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Engineer Is Furious When Company Refuses To Pay For The Work He Did, Makes Sure They Don’t Know How To Finish It Before He Leaves
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Engineer Is Furious When Company Refuses To Pay For The Work He Did, Makes Sure They Don’t Know How To Finish It Before He Leaves

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It’s quite a normal practice for a business to minimize expenses and maximize profits. That’s actually how any business in the world operates and has done so for thousands of years.

But what is not cool about this is the fact that some businesses employ shady tactics, like “oh, I’m sorry, but we can’t pay you for the work you’ve practically almost done, so sorry to waste your time, we’ll take it from here.”

Except you won’t. Because you played yourself by employing a smart guy who knows how to mess with niche machinery your engineers have no grasp of.

More Info: Reddit

Businesses are interested in saving money, but screwing employees over is not the way to go as employees can screw the business over

Image source: – wendenlook – (not the actual photo)

The story goes that manufacturing machine engineer Confident Lime on Reddit worked at a company that dealt with manufacturing machinery. After leaving, one of the clients somehow got a hold of him, and didn’t honestly care that he didn’t work there any more. The company offered double pay for a weekend job installing one machine and doing some maintenance on another one onsite. Sweet deal. He took it.

So, he got there and went at it. However, he was interrupted about 6 hours into the job only to be told that the promised budget for his services wasn’t actually going to happen, so there was a “sorry” and the guy giving him the sad news said their engineers would take it from there.

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One engineer almost became a victim of said screwing, but he reminded the company that without him, their machines are toast

Image source: AwkLemon

This was frustrating for OP, to say the least. So, he opted for revenge. But not just any kind of revenge. No, this isn’t your run-of-the-mill smash up the machine sort of thing. He was cunning as heck.

You see, there is this little piece of fine print stating that if this particular niche bit of machinery is installed partially by anyone other than by an authorized engineer, i.e. the supplier that OP used to work for, then they can’t get involved any more as they can’t guarantee the integrity of the parts and stuff.

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They can, however, send the instructions to the buyer to install the machine themselves to save money. But said instructions are a convoluted mess, so it’s better to just do it through the proper channels.

OP was told he wouldn’t get paid, so he rendered a machine unusable without breaking it, but rather soft-locking it in a sense

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Image source: AwkLemon

Since OP was halfway through the process, there was no way on earth the authorized people would get involved, so it was all down to the client’s engineers. And the kicker here was that they did not know of this thing called the “test mode”.

Test mode is exactly what it sounds like—a mode used for testing the machine. However, when you set it up, it only works in that particular mode, not allowing the machine to function “properly”, which the client would have liked it to. Well, OP did exactly that and left.

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And, of course, the engineers came over and tried to finish the job, but couldn’t get the machine to work as it was supposed to. So, come Monday, OP’s phone was hot with calls, but he let them stew for a few days.

He enabled a test mode that wouldn’t go away until he actually made it go away, but the company’s engineers didn’t know that

Image source: AwkLemon

What ended up happening, though, was OP was asked to “fix it” for $8,500 (£7,000), thus winning in the end

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Image source: Steve Jurvetson (not the actual photo)

When he finally picked up, the boss man was furious. A short and screamy back and forth later, the boss man was forced to pay OP under his terms—£7,000 or a bit over $8,500, in advance. “I’d never felt this powerful before,” said OP.

So, the money landed in his account, he came in the next day, spent 20 minutes deactivating the test mode, packing up and leaving. The look on their faces was priceless, and the moral of the story was that you don’t ever mess with professionals for they shall mess with you harder.

Folks online got a good kick out of the story, wishing OP could’ve enacted even more revenge there

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This, in turn, prompted many commenters to share similar stories in the comments. This is besides those who said he could’ve made them pay more by adding an increasing daily rate, and those who had raging engineering spurts of revenge enthusiasm in parts of their bodies because of how satisfying it was to their engineering selves.

Needless to say, the story was a success on Reddit, garnering 12,200 upvotes and a bit over 20 Reddit awards. You can check out the post and all of the comments here, or take a look at our other pro, amateur, or whatever other types of revenge stories here.

But, before you leave us and we have to take revenge for your abrupt departure, we’d really appreciate your commentary on the story, the characters, engineering, or anything else that matters in the comment section below!

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delphinum4 avatar
Zophra
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe that's why a contract should be signed before starting? Isn't that typical? (Not sure.)

sueuser avatar
Sue User
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Contract up front, deposit to start. If long job, payments at milestones.

Load More Replies...
fuyu avatar
fu yu
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Jake has balls for trying to cheat the engineer. Glad his balls were deflated to the tune of 8G

danculver4 avatar
Dan
Community Member
1 year ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Jake could get his balls deflated for much cheaper at yo mama's house 😉😛🤭

Load More Replies...
jknbt avatar
Jknbt
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know several men that are highly skilled senior technicians. They have tried to go to work for themselves selling services like this. The companies they work for routinely cheat them out of their pay, even if working behind a valid contract. The companies will ignore billing letters for as much as 18 months, and then they will offer a "settlement" which is usually 50% of what was agreed after the dun letter comes in from the lawyer... Most independent businessmen providing this sort of service cannot afford this sort of "float". I was approached by a company out of state to come to work for them. I sent them a quote and estimated expenses. I insisted that they work on a paid in advance basis, and that I work under a contract. I never heard from them again, which is not a problem. They were obviously planning on cheating me. I have about as much respect for unethical businessmen like that as I do an annoying gnat. Begone, gnat!

kathinka avatar
Katinka Min
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Seriously? You call someone in , let them work and then tell them 'We can''t pay you'? What kind of insanity is that? Who would ruin their reputation in such a fashion??

shrimpyninni avatar
AsexualShrimp
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is so dumb.. If a person is providing you a service, then it is pure common sense to pay them back. It is literally what we are taught as kids.

sophie-hosselkus_1 avatar
Sleepy_Child
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not everyone was taught that, and a lot of people don't have common sense, but yeah I see your point

Load More Replies...
noneanon avatar
Random Anon
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some people will do just about anything shady for a buck, including bribing people off. A client did that to us years ago by switching to a "more reasonably priced" vendor but kept our product running. Essentially, that means the end of any form of maintenance on our part. Common sense right? But no, they tried to bribe one of my guys when things went sideways, and an insulting one at that. What these penny pinching asswipes don't realize is, we're a small crew and the capable ones are all on profit-sharing. Our engineer told them where to shove it. I nearly lost it seeing this usually chill fella get insulted enough to say that over the phone.

kellid1202 avatar
Kelli
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

😂😂😂Years ago I worked for a beer distributor, not Budweiser. One of the managers really screwed me over so I quit, taking the claims form disc, which I designed and copyrighted with me. Wasn’t too long before they had her boss taking me out for dinner trying to schmooze me. When asked what I wanted to drink, I ordered a Budweiser. 😂😂 when he said “really, why are you ordering the competition?” I replied, because I hate you guys man. That is how long ago it was. The Bud slogan was I love you guys, man.

mike_loux avatar
Mike Loux
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Like the old joke says: $5 for pushing the right button to turn it on. $4995 for KNOWING what button to push.

rhodabike6 avatar
Seabeast
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have my doubts about the authenticity of some of these stories. I find it hard to believe that an engineer with lots of experience dealing with clients wouldn't ask to have a contract written up and part of the payment before starting.

rchargel avatar
RafCo (he/him)
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not sure how contacts work in the UK, but unless you're Donald Trump, you don't get to just decide not to pay somebody.

christine-backbay avatar
Uncommon Boston
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As we have read so often, people ignore the training and skill to preform many jobs. "All you need is Photoshop." Written agreements get ignored, legal actions cost money. Verbal agreements should be honored too. $X.xx to install or fix something so it works is the agreement. No pay = no working device >>>>>>>>>> regards of who is doing the work. Pay people for the work they do.

ralph_lomax avatar
Ralph Lomax
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Several years ago, a former employer pulled one like this on me, at the end of the first day, the boss told me they would take over for the rest of the weeks work, i packed up as he tried to engage me in a conversation about what was the next thing that needed doing. Didn't bother to answer, They did pay me for the day, But, later I heard they called in a mfg. rep. to get the unit going ! It wasn't that I had done anything to the unit, only that the boss didn't know as much as he thought !!! At least the check didn't bounce !!!

ma-lahann avatar
marianne eliza
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Something everyone needs to know: Don't sh!t where you eat. That goes especially for home, neighborhood, and work.

hovefav829 avatar
hovefav
Community Member
1 year ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Earn income while simply working online. work from home whenever you want. just for maximum 5 hours a day you can make more than $600 per day online. (hj05) From this i made $18000 last month in my spare time. Check info here:- ==> Www.desalary.com

delphinum4 avatar
Zophra
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe that's why a contract should be signed before starting? Isn't that typical? (Not sure.)

sueuser avatar
Sue User
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Contract up front, deposit to start. If long job, payments at milestones.

Load More Replies...
fuyu avatar
fu yu
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Jake has balls for trying to cheat the engineer. Glad his balls were deflated to the tune of 8G

danculver4 avatar
Dan
Community Member
1 year ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Jake could get his balls deflated for much cheaper at yo mama's house 😉😛🤭

Load More Replies...
jknbt avatar
Jknbt
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know several men that are highly skilled senior technicians. They have tried to go to work for themselves selling services like this. The companies they work for routinely cheat them out of their pay, even if working behind a valid contract. The companies will ignore billing letters for as much as 18 months, and then they will offer a "settlement" which is usually 50% of what was agreed after the dun letter comes in from the lawyer... Most independent businessmen providing this sort of service cannot afford this sort of "float". I was approached by a company out of state to come to work for them. I sent them a quote and estimated expenses. I insisted that they work on a paid in advance basis, and that I work under a contract. I never heard from them again, which is not a problem. They were obviously planning on cheating me. I have about as much respect for unethical businessmen like that as I do an annoying gnat. Begone, gnat!

kathinka avatar
Katinka Min
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Seriously? You call someone in , let them work and then tell them 'We can''t pay you'? What kind of insanity is that? Who would ruin their reputation in such a fashion??

shrimpyninni avatar
AsexualShrimp
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is so dumb.. If a person is providing you a service, then it is pure common sense to pay them back. It is literally what we are taught as kids.

sophie-hosselkus_1 avatar
Sleepy_Child
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not everyone was taught that, and a lot of people don't have common sense, but yeah I see your point

Load More Replies...
noneanon avatar
Random Anon
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some people will do just about anything shady for a buck, including bribing people off. A client did that to us years ago by switching to a "more reasonably priced" vendor but kept our product running. Essentially, that means the end of any form of maintenance on our part. Common sense right? But no, they tried to bribe one of my guys when things went sideways, and an insulting one at that. What these penny pinching asswipes don't realize is, we're a small crew and the capable ones are all on profit-sharing. Our engineer told them where to shove it. I nearly lost it seeing this usually chill fella get insulted enough to say that over the phone.

kellid1202 avatar
Kelli
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

😂😂😂Years ago I worked for a beer distributor, not Budweiser. One of the managers really screwed me over so I quit, taking the claims form disc, which I designed and copyrighted with me. Wasn’t too long before they had her boss taking me out for dinner trying to schmooze me. When asked what I wanted to drink, I ordered a Budweiser. 😂😂 when he said “really, why are you ordering the competition?” I replied, because I hate you guys man. That is how long ago it was. The Bud slogan was I love you guys, man.

mike_loux avatar
Mike Loux
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Like the old joke says: $5 for pushing the right button to turn it on. $4995 for KNOWING what button to push.

rhodabike6 avatar
Seabeast
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have my doubts about the authenticity of some of these stories. I find it hard to believe that an engineer with lots of experience dealing with clients wouldn't ask to have a contract written up and part of the payment before starting.

rchargel avatar
RafCo (he/him)
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not sure how contacts work in the UK, but unless you're Donald Trump, you don't get to just decide not to pay somebody.

christine-backbay avatar
Uncommon Boston
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As we have read so often, people ignore the training and skill to preform many jobs. "All you need is Photoshop." Written agreements get ignored, legal actions cost money. Verbal agreements should be honored too. $X.xx to install or fix something so it works is the agreement. No pay = no working device >>>>>>>>>> regards of who is doing the work. Pay people for the work they do.

ralph_lomax avatar
Ralph Lomax
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Several years ago, a former employer pulled one like this on me, at the end of the first day, the boss told me they would take over for the rest of the weeks work, i packed up as he tried to engage me in a conversation about what was the next thing that needed doing. Didn't bother to answer, They did pay me for the day, But, later I heard they called in a mfg. rep. to get the unit going ! It wasn't that I had done anything to the unit, only that the boss didn't know as much as he thought !!! At least the check didn't bounce !!!

ma-lahann avatar
marianne eliza
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Something everyone needs to know: Don't sh!t where you eat. That goes especially for home, neighborhood, and work.

hovefav829 avatar
hovefav
Community Member
1 year ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Earn income while simply working online. work from home whenever you want. just for maximum 5 hours a day you can make more than $600 per day online. (hj05) From this i made $18000 last month in my spare time. Check info here:- ==> Www.desalary.com

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