Manager Wants Their Employee To Serve Clients Right Before Closing, Employee Complies To Teach Him A Lesson
You shouldn’t tell experts how to do their jobs. Especially if you’re a complete amateur in their field. Otherwise, you’ll see just how very wrong you are. That’s the lesson that redditor Baileythenerd taught their well-meaning but clueless General Manager.
The Reddit user explained that there was a very good reason why nobody started cell phone transactions half-an-hour before the end of the workday at their retail job. The unofficial rule was meant to save everyone a whole bunch of time and nerves and not lead to easily-avoidable overtime.
But Baileythenerd saw that their GM had to experience this firsthand to fully appreciate it. Scroll down for the full story in the redditor’s own words and for Baileythenerd’s interview with Bored Panda. And when you’re done with this post, have a read through Bored Panda’s other articles about the stories from the Malicious Compliance subreddit right here, here, and here.
A redditor shared the story of how their manager wanted them to serve customers 30 minutes before closing…
Image credits: osde8info (not the actual photo)
…and how they used this to teach the clueless manager a lesson they’ll never forget
“I assumed the best way to prove a rule isn’t pointless is to demonstrate what happens in the absence of it. I expected he would get sick of the situation and would’ve pulled the plug sooner,” the redditor told us the motivation behind their actions.
According to Baileythenerd, the management at any company “isn’t always an expert in your job or area of expertise.” That’s why it’s not a bad idea to periodically remind it of this fact: “The best way to remind them of this is to (in a controlled situation) either give them the reigns or show them what happens if your job is done improperly by following their demands. An ‘I told you so’ moment is a powerful way to get a point across.”
We were also curious to find out Baileythenerd’s thoughts about why some people, in general, think that they know better than individuals who are experts in their fields. “People often assume the chain of command is also a chain of expertise. This happens as often with management as it does with customers.”
“The thing to remember, as the expert, is that these people are initially coming to you for your expertise,” the redditor said. “Be firm in the fact that you’re the expert (don’t be mean or rude, but) don’t leave any doubt for the customer/manager where you have no doubt. If they want to go against your advice make sure you emphasize that it’s their decision to do so.”
They added: “The fastest way you learn not to touch a hot stove is to get burned, likewise, the fastest way to learn not to ignore an expert is to ignore them once.”
Unpaid overtime is a similar problem
The story raises a very important question: how should we react when our bosses ask us to start working on something that will result in several additional hours of overtime?
An old friend of mine once told me that being brazen and straightforward is the right response. That means that when you’re asked to work in your spare time, you ought to ask how you’ll be compensated for all of those extra hours. But what if your boss wants you to work for free after you’re done for the day?
Well, Kevin Tucker of C-Cubed Consulting suggests that you should first consider that your employer hasn’t even thought about the legal ramifications this might have! Familiarize yourself with your country’s labor laws and the contract that you signed when you started working at the company, then talk to your boss openly. Honesty is always better than hiding in a corner and whining because you’re scared of ‘making waves.’
Meanwhile, Krisanne Elsner of Fishel Bocker & Elsner HR Associates notes you ought to find out the company policy for overtime ASAP. And if you have suspicions about being taken advantage of, talk to your boss about officially clocking in/out earlier/later so as to take into account any extra tasks you’re asked to take care of before or after your official work hours.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be paid fairly and correctly for your efforts. But keeping your dignity requires a whole bunch of courage, grit, and a willingness to stand up to your superiors. That involves being polite but firm when saying “no” to working overtime for free.
If you find yourself in a situation where you couldn’t say “no,” keep track of all the extra hours that you work and present them as evidence to HR. Obviously, this isn’t as dramatic as what redditor Baileythenerd did with their GM, but it ought to work just as well.
Some people shared their own similar stories about their jobs
This is why it is extremely important for managers to shadow their employees for a full day. All different types of job functions need to be shadowed. Spreadsheets and metrics cannot ever give you the full view of what your people do.
I dont know, what problem you have in States, but in my country, i walk to the store and after 20 minutes i am going out with new carrier activation (15 minutes just papers). Or if i transfer my number from one carrier to another, it takes max 3 days, but i dont have to be present in store, and after transfer is done, i get an SMS about it. Also purchased 5 times a SIM in States with activating, and everytime it took max 15 minutes to activate. I am just curious, what can took 5-6 hours by activating cell phone carrier... :)
I'm guessing this was a complicated case because of the three different prepaid carriers. If you are staying with the same carrier and just getting a new phone, it is pretty quick (15-20 minutes). But if you are moving to a new carrier, it takes longer. Plus, this was three phones. Plus, it was after hours. Plus, they were all from different carriers, which all have different procedures. Plus a language barrier..... Also, it isn't "what can took", it is "what can take".
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I had bosses like that... also, they didn't like paying overtime. Too bad for them that I won't work off the clock because of abject stupidity on their parts.
It was always the same at a groom shop I worked at. There would be customers coming in an hour before we closed asking for their dogs to be clipped and groomed. They were so shocked when they found out the groomers had gone home. Let's see..it's probably because, even if they were here, it takes 2 hours minimum for them to clip, wash, dry, trim your dog..not to mention trimming their nails. We usually request a minimum of 4 hours with the dog because we dry the dogs in front of fans instead of harsh heated blow dryers. And I especially hate the people that come in 15 minutes before close and expect full service and think they're going to get it because we haven't locked the doors yet...meaning they don't care if we spend unpaid overtime trying to help them. Screw you! I have a family too and I'd like to go home and see them every once in a while. Call me crazy..but I think that's more important than whether or not Fluffy has to wait a day to get her spa treatment.
Whether you have a family or not is irrelevant. Everybody has the right to his/her free time. No explanations and no reasons. Your free time is yours.
Load More Replies... Well, they shouldn't have arrived just 15 minutes before closing time... They knew it was going to take longer than 15 minutes, and I bet you anything they didn't think of the employee even once.
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Previous Blue boxer/Squader here; the thing I hated the most was management wanting us to stuff every sellable into a transaction AND give good customer service. Anyone ever have the golf cards, where you would "score" each sellable? I felt like we were exploiting customers to make sales goals. "Oh, you just want a $300 dollar laptop to replace the basic, web-browsing, Netflix watching device you spilled water on? Easy. While we're here, do you need a printer? A laptop bag? Would you like a protection plan? Would you like us to set it up for you? Would you like Antivirus? Would you like to sign up for our credit card?" It got even worse when they tried to couple that with "15 minute" sale. Sorry, but I wanted to establish repertoire with my clients; sometimes all they wanted was a ink cartridge. I felt like if I was friendly and approachable and gave them a good experience, even for the little things, without being overbearing, they would eventually come back to me for the bigger sales
I stopped for pizza late one night, after having a horrible day, near tears, just trying to feed my family. The lady took my order but I noticed she wasn't very talkative like usual, Then after I paid it hit me, omgosh they're close to closing, I blurted out "what time do you close" she said 10pm , usually it was 11pm but on week nights its 10, it was 9:55 pm , my heart sank, I apologized, and asked to have the order canceled she insisted they had to make it company policy, I was so upset at having caused this for these employees I started to cry, I couldn't stop the tears, she said, "its ok" I kept telling her "no its not ok, I am so sorry".. I left there and felt defeated, my day the already hurt and pain in my life and I'd just caused an entire crew a longer night.. You have to feel for others.
At least you felt something. I find that there are many customers who are so self centered and selfish, they don't care about anyone else but themselves. They would have made those employees stay late and not have felt a single ounce of guilt over it. You, at least, realized the mistake and tried to make it right. I'm sure the employees appreciated it.
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I used to work for a manager at a pizza place that would bend over backwards for the customers no matter how stupid and ridiculous their complaint sounded. One person complained that I put the wrong flavor on her wings. This occurred after she ate them and even though I could clearly see what they were supposed to be flavored on the screen. Another person claimed that they were supposed to get sodas even though they weren't on the ticket. Sure enough, I was sent back out to take them. I am so glad that my manager now doesn't put up with bs customer issues and forces me to do things just because the customer complained. Our manager will only fix something if there is a legitimate problem. As for staying open late like that, that manager was crazy.
Its port forwarding. Basically the carrier's "modem" needs the phones Identification number (different than phone number) to have access to the carrier's service. You have to link then so they are able to talk. This is especially difficult with phones that DONT have SIM cards. The SIM card is basically doing that for you.
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I don't even go to a store anymore. I order the plan and phone I want online, gets delivered the next day, number is transferred as soon as the old plan ends (usually a month cancellation period, but if not, it is transferred within days), don't have to do anything but start using the new sim when I get a text saying it's ready. Weird americans and their weird, convoluted mobile service contracts.
Customers are, for the most part, appreciative and pleasant to do business with. However, a few are rude and inconsiderate and can ruin your entire day. On Sundays, when every employee is eager to go home and enjoy the rest of the day; they (bad customers) come to the store 5 minutes before closing, browse for 40 minutes, don't buy anything, and leave. Jerks!!!
I was the Controller/Administrator for a small company in Seattle. We had an employee who consistently worked 60 hours a week (we were not only understaffed, he was a machine!) The overtime was killing us, so the GM decided to make this guy a manager and put him on salary. I had to explain to the GM that in the state of WA (according to the State's written Employment Law Handbook, which I practically memorized) that just because you put him on salary DID NOT mean you were still allowed to have him work 60 hours per week without compensation. I actually had to call our corporate attorney to get the matter resolved. I was all for saving the company money, but not at the expense of our employees. I also had to fight tooth and nail to get them medical/dental & 401k benefits.
I worked at the school district kitchen. One of the rules was the parent was not to eat off the child's food tray. Adults paid full price, the students prices were reduced. Numerous times the parents ignored the rule and ate off the child's tray at students price. They never bought an adult's tray. We cold not say anything. So why have the rule if it is not going to be enforced?
I worked as sys admin for years. Bosses who think they can learn the job with one or two questions are the worse.
This is very much like a union tactic called "Work-to-Rule" in which employees do no more than the minimum required by the rules of their contract, and precisely follow all safety or other regulations, which may cause a slowdown or decrease in productivity, as they are no longer working during breaks or during unpaid extended hours and weekends.
This really is a general problem of that company. Ill-defined processes, bad incentive systems, low cohesion. That manager is just a small wheel.
I will admit that the OP could have handled it better. Maybe sitting down with the GM to teach him the process so that he understands why they stop at the time that they do. But this is not a company problem. Many retailers have to adjust hours based on their suppliers customer service and business hours. It seems this GM was just unaware of why the restriction was in place.
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He explained many, many times and the manager wouldn't listen. Maybe read more than the tl:dr?
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They can do other work like finishing the transactions they started prior to 8:30, they often also sell cables, chargers, sometimes phone cases, phone credit etc so these things can still be purchased between 8:30-9pm. They don’t just sell brand new phones.
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Not quite the same situation, unless I'm confused ...
Load More Replies... This is why it is extremely important for managers to shadow their employees for a full day. All different types of job functions need to be shadowed. Spreadsheets and metrics cannot ever give you the full view of what your people do.
I dont know, what problem you have in States, but in my country, i walk to the store and after 20 minutes i am going out with new carrier activation (15 minutes just papers). Or if i transfer my number from one carrier to another, it takes max 3 days, but i dont have to be present in store, and after transfer is done, i get an SMS about it. Also purchased 5 times a SIM in States with activating, and everytime it took max 15 minutes to activate. I am just curious, what can took 5-6 hours by activating cell phone carrier... :)
I'm guessing this was a complicated case because of the three different prepaid carriers. If you are staying with the same carrier and just getting a new phone, it is pretty quick (15-20 minutes). But if you are moving to a new carrier, it takes longer. Plus, this was three phones. Plus, it was after hours. Plus, they were all from different carriers, which all have different procedures. Plus a language barrier..... Also, it isn't "what can took", it is "what can take".
Load More Replies... I had bosses like that... also, they didn't like paying overtime. Too bad for them that I won't work off the clock because of abject stupidity on their parts.
It was always the same at a groom shop I worked at. There would be customers coming in an hour before we closed asking for their dogs to be clipped and groomed. They were so shocked when they found out the groomers had gone home. Let's see..it's probably because, even if they were here, it takes 2 hours minimum for them to clip, wash, dry, trim your dog..not to mention trimming their nails. We usually request a minimum of 4 hours with the dog because we dry the dogs in front of fans instead of harsh heated blow dryers. And I especially hate the people that come in 15 minutes before close and expect full service and think they're going to get it because we haven't locked the doors yet...meaning they don't care if we spend unpaid overtime trying to help them. Screw you! I have a family too and I'd like to go home and see them every once in a while. Call me crazy..but I think that's more important than whether or not Fluffy has to wait a day to get her spa treatment.
Whether you have a family or not is irrelevant. Everybody has the right to his/her free time. No explanations and no reasons. Your free time is yours.
Load More Replies... Well, they shouldn't have arrived just 15 minutes before closing time... They knew it was going to take longer than 15 minutes, and I bet you anything they didn't think of the employee even once.
Load More Replies... Previous Blue boxer/Squader here; the thing I hated the most was management wanting us to stuff every sellable into a transaction AND give good customer service. Anyone ever have the golf cards, where you would "score" each sellable? I felt like we were exploiting customers to make sales goals. "Oh, you just want a $300 dollar laptop to replace the basic, web-browsing, Netflix watching device you spilled water on? Easy. While we're here, do you need a printer? A laptop bag? Would you like a protection plan? Would you like us to set it up for you? Would you like Antivirus? Would you like to sign up for our credit card?" It got even worse when they tried to couple that with "15 minute" sale. Sorry, but I wanted to establish repertoire with my clients; sometimes all they wanted was a ink cartridge. I felt like if I was friendly and approachable and gave them a good experience, even for the little things, without being overbearing, they would eventually come back to me for the bigger sales
I stopped for pizza late one night, after having a horrible day, near tears, just trying to feed my family. The lady took my order but I noticed she wasn't very talkative like usual, Then after I paid it hit me, omgosh they're close to closing, I blurted out "what time do you close" she said 10pm , usually it was 11pm but on week nights its 10, it was 9:55 pm , my heart sank, I apologized, and asked to have the order canceled she insisted they had to make it company policy, I was so upset at having caused this for these employees I started to cry, I couldn't stop the tears, she said, "its ok" I kept telling her "no its not ok, I am so sorry".. I left there and felt defeated, my day the already hurt and pain in my life and I'd just caused an entire crew a longer night.. You have to feel for others.
At least you felt something. I find that there are many customers who are so self centered and selfish, they don't care about anyone else but themselves. They would have made those employees stay late and not have felt a single ounce of guilt over it. You, at least, realized the mistake and tried to make it right. I'm sure the employees appreciated it.
Load More Replies... I used to work for a manager at a pizza place that would bend over backwards for the customers no matter how stupid and ridiculous their complaint sounded. One person complained that I put the wrong flavor on her wings. This occurred after she ate them and even though I could clearly see what they were supposed to be flavored on the screen. Another person claimed that they were supposed to get sodas even though they weren't on the ticket. Sure enough, I was sent back out to take them. I am so glad that my manager now doesn't put up with bs customer issues and forces me to do things just because the customer complained. Our manager will only fix something if there is a legitimate problem. As for staying open late like that, that manager was crazy.
Its port forwarding. Basically the carrier's "modem" needs the phones Identification number (different than phone number) to have access to the carrier's service. You have to link then so they are able to talk. This is especially difficult with phones that DONT have SIM cards. The SIM card is basically doing that for you.
Load More Replies... I don't even go to a store anymore. I order the plan and phone I want online, gets delivered the next day, number is transferred as soon as the old plan ends (usually a month cancellation period, but if not, it is transferred within days), don't have to do anything but start using the new sim when I get a text saying it's ready. Weird americans and their weird, convoluted mobile service contracts.
Customers are, for the most part, appreciative and pleasant to do business with. However, a few are rude and inconsiderate and can ruin your entire day. On Sundays, when every employee is eager to go home and enjoy the rest of the day; they (bad customers) come to the store 5 minutes before closing, browse for 40 minutes, don't buy anything, and leave. Jerks!!!
I was the Controller/Administrator for a small company in Seattle. We had an employee who consistently worked 60 hours a week (we were not only understaffed, he was a machine!) The overtime was killing us, so the GM decided to make this guy a manager and put him on salary. I had to explain to the GM that in the state of WA (according to the State's written Employment Law Handbook, which I practically memorized) that just because you put him on salary DID NOT mean you were still allowed to have him work 60 hours per week without compensation. I actually had to call our corporate attorney to get the matter resolved. I was all for saving the company money, but not at the expense of our employees. I also had to fight tooth and nail to get them medical/dental & 401k benefits.
I worked at the school district kitchen. One of the rules was the parent was not to eat off the child's food tray. Adults paid full price, the students prices were reduced. Numerous times the parents ignored the rule and ate off the child's tray at students price. They never bought an adult's tray. We cold not say anything. So why have the rule if it is not going to be enforced?
I worked as sys admin for years. Bosses who think they can learn the job with one or two questions are the worse.
This is very much like a union tactic called "Work-to-Rule" in which employees do no more than the minimum required by the rules of their contract, and precisely follow all safety or other regulations, which may cause a slowdown or decrease in productivity, as they are no longer working during breaks or during unpaid extended hours and weekends.
This really is a general problem of that company. Ill-defined processes, bad incentive systems, low cohesion. That manager is just a small wheel.
I will admit that the OP could have handled it better. Maybe sitting down with the GM to teach him the process so that he understands why they stop at the time that they do. But this is not a company problem. Many retailers have to adjust hours based on their suppliers customer service and business hours. It seems this GM was just unaware of why the restriction was in place.
Load More Replies... He explained many, many times and the manager wouldn't listen. Maybe read more than the tl:dr?
Load More Replies... They can do other work like finishing the transactions they started prior to 8:30, they often also sell cables, chargers, sometimes phone cases, phone credit etc so these things can still be purchased between 8:30-9pm. They don’t just sell brand new phones.
Load More Replies... Not quite the same situation, unless I'm confused ...
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