TIFU by “abusing” my job’s reward system

So this was at my last job a couple or so years ago. The store manager informed us quarterly of our percentage scores for customers using their number for rewards. We had to keep it around or above 80%. If they didn’t have their number signed up for rewards, we were told to ask and explain the rewards system. In my department (Pharmacy), we had a drive thru window where we input the number ourselves.

Around December of 2020 when the vaccines came out, we got an influx of customers, most of which were because they had COVID. My coworkers and I had a rotating shift of 1 hour on drive thru. It felt like forever tho. During this time, most people just wanted to get their shit and get out. I had been given enough attitude or yelled at to not ask everyone about their number for rewards. A good majority even told me they’re not gonna bother because they just came here as a one time situation (an antibiotic we happened to have that no other pharmacy did). My score went down and I was talked to and I explained the situation, but it was more of a “C’mon, don’t give me that. Do better.”

Okay, so now I was using my brother’s phone number whenever a customer refused to use their number just so I didn’t get in trouble. I couldn’t use mine as I was signed into the register. Plus, mine offered the employee discount. I paid no attention to the points racking up in the award system. Eventually tho, I was in a financially tough spot. All my money was being drained majorly by bills and gas. I struggled and even signed up for DoorDash to get extra money on my days off.

Either way, I still struggled. I also got certified to give vaccinations as that came with a pay increase, but now I had one more job duty on my plate. Not to mention, all the people I had to talk to about how their relative died even with the vaccine, the people I had to coax into getting the shot because they were scared of needles, and the amount of people I saw in a day while packed into a small room for hours. Then one day, I checked my brother’s rewards account out of curiosity and omg.

The way the rewards system worked was every 2,000 points could be converted to $5 (if I remember correctly). There were at least 10,000 points when I checked. I would use those points for food or essentials like toilet paper. Then the fateful day comes. I was called into the manager’s office with Asset Protection. I’m being questioned about the phone number thing and how it’s stealing points from customers. I’m crying at this point cause I’m realizing how much trouble I’m in. They send me home, tell me they’ll be in touch in 2-3 days where they’ll let me know if I’ve been fired or not, and off I go. I applied for jobs during those days just in case.

I got the call and found out I was fired. After the call, I had kind of a menty b. Cried about how fucked I was and then started laughing because I put so much time and effort into that job just to be dropped like that. The kind of laughing that’s scary because you’re at the end of your rope. I had cried and explained to them that I only used the points to get by because I wasn’t making enough to pay for all my stuff and live even with another job and I still get fired. Worked so much overtime for what? I had been admitted for 72 hours while working this job from how depressed, hopeless, and tired I was. They even wanted me to pay back the $60 I “stole”. When I reminded them again, that I don’t have the money for that, they told me I could do payment plans.

I’m happy to say that it was only a week later that I found an extremely better job. Some kind people showed me to some food banks so I could use my money for essentials while I got back on my feet. I work 3 overnights a week now at $23-$25 an hour. I’m starting to make big dents in my maxed out credit cards from those days. I can afford all my bills, gas, and my own needs which is a relief. This place is like Heaven compared to where I was. The cherry on top is that the company has since filed for bankruptcy and the store I worked at will be closing this September 😊

TLDR: I abused my job’s point system and “stole” $60 from them. Got fired. Hit rock bottom for a bit and now I’m much better.