Cleaning out the office fridge aka 'you tossed out my food!'

[Redneck Gravy]

I would have been annoyed too, if that's not the normal procedure they should definitely have given 24 hour notice or at least had the sign up first thing that morning.  Where I work, the breakroom fridge is cleaned out every Friday after 5:00 by the housekeeping staff, and it's been a long-standing policy.  One Monday, I had an angry employee storm into my office (I'm in HR).  She was upset because she had purchased that expensive fund-raising cookie dough from another employee and had gone home for the weekend, totally forgetting about it.  Of course it was thrown out.  She was really, really mad.  I asked her what she thought we should do about it, and she wanted the company to pay her back!  I said, "I'm sorry, that won't be possible" - thanks Ehell!

I would have been angry too. 

I think that one is on the housekeeping staff - if they clean it out every Friday and the cookie dough had not been there the previous Friday, they know darn well not to toss it out. Some rules are just arbitrary and dumb - this sounds like one of them.  A little common sense please.     

[QueenfaninCA]

I would actually talk to the higher-ups to makes ure that in the future fridge-clean-ups are announced at least a couple of days in advance.

I really liked what my previous workplace did. This was a fridge in an area where people worked shifts, so there was staff 24/7. Everything in the fridge had to be labelled with a name and the date it was put in (sharpies and stickers were on the counter next to the fridge). Every two or three months on a Monday it would be announced that the fridge would be cleaned out on Friday afternoon. Anything unlabelled and anything older than three days would get tossed.

[DottyG]

The question isn't whether the situation was right or wrong.  It was

So my dilemma, do I remove the fridge notice with my cranky comments, or leave it?

OP, what was the response you left?  Is there a way to tell us that wouldn't jeapordize your trying to keep this anonymous?  That might help us answer your question a bit better.

Right now, I'm hesitant to answer yes or no.  Not knowing the wording, it's hard to say if you should remove the note, write another one and replace it or something else.

[rose red]

I would have been annoyed too, if that's not the normal procedure they should definitely have given 24 hour notice or at least had the sign up first thing that morning.  Where I work, the breakroom fridge is cleaned out every Friday after 5:00 by the housekeeping staff, and it's been a long-standing policy.  One Monday, I had an angry employee storm into my office (I'm in HR).  She was upset because she had purchased that expensive fund-raising cookie dough from another employee and had gone home for the weekend, totally forgetting about it.  Of course it was thrown out.  She was really, really mad.  I asked her what she thought we should do about it, and she wanted the company to pay her back!  I said, "I'm sorry, that won't be possible" - thanks Ehell!

I would have been angry too. 

I think that one is on the housekeeping staff - if they clean it out every Friday and the cookie dough had not been there the previous Friday, they know darn well not to toss it out. Some rules are just arbitrary and dumb - this sounds like one of them.  A little common sense please.   

Sorry, but I feel the housekeeping staff is only doing what they've been told.  They can't second guess every item.  What if the cookie dough was brought in because the owner didn't want it and was trying to give away, but nobody took her up on it?  See?  Second guessing.

eta a missing word.

[Moray]

I would have been annoyed too, if that's not the normal procedure they should definitely have given 24 hour notice or at least had the sign up first thing that morning.  Where I work, the breakroom fridge is cleaned out every Friday after 5:00 by the housekeeping staff, and it's been a long-standing policy.  One Monday, I had an angry employee storm into my office (I'm in HR).  She was upset because she had purchased that expensive fund-raising cookie dough from another employee and had gone home for the weekend, totally forgetting about it.  Of course it was thrown out.  She was really, really mad.  I asked her what she thought we should do about it, and she wanted the company to pay her back!  I said, "I'm sorry, that won't be possible" - thanks Ehell!

I would have been angry too. 

I think that one is on the housekeeping staff - if they clean it out every Friday and the cookie dough had not been there the previous Friday, they know darn well not to toss it out. Some rules are just arbitrary and dumb - this sounds like one of them.  A little common sense please.   

Sorry, but I feel the housekeeping staff is only doing what they've been told.  They can't second guess every item.  What if the cookie dough was brought in because the owner didn't want it and was trying to give away, but nobody took her up on it?  See?  Second guessing.

eta a missing word.

pod. In this case, the lady who left her cookie dough has no reason to be upset at anyone but herself. The clean-out was performed at it's normal time and the cleaning crew did nothing wrong. There has to be an element of personal responsibility.

[kckgirl]

I work in a small office where I can do this. When I want to be sure I don't forget to take something home, I put my keys in the fridge on top of the item. I understand that not everybody can do that, but it's a great tip I learned from a newspaper column.

[Redneck Gravy]

I'm sure the housekeeping service was doing what they were told but there are still exceptions to every rule, this was just arbitrary.

If I got a call at 3:30 on Friday that my daughter had been injured in a car accident, cookie dough would be my last thought... but on Monday I would be miffed that someone had thrown it out because it was automatic cleaning day on Friday. 

Again, a little common sense please. 

[esteban]

I'm sure the housekeeping service was doing what they were told but there are still exceptions to every rule, this was just arbitrary.

If I got a call at 3:30 on Friday that my daughter had been injured in a car accident, cookie dough would be my last thought... but on Monday I would be miffed that someone had thrown it out because it was automatic cleaning day on Friday. 

Again, a little common sense please.

If it is a cleaner service
A. they might have a different person cleaning the fridge this week who cleaned it last week so they wouldn't know how long something had been there.

and

B. They probably clean more than just that fridge and don't remember what was in there last week to have a frame of reference. 

Since they would surely get in trouble for not adequately cleaning the fridge if they left stuff in there, I'm sure their default is to toss everything, and I don't blame them.  Seems like common sense to me.

[rose red]

I'm sure the housekeeping service was doing what they were told but there are still exceptions to every rule, this was just arbitrary.

If I got a call at 3:30 on Friday that my daughter had been injured in a car accident, cookie dough would be my last thought... but on Monday I would be miffed that someone had thrown it out because it was automatic cleaning day on Friday. 

Again, a little common sense please.

How would they know your daughter was in a car accident so they can make that exception?  Common sense is to do their job so they don't get in trouble.

[jeni]

Thanks for your replies!

When I got home (after stopping to buy a frozen meal, still fuming), I sent a text to my friend telling her what happened. She said she laughed, which gave me some perspective and yes, it's not the end of the world, but it was the last straw after a long week.

What really got me what the total lack of common sense, I was often the (unappointed) kitchen and fridge cleaner at my previous job, and I was always very careful about it.  An email and a notice was posted on a Monday, stating what was to happen on a Friday, and even then discretion was used about what was thrown out.  And containers were not thrown away, unless they were clearly disposable take-away ones, as some people do. 

Can I share a tip I learned - for very rotten food that you don't want to open but don't want to throw the container, freeze it overnight and at the end of the day toss the frozen rotten block out and put the container in the dishwasher!

I guess I was also a little cranky at myself because, even though there is no policy, I would often stick a note on my food with my name and the date and this time I didn't.  So I don't forget food that I'm taking home (like lunch time shopping), I stick a note on my handbag.

Thanks for all of the good suggestions, lots of great ideas and I will pass those along.  I like the idea of putting the sticky notes and markers next to fridge so people can label their items.

Still haven't decided what to do, I will have another look with fresh eyes today. 

I will have to check out PassiveAgressiveNotes site, I didn't know it existed, definitely sounds like mine fits there 

[oceanus]

OP, I don't blame you for being upset.     At least 24 hrs notice is usually the norm so people can plan accordingly.

As long as the note isn't snide/nasty and has no profanity, I'd leave it.

Sounds like they do quite a few things 'last minute' at that office.

[MOM21SON]

I would actually talk to the higher-ups to makes ure that in the future fridge-clean-ups are announced at least a couple of days in advance.

I really liked what my previous workplace did. This was a fridge in an area where people worked shifts, so there was staff 24/7. Everything in the fridge had to be labelled with a name and the date it was put in (sharpies and stickers were on the counter next to the fridge). Every two or three months on a Monday it would be announced that the fridge would be cleaned out on Friday afternoon. Anything unlabelled and anything older than three days would get tossed.

This is how my work is, only it is cleaned out once a week.  It came to play after a similar situation as the OP.

[MOM21SON]

BTW, I recommend purchasing a really cool lunch bag/box/pail.  You will not need the company fridge. 

[Sara Crewe]

In my office, when we clean the fridge, we also pull the plug and leave the door open over the weekend to let it air.  Because of this, everything in the fridge gets thrown out.

There is no regular schedule but this is done on a Friday evening.  The warning emails generally go out from Tuesday.

I agree that a notice on the fridge put up after the lunch hour to inform people it is being cleaned that day is ridiculously short notice.

[suzieQ]

I work in a small office where I can do this. When I want to be sure I don't forget to take something home, I put my keys in the fridge on top of the item. I understand that not everybody can do that, but it's a great tip I learned from a newspaper column.

I do the same thing!