The post is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, so I apologize for the redundancy.
Back in August/ September, I started working for an outside sales representative company, which I’m sure you folks are already groaning at. It is essentially a pyramid scheme, with one large company networking contracts for marketing “teams” that are their own companies, with extremely high focus on “fast tracking” employees into being a “business owner”.
This company I worked for was technically a third-party representative of an energy company, with whom they had marketing contracts. These companies, in my state, are part of deregulated energy suppliers, which essentially means that our utility companies are outsourcing their energy, rather than creating it themselves.
Which brings it back to us, and why we were doing what we did. Many people don’t know energy in the state is deregulated, and the marketing company knew this. I was trained to convince people to switch from whatever their current supplier is, to ours. It was extremely scummy, which I didn’t really start to understand until a month or two in, after watching how these people confused strangers into believing they’re doing something better for their pocket.
I would be hushed for asking certain questions, and they’d answer in extremely non-direct ways to questions I had about certain practices, like why we didn’t follow the format that the energy company taught us in the beginning training. We had gotten a non-compliance retraining session with the energy company, and our boss purposely muted us so that we couldn’t ask their representative questions that would “give away tactics”.
All of this which led me to being fired, because I wasn’t meeting their sales standards. To be outright honest, I refused to follow their way of marketing. I had real conversations with real people at their homes, talking about energy deregulation, their energy consumption, showing them their rates in comparison to ours, explaining the differences between utility companies and suppliers, and often, if we had a better plan, I could get the switch. I’d always been taught the best, and most respected salesman isn’t the one that can sell anything, but rather than one that can sell you exactly what you need, so I’ve always tried to follow those principles. I’d never be much under, if at all, the sales requirements, and my worst week was only getting 19/25.
So, whatever. I understand not meeting what they want. While it’s upsetting, they’re running their business the way they want. What’s really makes me upset is what follows.
They knew I’m struggling, and have been for quite a while. That’s not anyone’s problem, but it does make certain actions seem pretty malicious. After having been fired, I immediately found another job, across the street as a cook. I’d work night shift, and since they were across the street, I could stop there in the mornings and collect my checks for the last few weeks. (Not two, but three, because sales needed to be confirmed for commission.) The problem started when I would come into the office to collect my checks.
On the three occasions I went to collect my check, they claimed I smelled like marijuana, citing that to be a reason as to stay out of the office. They didn’t want others to “smell” me. This was seemingly a brand new problem, as I’d never been told that before. However, being that I had just come from work each time, it was absolutely bullshit. The first time, I took it as a joke. The second time, I made sure to go home, and shower before I went so there couldn’t even be an excuse, they still told me to stay out of the office, to not come back in, but they also refused to give me my check, instead saying they’d already mailed it. That brings us to the last week I went in, when this time, I decided to record the conversation (single-party consent) because of the last two weeks. This time, I ended up telling told him that it’d be a problem if he didn’t give me my check, after spewing the same bull about me not being allowed at the office (I realized it was likely because of the constant new hires/interviewees, and him not wanting me to talk to them). He then got aggressive with me, attempting to intimidate me, following it with saying he’d call the cops on me for trespassing if I were to come back.
Well, the issue here is that I’d never received that check, and both the checks I had received were only about $200 each, where the one I needed most was nearly $1000. They’d also taken our direct deposit information when I was first hired, but then tried saying I didn’t take some “blank check” to my bank when I asked why I’m not getting my money directly deposited (which I’ve never had to do for any direct deposit).
In January, I’d received a W-2 from them, implying there wouldn’t have been an issue with my address, or any information I’d given them. When filing my taxes, I decided to save it for last to see how it’d affect my taxes. It took over three hundred out of my return, which honestly, right now, is way too much money for me to not have.
All in all folks, I’m pretty much just pissed and ranting because I’m a broke, young adult with no support, and no resources to take care of these things. I apologize if the post trailed off quite a bit, I just wanted to make sure I could explain as much as I could remember to. It’s just so incredibly frustrating that I didn’t even really know how to ask for help about it, so that’s why I’m posting here now. If anybody has any advice, I’d gratefully appreciate it. Thank y’all for reading this, I know it was long. If there’s any questions or something private, I don’t mind answering in comments or DM. Thank you again.