'[Don't] waste my time': After firing a remote employee without warning, company demands he return a $500 laptop; he ships it for $850 at their expense as revenge

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Sep 26, 2023 10:00 AM EDT

Working remote has its perks… but it also has its downfalls. Although you have the freedom to work in your own home (or wherever you please), it also means that upper management never actually knows who you are. They hardly see your face, you don't bump into each other in the break room, and they've never asked you what you're doing this weekend. All of this seems hunky-dory until you realize that, as an expendable employee, it's never been easier to get fired. Unfortunately for one employee, he got sideswiped by this reality in the worst way. 

Typically, employers give one of their workers a little time or at least some sort of inkling that they might be fired. Perhaps a rumor is started about a round of layoffs, or maybe an employee gets written up one too many times. But usually a manger will at least speak with an employee before slapping them in the face with the eminent unemployment bomb. In this case, a guy was working for a big company but had never stepped foot in the office. As a faceless remote employee, he had some tech that belonged to the company and when the big supervisors fired him without warning, they expected to get their cut $500-worth of electronics. 

Scroll for the full story on how this guy retaliated against the company in the pettiest way, complying to their demands by costing them a hefty hunk of cash. For more workplace drama, check out this tale of a dude who gets back at a coworker for stealing his lunches, but boobytrapping a sandwich with prescription-grade laxatives. 

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  • 01
    Font - r/MaliciousCompliance - Posted by u/tulthrowmeaway 13 hours ago Send my laptop back after a layoff? Ok! SOC I was recently laid off from my remote job. It was a last minute
    via tulthrowmeaway
  • 02
    Font - video chat with HR and then my entire access was cut off as soon as the call ended. No time to say goodbye to anyone, no time to retrieve any personal files from my laptop, s' severance. But then the kicker was telling me that I need to ship their laptop back asap.
    via tulthrowmeaway
  • 03
    Font - I've had other companies send pre-paid laptop boxes to return equipment or just say to keep it. This company expected me to waste my time to package up the computer and then find a
    via tulthrowmeaway
  • 04
    Font - place to ship it back. Seems like a lot to ask of someone you just got rid of like a piece of trash. They gave me their shipping account code and told me I can
    via tulthrowmeaway
  • 05
    Font - just charge it on their account. I eventually get around to going across town only to be told the code doesn't work and I have to pay out of pocket. At this point I'm very annoyed with this
    via tulthrowmeaway
  • 06
    Font - process. The company tells me I can pay out of pocket and they'll reimburse me. Ok. I can do that. So I found the most expensive option I could find and added
    via tulthrowmeaway
  • 07
    Font - some bathrooms tiles into the box to make it extra heavy and had it shipped. I also shipped my mouse and power supply separately in the same expensive fashion with extra weight. Total cost $840. Cost of laptop probably about $500.
    via tulthrowmeaway
  • 08
    Font - Anyways f them. I did as I was told. Maybe next time they won't fire people and then expect them to drive around town to return their stuff.
    via tulthrowmeaway
  • 09
    Rectangle - originalkevan 13 hr. ago I would have slapped a label on the laptop sans packaging and sent it.
    via originalkevan
  • 10
    Rectangle - Red__M_M 11 hr. ago I would have said "send me a prepaid box to pack it in and pay to have it picked up at my house."
    via Red__M_M
  • 11
    Rectangle - MeatPopsicle1969. 8 hr. ago Exactly. Ain't no way I am paying to ship anything back. Doesn't matter if I left on good terms, laid off or fired.
    via MeatPopsicle1969
  • 12
    Smile - tofuroll 7 hr. ago Yah, I wouldn't trust them to pay me back in good order. It's up to them to fetch it.
    via tofuroll
  • 13
    Font - tofuroll 4 hr. ago Honestly, for a company to retrieve their work stuff/property, the onus is upon the company. The only method I'd accept is if they gave me something to pack it in and sent someone to collect it. Anything else requiring more effort is getting into the realm of "paid work" territory.
    via tofuroll
  • 14
    Font - Red__M_M 2 hr. ago Why should you have to put forth that much effort? If they want the computer then they should make it happen.
    via Red__M_M
  • 15
    Font - fireside60 12 hr. ago Or completely wrap the laptop in clear tape and then mail it. Reply Share Vote Mikey6304 11 hr. ago No, just have them email you a UPS shipping label, scotch tape it on there, and drop it in an overnight box.
    via fireside60
  • 16
    Product - i-love-tacos-too 12 hr. ago I like your style. Vote Reply jason4747 12 hr. ago I like your moves.
    via i-love-tacos-too
  • 17
    Rectangle - talrogsmash 11 hr. ago Or wrap it in clear packing tape. 6 ... hundred layers should suffice.
    via talrogsmash
  • 18
    Font - Sharp_Coat3797. 10 hr. ago Even at the dollar store, that would amount to a couple of dollars for hundreds of layers of tape as in 3 or 4 rolls. But a rather nicely revengefully thought.
    via Sharp_Coat3797
  • 19
    Font - MrDad220 7 hr. ago "They only told me to ship it back, not to package it securely, and sent me nothing to ship it back in. Or should I have saved the packaging it was sent in for (amount of time)?"
    via MrDad220
  • 20
    Font - Starfury42 10 hr. ago A friend worked remote and her job ended. They wanted the laptop back- with all of the processes she'd generated so the cheaper worker could take over.
    via Starfury42
  • 21
    Font - That didn't happen. She wiped the laptop clean and shipped it back in the provided box. They forgot to include packing material...so she tossed it in the box and off it went. Took the company 6 months to recreate her information from scratch.
    via Starfury42
  • 22
    Rectangle - darkest_irish_lass 4 hr. ago You don't need company access to wipe a laptop. And removing personal information is like cleaning out your desk - that is perfectly legal.
    via darkest_irish_lass
  • 23
    Facial expression - phlon27 12 hr. ago Start your own shipping company now that you are unemployed. Cost of service to previous employer $12,000.
    via phlon27
  • 24
    Computer - Send my laptop back after a layoff? Okay!
    via u/canva

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boss remote youre fired remote work employee fired work story malicious compliance work supervisor equipment workplace reddit thread Reddit company laptop
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