I actually tried posting this some time ago but people were saying it was a fake story. I’ll try to link the facts and hope this time is sounds a little less crazy… but that’s actually impossible because this is a fucking crazy story. It's still pretty “vanilla” considering all the horrible things that happen in my country (Mexico), however, this incident completely changed my perspective on life. So far I’ve been unemployed for two years and I’d rather starve before becoming a literal slave again.
From 2019 to 2020, I worked for “the largest producer of Spanish-language multimedia content”, Televisa. The year I worked there I managed the social media site of “Canal 5” (Channel 5), I think I did a pretty decent job and I would even say I enjoyed my time there. My job was to clickbait, get reactions, comments, I guess you know the drill. The exact day of my employment anniversary I was fired because I uploaded a “void meme” I found on reddit to the social media account, the video I uploaded managed to become a world wide trending topic. Had I done this without approval, letting me go would be completely understandable. But I had been uploading “scary” videos for at least eight months, my manager even told me it was “very important to keep uploading that kind of content every week, even if the videos didn't have the quality I was looking for. Every time I thought about uploading something that could be considered sensitive/risky, I would ask for permission before uploading. To be fair, I did not ask for permission before uploading the video that caused my dismissal, because I did not consider the video could be seen as harmful in any way or form.
When it happened, I thought it was just an excuse to fire me in “uncertain times”. My theory felt right when half of the editorial team was fired just a few weeks later. I did not like losing my job but I also thought I lost my job in the best possible way, since the publicity surrounding the event was so big, I could probably get another job without a problem. My boss asked me to keep quiet and told me they would take care of me with “one or two months of salary”. I decided I would keep quiet as long as I was part of the payroll, if they actually kept me on the payroll for two months, I would've considered keeping my mouth shut for good, but they obviously cut me off after a month. When this happened, I published a note on Medium spilling the beans about what had happened. I tried to keep it all on topic about the “disturbing videos'' and not badmouth anyone. I think the worst thing I said was that I considered my dismissal incongruous, since the company, Televisa, always wanted to be a Trending Topic and when I managed to do it, on a worldwide scale, I got fired for it. I did not do this for attention, I wanted a job and what I did was what they asked from me. As far as I know, I'm the only one who lost the job because of what I uploaded.
Just a month after publishing my side of the story, I got a new job. My former manager declined to give me a recommendation letter, despite the fact that I consider we worked well and had a good relationship. That honestly hurt me a little, but I guess corporate suckers will always side with the company. I considered I had the worst luck ever because in two+ months of the pandemic I had no problems with my internet, however, my connection broke down on my first day in my new job. Who was my ISP provider? A company called Izzi, which is owned by the same mass media company I worked for, Televisa.
Now the real story begins. The technicians arrived the next day at 10:50 am, 10 minutes before my second meeting in my new job. I should've been more careful but these guys arrived with a car branded with the company's name, uniforms and a copy of a work notice, that actually said the same thing the operator told me they were going to do (“cambio de cableado”/cable replacement). I was too focused on my meeting to notice what was going to happen when I let them in.
The Izzi technicians were acting strangely, joking a lot but I just thought they had their inside jokes. My dog was barking more than usual and she has actually bitten a few strangers before, so we decided to lock her in a room. Just a few minutes after we did that and they were sure we had no way to get out of trouble, it began. I was attending my meeting, with my mic muted because the technician kept asking irrelevant questions, trying to make me get close to the modem, I thought about locking my door, but I ironically didn't want to leave them unsupervised. When the technician realized I was not going to get close to the modem, he took a gun, pointed at me and said “you're fucked”. In that moment I seriously thought that was the end for me, I just hoped they were not psychopaths.
If you want more details, you can probably use Google Translate to read what I wrote about the whole experience. I don't feel like I want to relive that moment right now and my close encounter with death is probably not so relevant to this sub.
They took my computer, my phone, my PS4, a Wii U tablet and pretty much anything they could consider valuable. I'm pretty sure they stole stuff worth more than a whole year of salary in the job I had. But what's most important, is that they stole my sleep, my peace and my new job, something two year later, I haven't got back. I still have nightmares, I still feel unsafe inside my own house and I had to quit the job I got because I was not going to be able to concentrate on publicity stunts and social media shenanigans, while I considered my life was on the line. I have to give credit where it's due, in the job I held briefly, they supported me as much as they possibly could, but I couldn't keep going before sorting out my physical and mental well being.
When the robbery started, I suspected many people, however I never seriously considered Televisa, it seemed way too far fetched to send thugs dressed as employees. Even now it seems too crazy. But seeing their response to the whole ordeal, I've had to doubt it. The robbers held us for one or two hours, they seemed to be in a hurry, almost like they had to attend another service. The real technician never arrived. Phone operators actually called us asking about Izzi's service. When we told them what happened, they said it was our fault or actually got offended, because we started using bad words while describing the mutilation threatening services. My mother and father tried talking twice and they didn't even try to show some comprehension for what happened. That's when I made the note I linked earlier with the experience. While the note gathered a lot of attention, it clearly could not compete with the power of the largest mass media company in Latin America.
It was until what I wrote gained some popularity, someone from Izzi actually tried to contact us. While I honestly believe we deserve compensation, I could understand if they didn't give us any. What I can't understand is their complete lack of interest in people dressing up as technicians and arriving on the day of an appointment. While the woman who finally contacted us, actually helped us cancel our contract… that's all she did. She made us believe something was actually going to happen, she actually sounded kind of concerned and apparently made us talk with a lawyer. And then, poof, she disappeared. She also claimed they had filed a police report as soon as they heard about the case, however the police told us no police report was made besides our own. I had my own concerns at the time, unemployment, family betrayals, my dog was stolen, covid, so I didn't feel like keeping up with that problem. However, I feel absolute rage inside my stomach when I read another family went through the same thing, with the same company. That just means that their security measures are disgusting and laughable. And yet, the company hasn't been fined or warned for what's happening by the government, while Izzi just acts like it's not a problem. So, while I don't think I was actually targeted by Televisa, in some way, maybe I was. Even if they didn't want to rob ME particularly, it almost feels like they are supporting the robbers that use their credentials to get inside a house and, considering I was former employee of the same company, it almost feels like they are just taking back what they initially gave me. It feels truly fucked and it has made me question so much about everything someone “should be”. What's the point of working, trying your best, when you’re going to be the only scapegoat once something goes wrong? What's the point of working when whatever I worked for could easily be stolen by armed people that might have even been sent by the company I used to work for and no one will do shit about it? They luckily did not see my external hard drive but I could've easily lost work I consider extremely valuable.
Even though the company I briefly worked for treated me very well, I should've told them I could not attend a meeting while a stranger was inside my house, I thought I was going to be unprofessional by saying “I can't”, but guess what? They invaded the little space we had to relax and unplug, they have to deal with the rules in our own turf.
Tl;dr: I was robbed inside my house by people who might actually work for the company I used to work for.