‘Management finally caved in’: Management refuses to pay for loyal employee's car repairs until company goes down in flames, then employee quits

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Nov 28, 2023 1:00 PM EST

Why be loyal when you can just quit? One employee gave their all to a company that had no intention of completing the yin with yang, and that lack of intention showed up in their refusal to pay for the employee's car repairs. Why would a company pay for their employee's car repairs, you ask? It's a fair question. Let's start at the beginning.

OP was working as an IT project manager in Korea for an SMB. As the point of contact for the majority of the division's clients, OP had to travel a lot by car. The company refused to give OP a company car for said travels, so after 10 years, the miles were racking up, and OP's car was in terrible shape, needing a lot of repairs. The company took zero responsibility for OP's car, which led to sweet, malicious compliance on OP's end. What is an employee to do when their boss doesn't lend them a helping hand?

Scroll down to read how the company began to crumble, and then check out this manager who told a worker to choose between grad school… and their job. Classic management move.

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  • 01
    "Management had no choice but to cave in. Then, I quit."
    via Canva
  • 02
    Please, I need a car for business travels! Hi, I've been reading compliance Reddits with great passion for past several weeks, and I just wanted to share my own experience on MC. English is not my native language, so please bear with me.
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 03
    For the past decade I've been working as IT Project Manager for an SMB. About 120 employees, mostly doing at-desk jobs with almost zero business travels. However, I was the point-of-contact for majority of our division's clients, most of them being either
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 04
    government entities or public companies based several hours from my office. These clients always demanded face-to-face meetings even for a very short issues, 5 minutes tops. For that 5 minute meeting I had to drive 2-3 hours to get there, resolve any issue, then drive 2-3 hours back to office. Even during the e ic
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 05
    they still requested my presence. (For clarification, I live in South Korea and it takes maximum 5 hours to get from Northern border to the Southern border, so 2-3 hours of driving is not a short one for us.)
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 06
    Anyway, our company leased several cars for such travels. Or, that's what it was supposed to be. Management leased luxury cars(Audi, Benz, BMW..) for all C- level personnel's private use (Typical Korean SMB). When I asked for a company car to use,
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 07
    they just told me to use my own car(which they did not subsidize in any way) for the travels. This was my first professional job, and I just obeyed their instructions. For nearly 10 years I drove my own car racking up 140K kilometers on the odometer. Honestly, it didn't bother me that much because they
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 08
    at least reimbursed me for gas and tolls. Then one day, my car broke down and needed some serious and expensive (couple K) overhaul. Since most of the miles were because of work, and since I worked my off day and night, and proved loyal to this company
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 09
    for 10 years, I thought my company could help with repair bills. I was so naive. The management absolutely went berserk that I had the gall for even asking for such a thing. They continued on saying that since it was my car, I have full
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 10
    responsibility for it, I should of course pay for its repairs and the company has no obligation whatsoever. Wow I was so normal practice in the Korean business culture, but I thought 1. I know it's not
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 11
    they would be more understanding than this. So, naturally I turned to the dark side. Now, I stated above that I was the point-of-contact for my division's clients. For a company with yearly sales only USD 15 mil, my division
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 12
    was responsible for half of that. I always took calls and went to meetings on behalf of the company, did what I could best for our clients and the company, and my clients knew this.
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 13
    I had several weeks scheduled ahead for meetings all over the country, ranging from simple meet&greets to full-fledge project management. I decided since they won't provide me with a car, or provide support for my car's
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 14
    repairs, I would no longer go to the meetings. The ones with means of transportation can go themselves. So, I wrote to my next day's meetings that due to unfortunate and untimely problems, I would not be able to attend the meetings. If you would set up meetings on
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 15
    Zoom or Teams, then I would attend it, but otherwise, I have no means of transportation and cannot be there physically. If you do need a physical appearance, please contact my superiors and ask them to come over.
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 16
    I sent out this mail everyday for two weeks for each next days' meetings. When my bosses tells down there, I just me to get my tell'em I have no car. Will you let me use yours? No? Then I can't go. They bitched but what choice do I have? They did make me take a cab one time, but it cost them USD 400
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 17
    one-way. So, clients started calling my bosses to come over instead of me. Bosses had to drive several hours by themselves to meet clients countrywide. They did not have the faintest idea what stage each project was at (I, of course had
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 18
    written up weekly reports with details for each project, and they skipped all but our sales). Projects went haywire, clients dissatisfied, penalty fees racking up, and eventually losing businesses.
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 19
    Meanwhile I deliberately didn't fix my car until our management finally cave in and paid for the repair. Then, I threw(ever so politely) in my resignation and left the company for good. So sue me. I have records.
    via u/lilis_skyremix
  • 20
    3VikingBoys 12 hr. ago You have amazing patience. 10 years of such nonsense is 9.99 years longer than I would have contended with. I don't live in Korea so have no idea what work laws are like. Making you
    via u/3VikingBoys
  • 21
    drive so far for a short time meeting is a monumental waste of company time. They are stuck in the 19th century. Great revenge! ↑ 11 Reply Share
    via u/3VikingBoys
  • 22
    justaman_097 12 hr. ago Well played! Nice job in refusing to go to client sites until the company paid to repair your car which would have been damaged by driving for the company. 4 Reply Share
    via u/justaman_097
  • 23
    MikeSchwab63 · 10 hr. ago Yep. US tax agency requires $0.54 per mile, while gas is under $4 (except California) and passenger cars get 20-30 miles per gallon.
    via u/MikeSchwab63

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long drive management boss manager malicious compliance clients coworkers upper management car repairs cars project manager car ride IT team company workplace stories
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