Darkwingpuck
Member
What is the name of your state? Georgia
I apologize in advance for the length of this post but the situation is fairly complex. Also, the character background of one of those involved is important.
The incident
I had just come into my afternoon shift. I grabbed a Dr. Pepper and a pack of Twizzlers out of our candy section as I did every day I came in. My friend (We will call him Dave) was running the register because we were short on people that day. Dave told me that we were nearing the end of the sales month and that the two of us were tied for highest Max-Assurance seller. This was an ongoing competition between Dave and I. We were the two best Max-Assurance salesmen in the store. For the past seven months one of us had won the Top Seller award for each sales month. We were responsible for over 60% of the stores total Max-Sales for the past quarter. This month we were tied at around 45 sales for the month, the next highest was an employee with 19 sales.
Now as I am prone to whimsical acts I decided to do something funny. ( I had not yet clocked into work, I was just buying my drink and candy). I had a short conversation with myself in front of Dave.
"Hello sir, I see you are buying some Twizzlers"
"Why yes I am."
"Did you know that for only 2.99 we would ensure that those Twizzlers will make your mouth happy?"
"Really? Well that's great! I'm definitely going to get that!"
I then turned to Dave.
"Excuse me sir, I'd like to buy the Max-Assurance plan on this pack of Twizzlers."
Dave laughed and asked if i was serious. I said "Yup, it's worth three bucks to beat you out this month. Just make sure you put my name down on the sale." Dave did. I paid him for my candy and drink, including the extra money for the attached Twizzler assurance plan. I ate my Twizzlers during work and when I finished I informed Dave that they had indeed "Made my mouth happy". Other employees, including a manager, saw it happen and thought it was hilarious. We talked about it for a couple of days. Side note : Dave STILL beat me out that month!
The repercussions:
About a week later I was asked by my manager into the office. I was asked to speak with someone on the phone. It was a woman from the Office-Max corporate headquarters. She told me her name and said that she was head of the Loss Prevention department for this region. Even initially she seemed supremely agitated. She asked me if I remembered purchasing a soft drink, a pack of Twizzlers and a Max-Assurance the previous week. I told her that I did. She asked me if Dave sold me those items. I said that he did. She asked me what the Max-Assurance was attached to. I told her it was attached to the Twizzlers. She asked if I was aware that Twizzlers were not eligible for Max-Assurance. I told her that I was aware of that. She asked me why I did it. I told her (in all honesty and not really afraid of having done anything wrong) that I had received a larger than normal paycheck that week and I wasn't worried about money; that I thought it would be funny; that I enjoyed working there (which was true) and I wanted to help the store's Max-Sales, and that it was a jokey element of a personal contest between Dave and myself. She became extremely belligerent and condescending at this point. She asked if I was aware that I would receive commission for the sale. I said "Yes ma'am, but the Assurance plan cost 3 dollars and I knew I would only be receiving a 50 cent commission for it. It wasn't about that at all. I knew more of my money would go to the store than what I would get in commish." Her anger peaked at this point and she accused me of being unethical, immoral and thieving (I was HIGHLY confused). I was asked to make a written statement and to give it to my Manager, I was also informed that i would be on suspension until further notice. My manager was EXTREMELY apologetic toward me saying "I'm so sorry about this. I'm gonna get this worked out. They've talked to Dave too and he's suspended as well. I can't believe they are doing this. I'm sorry"
I talk to Dave and find out that he got much of the same treatment. They asked him why he allowed the sale. He said that he saw it as harmless and felt it would boost morale and those employees who witnessed it would have an enjoyable and thus more productive day. (Which was also true, Dave's a big sweetie). A week passes, during which time Corporate sends down the word to fire Dave. Dave tells me that the manager was in tears. I get called in and shown my release papers that I must sign. They are the same as Dave's and claim that I am being released from employment due to extreme unethical conduct and theft. My manager did indeed start to cry. I had never seen her cry before. The loss prevention department never interviewed us again after that initial phone call, never questioned us beyond the bare facts of the situation, and refused to hear any character testimony from the store manager or it's employees.
Dave and I both received sympathy e-mails from almost everyone in the store. Dave especially. Dave was on salary at the time with health insurance benefits which he lost. The time was 2 weeks before Christmas. His wife was 4 months pregnant. They fired him for being unethical.
I'm really not too concerned about myself. I'm a college student and can get by alright without a job and my mother's support. But my friend is newly married and has a little boy on the way. He did not deserve this and I am beyond livid at the heartless corporate evil that is Office-Max. Please tell me there is something that can be done about this. It happened a while ago and I had given up hope but I came to this sight to see about a different problem initially and just figured maybe someone would know something about this too. If anyone needs any more info just ask. And as unbelievable as it seems I have been completely honest in my retelling of events. They really were just that evil about it.
I apologize in advance for the length of this post but the situation is fairly complex. Also, the character background of one of those involved is important.
The incident
I had just come into my afternoon shift. I grabbed a Dr. Pepper and a pack of Twizzlers out of our candy section as I did every day I came in. My friend (We will call him Dave) was running the register because we were short on people that day. Dave told me that we were nearing the end of the sales month and that the two of us were tied for highest Max-Assurance seller. This was an ongoing competition between Dave and I. We were the two best Max-Assurance salesmen in the store. For the past seven months one of us had won the Top Seller award for each sales month. We were responsible for over 60% of the stores total Max-Sales for the past quarter. This month we were tied at around 45 sales for the month, the next highest was an employee with 19 sales.
Now as I am prone to whimsical acts I decided to do something funny. ( I had not yet clocked into work, I was just buying my drink and candy). I had a short conversation with myself in front of Dave.
"Hello sir, I see you are buying some Twizzlers"
"Why yes I am."
"Did you know that for only 2.99 we would ensure that those Twizzlers will make your mouth happy?"
"Really? Well that's great! I'm definitely going to get that!"
I then turned to Dave.
"Excuse me sir, I'd like to buy the Max-Assurance plan on this pack of Twizzlers."
Dave laughed and asked if i was serious. I said "Yup, it's worth three bucks to beat you out this month. Just make sure you put my name down on the sale." Dave did. I paid him for my candy and drink, including the extra money for the attached Twizzler assurance plan. I ate my Twizzlers during work and when I finished I informed Dave that they had indeed "Made my mouth happy". Other employees, including a manager, saw it happen and thought it was hilarious. We talked about it for a couple of days. Side note : Dave STILL beat me out that month!
The repercussions:
About a week later I was asked by my manager into the office. I was asked to speak with someone on the phone. It was a woman from the Office-Max corporate headquarters. She told me her name and said that she was head of the Loss Prevention department for this region. Even initially she seemed supremely agitated. She asked me if I remembered purchasing a soft drink, a pack of Twizzlers and a Max-Assurance the previous week. I told her that I did. She asked me if Dave sold me those items. I said that he did. She asked me what the Max-Assurance was attached to. I told her it was attached to the Twizzlers. She asked if I was aware that Twizzlers were not eligible for Max-Assurance. I told her that I was aware of that. She asked me why I did it. I told her (in all honesty and not really afraid of having done anything wrong) that I had received a larger than normal paycheck that week and I wasn't worried about money; that I thought it would be funny; that I enjoyed working there (which was true) and I wanted to help the store's Max-Sales, and that it was a jokey element of a personal contest between Dave and myself. She became extremely belligerent and condescending at this point. She asked if I was aware that I would receive commission for the sale. I said "Yes ma'am, but the Assurance plan cost 3 dollars and I knew I would only be receiving a 50 cent commission for it. It wasn't about that at all. I knew more of my money would go to the store than what I would get in commish." Her anger peaked at this point and she accused me of being unethical, immoral and thieving (I was HIGHLY confused). I was asked to make a written statement and to give it to my Manager, I was also informed that i would be on suspension until further notice. My manager was EXTREMELY apologetic toward me saying "I'm so sorry about this. I'm gonna get this worked out. They've talked to Dave too and he's suspended as well. I can't believe they are doing this. I'm sorry"
I talk to Dave and find out that he got much of the same treatment. They asked him why he allowed the sale. He said that he saw it as harmless and felt it would boost morale and those employees who witnessed it would have an enjoyable and thus more productive day. (Which was also true, Dave's a big sweetie). A week passes, during which time Corporate sends down the word to fire Dave. Dave tells me that the manager was in tears. I get called in and shown my release papers that I must sign. They are the same as Dave's and claim that I am being released from employment due to extreme unethical conduct and theft. My manager did indeed start to cry. I had never seen her cry before. The loss prevention department never interviewed us again after that initial phone call, never questioned us beyond the bare facts of the situation, and refused to hear any character testimony from the store manager or it's employees.
Dave and I both received sympathy e-mails from almost everyone in the store. Dave especially. Dave was on salary at the time with health insurance benefits which he lost. The time was 2 weeks before Christmas. His wife was 4 months pregnant. They fired him for being unethical.
I'm really not too concerned about myself. I'm a college student and can get by alright without a job and my mother's support. But my friend is newly married and has a little boy on the way. He did not deserve this and I am beyond livid at the heartless corporate evil that is Office-Max. Please tell me there is something that can be done about this. It happened a while ago and I had given up hope but I came to this sight to see about a different problem initially and just figured maybe someone would know something about this too. If anyone needs any more info just ask. And as unbelievable as it seems I have been completely honest in my retelling of events. They really were just that evil about it.
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AMAZING!)
