20-year-old electronics salesman refuses to follow boss's orders to scam customers, ends up making company's biggest sale of the year: 'The final bill was over $15k!'

This employee was being pressured to act unethically to sell products, but he managed to do a better job than everyone else by just being honest.

I know, what a radical thought! Who knew that honest work could actually be the key to becoming the most successful employee on your team? 

Clearly, this anecdote had a longstanding effect on the author, who is reflecting on one of his earliest introductions into the workforce. Now, nobody ever said that working in sales was easy, but this manager's scheme of scamming not only customers but also their company's suppliers was bound to backfire eventually. There was no way the suppliers weren't going to inevitably uncover the truth behind management's loophole regarding extended warranty packages.

Thankfully, this author knew that there was no point in getting caught up in the crosshairs of this unethical plan. Instead, he wound up gaining a reputation from another customer for being a genuinely helpful and skilled salesman. That reputation paid off majorly when the customer returned the next day to buy a ton of computers for the school where he worked. It ended up being the biggest sale of that year for his team.

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  • 01
    A retail worker locates items in stock.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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  • What's most exciting about this anecdote is how the author was ultimately celebrated for not complying with orders. When management approached him about speaking to the team to give some words of wisdom, he decided to come clean about his real motivations following the sale. Let's just say management was not going to be too happy about the employee's choice to collect his commission and then leave the company high and dry. 

  • 02
    The following is an old story from years ago, but I thought it would be worthy of sharing here. I (now 53m, then around 20m) used to work for a now defunct electronics retailer called Circuit City in Southern California.
    via Durwyn
  • 03
    The staff was paid on a commision basis and were pressed daily to sell our extended warranty packages as a way to increase revenue.
    via Durwyn
  • 04
    To explain how the "Extended Warranties" work is to explain how the company made most of its income by scamming not only the customers, but also its suppliers. How it worked is thus.
    via Durwyn
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  • 05
    When a customer comes in and wishes to purchase a product, they are offered an "Extended Warranty" so if anything happens to the product, they simply bring
    via Durwyn
  • 06
    it back and it would get "repaired" by an onsite department. If it could not be "repaired", it would be replaced.
    via Durwyn
  • 07
    The room for the repair department was a 5x5 foot closet with a shelf and customer service was instructed to carry the product into that room, put it on the shelf and return 15 minutes
    via Durwyn
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  • 08
    later to pick it up, bringing it back to the customer with the unfortunate information that it could not be repaired, but would have to be replaced.
    via Durwyn
  • 09
    The customer would then leave the store with a new product and the store would send the product back to the manufacturer as defective, never having inspected
    via Durwyn
  • 10
    it in the first place while at the same time taking a full credit on the product and receiving full credit for it.
    via Durwyn
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  • 11
    So the company was able to minimize the cost of labor, while simultaneously receiving income from both sides, the supplier and the manufacturer.
    via Durwyn
  • 12
    Now, here's where the story begins. I worked as a salesman on the floor in the department that sold the items that could not be clumped together neatly, such as
    via Durwyn
  • 13
    sections for televisions, stereo equipment, kitchen appliences, laundry machines, refrigerators, etc.
    via Durwyn
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  • 14
    At the time this included Walkmen (the precursor to the IPod, which utilized cassette tapes), Minidisc players, CD Walkman, and Desktop computers and accessories such as monitors, printers, and various other items that attached to computers.
    via Durwyn
  • 15
    This was prior to laptops being ubiquitous, so all these items were bulky and heavy. One day a guy came in in ratty clothing, sweating from head to toe and stinking like he hadn't showered in a week.
    via Durwyn
  • 16
    The other salesmen, and women, decided he was not worth their time, and I got instructed to "help him" while security was called to him off the premise.
    via Durwyn
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  • 17
    I found out, he was in the shop to get a replacement walkman, as while out for a run, the one he had had failed.
    via Durwyn
  • 18
    I walked him over to the shelf that had all the portable music devices, and, after listening to what he was looking for, did not direct him to the most expensive
    via Durwyn
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    product we sold, attempting to upsell him, but providing him with the most affordable option for what he was looking to purchase.
    via Durwyn
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  • 20
    He even asked about the "Extended Warranty" and I told him to not bother with it. He paid for the Walkman and left before security could arrive, and I made maybe $2 on the sale.
    via Durwyn
  • 21
    For the next 2 weeks, I got hounded by the other salespeople and managers that I was not pushing the warranties enough, depriving myself of the sales income that comes with it, thus losing money in the process.
    via Durwyn
  • 22
    About 2 weeks later, when I arrived at work I was told there was a customer who had come in, asked about me, and left, telling them he'd return when I did.
    via Durwyn
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  • 23
    After a few minutes of being on the floor, a man, the same one that had been sweaty, arrived in a full suit, expensive at that, flanked by two others in business suits, asking for me.
    via Durwyn
  • 24
    Turns out, he runs multiple private schools and was looking to purchase "a few" computers for them, without all the extended frills that were unnecessary.
    via Durwyn
  • 25
    Now, the computer sales, at the time, were the crown jewels on the sales floor, and if a salesman sold one, they were king of the hill of the salesforce that week.
    via Durwyn
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  • 26
    This guy wanted 10 of them, for his students to use, and I was personally requested by him to be the one to make those sales.
    via Durwyn
  • 27
    I walked him through what we had and the final bill was over $15k! Blowing away the next biggest sale that year by $10k!
    via Durwyn
  • 28
    When it came time to pay me, and hand me the biggest check that store had written that year, the staff decided to hold a ceremony in my honor and asked me to speak to encourage others that there was money to be made.
    via Durwyn
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  • 29
    I said only 4 words. "Thank you. I Quit," and walked out of the ceremony got into my car, and drove home, never to go back to that store again.
    via Durwyn
  • 30
    A seller packages electronics for delivery.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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