'[He] cost the company over $220k': Catalog designer lets boss sign off on un-mailable catalogs

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jan 24, 2024 11:00 AM EST

This is what happens when you don't pay attention. It was an expensive (and probably humiliating) lesson for one boss to learn. 

This person had a really cool job back in the 1980s. It was a whole different world back then. In the era before the internet was widely available, advertisements would often come in the mail. Sometimes, they would take the form of catalogs. Toy catalogs were a staple of many kids' childhoods---it was fun to grab a marker and start circling all the toys you wanted as a hint to your parents. You'd flip through these catalogs and discover all types of toys and clothes that you never knew you wanted, but now couldn't live without. 

This person, u/BrightRick, had a full-time job making four of these catalogs each year. They were at a sporting goods store, and their employers had let them know that deadlines were critical. Too bad their micromanaging boss didn't feel the same way. He treated the job casually, and paid the price for it. Literally.

Check out this dude's story below. And after that, read about the worst things people's pets have ever done, like one person who shared, "My Yorkie stole an entire block of cheese." 

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  • 01
    RAN پست ایران 2 R. IRANA ISLAMIQUE DE L DEUTSCHE BUNDESPOST BERUN سلام (ص) 10R. 2,80 7647 In LLOYD WRIGHT 'Deadlines could not be missed' www. 50PTODIA. May 197 We hold these Truths... H tion Day IRAN نیست ایران RAN ANNIVERSARIO RIAPERTURA PEL TEATRO GRECO DI TINDARI 19: ریال پست ایران - Pe
    via Ali Bakhtiari on Unsplash
  • 02
    Boss did not like the look of the "bulk Mailing" stamp, told me to remove it. Cost the company over $220K. M OC Back in the 1980's I worked for a sporting goods company as a catalog designer. Small company, privately owned. I was the entire advertising department. I created four catalogs a year - these were responsible for most of our mail- order sales (pre-internet) to the tune of around $700K a year.
    via u/BrightRick
  • 03
    We sent the catalogs via bulk mail using a mailing service - this let us send them for a much discounted rate. To do this required the use of a bulk mail permit, and placing the permit info on the mailing area of the catalog. Technically it's called a "fiche."
    via u/BrightRick
  • 04
    Enter a new boss, call him Ron. I was #1 - the only one - in my department. For some reason the company owner hired Ron as a favor to a friend. From day one he was micromanaging, questioning everything, and up my very tight schedule. This was BEFORE computers were common. EVERYTHING was by hand. Literally typing out copy and reducing it on a photocopier to fit. Developing the photo film myself, making prints, etc. The actual printer had to add screens to the photos so they'd print, burn metal pl
    via u/BrightRick
  • 05
    I was complaining to the owner, but he really couldn't care less. I really wanted to stick it to Ron and the opportunity presented itself. Constant threats of "my way or you're fired" were getting to me. The latest pre-summer catalog was done (summer was our BIG season.) I had to give him my mock-up (photocopied sheets stapled together) of the final catalog for his approval - a new step added after he demanded it. He looked at it and sent it back with several pointless revisions. And a note to r
    via u/BrightRick
  • 06
    no time to check it again. So he did. I knew it would be a total mess and it's something I would NEVER would have done in the past. 50,000 catalogs printed and shipped directly to the mailer. The day they arrive at the mailer the boss gets a call from the sales rep. "We can't mail your catalogs." Boss storms into my area of the building and is literally screaming. Ron is now ped and yelling at me, joined by the boss. I swear - spittle and froth, vein bulging screaming. Minimum two week delay, wa
    via u/BrightRick
  • 07
    Rental and labor was almost $8,000. Adjusted for inflation that's $20,000. Plus our early summer sales boost was off by almost $50K from previous years. Or $200K adjusted for inflation. Ron WAS fired. I was left alone after that.
    via u/BrightRick
  • 08
    yachtiewannabe Ron digging his own grave and not even seeing it coming.
    via u/yachtiewannabe
  • 09
    hymie0 (ک) It's truly amazing how many people don't realize that "can I have that in writing?" is code for "you f'ed up and I'm keeping the receipts."
    via u/hymie0
  • 10
    MaryK007 So glad you documented.
    via u/MaryK007
  • 11
    TrillionSquids "Because the boss knows what the boss says goes, if the boss's suffered losses then that's what the boss chose!"
    via u/TrillionSquids
  • 12
    Frenetic Platypus (ک) Boss storms into my area of the building and is literally screaming. Ron is now ped and yelling at me, joined by the boss. I swear - spittle and froth, vein bulging screaming. They really went postal on you, eh?
    via u/Frenetic Platypus
  • 13
    BrightRick OP I'll never forget that day. The boss was an ex marine drill instructor. His management style was to scream. Have a question? Scream louder.
    via u/BrightRick
  • 14
    Dangerous-Project672 I'm not saying this is the most professional thing, but if I were your company's owner I might've let you fire Ron yourself as an apology to you
    via u/Dangerous-Project672
  • 15
    Thex667 Never interrupt the enemy while he is making a mistake.
    via u/Thex667

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getting fired boss workplace-stories jobs fired job fired story bosses work stamp workplace bad bosses mail funny
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