‘You Get What You Pay for’ : Company Dodges Corporate Client’s Gaslighting/Manipulation via Malicious Compliance, Leading To Project’s Ultimate Demise

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Jan 31, 2023 10:00 AM EST

Clients who try to gaslight you might want to think twice about leaving a paper trail, as that ultimately defeats the purpose of gaslighting. This particular client in question has a long list of faults, such as unreasonable expectations, refusal to listen to logic (they don't adhere to the universal laws of physics apparently), and pulling the classic shocked Pikachu face when presented with proof of their own incompetence.

You can't just expect to be a top-priority client without paying for what that privilege comes with. This isn't kindergarten, it's business. Throwing tantrums will not help your case. u/rentacle posted her tale of malicious compliance to a subreddit dedicated to this type of thing, explaining how a corporate client hired her company to complete a project within a certain timeframe. The project was well underway when the client got cold feet after racking up quite the bill for all the hours the employee needed to work to complete said project by said deadline.

Displeased, they wanted the project both to advance quickly and not suffer the costly repercussions of adding more billable hours to employees. They were basically like 'Nope, I'm not going to pay for more than 20 hours of work a week, thanks'. u/rentacle more or less responded with, 'Cool, so I won't work a minute over 20 hours, because I'm not getting paid for it'. Her manager backed her up, which was kind of surprising, considering there are so many management horror stories out there. Scroll down to read the detailed account below.

While we're on the topic of paychecks, feel free to click here for another classic Corporate furlough story gone wrong.

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  • 01
    Font - Posted by u/rentacle 20 hours ago Pay for 20 hours of work, get 20 hours of work XL OC This happened last year and I've been waiting months to share the inevitable fallout, so please enjoy this lengthy tale of corporate stupidity.
    via u/rentacle
  • 02
    Font - I'll begin by saying I work for a software company. I was working on a project for a client, to customize part of the software and stuff. The project was very open-ended, mostly because the client kept changing their mind about what they wanted, so the contract was "time and materials". Meaning that I had an
    via u/rentacle
  • 03
    Font - hourly rate, I would log all the time worked on the project (in half hour intervals), and every week my company would bill the client company for the hours spent on the project. The client said they didn't care how much effort it took; they
    via u/rentacle
  • 04
    Font - a good product and they it before the end of the year, so they could present it at their big internal meeting. wanted wanted At the beginning, the project went great. Every week I had a meeting with the client and I would get feedback on the progress, as well as new requests they might have, and
    via u/rentacle
  • 05
    Font - then I'd spend however long it took to implement the changes. I'd bill them 15 hours, 20 hours, 25 hours, or however many it had been. Slowly, over time, the client started requesting more and more. I told them during the meeting "this feature will require X days of work", "changing that will require Y more
    via u/rentacle
  • 06
    Font - days" and so on, but again the client insisted they needed all those extra features. They also complained that the project wasn't advancing quickly enough, and insisted they needed the project completed before the end of the year.
    via u/rentacle
  • 07
    Font - I talked to my manager and explained the situation. To be able to finish quickly enough, I needed to work full time on this project. My manager moved my other projects to different people, and we told the client that until the end of the year I would work full time on the project to ensure we will hit all the deadlines. The client was overjoyed... for about a month.
    via u/rentacle
  • 08
    Font - The following month, the client is ped and is demanding to know why we're charging them so much. I pull out my time sheets and explain that, as agreed, I've been working full time (and more) on their project. Every week I've logged between 45 and 50 hours of work, and I have detailed notes specifying exactly how I've spent that time. I'm not
    via u/rentacle
  • 09
    Font - particularly concerned about being accused of stealing time, because I'm a fast worker and most tasks have been completed more quickly than the original estimates. Besides I point out that I'm now working twice as many hours as before, so it's costing the client twice as much per week, but I'm also completing tasks twice as
    via u/rentacle
  • 10
    Font - quickly and will be finished in half the time. The client, unfortunately, doesn't appreciate my use of logical reasoning. They accuse my company of taking advantage and they say that starting from next week they no longer want to pay for more than 20 hours of work per week. I tell them,
    via u/rentacle
  • 11
    Font - sure, we can do that, but it's October already and you want the project completed by the end of the year. Given the amount of work still left to do, I will need more hours to finish. The client doesn't let me explain and says that we're not to bill them for anything more than 20 hours per week, they will not pay us for more
    via u/rentacle
  • 12
    Font - than 20 hours per week, and they want this in writing or they'll cancel the entire project. And my manager says, of course, the customer is always right. (This was an evil evil act of malicious compliance, so please read until the end before getting angry at my manager, he's a great guy.)
    via u/rentacle
  • 13
    Font - So my manager sends the client an email confirming that, starting from [date], my engagement with them will be capped at a maximum of 20 hours per week. He also attaches a spreadsheet of the estimated time to develop all the new features of the project, how many hours I'd
    via u/rentacle
  • 14
    Font - spent so far, and how many hours I projected to spend to complete it. The client smugly acknowledges this. Before the end of the week, my manager gives me back my other project, as well as a new one. You see, at the time we were understaffed because we were
    via u/rentacle
  • 15
    Font - growing too quickly, and we were getting more requests for new projects that we could handle. So there would have been no point in stealing hours from this client and pi ing them off, when we can take on a couple of new clients instead and bill everyone for the actual work and keep everyone happy.
    via u/rentacle
  • 16
    Font - So, starting from next week, my new schedule is 20 hours with P sy Client, 10 hours with client B and 15 hours with client C. It works great for me. It doesn't work that great for P y Client. At our next weekly meeting, one of the features they requested isn't ready yet. At the following meeting, I tell them we'll
    via u/rentacle
  • 17
    Font - need to move the deadline for the next milestone by two weeks. Then it's the beginning of December, and they ask me if I would be able to make some last minute changes and still deliver the project by the end of the year, and I say oh there is no way the project can be finished by the end of the year.
    via u/rentacle
  • 18
    Font - We have yet another meeting with the client and my manager. My manager asks me why I'm missing this huge deadline. I say: do you remember when I was talking about all the work that still needed to be done and how long it would take? In October we estimated the project needed another 60 days of work. I worked 10 days in October
    via u/rentacle
  • 19
    Font - and 10 days in November, because you said 20 hours max per week. It's going to take about 40 more days of work to finish the project. It's December. Even if I work overtime, there are not 40 days left before the end of the year.
    via u/rentacle
  • 20
    Font - Manager is like, yep, makes perfect sense. Client does the shocked pikachu face. They act like this is the first they've heard about not being able to meet the deadlines, even though I've been telling them for weeks. Unfortunately they are the kind of person who never
    via u/rentacle
  • 21
    Font - listens to what they don't want to hear. At first they wanted the work done quickly, so they didn't think that if I worked more hours I would bill them for more hours. Then they wanted to be billed for fewer hours, so they didn't consider than I would
    via u/rentacle
  • 22
    Font - work fewer hours on the project and things would get done much more slowly. Unfortunately for the client, who would like to pretend that we were springing this on them at the last minute, we had tons of emails to show we had told them well in
    via u/rentacle
  • 23
    Font - advance. My manager's email back in October had even included an estimate of when the project would be completed based on number of hours worked per week. Our ass was well and truly covered. Now, as for the fallback. The client kicked and screamed and demanded that I go back to work
    via u/rentacle
  • 24
    Font - on their project full time, or even that my company should provide a second person to help me meet the deadline at the end of the year. It's January and the project is still unfinished, so you can guess how well that went. Client had to move the big presentation of the new software and was not happy about
    via u/rentacle
  • 25
    Font - it (and about having to explain it all to their own CEO) but we told them very nicely in corporate tones to pound sand. I was already scheduled to work on two other projects for the next few months, and it had been hard enough to put me full time on this
    via u/rentacle
  • 26
    Font - project the first time. My manager is not going to leave another two clients hanging, especially not to please this P y Client who keeps changing their mind and threatens to cancel their contract every other week. As a company we do our best to keep the client happy but there is a limit to everything, especially
    via u/rentacle
  • 27
    Font - when someone goes out of their way to not listen when we try to explain how cause and effect works. TL;DR: Client demands I work more slowly. I work more slowly. The work is not completed by the time client needed it, and client is upset, but I don't care because I get paid anyway.
    via u/rentacle
  • 28
    Rectangle - Jboyes +3.10 hr. ago "Ads another developer." "Of course. after all it's just like making a baby, right? Nine women can make one baby in one month, right?' Vote Reply Share
    via u/Jboyes
  • 29
    Font - IJourden 9 hr. ago I feel like most corporate decisions eventually boil down to asking people to do 40 hours of work in 20 hours and then cleaning up the mess when they discover 40 is a bigger number than 20. Vote Reply Share
    via u/IJourden
  • 30
    Font - xero_peace +2.11 hr. ago We are working in accordance with the standards you presented us. Is there a problem with the standards we're adhering to? Vote Reply Share
    via u/xero_peace
  • 31
    Font - Flurb4 · 7 hr. ago A project can be done quickly, it can be done inexpensively, it can be done well. You get to pick two of the three. Reply Share Vote +1.5 hr. ago Or: good, fast, cheap -- pick two 쇼 ↑ Vote ↓ Reply Share NatChArrant
    via u/Flurb4, u/NatChArrant
  • 32
    Organism - Cool-Reindeer-6145 20 hr. ago I love the stories when a manager actually backs up their people. Reply Share Vote revchewie +3. 11 hr. ago Right? Sadly, they're rare. Vote Reply Share
    via u/Cool-Reindeer-6145, u/revchewie
  • 33
    Font - Colonelkok 9 hr. ago The stories on here make me feel so lucky. My manager backs me up on everything and I back my guys up on everything. Right or wrong we either all go down or don't go down at all. We're a team, not some hierarchy we're the one at top is always right. I dread the day I get a new job.
    via u/Colonelkok

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Tags

management you-get-what-you-pay-for humor corporate malicious compliance rude-client gaslighting work life petty revenge ceo employment-contract entitled overtime bad bosses company tired-workers funny
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