B&Q worker banned from all stores after calling colleagues 'c***s' in final customer announcement
If you've ever left a job that you hated, you'll understand that there's a real temptation to share a piece of your mind on the way out.
But for one former B&Q worker, this had some serious consequences and saw them banned from all stores in the UK.
Adam Powis, 18, went viral after he filmed himself telling his colleagues that he'd just been fired in a dramatic customer announcement in a B&Q store in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset.
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He said: "This is a customer announcement. I just got sacked and B&Q are c**ts. F**k everyone. Have a nice day."
Adam, who is training to be a personal trainer, claims that he was sacked after he vaped outside of the store's designated staff smoking area.
Now looking back, he admits that he 'acted irrationally', but said that he was angry because he had apparently seen other staff do the same thing and not face the same repercussions.
Adam, from Bristol, said: "I don't really get embarrassed but my heart was racing.
"I was on my way out and I thought it would be funny so I acted a bit irrationally. I didn't really think about it.
"I made a mistake at work and then they took it further than they needed to so I was a bit annoyed. It wasn't anything serious.
"I didn't think I deserved it because people have done worse things and they've not been fired. I've seen other staff [vape outside the designated area] and that's why I was a bit baffled.
"I actually enjoyed the job. I was good at it and I was never late. I wouldn't even talk bad about the company but I felt I was treated differently."
The 18-year-old said that he ultimately regrets his actions because the video, which was posted to TikTok on Thursday (5 January), may be seen by future employers.
He said that he discovered he had been banned from all B&Q stores on Sunday (8 January) when he apparently received a 'banning notice' that warned he will be treated a 'trespasser' if he enters one of the company's establishments again.
"I'm not too bothered about the ban," Adam added. "I don't shop there on a regular basis. In future I might just have to get someone to go in for me."
He said he believes that the company should have issued him with a warning instead of firing him for vaping.
But online commentators believe that B&Q were justified in their actions and his rant, which took place at 6:30 pm, proves it.
Prior to the video's removal by TikTok, one viewer remarked: "Is that your response? Then you justify why you were sacked from whatever you did before?"
"There goes his reference," added a second while a third joked: "You should have said everything is free for five minutes."
A fourth, meanwhile, empathised, writing: "I've always wanted to do this."
A B&Q spokesperson told LADbible: "We are unable to comment on individual cases. We have agreed processes in place, and any decision to review a colleague's employment is not taken lightly and considers all relevant circumstances."
Topics: UK News
Emma Guinness