To whom it will concern,

 

In regards to the reference request for Stuart Pips, which, I am obliged to give, I have decided to give you a complete and honest account of his conduct while with this company. As a person, he was nice enough, but slow, and, no matter how much we felt sorry for him, he became, and I’m sure still is, a bloody liability and you will be barking mad to hire him.

 

Firstly, Stuart began as a picker and packer of warehouse products. Here, is where he should have stayed, because he made more than enough mistakes. If he did manage to pick the correct order, he often half the products and packed it incorrectly. He often forgot information relayed to him five minutes earlier, and was perpetually slow or late. Often, his orders were correctly picked by other members of staff, again, out of pity.

 

The financial burden of employing this person went up when he was taken on to help out the tool-hire department. I argued at the time, that this was a mistake, but, out convenience, we chose to make a swift move of personnel, rather than advertise for someone with an ounce of competence, and boy, did we pay for that. Usually, all the work he undertook failed tests, and had to be corrected by someone else, tools were poorly kept, never cleaned, miss-treated and improperly repaired. He was unable to work unattended, often cutting himself, or mixing up his simple job within minutes of being left alone. Sometimes, no matter how much we tried to cover for his incompetence, a tool would make it to site, cause a hazard and cost us a few more in legal issues.

 

When the tool-hire driver suddenly left, out of desperation, we used Stuart to take his place and got in someone competent to replace Stuart. We thought we might be OK, after all, he just had to drop off tools and pick them up. But, Stuarts cost to the company went up further; forgetting equipment on site, or to the wrong site, where it often went missing, or to a sit he couldn’t remember. Thankfully, we managed to get another driver, but not before he’d lost clients, kit and a reputation for the tool-hire department.

When we lost business, I was able to legitimately lay him off, and thank God.

Two months on, he is trying to get a job at your company and I am obliged to respond, so I did so with the truth.

 

In conclusion, Stuart would be a liability of the highest order for your company and comes with no professional recommendation. If you have any further questions with regard to his background or qualifications, please do not hesitate to call me.

 

 

Sincerely yours,

 

His Previous Line Manager.