'If the company's holding your car, get taxis everywhere': Boss lets employee take petty revenge on secretary who refuses to give them back their vehicle

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Mar 30, 2024 3:00 PM EDT

One employee found themself without a car, and it was only because their workplace refused to give it up. It was a weird situation to be in! The employee, u/FMLitsSML, shared their story of the petty revenge route they had to take just to get their own car back. 

Layers of bureaucracy don't help any employee to be independent in their work. This person was responsible for showing clients around and entertaining them. It's pretty common practice in certain industries: it's a way to reassure paying clients that the company they're partnering with will be professional in their business transactions. An employee with a good personality will take the clients to dinner and schmooze to make a good impression for the company. 

But of course, taking clients to events or gourmet dinners can take place outside of normal 9-5 work hours. That's why this employee was using their own car to ferry these people around. Instead of being rewarded for their work, this person's car was taken from them for nearly two months!

Check out the extra petty revenge that this person and their supportive boss achieved together. Then, check out how this person created the world's pettiest email address, just to get back at their former terrible boss. 

Advertisement
  • 01
    #IN Rai
    via Troy T on Unsplash
  • 02
    r/pettyrevenge Posted by u/FMLitsSML Can't get my car back from a company car park? Enjoy loads of taxi fare charges! (+ extra petty revenge from my boss!) Not sure if this is petty revenge or malicious compliance, but please enjoy nonetheless. TLDR at the bottom.
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 03
    This anecdote takes place several years ago, at a company I used to work for. This particular company had a staff entrance at the side of the building, where the staff used to enter/exit, and there was a "works" car park there too. There was also a very posh entrance at the front of the building, which was reserved for the directors and any customers that visited. It was known that if any staff tried to use the front entrance (we called it the "exec" entrance), they'd normally get told off for o
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 04
    Anyway, this starts on one particular morning, where a customer I'd been working with was visiting our building. My boss's boss not only gave me free reign to come and go through the main entrance to facilitate our customer (e.g. people arriving at different times, taking them for lunch, doing a tour of the building etc), but he also authorised a parking space for me in the posh exec car park. This was signed off by one of the directors. No issues, we had a great day and the customer was very im
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 05
    [EDIT] all cars parked in the exec car park had their keys kept by reception. I assume because mine was a Nissan key and not the posh BMWs and Audis etc, they weren't too bothered on keeping an eye on it. [EDIT]
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 06
    Feeling like I'd done a good day's work, I went back to get my car from the posh part of the building. Living in England, the rain had picked up, so I was looking forward to getting out of the bad weather. Being selfish, I had my hair done quite nicely and it'd be nice to come back home, looking presentable.
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 07
    What I didn't know, was that after 5pm, the posh entrance was closed. There's a secure gate to stop vehicles going in/out, and unfortunately my car was parked in the secure part. To make things worse, I'd left my car keys with the receptionist - who'd already finished for the day. This was when I learned that we worked hard so the directors didn't have to.
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 08
    This takes place before taxi apps were commonplace, so I was stood in the rain for about half an hour waiting for an overpriced taxi from the nearby railway station, getting more and more frustrated that I couldn't go home in my own car. So, I ended up sat in a taxi, very annoyed, hair and makeup ruined, staring at a bill for £50 just to get home - let alone the trip back to work the next day, which cost slightly more due to rush hour traffic.
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 09
    When I went to grab my car keys the next day, I walked through the exec entrance. Within seconds, I was asked why I was entering through this door - I said "morning all, you've got my keys, my car's parked there - look, it's the blue car in space #6" - and I expected just to get given my keys and told to go away. However, what I was told was no, sorry, this is an executive entrance, please exit the building and use the staff entrance round the corner.
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 10
    I politely said "look, my car's parked just outside. You have my keys in that box by your arm that you're pointing with - can you just give me my keys so I can leave and take my car with me?"
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 11
    Well, this didn't happen. The person behind the desk was so proud that they had some power over others, that I was just told "only senior employees and customers are permitted here. Please use the side door. You are not authorised to use this entrance. Please do not try and enter again otherwise you will be written up." I wasn't but I realised being written up wouldn't be of any favour to me. I also got annoyed that I'd put the effort in earlier, so I wouldn't fight what could be construed as a
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 12
    Shortly after this, I told my boss that the senior team wouldn't let me get my car back and threatened to write me up for asking so. He was 100% behind me. He said if the company's holding your car, get taxis everywhere. Your commute, going to get lunch, your gym session in the evening, etc.
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 13
    So that's what I did. I left my car in the executive car park and just took cabs everywhere, basically my personal life. I took lunch out of the office every day. I went grocery shopping as I normally do (twice a week, plus one or two times for quick visits when I forgot something). Going to the gym. Visiting my parents. Nights out with my bf. I purposely left my car in that car park as long as I could, until I got asked about it. All the time, racking up taxi fares. I had it in writing from my
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 14
    After 7 weeks(!), one of the directors had noticed my car looking very sorry for itself in their car park. At least one customer had asked why there was an abandoned car there, with bird all over it and a flat tyre. We have car park passes so it only took a few seconds to ask which employee car pass #12345 belonged to - and when I was asked, I forwarded the email saying I wasn't allowed to get my car back. I then asked if I could get half an hour with the Legal director as I wasn't sure if this
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 15
    As soon as I mentioned the Legal director, I was asked to come straight in via the posh entrance and speak to a few of the directors who'd somehow made the time for me. Literally, I sent my email at 11am and by the time I'd got back from lunch (in a taxi), at 1pm, I had an email requesting a chat ASAP.
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 16
    They were quite nervously sat around a table, and as soon as I mentioned the potential legal issue of withholding an employee's personal possessions without due reason, the directors fell over themselves to apologise and say it was a miscommunication and I was free to take my car back. I asked why it took 7 weeks to get to this point, and I'd wanted my car back as soon as I could because, well, it's my car! The directors had no answer and were surprisingly very quiet.
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 17
    Well, that's where it gets fun. I presented a bill for about £3,000 of taxi fares over 7 weeks, and said that this needed paying. Furthermore, as my car now had a flat battery and looked awful, the company could also pay for recovery to my car dealership, pay for car detailing because of the bird I all over it, and a full dealership service and health-check, plus 2 months finance that I was paying on the car that they had in their possession. I also told them that I would no longer entertain any
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 18
    The atmosphere was not only tense enough that you could cut it with a butter knife, but I felt a resounding feeling of deflation from the directors, who'd realised they'd fed up by asking employees to do their work for them (e.g. showing customers around) - and then doubling down by kicking those employees out of their little corner before the job was complete. All-in-all, I wouldn't be surprised if it cost the company over £6,000 just because I wasn't allowed to go and get my car back from the
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 19
    I also heard on the grapevine that as I declined to carry out any customer hospitality visits, this particular customer wasn't impressed that their previous friendly, knowledgeable folks were no longer available. My boss, who'd supported me all the way, had stood behind me and said that his team would no longer carry out any customer visits either.
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 20
    Our customers weren't amused when the directors took them to golf and posh dinners but made no commitments or shared any information on the work we'd been doing with them. They didn't renew their 7-figure contract; I'm not sure if I was just told that to make me feel better or not, but either way, smiles all round for me. My little car is still going strong, I'm in a much better place, and whenever I drive past that company's buildings I give them a salute. I'll let you guess how many fingers I
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 21
    A little addendum that I heard a bit later. When my boss went to go and see the angry secretary, presumably to try and cool things down, she also told him to get out. He was told no, but then he asked if she could swipe him through the side entrance, which was an all-employee corridor. She said no, go back outside. As mentioned, this is England. It was pouring with rain. He was wearing a suit as he was seeing a customer later (because I said I wasn't doing it.) No matter - she stood by saying no
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 22
    He doesn't take bulls anywhere near as much as I do. He's got nearly 40 years in the company and they know they can't lose him. He used his very expensive laptop as an umbrella instead, got back to his desk with a completely dead machine, and then billed the further £3,000 for a new machine to the secretary's company code. He made sure her name was on the bill. Fast forward 3 months and for some reason, the directors were down one angry secretary. I can't imagine why.
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 23
    TLDR - company asks me to host customers, I do, they don't let me get my car back from their managers car park, so they end up paying for taxis and car repairs. Things escalate when I call them out and the client doesn't like wishy washy directors selling them dreams and promises, rather than the normal grunts who just tell them how it is. My boss doubles down on this and ensures that the angry secretary is fired.
    via u/FMLitsSML
  • 24
    WastaHod Sounds like the Secretary had to much power, and should not be able to write people up. 1.8k Reply Share FMLitsSML OP 100%! She lived in a perfect world though, the directors knew she kept riff raff away so they were fine, nobody else bothered to challenge her so she was fine. It took this particular incident to break the seal, mainly because nobody else was stupid enough to park their car in her little kingdom. I learned many career lessons.
    via u/WastaHod
  • 25
    SamuelVimesTrained That was a very crappy company if NO ONE noticed this for that long and it took a customers - remark to get the ball rolling. This tale does highlight a VERY important truth - ALWAYS get things in writing! CYA
    via u/SamuelVimesTrained

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

boss workplace-stories jobs parking space job secretary car bosses work cars emails driving workplace parking
Scroll Down For The Next Article