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Employee says they were fired abruptly and then bombarded for equipment return: 'Is this normal?'
The situation has led the Redditor to question whether the company is trying to intimidate them, cover themselves legally, or simply mishandled the situation.
A Reddit user’s account of being abruptly fired and then aggressively pursued for office equipment within 24 hours has sparked a discussion online.
In the post, titled “Fired out of nowhere, now my old employer is blowing up my phone about ‘equipment returns’ less than 24 hours later. What is going on?”, the anonymous user detailed what they described as a “jarring” and confusing sequence of events.
According to the Redditor, they were let go without warning, explanation, or documented performance concerns. “ Just a sudden meeting with leadership where I was told vague things about ‘fit’ and ‘timelines,’ but when I asked for examples they literally could not give me a single one,” the user wrote.
The OP said that the sudden firing was particularly shocking because they had recently completed a major project that went “smoothly,” helped secure a client renewal, and even received public praise from leadership. “I also genuinely liked my coworkers and made a point to recognize people and show appreciation. So this was… jarring, to say the least,” the user said.
The bigger twist came less than a day later. The user said their inbox and phone began flooding with messages from the company’s lone HR representative, all demanding the “dimensions” of the equipment they needed to return. Not a reminder, they said, but multiple emails per day, missed calls, and even a direct message from the company owner asking if they were “available to talk this afternoon”.
Complicating matters further, the Redditor said that they had already marked PTO on their work calendar and was off-grid in the desert when the messages arrived. “They’re still firing off messages like I’m ignoring them. Meanwhile I’m sitting here still trying to process getting fired, and they’re acting like I’m holding their equipment hostage,” the user wrote.
The situation has led the Redditor to question whether the company is trying to intimidate them, cover themselves legally, or simply mishandled the situation. While the user insists they intend to return everything promptly, they admit the behaviour has left them shaken.
“I fully intend to return everything promptly and professionally. I’m not trying to keep anything. But I cannot get over how insensitive and tone deaf it feels to immediately harass someone for logistics less than a day after terminating them. Especially when they knew I had PTO planned and would be nowhere near home,” the user wrote.
How did social media react?
The post has drawn wide engagement, with several users sharing similar experiences. Many suggested that companies often become hyper-focused on asset recovery immediately after a termination, while others said the sudden firing combined with the urgent equipment requests could indicate internal miscommunication or fear of liability.
“Tell them to send you a prepaid shipping label and you’ll return it. Don’t box it up and return on your own dime,” one user wrote.
“Let 'em sweat. Relish in their anxiety. Don't make them any sort of priority. Let them know they don't matter to you. You know they'll get their junk back. They obviously care as little as they can about catering to your needs, so don't you dare cater to theirs,” commented another.
“You want to return items via registered mail because you want proof the items were received. Too many people drop stuff off or send it back and the business later claimed they didn't because Dave in reception or Sue in stores didn't let the appropriate person know the items had been returned,” wrote a third user.
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)
