Oooh~ Work-related drama!
Oooh, it's all dramatic at work lately~
I've been meaning to post about it but I keep putting it off. Still... after the things my aunt told me this morning, I just can't help myself~
So, a little background first: we're a distribution company. Earlier this year, we got a contract to deliver charity bags. It's an on-going thing all year round which means constant work for those that prove reliable.
But sicne the start, we had issues with people stealing the bags that are left out. We reported it to the police but we had too little to go on - a few residents saying they'd seen someone take the bags already and they drove a red car and that was all. Red cars are so common it was almost pointless.
But then a couple weeks ago, we had a breakthrough. A resident saw someone in a red car taking the bags and stepped out to have ask them if they were meant to be collecting the bags. After all, a car cannot hold many bags and all our official drivers have vans - and IDs to say they work for us. So we were a bit puzzled to learn the guy who was stopped had a company ID.
As it turns out, he was someone who used to collect the bags temporarily for about four weeks but recently had only been given routes to deliver to. His story was that he simply saw the bags there and thought to collect them on his way to get his next work assignment. The police were called in though, and arrested the guy. Cheekiest thing is, he actually texted my aunt about if she was leaving his work for him at the warehouse while he was in the back of the police van on the way to the station.
All sorts of things came out after that - this guy, who I shall call C, apparently used to bring odd bags of bric-a-brac to the warehouse for storage, claiming he'd found them on the way. Not much in them, but they were bags and so the guys at the warehouse accepted them. He used to do this quite a bit.
The police also visited his house and apparently found a garage full of stuff - toys, clothes and other assorted things. There were ripped bags open too, all over the house. The guy's story is that his wife was sorting them out for him to bring to the warehouse.
A bit later, a policeman came round to take my aunt's statement and as she was telling him all she knew - that there had been no pattern to which routes were delivered and came back with poor results as that happened to all employees, how long C had worked for us and so on - she mentioned that perhaps it was just a one-off thing. The policeman, revealing more than he meant to, scoffed and told her outright, 'It's not.'
What we've assumed about that is that he's taking the stuff of value - clothes and whatever else and selling them. There are places that buy clothes for £500 a ton for recycling purposes and whatever else there is of value gets sold on eBay. The stuff they can't shift gets taken to the warehouse to be sent off to charity.
After this whole business, orders from the big boss said we weren't to give C any more work (not that my aunt was ever going to) and he would not be paid anymore, even for the work he had already completed. Big boss also intends to prosecute the guy and make it public - put it in the newspapers so everyone knows what will happen to those who are caught stealing, not only from us but from the charity these donations are meant for. So C starts texting and phoning and emailing, asking for the money he was owed (about £200 in total) and eventually, my aunt told the police, who warned him to stay away. That only slowed him down a bit though. He still texted and emailed, but he emailed the Head Office instead.
The woman there emailed back and said he would not be paid unless he was found innocent. He replies with some BS line about how it's all a misunderstanding.
But then yesterday, we had a phone call form Head Office about a complaint from an old woman who had recieved two bags, one for collection today and another for Friday. She wanted to know which day she should put it out and even if she could trust us.
Well, this set off alarm bells as that route was most definitely meant to be collected on Friday and the deliverer himself told us he definitely delivered bags marked for Friday.
Thinking to catch another thief, one of the guys suggested a stake-out. They would go by the lady's house, leave some bags outside and all up the street and wait to see who came to collect them. We even got the okay from the big boss to do this.
So, about 8am this morning, my aunt and an old friend/worker (henceforth known as P) set up their trap and waited. They even got a little help from some of the residents. The old lady let them put bags outside their home and another let my aunt put her car in his driveway as he went to work so that she would be less noticeable.
No sooner had she pulled in than P informed her that there was a red car coming.
And who should get out but C himself!
He apparently still had bags left from his days as a deliverer and had a list of streets and which days he delivered and collected. As soon as he stopped his car further down the road, my aunt pulled out her car to block him off but he tried to make a run for it into some trees at the other end of the road.
The police were called, statements were taken, evidence gathered and photos taken.
All in all, C is in lots of trouble now.
And yet, my aunt, kind soul that she is, can still find it in herself to feel sorry for him. Personally, I can't. This charity we work for does some good stuff for the people they help - and they help a lot of people. I just can't bring myself to feel anything but contempt for C now.
And this is not all the drama there is, but I shall leave the other tale for another time.
I've been meaning to post about it but I keep putting it off. Still... after the things my aunt told me this morning, I just can't help myself~
So, a little background first: we're a distribution company. Earlier this year, we got a contract to deliver charity bags. It's an on-going thing all year round which means constant work for those that prove reliable.
But sicne the start, we had issues with people stealing the bags that are left out. We reported it to the police but we had too little to go on - a few residents saying they'd seen someone take the bags already and they drove a red car and that was all. Red cars are so common it was almost pointless.
But then a couple weeks ago, we had a breakthrough. A resident saw someone in a red car taking the bags and stepped out to have ask them if they were meant to be collecting the bags. After all, a car cannot hold many bags and all our official drivers have vans - and IDs to say they work for us. So we were a bit puzzled to learn the guy who was stopped had a company ID.
As it turns out, he was someone who used to collect the bags temporarily for about four weeks but recently had only been given routes to deliver to. His story was that he simply saw the bags there and thought to collect them on his way to get his next work assignment. The police were called in though, and arrested the guy. Cheekiest thing is, he actually texted my aunt about if she was leaving his work for him at the warehouse while he was in the back of the police van on the way to the station.
All sorts of things came out after that - this guy, who I shall call C, apparently used to bring odd bags of bric-a-brac to the warehouse for storage, claiming he'd found them on the way. Not much in them, but they were bags and so the guys at the warehouse accepted them. He used to do this quite a bit.
The police also visited his house and apparently found a garage full of stuff - toys, clothes and other assorted things. There were ripped bags open too, all over the house. The guy's story is that his wife was sorting them out for him to bring to the warehouse.
A bit later, a policeman came round to take my aunt's statement and as she was telling him all she knew - that there had been no pattern to which routes were delivered and came back with poor results as that happened to all employees, how long C had worked for us and so on - she mentioned that perhaps it was just a one-off thing. The policeman, revealing more than he meant to, scoffed and told her outright, 'It's not.'
What we've assumed about that is that he's taking the stuff of value - clothes and whatever else and selling them. There are places that buy clothes for £500 a ton for recycling purposes and whatever else there is of value gets sold on eBay. The stuff they can't shift gets taken to the warehouse to be sent off to charity.
After this whole business, orders from the big boss said we weren't to give C any more work (not that my aunt was ever going to) and he would not be paid anymore, even for the work he had already completed. Big boss also intends to prosecute the guy and make it public - put it in the newspapers so everyone knows what will happen to those who are caught stealing, not only from us but from the charity these donations are meant for. So C starts texting and phoning and emailing, asking for the money he was owed (about £200 in total) and eventually, my aunt told the police, who warned him to stay away. That only slowed him down a bit though. He still texted and emailed, but he emailed the Head Office instead.
The woman there emailed back and said he would not be paid unless he was found innocent. He replies with some BS line about how it's all a misunderstanding.
But then yesterday, we had a phone call form Head Office about a complaint from an old woman who had recieved two bags, one for collection today and another for Friday. She wanted to know which day she should put it out and even if she could trust us.
Well, this set off alarm bells as that route was most definitely meant to be collected on Friday and the deliverer himself told us he definitely delivered bags marked for Friday.
Thinking to catch another thief, one of the guys suggested a stake-out. They would go by the lady's house, leave some bags outside and all up the street and wait to see who came to collect them. We even got the okay from the big boss to do this.
So, about 8am this morning, my aunt and an old friend/worker (henceforth known as P) set up their trap and waited. They even got a little help from some of the residents. The old lady let them put bags outside their home and another let my aunt put her car in his driveway as he went to work so that she would be less noticeable.
No sooner had she pulled in than P informed her that there was a red car coming.
And who should get out but C himself!
He apparently still had bags left from his days as a deliverer and had a list of streets and which days he delivered and collected. As soon as he stopped his car further down the road, my aunt pulled out her car to block him off but he tried to make a run for it into some trees at the other end of the road.
The police were called, statements were taken, evidence gathered and photos taken.
All in all, C is in lots of trouble now.
And yet, my aunt, kind soul that she is, can still find it in herself to feel sorry for him. Personally, I can't. This charity we work for does some good stuff for the people they help - and they help a lot of people. I just can't bring myself to feel anything but contempt for C now.
And this is not all the drama there is, but I shall leave the other tale for another time.