Lorien Roux – Bookkeeper0
Lorien Roux
lorienroux@mweb.co.za
Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
http://www.odesk.com/users/Experienced-Bookkeeper-Virtual-Assistant-and-Project-Manager_~~da642d3f3ec5ede7?sid=12001
http://www.translationdirectory.com/translators/english_afrikaans/lorien_roux.php
Lorien responded to our hiring ad for a bookkeeper. While she did everything very well, after reviewing her response I quickly realized that she didn’t live in the US & I was sure the hiring ad stated you must be in the US. So I thanked her for her response & said, “but you don’t live in the States do you?”
Instead of her just saying no she doesn’t & bringing it to my attention that the ad never stated that was a must, all the while being polite about it, things went downhill from there.
I asked her to provide me with the site she found the hiring ad on so I could of course check it & correct the problem.
She then tells me not to worry about it, disregard my application, she’d rather concentrate on her other clients anyway.
Ummm, of course I’m not worried & it was almost already clear she wasn’t going to be interviewed, so why did she need to be snippy & tell ME what to do as if she’s the boss & I’m her subordinate. On top of that, she makes it seem like her other clients are so much more important.
I couldn’t believe it, here we go again… This is how a lot of these independent contractors that talk to either the owner of companies or HR staff. I find that a lot of bookkeepers are very very nasty.
I mean come on people enough is enough already, this is NOT how you talk to your superiors. I don’t care if you haven’t been hired yet. RUDE & DISRESPECTFUL is just that & you are supposed to be on your best behavior during the entire interview process. Unless of course you can’t be a nice person & then you end up on here. So I said…
“I have already ignored your application, no need to be rude.
Please don’t respond back, I don’t tolerate disrespect.”
Did Lorien listen?
No, of course not, she had to have the last word by ignoring my request for her to stop e-mailing me & that’s when Lorien became even more rude & condescending telling me how to hire freelancers because clearly she knows soooo much about being an HR manager or an owner of a business. She also somehow knows exactly what I know & don’t know about hiring because she’s know me for sooo many years. LOL
I’m all for learning from experts when I don’t know something, but these arrogant workers online think they have the right to talk to management like this when they don’t even know what they are talking about. I NEVER talked to any of my bosses like that even when they were very rude & nasty to me. I also NEVER treated the person interviewing me like that way back when when I worked for other companies. What is this world coming to in the workforce?
Here’s what she said next…
“Michelle, please don’t resort to name calling, that is unprofessional behaviour. I am not rude, it just seemed like you want to pass blame.Think about it, I simply responded to what I thought was a legitemate opening. No bad intentions at all.
If you knew anything about freelancing, you would have mentioned all your requirements in your job posting so that applicants doesn’t have to waste time. You mentioned at the beginning that you haven’t received any quality responses yet. Ever thought why? I have worked with hundreds of buyers and are no stranger to freelance.
Tip: If you want top quality providers from around the world, try oDesk. Leave the small directories, you will get applicants within minutes.
No disrespect to you, I am sure you will find a good provider.
Best of luck with the future.
Lorien”
Now she really had me boiling.
I wrote her back & told her that I NEVER blamed her for anything & telling someone they are rude is NOT calling them a name, but as I later found out, Lorien didn’t quit understand a fair bit about what I wrote in English.
When looking back at the whole interaction, I realized that once again this is what happens when these emotionally unstable workers online show how insecure they are. They read into things that just aren’t true. I told her that had she treated me with respect, I would have apologized to her for wasting her time because that’s the type of person I am, I admit when I or someone in my company make mistakes. I have integrity.
It also became clear to me that this Lorien isn’t able to handle mistakes from anyone. Anyone else would have just said their thank yous or better yet, tried to convince me to hire them even though they weren’t in the States.
I felt at that point that I needed to let her know that I was going to put her on my blog. Lorien there are consequences for every action you take, & when you talk down to people for no reason at all, ESPECIALLY people who are in a position of authority to you, well… you get into hot water.
That’s when she starts freaking out & starts calling me a fraud. I guess in Lorien’s mind, one is a fraud when someone calls her on her behavior.
To the rest of you, no I’m NOT a fraud, but her co-workers (other independent contractors with the same behavior traits like Lorien) went online & lied about me & my company because they didn’t like me posting my experiences about them. This is a review site about freelancers. It’s no different than being reviewed on Elance, Guru, Odesk, etc., but I guess Lorien thought that because she didn’t find my company through those 3 venues, she could act the way she did with no consequences.
I NEVER lie, I only ever tell my experiences & since I seem to attract a fair percentage of nasty mean spirited independent contractors, there are a lot of stories to tell. Thank god they all aren’t like that, I’d never have the time to review them all.
I feel this is why they can never get a job at a brick & mortar company, because they know that no manager would EVER allow this kind of disrespectful behavior.
I’ve again asked Lorien to stop e-mailing me, but she won’t. She continues to threaten that she will blast my company, she called me names, continued to treat me with disrespect, make up stories, etc. This is why there are lies about Exotic Publishing online, because these adults who act like children try to retaliate by lying. They are C level workers who NEVER take responsibility for their behavior or actions. It’s always someone else’s fault.
“Also, please elaborate on the fact that you consider yourself to be my superior? Have you ever hired me?
You are unprofessional, rude, blame providers for your false job postings, and when confronted, threaten to discredit them. You cannot handle strong providers, of which there are many out there and always in demand.
I sincerely tried to help you, and you could not leave it.This reflects your personality and shows how you treat your employees. Providers should be warned about your business practices.
LAST REQUEST: Leave this now and we go our separate ways. Neither of us have the time or energy to fight on this.”
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Lorien seems to think that one isn’t of manager status UNTIL the company has hired her. I’m just shaking my head. A manager is a manager always, whether you are hired or NOT! This kind of thinking is typical of C level workers. In their minds it’s all about money. If they aren’t being paid for something, there is no respect. I’m different in how I think. Work isn’t about money, it’s about the work. The enjoyment of the work, the excitement of helping build a company. The fun of working with great people. The money is just how one is paid. That’s A+ worker mentality.
Now she’s calling the position a “false” posting because of one mistake that was made? That doesn’t even make logical sense.
Blame? Never blamed her ever, not once I knew there was a problem. Seems Lorien can’t let go of that one mistake.
Threaten? No threat here, I’m doing what I said I’d do. I NEVER make threats.
Then she says I don’t respect strong workers. NO, I don’t respect disrespectful nasty people. I welcome people who are nice friendly & respect the people they wish to work for.
She tried to help me? LOL I don’t think Lorien knows what help is. She thinks she knows it all & tried to tell me how to run my business in an area she knows nothing about. AND, you can’t advise a company about anything unless you are first an expert in that are, & you know all there is to know about that company first. That’s called getting the ground work.
I find that people who are insecure like to think they know it all, but they never bother to find out what’s going on with the company, they just shoot their mouths off without getting the facts first. They are trying to make it appear they know a lot when they don’t.
I later realized after investigating Lorien, that she probably isn’t a real bookkeeper. In my eyes a real bookkeeper ONLY does bookkeeping or other financial type of work. Looks like on odesk Lorien is an editor, a VA & does other work that has nothing to do with bookkeeping.
I’ve never known a real bookkeeper to be very skilled in being a VA & editing. There’s always the exception to the rule, but I’ve come across this type of worker before. The one who’s so desperate for money, they will tell every company out there that they know how to do this or that skill when they don’t.
As for providers being notified of how I work… all applicants are given our pre-screening booklet. Amongst other things, they are told that if they treat me or anyone else at this company the way people like Lorien does, they will go on my blog. Then it’s up to them if they wish to continue with the interview.
I’m not discrediting anyone, I’m relaying my story of what happened. If Lorien never acts this way again, this blog has done it’s job. I am trying to help companies out there so they can be aware of certain types of people. Maybe Lorien won’t treat certain other people this way. I hope for their sake she doesn’t. I’m also trying to get the message across to these workers that they CAN’T treat companies this way just because they aren’t sitting down face-to-face with them. Hiding behind a monitor DOESN’T give you the right to be rude & nasty to your superiors.
What’s really interesting is that these freelancers all have their sites where they BASH companies & probably even lie about them, but when a company openly expresses their negative experience with a freelancer & they aren’t lying, all of a sudden it’s NOT okay. That’s called hypocrisy.
Freelancers have to learn that they can’t go around acting like this with no consequences, & that companies have the right to relay their opinions just like freelancers do.
And please people make no mistake, having a bad day isn’t the same as someone being nasty. It’s in their personality. I can tell the difference just by how they handle the situation when things go south.
Anyway, Lorien continued to harass me & threaten me for a few more e-mails & I ignored her.
I’ll see if tomorrow I get more threats from her.
Michelle