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I used to work for Dollar general. Some of our customers showed me how to use coupons which helped most times as we didn't make very much I could stock up on necessities in case things got worse during the pandemic. At one point my hours had been cut enough to affect my ability to buy groceries periodically through the month so I would take items that I didn't need back and exchange for food.Every Saturday the coupons were mailed off for that week to corporate for manufacturer reimbursement. Most of the items I had bought more than a week and a half to two weeks prior to my exchange. I had to do this a few times with other key holders and managers processing my exchanges. My intention was to exchange for groceries not to receive cash refunds I never held on to my receipts more than a few days as I would scan them into a points app. A few days before I was terminated I had brought some items from a client that I did homemaker work for a couple times a week who is blind and lives alone to refund for her as her husband suddenly was gone shortly after purchase. I brought the items to work with me and left them in my car until later in the evening and then I had another employee help me process her refunds match up her receipts with the refund receipts and verify that all items were accounted for. Only slips that went into the register I just did a quick scribble as I did not have her permission to sign her name I just scribbled. A couple of days later I came into work clocked in counted down my drawer and took over as the primary cashier until the next employee came in to run register while I did stocking and recovery as I was a lead at the time. I checked out maybe three people and the manager came to me and said that there was someone from corporate on the phone that needed to talk to me they had some questions I spoke to Kyle the risk management officer and he asked me about my exchanges in returns I had explained to him the situation he mentioned to me that some of the items had been purchased with coupon but had not been credited towards the grocery items at the coupon price but instead at regular price I apologize not thinking that it was going to affect me very badly as I did not do it intentionally. He told me that the company would be at a loss of over $109 for the difference between my credit price and the coupon or discounted price that was paid for the original items, which I thought was extremely high as usually it was only maybe 9 to $15 saved with all the coupons in an entire shopping day on Saturday. And as I had only made maybe eight exchanges there was no way that a few coupon items could amount to that much. After I finish speaking with him I was under the impression that I had to watch my self and pay better attention when doing exchanges not long after hanging up with him my manager approached me and requested my keys I inquired as to why she wanted my keys and she informed me that I was terminated for theft. When I tried to inquire through corporate and filed a request for my termination to be reviewed and possibly reversed I was shut down without explanation. Feeling I was wrongly terminated I did file for unemployment. When I was denied unemployment, I filed an appeal. When the mediator held the over the phone appeals interview with myself, the current store manager that had only worked there for just under a week before I was fired, and the district manager, I was practically slandered, defermated in my character and belittled. They had accused me in this appeals hearing of processing all of my own returns for cash every transaction. The district manager even went as far as to state that she felt confident that I had purposely bought the items with coupons in order to gain cash back above what I paid as a way to supplement my income. When the mediator explained that it was my turn to answer questions and make my statements, I vehemently requested that they file for the CCTV videos to prove that Management's statements were fabricated, to contact the risk management officer that I spoke with to prove that they were in contempt of the proceeding as they had sworn to tell the truth to the best of their knowledge. They also said that they had investigated through backlog CCTV history and notified corporate of my dealings when risk management said that my district and store manager had only been informed of any of it within the 20 minutes before speaking with me. And through all of this, I stood by my signed agreement to pay the $109 and change I was accused of shorting the company, and all the while, they we're reimbursed by the manufacturers with an additional eight cents per coupon redeemed. Unemployment therefore took 6 months to decide the outcome of my appeal. Their final determination was I was ineligible for unemployment benefits due to my termination for intentional aggravated theft. I have never been so vehemently and thoroughly abused by an employer when it was not necessary or warranted for that type of disciplinary action. I believe a little counseling and a demotion would have been more warranted considering the nature of the discrepancy. But to have my actions that any consumer has a right to through their own policies at Dollar general, turned into a criminal action with lies and unfounded accusations is devastating. Even as a entry level cashier I did not hesitate on my own time to leave my family to assist with truck deliveries when our refrigerated products would come in. I even had my husband delay our evening out together when I was called by my manager only 5 minutes away from home headed out to a movie to assist. It makes no sense to work that hard and be that dedicated, and then do something intentional to cause harm to my employment and my reputation. I guess maybe I just didn't 'click' with management changes that had just occurred, as I evidently did have a chance of advancement due to my dedication and experience. Not once did my managers question the transactions they were processing for me yet when I applied for a new management position, within 24 hours of my online application being posted, I was terminated. I hope they enjoy that $218 between their manufacturers couponreimbursement and my repayment. I have a feeling they're going to need to put that towards more legal fees in the future as they continue to value their profits over the people that keep their company going