bought some scrap batteries yesterday

A friend of mine works at a heavy equipment repair shop, he called me and asked if I would be interested in buying their scrap batteries. I told him to let me check with the local yard to see what they are paying so I can make an offer. Called the yard, got a quote, called my buddy back and made an offer on the types of batteries that they had. Mostly group 31, and a few 4D and 8D. When I got to the shop I went to the bosses office and he had my buddy show me where they were and said to get them all. I counted them 13 group 31 and 8 4 and 8D. They had their new janitor load them in the truck with a forklift, he was quick to go load them before I got back around to where they were being stored at. I had unstacked them to count them, he had already stacked them back up and had them all on a pallet ready to be loaded. I didn't count them when he put them on the truck, but I did count them when I got to the yard, guess what, missing 2 group 31's that were only about 6 months old that I was going to charge and test to see if they were any good. They scrap a lot of good batteries there during warranty repairs. I called my buddy while I was at the yard and asked him to see if they were still back there on the ground, but the were not. He finally found them in the cab of one of their service trucks that nobody uses, he asked the janitor if he knew where they were and he said no. I went back to the shop to confront the guy but my buddy said to let the boss know. I talked to his boss, told him what happened and that my buddy found them, he told me that he could refund me what I paid for them or if I knew where they were to get them, I said I would rather have them. I said it isn't the money, its the fact that one of his employees stole from me and if he refunds me the money they are stealing from the company. I said I'm not trying to start anything as I would like to continue getting their batteries or maybe even get other types of scrap from them. I haven't talked to my buddy today to find out what went on today. Still more than doubled my money without the two missing batts.

I can't stand a thief, they will take whatever they can get away with and whenever. With the scenario you describe, the "boss" is dealing with two new people. A new employee and a new buyer, the only thing he knows for sure, he has a problem he may not have anticipated and he will need some time to help him decide on what (or who) works for him with honesty and integrity.

You did the right thing by letting him know your not OK with him refunding your two "missing" batteries. Speaks to your integrity and with time he will know, you are someone he can trust. The "new" employee will be tested, you can count on that. Let it go for now, you need to choose "battles" that have positive outcomes for yourself!

I've been to the bosses house on several occasions to help my buddy work on his classic mustang, as we are the only ones that he trusts to work on it .The new employee was questioned yesterday and told two different stories. He first said he didn't know anything about them when first questioned, then said that another mechanic who hasn't been at work since Friday and knew nothing about them being picked up, told him that those batts were good and that they were not to go to the scrapper. Funny thing is, is that guy is the one who deals with their scrap and usually calls one of his buddy's. That made the boss question why they were replacing known good batteries. So now a bigger can of worms have been opened.