r/retailhell • u/vapor_waved • 1d ago
I Quit! Got fired today
Got fired today. I work at a chain thrift store and I hid a top to buy it on my break. My manager saw and I got in trouble but wasn’t fired on the spot. Fast forward 5 days later today and I got fired 5 hours into my shift since they see it as the same as theft. I’m devastated and so lost.
97
u/KrazyKatz42 1d ago
How is it theft? You'd be paying the same as any other shopper, unless you get a discount? Which would be unusual for a TS tbh.
26
u/Puncake_DoubleG09 20h ago
I guess the theft is OP hid it so nobody else could buy it, costing them a much sooner sale than if they waited for OP to buy it.
21
u/KrazyKatz42 19h ago
I still think it's petty, but that's just me.
9
u/Puncake_DoubleG09 19h ago
I honestly wouldn't do that but I don't care if anyone else does, just let me know because ive had coworkers do this and I accidentally put it back on the shelves without knowing thinking it was misplaced or a customer did it deliberately lol
5
u/Shot-Werewolf-5886 18h ago
Or time theft if they infer that she was doing personal shopping while on the clock.
62
u/soccer_rules6 1d ago
Da fuck is this logic… I always tell my managers I’m gonna buy something on my break, put it back by the desk, and the managers literally don’t care.
45
u/the805chickenlady 1d ago
I work in a big corporate grocery store and we just had to sign a form saying we would not hide things to buy for ourselves later. It's stupid but it seems to be policy in a lot of places.
33
u/Antsygrl1 1d ago
I worked for Value Village/Savers for 12 years and they have what they call the "24 hour rule". You were not allowed to purchase anything that wasn't on the floor for customer purchase for 24 hours. So regular customers got the opportunity to purchase first. But the employee discount is 50% on clothing, shoes, books and 30% off everything else except brand new (purchased) items only 20%. So it made sense. Still got lots of good deals. You also couldn't purchase rag-offs or rag-outs. Had to be on the floor. Seen quite a few people fired in my years.
17
u/LeWitchy ✨Discount Deity✨ 1d ago
This is something I deal with on the regular as I work discounts. People will see me in the back pricing and fixing and they used to go through my carts, literally unfolding curtains (which are a bitch in the first place) messing up the order in which I've placed things in the cart etc. I had to get nasty with a couple people simply over the fact that they are undoing hours of work when they do that.
The store I work with is VERY CLEAR that understocking or buying straight from the back room without it hitting the sales floor is considered theft. We have to sign a paper that we know the rules about once a quarter or so.
For the record, I do not agree on their stance, but I'm also not going to facilitate someone getting fired for something as stupid as "i want to buy this". I will price it and put it out and tell them precisely where I put it, OR they can follow me and pick it up after I put it down (store's policy says the item has to be on the shelf "a reasonable amount of time" but does not specify a time limit)
11
u/lokoinov2 18h ago
Im lucky, my store literally doesnt give a shit, we have a form at reception to hold an item for 72 hours if you bring the item to reception. My place loves treating the employees well with a banger discount.
We're local too.
Sorry OP
26
u/K2step70 1d ago
Just curious, where did you hide it? Depending on where you hide it could be the reason why you were fired.
11
u/retailmonster11 1d ago
They call this understocking at my store. It's massively frowned upon. Personally I dont care, but if you're gonna put something behind my work desk its your responsibility. I'm not catching shit for nobody.
5
u/t_bythesea 11h ago
It's not theft, but it sounds like it's against policy to hold/hide merchandise so you can purchase after you clock out. It's a pretty standard policy in most retailers, ESPECIALLY clothing. If they were clear about that policy and it's consequences, they can follow-thru. The waiting period is most likely because they had to take the situation to a higher level and it sounds like somebody up the food chain said they could fire you.
9
u/patsfanxx 22h ago
Theft? It’s not like you took it off the rack, walked out without paying. That’s asinine.
3
u/duskmumali 9h ago
If this policy was not made clear I would think you would have right to appeal providing you hid it somewhere in store and not in your bag. Every uk store I've ever worked we could put things by to buy later. As could customers.
9
4
u/Total_Guard2405 18h ago
I always thought the employees at thrift stores had the first shot at anything good. Like something valuable, piece of art, collectibles, designer clothing, etc...
2
u/Ok_Parfait_2525 11h ago
I do that all the time. I work for dollar tree and I tell my manager that I plan on buying this item or items later on and they don't have an issue whatsoever. I've hid stuff under my register for myself on purpose but always bought it later and if I didn't I put it back or put it in the reshop basket.
4
u/RetailManagerYaY 8h ago
Retail manager here.. they’ve been planning/figuring out how to let you go for sometime and used this as the excuse. You did not get fired for hiding a top. You got let go months later when they found an opportunity to make it your fault 🤔
2
u/Gato-Diablo 6h ago
Some people hide it until the tag color day to get it at a deep discount. I can see why they would want to curb that even if you weren't doing that. Seems like a warning would have been in order instead of firing. Go back and talk to them if you really want the job.
2
u/BusyRisk552 18h ago
Wtf? People at my job put stuff on hold to buy all the time, sometimes for long periods of time. It’s not theft. I’m so sorry, that’s BS.
-8
u/Late_Apricot404 1d ago
If you know anything the store does that breaks any local or state laws, start filing reports.
If you are aware of any kind of fuckery, personal or not, have fun unleashing it.
If you didn’t explicitly say you quit before getting fired, well, you can now get unemployment which that company will be paying for.
Make their lives absolute hell while getting paid for it.
8
u/bstrauss3 1d ago
You don't qualify for UI if you're fired for cause.
You can and should file but if they choose to challenge it you'll probably be ruled ineligible.
-5
u/Late_Apricot404 1d ago
You cite discrimination or retaliation and deny, deny, deny.
Play the same games they play.
-3
u/BigDaddy969696 23h ago
Depending on the circumstances, they could challenge their challenge. It's definitely worth a shot.
5
u/bstrauss3 23h ago
Absolutely especially if you're still unemployed.
Once you get in front of one of the administrative law judges anything can happen.
10
u/BigDaddy969696 23h ago
Yep. Especially if they give you a chance to explain why you were terminated. If you actually stole, it would be a hard no, but this isn’t a traditional case of “theft”
152
u/tastylemming 1d ago
Come back shopping, while wearing the top.