Dollar General Small Town, Smaller Store, Big Lies, Bigger Unfairness Hamilton, Texas

Last year I applied at the local Dollar General. There was only the store manager and the assistant manager. I spoke with the SM and explained that I had worked for the company back in 2003 (8 years before). So I was quickly ushered to the office where I was immediately interviewed, they called to see if I was am eligible rehire (which I was) and then we waited for my background check. Leess than a week later I had a job. 

I applied to be a cashier but ended up doing 3rd Key duties (keys included). On my 3rd night working I was already scheduled to close the store by myself. Yes I had worked for the store before but that had been years ago and things are always changing. When I asked the SM about doing the 3rd Key role and my pay not matching my position I was sent to a 3rd Key Lab to make it official and then waited another 3 weeks for a pay raise.

Eventually the store had a full staff but there was always so much to do! The store was nightmare to walk in to. The aisles were always cluttered, inventory never matched up, none of the employees ever actually "took breaks". It was run here and run there from open to close.

Now, since moving to this small town (population of 10.2 persons per square mile according to 2011 census), I noticed several things in other stores. The local pharmacy runs tabs for it's employees, the commission company (stock yards) have tabs for their employees, some of the hardware stores have tabs and run credit for some customers too. So with that in mind, when our SM and ASM told  us to grab a quick soda or chips, get back to work, pay for it by the end of the day (I admit to having done so only a handful of times), none of us thought anything was amiss.

One day the SM said he was going to another store at the same time the District Manager was leaving the company and that we'd have a temp DM but that before he left we all had to watch the training videos. None of the employees had ever actually seen the videos, nor given some kind of literature prior to working. We were all just kinda thrown in there and told how and what to stock. As we watched the videos we were amazed at just how wrong we were doing things. We had no clue until we saw the training vids.

The new SM came in and LP (loss prevention) and the temp DM were called in. The entire staff was told to go home until they completed an investigation. I cannot speak for the other employees but as for myself I told them my entire part truthfully. A few days later I got a call from the temp DM. He thanked me for my honesty, but that LP decided to let me go. Not under some "theft" violation but rather under "bad judgement call" since I had indeed paid for everything I consumed. This was in October 2011.

Though I was upset at losing my job (which i actually liked) I accepted their decision. I was no longer employed there but continued to shop there. The store has been through two managers and still looks like a mess. All the stores in our town close by 8p.m.. Dollar General closes at 11p.m. Just last Thursday I went into the store twice in the same day. The first time I bought a prepaid Visa. The second time (sometime between 8:30p.m. and 9:30p.m.) I had to make an emergency run to the store for candles since our lights had gone out.

I paid for my purchases, walked out with my fiancee when I heard my name being called. I turned and found a man who's name tag claimed him the new ASM, I had never seen him before and wondered what he wanted. He point blank told me that I was not allowed in the store anymore. 

When I Asked him why he said because his DM (which is now the official DM not the previous temp) said I was not allowed. Again I Asked why (I have never even met the new DM) and he changed his words and said it was actually LP who said I was not allowed in the store because of what happened when I was fired.

And that is now where I stand. I was dismissed, but thanked for my honesty and verified that I had paid for my items (7 months ago). Was told that the only action taken would be to be placed on the the no rehire list, nothing more. And now I am being treated like a common thief and not allowed to shop. All of these things I reported to the corporate office. Supposedly I will be getting a call back on April 10, 2012 before nightfall. We shall see.