'I was prepared to help, however...': Unkind coworker lashes out at the accountant helping him absolve $4,500 in debt; ends up having to pay in full

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Nov 30, 2023 6:00 PM EST

Rudeness doesn't get you very far in the customer service world. As someone who used to answer phones to help out my company's customers, the ones who opened the call with raw fury rarely saw me go above and beyond to help them. Nobody wants to go out of their way to help someone who's going to act like a meany pants. 

Like granny always said, 'you catch more flies with honest than vinegar'. 

So for those of you out there who have ever endured a sassy phone call with someone or if you've ever been on the receiving end of a person's rudeness, you'll understand the OP in our next story. As a messenger with some bad news for his coworker, u/subi was inclined to help out. With his colleague sitting on almost $5,000 in debt, OP was prepared to help him out with some loopholes to absolve the debt, but when the coworker turned sour and snarky over the phone, OP decided to be petty instead. Scroll for the full story of petty payback in it's purest form. 

Afterwards, here's another story of another customer service rep who did the exact opposite, giving customers 99% off of their retail purchases because she didn't agree with the price. 

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  • 01
    "My ex-coworker's rash decision cost him $4500+”
    via u/canva
  • 02
    r/pettyrevenge Posted by u/subi 9 hours ago How My Ex-Coworker's Rash Decision Cost $4500+
    via u/subi
  • 03
    In my previous job, a colleague had accrued over $4500 in travel stipends throughout the year. He left the company on good terms, but unexpectedly, I received a notice about a debt in his name that somehow fell into my lap. I
    via u/subi
  • 04
    reached out to him to relay the message, but his response was unexpectedly harsh. Despite my role as a mere messenger and being in a relatively senior position, he seemed to relish the opportunity to lash out at someone above him in the company hierarchy. He
    via u/subi
  • 05
    grudgingly agreed to settle the debt, expressing frustration over the financial burden it would impose. As I wrapped up our call with an apology for the inconvenience, he abruptly hung up. Ironically, he was unaware that I had just assisted another individual in clearing a much larger debt of
    via u/subi
  • 06
    over $6000, thanks to some loopholes I'd discovered. My plan was to extend the same courtesy to him if the payment proved burdensome, I was prepared to help. However, his rash decision to settle the debt without further discussion closed that door. Just an hour later, I learned he had paid in full, missing out on a potential resolution I could have offered.
    via u/subi
  • 07
    MaCqUaY92 13 hr. ago That's the example of being kind is valuable Reply Share 347 philbass85 10 hr. ago I've learnt over the last few decades that it's not even about being kind as such. The simple act of not being an utter is often enough. It's really quite sad how much you can get in life by just being baseline decent.
    via u/MaCqUaY92
  • 08
    PLE Renway_NCC-74656 13 hr. ago You never know when you're gonna need a bridge so why burn 'em for no reason? 158 Reply Share DoctorGuvnor. 10 hr. ago I think this is known as 'burning your bridges in front of you'.
    via u/Renway_NCC-74656
  • 09
    donald trumpsucksmyd 11 hr. ago Someone once told me you can't start off yelling because then you have nowhere to go Reply Share 66 LittleGravitas Indeed. 17 min. ago This thought might help me socially a great deal more than you would anticipate.
    via u/donaldtrumpsuckmyd
  • 10
    No_Revolution_6186 - 9 hr. ago I work in customer service, you're delusional if you think we are not biased. you are a jerk, you will not get the best a person has to offer - You'll get what's necessary at best, and nothing at all at worst.
    via u/No_Revolution_6186
  • 11
    DKG320 6 hr. ago So wait, if you could have cleared his debt, why call him in the first place? I think it's reasonable to be caught off- guard when someone calls out of the blue and says we need you to pay $5k. He may have been upset but you're a bit of an a**hole too.
    via u/DKG320_
  • 12
    OmegaGoober. 5 hr. ago They probably needed the ex-employee's authorization to do what needed to be done to clear or reduce the debt.
    via u/OmegaGoober
  • 13
    bexu2 12 hr. ago I would totally phone back to say that I was just going to share that I found a way to clear his debt before he hung up, feigning ignorance that he paid it off and that I'm able to help him now.
    via u/bexu2
  • 14
    ben4911 5 hr. ago We are all mirrors reflecting the attitude we receive 44 Reply Share Bladieblalol 6 hr. ago Made me think of the time my ex's mother blew up at a very nice and apologetic waiter. There had been a change in the menu, and fish had been added to one of the appetizers and my ex's mom and I both
    via u/ben4911
  • 15
    hate fish. I was like " sucks, but I'll skip the that appetizer at then." She blew the the poor girl, it even started a bit of a fight between her and my ex because my ex told her to behave like a grown up instead of acting like a banshee.
    via u/ben4911
  • 16
    I had do the muffled growl talk to shut them both up. It was a dinner train event so it was not like I could have walked out of the restaurant. Anyway, dinner went on, and the waitress came back during the main course with a BIG
    via u/ben4911
  • 17
    piece of meat to compensate for the fish mishap. She pretty firmly put it in front of me and smilingly said there was exactly one plate left over after serving everybody. She didn't even look at my ex's mom but it was obvious she took the little extra effort of getting me more of the main course to compensate because
    via u/ben4911
  • 18
    I didn't act like a total jerk to her for something she has no control over. I'm pretty certain there was more left over, and had my ex's mom just communicated like a normal person they would have brought her a plate as well.
    via u/ben4911
  • 19
    CoderJoe1 12 hr. ago You catch more flies with rotted hamburger meat than honey.
    via u/CoderJoe1

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boss worker employee manager revenge work coworkers bean coutner working accounting petty revenge employees petty debt supervisor workplace bean counters Reddit accountant coworker
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