which they did. I have had very little direct contact with him-- she has handled most everything by her own request and instructions. I asked her what I needed to do about the multiple orders with issues and she said that it would all go through her. I sent her all of the issues and have had to resend her the list several times and check up on why things haven't been fixed yet. I called her when I got an angry email and phone call from a parent about her messed up order to try to get a timeline on when it would be fixed and was told to just give her the number because as his assistant it was her job to talk to the parents--not mine. I was told that he would be bringing me the fixed orders. AFAIK it is the standard in our area for the vendor to go to the customer for this, not the other way around. That is the way it is in other organizations I am involved in.

It was only when I asked about the extra orders and the status of the messed up orders that she told me I should probably just take the extra orders to him and would need to pick up the fixed ones when they were ready since he hadn't delivered them to me yet. As of right now I have still not been told those orders have been fixed and are even available to be picked up. The extra orders are now just in with the 2nd batch of orders. I was never told what to do with the 2nd batch of orders so I texted her and asked if I could drop them off to her and she said that was fine. No idea at this point if he will be delivering the product to me. I was told it is not my job to do anything with the orders but collect them and hand them over. I do not open the sealed envelopes, I do not count the money, I do not fill out an order form-- the vendor does all of that, so we can not collect the money and write one check that can be mailed. Believe me, if I could they would have been in the mail a week ago!

The reason I asked the question is not for me to decide if I am going to take things to him-- at this point that has been mostly resolved and if I have to pick the order up from him I will but I will not be happy about it. I am trying to figure out if it is reasonable for me to include this in my reasoning for NOT using this vendor next year. As I said, I think there will be pushback if I suggest it. His prices are comparable to others in the area, but his customer service stinks and I think his product quality is inferior. Another organization I am in has stopped using his services for these reasons. But he has a big following of people that think he is the most professional, trustworthy and experienced and so we should use him because "everyone else does it" and "it is the way we have always done it". There is no contract, no forms with fancy initials, no formal bids, just a committee chair making some calls and then a recommendation to the board of who they want to use and why and then probably a vote if there are any objections to switching (which i think there probably will be).

If it is decided by the board that we will use him again then I will be letting them know that in order for me to continue to head the committee there will be one initial order period and one 2nd order period and that is it. If your order isn't in on those dates then you can still order but you must contact him directly-- it will be an inconvenience to our families to do it that way though--having a group middleman does it make it much easier on them. He does not use electronic communication (email, paypal, website ordering etc). And any messed up orders will be told they need to contact him directly to work it out. I am not going to make excuses to parents and chase him (or his assistant) down for months because his customer service stinks. If this is not acceptable to the board then I will happily step down. Obviously the majority here think I am being unreasonable in my stance and I accept that. That is why I asked. As I said before you have given me a lot of perspective on the situation and things to think about, and in the end this is probably not the right volunteer position for me if things are expected to continue on the way they have been done.

[Arielle22]

Originally Posted by JKMJ441724

I work for a law firm and we have a lot of vendors who have "free" delivery. I'm sure it's built into my price somehow, but is NOT called out specifically as a delivery fee on our invoices.

Our printer, a local business - and by local I mean that he is about 30 miles away, delivers free, as does our local office supply company. We use coca-cola for our water service and they don't charge a delivery fee, just the cost of the water bottles. Even when we use www.staples.com, we qualify for "free" shipping.

I handled purchasing for a 4 store car dealership for 7 years. We used WB Mason and the shipping was free. However small vendors don't offer free shipping. My current vendor for ID badges charges a $10 shipping fee per order plus postage. Business cards orders are also paid to ship. Those are the smallest vendors I currently use.

I was a PTO volunteer for 7 years and handled box tops. I was responsible for shipping them so it was post office trips for me.

So I do understand the OPs frustration butI still think she is being unreasonable.

[honeydiane1953]

When you volunteer you do just that. Try and do what is needed and if it's to much hope another volunteer comes along. JMO

[Nancyg56]

Originally Posted by disykat

I agree that there was a large misunderstanding when OP was passed the job. OP works full time and thought this was something she could do, but now is being expected to find an hour (20+ minutes there and back) mulitiple times to take care of botched orders etc.

It is important to know your limits prior to accepting a volunteer position.

Originally Posted by Hrhpd

Rereading the OP's post, she did say that the vendor came out and worked with her group, picked up and delivered the first order. Sounds reasonable.

It is also reasonable that since the OP took another $1,000 in orders after the initial order, that she be the one to drop off and pick up.

What I find appalling with the OP is that she smugly told her friend "No, that is not going to happen" when the friend told her that she would need to drop off the money and order herself. And then, even though the friend said no, the OP still refused to do her job and dropped off the money at the friend's house.

I can understand the friend not wanting to be responsible for $1,000 in cash that belongs to a group she in no longer a part of. Accepting the cash when she is not the designated volunteer, is a huge liability on her part. There are certain protections for actual members of a board of directors. Those same protections are not afforded to non-members.

And I have to agree with another poster that the whole attitude of the post of "My time is worth more than your time" makes one want to just shake their head in disbelief.

The OP is not only being an unreasonable volunteer, she is one of "those" that a board of directors would LOVE to have step down. Whining about the job you have to do, pawning it off on others, and then playing the superiority card that my time is too valuable to do the job is disgusting.

ITA!

[Iforgetmypassword]

Unreasonable. You've spent more than 20 minutes typing your issue here. And then don't volunteer to do it again.

[Mkrop]

Originally Posted by Iforgetmypassword

Unreasonable. You've spent more than 20 minutes typing your issue here. And then don't volunteer to do it again.

[Iforgetmypassword]

Actually, you could have driven there and back, instead of spending all that time on this thread.

Volunteering means you offer your services, with no expectation of getting paid or reimbursed.