Waitress’ iPhone alarm failed, getting her fired

[The Straight Story]

Waitress’ iPhone alarm failed, getting her fired


Apple Inc.’s popular iPhone can scan prices at stores and recognize songs on the radio - but one woman claims it can also get you fired.

Lindsay Garvey, 28, says the widely reported glitch in the iPhone’s calendar software caused her to oversleep for her job as a server at a popular Somerville restaurant, Foundry on Elm. Garvey was promptly fired for “tardiness,” she said.

“If you had warned me about the glitch, I could have at least picked up a $5, battery-operated alarm clock that would have saved my job,” she wrote in an open letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs posted on the Huffington Post. “Now I’m unemployed in a time when jobs are not easily had, and I am short on my rent. So, Happy New Year to you, Mr. Jobs. I hope you remember to shoot me an e-mail next time there is any chance of a glitch. (Just a note, my iPhone bill payment will probably be late this month.)”

Garvey, a 2005 Tulane University graduate, told the Herald yesterday that she worked late on New Year’s Eve and went to bed at 5 a.m., setting her alarm for 10 a.m. so she’d have plenty of time to make her noon shift.

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view/20110106waitress_iphone_alarm_failed_getting_her_fired/srvc=home&position=also

[hobbit709]

1. What did she use for an alarm before she got her i'manidiotPhone?

[Phentex]

4. Probably her Mommy...

she needs to grow up!

[ecstatic]

17. That's not fair. Many people rely on their phones to wake them

up. I haven't used an alarm clock in at least 5, maybe 10 years.

[AlabamaLibrul]

19. She probably used an alarm clock before she got an iphone. I don't think that expecting

an alarm on an expensive device to work is that unfair.

Not to get into the implications about downing on someone who just lost their job.

[WinkyDink]

35. You DO realize MANY were caught this way? Including MEN?

[BridgeTheGap]

2. I've seen other complaints about the iphone alarm not working. n/t

[Vickers]

3. Wonder how much time she spent on that thing at work.

The guys I work with are on 'em all the time.

[WinkyDink]

36. Do you have a CLUE about how much a waitress works?? I DOUBT IT, IF YOU WORK IN AN OFFICE.

Slackers might survive where you work, but a waitress CANNOT TAKE A MOMENT TO GOOF OFF. If she isn't taking/delivering orders, she is filling your salt shaker, setting your table, filling your water, folding your napkin, ....

Unwarranted speculation, just because YOU work with gold-brickers.

[KharmaTrain]

5. Methinks There's More To This Story...

...as is usually the case with such a simplistic headline. I'm not sold this is the first time something like this has happened or that she's had problems getting to work on time in the past. Nothing rattles employees more than a replacement either coming in late or not showing at all. I can't see an employer firing someone for showing up late just once. Also, did she sleep through her entire shift? Not bother to call in at all during the day? Too many loose ends here, but sure makes for sensational headlines.

[WinkyDink]

37. Yes, speculate that somehow the woman, the employee, is in the wrong.

[MadHound]

6. The joys of modern technology,

Perhaps this will teach her to get a real alarm clock, one that either plugs in or winds up.

[sylveste]

27. or even better

a rooster.

[ET Awful]

7. So how many times was she late before she had the iPhone to blame?

Most jobs don't fire you for being late once.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

21. +1

much more going on than being late ONCE...

sP

[WinkyDink]

38. Do you have knowledge of this particular employer?

[HughBeaumont]

8. Wow, a college graduate . . . in a low-paying service position.

"Uniquely American."

This is our future?

21st Century America sure does kick ass, doesn't it?

[provis99]

12. yes, an expensive private school like Tulane, no less.

College is useless for getting a good job; we should stop selling college as the ticket to a better income.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

9. No technology is perfect

My wife and I use our iPhones to get ourselves up but we use THEM as the "backup" alarm instead of the primary one. :shrug:

[Tunkamerica]

10. I think there might be cheaper alarm clocks than an ifone. And since when can waitresses afford

a super expensive phone on top of a super expensive plan? And if that's the priority then she prob. doesn't have kids or anyone else to look after and I don't feel all that sorry for her.



I always have 2 set. One plugged in and one battery powered. I can't afford to miss work.

[monmouth]

11. Seems like only yesterday my radio alarm was the rage...sigh...n/t

[Scout]

13. she had NEVER been late before?? she was fired for being late ONE time??

i know some bosses can be real bastards, but i find it hard to believe that she was fired for being late ONE time.

Garvey sidestepped questions about whether her tardiness was an isolated incident.

[Occulus]

14. My time at work is kept by the 1/100th of an hour.

Oh, and the glitch wasn't just the iPhone. My Touch didn't ring its alarm either; I had a reminder programmed into it and it never went off.

[Ikonoklast]

15. I call bullshit. No one gets fired for being late one time.

Sounds like an employee that couldn't or wouldn't make sure she was awakened on time, seeks out somemone else to blame for her shortcomings.

And as noted above, refused to answer how many times she was late before this instance.

[Brickbat]

16. While I don't think working at a restaurant is one of them, there are some jobs that will fire you

for being late once.

[Ikonoklast]

22. And hers isn't one of them.

I don't think she carried around the nuclear codes in a briefcase.

[Brickbat]

24. Which, yeah, is...what I said.

[Ikonoklast]

30. Which, yeah, is what I inferred.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

23. a good employee who makes one honest mistake is RARELY going to be shitcanned

so i am betting there is more to this than one incidence of tardiness.

sP

[RadicalTexan]

18. How exactly does a waitress afford an iPhone?

I make $40,000 a year and (thanks to student loan debt!!!) can't afford a smart phone of any description, much less a freaking iPhone. My mom and I share a family plan, and I pay her $20 a month for my portion for use of a basic model Sanyo flip phone with no photo or internet capability. Works just fine. If anything, it's a luxury. If she can't make her rent, maybe she should cut out unnecessary expenses like trendy overpriced gadget phones.

[Renew Deal]

25. They're $200 now. And if you consider that most people have a cell phone

It's only a little more than some other phones.

[Phentex]

26. But aren't the plans to use them more expensive?

They used to be.

[Bunny]

28. Yes, the data package that you're required to purchase can easily add

another $30+/month to your bill. The insurance premium and deductible are also higher (if you carry insurance). So, even if you get a good deal on a purchase,they are not cheap to maintain.

And this waitress almost certainly has a history of tardiness or absenteeism. I don't buy her story.

[RadicalTexan]

34. $200?!

That's expensive! What planet are you on?

My phone was free!

[Codeine]

20. Add one more to the "I call bullshit" vote.

There's more to this story, methinks. And seriously people -- use a fucking alarm clock.

[alphafemale]

29. She evaded the question of whether she'd been late before which signals she had been

Then she blames someone else.

She's unreliable and immature on top of that.

Hopefully, for her employer, fellow colleagues and restaurant patrons, the person who replaces her will actually appreciate the job and take it seriously.

[ncteechur]

31. maybe he can send her $5 for a clock.

[era veteran]

32. As a restaurant manager with lots of college kids on staff

I call bullshit. Alcohol was probably involved( New Years Eve) I would just hold guilt cards on her and put her in a shitty section. If she is a Sluggo I might fire her but if you do, the same thing will happen again, with different names. All my staff on New Year's Day in on time, this year.

[WillowTree]

33. Did anyone else pick-up on this little gem?

"Lindsay Garvey, 28, says the widely reported glitch in the iPhone’s calendar software caused her to oversleep......."

So, seeing as how she somehow managed to miss what was "widely reported" about there being a glitch with the calendar app, then for all we know, Steve Jobs actually did e-mail her about the problem and she just overlooked that, as well.

[fizzgig]

40. i was about to comment on that

[WinkyDink]

39. I cannot believe the posts excoriating this woman, speculating on "late before this", "how can she

afford this," "what employers would do this", "must live with Mommy," "what did she blame prior," "I wonder if she spent a lot of time on it at work,"....

The only thing missing is there is no union to mock or blame.

THE I-PAD MADE NEWS WHEN IT MALFUNCTIONED IN THIS MANNER, AT THE NEW YEAR.

How about the NBA?
http://www.ismashphone.com/2011/01/the-basketballs-dire-aye-did-iphone-alarm-bug-contribute-to-lakers-loss.html

http://blogs.computerworld.com/17592/iphone_alarm_clock_glitch_still_not_working_ios_bug_fail?td

http://www.reviewsofelectronics.com/apple-iphone-alarm-malfunctions-the-topic-of-conversation-on-facebook-and-twitter/225096/

http://www.gadgetsandgizmos.org/apple-iphone-and-ipod-alarm-clock-glitch-strikes-again/

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/01/apple-iphone-4-alarm-problems-worldwide-clock-app-alarm-broken-3-days-in-a-row.html

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Something+rotten+with+Apple+alarm+clock/4055567/story.html