I work for a small company, in the United States. Part of my duties is building out quotes for products and services our company sells. I’m trying to avoid being overly specific, but basically I have been asked to quote out a product we often sell, but to also include in the quote a feature which out company cannot actually provide. The customer has several of the item I am supposed to quote already and believes that they have the additional feature on all of the existing devices, so expects to see it on this quote for their new site.

I have brought up with my boss in the past that we have not implemented the additional feature and to the best of my knowledge we can’t. He assured me he was looking at addressing that. Today, after receiving the request for this new quote, I asked my boss about it, he said he still hasn’t come up with a plan to address the issue, but wants me to move forward with pricing it out anyway.

It would be a big hit to our company if the customer left us, but I struggle to see how what my company is doing here isn’t fraud. I’m not really comfortable with doing this, but my relationship with management is already strained and I wasn’t really looking to create any more waves at the moment.

Are there good resources I could look to to determine if this would constitute fraud from a legal perspective? Has anyone here ever been in a similar situation?

I’m looking for another job, but don’t have anything lined up yet, so nervous about doing (or not doing) something that would get me fired, but Im not comfortable with what appears to me to be dishonest at best and fraudulent at worst.

Edit: wanted to add that to the best of my knowledge, we aren’t selling that additional feature to anyone else at the moment. I think my boss is just afraid of this customer in particular finding out since they’ve already been sold the feature and they’re a larger customer.

Edit 2: thanks everyone for the advice. It is much appreciated. I’ve got a lot of thinking to do tonight.

  • Limonene@lemmy.world
    3·
    2 days ago

    Tell the truth, and quote the customer without that feature. Make it clear that that feature doesn’t exist, and your company can’t make it, and your supplier isn’t interested in working on it.

    Your boss had time to sort this out, and failed. He asked you to move forward as if it was solved, which means lying. Instead, tell the truth.

    You could run it by your boss before sending it to the customer, but don’t let him insert any bad-faith statements if you’re the one signing the quote.

    • DumpsterFireHottub@lemmy.worldOP
      3·
      2 days ago

      I am leaning towards just pushing back on this and forcing my boss to explain how it is not fraud. Thankfully, my name is rarely attached to the quotes. I just build them, but it’s the sales rep name that goes on it.

      I appreciate your input!

      • bleistift2@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        6·
        2 days ago

        Thankfully, my name is rarely attached to the quotes. I just build them, but it’s the sales rep name that goes on it.

        Don’t trust what you see. In my company, every change ever made on any business entity gets logged with date and author name.

      • towerful@programming.dev
        2·
        2 days ago

        Not a lawyer.
        But how to “cover your ass”.

        If pressured to still send a quote with it included, ask your manager to email over the details - ie get it in writing.
        You are looking for them to tell you to include this unprovidable service in the quote as part of the details/instructions.
        IE your manager to tell you to do the unethical thing in writing.
        And respond back along the lines of “as discussed, we can’t provide this service and can’t procure it from the upstream provider. However I will do as instructed and email the quote to the customer with this service included”.
        This is indicating that you have discussed it (ideally save any other emails about this subject).
        If your boss emails back “we haven’t discussed this”, then raise the issue in writing and don’t send the quote until it is resolved by email (if your boss talks to you in person, feel free to send a “follow up” email outlining what you discussed and ask for clarification).
        If your boss emails back “do as you are told”, then do as you are told.
        Save all the emails.

        BCC to a personal account will be seen in server logs. Better to export backups or take screenshots and put them on a USB. Or ZIP them with a password and find a way to exfil them without raising red flags if USB devices are restricted. There are many ways to do this, I’m sure I can suggest some.

        Generally, working under instruction where your pushback might lead to termination generally results in unfair dismissal and settlements.
        Especially if you can prove that you have raised the issue, and still been told to proceed.

        It doesn’t sound like this is a risk-to-life or risk-to-public scenario, so I don’t think “whistle blower” procedures are needed.