Complaint Review: Cottonwood Financial Dba The Cash Store - Elgin Illinois

I first began working for the company at the Decatur Illinois location in June of 06. After a 300 plus mile transfer to the Elgin Illinois location in June of 07 I was terminated for correcting a corporate error that following November.

Due to a system upgrade at the corporate level some of our customers were debited electronically from their bank account, even after they had made a cash payment to the store. We were more than willing to give cash refunds of anything that was wrongfully debited if they provided a bank statement showing where the debit had cleared.

To make a long story short, a customer deserving a $1,000 refund became irate after I told him I would not be able to give him the cash that day per my District Manager reviewing his bank statement. He became verbally aggressive with me while there were other customers in my store. In response to him shouting at me, and for my own protection as well as the other customer in the store, I called the corporate office and spoke with the Operations Team. After the operations team spoke to the irate customer themselves they authorized me to give him a full cash refund to get him out of my store.

After I did so I called my District Manager back and informed her that I was instructed to give the man his refund per the Operations Team. The next day I was given an Opportunity for Improvement form up for not following The Chain Of Command. Basically that means that I called the corporate office without permission. I knew the rule was being broken at the time, but seeing as I had already spoke with my District Manager, and the man being very irate, the situation warranted the phone call. To explain what the Opportunity for Improvement is, it is a way to coach employees and improve their performance; it is not meant to be a threat or a warning.

A Week and One day after the refund was given I was fired. The only explanation they had for me was that I wasn't following policy and procedure. Also I was fired on a Friday which is not the norm, but worked out in their favor because I was suppose to be getting a $575.00 bonus on the following pay check, but because I was unable to finish the pay period (Saturday) I was unable to receive my bonus, which had been earned an entire month before. Still to this day I don't know what I was fired for, other than what happened on the day of the refund.

This was the only error on my part that I am aware of and the error originated at the corporate level. I exceeded my monthly goals every month I was there ergo my large bonuses. I was also told on many occasions by customers that I was the best person they had seen working there in a long time and that they hoped I would stay.

It's a sad thing because I really loved my job and all of the people that came in. But the company is better off because now they can pay someone with No experience $26,000 per year rather than paying and experienced well trained employee that had been with the company for over a year $35,000 per year plus bonuses. This company takes advantage of bad situations and turns them on their best employees.

If you are thinking about working for this company DON'T. It's not worth what you will have to go through, even if you make excellent wages. You're better off doing something else.

Also if you think they just treat their employees like this, you are wrong. The customers are treated properly only if they are interacting at the store level. Even then most of the store employees don't have proper training or any customer service skills.

Former Manager

Elgin, Illinois

U.S.A.