Talk about going out with a bang.
TikToker Adam Powiss was fired from his job at British hardware chain B&Q and gave his bosses the ultimate revenge sendoff – complete with a remark riddled with expletives.
In a clip on his TikTok, which allegedly received 180,000 likes before his account was suspended, the curly-haired former employee grabbed ahold of the business’ phone, connecting to the store-wide overhead speakers.
“This is a customer announcement,” the 18-year-old began his PSA in the Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset branch. “I just got sacked and B&Q are c–ts, f–k everyone. Have a nice day.”
The original clip, according to Kennedy News, was captioned, “Got fired so left with style!”
Now, the Bristol-based TikToker has been banned from every B&Q in the UK, per a clip posted last week.
While it’s water off his back – since “he doesn’t shop there regularly anyway” – he admitted that he regrets his famous last words.
“I don’t really get embarrassed but my heart was racing,” he told Kennedy News. “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.”
Blaming his annoyance, the former worker said his one mistake at work – vaping outside of the designated smoking area – was taken further than necessary and led to his termination.
“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,” he explained. “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.”
Powiss claimed he was smoking his e-cigarette outside of the smoking area when he was spotted and then fired, despite swearing he was unaware of the rule.
Viewers on TikTok gawked at Powiss’ outrageous stunt – while some cracked jokes, others scolded the young Brit for his actions.
“Is that your response?” one user chided. “Then you justify why you were sacked from whatever you did before?”
“There goes his reference,” another scoffed.
“Whether you should do this depends on why you were sacked,” someone else chimed in.
“I’ve always wanted to do this,” cheered another.
“You should have said everything is free for five minutes,” quipped one user.
“I understand the criticism, but a joke is a joke and you can either take offense to it or you don’t. It was directed to staff in a sense but it wasn’t malicious,” Powiss said. “I didn’t hear anything from them afterwards so I thought I’d put it on TikTok for a joke. It’s so unexpected that some people think it’s fake, but the banning order proves it.”
While a B&Q spokesperson told Kennedy News the chain is “unable to comment on individual cases,” they claimed that “any decision to review a colleague’s employment is not taken lightly and considers all relevant circumstances.”
“I probably shouldn’t have [made the announcement] but it happened. I do regret it a bit,” Powiss added. “Not because of what I said but more about future job opportunities.”