After being an owner in business that was commision based, "hair salons, and health clubs", always go to the owner. This will come back to bite you if you try to handle it yourself. The owner will take care of it. Be prepared for a lot of back peddeling on the part of your co-worker. Also tell the owner you aren't familiar with the policy on this and would appreciate clarification. Ask him, how he expects you to handle it. Don't say much about your co-worker, only the situation.
Interesting take on gun sales
- Thread starter wristtwister
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wojownik
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+1 for all those advising to go to the store owner first. One employee is telling the other what store policy is. Go to the owner to find out the real store policy. And if anything untoward is going on up front, let him handle it.
You really don't want to stir things up with your colleague. As a manager, I've ended up having to terminate both employees to keep the peace.
Also be careful if the other employee has been on the payroll for longer ... he may have earned more cred with the owner than you might know (deserved or not), and new guys tend to lose (been there, done that)...
You really don't want to stir things up with your colleague. As a manager, I've ended up having to terminate both employees to keep the peace.
Also be careful if the other employee has been on the payroll for longer ... he may have earned more cred with the owner than you might know (deserved or not), and new guys tend to lose (been there, done that)...
MtnCreek
Member
The additional money they are charging either belongs to the shop owner or the person purchasing the firearm. Either way, they are thieves. If someone is steeling (by whatever means) it is your obligation to report it to the shop owner.
CapnMac
Member
I think I'm seeing some of this--see if I'm tracking right.
Employee knows Customer A really wants old Winchester lever actions.
Customer B comes in with a Winchester lever to trade.
Employee then takes the trade-in and puts $25 on it, and squirrels it in the lay-away.
Then, customer A gets a call, and then comes in and buys the lever-action at full price, or perhaps full+finder's fee?
I'm getting a sense that, maybe Employee has a lever-action and has a confederate come in and straw-man trade the employee's weapon into the shop, whereupon Customer A gets a call that they have a lever for him, and the Employee 'gets' to sell the Customer his own gun as if it were a normal trade in?
Getting a lot "duck" here in walks like, flies like, even if there's no echo from the "quack."
Employee knows Customer A really wants old Winchester lever actions.
Customer B comes in with a Winchester lever to trade.
Employee then takes the trade-in and puts $25 on it, and squirrels it in the lay-away.
Then, customer A gets a call, and then comes in and buys the lever-action at full price, or perhaps full+finder's fee?
I'm getting a sense that, maybe Employee has a lever-action and has a confederate come in and straw-man trade the employee's weapon into the shop, whereupon Customer A gets a call that they have a lever for him, and the Employee 'gets' to sell the Customer his own gun as if it were a normal trade in?
Getting a lot "duck" here in walks like, flies like, even if there's no echo from the "quack."
Sav .250
Member
Poeple do strange things...........
Last I heard, this situation sounds like embezzlement. If these employees are cooking the books and pocketing the difference, they are DEFINITELY stealing from the company.
Now, if it was a one or two time thing, that for some reason the customers were 'tipping' the sales person for excellent service or something (yeah, right), I wouldn't say too much. But that doesn't sound like the case. It sounds like text-book embezzlement, and you may want to seriously consider telling the shop owner.
Now, if it was a one or two time thing, that for some reason the customers were 'tipping' the sales person for excellent service or something (yeah, right), I wouldn't say too much. But that doesn't sound like the case. It sounds like text-book embezzlement, and you may want to seriously consider telling the shop owner.
22-rimfire
Member
I think I was very clear in my statement. If I were a regular customer and for example a Colt Diamondback came in and the store employee called me, I have no problem providing a modest referral fee if I really want the firearm at the shop price. The point is I would have to really want it. And what is modest? Modest is $20.
Referral fees are paid all the time in business. I paid some fees just the other day for job referrals, but that was our agreement up front and it is very above board. In this case, it would have to apply to collector guns as far as I'm concerned. Otherwise, why pay a "premium" at all. You just buy it somewhere else for the same price.
I frankly don't completely understand the OP's second post or do I....?
I assume that the difference between the store price and the premium goes to the employee if I understand this correctly. I would not define it this way. But ultimately the employee makes some money on the side. There aren't any guns I would pay a "premium" on to a shop employee unless it was something I really wanted in the collector area.
The store owner is happy that the item sold quickly at the shop price. I don't understand how the employee is working with the shop's money part. Stuff is placed on layaway all the time if the shop has such a policy. It ties up the item until the buyer decides they want it or not and they may loose their deposit under certain circumstances if they change their mind or there may be a "re-stocking fee".
If there is a layaway policy that requires a deposit and a store employee puts down $5 to hold a gun for a regular customer who later pays the employee the $5 he did as a favor, I have no problem. This is the part I don't understand?? There is no "premium".
Another example.... gun shop employee or owner calls me that a really nice Colt Diamondback just came in on consignment and they want $500 for it. Do you want us to hold it for you? The answer is probably 'Yes". This happens all the time. If I gave the owner a small fee for the information or I buy some ammo I really don't need when I would likely not see the gun otherwise, I see no problem with that. It happens all the time. Why do you think some customers seem to get all the "good stuff"?
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Another approach, to this may be a bit more stealth, but limit your exposure being you don't know how high up the ladder this goes.
You might consider a letter, lay it all out on paper and leave it or mail it to the owner.
If the manager is not the owner you really don't know who is in on this or how long it's been going on.
A letter if properlly worded can keep you from any retaliation if he merly decides to call a meeting and it comes out that you "told", on something that may have been going on for a long time.
I remember when I started in business and my boss left me in charge of a 40 person business, and I knew he had plans for me to eventually run one of his stores. He always said , "remember I am your boss, you work for me, and I am the only one who's opinion matters" If it were not for me, none of these people would even know each other.
So when he left, a couple guys went in the back and smoked some pot. It put me in a bad spot when he came back because I knew how he felt about drugs, and he had made himself very clear about it. He said all these mouths I feed will stop eating because one idiot got busted smoking a joint on my property. So I told him. I asked that he please not mention who it came from. Big mistake, he went like an arrow and grabbed these two guys, who were all friends. It took a year for them to start talking to me again, but what he said was right. You two idiots could put all of us out on the street. "It was a high end town", and even though everyone was smoking pot, "most of the clients also, in the 70's" it wasn't spoken about. And the police in Nassau would have closed us down. So be careful how you approach this as you don't ever know how people are going to react. My old boss and I ended up as partners, Because I always told him the truth about anything he asked me. He was the one paying me, not some kid who was hired to sweep the floor, like I was in the beginning. So maybe a letter is a better way. I would start out by saying I needed to make you aware of a situation that exhists, one which I did not know how to handle, so I decided to put it on paper so that it comes out the way I meant for it to come out, sometimes emotions get in the way when you are trying to explain something like this., Just another approach. This way if it is something that he is aware of, "i doubt", you are out of it. He may pull you on the side and thank you, or say nothing. Or he may fire a few people, it's impossible to know.
You might consider a letter, lay it all out on paper and leave it or mail it to the owner.
If the manager is not the owner you really don't know who is in on this or how long it's been going on.
A letter if properlly worded can keep you from any retaliation if he merly decides to call a meeting and it comes out that you "told", on something that may have been going on for a long time.
I remember when I started in business and my boss left me in charge of a 40 person business, and I knew he had plans for me to eventually run one of his stores. He always said , "remember I am your boss, you work for me, and I am the only one who's opinion matters" If it were not for me, none of these people would even know each other.
So when he left, a couple guys went in the back and smoked some pot. It put me in a bad spot when he came back because I knew how he felt about drugs, and he had made himself very clear about it. He said all these mouths I feed will stop eating because one idiot got busted smoking a joint on my property. So I told him. I asked that he please not mention who it came from. Big mistake, he went like an arrow and grabbed these two guys, who were all friends. It took a year for them to start talking to me again, but what he said was right. You two idiots could put all of us out on the street. "It was a high end town", and even though everyone was smoking pot, "most of the clients also, in the 70's" it wasn't spoken about. And the police in Nassau would have closed us down. So be careful how you approach this as you don't ever know how people are going to react. My old boss and I ended up as partners, Because I always told him the truth about anything he asked me. He was the one paying me, not some kid who was hired to sweep the floor, like I was in the beginning. So maybe a letter is a better way. I would start out by saying I needed to make you aware of a situation that exhists, one which I did not know how to handle, so I decided to put it on paper so that it comes out the way I meant for it to come out, sometimes emotions get in the way when you are trying to explain something like this., Just another approach. This way if it is something that he is aware of, "i doubt", you are out of it. He may pull you on the side and thank you, or say nothing. Or he may fire a few people, it's impossible to know.
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