First of all, I?ve read that the fact that I?ve been silent ?speaks volumes?. So to quickly put that to rest, I was in the UK for a month and a half away from my family. I got back late Sunday night, and spent most of Monday hanging out with them. That?s why I haven?t been on, so I?d appreciate you hold the assumptions. There are enough of them flying around here for everybody ;)
So first off, how?d the actual firing go down? It was a team firing, very cute. Darren, Andy and Max were there ? apparently it takes 3 people to fire me. I hope they bonded through the experience.
It was done at the train station on my way out of Nottingham England, 20 minutes before the train left with a 3 page long written letter. Almost as if they weren?t confident enough to just tell me themselves, they needed a letter to do it properly. All attempts I made to discuss the situation with them were met with ?I?m not going to argue about this? and off I was sent on the plane with a bogus plane ticket, courtesy of MensNiche. Yes, they actually sent me to the airport with a fake plane ticket.
So what actually happened? Well here?s the thing, I?m going to do something that my former employer couldn?t seem to resist, and skip the libel / slander. So I?ll tell you only what I know.
Most of the letter that detailed the reasons for my firing highlighted comments I made in private to my wife during conversations over skype. Unfortunately, the letter was snatched from me by Darren before I left, I guess he was so proud of it he wanted to keep it for himself. But I encourage him to send it to me. I?d love to read it again and reminisce.
As is now known, I?ve never been a big fan of the way decisions and situations are handled at MN. Because of this and the distance between us, my wife, Abbie and I would talk at night over skype. Our conversations would often revolve around what was pissing me off that day at work. These conversations were in what I thought was a private setting. There was no one in the office at the time and all was done with my personal computer. Conversations would range from what idiotic decisions had been made that day, to the overall ineptness of MN leadership. Everything I said was purely me venting to my wife. She acted as a sounding board for my frustrations.
However, many of the details highlighted in the letter given to me, strangely touched on things said during these calls. Even comments made by my wife on her end were detailed. The same goes for icq and email conversations. Everything juicy I had ever said to her over icq or skype was in the letter.
So, my question is, how did Mensniche get a hold of all of this seemingly private information? Information no one was around to hear or see ? I?ll let you draw your own conclusions about this, as I said, I?m just here to state what I know, not make assumptions.
Now for the accusations that were made.
Accusation #1
- Scott Insulted members of staff and families of those who gave him the chance in this industry.
Many of you probably don?t know that "Elisha", who works for MN, is Darren?s mom. I don?t like her on many levels, both personally and professionally and the comments I made were to my wife privately underlining these feelings. So, though Darren made it sound like I was taking random jabs at his defenseless family, it was completely related to MN and my experience there.
A lot was said to my wife in the course of the month and a half. So was I fired because of the job I did or was I REALLY fired because of the things that I vented to her about Darren? Again, draw your own conclusions?
At this point Darren may jump in and say, yes, but Abbie isn?t the only one that you talked to about this stuff. And he?s absolutely right. Another co-worker (who held similar sentiments and will remain nameless) and I would talk in private about annoyance with the company and the various nutty decisions / situations that transpired.
Accusation #2
**Scott neglected affiliate work and new designs to start up his own work on the side.
Bottom line, I worked like a dog for MN during the time I was there. I brought in countless affiliates during my time, multiplied MN sales and built their professional reputation. (comically, this seems to be something they have slowly start to destroy as soon as I?m canned.)
I worked far more than a normal 8 hour day. As you can see from Darren?s comments, one of the main reasons for my being fired is that I started a business on the side. However, this business was completely unrelated to Penis Enlargement. I never signed a contract that stipulated I couldn?t do side work and was never made aware that doing side work was against the rules.
Accusation #3
Scott referred a designer to an affiliate and then provided sensitive sales information to that designer so the price could be ?bumped up accordingly? and ?kickbacks given?.
Fact - I NEVER received any kickbacks from anyone, for anything.
Here?s what really happened. We had an affiliate looking for a designer to do a couple new sites for him. Martin, the MN head designer, whom I had worked with on
www.volumepills.com (hey I still even promote them ;) ) is a great designer and does side work.
So I referred the affiliate to him. Martin in the course of things, asked me how much the affiliate makes. I said the affiliate does well, probably over a certain figure per month. However, Darren claims this was sensitive information. Why in the world is it confidential from another MN employee? Martin:
a) works for MN
and
b) has heard other conversations about how much other affiliates make
So hearing a round $ figure was nothing new or abnormal for him.
Martin then had trouble signing up for an epassporte acct, the preferred method of payment by the affiliate. I have an epass acct, so he asked me to accept payment and then wire him the money. So I accepted $1000 into my epass acct and then wired him $1000 from my checking acct. This is the ONLY money I saw during the whole process and DID NOT keep any of it. So this ?reason? for firing me, if you can call it that, is pure libel.
So in the end this seems to be more a ?crime of passion? rather than logic on the part of MN. The bottom line is I?m guilty of venting frustrations to my wife in what I thought was a private setting about my coworkers / job. Darren wants to paint me as a liar, a cheat, and someone not to be trusted.
However, the only people I didn?t tell the whole truth to were him and those on his side. Why would I do this? I didn?t agree with the way the operation was run or decisions made. But I was getting paid to do a job for MN. And if I had breathed a word of my feelings to him, I?m sure these would have been the last words I said as a Mensniche employee. We?ve all been in this situation and I?d have been an idiot to tell him how I felt.
So that about concludes my explanation of what went on. There are many other things I could and would like to say, however I?m only here to defend myself and my reputation, not try and destroy anyone else?s.
This was a long one, if you got to the end, thanks. I?d also like to thank everyone that has stuck of up for me even when it seemed like they shouldn?t. Though it sounds cheesy, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Scott