ebrammer252
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
-- Virginia
I'll start my rant by apologizing because this is going to be a LONG read.
The following took 3/5/09
So I had been working at Best buy for four and a half years. I was doing the job of Home Theater Installer. I drove the big vans around to customer's houses, setting up their new TVs and Home Theater systems. On this van I drive I have cables that I can sell to customers, these cables were sold by Best Buy in store so they were sku'd and in Best Buy's inventory. Well my manager had purchased third party cables Best Buy does not sell and gave us installers the ability to price these cables as we saw fit, because when they were rung up at the store they were rung up as labor.
Recently my manager calls me and tells me he needs me at the store, so when I went to work that day i was told an investigator was there from Best Buy corporate. He was investing an incident within the store I may have known some information about. When he took me into the Sales Development room, which was a locked room just him and I no one else. He basically started me into a police interrogation. He started out by telling me what his job was and how he was not directly affiliated with Best Buy so he could provide a 'third party' investigation with no bias. After a 15 minute statement on his job duties he began to lecture me. He began to tell me how he already knew facts and anything I would tell him, he already knew. He was looking to see if I was going to be honest, and if I lied, he'd know and would NOT help me out in anyway. He proceeded to tell me that he would be the one recommending Best Buy to pursue charges, order an arrest warrant etc. From here he plainly states, Best buy as a company knows all it's employees eventually do something to lose them money whether it be making a mistake or deliberately. He said there were two types of employees good ones who make bad decisions and bad ones who are malicious. He then asked the most open end question ever. What have you done to lose Best Buy money? Keep in mind at this point I have NO idea why I'm in here still. There first and foremost thing I could think of was that some of these un-sku'd cables I had given away to customers who were irate and upset because of a mess up at the store or any items that were needed and they were not sold. I also mentioned I was not supposed to take tips and I had before. He asked how many cables I had given away I said at maximum I had given away 3. He told me this was not what he was looking for, what he was looking for was more return related.
As I thought back I remembered recently I had returned a set of car speakers (from my car that was recently totaled) under a Best Buy service plan. This plan states that I an return these speakers any time within 4 years if they blow etc. , which they did blow. When I did this return the customer service girl (who was the senior of the operations department) returned the cost of the original speakers to gift card, used the gift card to buy the new speakers and handed me the remaining balance on a gift card. Now I returned a set of Alpine 6x9 Type R speakers and had purchased a set of Alpine 6x9 Type S speakers as Best Buy no longer sells the R's. The S speakers as a lower quality were a lower cost of course, so the money back made sense. However I remembered that when I was in the store PSP exchanges were product for product even exchanges, no money involved. However my job title was now Home Theater installer I was no longer in the store, so I couldn't keep up with these policies. I asked the cashier am I supposed to get a gift card, she said it was the new process and I was supposed to. I asked again and she reassured me, and said if anyone asked to have them directed to her. So I used my gift card of 40 something odd dollars to buy some DVDs etc.
Well it turns out when I originally purchased the speakers and the service plan I purchased them separately. I bought the speakers and then bought the service plan at a later date after I got paid. Somehow these two items didn't get tied together in the system. He stated they could find under my name where I had purchased the service plan but could not find ANYWHERE that I had purchased the speakers. I was accused of returning a set of speakers never bought at best buy, accused of working with the cashier to forge a receipt number and service plan number for the return. Luckily I had my original receipts for both in the car. I went to the car and got the receipts and proved to him that I had purchased all my stuff. He took everything and disappeared for 20 minutes or so. I suppose he was looking up the receipt info in the system and/or calling corporate to verify it all. When he came back he questioned why I took the gift card knowing I wasn't supposed to. I explained I didn't know because I am NOT in the store anymore. He suggested that as a Best Buy employee I should have known this all along. He then inquired about why I gave the cables away, I told him it was only under extenuating circumstances and only to satisfy customers in hopes of a return customer.
Of course I was then told all my actions were unethical and was told I was going to sign a piece of paper stating that I would repay Best Buy for three cables at forty dollars each, and the forty dollars on the gift card. So a reimbursement of $160 was now my responsibility. After I signed the paper stating I would repay for these items, I was given a blank sheet and told : "Write a statement basically acknowledging and detailing your unethical acts, apologize and basically ask to keep your job" (Not exact words, but the meaning stands). So I wrote THREE pages stating that I had given these cables away, taken tips and accepted that gift card. Apologized profusely, and begged for the opportunity to continue serving Best Buy. After I signed all these documents, I was told a manager would contact me soon with the outcome of my future with Best Buy. I was escorted out of the store and told I was banned from the store temporarily. I called my manager and explained what just happened, he was shocked at what had just happened and apologized to me. He told me they wouldn't tell him what was going on or why they needed to talk to me. He said he thought was getting a raw deal and would try to figure something out for me.
About 2 weeks later my manager calls me and tells me he needs me to come to the store. When I get there we sit down and he tells me that unfortunately Best Buy has made the decision to let me go. He apologized profusely and said he fought for me and tried to explain that I was a good hard worker. He then had to read me the statement corporate had sent explaining my termination. In this statement they falsely stated that I had used a CUSTOMER'S gift card. He said he asked the general manager to correct this and was told that it was of no use, the outcome would stand. I signed my termination papers and asked him about the money I was said I owed by 3/31/09. He said don't worry about it, he explained that he (who purchased the cables) was okay with me giving them away and could have sworn he told me that. He said that in my statement I said that "I gave the cables away", he said that had I stated WE gave the cables away, acknowledging that he was okay with it, or informed him that I did the situation would be different. I didn't write WE because I didn't want to get anyone else in trouble, after I signed my papers I asked about the money I was to "owe" about the gift card. He said you're already term'd, don't worry about it. Head hung low, I said my good-byes and left.
Today (3/30/09) I get a text from my manager asking if I had received a letter from an Attorney's office. GREAT, I called him trying to figure out what's going on. When i finally got in touch with him, he tells me he needs me to come by the store. He got a letter addressed to no one, but they could see my name inside, so they opened it. He said they stated I owe $512. The money originally stated, plus a $300 something odd dollar civil fee. So, I have to go over there tomorrow and get this letter and get this all figured out. I admitted on good faith that I had given these cables away, my manager was okay with but corporate wasn't. I got fired and now supposedly owe $512, this is just down right ridiculous.
Shortly before this my Dodge Avenger had caught on fire and was totaled, I had to buy a new car, taking on a new financial responsibility(loan) and I get fired. I've been applying at places since then, but I cannot find anywhere. I'm a college student signing a lease for my first apartment currently, trying to scrape together a security deposit and find another job that pays about the same ($12/hr part time).
I'm just so frustrated, everyone keeps suggesting I take legal action, but I don't have the money. Plus I signed a statement admitting what had happened. This is just so ridiculous I just don't know how to respond.
Was I wrongly fired? and do I have a case to try and end this nonsense?
Thanks,
Eric B.
-- Virginia
I'll start my rant by apologizing because this is going to be a LONG read.
The following took 3/5/09
So I had been working at Best buy for four and a half years. I was doing the job of Home Theater Installer. I drove the big vans around to customer's houses, setting up their new TVs and Home Theater systems. On this van I drive I have cables that I can sell to customers, these cables were sold by Best Buy in store so they were sku'd and in Best Buy's inventory. Well my manager had purchased third party cables Best Buy does not sell and gave us installers the ability to price these cables as we saw fit, because when they were rung up at the store they were rung up as labor.
Recently my manager calls me and tells me he needs me at the store, so when I went to work that day i was told an investigator was there from Best Buy corporate. He was investing an incident within the store I may have known some information about. When he took me into the Sales Development room, which was a locked room just him and I no one else. He basically started me into a police interrogation. He started out by telling me what his job was and how he was not directly affiliated with Best Buy so he could provide a 'third party' investigation with no bias. After a 15 minute statement on his job duties he began to lecture me. He began to tell me how he already knew facts and anything I would tell him, he already knew. He was looking to see if I was going to be honest, and if I lied, he'd know and would NOT help me out in anyway. He proceeded to tell me that he would be the one recommending Best Buy to pursue charges, order an arrest warrant etc. From here he plainly states, Best buy as a company knows all it's employees eventually do something to lose them money whether it be making a mistake or deliberately. He said there were two types of employees good ones who make bad decisions and bad ones who are malicious. He then asked the most open end question ever. What have you done to lose Best Buy money? Keep in mind at this point I have NO idea why I'm in here still. There first and foremost thing I could think of was that some of these un-sku'd cables I had given away to customers who were irate and upset because of a mess up at the store or any items that were needed and they were not sold. I also mentioned I was not supposed to take tips and I had before. He asked how many cables I had given away I said at maximum I had given away 3. He told me this was not what he was looking for, what he was looking for was more return related.
As I thought back I remembered recently I had returned a set of car speakers (from my car that was recently totaled) under a Best Buy service plan. This plan states that I an return these speakers any time within 4 years if they blow etc. , which they did blow. When I did this return the customer service girl (who was the senior of the operations department) returned the cost of the original speakers to gift card, used the gift card to buy the new speakers and handed me the remaining balance on a gift card. Now I returned a set of Alpine 6x9 Type R speakers and had purchased a set of Alpine 6x9 Type S speakers as Best Buy no longer sells the R's. The S speakers as a lower quality were a lower cost of course, so the money back made sense. However I remembered that when I was in the store PSP exchanges were product for product even exchanges, no money involved. However my job title was now Home Theater installer I was no longer in the store, so I couldn't keep up with these policies. I asked the cashier am I supposed to get a gift card, she said it was the new process and I was supposed to. I asked again and she reassured me, and said if anyone asked to have them directed to her. So I used my gift card of 40 something odd dollars to buy some DVDs etc.
Well it turns out when I originally purchased the speakers and the service plan I purchased them separately. I bought the speakers and then bought the service plan at a later date after I got paid. Somehow these two items didn't get tied together in the system. He stated they could find under my name where I had purchased the service plan but could not find ANYWHERE that I had purchased the speakers. I was accused of returning a set of speakers never bought at best buy, accused of working with the cashier to forge a receipt number and service plan number for the return. Luckily I had my original receipts for both in the car. I went to the car and got the receipts and proved to him that I had purchased all my stuff. He took everything and disappeared for 20 minutes or so. I suppose he was looking up the receipt info in the system and/or calling corporate to verify it all. When he came back he questioned why I took the gift card knowing I wasn't supposed to. I explained I didn't know because I am NOT in the store anymore. He suggested that as a Best Buy employee I should have known this all along. He then inquired about why I gave the cables away, I told him it was only under extenuating circumstances and only to satisfy customers in hopes of a return customer.
Of course I was then told all my actions were unethical and was told I was going to sign a piece of paper stating that I would repay Best Buy for three cables at forty dollars each, and the forty dollars on the gift card. So a reimbursement of $160 was now my responsibility. After I signed the paper stating I would repay for these items, I was given a blank sheet and told : "Write a statement basically acknowledging and detailing your unethical acts, apologize and basically ask to keep your job" (Not exact words, but the meaning stands). So I wrote THREE pages stating that I had given these cables away, taken tips and accepted that gift card. Apologized profusely, and begged for the opportunity to continue serving Best Buy. After I signed all these documents, I was told a manager would contact me soon with the outcome of my future with Best Buy. I was escorted out of the store and told I was banned from the store temporarily. I called my manager and explained what just happened, he was shocked at what had just happened and apologized to me. He told me they wouldn't tell him what was going on or why they needed to talk to me. He said he thought was getting a raw deal and would try to figure something out for me.
About 2 weeks later my manager calls me and tells me he needs me to come to the store. When I get there we sit down and he tells me that unfortunately Best Buy has made the decision to let me go. He apologized profusely and said he fought for me and tried to explain that I was a good hard worker. He then had to read me the statement corporate had sent explaining my termination. In this statement they falsely stated that I had used a CUSTOMER'S gift card. He said he asked the general manager to correct this and was told that it was of no use, the outcome would stand. I signed my termination papers and asked him about the money I was said I owed by 3/31/09. He said don't worry about it, he explained that he (who purchased the cables) was okay with me giving them away and could have sworn he told me that. He said that in my statement I said that "I gave the cables away", he said that had I stated WE gave the cables away, acknowledging that he was okay with it, or informed him that I did the situation would be different. I didn't write WE because I didn't want to get anyone else in trouble, after I signed my papers I asked about the money I was to "owe" about the gift card. He said you're already term'd, don't worry about it. Head hung low, I said my good-byes and left.
Today (3/30/09) I get a text from my manager asking if I had received a letter from an Attorney's office. GREAT, I called him trying to figure out what's going on. When i finally got in touch with him, he tells me he needs me to come by the store. He got a letter addressed to no one, but they could see my name inside, so they opened it. He said they stated I owe $512. The money originally stated, plus a $300 something odd dollar civil fee. So, I have to go over there tomorrow and get this letter and get this all figured out. I admitted on good faith that I had given these cables away, my manager was okay with but corporate wasn't. I got fired and now supposedly owe $512, this is just down right ridiculous.
Shortly before this my Dodge Avenger had caught on fire and was totaled, I had to buy a new car, taking on a new financial responsibility(loan) and I get fired. I've been applying at places since then, but I cannot find anywhere. I'm a college student signing a lease for my first apartment currently, trying to scrape together a security deposit and find another job that pays about the same ($12/hr part time).
I'm just so frustrated, everyone keeps suggesting I take legal action, but I don't have the money. Plus I signed a statement admitting what had happened. This is just so ridiculous I just don't know how to respond.
Was I wrongly fired? and do I have a case to try and end this nonsense?
Thanks,
Eric B.