'Bad boss create[s] his own downfall': Employees stop helping manager, then tell higher-ups what he actually does all day

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Mar 25, 2023 11:00 AM EDT

This boss thought that all management involved was kicking back, relaxing, and letting everyone around him do 100% of the work. His employees pushed back, and made him regret his laziness with their own form of petty revenge. 

This guy seems like he was living out every salesperson's ideal career. He claimed that after working hard for years, he finally became the "top salesman" at a phone store. And now that he'd moved up to management, he planned on doing next to nothing. This seems like a dream job to him, of course, and we all know managers who act like this. This dude just lived long enough to see himself become the villain. 

Well, this managers' workers were not happy with that setup at all, because it put a lot of extra work on them. Plus, this boss had some bad habits, like leaving food around until it grew mold. And he wasn't even in the store when he was supposed to be, due to flirting with girls at another store entirely. 

Scroll through this tale of petty revenge. Then, check out this exhausted worker who wondered if she was too hard on her micro-managing colleague. 

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  • 01
    Motor vehicle - "Store manager told us...'That's how I got promoted to management. I get to sit back and relax now because it's your turn to do all the work."
    via Olenka Varzar
  • 02
    Font - CO. r/pettyrevenge Posted by u/_Lanceor_ We helped bad boss create his own downfall Years ago, I worked in a small retail store in a large shopping centre. The staff were me, a good colleague and the store manager. Also frequently visiting was the store manager's boss, the district manager.
    via u/_Lanceor_
  • 03
    Font - When colleague and I started, store manager told us almost word-for-word "I was the top salesman in the company. That's how I got promoted to management. I get to sit back and relax now because it's your turn to do all the work."
    via u/_Lanceor_
  • 04
    Font - And true to his word, store manager slacked off and let us do all the work. We served the customers, managed the inventory and even did all the paperwork and banking for him. While he kept turning up, he would spend his day roaming the shopping centre, sitting at the coffee shop, flirting with female employees in other stores or playing games at the arcade game centre.
    via u/_Lanceor_
  • 05
    Font - To make matters worse, store manager would "borrow" brand new mobile phones from the stock and "borrow" money from the till for his own personal use.
    via u/_Lanceor_
  • 06
    Font - Colleague and I were unimpressed of course and after deciding we'd had enough of his we decided to help him with his own downfall.
    via u/_Lanceor_
  • 07
    Font - 1. We stopped tidying up after him. As long as they weren't in our way, we didn't touch his leftover food and drinks. 2. Every time he disappeared, we tidied and reorganised the store a little. 3. We were brutally honest whenever the district manager visited: • DM: "Where's store manager?" Us: "He's at the arcade game centre sir!" "He's chatting to the girls upstairs sir!" • DM: "Why is this mobile phone box empty?" Us: "Store manager said he was borrowing the phone sir!"
    via u/_Lanceor_
  • 08
    Font - Within a couple of months, the store had been completely reorganised. Store manager had no idea where anything was located any more. He missed all the memos from head office and didn't know about new products or procedures. He also had to dispose of mouldy plates and cups on quite a few occasions. Colleague and I were running the store more efficiently than ever, and store manager was completely redundant by that stage.
    via u/_Lanceor_
  • 09
    Font - District manager had figured out what was going on and had probably begun the process of having store manager terminated (there were procedures to follow so this would take a while).
    via u/_Lanceor_
  • 10
    Font - Then one day, store manager turned up to work early (surprising!) and told us that he had resigned. He probably figured that he was about to be fired, and preferred to leave on his own terms. District manager arrived soon after to give store manager an exit interview at his favourite coffee shop.
    via u/_Lanceor_
  • 11
    Font - Colleague and I wasted no time to prepare the final insult. Before the exit interview was even finished, we had already packed all of store manager's personal belongings into a box, ready for him to pick up and leave. Bye store manager!
    via u/_Lanceor_
  • 12
    Font - CoderJoe1 +4 He managed to promote himself to customer.
    via u/CoderJoe1
  • 13
    Font - AcrobaticSource3 +3 I hope you were promoted to store manager
    via u/AcrobaticSource3
  • 14
    Font - _Lanceor_ OP We both kind of did get promoted, but sadly it wasn't the fairy tale ending that we would have liked. I stayed on to manage the store, and colleague was also given a store of his own. We were due promotions and payrises in line with our duties but that's when the company encountered trouble and went into administration. Colleague and district manager were two of the unlucky ones to be randomly retrenched. I stayed on for another two months working 7 days a week on my own.
    via u/_Lanceor_
  • 15
    Font - By the time the company was out of administration and was ready to promote staff, I had already found greener pastures. Still, I will forever remember this tale as a time when two junior staff removed a bad boss simply by doing the right thing. :)
    via u/_Lanceor_
  • 16
    Font - Narutofan0921 It's crazy how someone who worked hard enough to become the store manager could suddenly think it's okay to not do stand completely over abuse your own power. So many people aren't meant to have it that do.
    via u/Narutofan0921
  • 17
    Font - _Lanceor_ OP I think that becoming the top saleperson was simply a case of being at the right place at the right time. The telecommunications industry had just been deregulated and this was the first company to offer mobile phones with contracts. For the first time, average people could buy a phone in instalments instead of paying hundreds up front (they were very expensive back). Store manager was a reasonably charming, well spoken guy, and with the commissions that were being paid, I'm
    via u/_ Lanceor_
  • 18
    Font - spock_9519 as far as the missing inventory and money???? There was no Audit???? If I was the district manager I would carefully review all security footage of the past 180 days then begin a criminal investigation & independent audit of the store...... 23 Reply Share _Lanceor_ OP He'd return the phones and money, so technically it was borrowing and not theft - that's probably what saved him from an instant dismissal. But still, unsealing brand new mobile phones for personal use and borrowi
    via u/spock_9519
  • 19
    Font - o Autarch_Kade So instead of working, he got to slack off for months and years. His punishment... is having to work at a job, same thing he'd have been doing all along (but instead avoided). Sounds like he came out ahead. In the end, he got an easy time for a while Reply Share _Lanceor_ OP Well, I think he got off pretty light considering. But at the time, mobile telephony was a young industry dominated by three major companies, so he'd be unable to get a job in the same field without som
    via u/Autarch_Kade

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boss phones manager customers petty revenge bad bosses
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